Objective: A major limitation in gene delivery applications employing nanocarriers is the inflammatory response elicited when administered in vivo. The mode of complexation of the oligonucleotide with the carrier can alter its interactions with biomolecules, a fact that has not been explored for lipoplexes hitherto. Materials: Liposomes prepared by thin film hydration were used to form lipoplexes of si-RNA and DNA, which exhibited a smaller size and a shift toward negative zeta potential when compared with blank liposomes. Results: The oligonucleotides wrap over the liposome surface and the surface coverage depends on the number of base pairs. The colloidal stability, protein resistance and cell uptake of lipoplexes were found to be dependent on surface charge and PEG. The lipoplexes with si-RNA did not induce cytokine production in BALB/c mice. Conclusion: The results highlight the importance of PEGylation for achieving good protein resistance without compromising cell uptake and therapeutic efficiency.


Tourist events represent not only a significant tourism potential, but also
 the touristic product of Serbia. There are approximately 2500 events every
 year, attended by several million visitors from Serbia and all around the
 world. Since the 1990s in the world and since the beginning of the 21st
 century in Serbia, the organization and development of events has become a
 significantly profitable activity. Certain countries developed event tourism
 strategies on the level of the country or on the regional level; in Serbia,
 the event tourism is mentioned in the national tourism development strategies
 and certain regional ones. This paper targets the need for development of
 Event Tourism Strategy on the level of Serbia.


The purpose of this paper is to repel an objection of Dr. Sonnenschein's in Classical Philology, XVI, 231 ff. In the course of an inquiry into certain points of Terence's metrical practice, I noted the fact that ego, like quis, has regularly the effect of shortening any subjoined case of an unemphatic pronoun (ego huinc, ego ilium, ego istuc, etc.); and, in explanation of it, I put forward a suggestion that the reason for this effect is the intensity of ego (as of quis). Other explanations may be given: I claimed no originality for mine, which is little more than a rehabilitation of Havet's doctrine or a slight variation of Lindsay's. Ego huinc vidi: why is hunc shortened ? Will Dr. Sonnenschein tell me? I reject as unreasonable any such account as makes it a metrical license. If Terence regularly says ego hu'nc vidi and quid est quod, etc.-as he does-I refuse to believe that these phrases were not regularly pronounced so in conversation. Comic verse cannot persistently mispronounce current phrases. The cause may be the grouping or slurring of short words, or (what seems to me incidental to a grouping or slurring practice of pronunciation) the intensity of the preceding syllable; or I am ready to hear any other account that may be given. But Dr. Sonnenschein questions the position that " ego is only expressed when emphatic"; and this point is of sufficiently general interest to Latinists to justify a separate discussion. However, since this is only a detail disengaged from a larger inquiry, I beg leave at the same time to make a few observations on Dr. Sonnenschein's paper. 1. I avoided those magic letters OL just because they assume an identity of practice between Plautus and Terence. The generalization may be highly fallacious if pressed too far. The interval between Plautus' birth and the birth of Terence and the two men whose collaboration he did not deny is about the same as divides Shakespeare from Dryden. It is needless to detail the gulf of divergence in edu-


A graphical analysis method for the running kernel of the embedded Linux system is introduced.The method is designed and implemented based on the Linux character device driver,kernel source code instrumentation and kernel patch technology,the TCP communication between Windows XP system and the embedded Linux system based on Socket and the graphical display technology.The dynamic information of the system events can be displayed in a viewgraph window which helps software developers to detect problems relating to task interaction and determine application responsiveness and performance.


Boundary element methods are often employed in the numerical prediction of railway induced vibrations. The evaluation of large models is limited, however, due to the computational requirements in terms of memory storage and computation time, which impedes to rigorously account for the presence of multiple buildings in an urban area. This paper presents a novel hierarchical boundary element method for elastodynamics based on halfspace Green's functions; meshing of the free surface and the layer interfaces is hence avoided. Numerical examples are discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology, indicating that the model size can be increased with an order of magnitude, which allows to perform large scale boundary element computations. A synthetic case study of an urban environment is finally introduced to investigate the influence of the trough–soil coupling of closely spaced buildings on the wavefield in the soil and the structural response.


Last 2013, the Philippines approved the Anti-Bullying law, which covered cyberbullying. However, a 2015 study revealed that 80% of filipino teenagers aged 13 to 16 are still experiencing cyberbullying (Takumi, 2016). This paper attempted to compare existing laws on cyberbullying among selected ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It also aims to identify each country's anti-cyberbullying measures that might fit other ASEAN countries' needs. To achieve its purposes, it used a qualitative research with the following primary methods: discourse analysis of cyberbullying laws and alternative strategies addressing said concern; and literature review of online journals, online publications, and online news articles. The study revealed that the Philippines is the only ASEAN country with a cyberbullying law that addresses the students, while other countries have alternative strategies in addressing the issue. Further, it found that cyberbullying is experienced by individuals that promotes digital responsibility. Finally, parents are encouraged to educate their children on ethical values, particularly in the digital world.


This paper proposes a new family of symmetric 4-point ternary non-stationary subdivision schemes that can generate the limit curves of C 3 continuity. The continuity of this scheme is higher than the existing 4-point ternary approximating schemes. The proposed scheme has been developed using trigonometric B-spline basis functions and analyzed using the theory of asymptotic equivalence. It has the ability to reproduce or regenerate the conic sections, trigonometric polynomials and trigonometric splines as well. Some graphical and numerical examples are being considered, by choosing an appropriate tension parameter 0 < α < π/ 3, to show the usefulness of the proposed scheme. Moreover, the H¨older regularity and the reproduction property are also being calculated.


In this paper, telescopic resonator is introduced which is a valuable design due to creating a high mode volume. We designed the resonator based on the Gaussian beam theory in such a way that the change in focal length of the laser rod due to unwanted heat and telescope defocusing have the least effect on the TEM00 mode volume. we properties of the telescopic resonator in a Nd:YAG laser has been investigated and the TEM00 mode is maximized. the results show that for , the spot size is independent of the mirrors'curvature radius.We calculated with ABCD matrix in order to achieve the mode volume.


We propose a novel method to enhance the quality and precision of model-based simulation results by combining the a-priori information contained in the simulations with the a-posteriori knowledge of the measurements. This method involves the use of K-means clustering, independent component analysis (ICA) and artificial neural network (ANN). The K-means block divides the whole learning space into subspaces to ensure a better generalization of the ANN. The ICA block, being the main contribution of this work, makes the input variables of the ANN statistically independent so that the ANN can operate on one-dimensional distributions without losing information on joint statistics. The proposed method is applied to a prediction tool of a third generation (3G) cellular radio network. Results show that the differences observed between simulations and measurements can be considerably diminished. We can then predict with enhanced accuracy 'unobserved' configurations as long they are not very different from 'learned' configurations


Ensuring adequate levels of quality of life of an elderly man, with increased life expectancy is one of the important problems facing modern society. The solution to this problem is possible only from the standpoint of the concept of biological age. As a result, recent studies have shown that among men of older age groups living in the European North of Russia, there is a predominance of individuals with an accelerated rate of aging. The paper presents studies of the quality of life in older age groups of men of different biological age. Found that the accelerated pace of aging in men of older age groups may result in poor self-esteem and age to reduce their quality of life. It is shown that the male elderly with the accelerated pace of aging higher risk of postural instability, rather than in individuals of the same age with a moderate rate of aging.


This case study investigates the KIKO currency option that has been a social issue in recent years among developing countries, especially Korea, where the financial derivatives market is in a state of rapid growth. The forward transaction which becomes a basis of derivatives is intended to hedge risks that may be caused by a future change in asset prices. Although it originates from a simple form of agricultural transactions, there currently exists a variety of derivatives in more sophisticated forms. In the Korean agricultural industry, the need to use such derivatives is great, as there is a huge risk of price fluctuation in agricultural products due to frequent adverse weather. In addition, many developing countries with export-led industrial structures similar to Korea's, of necessity must resort to currency hedging as a method of reducing relevant risk. However, in most cases, the lack of understanding about financial derivatives results in an inappropriate application of these derivatives. The KIKO in this study represents such cases. Since 2007, KIKO has been sold in Korea to many small- and medium-sized export companies for the purpose of currency hedging when the exchange rate between the Korean won and the U.S. dollar was in a downward spiral. The main focus of this study is a case which is most representative of KIKO.As inflation rapidly increased during the financial crisis in the U.S. at the end of 2007, derivatives became a hot issue in the courts rather than in the financial markets. This case study investigates what KIKO and the fierce legal debates over it imply, from the perspective of the option of value evaluation in order to suggest not only a direction in which companies can utilize financial derivatives, but also a roadmap for the future derivatives market.


This research is motivated by the observations of researchers that the ability to write intrinsic elements of the saga is very low. This was allegedly due to the application of inappropriate learning methods. Then the interests and motivation of student learning are also very lacking so students cannot play an active role. The purpose of the formulation of this problem is to describe and know the planning of writing intrinsic elements of saga, the results of Cooperative Script learning on the ability to understand the intrinsic elements of class X students' stories. The research method used is quantitative experimental methods. The design of this research method is the type of design of One Group Pretest-Posttest Design. The population studied were all SMK students with a total of 60 people. While for the sample, there are 20 class X students. Data collection techniques are through research tests/questionnaires. Data processing techniques are carried out using statistics. The results of this study are that there is an increase in understanding of saga learning. Students are able to write intrinsic elements of the story well and students can feel the results of learning are very satisfying. Obtained an increase in the results of learning using the Cooperative Script method there are significant differences in values, the highest value of the initial test of 78 and the final test value of 90, it was concluded that this method is suitably applied to learning writing.


