Using the method of document research,teaching experiment and survey statistics,taking two gymnastics classes students of Suqian college as the research object,the pervasive mental health education mode used in university aerobics teaching for empirical is studied.Comparative analysis of the experimental results is made to further validate that penetrate psychological health education in the university sports teaching can effectively improve students' physical and mental health,physical education and students' psychological health education is the perfect combination of school physical education reform development direction.


Greengram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek], is an economically important short duration grain legume characterized by relatively more palatable, nutritive, cheap source of high quality and easily digestible protein, nonflatulent than other pulses and constitute an important source of cereal based diets in Asia (Kamleshwar et al., 2014). In-spite of high demand, the yield of greengram worldwide is very low (384 kg/ha) and limited success has been achieved so far in augmenting its yield. To enhance the present yield levels, it is essential a systemic varietal improvement through hybridization and exploitation of generated variability through recombination breeding. To breed a genotype with high yielding potential, the information on the genetic mechanism controlling various traits in the material being handled, is a prerequisite. The estimates of combining ability along with per se performance of genotypes in a crop improvement program have a direct bearing upon the choice of breeding methodology to be followed and to identify the parent and crosses (Khattak et al., 2004), which could be exploited for future breeding programme. In literature, both additive and non-additive genetic systems, controlling seed yield and yield-relating traits in greengram, have been reported (Barad et al., 2008, International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 11 (2017) pp. 3552-3558 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


The year 1978 may well be the year of decision as to whether the mining of the deep seabed shall be governed by a multi-national treaty, by domestic legislation, or by some sort of mini-treaty among the nations whose people have the technical and financial capabilities to engage in this activity. There is no propsect whatever that the U.N. Law of the Sea negotiations will produce a treaty under which private investments in deep-sea mining can be safely made. The scheme, set in cement in successive drafts, is premised on the substitution of political control of the seabed, indistinguishable from sovereign ownership, in a new 150-nation authority, for the historic principle of freedom of the seas. It is inimical to private enterprise in every significant respect. Domestic legislation, now well under way in both houses of the United States Congress, is essentially a licensing scheme based on the sovereign's power to control the activities of its nationals in the exercise of a high-seas freedom. A significant feature is the offer of reciprocity to nations enacting comparable legislation. A mini-treaty among the nations capable of carrying out deep-sea mining may well be the ultimate outcome of reciprocal legislation. If not, reciprocal legislation alone would create a de facto regime for self-restraint in the exercise of a freedom of the seas, including the protection of the marine environment as well as avoidance of encroachment on one another's mining operations. Industry would have a reasonable chance of attracting the necessary capital for operations under such a scheme.


This study evaluates the mechanical strength of 3D-printed objects of composite material. The composite material considered in this study comprises onyx as the base material with glass fiber and carbon fiber as the internal reinforcements. 3D printing using composite materials generally involves laminating fiber reinforcements in the form of layers within the printed part. To analyze the effect of such reinforcements on the printed parts, specimens were prepared by varying the number of layers and arrangement conditions of the reinforcement. The analysis shows that the tensile strength of the composite increases with the number of reinforcement layers due to the effect of the fibers on the longitudinal direction and a larger bonding area between the internal Onyx and the fibers. Furthermore, higher tensile strength is observed when the reinforcements are laminated at regular intervals than when they are arranged in the center. This study serves as a database for 3D printing fiber-reinforced composites aiding future research in comparing and optimizing their strength according to the 3D printing conditions.


The method of X-ray phase analysis was used to study the mineral composition of carbonaceous clays. The possible presence of organomineral compounds in carbonaceous clays is presumed.


Aging is an issue that has been studied by different areas. However, there is a gap concerning to studies related to the aging of the teacher of Physical Education. This study aims to discuss some aspects about the aging process, the peculiarities of the profession and the meanings attributed to the body by teachers of Physical Education. Data were collected using deep interviews and open questionnaires with school and university teachers. The aging process was perceived as positive when some attributes were linked positively to the career such as: the acquired knowledge and the search for new ones and the specific understanding about the body. The peculiarity of working in practice, on the other hand, referred to the meaning of the body as a working tool, especially when associated with a youthful stereotype, wearing and to the physical performance.


Code-switching has been an important topic in sociolinguistics.Code-switching in college campus occurred mainly in the classroom and social occasions,and it shows the frequency and types of many characteristics of emotion,so it is very important for us to explore its rich value of research in sociolinguistics.


INTRODUCTION: Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. Treatment typically involves surgery followed by chemotherapy, incorporating cisplatin. Tumor recurrence is common after treatment, especially in type 3 (C-MYC-expressing) medulloblastomas, and less commonly in sonic-hedgehog-associated tumors (type 2). Though clinically devastating, little is known about recurrent medulloblastomas compared to primary tumors and almost nothing is known about the mechanisms of chemotherapeutic resistance in medulloblastoma. OBJECTIVES: Develop a cellular model for medulloblastoma recurrence and drug resistance by establishing a cisplatin-resistant medulloblastoma cell line, and evaluate sensitivity of this model to other treatments. METHODS: Medulloblastoma cell lines DAOY and D341-MED, representative of type 2 and type 3 medulloblastoma were pulsed with cisplatin or cultured in escalating concentrations of cisplatin, respectively. Resistance to cisplatin was assessed by cell proliferation assay (XTT). RESULTS: XTT analysis at 48 hours revealed an 8-fold increase in IC-50 between the wild-type D341 and cisplatin-resistant D341 cell line (termed CR4). DAOY cells evaluated similarly at 72 hours showed an ∼3 fold difference between wild type and cisplatin-pulsed DAOY (CR5P). Interestingly, CR4 cells displayed an increased sensitivity to doxorubicin relative to wild-type D341. DISCUSSION: Recurrent medulloblastoma show growth after repeated exposure to multiple chemotherapeutics. Our newly-created CR4 and CR5P cells represent this element of recurrent medulloblastoma, allowing analysis of biochemical and genetic differences between primary and recurrent medulloblastomas. We plan to further analyze hypersensitivity to other drugs with the aim of identifying candidates for combination chemotherapy. We also plan to evaluate the genetic, and phenotypic differences between wild type and resistant cells in response to cisplatin to better understand post-chemotherapy recurrence. CONCLUSION: We have created the first 2 medulloblastoma cell lines that show cisplatin resistance, serving as a novel model by which to study medulloblastoma recurrence.


The author analyzes the problems in the development of Southeast Asian languages education in Guangxi from the perspectives of language distribution, education background, instruction of professional knowledge and educational condition, and puts forward the countermeasures.


Analysis and synthesis methods of electro technical complexes power subsystems with high power parameters are considered at unilateral and bilateral power consumption and depending on type and properties of the primary power supply, character and operating load conditions. The search of project variants is performed during optimization problem decision that allows making the proved choice of a final variant of the power subsystem project


Unlike the conventional seismic acquisition, simultaneous-source acquisition allows the overlap in the record, which can enhance acquisition efficiency and improve image quality. To further explore the advantage of simultaneous-source technology, a double blending survey is proposed, which contains the self-interference and cross-interference. In the designed survey, the self- and cross-interference are controlled by two factors (inline shot interval and source number). When the inline shot interval is larger than the efficient record length (ERL), the blending scheme is degraded to the cross simultaneous-source survey. When the source number is equal to one, the blending scheme is degraded to the self simultaneous-source survey. To suppress intense hybrid interference, the mixed regularization term integrating sparse constraint and rank reduction constraint is applied to provide stronger regularization ability. Compared with the individual penalty term, the mixed constraint can further suppress hybrid interference and obtain better deblending performance. Deblended results on synthetic and field data examples confirm the performance of mixed constraint and demonstrate that the designed hybrid simultaneous-source survey can further enhance the efficiency of acquisition.


Objective To explore the relationship between the self-esteem and responsibility of freshmen.Methods A total of 285 freshmen were investigated by using The Self-Esteem Scale(SES) and a questionnaire on young students a sense of responsibility.Results There was significant gender difference in the responsibility(t=-3.597,P0.05);there was significant family difference in the responsibility(t=-1.878,P0.05);whether they are the only child or not had significant influence on their responsibility(t=-2.797,P0.05);there was positive correlation between the self-esteem and the responsibility of freshmen(r=0.553,P0.01).Conclusion The boys' responsibility are lower than the girls',freshmen who are the only child have lower responsibility than those who are not the only child;freshmen whose self-esteem are high also have high responsibility.


A new approach to multi-dimensional quantum scattering by the infinite order discrete variable representation is presented. Determining the expansion coefficients of the wave function at the asymptotic regions bythe solution


This paper first briefly presented several newly created non-destructive inspection techniques used in the protection of the walls of the Ancient Town in Pingyao,one of the cultural legacies in the world,and then pointed out that such techniques were useful socially and economically in protecting the ancient architectures.The authors wished that research and exchanges should be made more frequently than ever and more attention should be paid to the applications of these techniques.


We present new photonics and electronics packages recently developed by M Squared Lasers specifically tailored for scalable neutral atom quantum computing; a high power 1064 nm system for scalable qubit number, a phase locked system for high fidelity single qubit control, and robust cavity locked systems for high fidelity Rydberg operations. We attain driven coherence times competitive with current state-of-the-art for both ground state Raman and ground-Rydberg transitions without cavity filtering, providing an excellent platform for neutral atom quantum computing. These systems are benchmarked by creating entangled Bell states across 7 atom pairs, where we measure a peak raw fidelity of $F\ge0.88(2)$ and a peak SPAM corrected of $F_C\ge0.93(3)$ via a two-qubit $CZ$ gate.


