This study aims to understand the impact of using the social networking site Facebook in learning and teaching some aspects of a Pathology course delivered at a South Australian university. Another aim is to recommend good practice guidelines in the use of Facebook and provide key principles to ensure maximum learning and quality course delivery. In 2013, Facebook was used by firstand second-year Medical Radiation students in learning an aspect (case scenario) of a Pathology course. All students who participated in the Facebook activity were invited to complete a questionnaire before and after the conclusion of the course. A preand post-intervention mixed method study design was used. A 14-item preintervention and a 25-item post-intervention questionnaire were used to obtain information concerning students' initial perceptions about Facebook and their experiences in using Facebook as they try to learn a Pathology course, respectively. Before students became part of the Facebook group, they were requested to complete the pre-intervention questionnaire mainly to understand their perceptions on the use of Facebook as a learning tool. The course coordinator created a closed Facebook group and then emailed students and staff inviting them to participate. Once the lecturer accepted their request to be part of the group, they were then able to view the content and the exchanges began. The students, working in groups, discussed the case scenarios via this platform. Evaluation of the learning that transpired using Facebook was conducted at the conclusion of the course using a post-intervention questionnaire. Of the 152 students enrolled in the Pathology course in 2013, there were 148 students who participated in the Facebook group. Of the 148, 95 students completed the preintervention questionnaire and 61 students completed the post-intervention questionnaire. From the outset, the majority of students reported that Facebook could be a tool for learning and that it could enhance the interaction between students and staff. Postintervention results reveal also positive perceptions about the application of Facebook in the Pathology course. Students report that Facebook gave them flexibility, provided opportunities to learn and work with peers, direct their own learning, helped students engage with the course content, synthesise knowledge, interact with peers and lecturer, and was an effective and innovative way to learn, and increased their understanding of disease processes. In fact, the majority of the respondents recommended the initiative to other students. This study indicated that using Facebook offered many benefits and advantages for students. Good practice guidelines for use include: meticulous organisation, adequate introduction, acceptable duration of involvement, provision of a pleasant experience, and meaningful and enriching activities and interactions. The outcome of a wellmaintained and structured Facebook group is the formation of a learning community, where participants are linked and fully engaged, and where knowledge is conveniently and easily accessed.


We study a firm's optimal strategy to adjust its capacity using demand information. The capacity adjustment is costly and often subject to managerial hurdles which sometimes make it difficult to adjust capacity multiple times. In order to clearly analyze the impact of demand learning on the firm's decision, we study two scenarios. In the first scenario, the firm's capacity adjustment cost increases significantly with respect to the number of adjustments because of significant managerial hurdles, and resultantly the firm has a single opportunity to adjust capacity (single adjustment scenario). In the second scenario, the capacity adjustment costs do not change with respect to the number of adjustments because of little managerial hurdles, and therefore the firm has multiple opportunities to adjust capacity (multiple adjustment scenario). For both scenarios, we first formulate the problem as a stochastic dynamic program, and then characterize the firm's optimal policy: when to adjust and by how much. We show that the optimal decision on when and by how much to change the capacity is not monotone in the likelihood of high demand in the single adjustment scenario , while the optimal decision is monotone under mild conditions and the optimal policy is a control band policy in the multiple adjustment scenario. The sharp contrast reflects the impact of demand learning on the firm's optimal capacity decision. Since computing and implementing the optimal policy is not tractable for general problems, we develop a data-driven heuristic for each scenario. In the single adjustment scenario, we show that a two-step heuristic which explores demand for an appropriately chosen length of time and adjusts the capacity based on the observed demand is asymptotically optimal, and prove the convergence rate. In the multiple adjustment scenario, we also show that a multi-step heuristic under which the firm adjusts its capacity at a predetermined set of periods with exponentially increasing gap between two consecutive decisions is asymptotically optimal and show its convergence rate. We finally apply our heuristics to a numerical study and demonstrate the performance and robustness of the heuristics.


An anti-electrostatic memory card structure for an electronic device is provided, which comprises a memory card with a first conducting strip; to work with the memory card, the anti-electrostatic memory card structure further comprises a memory card slot, which is arranged on an electronic device and is electrically connected to the electronic device; an grounding conducting strip is arranged on one side of the memory card slot, and the grounding conducting strip is connected to a grounding wire on the electronic device, and a plurality of resilient conducting metal plates are arrange on the grounding conducting strip in correspondence to the first conducting strip on the memory card; in addition, a plurality of second conducting strips are arranged in the memory card slot in correspondence to the first conducting strip, and are electrically connected to the electronic device; with the structure, the utility model can effectively prevent electrostatic discharge and thereby protect the electronic components that are not resistant to high voltage on the electronic device from damage.


The reaction of chiral imines ent-14, 27, and 31 with α-chloroacrylonitrile 6, maleic anhydride 9, and citraconic anhydride 35 has been investigated. Addition of imine 27 to 6 furnished, after NaBH3CN-reduction of the crude product, the bicyclic derivative 28 as a single isomer. When the same protocol was applied to imine ent-14, a mixture of adducts 29 and 30 was obtained. Addition of imine 31 to 6 gave the annulated pyrrole 32. Condensation of imine 27 with maleic anhydride 9 afforded compound 33 as a single isomer. Addition of imine ent-14 to citraconic anhydride 35 led, after esterification of the crude product with CH2N2, to a mixture of adducts 36 and 37. The mechanism of these aza-annulations was discussed on the basis of the regio- and stereoselectivities observed.


This chapter sketches President Donald Trump's strategy of impulse and instinct and the counterstrategy of transnational legal process, which seeks to effectuate norm internalization into domestic legal systems through interaction–interpretation–internalization (the outside strategy) and engage–translate–leverage (the inside strategy). The outside and inside strategies work together in a complementary way to create an approach called "international law as smart power," a better alternative to Trump's counterproductive approach of disengage–black hole–no leverage. The counterstrategy functions like a game of "rope-a-dope," whereby other players in the process can resist Trump's initiatives, absorb punishment, parry where possible, and strategically counterpunch when Trump gets exhausted. In playing this game, law, policy, and politics impose separate but interrelated constraints on presidential overreaching.


As a result of multicultural circle influence,added the unique geographical environment and the production life style,the Tajk which life in Pamirs plateau has the characteristic traditional sports project.through the survey method for Taxkorgan County,the author made a analytical study on transition history and development of national culture,in order to offer reference frame for the development and succession of the tajks traditional P.E.


The successful correction of lens aberrations has greatly advanced the ability of the scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to provide direct, real space imaging at atomic resolution [1]. Very complementary to reciprocal space methods, it is especially advantageous for aperiodic systems, nanostructures, interfaces and point defects. Al-Co-Ni decagonal quasicrystals provide an excellent illustration of both the benefit of aberration correction in allowing light atom columns to be seen clearly, and in the power of the direct image to reveal broken symmetry within the 2-nm clusters, the origin of the quasiperiodic real space tiling [2]. Nanocrystals exhibit structures and properties with no relation to the bulk, for example the room-temperature catalytic activity of nanosized Au or the white-light emission from nanosized CdSe. Real space imaging combined with density functional calculations can unravel the origin of such surprising properties. Aberration corrected STEM images can provide (projected) atomic coordinates with precision of a few pm. While not comparable to that achievable with reciprocal space methods, real-space imaging can provide such data unit cell by unit cell across an interface. Examples will be shown of BiFeO3, mapping polarization and lattice parameter direct from a Z-contrast image, mapping octahedral rotations across interfaces with electrodes and finding evidence for interfacial charge [3]. EELS also can provide independent indication of interfacial charge transfer, and examples will be presented from complex oxide heterostructures illustrating how the origin of interfacial conductivity can be revealed [4]. The aberration-corrected STEM can also be used to provide depth resolution. Although not at the atomic level, the interior of a Si nanowire can be imaged free from any surface influence, and several Au point defect configurations have been revealed [7]. Finally, the direct imaging and identification of point defects in monolayer BN [8] and graphene will be presented, including the observation of local changes in dielectric function through single atom EELS.


Objective To explore the role of TNF-α in the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis and the mechanism of therapeutical effiect of Zhikuoning Mixture on bronchiectasis.Methods In vitro cultured Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells(HBE) were divided into groups and stimulated by sputa from bronchiectatic patients.The expression of TNF-α in HBE and the effect of Zhikuoning Mixture on it were assessed.Results The expression of TNF-α in HBE was activated by sputa from bronchiectatic patients and Zhikuoning Mixture might suppress the expression.Conclusion The expression of TNF-α in HBE plays an important role in the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis;Zhikuoning Mixture can suppress the TNF-α expression in HBE so as to improve airway inflammation in bronchiectasis.This may be one of mechanisms of therapeutic effect of Zhikuoning Mixture on bronchiectasis.


Effects of high pressure on the formation, structure, and electrical and magnetic properties of Cu-oxides crystallizing in perovskite-related structures have been studied. Under 6GPa at 1223K ACuO2 (A: Ba1/3Sr2/3-Sr1/3Ca2/3) is stabilized in the Ca0.84Sr0.16CuO2 type structure and R2CuO4 (R: Y, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm) in the Nd2CuO4-type structure. Very recently superconductivity with Tc=50K - 100K has been detected in the A-Cu-O system free from any rare earth ion, Bi3+, and Tl3+, treated at 6GPa and -1273K.


With the advent of perestroika and glasnost in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and their own dissatisfaction with the socialist economic model, Mongolia has chosen to open its economy to a range of reforms. This work studies the changes which began in 1986 and gained momentum in 1991 to elect a new government. The work reviews Mongolia's economic past and focuses on recent transformations. It includes detailed time series data on economic and social indicators.