The main characters Sun Shaoping and Du Luowa in the books Ordinary World and Beautiful Friends are ambitious and both of them are common people and born in the lower class,but they are not satisfied with what they are in the society under the influence of the outside world.Their inner character,living circumstances,loving view,effort are different their own way.


Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of using a 3D dosimetry system consisting of a radiochromic ferrous xylenol orange (FX) gel and a prototype commercial cone beam optical‐CT scanning system (Vista™, Modus Medical Devices, Inc., London, ON) to dosimetrially characterize small megavoltage photon fields. Method and Materials: An FXG gel was irradiated using 6MV x‐ray fields (30, 10 and 5mm diameter) produced via custom stereotactic collimators mounted on a Varian Clinac 2100EX accelerator. Measurements were also completed using radiochromic (Gafchromic EBT) and radiographic (Kodak EDR2) film, and a Exradin A1SL ion chamber for comparison purposes. The gel was optically CT scanned 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes post‐irradiation to assess the effects of xylenol orange/ferric ion complex diffusion in gel. Lateral dose profiles and percentage depth dose (PDD) curves were extracted from the 3D image data sets for analysis. Results: FX gels together with fast optical CT scanning allows for the measurement of all dosimetric parameters required as pencil beam input for treatment planning systems in a single irradiation. The experimental set‐up is simple, and the gel allows for dose measurements in a tissue‐equivalent and energy‐independent medium. Lateral beam profiles as measured in the FXG gel matched those measured using both types of film within 2 mm. PDD curves measured with gel and ion chamber were also in good agreement (within 3 mm) up to 65mm depth. Conclusion: The radiochromic FX gel and fast optical CT scanner is a promising dosimetry system for the characterization of small x‐ray fields for the purposes of commissioning treatment planning systems. The advantage is that a full 3D data set can be acquired quickly and efficiently. Conflict of Interest: Two of the authors (KJ and JB) have a licensing agreement with Modus Medical Devices, Inc. for the commercialization of the Vista™ scanner.


a building contractor by occupation. The back of the volunteer's shoulder was selected for inoculation, as it was under the clothes and covered by the shirt. The skin was sterilised with tincture of iodine and washed with absolute alcohol. A hypodermic Record syringe was sterilised in olive oil at 140?C, cooled, and then filled with 1 c.c. of the culture of Leishmania tropica from the water of condensation of the NNN medium. This fl'uid was then injected intracntaneously over an area of about fth of an inch diameter on 15th August, 1925. A week later the man was examined and the inoculated area was found normal in appearance.' A second injection was given as above at the same spot with a week-old culture. A very small nodule developed in about three weeks at the site of inoculation; otherwise the man was in perfect health. The nodule persisted, but gave no trouble except that it was slightly itchy. The volunteer went to Kathiawar on 1st May, 1926, i.e., about 8^ months after the inoculation. The nodule enlarged and ulcerated after a further 3 to 4 months, i.e., a year later, when in Kathiawar. The man then


The process of knowledge acquisition, creation and
effective utilization is considered a key determinant of innovation activity.Thus, this process becomes a strong source of competitiveness.Knowledge is best transferred in a collaborative environment with strong links between actors. Here we focus on creative industries which can be characterized by a high
importance of individuals and their social networks in the local and regional development. The paper deals with the determinants of cooperation and innovation in the creative industries, including knowledge acquisition from various sources, R&D activity and support, and creative individuals. We empirically show that firms from creative industries create innovation mainly through knowledge acquisition from clients and competition. The industry effect was
also a significant determinant of innovation activity.


The reaction between M2(NMe2)6 and <2 equiv. of p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene (H4L) in hydrocarbon solvents leads to (H2NMe2)2[M2(µ,η2,η2-L)2] 1 (M = Mo, W), which isomerizes to the unbridged isomers (H2NMe2)2[M2(η4-L)2] 2 upon heating in refluxing pyridine (L = quadruply deprotonated calix[4]arene); related complexes M2(η4-HL)2 3 (M = Mo, W) are prepared from reactions involving M2(OBut)6 and H4L, and these react with HNMe2 to give 2 (M = Mo and W) while [NH2Me2][W2(η4-L)(η4-HL)] 4 can be obtained by the reaction between 2 and 3 (M = W) in a 1:1 ratio.


This publication explains what happens when stormwater runoff enters constructed environments, its impacts on water bodies, and how individuals can take steps to lower their own stormwater runoff footprint. This guide can increase awareness of ways to reduce each person's role in water quality impairment by stormwater pollution. This publication is intended primarily for urban residential readers and does not focus on agricultural runoff.


The invention relates to a structure of a hot-pressing pad, which comprises a buffer material in an upper layer, a buffer material in a lower layer and at least a filling body, wherein the filling body is combined between the buffer material in the upper layer and the buffer material in the lower layer and hot pressing is performed around the filling body, so that hot-pressed parts of the buffer material in the upper layer and the buffer material in the lower layer are melted to be combined compactly as a whole, and a geometric hot pressing mark is formed on the buffer material in the upper layer, in this way, a buffer chamber is formed on the buffer material in the upper layer, while the filling body or a plastic body is combined in the buffer chamber. A buffer pad with a scattering or moulding function is formed on the surface of the buffer material in the upper layer. When the structure of the hot-pressing pad is used for a mattress, a sleeping pad, a cushion, a back cushion or a backrest, the buffer pad can effectively support relevant parts of a human body to alleviate stress as well as exert the effect of buffering pressure and preventing impact.


T HIS IS the second issue of the 18th year of publication of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CONTROL SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY and my first year as Editor-in-Chief. I am very proud to serve under this capacity. I would like to thank Prof. Frank Doyle for his exceptional support and help in this smooth editorship transition. The editorial office at the University of Trieste is now fully operational thanks to Frank's extremely insightful support. A heartfelt thank you goes to Elizabeth Goffin for the patience in sharing her knowledge in managing the Scholar One electronic review system with my office. My recent research experience in control systems applications regards the process control context with a specific focus on the steel industry. The number of challenging control problems posed by this kind of a (apparently) mature field always surprises me and leads to the title of my first editorial: "Control Systems Technology: Towards a Systems-of-Systems Perspective?" I am referring to very large-scale integrated and interconnected systems, for example, critical infrastructures, energy systems, very large process plants, and so on. When looking at these real-world examples from a systems-of-systems perspective, it turns out that wider control objectives and significance arise. Systems of this kind are typically made of many thousands of embedded subsystems interconnected by wired and wireless communication links at component, control, and management levels. Plant-wide key process indicators such as safety, availability, dependability, and so on, have to be considered at the automation system design level. Indeed, by the systems-of-systems conceptual approach, the integration of current separate and independent technological aspects such as production, control, energy management, and maintenance has to be achieved in a seamless way, thus raising several interesting research challenges, both theoretical and practical. As mentioned by Prof. Antsaklis in the January 2010 editorial of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATIC CONTROL, "feedback transcends models and we need to broaden our horizons". I share this vision as far as control applications are concerned, especially in the light of the framework above, where models that are useful for control purposes are typically very difficult to develop. As a consequence, our well-known model-based approaches may very well turn out to be inadequate and new systems engineering paradigms will be needed, characterized by a pervasive influence of "control-thinking" at the design level, for example, by codesigning significant parts of the system and of its control architecture. I hope to be able to attract high-quality papers on significant control technology advances in this very promising field of engineering research.


Serum proteins of Korean native dogs (Gyeongju DongGyeong dogs) was analyzed by capillary electrophoresis system. Electrophoretic patterns showed six fractions. Total serum protein and ratio of albumin to globulin were (g/dl) and (g/dl) in DongGyeong dogs. Relative percentages of total serum albumin and , , , , -globulin fraction were , , , , , and , respectively. It was observed that -globulin was higher than other fractions. The most striking alternation with age was founded in the -fractions. Also, it was observed that ratios of albumin to globulin in DongGyeong dogs were higher than on other dogs.


AbstractThe quality and quantity of delayed neutron precursor data have greatly improved over the past decade and a half. Supplementation of the data with model calculations and the use of models to extend the number of precursors to 271 is now practical. These data, along with other improved fission product parameters, permit direct calculations of aggregate behavior for many fissioning nuclides. The results can still be approximated using a few (usually six) temporal groups, including corresponding spectra, as in past practice for reactor physics. An extensive effort to provide a complete set of evaluated data is summarized, with an emphasis on its use to generate the temporal approximations; precursor data and group values are intended for inclusion in ENDF/B-VI.


This paper presents a power detection based I/Q imbalance self-calibration technique to compensate signal path gain and phase mismatch in a reconfigurable low-IF receiver. The calibration can be carried out at startup to improve the image rejection ratio (IRR) of the IF complex-bandpass filter, and then configuration words are saved. The system employs an analog I/Q calibration module to adjust signal path gain and phase mismatch, a power detector to measure I/Q imbalances, digital circuits to implement the calibration algorithm, and a digital AGC to adjust IF signals within a predetermined level. The self-calibration system is implemented as a part of a multi-mode GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) receiver. Only one 2-bit ADC in I (or Q) path is needed to sample the analog IF signal. Measurement results show that the calibrated IRR achieves an average of 50dB in different operation modes which gets a 10~20dB improvement. The low-IF GNSS receiver is fabricated in 65nm CMOS process, and the digital part of the self-calibration system is implemented in a FPGA.