Comparison of the natural and synthetic phases allows an overview to be made and even an understanding of the crystal growth processes and mechanisms of the particular crystal structure formation. Thus, in this work, we review the crystal chemistry of the family of uranyl selenite compounds, paying special attention to the pathways of synthesis and topological analysis of the known crystal structures. Comparison of the isotypic natural and synthetic uranyl-bearing compounds suggests that uranyl selenite mineral formation requires heating, which most likely can be attributed to the radioactive decay. Structural complexity studies revealed that the majority of synthetic compounds have the topological symmetry of uranyl selenite building blocks equal to the structural symmetry, which means that the highest symmetry of uranyl complexes is preserved regardless of the interstitial filling of the structures. Whereas the real symmetry of U-Se complexes in the structures of minerals is lower than their topological symmetry, which means that interstitial cations and H2O molecules significantly affect the structural architecture of natural compounds. At the same time, structural complexity parameters for the whole structure are usually higher for the minerals than those for the synthetic compounds of a similar or close organization, which probably indicates the preferred existence of such natural-born architectures. In addition, the reexamination of the crystal structures of two uranyl selenite minerals guilleminite and demesmaekerite is reported. As a result of the single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of demesmaekerite, Pb2Cu5[(UO2)2(SeO3)6(OH)6](H2O)2, the H atoms positions belonging to the interstitial H2O molecules were assigned. The refinement of the guilleminite crystal structure allowed the determination of an additional site arranged within the void of the interlayer space and occupied by an H2O molecule, which suggests the formula of guilleminite to be written as Ba[(UO2)3(SeO3)2O2](H2O)4 instead of Ba[(UO2)3(SeO3)2O2](H2O)3.


Since its initial introduction into North America (Saunders 1916) the European skipper Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.) has been found attacking timothy grass throughout much of eastern Canada and the United States reaching pest status in Ontario (Arthur 1966), Prince Edward Island (Thompson 1977), and Quebec (Doyle and Richard 1971; McNeil et al. 1975). Bucher and Arthur (1961) examined skipper larvae, collected near Princeville, Ontario, for naturally occurring pathogens and reported the presence of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus, a cytoplasmic polyhedrosis gut virus, and a spore forming bacterium. They stated that such pathogens represented a possible means of biological control if the skipper became economically important. An epizootic caused by an NPV in dense skipper populations near Normandin, Quebec (Smirnoff 1974), led to a series of experiments evaluating its efficacy as a microbial insecticide (Smirnoff et al. 1976; Duchesne 1980), its long term impact on the population dynamics of T. lineola (Duchesne 1980), and its possible effects on non-target organisms (Smirnoff et al. 1979).


The visual magnitudes of the Almagest have been compared with modern photoelectric measurements in V. Later catalogues equally based on visual estimates have been included. The various catalogues correlate rather well. Systematic effects due to extinction and the colour of the stars have been investigated. In spite of the hopes of the early observers no stars with very slow but systematic brightness variations have been found


Both low skeletal muscle mass and low radiographic muscle density are associated with higher complication rates after surgery for colorectal cancer and with worse survival rates although data are not fully consistent. Whether skeletal muscle mass and density are also associated with patient-reported outcomes, such as fatigue, is less well studied. We hypothesized that low skeletal muscle mass and density may be associated with fatigue in early stage colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Methods: Within a prospective cohort of 594 early-stage (stage I-III) CRC patients, we collected information on fatigue using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire 6 months after diagnosis; fatigue was defined as a score of >39 based on literature. Skeletal muscle mass and -density were assessed using pre-operative Computed Tomography (CT) images. Low muscle mass and -density were identified using previously determined cut- off values. Cox regression models were used to calculate prevalence ratios (PRs). All PRs were adjusted for age, sex, stage of disease. Results: The average age of the study population was 65.7 ± 9.0; 37% were women and 67% of the patients had a tumor located in the colon. Low muscle mass was present in 26% of the patients and low muscle density in 25%; 26% of patients had fatigue. Low muscle mass was not associated with prevalence of fatigue (PR for low versus normal muscle mass 0.83 (95%CI 0.56–1.24). Low muscle density was associated with higher prevalence of fatigue: PR for low versus normal muscle density 1.94 (95% CI 1.34–2.81). Conclusion: Among colorectal cancer patients, low skeletal muscle density at diagnosis - indicative for fat infiltration in the muscle- was associated with a higher prevalence of fatigue six months after diagnosis. Future studies should assess how lifestyle interventions can help to prevent or decrease fatigue, and should further clarify whether there is a causal link between fat infiltration in the muscle and fatigue.


This paper presents a safety planning and control model (SPC) that has been integrated to the production planning and control process. The model was developed through two action research empirical studies in industrial construction projects. Safety requirements are integrated into three hierarchical levels of planning and control process. At the long-term level, safety planning is featured by preliminary hazard analysis of construction processes. These plans are updated and detailed through its integration into both medium-term and short-term planning levels.


ZARGAR, SAKIB ASHRAF. Imaging Damage in Plate Structures with Linear Phased Arrays using Frequency-wavenumber Analysis. (Under the direction of Dr. Fuh-Gwo Yuan). Ultrasonic arrays have demonstrated attractive applications in the field of damage localization in plate-like structures. Apart from improving the sensitivity and coverage, the use of arrays allows for performing multiple inspections without the need for reconfiguration which is not possible with conventional single-element transducers. While sparsely distributed arrays have certain desirable features, compactly placed phased arrays offer numerous advantages for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications such as the ability to provide reinforced wave energy in the desired direction, efficient and flexible control of the beam direction without requiring any physical movement of the transducers, improved signal-tonoise ratio etc. When the phased array based damage detection technique is applied in the time domain, the effect of dispersion is completely ignored as only the center frequency of the input toneburst signal is utilized for the imaging process. For long distance inspection, it results in errors in the TOA (time-of-arrival) calculations due to the wave dispersion. As a result, the quality of the final damage image formed using the classical delay-and-sum (DAS) approach is suboptimal. In this work, the technique is applied in the frequency-wavenumber (f-k) domain where-in the dispersive nature of the Lamb wave is considered both in the beamforming and the imaging processes. This leads to an improvement in quality of the damage image as the contribution of all the constituent frequencies in is taken into account rather than solely using the center frequency of the narrowband excitation signal. The two techniques are evaluated and compared based on the synthetic sensor signals generated in numerical simulations. The proposed (f-k) domain based phased array technique demonstrates more accurate damage imaging capabilities. Finally, experimental validation is performed on a thin aluminum plate with a surface bonded linear phased array. © Copyright 2017 Sakib Ashraf Zargar All Rights Reserved Imaging Damage in Plate Structures with Linear Phased Arrays using Frequencywavenumber Analysis by Sakib Ashraf Zargar A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Mechanical Engineering Raleigh, North Carolina 2017


Before and even after its purchase by The Detroit Institute of Arts in 1950, The Sabine Mountains (fig. 1)1 was believed to be by the French Neoclassical landscape painter, Achille-Etna Michallon (1796-1822). Recently, however, this landscape was re-examined and rightly reattributed o Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld (1 758-1 846).2 The former attribution to Michallon was an understandable error, given the many gaps in our knowledge of Neo-classical landscape painting, which was virtually ignored after the advent of the Barbizon school in the mid-1 9th century. The current interest in Neo-classical art is a very recent phenomenon. One of the difficulties n the proper attribution fNeo-classical landscapes is that many works listed in Salon catalogues (livrets) and in other documents3 have yet to be located. However, recent scholarly studies have increased our understanding of the history of this landscape style.4 The exhibition 'Trench Painting 17741830: The Age of Revolution," organized by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, The Detroit Institute ofArts, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1974-75 cast new light on this


Abstract: Many former high level Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) players present later in life with disabling hip arthritis requiring surgery. Many of these have evidence of the recently recognised condition of femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI). This condition results from abnormal abutment of the femoral head-neck junction with the acetabulum resulting in pain and progressive hip dysfunction. The prevalence is estimated at 10–15% in the general population, however it appears to be more common in young athletic males, and patients in their 20's and 30's with increased sporting activity. There has been an increase in the number of current players presenting with often poorly understood hip symptoms. We aimed to determine its prevalence in current top flight GAA players and in a cohort of past players. 92 current players and 8 retired players from the 1970's were recruited. Questionnaires were distributed at training sessions and via e-mail. These consisted of a general questionnaire aimed at symptoms of interest, the Oxford Hip Scale and the Tegner Activity Level Scale. Over half of current players experience hip symptoms with the majority being groin and hip pain but also a significant number complained of stiffness. Up to half of those with symptoms trained at reduced intensity and a further 20% missing training on a regular basis. 5 players in particular ceased playing for a period of between 3 and 36 months. Only 59 of 92 current players scored zero on the Oxford Hip Scale indicating a significant proportion have problems on a daily basis. The mean oxford hip score was 5.43 with a range of 0–29. The average Tegner Activity score was 10 despite having a number of players with significant symptoms indicating their desire to continue to play. 12 of the 92 underwent surgical procedures varying from Gilmore's groin repairs and adductor tenotomies to hip arthroscopy. It is evident that there is a link between hip symptoms in current players and FAI. Many hip conditions were previously unrecognized and thus left untreated, resulting in premature retirement of players. We therefore propose that it is vital that players are assessed for FAI at a young age and that training regimes should be altered and closely monitored in order to prevent the exacerbation of such a serious condition.