A rumble went through the Boeing Company in April 1984 when it announced a policy of progressive work-site smoking restrictions eventually culminating in a total ban on smoking in all Boeing facilities. With this announcement, the 83,000-employee aerospace giant became the largest U.S. employer to make a commitment to a smoke-free work place. Boeing is not alone in its decision to institute a no-smoking policy in its workplace. Many other employers are learning that smoke in the corporate environment has an impact far beyond the lungs of smoking employees. The motivation for policy development can come from four areas: legislation, litigation, cost containment, and workplace health and safety.


Objective To investigate the safety and effectiveness of revolving and blind intubation in difficult endotracheal intubation.Methods 60 patients in ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ grade who were predicted with difficult tracheal intubation under elective general anesthesia were enrolled in this study.Based on the results of Cormack-Lehane classification,all the patients were classified into blind group(including 25 patients with Cormack-Lehane′s grade Ⅲ or Ⅳ) and vision group(containing 35 patients with Cormack-Lehane′s grade Ⅰ or Ⅱ).Revolving and blind intubation was performed in blind group,and direct vision orotracheal intubation with Macintosh laryngoscope was used in vision group.The SBP,DBP,HR and SpO2 in the two groups in the time of before anesthesia induction,after anesthesia induction,trachea cannula and 5 min after trachea cannula were recorded,the success ratio,the time and the relative complications of trachea cannula were observed and recorded in all patients.Results The differences of total time of trachea cannula,success ratio of 1 time in two groups were all statistically significant(all P 0.05),the successful rate of trachea cannula was 100.0%;SBP and DBP of the two groups in the time of after anesthesia induction and 5 min after trachea cannula were lower than those of before anesthesia induction,the differences were all statistically significant(all P 0.05),SBP and DBP in the time of trachea cannula were found no changes,the differences were not statistically significant(P 0.05),the HR was found higher,the difference was statistically significant(P 0.05).SBP,DBP and HR of the two groups in the time of trachea cannula were found higher than those in the time of after anesthesia induction,the differences were all statistically significant(all P 0.05).The levels of SpO2 were found no differences in all the points of times,the differences were not statistically significant(P 0.05).No serious throat complications were found in the two groups.Conclusion Revolving and blind tracheal intubation for difficult tracheal intubation has high successful rate and few relative complications and may be valuable for clinical anesthesia work.


OBJECTIVE
To study the status of coronal pulp of deciduous teeth with deep caries and causes of pulpal histopathological changes.

METHODS
45 deciduous molars with occlusal deep caries were selected at random. The patients did not receive any antibiotic for one month. The coronal pulpal histopathology was observed with optical microscopic technique. The bacteria in pulp chamber were cultured by the ways of aerobic and anaerobic culture technique. The dentinal tubular structures and bacteria within the tubules of cavity basal part dentin were studied with scanning electron microscopic technique.

RESULTS
Coronal pulp tissue of 77.8% of deciduous teeth with deep caries showed chronic inflammation to various degrees or chronic pulpitis with acute attack. There were aerobic and anaerobic mixed infection in pulp chambers of 94.9% deciduous teeth with deep caries. It was found that coccus and bacillus invaded into dentinal tubules of cavity basal part. Coccus located inside tubules with intact tubular walls, while tubular walls were destroyed the bacillus was present.

CONCLUSION
There are aerobic and anaerobic mixed infection in pulp chamber of deciduous teeth with deep caries. The coronal pulp tissue shows chronic inflammation to various extent in over 2/3 deciduous teeth with deep caries. Bacillus has stronger destructive power to dental tubules.


Objective:To investigate the anesthesia management in congenital craniofacial anomalies surgery.Methods: This study retrospectively reviewed the anesthetic data of congenital craniofacial anomalies from 1990 to 2006.Eight hun- dred and twenty three cases of operations were analyzed.Results:There are no dead cases and serious postoperative com- plications in general anaesthesia with all congenital craniofacial anomalies operations.Conclusion:Anesthetic manage- ment of patients for congenital craniofacial anomalies are based on a careful preanesthetic evaluation emphasizing the air- way.Monitor of intracranial pressure by puncturing of subarachnoid space is not essential during the operation.


Background: Dental students are exposed to varying levels of stress that may affect their mental and physical health, academic performance and quality of life. This study aim was to determine the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety and stress (DAS), and the relationships between DAS symptoms and stressors. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 257 dental students at the International Islamic University Malaysia. The prevalence and severity of DAS symptoms was measured by the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21). The stressors were self-reported by students from a list, and the relationships with the DAS symptoms were assessed. Results: The overall prevalence of DAS symptoms for depression, anxiety, and stress were 47.5%, 67.3% and 42.8%, respectively. Clinically significant depression was experienced by 9.3% of the students, anxiety by 28.8% and stress by 10.1%. Anxiety was significantly more frequent in women than in men, and anxiety scores were significantly increased in young students. The top five stressors were time management problems, fear of failing, examination and low grades; feeling of incompetence and study pressure. Conclusions: DAS symptoms occurred in dental students. Academic and personal factors produced stress that precipitated psychological distress.


The present invention relates to a ceramic forming batch material body, said batch material comprising: at least one pore forming agent and the inorganic batch components, the inorganic batch components comprises at least one silica having a specific particle size distribution source; batch material using a ceramic body and a method for producing a ceramic body according to said method. The present invention also relates to the manufacture of ceramic bodies, to reduce the variation in pore diameter in the ceramic body and / or reducing the process variations.


Transcripts of children acquiring Mandarin Chinese reveal errors in the morphological realization of inchoative aspect. Where an adult would use a sentence-final particle le, children will often either omit it, or substitute a different marker (ne). We analyze the overuse of ne in child Mandarin as a retreat to a default form that results from an impoverished syntactic representation. We compare the actual proportions of S-le successes, ne errors, and omission errors across fine-grained developmental stages by estimating the number of inchoative "attempts," based on the frequency of adult usage of S-le from the same transcripts. We propose an Optimality Theoretic account in which constraints requiring syntactic realization of the features of the intended meaning "float" in the ranking over constraints that require economy of syntactic structure. These partial rankings characterize a set of alternative grammars that the child uses in production. Finally, we compare these results to similar results from the acquisition of French and of Catalan, all of which display a coexistence of competing grammars, retreats to a default form, and constraints requiring economy of structure, despite obvious differences in the morphological richness of the three languages.


The purpose of this study is to investigate cluster ing advantages by contrasting the performance of cl ustered micro enterprises, in terms of profit, with that of dispersed ones in the handloom sector in Ethiopia. To correct for endogeneity and selection bias we match cluster ed and dispersed micro enterprises that share the s am observable characteristics except for being cluster ed both in urban and rural areas. We classify these characteristics into enterprise specific factors an d presence of activities outside clusters that incl ude concentration of big manufacturing factories both i n the same industry and operating in other industri es and, access to markets, credit and transport infrastruct u e. We find that enterprise specific factors like gender and schooling affect the likelihood of being clustered both in urban and rural areas. Concentration of big textile factories are also important both in urban and rura l a eas depicting the importance of backward and fo rward linkages in terms of inputs sharing, and informatio n spillover between big producers and micro enterpr ises operating in the same industry. Concentration of bi g producers from other industries, on the other han d, re not important. Clustering is found to be important arou nd markets and where there is access to transport infrastructure in urban areas. However, micro enter prises are more likely to cluster in remote rural a reas implying the importance of traders who link micro e nt rprises with distant markets. The matching revea ls that clustered micro enterprises have higher level of pr fit both in urban and rural areas than dispersed o nes showing that location economies exists within clust ers.


This course presents some of the newer, relatively unknown bacteria- and virus-caused infectious diseases, as well as selected recurring ones and their causes.


The ability to multiplex multiple structured beams for sub-terahertz (sub-THz) wireless communications has been recently explored. The spatial orthogonality of structured beams enables mode-division multiplexing (MDM). In an MDM system, multiple data-carrying beams are transmitted and received simultaneously through a single aperture pair with low inherent crosstalk. This can increase data capacity and spectral efficiency of the system. Here, we experimentally demonstrate multiplexing orthogonal sub-THz Laguerre-Gaussian (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf L}}{{{\bf G}}_{\ell,{{\bf p}}}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>) beams when varying two different modal indices (i.e., both <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell $</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf p}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>); this contrasts with prior reports when varying only one index (i.e., <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell $</tex-math></inline-formula>) and could potentially provide a larger set of channels and beams in an MDM system. In our demonstration, specially designed phase patterns are used: (1) at the transmitter, to convert two THz Gaussian beams to two different LG beams, each carrying an independent data channel; and (2) at the receiver, to separate and convert the LG beams back to Gaussian-like THz beams. An 8-Gbit/s quadrature-phase-shift-keying (QPSK) link containing two multiplexed LG modes over 40 cm is experimentally demonstrated. For the above link, three different LG modal sets are chosen (i.e., {<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf L}}{{{\bf G}}_{ - 2,0}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf L}}{{{\bf G}}_{1,1}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>} or {<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf L}}{{{\bf G}}_{3,0}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf L}}{{{\bf G}}_{0,1}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>} or {<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf L}}{{{\bf G}}_{2,1}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${{\bf L}}{{{\bf G}}_{0,1}}$</tex-math></inline-formula>}). All channels are recovered with bit errorrates (BERs) below the 7% forward error correction (FEC) limit. The experimental results indicate that: (a) higher-order LG modes experience more divergence, larger size, and lower conversion efficiency, contributing to higher power loss; and (b) the modal coupling and crosstalk for different LG modes is <−12 dB, which could be due to the transmitter/receiver misalignments as well as beam truncation by the limited-sized receiver aperture.


In order to investigate the aseismic behavior of soil nailing slope,shaking table tests of 1:12 reduced scale models were designed and carried out.Dynamic characteristics of the soil nailing slope were obtained from the model tests.The maximum lateral displacement mainly occurs at the abdomen of the slope,and the displacements at the crest and foot are relatively small.Increasing nail dip will increase the lateral displacement,while increasing nail length or reducing nail space will minish the lateral displacement. The shape of most functional belt is polygonal-shape instead of hypothetical arc.And the most functional belt is located in the foreside or middle part of the soil nailing area,which is not in accordance with the slide plane appearing in vibration condition.The response accelerations in the middle of the slope and at the bottom are smaller and very close,and are larger at the top part.


with a Raman spectroscopy system, at least one Raman spectrum (40) is detected a sample for detecting a prostate tumor. The at least one Raman spectrum (40) is evaluated in order to detect a prostate tumor.