With respect to rapid changing trends of digitalization, the Smartphone plays an important role as intermediary devices for the development of mobile applications (hereinafter the "Apps") to serve the growing needs of multifarious purposes in daily life. As a result, the convenience and functionality of modern Apps are gradually improved to fit the need of human behavior. For college students, it's important to learn to access academic knowledge in school, but it's more important to learn the way to strengthen good interpersonal relations with others. Interpersonal relation represents a close association among people in many aspects, mostly the love affair, is significant and attractive to young college students. In this study, an innovative friend-making app, named "Gamble", is developed. Users are able to discover or been discovered according to various matching criteria. We take the advantages of the Beacon-based micro-location and the IOT (Internet of Things) technologies to facilitate the location-aware dating platform and realize the need for face-to-face social relations for college students.


We considered strong convergent stochastic schemes for the simulation of stochastic differential equations. The stochastic Taylor's expansion, which is the main tool used for the derivation of strong convergent  schemes; the Euler Maruyama, Milstein scheme, stochastic multistep schemes, Implicit and Explicit schemes were considered. A simple SDE, which is known to have analytic solution, was used to illustrate the simulation technicalities. A MatLab script file was written to implement the Euler Maruyama and the Milstein schemes. The result showed graphically the closeness of the Milstein and the Euler Maruyama scheme as well as the error between the analytic result and the numerical approximation. The error appeared dispersed as t increases and tens to T.


THE use of 200-volt three-phase 400-cycle a-c systems in large aircraft, with multiple circuits fused for fault clearing of sections, requires an accurate analysis of fault currents at all points of the system. A preliminary investigation of impedance data for 400-cycle aircraft circuits disclosed that basic data were available for certain types of impedance, but that certain impedance values required for line-to-ground faults were completely lacking. The object of this report is to complete the impedance data and to present in one complete compilation all impedance data required for analysis of faults in 400-cycle grounded-neutral aircraft systems as now proposed.


Treatment of the predictive aspect of statistical mechanics as a form of statistical inference is extended to the density-matrix formalism and applied to a discussion of the relation between irreversibility and information loss. A principle of "statistical complementarity" is pointed out, according to which the empirically verifiable probabilities of statistical mechanics necessarily correspond to incomplete predictions. A preliminary discussion is given of the second law of thermodynamics and of a certain class of irreversible processes, in an approximation equivalent to that of the semiclassical theory of radiation.


Summary

Ambrosia artemisufolia L. (common ragweed) and Digitaria ischaemum Schreb. (smooth crabgrass) are not controlled by nicosulfuron and rimsulfuron at the highest recommended application rates, whereas Panicum miliaceum L. (wild proso millet), Amaranthus retroflexus L. (redroot pigweed) and Avena fatua L. (wild oat) are susceptible. The foliar absorption and translocation of 14C-nicosulfuron and 14C-rimsulf uron were studied in these weed species up to 48 h after treatment (HAT). Differences in herbicide uptake and translocation were not correlated with the species susceptibility. By 48 HAT, more than 50% of both herbicides remained on the treated leaf surface. Foliar absorption of rimsulfuron was greater than that of nicosulfuron in A. retroflexus, P. miliaceum and A. artemisufolia. Most of the absorbed herbicide remained in the treated leaf of each weed species. Export of 14C–nicosulfuron ranged from 28 to 54% of that absorbed, in contrast to 15 to 39% for 14C–rimsulfuron. The absorption and translocation rates of both herbicides were highest within the initial 6 HAT, and decreased thereafter. Both herbicides showed approximately the same distribution pattern within each weed species.


...............................................................................................ii Acknowledgements...................................................................................v Introduction............................................................................................1 Chapter One: "That"s What She... Said": Lesbian (Sub)text and the Rejection of a Heteronormative Community Paradigm in Xena: Warrior Princess.....................................................35 Chapter Two: From "We Survived" to "We Changed the World": The Interdependence of Metaphor and Coming-of-Age Moments for Community Development in Buffy the Vampire Slayer..............................................................................77 Chapter Three: "My Turn": Symbiotic Exchanges between Heroine and Family-Community in Firefly and Dark Angel...................................116 Chapter Four: "Are We Working Together Now?": Collaborative Activism and Questions of Genre in Veronica Mar..................................157 Conclusion..........................................................................................191 Works Cited........................................................................................200


Richard Byers, an independent consultant on curriculum development for pupils with learning difficulties, and a part-time lecturer in special educational needs at the University of Cambridge School of Education, considers the effectiveness of the National Literacy Strategy and the relevance of recent guidance.


The main objective of this work is to know the different types that have been identified under certain operating conditions, management, attitude, evolution and development of family businesses (FB). To achieve this a qualitative method of literature review is used. Not all family businesses are alike, so therefore several authors have developed certain types for better understanding. After reviewing the literature for 10 different types of family firms were identified.


Patients with a variety of blood cancers and metabolic diseases may require a stem cell transplant as part of their treatment. However, 70% of patients do not have a suitable genetic match in their family. Stem cell donor-databases are used to match potential unrelated donors to patients worldwide. In Canada, individuals aged 17-35 years can register as donors online or at a stem cell drive where they provide consent and a tissue sample (buccal-swab) for Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) allele typing. To date, no guidelines have been published to recommend a process for stem cell donor recruitment at drives. Here, I outline a Canadian approach to stem cell drive design, which features evidence-based strategies to identify and recruit the most-needed stem cell donors and to minimize donor ambivalence and withdrawal from the registry. This model of stem cell drive design includes five stations: pre-screening, informed consent, registration, swabbing, and reconciliation. Registrant confidentiality and privacy is maintained at each station, and quality control is emphasized throughout. Registrants are first pre-screened to ensure donor eligibility. Recruiters at the prescreening station target the most-needed stem cell donors according to the literature: young, healthy, and ethnically-diverse males. Non-optimal and ineligible registrants are redirected to help out in other ways. Recruiters then explain the principles of stem cell donation and educate registrants about the stem cell donation process. Next, registrants proceed to the informed consent station, which is designed to meet the requirements of the World Marrow Donor Association9s suggested procedures for procurement of informed consent at time of recruitment (2003). Here, recruiters hand registrants an information pamphlet, and explain blood and marrow stem cell collection procedure diagrams. The risks of donation are outlined, and registrants are informed of their right to withdraw at any time and about donor and patient anonymity. Registrants are subsequently guided through registration, where they provide their contact/demographic information, complete a health questionnaire, and sign a consent form to join the registry. Recruiters at this station error check registrants9 forms to ensure correct completion, and educate registrants about the data collection, storage, usage, and confidentiality. Following registration, registrants proceed to swabbing, where they swab their cheeks to provide a tissue/DNA sample. Recruiters at this station affix barcode stickers to each swab kit component. While registrants swab their cheeks, volunteers perform an informed consent checkpoint by asking registrants if they understand the donation process, the risks involved, and the right to withdraw at any time. Finally, registrants visit reconciliation, where their paperwork is error checked again, their understanding of the donation process is assessed a final time to verify informed consent, and their kit processed for shipping. In summary, the five-station approach to stem cell drive design outlined in this presentation represents a new model for effective stem cell donor recruitment. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Method is proposed for removing a contaminant, such as arsenic or selenium, from a synthetic hydrocarbonaceous fluid comprising providing a guard bed having a plurality of sections, a first section having from about 10 to about 75 percent of its volume occupied by a contaminant-removing material comprising, alone or on a carrier, either iron, cobalt, nickel, oxides or sulfides of these metals, or combinations thereof; the remainder being inert material. A second section of the guard bed has a major portion of its volume occupied by the contaminant-removing material. The feed oil, in the presence of hydrogen is contacted with the particles in the respective sections of the guard bed.


The civilian-run colleges and universities are not much restricted by the administrative means and have their own vivid mechanism to cultivate their own features,so,making school rise with special feature is an effective way for them to carry out connotative developing strategy.For this,first,the scientific locating question must be solved,the key factor is valuing the tradition;the core is paying attention to innovation.It is necessary to really follow the education developing rule.For the school-running feature,it is necessary to be centrally embodied in the subject feature and the quality of training people of ability.


This short introduction reflects upon the significance of the conference to the research topic and scholarly community. After briefly providing an overview of the collaborative framework within which the event took place, it provides a few figures on the participation to the call for papers and the conference itself, as well as a few explanatory words concerning the different themed sessions and sections of the proceedings. Doing so allows the authors to highlight the relevance of the event to both research on the topic and to the concerned disciplines, but also the under-represented topics and disciplines, as a constructive contribution to the future research agenda.


Effects of insertion devices like a superconducting multipole wiggler or an in-vacuum undulator on the beam dynamics of tghe upgraded Pohang Light Source (PLS-II) storage ring have been investigated. The narrow gap related to a short period length of the in-vacuum undulator or a transverse magnetic field roll off can impact the dynamic aperture or Touschek lifetime or injection efficiency. A three dimensional magnetic field model has been developed based on numerical data consisting of several coefficients in the Taylor expansion to accurately represent the actual field. In this paper, the magnetic field model has been produced with the differential algebraic code COSY INFINITY to formulate the Taylor transfer map for the wiggler and undulator. Frequency map analysis (FMA) and full 6D tracking has been performed to investigate resonances which may affect the particle stability and causing a reduction in injection efficiency.


Timber is one of the world's oldest construction materials. It was already used for timber bridges in Mesopotamia 3000 to 2000 B.C. [1]. The relatively high specific strength of timber (strength/density ratio) was often and still is an important criterion for its use. If treated correctly, timber has a long service life, as can be seen in timber bridges and multistorey framework buildings in Asia or Europe that are over 400 years old [1]. In cases where the dimension or load bearing capacity of wood is not sufficient, combinations of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) and timber are used today. Post-strengthening of timber structures with FRP has been very successful since 21 years [2]. The combination of these two materials will also allow new, innovative wide span constructions in future.