Background: Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) remains one of the most devastating and difficult to manage medical pathologies despite the tremendous progress in neuroscience and neurosurgery. These injuries bear substantial personal and economic burden. SCI is the underlying cause for 1 of every 40 patients admitted to a major trauma centre in EGYPT. The prevalence rate of SCD was 63/100,000 for the total population. Traumatic spinal cord injury had a prevalence of 18/100,000, while non-traumatic SCI was found in 45/100,000 Aim of the work: we aimed to explore the role of circulating TP53INP2 mRNA in spinal cord injury pathogenesis. Patients and methods: We used bioinformatics analysis to identify autophagy related pathway and spinal cord -specific mRNA, real-time reverse-transcription PCR for determining the relative expression of TP53INP2 mRNA in sera and tissue samples. We assessed the serum expression of the chosen mRNA in 23 individuals with acute spinal cord injury, 41 individuals with chronic spinal cord injury, and 36 healthy control. Results: Our study revealed that TP53INP2 mRNA expression was significantly increased in the serum of SCI patients compared with that of the control group. Conclusion: The results demonstrated the significant high expression ofTP53INP2 mRNA in SCI patients, further findings arising from this study will help to guide therapeutic strategies for SCI.


A common microaggression is to identify groups not by how they identify themselves, but by labels that are convenient to use in identifying them. A homogenizing term such as Hispanic, that is on the "surface neutral," serves multifaceted purposes some of which appear legitimate, but is confusing among others. Microaggressions are generally justified by dominant cultural values, custom, tradition, religion, beliefs, mores, and socioeconomic factors. This paper demonstrates whether the study of microaggressions and the intersections of color, ethnicity or race, privilege and power is helpful in the pursuit of discovering whether discrimination and prejudice is a cause.


Introduction: To compare soft cast (SC) with plaster of paris (POP) in treatment of greenstick fractures in children. A prospective randomised study analysing and comparing the two types of treatment in terms of patient and medical staff satisfaction, duration of treatment, pain during treatment. Wrist movement after removal of plaster, and the cast quality . An approval to conduct the study obtained from trust ethic committee Material and method: We identified 87 children (46 females and 41 males) referred to our clinic between September 1999 and June 2000 with forearm greenstick fractures. Patient and parents approached to participate and given written information about the trail if agreed consente obtained and patients randomised in to two groups using sealed envelopes. Those treated with a traditional hard cast (POP), and those treated with 3M soft cast tape (SC). A clinical details and progress form completed for each patient a questionnaire was completed by patients designed to score their overall satisfaction with treatment. Another questionnaire for clinicians score their satisfaction with cast quality and handling. Results: A total of 61 patients completed the trail. 26 patients either declined the study after consent or lost during follow up. 29 patients had (SC) and 32 had (POP). The mean age was 8.88years for (SC) group and 8.34 years for (POP) group. The average treatment period was 22.7days for (SC) group and 23.1 for (POP) group. The average patient score for pain and satisfaction was 8.88 for (SC) group and 8.13 for the (POP) group with P value of 0.632. . [0 for Poor and 10 for excellent]. The average clinician satisfaction score was 8.7 for (sc) group and 8.03 for the (pop) group. With p value of 0.22. [0 for Poor and 10 for excellent]. 92% of the (SC) group achieved excellent wrist range of movement compared with 88% of the (POP) group. Conclusion: We concluded that although each type of cast has its own advantages and disadvantage however when used in treatment of greenstick forearm fractures in children they produce comparable results. with on statistical differences.


It is assumed that people with disabilities, along with the entire population, have the right to enjoy their full and effective participation in society. Therefore, the understanding of disability has become a social phenomenon, with its physical, sensory, and/or intellectual restrictions being present in discussions worldwide with the objective of seeking the total inclusion of these individuals in society. A project was developed regarding the generation of an application offering and searching for experiences: DEXPERIENT. The mobile solution is intended for people with some degree of disability to be able to access through location and filters concerning various opportunities for gastronomy, and art, among other forms of accessibility, with respect to their restrictions. Projections from tools that optimize the definition and creation of projects, such as canvas and flowcharts, with subsequent implementation as mobile application prototype. As a result, a platform was developed capable of connecting doctors, people with disabilities, and volunteers who offer such experiences with location via GPS. It was concluded that the developed application is an inclusion program that aims to benefit people with some type of disability within the psychosocial scope.


In this paper we present a mathematical model to compute the bandwidth of the multiple bus interconnection network. Due to the computational complexity associated with the exact solution, the processors are removed from the queues at the end of each memory cycle to facilitate the analysis. This leads to approximate solutions which are both easier to obtain and very accurate.


Periodic constant, whose value appears periodically within a loop, brings about unnecessary control dependency as well as loop carried and loop independent data dependency. This paper introduces the concept of periodic constant and the process of transforming induction scalar to difference equation. Moreover, by applying some algebraic knowledge, this paper proposes and proves a complete and necessary condition of the existence of periodic constant. Based on this condition, this paper advances an intrinsic algorithm which detects and propagates the periodic constant and measures its cycle. An average acceleration of more than 10% is obtained when this algorithm is applied to the ADPCM decoder and encoder.


cells are highly enriched in the medial subdivision of the CeA. By electrophysiological whole-cell recordings, the authors found that Glp1r-CeA neurons are characterized by the presence of hyperpolarized activated inward (Ih)-like currents, with a sex difference in magnitude and membrane capacitance. Future studies leveraging these data will be important to understanding the impact of GLP-1R agonists on reward and motivation, and may identify potential targets for developing pharmacotherapy to treat disorders associated with cocaine and food intake.


This paper analyses various uses of narrative in the exploration of teacher identity. It highlights the way many contemporary education writers use terminology such as 'storying lives' and 'storied landscapes' to describe teacher processes of reflection on practice. In this paper the authors discuss some recent approaches to narrative that incorporate or suggest systematic uses of narrative theory (Conle 2003, Kamler, 2001, Richardson, 2003). Consideration is also given to the links between critical ethnography and narrative in order to critique the use of teacher portfolios, as in a recent Australian initiative for the appraisal of beginning teachers. The authors conclude with an argument for the rehabilitation and refinement of narrative theory in the 'writing' of teacher identity.


According to critics in some of the Nordic countries the bodies that monitor and adjudicate international human rights courts are undermining their own legitimacy by adhering to undemocratic practices. The strongest normative case against the judicial review that such bodies perform could be directed at the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR), which monitors many wellfunctioning democracies. Section 1 lists normative objections to judicial review in general. Section 2 sketches a normative defense this practice, and Section 3 presents some relevant aspects of the ECtHR. Section 4 returns to consider the various objections. The mandate, composition, institutional environment and mode of operation of the ECtHR renders it immune to several of these criticisms. The conclusion identifies some objections that merit further attention, both for empirical research and for normative analysis.


Object: Endotracheal intubation is the gold standard for ensuring a safe airway when applying general anesthesia. Endotracheal intubation can cause an increase in intracranial pressure (ICP). Ultrasound measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) is known as an accurate monitor of increased intracranial pressure. However, it is not known how the ICP fluctuations are caused by endotracheal intubation using various types of laryngoscopy. Therefore, the authors investigated the hemodynamic changes and intracranial pressure caused by the two types of laryngoscope used for endotracheal intubation in neurosurgical patients undergoing general anesthesia.
Cases: The authors report 4 patients as a case series from the Central Operating Theatre (COT) of Sanglah General Hospital, Denpasar, Bali. We were performed optical nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) measurements on both eyeballs of those patients. All of the patients were performed general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation. Correlation between ONSD and ICP measurements was determined, and changes were seen based on baseline data obtained from before intubation to 10 minutes after intubation. Sheath diameter more than 5.5 mm had a higher ICP value predicate than 15 mmHg with 100% sensitivity (95% CI, 100-100) and 100% specificity (95% CI, 100-100).
Discussion: Our case series demonstrated a change in ICP in each patient endotracheal intubation with a McGrath video laryngoscope and a Macintosh laryngoscope, then the authors examined the optic nerve sheath by performing ultrasonography after induction before intubation (T0), 1 minute (T1), 3 minutes (T3), 5 minutes (T5) and 10 minutes after intubation (T10), which is known to increase ICP. In all patients ICP increased above normal values in baseline. There was a difference in diameter between the right and left eyes according to the location of each tumor. During tracheal manipulation, at first minute there was an increase in diameter in both eyes with ONSD increasing > 0,5 mm from the baseline value, and starting to decrease at 3, 5 minutes, and approaching or equal to the baseline value at 10 minutes.
Conclusion: In neurosurgical patients undergoing general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, laryngoscopy is unavoidable, the use of the type of laryngoscope should be carefully considered in order to select and use a better type of laryngoscope to prevent hemodynamic shock. Hemodynamic monitoring with patient monitors and ONSD ultrasonography is an accurate, simple, and rapid measure to detect ICP elevations and ICP changes in real time. Therefore, ONSD could be a useful tool for monitoring ICP, especially in conditions where invasive ICP monitoring is not available.

Keywords: laryngoscope, hemodinamik, intracranial, ONSD, neurosurgery


Abstract:  Regulation of river flows can result in decreased stage fluctuations and alteration of inundation patterns of floodplain wetlands. However, floodplain inundation has historically not been addressed in most minimum flow determinations. Florida law requires the water management districts of the state to establish minimum flows and levels to protect water bodies from significant harm associated with water withdrawals. The Southwest Florida Water Management District utilizes a 15% reduction in habitat criterion as a threshold for defining significant harm to freshwater segments of rivers. Utilizing a multi‐parameter approach and different habitat measures for seasonal flow periods, the District has recommended minimum flow compliance standards for the Alafia, Myakka and middle Peace rivers. For the high‐flow period, the District utilized a 15% reduction in the number of days of floodplain inundation (a temporal loss) as a significant harm threshold. This approach yielded allowable flow reductions of 8% for the Alafia and Peace rivers during the high‐flow season and a 7% allowable reduction of natural flows on the Myakka River. Comparison of changes in flows associated with temporal and spatial loss thresholds indicated that flow reductions required to effect a 15% spatial loss of habitat on the Alafia, Myakka and middle Peace rivers are higher than those that would yield a 15% temporal loss. This indicates that with respect to natural flow protection, the District's consideration of temporal reductions in habitat for establishing minimum river flows for seasonal high‐flow periods is more conservative than the use of a spatial loss criterion.