The optical reflectance of photonic-crystal films is revisited, while focussing on the variety of coloration produced by different surface orientations. The needed tools for this analysis are first described. These include a number of simple rules that help locating the useful spectral features of the photonic-crystal reflectance with a minimal knowledge of the structure, and make explicit a full multiple-scattering algorithm (often cited, but not explicitly described so far) for the precise computation of reflectance spectra. It is seen that a face-centered cubic structure of low refractive index can span a wide region of the chromaticity diagram with just a few high-symmetry surfaces.


This paper aims to shed light on the phenomenon of transnational securitisation of identity and how it influences state-level securitisation and communal 'othering'. We propose a more nuanced understanding of state-societal relations by viewing 'othering' as
 a by-product of various types of securitisation of identities, as opposed to the normative assumption within existing scholarship that applies these concepts interchangeably. This provides a more discernible lens through which certain cultural processes of discrimination are articulated, manifest
 and evaluated. The basis for our analysis is presented by comparing the persecution levelled against Shia communities within Bahrain and Pakistan, respectively. In the case of Bahrain, transnational securitisation amplifies pre-existing state securitisation, with external agents – in
 this context, Saudi Arabia – harnessing the hard power tactic of military intervention, as witnessed during the 2011 uprisings. Whereas in the case of Pakistan, transnational securitisation is performed by utilising soft power mechanisms, namely the legacy of petro-dollar wealth that
 has been used as a form of extremist proselytisation. The proliferation of jihadist non-state actors that pose an existential threat to Shia communities in Pakistan in recent years is a testament to this. In this way, the process bypasses state institutions to induce bottom-up, communal 'othering'.


Different methods for compressing trees are surveyed and developed. Tree compression can be seen as a trade-off problem between time and space in which we can choose different strategies depending on whether we prefer better compression results or more efficient operations in the compressed structure. Of special interest is the case where space can be saved while preserving the functionality of the operations; this is called data optimization. The general compression scheme employed here consists of separate linearization of the tree structure and the data stored in the tree. Also some applications of the tree compression methods are explored. These include the syntax-directed compression of program files, the compression of pixel trees, trie compaction and dictionaries maintained as implicit data structures.


AAPS PharmSciTech is well into volume 7 of its young history. In 2005, volume 6, 81 papers were published. The goal for 2006 was 100–120 papers with a themed issue published and two others underway. By this writing the journal has published 79+ articles as we near the close of Issue 3 and the opening of Issue 4. There are currently 41 papers that have been accepted and are in various stages of production. AAPS PharmSciTech will publish at least 100 papers in volume 7.


In this paper, the solar radiation reduction monitoring of Macao world heritage district photovoltaic system using Geographical Information System (GIS) - Google Earth and 920-MHz Ultra-High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (UHF RFID) obstacle detection approach is presented. When the solar panel is tagged with UHF RFID tag, its tag antenna effective area can be significantly affected if there is obstacle placed between tag and reader. An experimental trial of tag's Received Signal Strength Index (RSSI) reports more than 6 dB difference with and without obstacle. This property is a simple and economic solution for photovoltaic system to detect obstacle shadowing or covering the solar panel and; efficient solar radiation reduction monitoring can be easily integrated with existing photovoltaic GIS platform demonstrated.


The process of arousal from hibernation is begun by a temperature rise in the foreparts of the gopher which precedes any rise in oxygen consumption. This is followed by a rapid change of the R.Q. f...


Purpose Evaluate if there is a(n): 1) reduction in health risk behaviors and 2) association between health and wellness initiative participation and claims costs decreases overtime. Design Health risk behavior change consisted of the analysis of pre (2009) – post (2019) measures of health questionnaire participants. The medical and pharmaceutical claims costs evaluation consisted of a time-series (2016-2019) design with a comparison group. Setting A large mid-western university with a health system. Sample The health risk behavior sample ranged from 5215-5399, depending on the variable of interest. The medical and pharmaceutical costs sample used a cohort of participants (participating all 4 years, n=11114) and non-participants (not participating all 4 years, n=4776). Intervention Comprehensive employee health and well-being initiative. Measures/analysis McNemar's tests were used to identify bivariate associations between 2009 and 2019 health risks. The claims cost analysis used propensity score matching based on select demographics and linear mixed-effects regression modeling. Results Results show statistically significant (P > .001) improvements (ranging from −2.1% to −12.5%) in 7 of 8 health risk behaviors. 2016 and 2019 claims costs have a lower statistically significant (P > .001) percent increase for participants (32.6%) compared to non-participants (47.5%). Conclusion Employers, may consider implementing a comprehensive health and wellness program as part of their strategy to assist in health behavior risk reduction and health care cost containment.


Introduction Lead-acid batteries naturally degrade as they age. One effect of this degradation is the increase in resistance of the various conductance paths of the internal cell element. The internal ohmic testing devices are generally designed to detect this internal change. The testing devices that are commercially available input an electrical signal and interpret the reflected signal in various manners, ultimately linking the signal to the internal resistance of the cell. These internal ohmics device are commonly used to test a battery when new, and then periodically at various intervals. When the baseline reading begins to deviate beyond a pre-determined level, it is presumed that the battery is deteriorating internally. The term internal ohmic testing has been used to encompass these various techniques that are used conductance, impedance or resistance.


Electrocatalytic C-N bond coupling to convert CO 2  and N 2  molecules into urea under ambient conditions is a promising alternative to harsh industrial processes. However, the adsorption and activation of inert gas molecules and then driving C-N coupling reaction is energetically challenging. Herein, a novel Mott-Schottky Bi-BiVO 4  heterostructures are designed and realize the remarkable urea yield rate of 5.91 mmol h -1  g -1  and Faradaic efficiency of 12.55% at -0.4 V vs. RHE. Comprehensive analysis confirms the emerged space-charge region in heterostructural interface not only facilitates the targeted adsorption and activation of CO 2  and N 2  molecules on generated the local nucleophilic and electrophilic region but also effectively suppresses CO poisoning and the formation of endothermic *NNH intermediate, which thus guarantees the exothermic coupling of *N=N* intermediates and generated CO via desired C-N coupling reaction to form urea precursor *NCON* intermediate. This work provides an encouraging inspiration to promote urea electrosynthesis by electrochemical C-N coupling reaction under ambient conditions.


In this study, a facile method was used to prepare ZnO tetrapods for potential dye degradation applications. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and UV-Vis spectroscopy were employed to investigate the morphology, chemical composition, and photocatalytic properties of prepared ZnO tetrapods. A Rhodamine B (RB) dye was used as a model dye to study the photocatalytic activity of the prepared sample. It was shown that RB dye can be efficiently degraded in the presence of ZnO tetrapods under continuous UV-light illumination. Thus, prepared ZnO tetrapods with excellent photocatalytic properties can be potentially used in wastewater treatment.


In this paper it has been determinet positiv action of bactericidal irradiation on increase of quality of fur-bearing product in rabbit breeding.


It is important that leaks are detected early in pipelines. The need for prompt and accurate leak detection becomes more crucial when the pipeline content is gaseous. Remedial actions require that the leak location be determined in any leak incidence. Accurate leak localization will not only save cost but will enhance remedial actions such as replacement and repairs of damaged pipeline sections, clean-up of affected ecological systems and direct inspection of degree of damage. This information will aid in understanding the causes and effects of the leak. This paper presents a mathematical model for determination of the location of leak in a natural gas pipeline. The mathematical approach employed a mass balance approach to the modification of the Weymouth's gas transportation equation in a horizontal natural gas pipeline. The pipeline under consideration was divided into two sections at the advent of leak. Before the leak point the pipeline cross section is represented as the upstream section while the downstream represents the section ahead of the leak point. The mathematical model herein was developed with reference to the downstream section of the pipeline. The results showed good accuracy with other leak location models available in literature and was also verified to be correct and within acceptable error limits when compared with actual field data.


A photosensitive epoxy (PSEP) for multi-mode optical waveguide based on epoxy resins containing fluorene units and photo-acid generator (PAG) has been developed. PSEP is directly patterned by UV irradiation and wet chemical development, avoiding use of photoresist. Fabricated optical waveguides have 50μm width rectangle core pattern, which was smooth sidewalls and surfaces. PSEP optical waveguide exhibits high heat resistance and low optical loss 0.063 μm at 830nm. This simplification of the fabrication process is very attractive in manufacturing optical/electrical devices at low cost.


1. Introduction 2. "Rape" and violence in the making of segregation 3. Racial violence and black labor in the South 4. Racial violence and state intervention in the South African economy 5. Racial violence and religion in the New South 6. "The weakness of some .": Afrikaner civil religion and racial paternalism 7. The nightmare of multiple jurisdictions: states rights and lynching in the South 8. Racial violence and the legal system in South Africa 9. Conclusion Index


The theories considered here are based on the classical functional calculus (possibly of higher order) together with a set A of non-logical axioms; they are also assumed to contain classical first-order number theory. In foundational investigations it is customary to further restrict attention to the case that A is recursive, or at least recursively enumerable (an equivalent restriction, by [1]). For such axiomatic theories we have the well-known incompleteness phenomena discovered by Godei [6]. Quite far removed from such theories are those based on non-constructive sets of axioms, for example the set of all true sentences of first-order number theory. According to Tarski's theorem, there is not even an arithmetically definable set of axioms A which will give the same result (cf. [18] for exposition).