During the monsoon season (June-July) of 2016, there was a significant surge in suspected CHIKV and Dengue virus (DENV) fever cases in Pune city and the adjoining suburban areas of Maharashtra State, India. Both are RNA viruses and transmitted by the vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes3. Co-circulation of CHIKV and DENV in Southeast Asia including India has been reported4. Since, the first record of CHIKV in West Bengal, India, during 19635, many sporadic cases have occurred in Maharashtra. DENV cases were also reported in many States including Maharashtra during 2010-20166. Overall in Maharashtra, a higher seropositivity for DENV was noted in urbanized villages as compared to rural villages7. Although CHIK and DEN fever display overlapping clinical manifestation and transmitted by the same vectors with similar epidemiology and geographic distribution, scanty data are available on CHIKV characterization.


. Foodisanessentialpartofourlives.Indiaisadiversecountrywitheach region having its own special cuisine. Eating out was not much of Indian style, but the present senior is different. The restaurant industry in India has been emerging at a rapid pace in recent years and is expected to continue in upcoming years also. There has been exponential growth in food ordering startups in India over the past few years. To address this growth technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a vital role. Not only restaurant but street vendors too are now depended on such technology to increase their sale. The use of Artificial intelligence will transform the restaurant industry and will help India to take a step ahead towards better economy. In this paper, we have presented a review on various AI based approaches utilized in restaurant Business.


Due to various events related to the collapse of bridges and viaducts in concrete in Brazil and the world, the attention of the technical community for these elements inspection and maintenance issues of grows increasingly. The interest in maintaining the bridges and viaducts in good condition is great and overall, as they are part of the basic infrastructure and represent a significant portion of the patrimony of the countries. Even if they are subject to depreciation over time, because of the exposure to the environment and the use, it is unworkable and unacceptable, economically and environmentally, that bridges and viaducts are simply replaced when they reach the end of their design life. Thus, this article provides recommendations for an adequate investigation of the main causes of deterioration of these structures in order to elaborate a proper inspection plan and maintenance and consequently the extent of their service life. Maintenance, Monitoring, Safety, Risk and Resilience of Bridges and Bridge Networks – Bittencourt, Frangopol & Beck (Eds) © 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-02851-7


Numerous studies have shown that high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) led to a profound and long-lasting state of immunodeficiency characterized by persisting low levels of T cells in hemoblastosis patients. Well-timed T-cell reconstitution is crucial for early restoration of anti-infectious and antitumor immune response. Lymphocyte recovery is mediated through the two main mechanisms – a homeostatic proliferation of T cells and generation of new naive T cells via thymopoiesis. It is known, that homeostatic proliferation is important for the restoration of T cell count in immune competent host during the 1st year following AHSCT. Thymus begins to fill up T cell repertoire approximately from the 6th month following AHSCT. We have investigated dynamics of CD4+FOXP3+ Treg recovery following AHSCT and possible relationship between Tregs and clinical outcomes since the suppressive activity of Tregs under lymphopenic conditions may influence on peripheral expansion of T cells. Thymic activity following AHSCT has been evaluated by measuring amounts of CD4+ CD45RA+CD31+ naı̈ve T cells, i.e. ''recent thymic emigrants" (RTEs).109 patients with nonHodgkin's lymphomas, Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma underwent AHSCT in 2009–2014. The content of circulating CD4+FOXP3+ Tregs and CD4+CD45RA+CD31+ T cells was evaluated using flow cytometry before AHSCT, at the day of engraftment, and following 6 and 12 months. Pre-transplant count of CD4+FOXP3+ Tregs was significantly higher compared to healthy controls (5.4 ± 2.9 vs 3.8 ± 1.9%; pU = 0.011; here and below data presented as Mean ± SD). Percentage of Tregs restored rapidly and reached initially high level at the time of engraftment, and then subsequently decreased within a year until it lowered to healthy donors' values. CD4+FOXP3+ Tregs at the time of engraftment were increased in patients with relapse or progression of disease within 6 and 12 months following AHSCT compared to non-relapsed patients (11.0 ± 6.1 vs 6.2 ± 3.0%; pU = 0.016, and 10.1 ± 5.2 vs 6.1 ± 3.8%; pU = 0.008). Pre-transplant count of CD4+CD45RA+CD31+ T cells was significantly lower compared to healthy controls (17.1 ± 11.4 vs 30.3 ± 11.2%, pU = 0.0005) and did not reach donors' values following 12 month (23.1 ± 13.5%, pU = 0.032). Relapsed patients had the same quantity of RTEs as the patients with remission within the 1st year following AHSCT. There was no any significant association between RTEs and Tregs counts. Surprisingly, we have found high levels of circulating CD4 +CD45RAT cells co-expressing CD31 molecule in patients before AHSCT, since this molecule is infrequent on memory subsets in healthy controls (20.7 ± 12.0 vs 8.2 ± 2.1%,pU < 0.00001). Relative amount of CD4+CD45RA-CD31+ T cells highly correlated with CD4+CD45RO+CD31+ population (rS=0.72; p < 0.00001). The count of CD4+CD45RA-CD31+ T cells recovered intensively and reached the pre-transplant level within the 1st month following AHSCT, and remained at the same level throughout the follow-up. There were no any differences in relative count of CD4+CD45RA-CD31+ T cells between patients with early relapse and remission during the 1st post-transplant year. Our data of Tregs reconstitution may confirm the earlier assumption that the presence of Tregs during the period of immune recovery preserves optimal T cell receptors diversity. However, the excess of these cells leads to the inhibition of proliferative activity and immune response and is associated with early relapse. Conversely, relatively slow recovery of RTEs determines theirlack of influence on survival within the 1st post-transplant year. The biological role and the way of appearance of CD31 molecule on T cell memory subset (CD4+CD45RAand/or CD4 +CD45RO+) still remain unclear. Further studies are required to enlighten the role of CD31+ memory T cells on lymphoproliferative disorders pathogenesis.


The paper proposes a method of numerical encoding of large welded structures with the use of multisets. The method takes the types of details and connections that occur in structures into consideration. Mathematical optimization model for multistage structure assembly schedule was defined. Comparative analysis of selected decision variants for sample constructions and details sets is presented.


Self-determination Theory categorises motivation into three broad types: amotivation, extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation according to the level of self-determination. This theory argues that people's motivation is a developmental process across time and place. Furthermore, it emphasizes that three basic psychological needs—a need for competence, a need for autonomy, and a need for relatedness—are the nutriments of motivation. Thus, as this theory not only concerns the type of motivation, but also the circumstances that promote and maintain motivation, it offers insight to the nature of lecturers' motivation. It is claimed to be one of the most influential theories in contemporary motivation psychology.


: The central objective of our study is to demonstrate and analyze how the Brazilian ruling group took over the financial reporting and accounting itself as an ideological instrument and consequently of hegemonic control, by creating a reality that satisfies their material interests. The study unit is the Banco do Brazil between 1853 and 1902, period of many changes in social, economic and politics in the country. Based on the critical approach, in a historical study through primary documentary research, we use the theoretical platform of the Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) in his definitions of hegemony and ideology, especially. We intended to analyze specific accounting issues, especially the income calculation and the dividends distribution. The findings suggest that the Banco do Brazil during the golden period of national coffee production was used by the ruling group, seized by the state, for transferring resources to the bourgeoisie, contributing significantly to the economic and social inequality in our country. Specifically, through the interface between civil society and political society within the Brazilian State during the period studied. We suggest that the financial reporting and accounting itself are used as ideological controlling tools, but by containing these characteristics, additionally, they show the contradictions of the bourgeois-capitalist system.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been proposed as a novel cell therapy for immune-mediated diseases, including solid organ transplantation. Here, we provide an overview of recent preclinical and clinical studies in solid organ transplantation using MSC immunomodulatory therapy.

RECENT FINDINGS
MSC have been tested successfully in models of corneal and lung transplantation, suggesting that either the programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death ligand 1 pathway or the generation of intermediary immune-regulatory monocyte-macrophage population are the main mechanisms of the protolerogenic effect of MSC. In clinical transplantation, allogeneic MSC from bone marrow or umbilical cord have been evaluated in kidney and lung transplantation with an excellent safety profile. Recent data from kidney transplant patients given autologous bone marrow-MSC enrolled in our phase 1 study demonstrated a good long term safety profile. Extensive immunomonitoring of this initial cohort provided evidence of the development of a protolerogenic environment in some MSC-treated patients. One of these patients has been weaned off immunosuppression successfully.

SUMMARY
The available clinical studies in kidney, liver and lung transplantation indicate that autologous and allogeneic MSC therapy from different sources are safe. Now it's time to focus on well-designed efficacy clinical trials, possibly including extensive immunomonitoring.


Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) after total hip and total knee arthroplasty is a devastating complication that is known to be associated with costly, resource-intensive interventions that place a significant burden on the US healthcare system. Estimated average hospital costs to treat female patients with PJI after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or total hip arthroplasty (THA) in 2018 was $27,307, and $32,956 respectively. While the average costs to treat male patients with PJI after TKA or THA was $27,097 and $33,090 respectively. One strategy aimed at preventing PJI after total joint arthroplasty is the use of an intra-operative wound irrigation with an antiseptic solution. This retrospective case review was conducted to assess the incidence of PJI after using a novel wound antiseptic irrigation solution in patients undergoing primary TKA and THA. The CDC defines surgical site infections, (SSI) as infections that occur after the surgery. The infections are further categorized as superficial involving the skin, or deep tissue. These infections are then divided into; superficial incisional SSI, deep incisional SSI, and organ-space SSI. In a study by Kannan et al., SSIs are more commonly seen in patients with more comorbidities. A consecutive series of 308 high-risk patients undergoing primary TKA or THA between January 4, 2021 and August 30, 2021, in whom Prontosan® Wound Irrigation Solution (B. Braun Medical Inc./ Innovice LLC), containing 0.1% Betaine, a surfactant, and 0.1% Polyhexanide (PHMB) was added to the intra-operative procedure, were evaluated for its impact on the incidence of PJI. The CDC's Surgical Care Improvement Project, (SCIP) guidelines are standard of care and followed with each surgical procedure. The CDC recommends using antimicrobial prophylaxis at a time before skin incision such that the antibiotic concentration reaches the minimum bactericidal concentration at the time of skin incision, Berríos-Torres SI, et al. All data were prospectively submitted to the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) was retrospectively analyzed to measure the incidence of postoperative infection. Primary TJA was performed on 308 patients; of these 10 patients were bilateral TKA (205 TKA procedures and 113 THA procedures). The use of Prontosan® Wound Irrigation Solution was associated with zero (0%) incidence of postoperative infection in this population of patients during a 90-day episode of care, nor at any time postoperatively. CMS defines total joint arthroplasty codes as a major surgery, and encounters or procedures within 90 days of the initiating procedure are included in the 90-day episode of care. No patients were lost to follow-up. There was no incidence of PJI uncovered in this retrospective analysis. Adding Prontosan® Wound Irrigation Solution to the intra-operative protocol, contributed to the absence of PJI in this population and potentially avoided 1.74 female and 1.34 male TKA as well as .95 female and .75 THA resulting in total hospital-avoided costs of $83,824 and $56,126, respectively totaling $139,950.


Low back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent in all walks of life. Standard conservative treatment methods may work for some, but others go on to have spinal injections, opioids, or surgical procedures to alleviate pain. The Distractive and Mobility-Enabling Orthosis (DMO) was developed to meet the need for a conservative, drug-free treatment method. In this research, the low back support test protocol for evaluating DMO success was upgraded with a new synthetic lumbar spine model. The latest generation of the DMO project was then evaluated using the new system in a laboratory setting and on a pilot physical therapy patient.First, a biomechanical evaluation study of the new full-length synthetic lumbar spine model was performed to validate its use in the low back support test protocol. Markers placed at each vertebral body level enabled the local and global instantaneous axis of rotation of each spinal segment to be defined. Combined with moment data, the moment-rotational stiffness properties was compared to similar published data from other in vitro and in vivo studies of the lumbar spine. These comparisons provided validation and justification for using the synthetic model in the low back support test protocol. The design of the fourth generation (DMO4) is then detailed. DMO4 borrowed some characteristics from previous generations but was modified to lower the complexity of the parts and increase user comfort. DMO4 utilized hip and torso belts to secure itself to the patient. A distractive force applied via gas springs on the lateral sides of the belts separated the belts in order to offload the lumbar spine. DMO4 reduced the side profile, reduced the component count by half, and redesigned the torso belt to be more conforming to patient anatomy.DMO4 was then evaluated with the low back support test protocol that was set to match daily living activities (DLAs) and offload an average human torso weight. Placed under a 150N vertical load, DMO4 successfully offloaded the lumbar spine in upright stance through 25° of flexion and 10° of extension. DMO4 was also successful at providing unconstrained axial rotation beyond the range required for DLAs. Pilot data of a physical therapy patient with low back pain was ascertained. The patient wore the DMO during six physical therapy sessions over a four week period. At each session, the patient's pain score significantly dropped to a pain rating score of one and the modified Oswestry Disability Index also saw a reduction. Document Type Thesis Degree Name Master of Science (MS) Program Biomedical Engineering Research Advisor Denis J. DiAngelo, Ph.D.


With requirement for higher vocational students becoming higher and higher,how to improve their creativity and practical ability is main task for higher vocational teachers.Case teaching is important and significant for deepening teaching content,improving training mode intensifying practical ability and training creative consciousness.Study and Design of case teaching reform are conducted from four respects in the paper that are necessity of conducting case teaching mode,position,aim and key point of case teaching,several relationship that should be dealt with well in case teaching,and organization and guaranty measurement for case teaching.


This work redefines and actualizes the political conflict about abortion in Argentina since the new criterion of justice installed by the recent verdict from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. From a perspective of human rights and gender policies, we draw a critical argumentative line that is intended to show the institutional process by which the conflict is passing by, encouraged by the feminist movement and fought off by the conservative Catholicism, it depends to a large extent on the interaction between the evolution of the criteria of justice prevailing in each historical point and the changes in societies' necessities that provide its basis either as fair or not. The reflections are found in a patriarchal capitalist system with overlapping structural inequalities, mostly of gender and social class. Contributions from the new criterion 1 Se agradece la valiosa colaboración de la doctora Mariela Sarrias, abogada relatora de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Provincia de Santa Fe, por poner a disposición antecedentes jurisprudenciales vinculados a la temática en examen.


Despite the clinical research of traditional Chinese medicine has been developed extensively and deeply,but the translation of research findings to practice and evidence-based applications,the utility of published studies and the advances in this area have been largely influenced by many restrict factors.Opening the descriptions from a multiple view of points about the need and the goal of the clinical research of TCM,thinking way and method,the mode of the organizations and the internationalization etc.,paying attention on "developing with categorization",performing three kinds of "harmony and unity",strengthening dividing up of the organizations,intensifying the international collaboration could provide thinking and method and some references for the designer and practice persons in the research of TCM.


The present master thesis examines the use of new technologies in data management as tools for patron-oriented collection enhancement in academic libraries. Patron orientation involves outsourcing part of the stock selection to library users, as in the case of patron-driven acquisition (PDA) of digital materials, which are purchased after a certain number of downloads. The analyses of interlibrary loan requests or transaction logs are two other methods which provide objective indicators of users' literature needs. Another valuable source of information on these needs is the record of zero hit OPAC (Online public access catalog) searches for known items, since they uncover gaps in the library collection.
In 2010 Wolfgang Kohle and Gunter Sauter-Sternik created a program called NUTR!S (loosely translated "zero hits information service") for the Vorarlberg Regional Library which links the entries of the zero hit list with the search boxes of other library catalogs. Thus, the program makes it possible to check whether searches that have failed in your OPAC result in a hit in another catalog and to prove that such an item exists but is not part of your collection. In my thesis, I have tried to answer the question whether and to which extent NUTR!S, which was created for a relatively small library, can be used to enhance the collection of larger libraries such as the University and Regional Library of Tyrol. For this purpose I have examined the way NUTR!S works with the help of original zero hit tables. The results suggest the need of modification of the program in order to reduce the amount of data without information loss. On this basis I have suggested several adjustments. A test run with the program modified according to my specifications shows that these adaptations would make NUTR!S an effective tool for patron-oriented collection enhancement even in larger libraries.


Objective:To seek for a reasonable,simple and effective surgical method for the buried penis.Methods:we designed a simplified and modified technique for repairing the buried penis in children. The major method is fixation the buck's fascia at 3 and 9 o'clock positions with the subcutaneous penile skin at the root of penis.Results:A retrospective review of 38 consecutive patients undergoing this new technique between August 2002 and January 2004 was performed. The average operation time is 45 minutes. Twenty-four patients has been followed-up over half years with satisfactory appearance.Conclusions:We compare this technique with the major methods for buried penis treatment at present, and we consider this technique is a reasonable, simple and affords good cosmetic results.


Impulsive sound and vibration signals in gears are often associated with faults which result from impacting and as such these impulsive signals can be used as indicators of faults. However it is often difficult to make objective measurements of impulsive signals because of background noise signals. In order to ease the measurement of impulsive sounds embedded in background noise, it is proposed that the impulsive signals are enhanced, via a two stage ALE (Adaptive Line Enhancer), and that these enhanced signals are then analyzed in the time and frequency domains using a Wigner higher order time-frequency representation. The effectiveness of this technique is demonstrated by application to gear fault data.


Reservoir systems require a continuous development of models for optimal operations in the context of future climate change. The statistics of climate change variation and the growth of evolution method inspire the development of a sustainable and long term reservoir operation system. The aim of the study is to propose and establish a sustainable and long term reservoir operation system and management with adaptation to climate change using the integrated models. The models are Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm type II (NSGA-II), Linear Programming (LP), Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) with Multi-linear Correlation Matrix (M-CM), hydrological and crop models. There are two groups of model proposed in this study namely as Model A and Model B. Model A is a combination methods of SDSM with M-CM, hydrological and crop model which considered the climate change variation. Whilst, Model B exclude the climate change factor by using Valencia Schaake model (VS) and Thomas Fiering model (TF). The reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability of models were evaluated. These models were tested at Pedu-Muda reservoir system that supplies water for the Muda Irrigation Scheme, Kedah, Malaysia. The inclusion of M-CM as a screening tool to the SDSM model was successful to produce lower mean absolute error (MAE = 4mm/day), mean square error (MSE = 29mm/day), and standard deviation (St.D = 1mm/day). It is expected that the future rainfall and temperature would increase about 4% and 0.2oC per decade respectively. The volume of paddy water requirement is expected to reduce 0.9% per decade. This is due to the increment of rainfall and uncontrolled flow in the paddy field. The generated synthetic inflow series produced +0.4% and -1.3% discrepancies from the historical records using VS and TF models respectively. The NSGA-II and LP models successfully established a sustainable reservoir operation for long term period. Furthermore, the NSGA-II was successful in satisfying the multiple objectives demand and provides a set of alternative solutions that were presented in the Pareto optimal curves depending on the climate pattern. The rule curve formation for Model A was consistently higher than Model B in range of 1% to 5%. In terms of reliability, resiliency, and vulnerability evaluation, the Model A-NSGA-II is remarkably and potentially promised sufficient water supply throughout the year. Model B (VS) was the second best performer followed by Model B (TF). In conclusion, this finding contributes toward the development of models using evolution algorithm and statistical methods for sustainable water resources planning and management in the context of future climate change


The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of achieving tight versus usual systolic blood pressure (SBP) control on stroke prevention through meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials.


