Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and tobacco use are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. The prevalence and clinical impact of COPD on mortality and kidney transplantation among patients who begin dialysis therapy is unclear. Methods: We explored the clinical impact of COPD and continued tobacco use on overall mortality and kidney transplantation in a national cohort study of US dialysis patients. National data on all dialysis patients (n = 769,984), incident between May 1995 and December 2004 and followed until October 31, 2006, were analyzed from the United States Renal Data System. Prevalence and period trends were determined while multivariable Cox regression evaluated relative hazard ratios (RR) for death and kidney transplantation. Results: The prevalence of COPD was 7.5% overall and increased from 6.7 to 8.1% from 1995–2004. COPD correlated significantly with older age, cardiovascular conditions, cancer, malnutrition, poor functional status, and tobacco use. Adjusted mortality risks were significantly higher for patients with COPD (RR = 1.20, 95% CI 1.18–1.21), especially among current smokers (RR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.25–1.32), and varied inversely with advancing age. In contrast, the adjusted risks of kidney transplantation were significantly lower for patients with COPD (RR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.41–0.54, for smokers and RR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.50–0.58, for non-smokers) than without COPD [RR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.70–0.75, for smokers and RR = 1.00 for non-smokers (referent category)]. Conclusions: Patients with COPD who begin dialysis therapy in the US experience higher mortality and lower rates of kidney transplantation, outcomes that are far worse among current smokers.


Lecithin-dependent haemolysin (LDH) of Vibrio parahaemolyticus was purified from Escherichia coli C600 transformed with a plasmid (pHL591) ligated with a 1.5 kb DNA fragment of V. parahaemolyticus. The final preparation comprised two LDH proteins with different molecular masses which were immunologically cross-reactive and had the same enzymic activity. The LDH was a phospholipase hydrolysing both fatty acid esters of phospholipid, i.e. it hydrolysed phosphatidylcholine (PC) to lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and then LPC to glycerophosphorylcholine (GPC). From this point of view, LDH should be classified as a phospholipase B. Phospholipase B, however, does not usually show haemolytic activity, because the intermediate (LPC), which is the actual haemolytic agent, is immediately hydrolysed to the final product (GPC). On the other hand, LPC formed by LDH action was comparatively stable, because the rates of the two reactions catalysed by LDH, PC to LPC and LPC to GPC, are almost the same. This is the reason that LDH shows haemolytic activity. Therefore, LDH of V. parahaemolyticus is an atypical phospholipase to be designated as phospholipase A2/lysophospholipase.


Today's increasing environmental problems are closely related to how we organise economic activities. This paper departs from the assumption that in order to reach sustainable economic organisation, we must address the dominating Market Discourse (MD), guiding mainstream organising. To understand whether reconceptualisations are sufficient or if changes in underlying ethics are needed, we compare the MD with strong and weak sustainability discourses. The analysis suggests that there is a need for changes in underlying assumptions as well as reconceptualisation of economic organisation that coheres with these assumptions. We also discuss how the related concepts of allocative, governance and throughput efficiency permeates MD, and, as principles for organisation, contribute to the inertia in working towards sustainable economic organisation.


We show under very parsimonious assumptions that FGLS and GLS are asymptotically equivalent when errors follow an invertible MA(1) process. Although the linear regression model with MA errors has been studied for many years, asymptotic equivalence of FGLS and GLS has never been established for this model. We do not require anything beyond a finite second moment of the conditional white noise, uniformly bounded fourth moments and independence of the regressor vectors, consistency of the estimator for the MA parameter, and a finite nonsingular probability limit for the (transformed) averages of the regressors. These assumptions are analogous to assumptions typically used to prove asymptotic equivalence of FGLS and GLS in SUR models, models with AR(p) errors, and models of parametric heteroscedasticity.


Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) is one of the most important and recognized apparatus used for characterizing the dynamic behavior of materials. In the first part of this study, the results from a series of SHPB tests on the woven composites are presented in this paper. The compressive material properties are determined by testing the [0/90]26 laminate systems from low to high strain rates. Samples of cubic geometry are tested in in-plane direction. Preliminary compressive stress-strain vs. strain rates data obtained show that the dynamic material strength increases with increasing strain rates. For in-plane tests, there is a transitional strain rate, reflecting the dependencies on strain rate observed in experiments. The results indicate that the stress–strain curves, maximum compressive stresses and strains evolve as strain rate changes. During the experiments, a high speed camera was used to determine the kinetics of damage. The specimens are mainly damaged in a crushing and shear failure mode under out-of-plane loading, as for in-plane test, the failure was dominated by fiber buckling and delamination. In the second part of this study, numerical models without damage are developed to investigate the validity of assumptions of compression Split- Hopkinson Pressure Bar technique. Abaqus software was used for the numerical simulation. The results obtained by numerical investigation of SHPB are compared with the in-plane compression test of a woven composite. A good correlation was noted between the experimental and numerical results, which allows validate the numerical approach.


A key goal of functional genomics is to elucidate how genes and proteins act together in space and time, wired as pathways, to control specific aspects of cell biological function. Here, we develop a method to quantitatively determine proteins' localization interdependencies at high throughput. We show that this method can be used to systematically obtain weighted, signed and directional pathway relationships, and hence to reconstruct a detailed pathway wiring. As proof-of-principle, we focus on 42 factors that control cell polarity in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) and use high-throughput confocal microscopy and quantitative image analysis to reconstruct their Localization Interdependency Network (LIN). Through this approach we identify 554 pairwise interactions across the factors, including 98% putative new directed links. Validation of an unexpected interaction between two polarity factor subgroups - the polarity landmark proteins and the cell integrity pathway components - by orthogonal phenotyping demonstrates the power of the LIN approach in detecting subtle, systems-level causal connections.