A multidimensional numerical model was developed to investigate the temperature field,fluid field of liquid phase in the molten pool,and microstructure evolution in the plasma deposition manufacturing(PDM)process.A level-set approach was used to track the evolution of free surface of the molten pool,and an enthalpy-porosity model was introduced to deal with the transformation of solid and liquid phases.To understand the physical mechanism of thermal impact on the microstructure of the deposited layer,a Monte Carlo method combined with thermal-fluid analysis was applied to track the grain growth process in the PDM process.A numerical experiment of nickel-based alloy thin wall parts by PDM was implemented.The numerical results show that the microstructure of the deposited layer mainly depends on frequency and amplitude of thermal impact,which is also influenced by variable processing parameters such as plasma power,scanning speed,and powder feed rate. Therefore,under full melting of fed powder,an increase of scanning speed could make the grain size of final microstructure finer to some extent.


The study investigates the effects of pore diameter, pore spacing, and arrangement on the energy absorption ability of closed-cell aluminum foam. The optimal arrangement of pores for energy absorption was determined using experimental design and the finite element method. Aluminum 6063 with a simple cubic structure was found to be the most efficient at energy absorption, while aluminum 356 with a simple cubic structure was the least effective. As the load rate increased, the effect of the parameter t exceeded that of h in both structures. The response surface method's proposed model was deemed effective, with the difference between experimental and predicted values around 15%–20%.


With the development of electric power and electronics industries,the industries of wires and cables are growing. The copper rods have become the main copper product in the market. The quality of copper rod is a key factor of market competition between copper rod suppliers. Most copper rods are to be drawn into wires in further processing,so downstream customers request for a higher level of copper rod performance in wiredrawing. The copper dust from wiredrawing becomes the focus of copper rod suppliers and downstream customers. The paper analyzes the reasons for copper dust and discusses the measures to reduce copper dust.


Synthetic aperture radar Interferometry (InSAR) is a significant 3D imaging technique to generate a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The phase difference between the complex SAR images displays an interference fringe pattern from which the elevation of any point in the imaged terrain can be determined. Phase unwrapping is the most critical step in the signal processing of InSAR and especially in DEM generation. In this paper, a least squares weighted wavelet technique is used which overcomes the problem of slow convergence and the less-accurate Gauss-Seidel method. Here, by decomposing a grid to low-frequency and high-frequency components, the problem for a low-frequency component is solved. The technique is applied to ENVISAT ASAR images of Bam area. The experimental results compared with the Statistical-Cost Network Flow approach and the DEM generated from a 1/25000 scale map of the area shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Hidden Markov models (HMMs) offer an attractive way of accounting and correcting for measurement error in longitudinal data as they do not require the use of a 'gold standard' data source as a benchmark. However, while the standard HMM assumes the errors to be independent or random, some common situations in survey and register data cause measurement error to be systematic. HMMs can correct for systematic error as well if the local independence assumption is relaxed. In this chapter, we present several (mixed) HMMs that relax this assumption with the use of two independent indicators for the variable of interest. Finally, we illustrate the results of some of these HMMs with the use of an example of employment mobility. For this purpose, we use linked survey-register data from the Netherlands.


Oliver Hart proved the impossibility of deriving general comparative static properties in portfolio weights. Instead, we derive new comparative statics for the distribution of payoffs: A is less risk averse than B iff A's payoff is always distributed as B's payoff plus a non-negative random variable plus conditional-mean-zero noise. If either agent has nonincreasing absolute risk aversion, the non-negative part can be chosen to be constant. The main result also holds in some incomplete markets with two assets or two-fund separation, and in multiple periods for a mixture of payoff distributions over time (but not at every point in time).


Objective
Explore the best biomarker method to track cells and better observe the homogenization of cells after transplantation in the body.

Method
Four cells were transfected with a novel lentivirus (eGFP+PURO Lentivirus) . The optimal MOI of the four cells was determined. After the cells were successfully transfected, the cells were screened with the optimum concentration of puromycin. Four stable GFP-positive cell lines were obtained. The cells used included human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSC) , tree shrew umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (TS-UC-MSC) , human embryonic kidney cells (293T) , C57BL mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (C57-BMSC) .

Results
Four kinds of common cells were successfully transfected with novel lentivirus (eGFP + PURO Lentivirus) . The success rate of transfection was 100﹪. The cell was successfully labeled with GFP fluorescence and the optimal concentration of puromycin and MOI value was determined. The optimal MOI of TS-UC-MSC was 240, the optimal MOI of hUC-MSC was 150, and the optimal MOI of 293T was 100, the optimal MOI of C57-BMSC was 50. C57BL mice were transfused with C57-BMSC cells labeled by GFP. Frozen sections showed labeled cells were in the liver. The labeled cells were not found in the spleen, lung, kidney and heart, indicating that the foreign cells were mainly metabolized in the liver.

Conclusion
In cell transplantation treatment, the cells successfully labeled GFP can be traced in animals, a good cell tracer method can be a good reflection of the study of cells in vitro and in vivo trends.

Key words:
Green fluorescent protein; Lentivirus; Transfection; Bone marrow; Mesenchymal stem cells; Fluorescent antibody technique


INTRODUCTION: The management of facial trauma is one of the most rewarding and demanding aspects of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Being the most prominent mobile bone of the facial skeleton, mandible fracture occurs more frequently than any other fracture. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of treatment by the use of cortical lag screws versus miniplates, in patients who have a fracture in the mandibular symphyseal region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was conducted on fourteen patients with age ranged from 19-48 years. The patients had mandibular symphyseal region fractures requiring open reduction and internal fixation. The patients were clinically examined postoperatively by assessment of pain, edema, surgical wound, occlusion, teeth vitality and nerve injury. They also were assessed radiographically using orthopantomogram and cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) to evaluate the adequacy of reduction, healing progression and bone density of the fractured segments. CONCLUSIONS: Cortical screw fixation using the lag screw principle offers the advantages of fixation, using minimal hardware, and achieving inter-fragmentary compression, and associated with minimal pain and edema when considering the treatment of linear symphyseal region fractures.


Deposition of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) into amyloid plaques is one of the invariant neuropathological features of Alzheimer's disease. Proteins that codeposit with Aβ are potentially important for the pathogenesis, and a recently discovered plaque-associated protein is the collagenous Alzheimer amyloid plaque component (CLAC). In this study, we investigated the molecular interactions between Aβ aggregates and CLAC using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and a solid-phase binding immunoassay. We found that CLAC binds to Aβ with high affinity, that the central region of Aβ is necessary and sufficient for CLAC interaction, and that the aggregation state of Aβ as well as the presence of negatively charged residues is important. We also show that this binding results in a reduced rate of fibril elongation. Taken together, we suggest that CLAC becomes involved at an intermediate stage in the pathogenesis by binding to Aβ fibrils, including fibrils formed from peptides with truncated N- or C-termini, and ther...


The purpose of this chapter is to identify ways in which the sanctorale of the South English Legendary (SEL), found in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Laud Misc. The process of compilation apparent in L (Laud Misc) points to a series of broadly thoughtful rather than haphazard acts, whereby each textual item in the codex is effectively some kind of comment on what the other texts meant to the various compilers and what the compilers expected the texts they were dealing with to mean to their target readerships. The late thirteenth-century sanctorale is plainly by far the longest of all the L texts and also, arguably, the base text to which all else was added, with the special exception of the preceding temporale that went with this sanctorale to constitute the late thirteenth-century SEL. Keywords: Bodleian library; Laud Misc; Sanctorale ; thirteenth-century South English Legendary


This paper's study objective is to investigate the development situation of Xining's Han,Hui and Tibetan children's self-consciousness between 5-12 years old.The results of the study indicate that: children's self-consciousness level has increased year by year;There is some disparity among different national children's self-consciousness level,but not significant;Xining district children's self-consciousness total score is significantly lower than the national norm level(P0.05);the girl's self-consciousness is higher than that of male students(P0.05).Because regional background,living environment and education condition affect the psychological tendency formation of children's self-consciousness,the primary education should have some targeted measures to make children have excellent psychological quality and sound personality.


In today's world, a Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) is a crucial component of our power network for managing, controlling, and monitoring. PMU can provide synchronized voltage current, and frequency measurements in real time. We can't put a PMU in every bus in the electrical grid because it's not viable from a productivity and economic standpoint, and it's also not practical for handling huge data. As a result, it's critical to reduce the amount of PMU in the power network while also increasing the power network's observability. The optimal PMU placement problem is solved using a variety of methodologies. The paper's main goal is to provide a brief overview of synchrophasor technology, phasor measurement units (PMU), and optimal PMU placement in order to reduce the number of PMUs in the system while maintaining complete observability and application in today's power systems.


It has been proposed that sphinganine may function as a natural antifungal barrier in mammals. This sphingoid base is found highly concentrated in epidermis, where it has been documented to inhibit the colonization of pathogenic fungi such as Epidermophyton and Candida. Since Neurospora crassa is sensitive to the effects of sphinganine within the same concentration range as infectious fungi, it is being employed as the model to study the mechanism of sphinganine toxicity in fungal pathogens. With the dramatic increase in fungal mycoses seen in immunocompromised individuals to date, this natural constituent of mammalian epidermis may be employed as a potent, novel antifungal drug. During this project, radioactive labelling with [3H]sphinganine was employed to observe metabolism of exogenous sphinganine into complex sphingolipids. Transmission electron microscopy analysis was utilized to observe changes in cellular ultrastructure, while fluorescence microscopic techniques were used to assay certain cell functions. Within 1 hr, exogenous sources of sphinganine are metabolized into dihydroceramides and cerebrosides by the enzymes of complex sphingolipid synthesis.


This article compares the different characteristics of hedges used in two different languages: Chinese and English.We chose and analyzed some articles published in newspapers,magazines and film scripts,and found that there exist both similarities and differences of using hedges in both Chinese and English.This study may help us to know better the nature of languages and achieve our goals in cross-cultural communications by using hedges properly.