The invention relates to a process for the preparation of at least two essentially parallel-arranged two-dimensional image data records of an examination zone by means of a magnetic resonance system comprising a coil array, comprising the steps of: applying a multi-band high-frequency pulse for excitation of at least two layers, phase encoding of the layers by applying a phase encode gradient, reading out the measurement signals from the excited slices with each coil of the coil array, the phase of the measurement signal in one of steps a) or b) is modulated in at least one layer at least once such that the phase of the measurement signal differs from the phase of the other layers, reconstruction of image data sets in dependence on the modulation of the phase of the measuring signal in at least one layer, characterized in that the multi-band high-frequency pulse in at least one layer of an other of the layer or the other layers differing Ampli having tude and / or duration and / or pulse shape. The invention further relates to a magnetic resonance system with which the aforementioned method can be executed.


Recuperator is a compact and high efficiency heat exchanger working at high temperature and high pressure conditions.Creep deformation may occur in the passages of the compact primary sheet with the increase of the operation time.Inside the recuperator creep deformation causes the compressor discharge air passages to expand,thus restricting exhaust gas flow and increasing the turbine backpressure.This will deteriorate the flow and heat transfer performance of the recuperator, even affect the whole safe operation of the turbine system.In this paper,with the implicit Norton function,the creep deformation of CW recuperator(after working 40000 hours)is analyzed to prove the reliability of material,and it is found that the pressure difference between the air and the gas is the main reason to cause creep deformation of the sheet.The proper operation parameters,material and the best configuration of the passages are suggested.


The case is reported of an elderly woman in whom toxic epidermal necrolysis, originally provoked by sensitivity to one barbiturate, primidone, subsequently recurred after the administration of another, phenobarbitone.


A housing structure for an electronic circuit including an electronic control unit (ECU) is a generally rectangular device of low profile, which comprises a base, a cover which closes an open end of the lower part, and a printed circuit board (PCB). The housing structure holds the PCB and their associated electronic components safely and offers improved cooling properties and lower manufacturing costs. This is achieved by the provision of passive cooling features on an outer surface of the cover and by inserting a thermally conductive plastic material to form the passive cooling features, said cover predetermined and having defined anisotropic thermal conduction properties, which are adapted to the heat conduction, and the cooling of the ECU to optimize.


Thirteen species of the genus Myriophyllum are found in North America; ten are native, three have been introduced. A key to the species is provided and previous conflicting taxonomic treatments are assessed. The possibility of a polyploid series involving four species is considered and dismissed. Eight of the common species are found to exhibit sufficient phenotypic plasticity to account for most if not all the taxonomic problems encountered.


N RECENT YEARS there has been increasing I recognition of abnormal calcium metabolism in patients with widespread cancer, even in the absence of clinically or pathologically demonstrable bone metastases. A parathormone-like substance has been postulated to account for the occurrence of hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria, and hypophosphatemia in some of these patients in whom it was impossible to find evidence of metastatic osteolytic activity to account for the abnormal calcium balance.16 Citric acid is in many respects comparable to calcium, in that nearly all of the body reservoir occurs in bone, the organic matrix of which contains 1. to 1.57, by weight of citrate.7~21 A diffusion gradient of citrate is constantly maintained from marrow blood to arterial blood to venous blood, suggesting that bone trabeculae serve as the principal source of circulating citrate, which ranges between 0.3 and 0.6 mEq. per liter (1.) or 22. to 43. pg. per mI.l7 Elevation of venous citrate concentration above 2 standard deviations from the sex specific mean occurs rarely (less than 5.%) in non-cancer individuals, although it has been reported in osseous Paget's disease, adrenocortical insufficiency, vitamin D intoxication, and hyperparathyroidism (Table l).13 About onefourth of patients with metastatic cancer have been observed to have elevated serum citrate concentrations reaching as high as 2.0 mEq. per 1. (128. pg. per ml.) and above. In view of the well known action of citrate in binding calcium as a poorly ionized tricalcium citrate complex, it became of interest to determine


In the present work two 3‐D models, for the catalytic layer, were employed in order to simulate the responses of a PBI high temperature polymeric membrane fuel cell. The simulations made use of an agglomerate model and a pseudo‐homogenous model, both implemented taking into account the temperature influence over their parameters. The overall simulation was performed also as two models, linked by the variable pressure, one for the whole graphite plate simulating the distribution channels, and the other dealing with the MEA and thereof the catalytic layer. A discussion over the two models was done and the experimental results demonstrated that the pseudo‐homogeneous obtained the better fits.


Computer modeling using finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to examine the performance of thick film inductors with multilayer magnetic composite cores, constructed using ferrite pastes of differing magnetic properties. It was found that selectively introducing regions of low permeability material increased both the inductance and the current carrying capacity compared to thick film inductors made with single material magnetic cores. Permeabilities of the composite cores ranged from 1 to 220. The frequency for the models was set at 2.0 MHz. Sample devices were constructed using thick film screen printing techniques and characterized to validate the models and to determine the effectiveness of the design modifications. Quantitative comparisons were made between single permeability core inductors and those with magnetic composite cores. It was found that significant (133%) increases could be gained in saturation current with only a small (12%) decrease in inductance. Three mechanisms were found that affected performance, 1) the placement of low permeability regions, 2) the extent of non-uniform flux distribution within the structure, and 3) the volume fraction of low permeability material.


Although voltage‐gated Nav1 sodium channels and Kv1 potassium channels are both known for their tandem function in action potential firing and have ubiquitous tissue expressions, to date, no functional association between members of the Nav1.x channel family and the Kv1 channel family have been reported. Here we report that SCN1b modulates the Kv1‐subfamily of K+ channels, each in a unique fashion, when co‐expressed in Xenopus oocytes or mammalian cells (Table). Biochemical experiments show that SCN1b is physically coupled to Kv1 channels. Using chimeras of SCN1b and the myelin Po protein, we demonstrate that the external domain of SCN1b is essential for channel modulation. Two known epilepsy‐causing mutations in the Ig‐domain of SCN1b, R85C and C121W, disrupt Kv1 channel‐modulation. Thus, sodium channel beta subunits may regulate action potential firing and propagation in normal and diseased conditions by modulating the function of both Nav and Kv channels.


The Bonnard glaciated mass (Valais region, Switzerland) overhangs the village of Zinal and its slow downward constant creep constitutes an environmental hazard. Ice content data have been acquired to better assess globally and locally the ice amount within the area, in order to evaluate the glacier's global dynamic and future evolution. Two ice content modeling approaches are tested: (i) a direct modeling using 3D simulations and (ii) to account for the relationship between the presence of ice and the lithology, a nested approach which consists in (1) simulating lithology with the plurigaussian method and then (2) populating each facies with ice content values. Both approaches are compared in terms of ice content prediction and of global ice mass.


Abstract Schooling is one of the most affected aspects of human life due to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In a recent correspondence published, the authors reminded every country of their responsibility to come up with strategies to reopen schools safely. This paper reiterates the adherence of school health protocols as significant in the delivery of face-to-face classes following national and international guidelines in mitigating the effects of COVID-19 pandemic as a public health crisis.


Tumor associated fibroblasts (TAFs) are important regulators of tumor growth and resistance to therapies. We have recently shown that lung TAFs in vitro respond to the antifibrotic drug nintedanib in adenocarcinoma (ADC) but not squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We also showed that the tumor-promoting effects of TAFs are driven by different mechanisms in ADC and SCC, which remain to be elucidated. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1) has been associated with poor prognosis in lung cancer, its expression is downregulated by nintedanib, and our preliminary results reveal that its putative receptor, CD63, is overexpressed in ADC patients compared to SCC, supporting a selective crosstalk between TAFs and cancer cells in ADC through TIMP-1 and CD63. The aim of this study was to test this hypothesis using in vitro preclinical models. Primary fibroblasts were obtained with the patient informed consent, and using protocols approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital Clinic. ADC-TAFs and SCC-TAFs were stimulated with TGF-β1 in the presence or absence of nintedanib, and the TIMP-1 content in their conditioned medium was determined by ELISA. TIMP-1 was knocked-down in ADC-TAFs by siRNA, and the corresponding conditioned medium was used to stimulate growth and invasion of the high-CD63 ADC cell line, H1437. Likewise, CD63 expression in H1437 cells was reduced by siRNA. Our in vitro results showed that TIMP-1 secretion induced by TGF-β1 is significantly larger in ADC-TAFs compared to SCC-TAFs. Likewise, nintedanib elicited a higher downregulation of secreted TIMP-1 in ADC-TAFs compared to SCC-TAFs. Of note, TIMP-1 from ADC-TAFs was necessary to induce growth and invasion of H1437 cells. Likewise, knocking-down CD63 in H1437 ADC cells was sufficient to reduce the growth and invasion elicited by the conditioned medium of TGF-β1 activated ADC-TAFs. Collectively, our results unveil a novel stroma-carcinoma crosstalk driven by TIMP-1 and CD63 selectively in lung ADC, and support that such heterotypic crosstalk may underlie the aberrant tumor-promoting effects of ADC-TAFs that are selectively downregulated by nintedanib. Citation Format: Paula Duch, Marta Gabasa, Rafael Ikemori, Marselina Arshakyan, Frank Hillberg, Noemi Reguart, Derek Radisky, Jordi Alcaraz. TIMP-1 in tumor-associated fibroblasts drives tumor progression in lung adenocarcinoma through CD63 interaction [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5091.


In the article the life and scientific work of Ignacy Łukasiewicz, a precursor of the Polish petroleum industry and designer of the first kerosene lamp are presented. The history of the early period of the petroleum mining and distillation is described along with products of its treatment. At last kinds of lamps used at the end of XIX and the beginning of the XX century for kerosene lighting are presented.