W. David Shaw. The Lucid Veil: Poetic Truth in the Victorian Age. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1987. 311 pp. Taking his title from Tennyson's In Memoriam, David Shaw focuses his examination of Victorian poetics and philosophy on a series of epistemological metaphors. Shaw's work in his influential studies of Tennyson's Style and Browning's Dialectical Temper gives him a detailed and allusive command of the standard Victorian poetic canon. In this more comprehensive study, Shaw discusses various Victorian metaphors for poetry beginning with poetry as a mirror of nature. This understanding of poetry, Shaw argues, quickly gave way to metaphors likening poetry first to a darkening glass, then to a lucid veil through which some higher reality is glimpsed. In the mid to late Victorian period poetry was characterized as a lucid veil concealing at least as much as it reveals, and finally as a "kaleidoscope of presentational forms." In his examination of these and other metaphors, Shaw groups critical, philosophical and poetic texts, reading them against each other, sometimes to trace influences, more often to suggest analogous approaches to questions of language, knowledge, and art. As the dominant metaphor of the study suggests, Shaw is most keenly interested in poetry's transcendent claims. He explores in Victorian poetics the aspiration toward spiritual truth that Tennyson even in his deepest doubt believed to be "behind the veil, behind the veil." Shaw declares at the outset a certain sympathy with an idealist tradition in Victorian aesthetics deeply influenced by Hegel and represented in its culmination by F. H. Bradley. Like many of the poets he discusses, Shaw himself sees poetry as the most significant compensation for Bradley's sense of loss, his feeling that "the sensuous curtain is a deception and a cheat" (46). Shaw quotes Bradley's view of scientific explanation, atomic theory in particular, as a dance of "bloodless categories" that cannot "make that Whole which commands our devotion" (46). Shaw's effort is to show how Victorian poetics makes possible an understanding of poetry as a means of evoking some Bradleyan "Whole." This, it seems to me, is the crucial subtext of Shaw's analysis. Through analyzing Victorian poetics Shaw would argue that poetry and the criticism of poetry can "continue science or philosophy by other means. This is why poetry can illuminate the mysterious trouble spots of knowledge" (284). Poetry, Shaw argues, is knowledge, and specifically it is a knowledge of transcendence. Having reflected initially on literature and science in Victorian Britain and having noted that scientists like John Tyndall, T. H. Huxley, and Karl Pearson recognized the fictional or poetic character of scientific language, Shaw argues at last for an "immanent teleology" which is good poetry but "bad science." Implicitly Shaw enrolls himself as a descendant of Matthew Arnold in defending the centrality of poetry to liberal education and to the spiritual needs of modern society. His search for transcendent meaning in poetry leads Shaw to argue further that "there can be no interpretation of physical nature, because physical objects are never an experience as such. They are always the mere objects of experience. In order to be an object of poetic knowledge, natural events must be viewed as the actions of some spirit or god immanent in nature" (283). For Shaw, then, both poetry and its criticism is a hermeneutic by definition theological. In this definition of poetry and its critical interpretation Shaw defies even while recognizing the dramatically skeptical bent of much contemporary criticism. The skeptical positionings of post-structuralism enter almost exclusively in Shaw's treatment of Victorian agnosticism, particularly in his discussion of Pater's "deconstructed Platonism." The Lucid Veil, then, has more in common with the history of ideas and with theological hermeneutics than with post-structuralism or with overtly social or political criticism. …


Professor Sang-Uk Han ( Figure 1 ) from Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea, has performed more than 300 gastric cancer surgeries in a year, including laparoscopic gastrectomy, robotic gastrectomy, and open gastrectomy, with bariatric surgery and anti-reflux surgery in selected patients. Prof. Han has been participating in several clinical trials. He works as a PI of KLASS-02 trial (Feasibility of laparoscopic gastrectomy with D2 dissection).


The propagation of long cracks under constant amplitude cyclic loading is studied in complex welded box beams made of high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel. The 8 x 1 x 0.7 m box beams were designed to simulate the cellular structure of a double hull ship but the results of the experiments are equally applicable to other box systems such as bridges. These experiments were designed to evaluate the residual fatigue life after a significant fatigue crack has formed. After testing, residual stresses were measured on two box beams using the standardized strain gage hole-drilling method. The experiment results demonstrated the good crack tolerance of cellular structures. The residual life of a box beam (after a welded detail has failed) was significant. The crack driving force was evaluated using finite element modeling. Reasonable correlation between these large scale tests and the fatigue crack growth rate from small compact specimen was obtained only with models that included the effects of crack closure due to residual stresses. Linear elastic fracture mechanics proved to be sufficient to predict the behavior of long cracks in this case.


For a compact metric space X let μ be a finite Borel measure on X. The authors investigate the asymptotic behavior of eigenvalues of integral operators on L2(X, μ). These integral operators are assumed to have a positive definite kernel which satisfies certain conditions of H¨older continuity. For the eigenvalues _n, n 2 N, which are counted according to their algebraic multiplicities and ordered with respect to decreasing absolute values, the main result of this paper consists of estimates _n = O(n−1(_n(X))_) for n ! 1. Here _n(X) represents the entropy numbers of X, and _ is the exponent in the H¨older continuity condition of the kernel. It is shown that in some respect this estimate is optimal. In the special case where X = _ RN is a bounded Borel set, the above estimate yields _n = O(n−_/N−1) for n ! 1. The article concludes with some non-trivial examples of compact metric spaces with regular entropy behavior.


The linear properties of an electromagnetic drift-wave model are examined. The linear system is non-normal in that its eigenvectors are not orthogonal with respect to the energy inner product. The non-normality of the linear evolution operator can lead to enhanced finite-time growth rates compared to modal growth rates. Previous work with an electrostatic drift-wave model found that nonmodal behavior is important in the hydrodynamic limit. Here, similar behavior is seen in the hydrodynamic regime even with the addition of magnetic fluctuations. However, unlike the results for the electrostatic drift-wave model, nonmodal behavior is also important in the adiabatic regime with moderate to strong magnetic fluctuations.


I will always remember the day when high school sophomore Drew Brashaw gave a noontime address to the Rotary Club in Dubuque, Iowa. There he stood at the podium, resplendent in his black hobnailed boots and jeans, a black Rage Against the Machine T-shirt, with a lock of blonde hair dyed green sneaking out from under his cap worn backwards with the word "Rancid" sewn on it. Drew was there to answer questions posed to him by the local Rotarians about the Tuskegee Airmen Research Project his class was working on, and to raise civic and financial support for the effort. The Rotary President phoned me the very next day, and brushed aside my attempted apology for the featured speaker's sartorial splendor by saying, "John, it was good for some of our members to see Drew, just like that, and hear the knowledge he was able to present. Sometimes you just have to look past the outer appearance and understand that these kids want to be a part of the community as well. We were all very impressed with your presentation, and we want the students to come back when this project is over to tell us how things went? In August 1997, the students in my class had never even heard of the Tuskegee Airmen. Six months later, they had published a book on the Airmen, organized a public seminar, and raised funds for an aircraft restoration to honor the Airmen. What follows is an account of how an academically-oriented service project accomplished far more than all but a few ever would have thought possible. What follows is a chronicle of how a class of at-risk high school students and a group of aging veterans of World War II came together in the spring of 1998 to celebrate their accomplishments and make some history of their own. What follows is a true story of how an audacious dream became a thrilling reality. The Tuskegee Airmen This expedition began for me with a personal phone call in June 1997. Having visited the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, several years ago, I thought it the appropriate place to continue my research on the famous all-black air force escort squadron of World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen. This inspiring story of men who overcame institutional prejudice and established a remarkable war combat record has been woefully underreported; our school district's history textbook makes a passing reference to Tuskegee Institute, and its founder, Booker T. Washington, but mentions nothing about the U.S. Army Air Corps cadets of World War II whose names are also linked to that town in Alabama. From my own learning, I knew the Airmen persevered in an era when blacks were deemed incapable of operating, let alone flying, frontline aircraft. Their determination to learn how to fly and to fight for their country during World War II, if only to prove they had the capacity and the willingness to do so, has become the stuff of legend. In 1944, when the all-black 332nd Fighter Group finally was assigned escort duty to protect 15th Air Force bomber crews who flew the deadly skies of Europe and the Mediterranean, they knew they had "arrived" By now, the German Luftwaffe was launching desperate and deadly fighter opposition to stop these bombing raids, whose targets included ball bearing factories in Schweinfort; the infamous oil fields of Ploesti in Nazi-controlled Romania; and Berlin itself. While some fighter escort squadrons in the rest of the air force flew too far away from the bombers in hopes of running up their tallies of aerial kills, others flew too close to adequately intercept incoming Nazi fighters. In reading the stirring accounts of bomber crews who were escorted by the men of the 332nd, I learned that the "Tuskegee Airmen"--what they came to call themselves some thirty years later--quickly developed a respected reputation in the U.S. Army Air Corps for always being on time, and always being in the best flying position to protect the bombers. In over 1,500 total combat missions, the Airmen never lost one American bomber to enemy aircraft. …