Aiming at the proton exchange membrane fuel cell air supply system subject to time-varying external load, system uncertainty and limited network communication resources, a chattering-free event-triggered nested adaptive terminal sliding mode controller is first developed to achieve the tracking control of oxygen excess ratio. First, an integral terminal sliding mode function with recursive structure is designed to eliminate the reaching phase of sliding mode control and ensure that the high-frequency switching term only appears in the first derivative of control law. Then, to alleviate the communication burden, an event-triggered control strategy is adopted for the controller-to-actuator channel. Furthermore, a nested dual-layer adaptive law is constructed to adaptively update the robust gain without overestimation, so as to counteract the composite disturbance composed of the lumped system uncertainty and event-triggering error, which does not require priori upper bounds of the composite disturbance and its derivative. Besides, it is theoretically proved that the output tracking error can converge to the origin in finite time and the Zeno behavior can be strictly excluded. Finally, the adaptability and superiority of the proposed event-triggered nested adaptive terminal sliding mode controller are fully validated by a series of numerical simulations and comparative analysis.


Investopedia's "What is the Keynesian Multiplier " is fundamentally flawed and needs to be completely rewritten in order to eliminate a number of errors of omission and commission concerning Richard Kahn and J M Keynes.

First,Richard Kahn's article ,published in 1931 in the Economic Journal,was derived from Keynes's earlier work in his A Treatise on Probability ,1921(Brady,2004) and his May,1929(Kent,2007) arithmetic example ,which follows directly from the mathematical model presented in chapter 26 of the A Treatise on Probability on page 315 in footnote 1.The discussion in the General Theory on pp.122-123 of the theory of the multiplier follows directly from the A Treatise on Probability.

Second,Investopedia's article completely ignores the series of articles written by Keynes in 1937 and 1938 in England on war finance and unemployment, first discussed by Terence Hutchison in 1977,demonstrating that Keynes's support for deficit finance was strictly limited to the occurrence of a severe recession or depression.

Third, Investopedia's article completely ignores the extensive 250 pages of correspondence in Volume 27 of the Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes detailing Keynes's explicit support for deficit finance for the support and maintenance of public infrastructure projects only which would pay for themselves overtime in the long run.The government budget would always be balanced..There would be a separate capital account budget devoted to public infrastructure spending that would have to be in balance in the long run. Only the capital account could be in deficit .Keynes's clear cut disagreement with supporters of deficit financed tax cuts in England in 1942-1944 is explicit in these two hundred and fifty pages (CWJMK,pp.225-475).

Fourth,the belief that M. Friedman showed that there were errors in the logical and mathematical construction of the multiplier has no support.M. Friedman never showed there were any mathematical and logical errors in the multiplier concept.


Fungus generally doesn't produce toxic or harmful substances so it has low chances to cause food poisoning. However it leads to change appearance, odor and characteristics of the contaminated foods and result in sanitary risk problems. Therefore the contamination of fungi should be prevented since they are not proper for human consumption. Green fungi with white outline raised from the air cell of cooked eggs which were collected by Gyeongi Livestock Veterinary Service in August, 2006. The results came out after the cultivation using Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar(SDA). The conidium appeared white and monospore, the shape of colony was round and oval. Conidiophore was brown and granulated and wrinkles and formed. It was confirmed as Aspergillus nidulans based on the dying using Lactophenol cotton blue, the observation of septum and vesicle from the grown spores, and rDNA sequencing.


It is proposed a two new directions of astrophysical investigations and search of extraterrestrial intelligence: mirror world and multiconnected Universe with wormholes.


This paper is motivated by a gauged Schr\"{o}dinger equation in dimension 2. We are concerned with radial stationary states under the presence of a vortex at the origin. Those states solve a nonlinear nonlocal PDE with a variational structure. We will study the global behavior of that functional, extending known results for the regular case.


Abstract In the sub-Alpine chains of Haut Provence, SE France, a very well-exposed Mesozoic sequence showing rapid thickness and facies changes associated with Jurassic and Cretaceous extension on the margin of the Ligurian Tethys has been deformed by 'Alpine' compression which occurred from the Late Cretaceous to the Pliocene. Although the geology has been very well known for decades, aspects of the structure remain enigmatic and cannot be explained by either Mesozoic extension or Alpine shortening alone. We infer that some deformation resulted from salt tectonics. A completely overturned, highly condensed Jurassic section near Barles village resembles the elevated roof of a Triassic salt body in a deep-marine basin. This carapace became overturned as a flap in the Middle Jurassic when salt broke out at the seafloor and overran the inverted flap as an allochthonous extrusion, comparable to those in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico or Angola. Later, Alpine compression exploited the weakness of the salt sheet as the Digne Thrust moved over the inverted flap. Although the flap is in the footwall of the thrust, evidence of soft-sediment deformation and other anomalous structures within the flap suggest that it did not originate as an overturned footwall syncline.


A series of heterocyclic polyimides (PIs) having triazole moieties in their main chain were successfully prepared by the polycondensation of 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole with four dianhydrides (3,3′,4,4′-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride, 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic-1,2,4,5-dianhydride, 4,4′-(hexaflouroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride, and 1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride) via the soluble poly(amic acid) (PAA) precursors. Different amounts of titania (TiO2) nanoparticles were incorporated into the PAA matrix and then thermally imidized to form PI/TiO2. The obtained PAAs exhibited high compatibility with the TiO2 nanoparticles, thereby resulting in highly transparent PI nanocomposite films. The resulting nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). TEM results indicated that the nanoparticles were dispersed homogeneously in the PI matrix on nanoscale. TGA confirmed that the heat stability of the nanocomposites was improved in the presence of TiO2 nanoparticles.


In the paper,the basic concept of kaizen(continuous improvement) is introduced.By focusing on the kaizen index and the kaizen method,the effects and the roles of continuous improvement on the research and development management are introduced and discussed.Data results show that continuous improvement can make a dramatically change that lead the program to a much lean management.


Objective To study the efficacy and safety of reboxetine and citalopram in treating retardant depression.Methods A total of 59 patients with retardant depression were randomly divided into reboxetine group(n=29)and citalopram group(n=30)for the treatment of 6 weeks.The patients were assessed with the Hamilton depression scale(HAMD)and treatment emergent symptom scale(TESS).Results At the end of 6 weeks,the total scores of HAMD in reboxetine(18.48±6.38)group and citalopram(11.60±4.46)group both significantly decreased(P<0.001).Between two groups,the efficacy(82.8% and 56.7%)had significant differences(P<0.05)but side effects had no statistical significance.Conclusion Reboxetine has significant curative efficacy,milder adverse effects and higher safety for treating patients with retardant depression.

Key words:
Reboxetine; Citalopram; Depression


The proprietor of Rachel's Lei Stand traces her business roots to her grandmother who sold leis on Maunakea Street, at the waterfront, and later at the airport. She describes the long hours and hard work that the lei business requires.


During the last few years the Czech Republic has witnessed a great boom in the area of a problematic and irrecoverable credit settlement. Late and substandard payments have become rather a tradition in the Czech way of doing business. Consequently the solution by selling receivables to the third party is often resorted to. The thesis examines the system of the internal debt evaluation in banking sector for the purpose of sale. In the conclusion it presents a draft methodology with three different modifications: The first modification is the value of the credit based on the debtor's ability to pay using the risk parameters such as the probability of default, the loss given default and the recovery rate of the credit (calculating according to BASEL II rules). The second modification is the value of the credit determinated by a simulation of the bankruptcy/insolvency proceeding. The third modification is the value of the credit derived from the worth of the collateral while using the met


The existing analysis on the seismic performance of transformation devices is mostly based on single device, while in practice; each transformation device is a power transformation system with bus-fixed supports, bus-sliding supports, bus-extension clamps being connected altogether using hard tubular bus bar. Connection modes between different devices may have possible effects on the seismic performance of the devices. Due to the situation that existing transformation devices may be easily damaged in earthquake and related seismic researches are not in-depth, a method of numerical simulation was utilized to analyze the relationship of the connection mode between transformation device and hard bus with the seismic performance of the device, and find out the optimal connection between transformation devices which was favorable for seismic performance, providing reasonable and scientific proof for the improvement of the seismic performance of transformation devices.