Bilateral heel skin ulcers developed in a 50-year-old male in the chronic phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia who had been receiving hydroxyurea (HU) therapy for 3 years. Histological examination showed perivascular lymphocytic inflammation without vasculitis. After interruption of HU administration, the heel ulcers were completely resolved within 2 months. The clinical course strongly suggested that the heel ulcers were induced by long-term HU therapy.


In recent year, multi-layered semiconductor package is one of the most important technologies to enhance its performance. To bond between each layer of multi-chip package, die-bonding film is known as an effective material. We had developed a novel low-modulus die-bonding adhesive film. Properties of the films are widely changed by the ratio of epoxy resin and acrylic polymer contents. To satisfy the target properties, the influence of various parameters on material properties was examined. However, it is not easy for researchers to find out the formulation which satisfy the targets. To solve the problem, this paper proposes the weak conditioned combinatorial linear programming method (WCCLP). By defining solution area as a function of combination index, the optimum formulations are acquired. This optimization can be done by newly developed user-friendly software. The software is applicable not only to semiconductor related materials but also to any such formulation as paint, medicine and food.


In recent years, multi-core CPUs and many-core GPUs have emerged as mainstream and cost-effective means for scaling. Consequently, a trend that is receiving wide attention is of heterogeneous computing platforms consisting of both CPU and GPU. Such heterogeneous architectures are pervasive across notebooks, desktops, clusters, supercomputers and cloud environments. While they expose huge potential for computing, the state-of-theart software support lacks much of the desired features to improve the performance and utilization of such systems. Particularly, we focus on three important problems: (i) While machines consisting of both multi-core CPU and GPU are available, there is no standard software support that enables application to harness aggregate compute power of both CPU and GPU, (ii) Although GPUs offer very high peak performance, often, its utilization is low, which is an important concern in heavily shared cloud environments. While resource sharing is a classic way to improve utilization, there is no software support to truly share the GPUs, and (iii) In shared supercomputers and cloud environments, a critical software component is a job scheduler, which aims at improving the resource utilization and maximizing the aggregate throughput. Thus, we formulate and revisit scheduling problems for CPU-GPU clusters. For the first problem, we have developed a runtime system that will enable an application to simultaneously benefit from the aggregate computing power of available CPU and GPU. Starting from a high-level API support, the runtime system transparently handles the


Sports ministry can be defined as: seeking to glorify God in sport, thereby extending His Kingdom through sport. As sports ministry is a relatively new phenomenon in South Africa, it has received very little academic attention from theologians. In particular, there has been limited empirical research into the effectiveness of sports ministry leadership. The premise of this research is that the future strengthening and growth of sustainable sports ministry in South Africa is dependent upon equipping leaders with a foundation that will provide them with a strong scriptural and theological basis for ministry. The primary question that this research is therefore seeking to address is, how can leaders be equipped to implement effective and sustainable sports ministry in South African churches and communities? This study answers this question through following Osmer's (2008) four tasks of theological interpretation. Through empirical research, the study describes how sports ministry leaders have been trained and equipped theologically and practically to implement sports ministry in the South African context. By way of a literature survey, interpretation is given to the situation facing sports ministry leaders through considering how the historical, socio-cultural, and leadership context in South Africa has shaped and influenced the current practice of sports ministry. The study presents an exegesis of five passages of Scripture resulting in the formulation of a Scriptural Manifesto, which, in turn, is then applied to evaluate six theological paradigms that influence sports ministry leaders. Finally, the culmination of the research proposes the PROXIMITY model, which makes a valuable contribution to the field of research by providing a robust scriptural, theological and practical foundation for the equipping of leaders for effective and sustainable sports ministry in the South African context. The PROXIMITY model is an acrostic, which aptly describes the nine contributions that sport ministry leaders should make in this regard, namely, their role should be Prophetic, Reconciliatory, OpenHearted, and eXemplary; their approach should be Incarnational, Missional, and Integrational; and their focus should be Transformational and Youth-focused. The PROXIMITY model can typically be used to strengthen sports ministry leaders in their engagement with the church, communities, and the culture of sport in South Africa.


List of Maps vii Acknowledgements ix A Note on Personal Names xi Chapter 1 COMMUNES 1 Chapter 2 MILAN 21 Chapter 3 PISA 67 Chapter 4 ROME 119 Chapter 5 ITALY 161 Notes 207 Bibliography 253 Index 283


We synthesize an octave-spanning microresonator-based frequency comb, based on a zero-dispersion soliton, existing in the regime of vanishing group-velocity dispersion. The microcomb spans 135 THz, enabled by quasi-phase matched dispersive wave formation.


: This complex network has been organized in three sequential and overlapping steps. The first step of the inflammatory phase is an immediate response to injury; primary sensory neurons sense injury and send danger signals to the brain, to stop bleeding and start inflammation. The following target of the inflammatory phase, led by the peripheral blood mononuclear cells, is to eliminate the pathogens and clean the wound. Once this is completed, the inflammatory phase is resolved and homeostasis is restored. Phytochemical studies carried out on the Phragmites karka plants have demonstrated a wide variety of the biomolecules present in the plants which may be responsible for their use in traditional medicine. Through various bioassays, different biologically active compounds were identified. Since bioautography was used to monitor the wound healing activity of the extract, this shows that bioassays can be used as a guide during isolation. Although a p-coumaric acid compound isolated in this study was not identified due to a contaminant, this study shows that there is a biologically active compound belonging to the phenolic derivative. Which may be unique Further work is required to identify the specific phenolic and to determine if it is indeed unique and a good candidate for the treatment of infected wounds.


Abstract We explore a large sample of analysts' estimates of the cost of equity capital (CoE) to evaluate their usefulness as expected return proxies (ERP). We find that the CoE estimates are significantly related to a firm's beta, size, book-to-market ratio, leverage, and idiosyncratic volatility but not other risk proxies. Even after controlling for the popular return predictors, the CoE estimates incrementally predict future stock returns. This predictive ability is better explained as the CoE estimates containing ERP information rather than reflecting stock mispricing. When evaluated against traditional ERPs, including the implied costs of capital, the CoE estimates are found to be the least noisy. Finally, we document CoE responses around earnings announcements, demonstrating their usefulness to study discount-rate reactions of market participants. We conclude that analysts' CoE estimates are meaningful ERPs that can be fruitfully employed in a variety of asset pricing contexts.


Background: Little is known about cockroach sensitization in Scandinavia, whereas cockroaches are implicated in allergic diseases throughout large parts of the world. In association with the Genetics of Asthma International Network (GAIN) study, we report sensitization to cockroaches and possible association with IgE‐mediated diseases in Norway.


This article focuses on one of the most controversial issues frequently discussed by many including politicians, academics and the media in the UK and Poland: migration of Polish people to Britain. The main aim is to identify the important factors causing migration of Poles within the UK. In this article, the authors seek to study the pull factors, i.e. level of wages or employment rate, for Polish people between different regions within the UK. By using the data from "Labour Force Surveys" collected by the UK government; and data from G³owny Urz¹d Statystyczny (GUS) in Poland, this paper analyses where and why the Polish migrants live in the UK. The most important factor determining the fraction of Polish people in a given region is the fraction of Polish people in that region in the past. When Polish people move within UK, they tend to choose a region with a higher level of gross pay, and they don't seem to consider the risk of unemployment. The authors are grateful to providers of survey data discussed in the "Data and methods" section of this paper. LFS data are made available by the UK Data Service. Views reported in this paper do not necessarily reflect opinions of organisations which commissioned or provided access to these surveys.


ABSTRACT Recovery after major disaster poses a unique set of challenges for the older population, including disruption of medical care for pre-existing conditions, functional limitations that impede recovery, and social isolation following involuntary resettlement. In this review, we summarise the lessons about disaster resilience that have been learned (so far) from a unique ongoing field study based in a community that was affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In the Iwanuma Study, baseline information about the health status and living conditions of older residents was collected seven months before the disaster. A follow-up survey was conducted 2.5 years after the disaster, allowing us investigate the risk and protective factors for a range of disaster-related health sequelae, including mental illness and cognitive disability. A consistent finding to emerge from our studies is the critical role of social connections (the 'social capital' of a community) in protecting against the deleterious after-effects of psychological trauma and involuntary resettlement following the disaster. In contrast to the emphasis on investing in material infrastructure to prepare for disasters, a review of our studies suggests that repairing (or at least preserving) the social fabric of people's lives is a crucial ingredient in disaster resilience.


Cultivating the academic quality of students in the teaching of biology at school is important. To achieve this, we should make students know the method of studying the scientific knowledge by classroom teaching and inspire the curiosity and research spirit by doing classroom activity.


At present, the recycled waste edible oil has become a pronoun of food quality problem. As the experts said, eating meal in a restaurant ten times, there may be one time to eat recycled waste edible oil. The recycled waste edible oil has been a serious threat to people's health. According to reports, not only the hawker and stalls use it, but also some hotel purchase and use it. Then it forms a "circular economy". Such consequences are very serious and worrying. In this paper, the phenomenon of the recycled waste edible oil is analyzed, and the available solutions of it are discussed.


Neighbors Connected is a community-based intervention in the Netherlands. It helps the active older people to organize social activities for their less active older neighbors, facilitated by practical and financial support from the Community Health Service. The intervention is the outcome of a combination of semi-structured interviews with the older people, with organizations for older people and with local policy-makers, epidemiological data and interactive discussions, all of which support the notion that engaging in social activities is a way to enhance healthy ageing within the community. The use of different sources of evidence resulted in a comprehensive picture and actionable local knowledge.