This article provides a comprehensive re-analysis of one of the thorniest problems of criminal jurisprudence, when it is proper to convict a defendant who has attempted the impossible. I begin by demonstrating that, contrary to received academic and judicial opinion, the common law defense of impossibility to a charge of attempt is both well-grounded and perfectly intelligible, being capable of accurate expression in a single sentence. I then account for the confusion regarding the defense by showing how the early courts that applied it were saying one thing while doing another, and how commentators and subsequent judges became misled by focusing on what the courts said rather than what they did. After showing that the defense is intelligible, I then show that it is normatively justified as well. I do this in two steps. First, I demonstrate that there is a principled distinction between moral and criminal responsibility, that the arguments for the rejection of the impossibility defense rest on an improper conflation of the two, and that a correct understanding of the nature of criminal responsibility undermines the force of these arguments. Second, I show that there is an inherent liberal bias built into the Anglo-American criminal law that supplies a principled basis for retaining the defense. I conclude the article by proposing a definition for attempt that both encompasses the defense and grounds it on a firm theoretical basis.


Anders K. Angstrom was known primarily for his contributions to the field of atmospheric radiation. However, his scientific interests encompassed many diverse topics. This paper describes the con- tents of two early, remarkable, and, until recently, largely unknown papers by Angstrom on probability forecasting and the use/value of weather forecasts. These papers, entitled "Sannolikhet och Praktisk Vaderleksprognos" ("Probability and Practical Weather Forecast- ing") and "On the Effectivity of Weather Warnings," were published in 1919 and 1922, respectively. Noteworthy features of these two papers include 1) a discussion of the sources of uncertainty in weather forecasting, 2) discourses on the problems of estimating probabilities by means of empirical relative frequencies and forecasters' subjective judgments, 3) the use of a Gaussian model to describe the accuracy of minimum temperature forecasts, 4) the identification of the ratio of the protection costa to the "risked value" if protective action is not taken b as a characteristic of users of forecasts, 5) analytical expressions for the economic value of weather warnings, 6) quantitative analysis of the problems faced by forecasters in deciding whether or not to issue weather warnings when they are uncertain about future weather conditions, and 7) arguments concerning the need to obtain estimates of the costs and losses that may be incurred by potential users in order to assess economic effectiveness. The contents of Angstrom's two papers are reviewed and summa- rized, making extensive use of quotations from the texts. An effort is made to place the papers and their contents in proper historical context. Two topics of current interest, namely, ensemble forecasting and the provision of specialized weather services, are discussed briefly in light of the results presented and issues raised in these papers.


We present SpeeG, a multimodal speech- and body gesture-based text input system targeting media centres, set-top boxes and game consoles. Our controller-free zoomable user interface combines speech input with a gesture-based real-time correction of the recognised voice input. While the open source CMU Sphinx voice recogniser transforms speech input into written text, Microsoft's Kinect sensor is used for the hand gesture tracking. A modified version of the zoomable Dasher interface combines the input from Sphinx and the Kinect sensor. In contrast to existing speech error correction solutions with a clear distinction between a detection and correction phase, our innovative SpeeG text input system enables continuous real-time error correction. An evaluation of the SpeeG prototype has revealed that low error rates for a text input speed of about six words per minute can be achieved after a minimal learning phase. Moreover, in a user study SpeeG has been perceived as the fastest of all evaluated user interfaces and therefore represents a promising candidate for future controller-free text input.


The concept of encapsulation was firstly announced in 1978 by Murashige who assumed the use of this technology to protect "vitro-derived" somatic embryos during transport and manipulation in nurseries and farms, limiting the synthetic seed manufacture to the exclusive use of somatic embryos. At this moment, after more than 30 years of intensive research, the concept of encapsulation permits to consider that any meristematic plant tissue (obtained in vivo or in vitro) can be enclosed in a protective and nutritive matrix as long as it maintains the ability to convert into a plantlet under in vitro or in vivo environmental conditions (synthetic seed) or to evolve in shoots in a laboratory of micropropagation (capsula), also after transport and/or storage. Usually, the encapsulation procedure adopted to obtain synthetic seed or capsula includes three steps: coating, complexation and rinsing. After these steps, plant tissue portions of 3-4 mm result, enclosed in a gelling matrix which assures protection from dehydration and mechanical damages. When unipolar plant explants, as buds or microcuttings, were employed to produce synthetic seed, inductive treatment has to be applied in order to induce root emission after sowing, especially when in the encapsulation plant tissues of species with low rooting potential were involved. These treatments increase the steps to produce synthetic seed, making a large scale diffusion of the technology economically difficult for some agricultural crops. From this point of view, intense research is in progress in some laboratories, in order to look for mechanical and/or automation application, especially in the steps that require intensive manual labor. Although the encapsulation technology at the moment presents some open questions that have to be solved, interesting perspectives for its future commercial use are open because the two products of this innovative technology (capsula and synthetic seed) are useful for: the effective channel for diffusion of new plant genotypes; direct sowing of synthetic in field, greenhouse or growth chamber; plant material storage; biodiversity conservation; exchange of in vitro plant material between laboratories and nurseries in different countries.


Irrigated agriculture and maintaining inland capture fisheries are both essential for food and nutrition security in Myanmar. However, irrigated agriculture through water control infrastructure, such as sluices or barrages, weirs and regulators, creates physical barriers that block migration routes of important fish species. Blocking of fish migration routes, leading to a degradation of inland capture fisheries, will undermine Myanmar's efforts to develop sustainably and meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), and the sustainability targets within the national Myanmar Sustainable Development Plans, as well as its Agricultural Development Strategy and Investment Plan. Despite the ambitious international and national targets, there is no explicit policy or legislation and no examples of where fish have been considered in the development or operation of irrigation infrastructure in Myanmar. Solutions are needed that provide opportunities to achieve multi-objective outcomes within irrigation infrastructure and water use. This can be achieved by increasing cross-sectoral collaboration in irrigation projects, improving capacity, increasing research within country by experts and providing technical solutions to aid in better management and mitigation options. This paper explores the various components of policy and governance, institutional and educational capacity and technical and management-based practices needed to plan and integrate better migratory fish and technical needs within irrigated agricultural infrastructure in Myanmar.


The cultural phenomenon of Renaissance "polyglossia" became a very important publishing phenomenon which spread considerably over space — the whole of Central Europe — and time — from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 18th Century.This article examines two sets of multilingual dictionaries, "Solenissimo Vochabuolista" and "Berlaimont", considering both external and internal aspects of these works, such as concrete presentation features of the volumes, number of languages included (twelve different languages, up to eight in one edition), and content evolution. "Solenissimo Vochabuolista" and especially "Berlaimont", are not just dictionaries: they also include prayers, conversations and even patterns of letters and contracts. This touch with reality represents the key factor in their immense popularity with a public of travellers, merchants, people generally interested in the practical knowledge of language/s for the sake of everyday communication.


Multicultural social work has been evolving over the last forty years despite challenges in limited knowledge, insufficient resources, and inadequate infusion into the curriculum. Discussions continue about appropriate conceptual frameworks, culturally sensitive terms, traditional and indigenous practice approaches and treatments, and relevant outcome measures and evaluation methods. Future directions foster the inclusion of cultural values as strengths. Intersectionality guides practice approaches and systems of care. Service learning requirements, national ethnic resource centers, and ethnic resource centers, and ethnic studies dual degree programs are innovative initiatives yet to be fully integrated into social work curriculum.