The use of drones introduces the problem of noise pollution due to the audio noise generated from its propeller rotations. To mitigate the noise pollution from drone propellers, this thesis explores a method of using active noise cancellation ANC. This thesis hypothesizes that by analyzing the waveform of the drone propeller noise, an approximated wave function can be produced and used as an anti-noise signal that can effectively nullify the drone noise. In order to align the phase of the anti-noise signal to maximize drone noise reduction, this thesis presents a signal pitch-shifting approach, to guide areas of destructive interference to a desired target such as a microphone, at a desired location. Through experimental evaluation using a prototype of the proposed Pitch-Aligned Active Noise Cancellation system PA-ANC, this thesis reveals that the proposed technique can achieve a 43.82% reduction of drone noise. INDEX WORDS: Active noise cancellation, Drone, Noise pollution, Spectral analysis ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION OF DRONE PROPELLER NOISE THROUGH WAVEFORM APPROXIMATION AND PITCH-SHIFTING


Background: It is clear that therapeutic exercise plus mobilization have significant benefits on range of motion in frozen shoulder however it is important to consider the patient's symptoms and the stage of the condition and suggest if the disease prognosis is affected by treatment. Aim of Study: To compare the combined effect of shoulder mobilization and therapeutic exercises on pain, range of motion, and overall shoulder functions between stage II and stage III frozen shoulder. Material and Methods: Thirty patients referred as frozen shoulder, were divided according to their stage of illness equally into two groups; group A (stage II) and group B (stage III). Both groups were treated with mobilization, stretching exercises, active exercise and Codman pendulum exercises and that was 2 times per week for successive two months. Each patient was assessed for shoulder ROM using universal goniometer pretreatment, post 6 sessions and post treatment and pain and disability using shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI) pretreatment and post treatment. Results: There was significant effect of mobilization and therapeutic exercises on pain and overall shoulder functions in both groups with more significant effect in group A compared with group B (p=0.0001). Also there was significant effect on shoulder ROM of flexion and abduction in group A compared with that of group B ( p=0.0001). But there was no significant difference in shoulder internal rotation and external ROM between both groups (p=0.8 & p=0.12). Whereas there was a significant increase in shoulder extension ROM of group B compared with that group A (p=0.001). Conclusion: The combined effect of mobilization and therapeutic exercises has significant effect on pain and overall shoulder functions in stage II frozen shoulder than stage III and a significant effect on shoulder ROM in both stages.


A novel boost converter with high performance is proposed to improve the dynamic characteristic of a 12/8-pole segmented-stator hybrid-excitation switched reluctance motor (SSHE-SRM) drive. The machine topology and static magnetic characteristics of the 12/8 SSHE-SRM are presented and compared with a conventional SRM (CSRM). The SSHE-SRM produces higher torque than CSRM, especially in the large current range. Thus, in order to increase the phase current of the SSHE-SRM under dynamic operation, the boost converter is employed. The operation states of the SSHE-SRM drive with the novel boost converter are analyzed in detail. During the fast-excitation and fast-demagnetization modes, phase voltage is boosted due to the addition of capacitor and hence faster-excitation and fast-demagnetization currents are obtained. Detailed simulations and experiments of the SSHE-SRM drive with this novel boost converter are carried out as well as compared with asymmetric half-bridge converter.


Objective To research the possible mechanism of Ganfujian Formula(formula for liver recovery)for liver fibrosis.Methods The SD rats were randomized into the normal group,model group,Ganfujian Formula low-dose group,Ganfujian Formula middle-dose group,Ganfujian Formula high-dose group and colchicines group,with 10in each.The liver fibrosis model was established with intraperitoneal injection of 0.5ml pig serum twice weekly for 8weeks in each group except the normal group.Both the normal and model groups were gavaged with 10ml/kg normal saline respectively.The Ganfujian Formula low-dose,middle-dose and high-dose groups were gavaged with 1.4g/ml,2.8g/ml and 4.2g/ml Ganfujian Formula decoction respectively.The colchicine group was given 0.154mg/kg suspension liquid of colchicine tablets.The expressions of leptin mRNA and leptin receptor(OB-Rb)mRNA were detected with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.The expressions of Janus kinase 2(JAK-2)and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3)were detected with Western blot.Results Comparing with the normal group,the expressions of leptin mRNA,OB-Rb mRNA,JAK2and STAT3were significantly increased in other groups(P0.05).Comparing with the model group,the expressions of leptin mRNA,OB-Rb mRNA,JAK2and STAT3were significantly decreased in the Ganfujian Formula low-dose,middle-dose and high-dose groups and colchicine group(P0.05),especially in the Ganfujian Formula high-dose group(P0.05).Conclusion The possible mechanism of Ganfujian Formula for liver fibrosis is inhibiting the expressions of leptin and OB-Rb and thereby inhibiting JAK2/STAT3signaling pathway.


In this report we introduce two novel techniques, lasermuon spin spectroscopy (laser-µSR) where laser excitation follows muon arrival to excite muoniated molecules and laser pump-muon magnetic resonance probe where laser excitation precedes muon arrival to excite molecules reacting with muonium or muoniated free radicals. Both these techniques employ laser excitation to produce a transient while the chemical dynamics of which are probed using muon spin spectroscopy (µSR). By using a tunable laser system it will be possible to measure the electronic and vibrational excitations of a muoniated centre. This will provide an independent tool for radical and site assignments for muon implanted samples. This report presents the proof of principle experiments, using timeresolved Zero-Field µSR (ZF-µSR), to observe the change upon 532 nm laser excitation in the ZF asymmetry of the radical adduct produced by excitation of powdered rose bengal. For the first time these pump-probe experiments extend muonium chemistry to the realm of excited states. The results enable the detection of muoniated molecules by their spin evolution after laser excitation; opening new opportunities to study the chemical dynamics of muoniated intermediates in excited states.


Objectives: The objective of this study was to measure the level of vitamin D in adult patients coming with nonspecific musculoskeletal pain and evaluate the effect of the correction of vitamin D deficiency on the pain, fatigue and quality of life. Methods: A pragmatic prospective study was conducted in Orthopaedics out patient department at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, between January 1 and June 30, 2016. All patients aged 18 to 60 years consulting for diffuse nonspecific musculoskeletal chronic pain and/or chronic unexplained fatigue, were enrolled in this study. They were randomised into study group who received the vitamin D supplementation and the control group who received a placebo. Results: Eighty nine complete cases underwent the study. Out of this sixty eight patients were deficient, fifteen patients had insufficient vitamin D level and rest six had sufficient level. The correction of vitamin D deficiency resulted in a significant decrease in the level of pain intensity according to VAS (P=0.001) and the pain free duration (P<0.001), consumption of analgesics (P=0.002) and discomfort in carrying out activities of daily living following: the shopping, cleaning, walking for more than a kilometer (P<0.001) and dressing (P=0.012). Conclusion: The correction of vitamin D has had a positive impact both physical, mental and social activities. Chroninc nonspecific musculoskeletal pain should be evaluated for vitain D deficiency. Supplementation in these patients brings overall improvement in these patients.


ABSTRACT Studies have shown that the older sibling often chooses to live away from his elderly parents intending to free ride on the care provided by the younger child. In the presented model, we incorporate income effects and depict a different pattern frequently observed in Eastern countries; that is, the older sibling lives near his or her parents and takes care of them in old age. By generalizing the existing model, we show three cases of elderly parents being looked after by (i) the older sibling, (ii) the younger sibling, and (iii) both siblings, depending on the relative magnitude of the income effect and the strategic incentive for one sibling to free ride on the other. Our study also investigates the effect of changes in relative income on the level of total care received by parents.


A welding system includes at least one high intensity energy source (120) to create a weld puddle during a root pass (RP) on a narrow joint of a workpiece (115) with a clad layer (CL). The system also includes a controller to control a weld ramp out process such that, as the molten puddle advances to a start of an existing root pass weld (RP), the controller decreases an energy output of the at least one high intensity energy source (120) and reduces an interaction time between the at least one high intensity energy source (120) and the weld puddle. After completion of the root pass (RP), a thickness of a root pass weld in a region that is at or near the start point of the existing root pass weld is in a range of 100 percent to 130 percent of a nominal root pass thickness of a remainder of the root pass weld (RP).


There are several ways to approach the eigenfunction expansion problem for ordinary differential operators via the spectral theorem for self-ad joint linear operators in Hilbert space. One can examine the resolvent, which requires a detailed study of the Green's function (4, 5, 7), or one can use the spectral theorem for unbounded operators (2, 3, 9). Since the eigenf unction expansion theorem also requires some multiplicity theory, unless one is prepared to use a rather powerful form of the spectral theorem for unbounded operators, as in (2, 9), the proof requires a good deal of work in addition to the spectral theorem.


Workers in a long-term relationship often have an incentive to hide their ability early in the relationship to avoid having the firm increase the level of output expected from them in the future. We show that competition for older workers will permit the implementation of efficient piece-rate contracts. When the difficulty of the job is unobserved by the firm, Gibbons (1987) has shown that all piece-rate contracts will be inefficient. Together, these results may explain why piece rates are common in some jobs, such as agricultural work and sales, and not as popular for many manufacturing jobs.