In a complex cell system, it is now clear that biological function can not be attributed to an individual molecule in most of the cases. Network analysis of biological molecules has been proved informative. In gene network analysis, research shows that genes with related functions often have similar expression patterns. Pearson correlation coefficient is the most used representation in measuring similarity for gene-expression data. After getting the quantitative representation of the gene-gene relationship, further analysis such as clustering can be performed to further investigate the gene co-expression network. Due to the unsupervised property of the clustering method and the limitation of the Pearson correlation coefficient, some important gene-phenotype relationships may be dismissed while some false positive relationships may arise. Traditional gene sequencing experiments detect gene expression levels in a large number of cells thus only provide an average expression level which may not reflect the real interaction between genes which leads to falsenegative results. Yuan and Bar-Joseph developed a convolutional neural networks-based method called CNNC analysing singlecell gene expression data and inferring gene-gene relationships. Under the hypothesis that genes with related function often have similar expression pattern, the CNNC model learns the expression pattern between two genes and use the learned parameter to predict whether an unknown gene has similar expression pattern with a known one. CNNC is claimed to be able to overcome the shortcomings of traditional gene relationship analysis method. In our report, 4-Hydroxynonenal(HNE) related genes from former experiment and literature are collected as gene labels and were supposed to have a stronger interaction with each other. CNNC model was applied to see if HNE related gene-gene expression pattern could be separated from HNE non-related gene-gene expression pattern. Some adjustments were done to the CNNC model. A possible explanation for the result and a discussion on CNNC model are given in the report.


In order to study the electric-field-assisted generation of mobile holes, a capacitance-voltage method is applied to asymmetric capacitancelike devices. The concentration of mobile holes generated from charge-transfer complexes at the CuPc/MoO3 interface was studied both theoretically and experimentally. Furthermore, the efficiency of charge generation at various electric fields was also calculated. The capacitance of the device with only a 0.2 nm MoO3 layer first increased and then decreased during bias sweeping from 0 V to −30 V. The capacitance variation is in good agreement with theoretical calculation, which in turn strongly confirms the existence of electric-field-assisted generation mechanism of the mobile holes.In order to study the electric-field-assisted generation of mobile holes, a capacitance-voltage method is applied to asymmetric capacitancelike devices. The concentration of mobile holes generated from charge-transfer complexes at the CuPc/MoO3 interface was studied both theoretically and experimentally. Furthermore, the efficiency of charge generation at various electric fields was also calculated. The capacitance of the device with only a 0.2 nm MoO3 layer first increased and then decreased during bias sweeping from 0 V to −30 V. The capacitance variation is in good agreement with theoretical calculation, which in turn strongly confirms the existence of electric-field-assisted generation mechanism of the mobile holes.


The rapid socio-economic development since 1978 has posed many chal- lenges to Chinese urban transportation.To deal with the challenges,many explo- rations and policies have been made and formulated.However,little comparison has been made between the researches and policies.The paper is to review and com- pare some of the most important research findings,policy recommendations,and adopted policies.Therefore a better understanding of the achievements,recommenda- tion,gaps and development directions in the field of urban transportation can be provided.The paper also provides some concrete recommendations to the research of urban transportation.


According to the invention a piston ring with an outside tread, two sidewalls and an inner peripheral surface side is provided. The tread has has a profiling. The profile of the tread is substantially spherically convex and has an apex. The axial position of the apex varies periodically in the circumferential direction.


Bacterial DNA helicases are nucleic acid-dependent NTPases that play important roles in DNA replication, recombination and repair. We are interested in the DNA helicases of Mycobacteria, a genus of the phylum Actinobacteria, which includes the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its avirulent relative Mycobacterium smegmatis. Here, we identify and characterize M. smegmatis SftH, a superfamily II helicase with a distinctive domain structure, comprising an N-terminal NTPase domain and a C-terminal DUF1998 domain (containing a putative tetracysteine metal-binding motif). We show that SftH is a monomeric DNA-dependent ATPase/dATPase that translocates 3′ to 5′ on single-stranded DNA and has 3′ to 5′ helicase activity. SftH homologs are found in bacteria representing 12 different phyla, being especially prevalent in Actinobacteria (including M. tuberculosis). SftH homologs are evident in more than 30 genera of Archaea. Among eukarya, SftH homologs are present in plants and fungi.


At the end of fall 2004, the Association of Pediatricians received a request to express its opinion on the organization of mental care as put forward by the Ministere de la Sante et des Services sociaux (MSSS). Finally! Our opinion was being asked, which had to be a first, and, in addition, it was our opinion on the organization of a very sensitive area that is affecting us more and more closely. We said to ourselves that this was real progress, even though the document was more than 60 pages long and arrived on December 22 by e-mail. We had to believe that MSSS employees did not celebrate Christmas and, obviously, did not pull extra duty during that period! However, that was incidental because, for once, someone thought that paediatricians could contribute something in this area. There was no question of missing the opportunity we were being given.

Our opinion had to be produced by the end of January 2005 and presented to a committee, headed up by a psychiatrist. Because the invitation came from Dr Michel Bureau of the MSSS, we believed that our opinion would have a definite impact. So, to work! After the first read-through, we thought that perhaps we had gone a bit too quickly because there wasn't a single mention of paediatricians in the text – not one word. We read it again, and again, and then had to face the truth: the text distinguished itself by a total lack of recognition of what paediatricians do for the mental health of children in Quebec. First-line care is mentioned – detecting adjustment difficulties that can be assessed and treated by the Centres locaux de services communautaires experts. Second-line care will be the purview of general practitioners trained in psychiatry and supported by it and, finally, there is the referral to child psychiatry, which results from this second line only, to the exclusion of any other caregiver!


The present study brings out the effects of seven different (1,2.5, 5,7.5, lO, 15 and 20%) concentrations of extract of Hypnea mucilormis Lamour (red alga) on Arachis hypogaea Yar' VRI 2. Experiments were conducted in both petridishs and earthern pots. The effects of extract on germination percentage, shoot and root length, number of leaves and lateral roots have been brought out. In addition the effects of extract on the frequency of root nodules and epidermal morphology have also been discussed with reference to pot experiments.


Radiographic films fall into the category of medical waste, and their management is subjected to special regulations. Still widely used in Romania, radiographic films, are subsequently stored in large quantities; at minimum values of 2g Ag recovered per kilogram of radiographic film, a silver recovery of at least 300kg/year is estimated. In the literature, numerous methods of silver recovery from exposed radiographic films have been approached, of which: leaching by sodium hydroxide solution, using reducing agents in a two steps process and silver nitrate cementation with more active metals. The paper presents the results obtained under laboratory conditions on the recovery of silver using aqueous NaOH solution, running a complete flow of processing, from radiographic films to metallic silver production. There are also presented correlations between the monitored parameters, expressed both analytically and graphically.


Most people of later generations do not know the original meaning of the two words,"ao xiang" and "zhao jia",which results in misunderstanding.Tracing the origin,the paper does textual research about them.In most cases,"ao xiang" means "roaming" in ancient books,instead of the present "flying in the air".Five cases of "ao xiang" in the Book of Songs are all used to refer to people."Zhao jia",defined as "zhao ge",which is often seen in ancients books,means "informing".This is a term used in ancient ritual to express the spiritual and conscious communication between man and God.It not only can be used to express "informing God by people",but also be used to express "informing people by God"."Ge" extends to mean "connecting","inspiring" and "perceiving".


Variation of lattice constants of Ce 1-x M x O 2-0.5x-δ (M=Gd, Sm, Y; x=0, 0.1, 0.2) with temperature and oxide ion vacancy concentration was investigated with X-ray diffraction at 600°∼1000°C under various gas atmospheres. Linear thermal expansion and increase in expansion coefficient by trivalent cation content were observed in every specimen under N 2 and O 2 atmospheres. In N 2 /H 2 /H 2 O gas mixtures, expansion due to generation of oxide ion vacancies was observed at temperatures higher than 600°C in every specimen. Irrespective of the kind of trivalent cations, the dependence of lattice constants on δ was almost linear for the specimen with x = 0.2, whereas a bending point was observed for those with x = 0.1 and for pure ceria. The bending point was observed at around 0.1 of 0.5x+δ, which was the total amount of oxide ion vacancies.


Political machinations united with irregularities at elections to defeat C. M. government in Atlanta. The majority, howevre, was only 1,000 out of 14,000 and manager advocates are not downhearted. The fight was led by the women.


This work was carried out in the city of canton, Bolivar being the main objective to determine the feasibility for the creation of a company dedicated to the production of flavored rompopes sock. The techniques used in research study of market, the technical study and economic analysis - financial. With regard to the methodology applied frontier research that allowed to know market the product, skills and consumers, likewise descriptive research which removes the features of the niche market and identifies the tastes and preferences of the consumer, the instrument used was the field study which facilitated the collection of information to carry out the survey, which was applied to the inhabitants of the five selected cantons: Bolivar, Chone, Portoviejo, Manta and del Carmen, making in this way the market study determining the demand and supply of eggnog. Population growth rate of projection method was used to establish the percentage of total population growth. Developed a technical study that revealed information of investment and production costs, others ran the financial economic evaluation for the viability of the project. Because the country is very productive born entrepreneurs in productive business ideas. One of the main goals of the company is to provide a quality product with different flavours to suit all tastes, thereby establishing a business that generates jobs and strengthen the development of the country, province and canton.