Aims. We present a large atmospheric study of 49 gas giant exoplanets using infrared transmission photometry with Spitzer/IRAC at 3.6 and 4.5 μm.
Methods. We uniformly analyze 70 photometric light curves of 33 transiting planets using our custom pipeline, which implements pixel level decorrelation. Augmenting our sample with 16 previously published exoplanets leads to a total of 49. We use this survey to understand how infrared photometry traces changes in atmospheric chemical properties as a function of planetary temperature. We compare our measurements to a grid of 1D radiative-convective equilibrium forward atmospheric models which include disequilibrium chemistry. We explore various strengths of vertical mixing (Kzz = 0–1012 cm2 s−1) as well as two chemical compositions (1x and 30x solar).
Results. We find that, on average, Spitzer probes a difference of 0.5 atmospheric scale heights between 3.6 and 4.5 μm, which is measured at 7.5σ level of significance. Changes in the opacities in the two Spitzer bandpasses are expected with increasing temperature due to the transition from methane-dominated to carbon-monoxide-dominated atmospheres at chemical equilibrium. Comparing the data with our model grids, we find that the coolest planets show a lack of methane compared to expectations, which has also been reported by previous studies of individual objects. We show that the sample of coolest planets rule out 1x solar composition with >3σ confidence while supporting low vertical mixing (Kzz = 108 cm2 s−1). On the other hand, we find that the hot planets are best explained by models with 1x solar metallicity and high vertical mixing (Kzz = 1012 cm2 s−1). We interpret this as the lofting of CH4 to the upper atmospheric layers. Changing the interior temperature changes the expectation for equilibrium chemistry in deep layers, hence the expectation of disequilibrium chemistry higher up. We also find a significant scatter in the transmission signatures of the mid-temperate and ultra-hot planets, likely due to increased atmospheric diversity, without the need to invoke higher metallicities. Additionally, we compare Spitzer transmission with emission in the same bandpasses for the same planets and find no evidence for any correlation. Although more advanced modelling would test our conclusions further, our simple generic model grid points towards different amounts of vertical mixing occurring across the temperature range of hot Jupiters. This finding also agrees with the observed scatter with increasing planetary magnitude seen in Spitzer/IRAC color-magnitude diagrams for planets and brown dwarfs.


Fibromyalgia (FM) patients show evidence of sensitizability in pain pathways and electroencephalographic (EEG) alterations. One proposed mechanism for the claimed effects of homeopathy, a form of complementary medicine used for FM, is time-dependent sensitization (TDS, progressive amplification) of host responses. This study examined possible sensitization-related changes in EEG relative alpha magnitude during a clinical trial of homeopathy in FM. A 4-month randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trial of daily orally administered individualized homeopathy in physician-confirmed FM, with an additional 2-month optional crossover phase, included three laboratory sessions, at baseline, 3 and 6 months (N = 48, age 49.2 ± 9.8 years, 94% women). Nineteen leads of EEG relative alpha magnitude at rest and during olfactory administration of treatment and control solutions were evaluated in each session. After 3 months, the active treatment group significantly increased, while the placebo group decreased, in global alpha-1 and alpha-2 during bottle sniffs over sessions. At 6 months, the subset of active patients who stayed on active continued to increase, while the active-switch subgroup reversed direction in alpha magnitude. Groups did not differ in resting alpha. Consistent with the TDS hypothesis, sniff alpha-1 and alpha-2 increases at 6 months versus baseline correlated with total amount of time on active remedy over all subjects (r = 0.45, p = .003), not with dose changes or clinical outcomes in the active group. The findings suggest initiation of TDS in relative EEG alpha magnitude by daily oral administration of active homeopathic medicines versus placebo, with laboratory elicitation by temporolimbic olfactory stimulation or sniffing.


Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) is phosphorylated in contracting smooth muscle. The rate of phosphorylation of MLCK is slower than the rates of increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations and phosphorylation of the regulatory light chain of myosin in intact tracheal smooth muscle cells in culture. In permeable cells, increasing the Ca2+ concentration increased the extent of myosin light chain and MLCK phosphorylation. The Ca" concentration required for half-maximal phosphorylation was 500 n~ for MLCK and 250 n~ for myosin light chain. Addition of KN-62 or a synthetic peptide CK 11, inhibitors of multifunctional Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase I1 activity, abolished MLCK phosphorylation. Under these conditions, the Ca2+ concentration required for half-maximal light chain phosphorylation decreased to 170 nM. Thus, the Ca2+ concentrations required for MLCK phosphorylation are greater than those  required  for  light chain phosphorylation  in smooth muscle cells. Furthermore, phosphorylation of MLCK decreases the Ca2+ sensitivity of light chain phosphorylation. These results can be explained by a regulatory scheme in which calmodulin available for myosin light chain kinase activation is limiting. This is supported by the retention of calmodulin when tracheal smooth muscle cells and tissues are permeabilized in relaxing solution and by the low mobility of rhodaminecalmodulin in intact tracheal smooth muscle cells.


This special issue includes fifteen reviews and two original research articles by leading scientists in the fields of neuropathology, biochemistry, and cell biology, dealing with the role of protein aggregation and prion-like propagation of protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases.

In the review article "Breaking the code of amyloid-β oligomers," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/950783/, S. E. Lesne outlines the "oligomeric" view of the amyloid hypothesis in Alzheimer's disease (AD), discussing how structurally different amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers may contribute to the pathogenesis, and the controversial role of the prion protein (PrP) in Aβ toxicity. He stresses the need to thoroughly characterize the oligomeric Aβ assemblies for dissecting the disease mechanisms and designing specific, effective therapies.

Tau oligomers may also play an important neurotoxic role in AD. In the research article "Trimeric tau is toxic to human neuronal cells at low nanomolar concentrations," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/260787/, H. Tian et al. show that two nonphosphorylated human recombinant tau splice variants are neurotoxic at low nanomolar concentrations. They provide evidence that trimeric but not monomeric or dimeric tau is responsible for the toxicity. In the review article "The innate immune system in Alzheimer's disease," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/576383/, A. Boutajangout and T. Wisniewski focus on the potential roles of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 protein (TREM2) and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in AD. They give an overview of TREM2 functions and its involvement in phagocytic and anti-inflammatory pathways. They also review the critical roles of TLR4 and 9 in the innate immune response, the interplay of these pattern recognition receptors, and highlight the importance of microglia-mediated innate immunity in AD pathogenesis.

Several articles deal with the cellular processes involved in protein folding and quality control and how their corruption may trigger neurotoxicity. In the review article "Disulfide bonding in neurodegenerative misfolding diseases," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/318319/, M. F. Mossuto discusses the role of disulfide bond formation; in the review article "Role of protein misfolding and proteostasis deficiency in protein misfolding diseases and aging," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/638083/, K. Cuanalo-Contreras et al. review the involvement of the unfolded protein response (UPR), the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), autophagy, and aggresome formation in neurodegenerative diseases and aging. In the review article "ER dysfunction and protein folding stress in ALS," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/674751/, S. Matus et al. specifically focus on the role of UPR in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and in the research article "Early delivery of misfolded PrP from ER to lysosomes by autophagy," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/560421/, C. J. Cortes et al. provide experimental evidence of a role of autophagy in the early quality control of misfolded PrP. In the review article "S-Nitrosation and ubiquitin-proteasome system interplay in neuromuscular disorders," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2014/428764/, S. Rizza et al. give an overview on the mechanisms regulating S-nitrosation and its implication in redox signaling and neurodegeneration. They provide evidence that S-nitrosation is involved in UPS and suggest links with the pathogenesis of neuromuscular disorders and neuropathies.