Motivation: A recent paradigm shift in toxicology proposes the use of 3D in vitro systems in combination with high content image analysis (HCA) techniques to lower the cost, increase the throughput and enhance the predictivity for human hazard identification. In the field of developmental neurotoxicity (DNT), neural progenitor cells (NPCs) grown as neurospheres are such an in vitro system since they mimic several basic processes of brain development including neural progenitor cell migration and differentiation. HCA of such 3D in vitro systems creates new challenges for automated evaluations because they encompass variable cell densities, inconsistent z-layers and heterogeneous cell populations. Results: We propose computational methods implemented in our Omnisphero software which assesses multiple endpoints of the 'Neurosphere Assay' and achieve precision comparable to manual evaluation. For neuronal identification Omnisphero reaches a detection power (DP) of 83.8% and a false positive rate (FPR) of 11%, thus largely improving the results obtained by an existing approach whose DP does not exceed 50% at an FPR above 50%. The high FPR of existing approaches results in incorrect measurements of neuronal morphological features accompanied by an overestimation of compound effects. Omnisphero additionally includes novel algorithms to assess 'neurosphere-specific' endpoints like radial migration and neuronal density distribution across the migration area. Furthermore, a user-assisted parameter optimization procedure makes Omnisphero accessible to non-expert end users. Availability: Open source software (under the GPLv3 license) is available at https://www.omnisphero.com along with sample data. Contact: email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. 1 For review purposes the software and the sourcecode can be downloaded from www.omnisphero.com/download/Omnisphero.zip


Recent years witness increasing cases concerning trademark infringement crimes,but our penal code and relevant judicial interpretations lack definite applicable regulations,it leads different criteria of judgment for "knowingly","the same commodity","the same trademark" when deciding what behavior constitutes crime of counterfeiting registered trademark.It is necessary to perfect legal regulations as to trademark crimes,to realize connection of different laws and regulations concerning registered trademark and commodity classification,to help correctly understand connotations of "knowingly","the same commodity" and "the same trademark" and so rightly distinguish trademark crimes from administrative breach and civil tort acts.


A theorem by Hojman and Harleston (1981) for multidimensional equivalent Lagrangians (L and L) in the realm of Newtonian mechanics is generalised to field theory. Equivalent Lagrangians for some set of field equations are found.


Background: Although sunscreen is used as a primary strategy to prevent sunburn, photoaging and skin cancer, only a few people regularly use sunscreen. Objectives: To investigate the awareness of effects of sunlight, the extent of sun exposure, and the behaviors about sunscreen uses in Korean. Methods: A questionnaire was administered 255 adult patients visited Dermatology Department at Seoul National University Boramae Hospital. It included questions about the awareness of benefit or harm of sunlight, perceived and actual extent of sun exposure, the use of sun-protective methods including sunscreen. Results: Sun exposure was chosen as the major cause of dyschromia (61.2%), skin cancer (62.8%) and wrinkle (28.6%). Respondents were likely to underestimate the extent of sun exposure. On average, quite a few respondents stated that they were exposed to sunlight more than one hour per day (23.1% on weekdays, 53.4% on weekends). But, only 8.7% thought that their sun exposures were problematic and 62.2% of respondents considered moderate sunlight exposure good for health. People`s sun protective behaviors were inadequate: only 30.8% used sunscreen regularly; 18.4% have never used sunscreen. SPF was the most important factor choosing sunscreen and 86.0% used sunscreen labeled SPF over 30. In contrast, only 40.3% used PA+++ sunscreen. Conclusion: Despite a fairly good knowledge about harmful effects of sunlight, people underestimated the risks of their sun exposure and behaviors were suboptimal.


This paper presents a study on injection molded protein fiber reinforced biodegradable composites. Raw silk fiber and polybutylene succinate (PBS) were used as reinforcement and matrix material respectively. The mechanical properties of theses silk/PBS composites and the flow patterns of silk fibers in the molded composites were investigated. Tensile, flexural and Izod impact tests were carried out and the fracture surfaces were observed using SEM. In order to observe the flow patterns of silk fibers in the molded composite, an etching treatment was performed on the surface of the silk/PBS composites using chloroform. The tensile, flexural and Izod impact properties increased with increasing silk fiber volume fraction. The short silk fibers were tangled throughout most of the composite except in the skin layer. In addition, good adhesion was seen in the interface between silk fiber and PBS resin. It is concluded here that the silk fiber can be effectively used as a reinforcement for biodegradable composites.


Abstract : Both static and dynamic radar cross sections measurements are used for RCS predictions, but the static data are less complete than the dynamic. Integrated dynamics RCS data also have limitations for prediction radar detection performance. When raw static data are properly used, good first-order detection estimates are possible. The research to develop more-usable RCS statistics is reviewed, and windowing techniques for creating probability density functions from static RCS data are discussed.


This paper is intended to identify and assess with a critical eye some of the challenges that lie ahead on the road to decentralization in the Romanian administrative space. The article offers a look into the mechanisms and instruments of Romanian decentralization system and outlines the gap between a syncopeted decentralization system and the public administration activities. The diversity of concepts and skills, related to decentralization launched in the European Administrative Space, results in decreased rigidity of existing state organizations, encouraging local government to explore new forms of decentralization and cooperation. The analysis of the local government allowed us to identify the place of the community in relation to the central apparatus of the state, meaning its inclusion in the local government sub-system, in terms of territorial structure. The research aimed the way local government were built and configured, focusing on the principle of decentralization and local autonomy, which is the basis of these institutions and reveals local democracy. A final section covers the study on the complexity of legal relations established between the state, local government and Governors. In summary, the purpose of the paper is to stimulate the reflection on how the local government change their position in the administrative space, within a complex process that increases the role of local government, the inter-institutional changes and democratization of the local administrative system.


A series of fluorescent metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based on zinc metal and different aromatic dicarboxylate ligands were designed and synthesized. [Zn2(1,4-bdc)2(NI-bipy-44)] (1), [Zn2(2,6-ndc)2(NI-bipy-44)] (2), [Zn2(bpdc)2(NI-bipy-44)] (3), [Zn2(1,4-bdc-NH2)2(NI-bipy-44)] (4), [Zn2(1,3-bdc-NH2)2(NI-bipy-44)] (5), and [Zn3.5(1,3,5-btc)2(DMF)(H2O)1.5] (6) were constructed from the hydro(solvo)thermal reactions of zinc nitrate, N-(pyridin-4-yl)-4-(pydrin-4-yl)-1,8naphthalimide (NI-bipy-44), a well-designed dipyridyl bridging ligand, and dicarboxylic acids (1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid, 1,4-H2bdc; 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid, 2,6-H2ndc; 4,4′-biphenyldicarboxylic acid, H2bpdc; 2-amino-1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid, 1,4-H2bdc-NH2; 5-amino-1,3-benzenedicarboxylic acid, 1,3-H2bdc-NH2 and 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, H3btc). Elongating ligand length and functionalized with amino group would adjust the resulted open-frameworks in different pore size or pore environment. Compounds 1-4 have similar structures suiting a 3D pillared-layer structure, and overall 2-fold interpenetration, while compound 5 has a 2D double-walled honeycomb structure and compound 6 has a 3D unique structure. The zinc MOFs can be used for detection of nitro-compounds. Through π–π stacking or hydrogen bonding between the main-framework and nitro compounds, a election transfer process would occur from MOFs to nitro compounds, resulting in fluorescence quenching. In addition, compounds 1, 2, 4 and 5 has shown gas adsorption abilities for CO2, and the isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) has also be determined. We have studied adsorption abilities of zinc MOFs for organic dyes, the results demonstrate that the zinc MOFs did not show obvious intermolecular forces with organic dyes, so they do not have adsorption abilities for organic dyes.


An abattoir survey based study was conducted between November 2011 and March 2012 period, to determine the prevalence and economic significance of hydatidosis in slaughtered ruminants. During the study, Debrezeit Elfora export abattoir were visited twice a week to examine the internal organs (livers, lungs, kidney and hearts) for the presence of hydatid cysts in ruminants and total 203 cattle, 384 sheep and 547 goats were examined for the presence of hydatid cyst. It was found that 42.86% of cattle, 7.03% of sheep and 4.39% of goats were infected with this disease. The cysts in cattle, sheep and goats (P < 0.05) were found mostly in lungs (41.4%, 7.03% and 4.39%) respectively, whereas the liver is second affected organ in all the three species of animals (p< 0.05%). In addition to this, six, two and one kidneys in cattle, sheep and goats respectively and one heart in cattle only were infected with hydatid cyst. In this study, the prevalence of hydatidosis and the number of cysts in ruminants were found different when the cattle, sheep and goats examined were stratified based on their age and body condition. The prevalence and the number of cysts was high in those animals that has poor body condition and low in those animals having good body condition (P<0.05), but there is no significant difference (P>0.05%) between young and adult ruminants based on age. The economic loss in the value of the income due to carcass weight loss and because of the discarded organs (lung, liver, kidney and heart) annually as a result of hydatidosis was estimated to be 693,987.81 ETB for cattle, 600,465.2 ETB for sheep and 257, 790.19 ETB for goats. The minimum total loss for all infected animals was determined to be 1, 552, 243.2 ETB based on the market prices at Debrezeit in the year 2012.So that application of proper meat inspection was recommended to reduce such situations.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder characterized by dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra and other brain areas. Despite the vast majority of cases being sporadic, at least six genes have been identified so far that are responsible for autosomal dominant or recessive forms of parkinsonism. The PARK6 locus was mapped to chromosome 1p36 in a Sicilian consanguineous family with autosomal recessive early-onset parkinsonism, and subsequent linkage analysis in other two consanguineous families, from central Italy and Spain, allowed mapping of the gene to a 2.8cM region on chromosome 1p35–36. Sequencing analysis of candidate genes within the region led to the identification of homozygous mutations in the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) gene: both Italian families carried the W437X non-sense mutation, while the Spanish family carried the G309D missense change. PINK1 encodes for a serine–threonine kinase that partly localizes to the mitochondria and has been shown to play a major role in protecting neuronal cells from oxidative stress and cell death, mostly functioning alongside other proteins in maintaining mitochondrial morphology and function.