Background and Objective: The traditional diagnosis methods have been considered efficient to distinguish between active and non-active states of Periodontitis. These indicators will provide information about the severity and extent of disease rather than on the current activity of the disease. The present study was a guideline to determinate the effect of elastaese in salvia before and after treatment of periodontal disease. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was performed on the chronic periodontitis. Full-mouth bleeding on probing (BOP), probing depth (PD), Plaque index (PI), clinical attachment loss (CAL) and salivary elastase were recorded from all patients before and after six weeks of treatment (first phase of periodontal therapy). The levels of elastase were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The results demonstrated significant differences in the above mentioned clinical parameters and levels of salivary IL-8 among study groups (P<0.05). Smokers with periodontitis had the highest and non-smokers with healthy periodontium had the lowest salivary IL-8 level. Conclusion:The levels of elastase in saliva before treatment were higher than post treatment. Therefore, periodontal disease seems to be related to higher levels of elastase in saliva. ►Please cite this paper as: Jahangirnezhad M, Mafi M, Zia P, Mirzaei R, Safikhani E. Evaluation of Salivary Interleukin-18 in Smokers and Non-smokers with Chronic Periodontitis Referred to Dentistry Faculty of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences at 1392. Jundishapur Sci Med J 2016; Suppl: 99-106


Abstract : Sound incident on the sea bottom at small grazing angles can produce acoustical evanescent waves in the sediment. The objective of this project was to describe the scattering by regular and irregular objects illuminated by acoustical evanescent waves in a simulated sediment. The theoretical developments were tested with laboratory scale experiments using a unique facility. The observables of interest in the scattering included (but were not limited to): (1) the scattering amplitude as a function of target depth and orientation; (2) the timing of the scattered signals; (3) the frequency dependence of the scattering. Objects investigated included objects having narrow resonances. The results should be helpful in selecting filters to optimize the signal-to-reverberation-ratio for targets buried in real environments and to reduce the rate of false alarms.


Fisheries are characterized by variations in space and time. This study investigates the characteristics of seasonality in cod trawl fisheries in two distinct areas: the coast along the northern Norway and the high sea area of the Barents Sea. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) is used to proxy variation in stock abundance. A CPUE function has been estimated in the frequency‐domain framework, to detect the presence of seasonality. Our analysis reveals that seasonality in stock abundance is only present in the northern coast of Norway. We conclude that as a consequence of seasonality in stock aggregation during the first quarter of the fishing year, possible economic losses caused by reduced prices—stemming from a large supply of cod—are larger than the economic benefits from cost reduction per unit of harvest. We speculate that declined price and consequently potential economic losses encourage trawlers to substitute cod by other high‐value fisheries during the winter months. As the price of cod starts to rise after the first quarter, trawlers begin to target cod in the high sea areas, a region with less seasonality.


Licensure, credentialling and academic institutions are seeking new innovative approaches to the assessment of professional competence. Central to these recent initiatives is the need to determine standards of performance, which separate the competent from the non-competent candidate. Setting standards for performance assessment is a relatively new area of study. Consequently, there is no one recommended approach to setting standards. The goal of this guide is to familiarize the reader with the framework, principles, key concepts and practical considerations of standard setting approaches and to enable the reader to make 'educated' choices in selecting the most appropriate standard setting approach for their testing needs.


For revealing illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, a neutron interrogation method was developed. A 4 MeV linear accelerator served as a pulsed neutron source for assay of highly enriched U samples. Produced in Be or heavy water by bremsstrahlung, neutrons subsequently induced fission in the samples. A neutron collar was built for detecting delayed fission neutrons. A PC controlled multiscaler served as a time analyzer, triggering the detector startup by the beam pulse. A lower sensitivity limit of the order of 10 mg 235 U was determined in a 20 s measurement time with a mean electron current intensity of 10 µ A.


Polymers of ethylene having incorporated therein (1) 5-50 weight parts of a rubber and/or an elastomer based on 100 weight parts of the ethylene polymers, (2) a crosslinking agent selected from bis(tert. alkylperoxy)-alkane or bis(tert. alkylperoxy)benzene, and (3) 0.5-5 times by weight the amount of the crosslinking agent, of at least one cross-linking aid selected from 1,2-polybutadiene, triallyl cyanurate and triallyl isocyanurate, are rotationally molded to produce molded articles possessing good release characteristics as well as high impact strength and enhanced surface luster.


Muslim librarianship and penmanship were established due to the Qur'anic and Prophetic teachings. Some Muslim monarchs in the times Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids and others carried out the quest for learning and education and they considered it part of the faith, their utmost concern was accumulating books as well establishing libraries. This paper investigates the dawn of Muslim librarianship and its development as well as an overview of Baghdad and Cairo's Houses of Wisdom libraries. It also examines the administrative, managerial and technical aspects within the two chosen institutions as they had a remarkable set of administration and financial management. The current paper will be significant in the way it historically deals with the administrative and technical features of two of the most celebrated libraries in Muslim education. The paper follows a qualitative research founded on historical and descriptive approaches, through which the data was collected and interpreted objectively and accordingly. Citation: Algeriani AMA, Mohadi M (2018) The Administrative and Technical Aspects in Baghdad and Cairo's House of Wisdom Libraries (a Comparative Analysis). Arts Social Sci J 9: 402. doi: 10.4172/2151-6200.1000402


Acknowledgments. Chapter 1: Introduction. Scorecards: General Overview. Chapter 2: Scorecard Development: The People and the Process. Scorecard Development Roles. Intelligent Scorecard Development. Scorecard Development and Implementation Process: Overview. Chapter 3: Scorecard Development Process, Stage 1: Preliminaries and Planning. Create Business Plan. Create Project Plan. Why "Scorecard" Format? Chapter 4: Scorecard Development Process, Stage 2: Data Review and Project Parameters. Data Availability and Quality. Data Gathering for Definition of Project Parameters. Definition of Project Parameters. Segmentation. Methodology. Review of Implementation Plan. Chapter 5: Scorecard Development Process, Stage 3: Development Database Creation. Development Sample Specification. Development Data Collection and Construction. Adjusting for Prior Probabilities. Chapter 6: Scorecard Development Process, Stage 4: Scorecard Development. Explore Data. Missing Values and Outliers. Correlation. Initial Characteristic Analysis. Preliminary Scorecard. Reject Inference. Final Scorecard Production. Choosing a Scorecard. Validation. Chapter 7: Scorecard Development Process, Stage 5: Scorecard Management Reports. Gains Table. Characteristic Reports. Chapter 8: Scorecard Development Process, Stage 6: Scorecard Implementation. Preimplementation Validation. Strategy Development. Chapter 9: Scorecard Development Process, Stage 7: Postimplementation. Scorecard and Portfolio Monitoring Reports. Review. Bibliography. Index.


This research, based on surveys of 456 young Canadians enrolled at universities where English is the primary language of instruction, seeks answers to several basic questions at the foundation of the inquiry into the impact of popular culture on young English-speaking Canadians ' political beliefs. It investigates whether young Canadians actually perceive any political messages in popular culture, and whether they think about these themes in a rigorous way. We investigate whether conservative or liberal youths are more likely to agree or disagree with the politics of popular culture, and to what extent young Canadians ' attitudes toward the socio-political content of the entertainment media are different from US youths ' attitudes. This research also serves to link the passive and active theories of socialization, and to contribute to the debate over the existence of US cultural imperialism.


The efficiency of water pretreatment at heat and electric power plants using low-molecular-weight cationic Praestols (coagulants) in combination with lime, iron sulfate, and flocculant (high-molecular-weight anionic Praestol) was studied. Desalted water for heat and electric power plants (HEPPs) is often prepared in two main stages: pre- treatment to remove coarse, colloidal, and dissolved mineral and organic admixtures and demineralization with ion-exchange resins. Pretreatment is performed with mineral coagulants such as iron(II) sulfate and aluminum sulfate or chloride, with subsequent clarification of water and removal of precipitates using clarifiers and mechanical filters. As shown in (1), the pretreatment of water at about a half of heat and electric power stations in Russia is performed using iron(II) sulfate (liming and coagulation). In the recent decades, organic polymeric coagulants with low molecular weight and positive charge, providing destabilization of negatively charged colloidal par- ticles and rapid flocculation, have found expanding application in advanced countries along with common mineral coagulants. In the presence of organic coagu- lants, the precipitate particles become coarser, and thus the solutions are easier clarified and filtered, whereas the mineral composition of water and its pH remain unchanged. Water pretreatment can be intensi- fied by simultaneous use of organic and mineral coagulants and flocculants (2). As shown in (3), iron(II) sulfate coagulant in combination with high- molecular-weight cationic and anionic Praestol floc- culants shows high performance in the water pretreat- ment at heat and electric power plants. In this work we studied the performance of low- molecular-weight cationic Praestol coagulants used in combination with lime, iron(II) sulfate, and floc- culant (high-molecular-weight anionic Praestol) in water treatment at HEPP facilities.


Purpose: Ghana has suffered some disasters both natural and manmade. Several natural disasters have occurred from the days of biblical Noah until now. These natural disasters have taken various forms; floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruption tsunamis, tornadoes, landslides, hurricane, and among others. Within the past decades, natural disaster has become a global pandemic which hampers economic and social development. This global phenomenon has affected over 6 million people and cause economic damage of approximately $870,700,000 in Ghana .it is necessary or advisable to ascertain the causes of the natural disasters(floods) in Ghana and the propose an approach that disaster(floods) impacts and save lives and properties. My case study will be in Accra, the capital town of Ghana, which have been employed in my study since it recorded the highest natural disaster like (floods) and how best it can be managed using the statistical approach.
Methodology: The study used Desktop literature approach.
Findings: The study reveals that natural disasters are a great threat to humanity. Although they occurred long before the first human populated the planet, we likely contribute to an increase in natural disasters through our behavior. The number of natural disasters seems to be positively correlated to an increase in the earth's temperature.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study recommended that countries should improve their emergency measures in order to save as many people as possible. They should also work together in order to mitigate the problem of natural disasters and ensure a livable future for future generations


Motivation. Connectivity and ubiquity of computing devices enabled a wide spectrum of network applications such as content delivery, interpersonal communication, and intervehicular communication. New use cases (e.g., autonomous driving, augmented reality, and tactile internet) require satisfying user-generated and machine-generated demand with stringent low-latency and high-bandwidth guarantees.