In the review article "Convergence of synapses, endosomes, and prions in the biology of neurodegenerative diseases," available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/141083/, G. K. Gouras critically discusses the roles played by synapses and cellular proteolytic systems in generation, accumulation, and prion-like propagation of neurodegenerative disease-specific proteins. He stresses the need to define the physiological functions of the misfolding proteins as well as to understand the cell biology of the synapses and endocytic/exocytic pathways in neurons better.

The review article "Prion protein misfolding, strains, and neurotoxicity: an update from studies on mammalian prions" by I. Poggiolini et al. available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/910314/ is a comprehensive review of the prion diseases, looking at the latest information on current knowledge of the mechanisms of PrP conversion and the molecular basis of prion strains. The review article "From prion diseases to prion-like propagation mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases" by I. Acquatella-Tran Van Ba et al. available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/975832/, summarizes the history of prion diseases, from the development of the prion concept to the production of synthetic prions, and discusses recent hypotheses on the mechanisms of de novo prion generation. The review article "Synaptic dysfunction in prion diseases: a trafficking problem?" by A. Senatore et al. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/543803/, reviews recent data pointing to intracellular PrP misfolding in synaptic dysfunction and suggests a new model of synaptotoxicity that could explain the phenotypic heterogeneity of prion diseases.

The review article "Infectivity versus seeding in neurodegenerative diseases sharing a prion-like mechanism" by N. Fernandez-Borges et al. available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/583498/, provides a critical appraisal of the current evidence supporting prion-like mechanisms in AD, frontotemporal dementia and other tauopathies, Parkinson's disease, and ALS, discussing crucial differences between these disorders and "real" prion infections. Along this line, the review article "Prions ex vivo: what cell culture models tell us about infectious proteins" by S. Krauss and I. Vorberg available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/704546/, reviews the data on the cellular propagation of different protein aggregates, demonstrating that not all the typical characteristics of prions are shared by other misfolding proteins.

In the review article "Identification of misfolded proteins in body fluids for the diagnosis of prion diseases" available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/839329/, F. Properzi and M. Pocchiari give an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the assays for detecting pathological forms of PrP in body fluids, highlighting the technological progress made in recent years. They stress the need to validate these diagnostic tools in blood samples and the importance of understanding prion metabolism in blood for effective diagnosis. The review article "Small-molecule theranostic probes: a promising future in neurodegenerative diseases" by S. Aulic et al. available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/150952/, reviews the potential diagnostic and therapeutic activity of small molecules that bind and influence the aggregation of several misfolding proteins, and the review article "Gene-based antibody strategies for prion diseases" by A. Cardinale and S. Biocca available at the following link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2013/710406/, presents an overview of the application of intracellular antibody technology (intrabodies) in prion diseases. They concisely review the concept of intrabodies and provide recent information on in vitro and in vivo studies. They stress the importance of targeting the actual neurotoxic species in prion diseases and improving the in vivo stability and efficacy of vectored antiprion antibody fragments.

Despite major progress in our understanding of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and the role of protein misfolding, effective treatments are still lacking. We hope that this special issue will help broaden the view of the problem and stimulate further research in the field.

Alessio Cardinale

Roberto Chiesa

Michael Sierks


Failure Mechanisms and Texture Evolution of Wrought AZ31B Magnesium at Temperatures Ranging from 25 C to 125 C Jonathan Scott Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Master of Science Failure mechanisms were studied in wrought AZ31B magnesium alloy under different strain paths and various temperatures. Optical micrographs were used to observe the formation of shear bands and regions of high twin density in samples strained under uniaxial, biaxial and plane strain conditions. Interrupted testing at 4% effective strain increments until failure was used to observe the evolution of the microstructure. Results showed that shear bands with a high percentage of twinned grains appeared early in the samples strained under biaxial or plane strain tension. These bands are similar to the failure region in uniaxial tension specimens. A forming limit diagram for AZ31B was developed from the strain data, showing that plane strain and biaxial tension had very similar limit strains, in contrast to materials like steel or aluminum alloys which typically have greater ductility in biaxial tension compared to plane strain tension. When the experiments are repeated at elevated forming temperatures of 75 C and 125 C there is no observable shear band formation. The forming limit diagrams for each temperature were created and showed a marked increase in biaxial tension formability, compared to plane strain tension. Optical microscopy showed no sign of any compression twins and very few tensile twins in samples strained in biaxial or plane strain tension, up to 12% effective strain. The lack of compression twins at these strain levels shows that the effect of temperature on critical resolved shear stress for slip is greater than previously expected.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of auditory distraction on the discourse production abilities of adults with traumatic brain injury. Narrative and persuasive discourse-retelling abilities were compared in ten adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and ten healthy, aged-matched control participants. Narrative and persuasive retellings were analysed according to language measures (e.g. number of words, number of T-units, mean length of T-units and sentential complexity); information measures (e.g. number of propositions, number of episodic structure elements, and number of global structure components) and ability to generate a moral or aim. A modified version of Damico's Clinical Discourse Analysis (1992) was included as a further measurement of pragmatic ability for the persuasive genre. The effect of auditory distraction upon passage recall and discourse production abilities was investigated by employing two experimental conditions: (1) no distraction and (2) multitalker babble at 80db. The adults with TBI differed significantly from the non-TBI comparison group for the language domain (sentential complexity), information domain (episodic structure) and generation of a moral or aim. Significant genre differences were documented, for the language domain (number of words and number of T-units), all measures in the information domain, and generation of a moral or aim. No condition effect was found, across group or genre. The results are examined alongside a number of theories including working memory, genre demands and perception of distraction. Clinical implications for assessment and intervention within the TBI population are discussed.


1. Sustainable agriculture aims to produce sufficient food while minimizing environmental damage. To achieve this, we need to understand the role of agricultural landscapes in providing diverse ecosystem services and how these affect crop production and resilience, that is, maintaining yields despite environmental perturbation.
We used 10 years of English wheat yield data to derive three metrics of resilience (relative yield across the time series, yield stability around a moving average and resistance to an extreme weather event) at 10 km × 10 km resolution. We used remotely sensed maps to calculate measures of landscape structure, including composition (proportions of different land cover types) and configuration (metrics of connectivity and proximity), known to affect ecosystem service delivery (e.g. control of pests by beneficial invertebrates). We then used an information‐theoretic approach to identify the best‐fitting combination of landscape structure predictors for each resilience metric, using a potential yield model to account for the effects of climate and soils.
Relative yield showed a strongly positive relationship with the area of arable land. For yield stability, this relationship was evident but alongside other landscape structure variables in the best‐fitting model. No relationship with arable land was evident for resistance.
Yield stability showed a strongly positive effect of proximity to semi‐natural habitats. For resistance, the best‐fitting model included positive relationships with the cover of semi‐natural habitats and proximity to semi‐natural grasslands.
Synthesis and applications. Landscapes with the highest relative wheat yields did not show the highest yield stability or resistance to extreme events. As resilience metrics were derived from shorter portions of the time series, the importance of semi‐natural habitats compared to arable land increased. This is probably driven by the complex interplay between landscape structure, agricultural management and ecosystem services. These results demonstrate that measuring relative yield over time may be insufficient to capture the full effect that non‐arable components of the landscape, and the ecosystem services they deliver, have on other aspects of resilience, and that there are clear trade‐offs in managing agricultural landscapes to maximize different aspects of crop yield resilience.