The distribution with height of pressure and concentration for a Fermi-Dirac and a Bose-Einstein gas subject to a uniform gravitational field is considered. The non-relativistic non-degenerate and degenerate, and the relativistic non-degenerate and degenerate cases are discussed. Because of its connection with radiation, the relativistic case of Bose-Einstein statistics is particularly interesting.


Dislocation effected plastic flow stress levels in shock experiments are accounted for in terms of control by defect creation at the shock front: in the fcc case, of a high dislocation density; and, in the bcc case, of deformation twins. Isentropic compression experiment (ICE) results differ in that the initially resident, much lower, dislocation density is required to "carry the load" by moving at very high drag‐resisted velocities.


This paper presents a detailed investigation into the problem of the preconditioned CG method for Large-scale power flow solution. The preconditioned CG method was used instead of the traditional LU direct method for solution of the large sparse sets of linear equations. Studies comparing the performance of kinds of preconditioner have been preformed. An Incomplete Cholesky preconditioner based on a novel ordering scheme has been presented which has been proved more effective for using CG method for power flow computation. Tests have been performed with networks of IEEE Test Systems and synthesized bulk systems, and shown the better effectiveness in computation for the proposed method than other preconditioners, even so for super large-scale power system comparing with LU direct method.


Bacteria express a variety of adhesive proteins, termed adhesins, on their cell surface. Adhesive activity is required for many aspects of the bacterial lifestyle, including attachment to both abiotic and biotic surfaces, bacterium-bacterium interactions, and biofilm formation. For pathogenic bacteria, adhesins mediate specific binding to host cells and initiate the infectious process (6, 9). Adhesins are critical virulence factors; they are key determinants of the tissue tropism of a particular pathogen and dictate how and where bacterial colonization may occur. A given pathogen may encode multiple different adhesins to allow binding to different sites within the host, as well as for interactions outside the host in the environment or in a vector. The expression of adhesins must be regulated and coordinated so that the proper adhesin is expressed at the proper time and in the proper environment. In addition, bacteria must be able to modulate adhesive activity to allow detachment from a particular niche and dispersal to new sites. Adhesins, which are by necessity surface-exposed structures, are also prominent targets of the host immune system. Therefore, the expression of adhesins is typically tightly controlled and subject to complex regulatory mechanisms, including phase and antigenic variation (1, 16). Phase variation allows for on/off expression of an adhesin, while antigenic variation changes the amino acid composition of surface-exposed regions of the adhesin to prevent recognition by the host immune system. Repetitive sequence elements have been shown to provide a source of expression and antigenic variation in surface-exposed adhesins in both bacterial and eukaryotic cells (2, 4, 7, 11). In this issue of Journal of Bacteriology, Sheets and St. Geme reveal a new role for repetitive sequence elements in controlling bacterial adhesion (14). The authors demonstrate that variation of a tandem repeated sequence results in the direct and gradual modulation of adhesive activity.

The focus of the study by Sheets and St. Geme is the Cha adhesin, expressed by the Haemophilus cryptic genospecies. The Haemophilus cryptic genospecies is a Gram-negative bacterial pathogen and an important causative agent of maternal genital tract and neonatal respiratory tract infections (10, 17). In an earlier study, Sheets and colleagues identified Cha as a novel adhesin that is conserved among different isolates of the Haemophilus cryptic genospecies but absent from H. influenzae strains (13). Mutagenesis of Cha caused a loss of bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells of the genital and respiratory tract, suggesting that Cha may be the primary adhesin responsible for the apparent tissue tropism of the Haemophilus cryptic genospecies (13). Cha belongs to the autotransporter family of secreted proteins (5, 13). Autotransporters are characterized by the presence of a conserved outer membrane or β-domain in their C terminus and an N-terminal passenger domain that contains the functional activity. An N-terminal signal sequence directs translocation of the autotransporter across the cytoplasmic membrane to the periplasm via the Sec general secretion machinery. Once in the periplasm, the C-terminal domain inserts into the outer membrane, forming a β-barrel structure. The passenger domain is secreted to the cell surface, either directly through the channel provided by the β-domain or with the assistance of the Bam outer membrane machinery (12). Following secretion, the passenger domain may remain anchored to the cell surface by the β-domain or may be proteolytically cleaved and released to the external milieu. Cha is a new member of the trimeric autotransporter family (8, 13), all members of which function as adhesins. Well-studied trimeric autotransporters include the Yersinia YadA and Haemophilus influenzae Hia adhesins (3, 15). For trimeric autotransporters, the C-terminal domains trimerize to form a single outer membrane β-barrel, which displays three intertwined passenger domains on the cell surface. The passenger domains are composed of modular and repetitive structural elements (8). Typically, an N-terminal head domain is connected via a neck region to a trimeric coiled-coil stalk region, which is in turn connected to the β-domain membrane anchor. The trimeric autotransporters form prominent surface structures that can be visualized by electron microscopy as lollipop-like appendages or extended hair-like structures (8). Cha shares these conserved features but contains in addition a unique 28-residue repeated sequence, located in the region corresponding to the stalk domain. Consistent with this, the Cha repeat sequence has a heptad periodicity of small hydrophobic residues, suggesting a coiled-coil architecture (14).

In the Haemophilus cryptic genospecies strain originally analyzed by Sheets and colleagues, Cha contained nine of the 28-residue sequence repeats (13). However, the authors noted size differences among cha-hybridizing genomic fragments from different strains, and they speculated that variation in the number of repeats might be responsible and might result in the generation of antigenic or functional diversity. In their current study, Sheets and St. Geme show that the repeat-containing region of Cha indeed undergoes spontaneous variation (14). Through analysis of a set of Cha repeat variants containing from none to approximately 100 repeats, the authors show an inverse correlation between repeat length and Cha-mediated adhesion; i.e., the greater the number of repeats and the longer the Cha sequence, the lower the adhesion. This correlation holds true both for adhesion to host cells and for bacterium-bacterium interactions (autoaggregation). Moreover, the authors show that the impact of repeat variation on adhesive activity cannot be explained by alterations in the expression, surface localization, or proper folding of Cha. These findings demonstrate that adhesion may be modulated gradually, instead of the on/off regulation generated by phase variation, and that longer structures are not necessarily advantageous in conferring adhesive activity. The latter finding is surprising, because many bacterial adhesins are presented on long, polymeric fibers, such as pili or fimbriae, which are generally thought to enhance adhesion by moving the binding domain away from the bacterial surface.

So what accounts for the authors' observation that the longer the Cha sequence, the lower the adhesion? The authors present several pieces of data suggesting a possible mechanism. First, the authors show that the binding activity of Cha resides in the N-terminal, head region of the passenger domain and that this region is responsible both for binding to host cells and for autoaggregation. Second, autoaggregation appears to be mediated by intermolecular Cha-Cha interactions rather than by the binding of Cha to some other bacterial surface moiety. Finally, the authors show by electron microscopy that expansion of the Cha repeat region results in the appearance of Cha surface structures with elongated stalk regions. Importantly, the electron microscopy images suggest that an increasing length of the stalk region allows the Cha head regions to aggregate together. These results suggest a mechanism whereby the increased stalk length caused by expansion of the repeat region provides sufficient flexibility to allow the N-terminal head regions to bind to each other (Fig. (Fig.1).1). Binding of the head domains to each other would then prevent Cha from binding to host cells or other bacteria. In contrast, the stalk regions of Cha proteins with fewer repeats are presumably too short to allow the neighboring head regions to interact. Other adhesins that are presented on extended structures, such as pili, likely avoid this fate due to a lack of self-binding activity. In addition, many pilus fibers are rigid structures, one function of which might be to decrease interactions between adhesins expressed on the same bacterial surface. How might the repeat-mediated modulation of Cha adhesion benefit the bacterium? Sheets and St. Geme speculate that the alteration of adhesive activity may provide an adaptive advantage within the host, creating variation within the bacterial population to allow binding to specific host sites and facilitating dispersal to new sites. The extension and contraction of the Cha sequence may also provide a source of antigenic variation to prevent detection by the host immune system. Thus, this mechanism of repeat-mediated variation may provide multiple advantages, and it will be interesting to determine its occurrence among other bacterial adhesins.

FIG. 1.

Model for repeat-mediated variation in Cha adhesive activity. The Cha protein is cartooned with the β-domain membrane anchor in green and the head domain, which contains the adhesin activity, in blue. The stalk region of Cha is shown in yellow ...


Background and Objectives There are few published data on the use of red blood cells (RBC) by specialty in the United Kingdom. The aim of this survey was to identify major specialty users of blood to target for audit of transfusion practice with a view to minimizing inappropriate use and to support planning of blood supply needs for the future.


This paper proposes an on-chip detector for the on-line testing of faults affecting clock signals and making them change with incorrect duty-cycle. Our scheme is particularly suitable to be integrated within SystemsOn-a-Chip (SOCs), in order to avoid their possible incorrect operation because of faults affecting clock signals, thus solving their extreme criticality in clock faults' testing. In particular, our detector is suitable to be applied to clock signals within each SOC digital core, to the clock signals at the interface between the diverse cores, as well as to those driving the DFT and BIST structures used to perform the SOC test. Our scheme features self-checking ability with respect to its possible internal faults belonging to a realistic set including stuck -ats, transistor stuck -ons, stuck-opens and resistive bridgings.