The proprotein convertase PC1/3 belongs to the subtilisin/kexin-like endoprotease family and is synthesized as a preproenzyme. To investigate the function of its propeptide, murine proPC1/3 and preproPC1/3 were isolated from the inclusion bodies of recombinant preproPC1/3 baculovirus-infected insect cells, rendered soluble with 6 m guanidine HCl and 20 mmdithiothreitol, and purified by gel filtration and metal-binding affinity chromatography. Two NH2-terminal fragments containing the complete propeptide 1–84 region were obtained after CNBr cleavage, purified, and chemically characterized. Progress curve kinetic analysis with enzymatically active murine 71-kDa PC1/3 or 50-kDa human furin demonstrated that both fragments were potent slow tight-binding inhibitors of either enzyme with K i in the low nanomolar range. Additional cleavages at Trp residues yielded fragment9–71, which no longer represents a potent inhibitor. Upon incubation at pH 5.5 in the presence of excess 71-kDa murine PC1/3, NH2-terminal fragment1–98 is cleaved at two sites, as revealed through Western blotting using NH2-terminal-directed PC1/3 antibodies. Finally, murine PC2 is inhibited by the proPC1/31–98 peptide, albeit at a much lesser extent with a micromolar K i and in a strictly competitive manner. These results suggest that the proregion of PC1/3 is an important feature in regulating its activity.


Abstract : More than a decade after victory in Cold War, the U.S. continues to grapple with how best to structure its strategic nuclear forces and to reorient its deterrence policy in the post Cold War era. A complex multi-polar international structure replaced a much simpler bipolar structure that was dominated by a well-understood monolithic threat. The resultant uncertainty drives the U.S. to adjust its deterrence strategy to the changed strategic environment. The Bush Administration proposed a new strategic plan with significant adjustments to force structure and deterrence policy. I propose to assess the Bush Administration's plan for strategic nuclear deterrence in the Third Millennium. I will first examine the concept of deterrence strategy and then review the strategies used in the Cold War and post-Cold War eras. I will then assess the existing and emerging strategic threats. I will then review the emerging strategy of the Bush Administration and provide alternative strategies in comparison to the Bush Plan for U.S. strategic nuclear deterrence.


Quebra-pedra (Phyllanthus stipulatus (Raf.) Webster, Euphorbiaceae) is a popular remedy used to reduce uric acid in blood and to facilite the elimination of kidney stones. The research was carried out at the Vegetable Crops Experiment Station of the National Institute for Amazonian Research, in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, using seeds of a local wild population. A split-plot design was used, where the main plots were the natural environment and 50% shade, the subplots were constituted by doses of 0,2,4,6, 8 and 10 kg of organic compost (OC)/m2 and contained 20 plants in 1 m2. The following characters of the 6 useful plants per subplot were evaluated: stalk diameter at soil level, plant height, root, stalk, branch and leaf biomass (fresh and dry). No significant differences among environments were found for total plant biomass (63.1 g vs 62.3 g fresh wt, 26.6 g vs 25.6 g dry wt, respectively), but were found for height (70.0 cm in sun light vs 96.2 cm in shade) and, consequendy, for stalk biomass (5.1 and 5.7 g dry wt, respectively). Quebra-pedra responds to organic manure, both in total biomass and in all of its components, with an increment of 43% in total biomass between the minimum and maximum treatment, but the benefit/cost ratio suggests that 4 kg of OC/m2 is the maximum amount that is economically viable in the soil used. Total biomass is composed of 17.2% root, 22.3% stalk, 23.1% branches and 37.4% leaves. Plant growth demands considerable potassium but little phosphorous, magnesium or micronutrients.


The acquisition of outstanding capacities by athletes is an extremely complicated process,restricted by many factors.The acquisition of outstanding sports capacities needs a superior sports gift,as well as postnatal deliberate training,relies on a series of objective conditions,as well as subjective internal power,and requires scientific training to be carried out according the pattern of physiological and mental development of the human body,as well as the assistant support provided by modern science and technology.


The present study investigated the apoptotic effects of ethacrynic acid (EA) and the antifungal agent ciclopiroxolamine (cic), another drug that inhibits Wnt/beta-catenin signalling, on the myeloma cell line OPM-2 and three lymphoma cell lines OCI-LY8-LAM-53, SU-DHL-4 and Raji in vitro in comparison to normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) derived from healthy people. In contrast to PBMC, cic and EA led to a significant decrease of viability in lymphoma and myeloma cell lines. In conclusion, our results showed a significant selective induction of apoptosis by cic and EA in lymphoma and myeloma cells. The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway has been shown to play an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis (Miller et al, 1999; You et al, 2002; Cadigan & Liu, 2006). It was recently demonstrated that the Wnt pathway is activated in lymphoma (Lu et al, 2004). Therefore, the Wnt/beta-catenin signalling molecules are attractive candidates for developing targeted therapies for lymphoma. Recently, we confirmed that the diuretic agent ethacrynic acid (EA) inhibited Wnt/beta-catenin signalling (J.X. Liu, T. Endo, I.G.H. Schmidt-Wolf, H. Zhou, J.E. Castro, T.J. Kipps, D.A. Carson and D. Lu, unpublished data). EA is already used clinically as a diuretic agent. Glutathione-Stransferase (GST), which is overexpressed in human tumours in form of GST-P, couples glutathione (GSH) with electrophilic compounds and detoxifies the cell (Aizawa et al, 2003). GSH acts as a reducing agent and antioxidant. The binding of EA to GSH can enhance the cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic agents (Nagourney et al, 1990). Ciclopiroxolamine (cic) is a synthetic antifungal agent used topically for the treatment of yeast infections in humans and is degraded by glucoronidation (Hoffman et al, 1991). It acts as chelator of polyvalent metal cations (e.g. Feand Al) resulting in the inhibition of the metal-depending enzymes occurring in the metabolism of the cell. Furthermore, it blocks the cell cycle near the G1/S phase boundary (Hoffman et al, 1991). Recently, we used a 96-well plate-based TOPflash reporter system to screen the Gen-plus drug library (Microsource, Gaylordsville, CT, USA), which contained 960 compounds. This screen identified EA and cic as Wnt/beta-catenin inhibitors (J.X. Liu, T. Endo, I.G.H. Schmidt-Wolf, H. Zhou, J.E. Castro, T.J. Kipps, D.A. Carson and D. Lu, unpublished data). Given that the canonical Wnt signalling pathway is activated in lymphoma and myeloma cells (Lu et al, 2004), we investigated whether EA and cic could induce apoptosis and decrease viability of lymphoma and myeloma cell lines. EA and cic were titred in various lymphoma and myeloma cell lines and in PBMC derived from healthy individuals in order to check for toxicity. Titration of EA and cic revealed that 30 lmol/l EA and 10 lmol/l cic were the most effective concentrations to initialise cell death in lymphoma and myeloma cell lines without deteriorating the viability of normal PBMCs significantly (data not shown). The effect of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) as a toxic solvent was only observed in the myeloma cell line OPM-2 (see below). As control, PBMC were investigated for fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. A toxic effect toward cells induced a shift from viable, DiOC6-positive cells to apoptotic, DiOC6-negative cells. Viability of the cell lines and PBMC decreased slowly over time. After 72 h, the relative viability for the lymphoma cell lines SU-DHL-4, LAM-53 and Raji in the presence of EA (30 lmol/l) was 97Æ6 ± 1Æ1%, 91Æ0 ± 4Æ9% and 78Æ9 ± 2Æ1% respectively (Fig 1). These values were similar to values of the control of PBMC with 89Æ5 ± 3Æ1%. In contrast to PBMC and lymphoma cell lines, the myeloma cell line OPM-2 was highly sensitive towards DMSO and showed a decreased relative viability to 66Æ8 ± 2Æ3%. In the presence of cic (10 lmol/l), viability of the lymphoma cell lines was reduced to 55Æ9 ± 1Æ6% for SU-DHL-4, 32Æ4 ± 3Æ3% for LAM-53 and 21Æ7 ± 1Æ4% for Raji (all statistically significant with a P-value < 0Æ05) in contrast to PBMC, with 94Æ4 ± 1Æ8% viability. Similar to lymphoma cell lines, cic had a strong effect on cell vitality of the myeloma cell line OPM-2 reducing the relative viability by up to 29Æ4 ± 4Æ7% (P-value < 0Æ05). The decrease in viability was less pronounced using EA as compared to cic cell cultures (Fig 1). The combination of EA and cic showed similar values to those obtained with cic alone for SU-DHL-4 and LAM-53 cell lines. In the case of Raji cells, EA inhibited the toxic effect of cic from 21Æ7 ± 1Æ4% up to 59Æ3/)2Æ3%. In addition, in OPM myeloma cells the combination of cic and EA showed low values, with 27Æ9 ± 4Æ6% viability after 72 h of culture (P-value < 0Æ05; Fig 1). The effect of EA was studied in primary cultures derived from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Similar data as for cell lines (Fig 1) were obtained for primary cells (data not shown). In conclusion, our results showed a significant induction of apoptosis by cic and EA in lymphoma and myeloma cells. Taken together with our previous results (Lu et al, 2004), our data suggest that EA and cic can inhibit Wnt/beta-catenin signalling in lymphoma and myeloma cell lines. In addition, EA was also shown to be effective in primary cultures derived from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Our results are in accordance with a recent report (Sukhdeo et al, 2007) that the canonical Wnt signalling pathway is activated in multiple myeloma through constitutively active beta-catenin. Correspondence