Objective During IVF, non-transferred embryos are usually selected for cryopreservation on the basis of morphological criteria. This investigation evaluated an application for array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) in assessment of surplus embryos prior to cryopreservation. Methods First-time IVF patients undergoing elective single embryo transfer and having at least one extra non-transferred embryo suitable for cryopreservation were offered enrollment in the study. Patients were randomized into two groups: Patients in group A (n=55) had embryos assessed first by morphology and then by aCGH, performed on cells obtained from trophectoderm biopsy on post-fertilization day 5. Only euploid embryos were designated for cryopreservation. Patients in group B (n=48) had embryos assessed by morphology alone, with only good morphology embryos considered suitable for cryopreservation. Results Among biopsied embryos in group A (n=425), euploidy was confirmed in 226 (53.1%). After fresh single embryo transfer, 64 (28.3%) surplus euploid embryos were cryopreserved for 51 patients (92.7%). In group B, 389 good morphology blastocysts were identified and a single top quality blastocyst was selected for fresh transfer. All group B patients (48/48) had at least one blastocyst remaining for cryopreservation. A total of 157 (40.4%) blastocysts were frozen in this group, a significantly larger proportion than was cryopreserved in group A (p=0.017, by chi-squared analysis). Conclusion While aCGH and subsequent frozen embryo transfer are currently used to screen embryos, this is the first investigation to quantify the impact of aCGH specifically on embryo cryopreservation. Incorporation of aCGH screening significantly reduced the total number of cryopreserved blastocysts compared to when suitability for freezing was determined by morphology only. IVF patients should be counseled that the benefits of aCGH screening will likely come at the cost of sharply limiting the number of surplus embryos available for cryopreservation.


The creation of a hierarchical interface between the carbon fiber (CF) and the epoxy resin matrix of fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites has become an effective strategy for introducing multifunctional properties. Although the efficacy of many hierarchical interfaces has been established in lab-scale, their production is not amenable to high-volume, continuous, cost effective fiber production, which is required for the large-scale commercialization of composites. This work investigates the use of commercially available CO2 laser as a means of nano-structuring the surface of carbon fiber (CF) tows in an incessant throughput procedure. Even though the single carbon fiber tensile strength measurements showed a decrease up to 68% for the exposed CFs, the electrical conductivity exhibited an increment up to 18.4%. Furthermore, results on laminates comprised of irradiated unidirectional CF cloth, demonstrated an enhancement in out of plane electrical conductivity up to 43%, while preserved the Mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness of the composite, showing the potential for multifunctionality. This work indicates that the laser-induced graphitization of the CF surface can act as an interface for fast and cost-effective manufacturing of multifunctional CFRP composite materials.


Precise factors controlling the coevolution of deformation and topography in tectonically active landscapes remain poorly understood due to complex feedbacks between numerous possible variables. Here we examine the links between fault kinematics, emergent topography, and environmental factors on a global data set of active fault-driven mountain ranges (n = 41). Using simple regressions between tectonic, climatic, and topographic variables, we explore the controls on fault-driven landscape development at the range scale. For each fault in our Google Earth accessible database, we compiled (1) topographic metrics from a 30-m digital elevation model including along-strike changes in elevation and relief, fault length, and tip zone length (the along-strike distance from fault tip to where the associated relief stops increasing) and gradient; (2) long-term (10 4–6 yr) tectonic variables including fault slip rate, displacement rate, displacement, and age; (3) climatic variables including annual precipitation; and (4) rock type from geologic maps. Our results show that all mountain ranges reach a uniform value of relief within some distance from their tips and the length scale of this relief growth correlates with long-term vertical displacement rate (R = 0.55) and slip rate (R = 0.51). We apply a well-established framework for fault growth as the tectonic boundary condition to estimate the time required to achieve this uniform relief (∼10 4–6 yr) and suggest that this threshold time indicates regional tectonomorphic equilibrium. Strong correlations between annual precipitation and deformation rates (R > 0.60), and between lithologic strength and mountain relief (R > 0.70), allude to other principal forces affecting emergent landscape form that are often ignored. Our findings demonstrate that fault-driven topography always saturates in relief, suggest there are quantifiable fault-kinematic controls on landscape form, and hint that landscape relief patterns may, in turn, be used to estimate rates of faulting.


Droughts are a persistent and costly hazard impacting human and environmental systems. As climate variability continues to increase and socioeconomic development influences the distribution of wealth and people, drought risk is expected to increase in many parts of the world. The unique characteristics of droughts—namely their slow onset, large spatiotemporal extent, human‐influenced propagation, delayed impacts and teleconnection potential—make it difficult to correctly assess drought impact and calculate risk. Further complicating this calculation is the capacity for humans to make adaptive decisions before, during, and after a drought event, which in turn alters expected impacts. In this sense, droughts are equally a social and hydroclimatic issue. Risk perception is one of the main factors driving adaptation decisions, yet most models neglect how humans view and respond to risk, and in particular how experiences influence decisions through time. In this overview, we describe a framework that extends the traditional risk modeling approach to include the two‐way feedback between the transient adaptation decisions and drought exposure, vulnerability and hazard. We discuss how a sociohydrologic, agent‐based modeling setup, focused on individual and collective actions, can simulate the adaptive behaviors of different stakeholders to examine how emergent actions might influence projected drought risk. We suggest such an approach can provide a test‐bed for understanding adaptive behaviors in an increasingly drought‐prone world and could allow for better prioritization of drought adaptation strategies; refined understanding of future scenarios; and a vehicle to drive planning and resilience building.


Abstract This paper, of which this is the second part, takes up a strange paradox or dissonance that characterises contemporary crime prevention, particularly perhaps in Australia. On the one hand, there is an ample literature pointing out the conceptual and practical drawbacks of community, or more broadly of communalism (incorporating social capital), in crime prevention; on the other, policy and practice seem largely oblivious to these difficulties and hence, by extension, to the need for more appropriate conceptual formulations upon which to base collective approaches to crime prevention. Part One of the article (Carson, 2004) traced the allure and the difficulties of communalism in general and in crime prevention in particular. Part Two takes up the challenge of developing new and more appropriate foundations for a collectively-based approach in this policy arena. This it does by drawing selectively on the insights of radical communitarianism (shorn of its utopian communal overtones), on attempts to go beyond the close ties of social capital to a looser collective efficacy, and on discursive possibilities that address issues of difference, rights and democratisation in relation to crime prevention. By this means, it is argued, crime prevention may be reconnected to questions of social justice and collective capacity without surrendering to the false attractions of an anachronistic communalism.