In this paper we study the variants of fuzzy Turing machines and universal fuzzy Turing machine. First we give several equivalent formulations of fuzzy Turing machines which correspond to fuzzy deterministic Turing machines (FDTMs), fuzzy nondeterministic Turing machines (FNTMs) and multitape fuzzy Turing machines. Then the notions of fuzzy recursively enumerable languages and fuzzy recursive languages are defined in terms of FDTMs. The level characterizations of fuzzy recursively enumerable languages and fuzzy recursive languages are exploited. Second, we show that there is no universal fuzzy Turing machine that can simulate any fuzzy Turing machine on it. Finally, we propose the notion of complexity classes of fuzzy languages by using the time-bounded fuzzy Turing machines. In particular, the notions of fuzzy polynomial time-bounded computation (FP) and fuzzy nondeterministic polynomial time-bounded computation (FNP) are introduced, their connections to P and NP are also characterized


It is improved that there is staged characteristics of lateral pressure coefficient K0 of soft clay.When the test load P is less than sample's remaining structure strength Pc′,the value of K 0 is small,and when P Pc′,the value of K0 is increased.It's the reflection of the staged characteristics of soft clay's mechanical property.When P Pc′,the structure of soil sample is undamaged,the sample is similar to a rigid material,the value K0 is small;When P Pc′,soils microstructure is damaged,the sample is changed to be elastoplastic material,the value K 0 is increased.In geotechnical practices,the sample is disturbed during drilling and sampling,the microstructure of under-consolidated or normal-consolidated soft clay is destroyed,the staged characteristics of indexK 0 is disappear.


even Juan March, a smuggler from Majorca whose commercial dealings across the Europe of two World Wars earned him successive bouts of support and prosecution by Spanish authorities often come to dominate the account, lending it exceptional vitality, but sometimes at the expense of narrative coherence. Even more distracting is a host of smaller characters whose names and roles often crop up without proper introduction and tend to disappear just as unexpectedly, leaving the reader to wonder about their place in the broader social and economic context. Part of the blame for this seeming lack of focus, or, rather, the inability of the authors to effectively integrate their discussion of tensions and major developments of a hundred years of Spanish political economy and the personal, micro-level stories of individual entrepreneurs certainly lies with the impressively ambitious scope of this book. Cabrera and del Rey do their best to pack an incredible wealth of detail into a very condensed, albeit extensive narrative, but the result is something that is neither a solid, meticulous monograph on single individuals or a number of individuals, nor a very systematic account of the Spanish entrepreneurial class. In defence of the authors it should be added that this particular book comes as a summary of extensive research by both Cabrera and del Rey on the development of Spanish business class and employers' associations (see especially Mercedes Cabrera, La patronal ante la II Republica [1931–1936], 1983, and Fernando del Rey, Proprietarios y patronos: la politica de las organizaciones económicas en la España de la Restauración [1914–1923], 1992), and for those with a keener interest in the topic the book provides an excellent overview of recent Spanish historiography of political-economic developments during the last century. As for the English-speaking readership, this complex and exciting, if at times confusing and incomplete account provides unique insights into the changing relations between political and economic power on the Iberian Peninsula against the backdrop of the turbulent history of the Spanish twentieth century.


As sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) becomes a new surgical standard in the treatment of patients with breast carcinoma, there is an emergent need for a fast and accurate method with which to assess the SN intraoperatively, so a decision can be made regarding whether to perform axillary lymph node dissection during primary surgery. In the current study, the authors performed a prospective investigation of the relative merits of imprint cytology for that purpose.


Within the scope of a NATO research project on onboard signature management, an extensive international measurement campaign was carried out in 2011. Two naval research vessels, CFAV Quest from Canada and FS Planet from Germany, were participating in the program. Both ships were ranged at Loch Fyne (UK), at open seas, in Heggernes (Norway), in Aschau (Germany), and Brest (France). One of the objectives of the research program is the evaluation of differences in reported underwater acoustical radiated noise levels of the ships under various boundary conditions. Quest and Planet sailed with a number of fixed machinery configurations like slow speed, high speed, and shaker excitation at certain structural points at each measurement site, respectively. The environmental conditions comprised deep water and shallow water as well as free field conditions at open seas. Both vessels are equipped with a large number of accelerometers, located at the main noise sources and along the hull frames of the ships. Additio...


Hardware functional safety requirements are covered by verification and validation methods defined by ISO 26262 functional safety standard for automotive electronic systems. The implementation of most functional safety requirements for electronic devices can be covered by typical functional test methods at Register Transfer Level (RTL), complemented by formal proof to ensure that the RTL is equivalent to the netlist and to the physical implementation levels beyond. However, some implementation failures (systematic errors) cannot be detected using this method. This paper reports the cases faced during the development of a complex System-on-Chip for the automotive industry and discusses the verification and implementation checks that were performed to fill this gap.


Ten years ago, although it seems like only yesterday, the German and French Chemical Societies together with VCH started a journal targeted as the European Journal of Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry and baptized it ChemPhysChem. It started out as an insert in Angewandte and very soon thereafter became an independent publication. Other European Chemical Societies have joined along the way (from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary and Portugal) and with 18 issues per year and a high impact factor, it has established itself as a leading journal and an international source for important primary and critical secondary information across the whole field of physical chemistry and chemical physics. It is European-based but truly internationally renowned. As editorial advisory board Chairmen, it has been a real pleasure from the start to see this "baby" mature into a strong and innovative journal bringing an attractive mixture of communications, articles, reviews and highlights in all fields of physical chemistry, both experimental and theoretical, from gas-phase studies to solid-state research and from complex chemical systems to single molecules (Figure 1). In all of these and other areas, seminal papers by leading scientists have contributed to make the journal the success we hoped for— and have achieved.


Though there is evidence that expectancy can impact outcomes of heath treatments, the role of expectancy in neurofeedback (NFB) for ADHD remains unclear. A pilot study found large expectancy effects on self-reported symptoms in NFB, but mixed evidence for sustained attention performance. We further investigate the effects of treatment expectancy on self-reported ADHD symptoms and neuropsychological performance in NFB.

 Young adults seeking treatment for ADHD expected to receive active NFB, but instead were randomly assigned to receive sham treatment with false feedback indicating above average (positive expectancy; n = 26), below average (negative expectancy; n = 23), or average (neutral expectancy; n = 24) attentive states. Primary outcomes were report of ADHD symptoms, and performance on a sustained attention test and working memory test.

 Mixed ANOVAs revealed a significant interaction for ADHD symptom report (p < .001). Groups did not differ in pre-NFB symptom report (p = .56). Symptom report by the positive expectancy group decreased over time (p < .001) but increased among negative (p = .02) and neutral (p = .02) groups. Post-NFB symptom report was higher for negative expectancy relative to positive (p < .001) and neutral (p = .002) groups. There was no significant difference between positive and neutral groups (p = .37).There were no significant interactions for sustained attention and working memory.

 Results indicate that treatment expectancies impact self-report of ADHD symptoms and should therefore be considered in clinical trials of NFB that measure outcomes via symptom report. Future studies examining expectancy effects on measures of other neuropsychological domains are necessary.


The ability of antibodies to specifically select and stabilize through binding one or more isomers of highly dynamic ligands remains a relatively unexplored immunochemical problem. The experimental strategy employed in this study was to elicit homogeneous antibodies to polyarmatic fluorescein which exists in one isomeric form. The binding properties of a monoclonal rat antifluorescein antibody specific to a given isomer were quantitatively studied to determine the capacity ot bind dynamic analogues of fluorescein which exists in multiple isomers. To generate monoclonal anti‐fluorescein antibodies that reacted with specific dynamia analogues of fluorescein posessing unconjugated aromatic ring systems, immune spleenocytes from Lou/M rats immunized with FITC(I)‐KLH were fused with Balb/c SP2/0‐Ag14 murine myeloma cells forming rat‐mouse hybridomas. Cell line P2A12‐1‐C8 was selected for further characterization from the original 23 stable rat hybrids, since it produced a monoclonal antibody with a binding affinity 2.0 × 1010/M for fluorescein based on dissociation rate measurements. P2A12‐1‐C8 exhibited significant reactivity with HPF and phenol red, which are dynamic structural analogues of the homologous florescein ligand. No reactivity was demonstrated with phenolphthalein, which based on relative chemical structures was expected to be more reactive than phenol red. Computer‐based molecular modeling and energy minimization studies of fluorescein, HPF, phenol red, and phenolphthalein showed that in terms of the most energetically favotable orientation of the three aromatic rings, phenol red more closely simulated fluorescein than phenolphthalein. The results were analyzed in terms of the mechanisms of dynamic ligand stabilization and binding involving accommodation of specific ligand isomers by energetically permissible conformational states exhibited by an antibody active site. Thus, antibody reactivity of an anti‐fluorescein antibody with phenol red and phenolphthalein was dicated more by ligand dynamics and aromatic orientation than by chemical structure similarities.


6082 Background: It has been well documented in the literature that cancer patients receiving certain chemotherapy drugs are at an increased risk for developing secondary malignancies. This concern...


We propose, here, a multi-heterodyne method using frequency comb and a tunable laser for absolute distance measurement. Numerous beat frequency components can be obtained in RF region. The distance can be determined via the phases of the beat signals. We potentially extend the non-ambiguity range up to 105 m by adjusting the comb repetition frequency slightly. The experimental results show an agreement within 4.5 μm, corresponding to a relative precision of 1.5 × 10-7 in a range up to 30 m, compared with an incremental distance meter.


Together may compact, proposed signal conversion circuit capable of reducing the quantization noise, PLL circuit, a delay adjustment circuit and the phase control circuit. In TSTC8, pulse width low-pass filter 101,113 of conventionally required layout area is large capacitance Cm to convert voltages (12 and 13) becomes unnecessary, downsizing and cost reduction by that amount it it is, because it can produce an analog voltage pulse signal P1 is adapted to change state at the boundary that changes may reduce the quantization noise than conventional digital PLL circuit 120 (FIG. 14).


A series of N-glycosylamine based organogelators were synthesized from 4,6-O-protected saccharides introducing pyridylamines. The gelation properties of these compounds were studied in regard to their molecular structure by scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, FT-IR spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations.