The harvesting of sugar cane is the first stage in the commercial milling of sugar cane to produce sugar and plays a major role in determining the overall efficiency of the sugar production process. In Australia, where virtually all sugar cane is harvested using mechanical harvesters, efficient operation of the harvester is essential to reduce operating costs. One area of harvesting that has, on numerous occasions, been identified as an impediment to improved harvester efficiency is the adjustment of the base cutter height. Improper setting during harvesting has a number of serious consequences for sugar production including reduced production, crop damage, additional harvester running costs and inefficient transportation and milling of the sugar cane due to the introduction of dirt.

The overall aim of this thesis was to develop a ground detection sensor based on microwave radar technology that could sense ground level in front of a working sugar cane harvester. The eventual purpose of such a device would be to automatically control the cutting height to the optimum level and thus improving the efficiency of the harvesting, farming and milling processes.

The measurement technique investigated is based upon the use of a radio transmitter and receiver positioned on either side of the row of sugar cane. The principle of this design is that a receiver close to ground level would experience more attenuation from the soil than a receiver positioned well above ground level. Thus, it was suggested that changes in the received signal strength with respect to the height above ground level could be used to detect changes in the height of the ground.

The project evolved in two main stages. Initially, work concentrated on verifying the sensing principle in the laboratory and later in the field. Testing verified the proposed measurement procedure with the following major conclusions. Firstly, for best results a radio signal of 2-3GHz polarised horizontal to the ground was most suitable. This signal provided the best compromise between being insensitive to the presence of the sugar cane while still allowing practical sized antennas to be employed. Secondly, field-testing showed that the sugar cane stalks do affect the ideal sensor response with the orientation and condition (density, leaf matter, etc) of the sugar cane having a noticeable influence on the measurements. These results suggested that a practical sensor would need to incorporate automatic compensation for the variations in the sugar cane and that some averaging or signal processing would have to be applied to remove the underlying trends.

The second stage of the project involved building a prototype sensor and testing it on a working sugar cane harvester. The prototype worked by measuring the received amplitude of a 2.4GHz, horizontally polarised microwave radio signal that was transmitted from one side of the sugar cane row to the other. For this application, multiple receivers are stacked vertically to measure the full height profile instantaneously. The idea of using multiple receivers with some positioned well above the ground level, was to compensate for the changing density of the sugar cane. The transmitter and receiver antennas were based on rectangular microstrip patch antenna arrays. The low profile of these patch antennas meant that they were ideal for flush mounting on the harvesters' crop divider walls. Dedicated transmitter and receiver electronics was also needed to generate and detect the microwave radio signals used by this system. A full control system and data logger was developed for this application.

The prototype sensor that was developed was trialled on an Austoft harvester over a one week period in the Burnett region. These tests were used to confirm that the sensor would work and that it could survive the harsh conditions experienced during harvesting.

Overall, the aim of this thesis was to test the potential of the microwave ground height detection sensor for automated control of the base cutter height on sugar cane harvester and to develop a plan to use this technology in a commercial base cutter height control system.


Many types of storage and memory systems have been proposed for use in digital computing systems. This survey paper discusses only the various systems whose reaction time is faster than hurman reaction time, employing a historical approach to the subject. Criteria for evaluation are discussed, and comparisons given among the different systems as to general applicability, ease of construction and use, speed of operation, latency time, memory span, and economy.


A dolerite swarm was intruded into the deep-seated metamorphic and igneous rocks of the Lofoten-Vesterålen area late in the Precambrian tec tonic cycle. The dolerites are localized along E-W shear zones and were intruded before movement on the shears had ceased. The interplay of cooling, shearing and hydration has produced rocks ranging from coronite dolerites through granulites to epidote and garnet amphibolites. The dolerites are alkali basaltic in composition, but have abnormally high K/Rb ratios. The metamorphism has been essentially isochemical, except for an apparent leaching of K which led to lower, more normal K/Rb ratios in the amphi bolites. There is some indication that Rb and Sr have been separated during the retrograde metamorphism. Comparison of major element compositions shows that the Lofoten dolerites most closely resemble alkali basalts of the continental margins, and that they are similar in this respect to several other Scandinavian dolerite occurrences.


The effects of feeding breastmilk (BM), commercial formulas (F), or evaporated milk formula (EM) on growth, thiamin status, erythrocyte phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) fatty acid composition and visual acuity in 100 healthy full term infants were determined. Growth, thiamin status, and erythrocyte PE fatty acid composition was determined at birth, 3, and 6 months of age. Thiamin status was assessed by determining the erythrocyte transketolase activity (TKA) and the fatty acid composition of milk and blood was determined by gas-liquid-chromatography. Preferential looking acuity was assessed at 3 and 6 months of age using the acuity card procedure. -- There were no significant differences in weight, length, or head circumference between any feeding groups. However, daily weight gain between three and six months was significantly lower for the BM group (weight gain: ﻌ ± SD, BM 15.5 ± 4.0 g, F= 20.4 ± 5.8 g, EM = 20.2 ± 6.8 g, p < 0.05). As well, breastfed infants had slightly lower head circumference growth velocity between three and six months of age. -- There were no differences in the thiamin pyrophosphate effect between groups, however, BM infants had significantly lower transketolase activity than the F group which correlated with energy but not thiamin intake. -- The breastmilk obtained from mothers in the study contained on average (% total fatty acids by weight), 12.1 % linoleic acid (18:2(n-6)), 2.1% linolenic (18:3(n-3)), and 0.2% docosahexaenoic acid (22:6(n-3)). Infants in the F group consumed either Similac or Enfalac. Similac contained 30.5% 18:2(n-6), and 4.9% 18:3(n-3). Enfalac contained 17.1% 18:2(n-6) and 1.8% 18:3(n-3). EM contained (% total fatty acids) 2.1% 18:2(n-6), and 0.8% 18:3(n-3). Only breastmilk contained 22:6(n-3). -- In the circulation, F fed and EM fed infants had lower arachidonic acid (20:4(n-6)) at 3 months (p < 0.05) than BM fed infants (ﻌ ± SD, 20.3±2.8, BM, 18.3 ± 2.7, F, 18.7 ± 2.7, EM, % total fatty acids) but not at 6 months, and EM fed infants had lower adrenic acid (22:4(n-6)) at both 3 and 6 months. 22:6(n-3) was the highest in the BM group at both 3 (6.0 ± 1.7,BM, 3.1 ± 0.8, F, 4.1 ±0.9, EM, % total fatty acids) and 6 months of age (5.3 ± 1.6, BM, 2.9 ± 0.8, F, and 4.2 ± 1.3, EM, % total fatty acids) followed by EM then F. Visual acuity was higher in the BM group than EM (3.86 ± 0.29 cycles/degree vs 3.29 ± 0.41, 3 mos, 9.03 ± 0.29 vs 7.54 ± 0.25,6 mos, p < 0.05) with intermediate values in the F group (NS compared to EM and BM). Differences seen in visual acuity may be due to the low 18:3(n-3) in EM of 0.3 % of energy and are not reflective of 22:6(n-3) in circulation. -- From the results of the present study it appears that EM formulas may not meet the essential fatty acid requirements for optimal visual acuity, however, it may be adequate for thiamin and optimum growth. The differences seen in the BM group in growth and TKA can be related to lower energy intakes and do not indicate any deficiencies.