Since Kenneth Branagh impressed audiences in 1989 with his first film, Henry V, movie critics, film scholars, Shakespeare scholars, and Shakespeare enthusiasts alike have noticed two qualities about the young director: he holds back very little, and he borrows from other films quite a bit. Certain portions of his films have been defined appropriately as "lavish," "over the top," "energetic," and "sheer bravura." Some even say about Branagh, "He is not interested in making timid movies."1 At the same time, the director's extravagant visions, sets, and camerawork are pieced together from other film genres, cinematographers, and auteurs-a style that places him alongside other notable postmodern filmmakers like David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino. Samuel Crowl effectively sums up this side of Kenneth Branagh: Branagh is a product of the postmodern moment dominated by a sense of belatedness-a sense that originality is exhausted and that only parody and pastiche and intertextual echo remain. Rather than finding such a condition enervating, Branagh's work seizes on its possibilities. Branagh is a reconstructionist-an artist who creates out of the bits and shards of the postmodern moment.2 Branagh's insistence on "parody and pastiche" is unmistakable in his films: for example, his intertextual references to Laurence Olivier's Henry V as the battle-hungry king, his homage to Welles and Hitchcock with his noirish thriller Dead Again (1991), and his tribute to John Sturges's The Magnificent Seven (1960) in the opening shots of his comedy Much Ado about Nothing. However, this reconstructionist approach did not work for Branagh's 2000 attempt at Shakespeare-on-screen, Love's Labour's Lost. Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost has been criticized more for its tongue-in-cheek salute to the American film musical than praised for its creativity and good intentions. Critics often scoff at Branagh because of multiple (bad) decisions on his part: he edits too much of Shakespeare's play, he casts actors who cannot dance or sing, he selects one of Shakespeare's weakest and most language-rich plays to transfer to the screen, and (ever the postmodernist) he tries to pay homage to so many different films that every character seems to be acting in a different movie. For the most part, these are relatively obvious assessments of the film's problem areas, and certainly plausible explanations as to why the film disappointed both the masses and the critics. Nonetheless, there are a couple of other potential reasons that the film failed to reach its audiences: it employs an outdated film genre-the classical Hollywood musical-for the retelling and adapting of a four-hundred-year-old Elizabethan play; moreover, the director misinterpreted the genre's firmly established conventions and, more significant, the historical and social context that itself produced the musical's conventions.3 Branagh's pitch to the studios was to do "a Thirties musical-comedy, using material by Jerome Kern and George Gershwin." The production notes likewise publicized the film as a Shakespearean play "seen through the lens of classic 1930's Hollywood." Even the costume and make-up designers for the film studied swimsuit and fur designs from the 1930s, copies of Vogue magazines from that same era, and the Astaire-Rogers films that spanned 1933 to 1938.4 So, if these are Branagh's intentions, then should we not look at his film with that particular mindset? In other words, should we not contrast Love's Labour's Lost to the type of films that he is mimicking? This kind of comparison seems much more practical than weighing it against something like Woody Alien's Everyone Says I Love You (1996) or even a more recent musical like Chicago (Rob Marshall, 2002). Like Love's Labour's Lost, Alien's film incorporates classic songs, but it does not purport to be an imitator of the studio musical or the era in which the studio musical existed. Similarly, placing Branagh's adaptation alongside musicals such as Chicago or Moulin Rouge (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) seems less useful as well since both of those have transformed the traditional musical genre into something "new" and ostensibly fresh. …


Molecular doping is an efficient, non-destructive, and simple method for changing the electronic structure of materials. Here, we present a simple air ambient vapor deposition method for functionalization of pristine graphene with a strong electron acceptor: copper chloride. The doped graphene was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis-NIR optical absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electro-physical measurements performed using the 4-probe method. The effect of charge transfer from graphene to a dopant results in shifting the Fermi level in doped graphene. The change of the electronic structure of doped graphene was confirmed by the tangential Raman peak (G-peak) shift and by the appearance of the gap in the UV-vis-NIR spectrum after doping. Moreover, the charge transfer resulted in a substantial decrease in electrical sheet resistance depending on the doping level. At the highest concentration of copper chloride, a Fermi level shift into the valence band up to 0.64 eV and a decrease in the sheet resistance value by 2.36 times were observed (from 888 Ω/sq to 376 Ω/sq for a single graphene layer with 97% of transparency).Molecular doping is an efficient, non-destructive, and simple method for changing the electronic structure of materials. Here, we present a simple air ambient vapor deposition method for functionalization of pristine graphene with a strong electron acceptor: copper chloride. The doped graphene was characterized by Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis-NIR optical absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electro-physical measurements performed using the 4-probe method. The effect of charge transfer from graphene to a dopant results in shifting the Fermi level in doped graphene. The change of the electronic structure of doped graphene was confirmed by the tangential Raman peak (G-peak) shift and by the appearance of the gap in the UV-vis-NIR spectrum after doping. Moreover, the charge transfer resulted in a substantial decrease in electrical sheet resistance depending on the doping level. At the highest concentration of copper chloride, a Fermi level shift into the valence band up to 0.64 eV and a de...


Constitutive expression of the c-fos gene perturbs the de novo synthesis of RNA and DNA in B cells stimulated by surface immunoglobulin (sIg) cross-linking. In order to examine kinetics of the regulatory effect on the activation process of B cells, we used splenic B cells from transgenic mice carrying the c-fos gene under the control of the interferon alpha/beta (IFN)-inducible Mx gene promoter (Mx-c-fos). In the absence of IFN, Mx-c-fos B cells proliferated well by anti-IgM stimulation. However, both RNA and DNA synthesis in the Mx-c-fos B cells were markedly reduced by the addition of IFN in the culture within 12 h after anti-IgM stimulation. These results suggest that this regulatory effect of c-Fos displays at the mid G1 phase of the cell cycle.


Gärtner K, Baumgartner S, Walach H. Is homeopathic arnica effective for
 postoperative recovery? A meta-analysis of placebo-controlled and active comparator
 trials. Front Surg 2021. doi:10.3389/fsurg.2021.680930 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2021.680930/full


By means of accident judgment,analysis and improvement on the hydraulic AGC system of 3 500 mm coiling rolling mill in Angang,it enhances the operating rate of rolling mill,quickens the pace of new products development and establishes the image of coiling product.


The influence of strontium on phosphorus modification of eutectic Al-Si alloys was investigated in this article by optical microscopy and electron probe micro-analyzers (EPMA). It has been shown that there is no effect on phosphorus modification when adding strontium level is below 0.175%. AlP still acts as the nucleating site of primary silicon and is enclosed by multiple compound which is produced by Strontium, phosphorus, aluminum, calcium and magnesium. The multiple compound has the similar lattice structure to that of primary silicon.


As a newly developing subject,the environmental arts design is of rich connotation,wide-ranging category and strong comprehensiveness. Facing the need of the development of our society,it is urgent for us to build the profession of environmental arts design. In this paper,the author presents some ideas about the subject development and research of this profession from the following aspects:curriculum design,course teaching,highlighting practical teaching and teachers' development,hoping that it can add to some inspiration of the subject development.


PURPOSE
To describe the previously unreported ocular anomalies in the rare condition of tetraploidy.

METHODS
This study is a retrospective case report of a 23-day-old male infant with tetraploidy. RetCam fundus photography and neuroimaging were performed.

RESULTS
This 23-day-old male infant was born at full term and found to have tetraploidy with numerous congenital anomalies including bilateral optic nerve colobomas, left microphthalmia, vitreous hemorrhage, and septo-optic dysplasia.

CONCLUSION
Infants with tetraploidy can present with ocular anomalies and while hospitalized should be examined by an ophthalmologist.


The world's first banknote printed on clear plastic film and using optically variable devices (OVDs) was issued in Australia in 1988 after twenty years of research and development. In the course of this, a great deal of technical as well as logistic issues had to be solved.


The technology innovation for small-scale enterprise need a good external condition that is established by nation. Our nation has not built perfect service system of technology innovation. There are short of technology innovation talent and fund, and law system protected is not perfect, all above lead to limit action of technology innovation for small-scale enterprise. We should put emphasis on the technology innovation for small-scale enterprise, and enhance market competition for small-scale enterprise through new knowledge and technology.


Until 2005, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) was a relatively littlestudied pathogen restricted to parts of Africa and Asia. Epidemics were sporadic and separated by years of quiescence. In late 2004, the East Central South African genotype of CHIKV moved from Kenya onto the Indian Ocean island of Comoros. The global onslaught of CHIKV had begun. In November of 2005, viral isolates were identified with, what might normally be regarded as an insignificant, single alanine to valine mutation at position 226 of the envelope E1 gene. 1 This simple mutation had a remarkable effect; making the virus approximately 100 times more infectious to the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, and it was this species that was transmitting the virus rather than the usual vector, Aedes aegypti. 2 Subsequent 'second-step' mutations further enhanced the ability of the virus to infect and/or disseminate from the midgut to the salivary glands in Ae. albopictus. 3 However, these viruses can still be transmitted byAe. aegypti. Within a yearof the Indian Ocean lineage emerging, over 250 000 people had been infected. An epidemic in Asia began within months and has infected several million people in India and other Asian countries. Chikungunya infectionsoccurred in manycountriesasaresult ofpeopletravelling fromareaswith activetransmission.The presence oftiger mosquito vector has been critical to enable localized CHIKVoutbreaks in Italy and France. This species continues to invade new territory, 4 being


Development & test of an automated RaLa needle positioning-Synthesis. During the project, this algorithm shall be improved by means of a combination/connection between test rig PLC and DSHplus simulation. FLUIDON's RaLa test rig is equipped with Beckhoff industrial PLC equipment where the I/O handling is done by EtherCAT modules. The algorithm is developed in MATLAB/SImulink environment where etherlab blocks are used to connect the EtherCAT modules to Simulink. The C code is then generated to be implemented & executed on Linux OS in order to test it on the real test-rig.


We consider semilinear difference equations in a Banach space. It is assumed that the nonlinearities of the considered equations satisfy the local Lipschitz con- dition. By virtue of the recent estimates for the norm of functions of quasi- Hermitian operators, explicit stability and boundedness conditions are given. Ap- plications to infinite dimensional difference systems are discussed.


An attempt has been made to investigate the extent to which diffusion, viscosity, thermal conduction and ion drag, influence the propagation of atmospheric gravity waves at the thermospheric heights. The perturbation in the electron density is calculated when the diffusion processes arc taken into account and it is found that the diffusion can be ignored only when the wave period is less than about 5 'min. The viscOSity is responsible for damping the slow waves for which the Boussienesq approximation is valid and the wavelength is small. Thermal conduction is more important in damping waves having periods near the Brunt period. The effect of ion drag depends largely on the frequency and is highly complex.


We show that application of the so-called "Market Determined Efficient Component Pricing Rule," the "Efficient Component Pricing Rule," and, in general, of pricing rules that are based on private opportunity costs would perpetuate pricing inefficiencies and result in lower social surplus than pricing which is based on social opportunity cost rather than private opportunity costs.


AbstractUsing non-woven polypropylene geotextile, a filtration unit was designed for portable prototype filter capable of defluoridation and desalination. The filtration unit contains geotextile bag filled with mica and graphite sand. Emphasis was given to make the filter design as simple as possible that is suitable for rural areas. The designed filter was continuously tested for three months along with ceramic (Candle) filter and Pureit filter for comparative studies. The performance of the filters was evaluated on the basis of the percentage of residue removed by the individual filters and cleaning period of the filters. The results of the improvement in the water quality made by prototypes filter without cleaning show reduction in concentration of fluoride and electrical conductivity (EC) by 83.06 and 45.75%, respectively. While the other two filters despite weekly cleaning shows reduction in concentration of fluoride and EC by 74.20 and 30.04%, (ceramic filter) and 93.68 and 86.37% (Pureit filter), r...


Just 72 years after the mass production of the first broad spectrum antibiotic penicillin started Staphylococcus aureus represents a dismaying global threat again. In the golden era of the antibiotic development the drug pipeline fighting this and other human pathogenic bacteria was filled repeatedly to combat the ongoing bacterial resistant development and spread. However, in the late 1980's an ongoing discovery void in antibiotic development began, missing innovative novel targets, and the risk of entering a post-antibiotic era is evident these days.
In this study a promising new strategy is presented, which uses the bacterial vitamin B1 de novo biosynthesis, that is entirely absent in humans. In the course of this approach substrate analogs, also termed 'suicide drugs' are channeled into the bacterial metabolism and will finally, after a set of metabolization steps, block a specific variety of cofactor dependent enzymes inside the bacterium as an inactive cofactor. This uncouples the site of drug infiltration and target action and entails multiple downstream effects.
The structure of S. aureus ThiM in complex with two of these substrate analogs was solved via X-ray crystallography. Furthermore ThiM was successfully evaluated for its binding of NPE-caged ATP via STD-NMR, which could serve, in combination with an initially controlled rational crystallization conducted in the XtalController900, as a serial X-ray crystallographic pump-probe approach in future. Additionally, the mode of action of a former identified inhibitor of ThiM was elucidated. Moreover, the structure of TPK in complex with its natural ligand thiamine was solved. This allowed the analysis of possible thiamine analogs, build up out of the two promising substrate analogs studied for ThiM, incorporation.
Furthermore, the structures of S. aureus and the monocellular eukaryotic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi vitamin B6 kinase – PdxK were solved to high resolution via X-ray crystallography and S. aureus PdxK structure was analyzed in solution via small angle X-ray scattering. The structural analysis allowed the differentiation of PdxK, which also shows promiscuous activity towards the first substrate of the kinase ThiD, which is an essential kinase for the HMP feeding into the vitamin B1 metabolism in S. aureus. Based on these results the interplay of the metabolisms and the structural delimitation can now be further studied and will highlight the evolutionary relations.
Beyond that, a pepdimometic approach targeting PdxK could be followed on basis of the crystallization result of S. aureus PdxK and could reveal an innovative possibility of inhibiting these kinases. Furthermore, an additional expression system using insect cells was tested and all proteins of the vitamin B1 and B6 pathways were successfully produced. In summary this work provides valuable information for the development of innovative antibiotic substances based on proteins' structural data to specifically target MRSA.
Nur 72 Jahre nach Beginn der Massenproduktion des ersten Breitbandantibiotikums Penicillin stellt Staphylococcus aureus wieder eine kritische globale Bedrohung dar. Im goldenen Zeitalter der Antibiotikaentwicklung wurde die Medikamenten-Pipeline zur Behandlung dieses und anderer humanpathogener Bakterien regelmasig gefullt, um der Entwicklung und Verbreitung bakterieller Resistenzen begegnen zu konnen. Seit Ende der 1980er Jahre hingegen ist die Entwicklung in der Antibiotikaforschung defizitar und innovative Targets fehlen, sodass heute das Risiko einer post-antibiotischen Ara evident ist.
Diese Arbeit prasentiert eine neue, aussichtsreiche Strategie, die auf die bakterielle Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) de novo Biosynthese, welche beim Menschen nicht vorkommt, abzielt. Hierzu werden Substrat-Analoga - "Suicide Drugs" - in den bakteriellen Metabolismus eingeschleust und fuhren letztlich, nach mehreren Metabolisierungsschritten als inaktive Co-Faktoren zur Blockade multipler Co-Faktor-abhangiger Enzyme im Bakterium. Auf diese Weise werden der Wirkstoff-Eintrittsort und der Wirkort voneinander entkoppelt.
Die Struktur von S. aureus ThiM im Komplex mit zweien dieser Substrat-Analoga konnte via Protein-Kristallographie bestimmt werden. Auserdem konnte ThiM erfolgreich auf sein Potenzial, NPE-caged ATP via STD-NMR zu binden, untersucht werden. Dieses konnte zukunftig - in Kombination mit dem evaluierten, kontrollierten Kristallisierungs-Setup mittels XtalController900 - fur serielle rontgenkristallographische Pump-Probe-Experimente genutzt werden. Zusatzlich konnte die Wirkungsweise eines bereits zuvor identifizierten Inhibitors von ThiM naher analysiert werden.
Des Weiteren wurde die Struktur von TPK im Komplex mit seinem naturlichen Liganden mittels Protein-Kristallographie gelost. Auf dieser Basis konnte die Akzeptanz moglicher Thiamin-Analoga, hergestellt aus den zwei fur ThiM untersuchten Substrat-Analoga, strukturell untersucht werden.
Weiterhin wurde die Struktur der Vitamin B6 Kinase (PdxK) aus S. aureus und des eukaryotischen Protozoen Trypanosoma cruzi mittels Protein-Kristallographie gelost und zusatzlich die S. aureus PdxK Struktur in Losung mittels SAXS uberpruft.
Die strukturelle Analyse erlaubt nun die Untersuchung der Substratspezifitat von PdxK, welche gegenuber dem ersten Substrat (HMP) der Kinase ThiD, das die HMP-Zufuhr im Vitamin B1 Metabolismus in S. aureus sicher stellt, ebenfalls Aktivitat zeigt. Auf Basis dieser Ergebnisse kann nun das Zusammenspiel des B1 und B6 Metabolismus sowie die strukturelle Differenzierung weiter untersucht und die evolutionaren Verbindungen analysiert werden.
Daruber hinaus kann auf Basis der Kristallisationsergebnisse von S. aureus PdxK ein auf PdxK zielender pepdimometischer Ansatz verfolgt werden und innovative Moglichkeiten der Blockade dieser spezifischen Kinasen bieten. Ferner wurde zusatzlich ein Expressionssystem unter Nutzung von Insektenzellen getestet, bei welchem samtliche S. aureus Proteine des Vitamin B1 Metabolismus und PdxK erfolgreich produziert werden konnten. Zusammenfassend bietet diese Arbeit wertvolle Informationen fur die rationale Entwicklung innovativer antibiotischer Substanzen basierend auf strukturellen Daten, um MRSA spezifisch zu targetieren.


Only about 25% of pediatric sore throats are caused by group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GABHS), and treatment of these infections is essential to


Background: Genome wide association studies (GWAS) are powerful tools for nominating pathogenic variants, but offer little insight as to how candidate genes impact disease outcome. Such is the case for SH2B adaptor protein 3 (SH2B3), which is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD), atherosclerosis, and risk of myocardial infarction (MI), but its role in post-MI response is completely unknown.

Methods: Using an experimental model of MI (left anterior descending artery [LAD] occlusion) in wild-type (WT) and Sh2b3 knockout (KO) rats, we assessed the role of Sh2b3 in post-MI fibrosis, leukocyte infiltration, angiogenesis, left ventricle (LV) contractility, and inflammatory gene expression. We also confirmed our findings in LV samples from end-stage heart failure patients with or without the MI-associated SH2B3 risk allele.

Results: Compared with WT, Sh2b3 KO rats had significantly increased fibrosis (2.2-fold; P2-fold; P<0.001), which coincided with decreased LV fractional shortening (FS) (-Δ11%; P<0.05) at 7 days post-LAD occlusion. Despite an increased angiogenic potential in Sh2b3 KO rats (1.7-fold; P<0.05), we observed no significant differences in LV capillary density between WT and Sh2b3 KO rats. Of the 903 genes examined, 19 were significantly elevated in the post-LAD occluded hearts of Sh2b3 KO rats relative to WT, of which three (NLRP12, CCR2, and IFNγ) were also significantly elevated in the LV of heart failure (HF) patients carrying the MI-associated rs3184504 [T] SH2B3 risk allele.

Conclusions: These data suggest for the first time that SH2B3 is a master risk factor for MI by impacting both MI incidence and post-MI response.


While SciDB is gaining popularity among commercial software developers and data analysts charged with building "Big Data" applications, the platform was conceived as a tool for scientists. Here, we review a number of purely scientific applications of SciDB; bioinformatics at the NIH, experimental physics at NERSC, and remote sensing at INPE. We describe each project in terms of its scientific objectives, the quantity and character of the data involved, the analytic workload, and its hardware architecture. We conclude the talk with a general summary of what these projects have in common, and comment on what experience building these applications implies for data management in the Internet-ofThings (IoT); a computing environment where all interesting data is generated by machines.