Scientists and beef industry participants are investigating ways to improve the healthiness of beef. We report results of a nationwide mail survey developed to determine Consumers' preferences for fat content in ground beef and identify how consumers would most like to improve the healthiness of beef. The results from a choice-based conjoint experiment indicate that consumers place significant value on reducing saturated fat and the Omega 6:3 ratio in ground beef, but were relatively unconcerned about conjugated linoleic acid. The relatively new method of best-worst scaling was used to further identify which methods consumers most preferred producers use to improve fat content in beef. The results indicate consumers preferred feeding cattle a grass-fed diet as opposed to supplementing cattle feed with fish-meal or flaxseed to improve the fatty acid content in beef. Although consumers were receptive to the idea of using genetic testing to breed only those cattle with improved fatty acid content, using cloning to achieve this end, was viewed as very undesirable.


Objectives:To define the features of human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cell secretome and its protective properties in experimental models of acute brain injury. Design:Prospective experimental study. Setting:Laboratory research. Subjects:C57Bl/6 mice. Interventions:Mice subjected to sham or traumatic brain injury by controlled cortical impact received human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cells or phosphate-buffered saline infused intracerebroventricularly or intravenously 24 hours after injury. Organotypic cortical brain slices exposed to ischemic injury by oxygen-glucose deprivation were treated with human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cells or with their secretome (conditioned medium) in a transwell system. Measurements and Main Results:Traumatic brain injured mice receiving human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cells intravenously or intracerebroventricularly showed early and lasting functional and anatomical brain protection. cortical slices injured by oxigen-glucose deprivation and treated with human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cells or conditioned medium showed comparable protective effects (neuronal rescue, promotion of M2 microglia polarization, induction of trophic factors) indicating that the exposure of human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cells to the injured tissue is not necessary for the release of bioactive factors. Using sequential size-exclusion and gel-filtration chromatography, we identified a conditioned medium subfraction, which specifically displays these highly protective properties and we found that this fraction was rich in bioactive molecules with molecular weight smaller than 700 Da. Quantitative RNA analysis and mass spectrometry-based peptidomics showed that the active factors are not proteins or RNAs. The metabolomic profiling of six metabolic classes identified a list of molecules whose abundance was selectively elevated in the active conditioned medium fraction. Conclusions:Human amniotic mesenchymal stromal cell-secreted factors protect the brain after acute injury. Importantly, a fraction rich in metabolites, and containing neither proteic nor ribonucleic molecules was protective. This study indicates the profiling of protective factors that could be useful in cell-free therapeutic approaches for acute brain injury.


This study investigated the potential of recycling defatted Carica papaya seeds biosorbent (DPS) waste with adsorbed Pb and Cd in clay bricks. Physico-chemical, microscopic and technological properties were performed on raw materials and fired probes incorporated with 0 wt.% to 15 wt.% DPS made by dry compression technique, dried and fired at 700°C, 800°C and 900°C. Leaching tests were conducted on fired probes to ascertain their environmental safety. Incorporation of DPS had remarkable influence on properties of fired materials. Water absorption and total linear shrinkage increased with increase in DPS content while compressive strength decreased. The properties of fired probes with = 6 wt.% DPS achieved ASTM minimum requirement for Class 1 building bricks. Leaching tests on 6 wt.% DPS complied with EPA limits for Pb.


We investigate the difference in homeownership rates between natives and first-generation immigrants in France, and how this difference evolves over the 1975-1999 period, by using a large longitudinal dataset. We find that the homeownership gap is large and has increased. Entries into the territory have a large negative effect on the evolution of homeownership rates for immigrants. Although entrants have on average better education than people staying in the territory for the entire period (i.e. stayers), they are younger and thus at an earlier stage in the wealth accumulation process. They are also located in large cities, where the homeownership rate is lower, and the returns to their characteristics are lower than those for stayers. Leavers have a positive effect on the evolution of homeownership rates for immigrants because they have a low access to homeownership and they exit the country. But this effect is only one-third that of entrants. For stayers, we show that returns to characteristics change in favor of immigrants, which is consistent with assimilation theories. However, among stayers who access homeownership, immigrants end up in owned dwellings that are of lesser quality than natives. Abstract We investigate the difference in homeownership rates between natives and first-generation immigrants in France, and how this difference evolves over the 1975-1999 period, by using a large longitudinal dataset. We find that the homeownership gap is large and has increased. Entries into the territory have a large negative effect on the evolution of homeownership rates for immigrants. Although entrants have on average better education than people staying in the territory for the entire period (i.e. stay-ers), they are younger and thus at an earlier stage in the wealth accumulation process. They are also located in large cities, where the homeownership rate is lower, and the returns to their characteristics are lower than those for stayers. Leavers have a positive effect on the evolution of homeownership rates for immigrants because they have a low access to homeownership and they exit the country. But this effect is only one-third that of entrants. For stayers, we show that returns to characteristics change in favor of immigrants, which is consistent with assimilation theories. However, among stayers who access homeownership, immigrants end up in owned dwellings that are of lesser quality than natives.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine how site and university supervisors differed on the interpretation of ethical dilemmas based on the ethical standards developed by the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Ethical Guidelines for Counseling Supervisors(1993). A survey of ethical dilemmas based on salient ethical issues in counseling supervision (i.e., dual relationships, competence, informed consent, and due process) was used. The participants in this study included site supervisors of field-based practicum, internship students and university supervisors from counseling programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The results of the study indicated significant differences between university and site supervisors on the interpretation of ethical dilemmas based on relevant ethical standards. Although differences existed, there are no clear trends in the direction of these differences.


The consumption of potato as a food product in Ukraine is currently the main type of use. The Potato Research Institute of Sumy National Agrarian University implements a breeding program for the creation of new nematode-resistant intensive varieties with increased energy value. During 2016-2018, the biochemical composition of tubers of 21 hybrids, including 6 early-maturing, 12 middle-early, 3 middle-maturing, was studied using an infrared analyzer. Increased starch content (84%-80% per dry weight) was observed in 10%, high (73%-72%)-in 14% of the hybrids. Protein content in the tubers was at the level of 6.4% per dry weight, early-maturing hybrids turned out to be the most valuable ones (8.9-8.6%). The high content of vitamin C (89-86 mg%) was accumulated by the middle-early and middle-maturing hybrids, vitamin K (0.26-0.19 mg%)-by the early-maturing hybrids. 28% of hybrids with the maximum (2.2 mg%) potassium content were selected. The amount of nitrate in tubers of 48% of the hybrids did not exceed the maximum permissible concentration. The hybrids with increased and high starch content had a high caloric value ranging from 58 to 55 calorie/100 g. The selection of high-calorie hybrids will enable us to increase the competitiveness of future potato varieties of Sumy NAU breeding in the modern food market.


The jamming scenario of disordered media, formulated about 10 years ago, has in recent years been advanced by analyzing model systems of granular media. This has led to various new concepts that are increasingly being explored in in a variety of systems. This chapter contains an introductory review of these recent developments and provides an outlook on their applicability to different physical systems and on future directions. The first part of the paper is devoted to an overview of the findings for model systems of frictionless spheres, focussing on the excess of low-frequency modes as the jamming point is approached. Particular attention is paid to a discussion of the cross-over frequency and length scales that govern this approach. We then discuss the effects of particle asphericity and static friction, the applicability to bubble models for wet foams in which the friction is dynamic, the dynamical arrest in colloids, and the implications for molecular glasses.


This is retrospective study of breast cancer in Qatar during period 1999-2002, using cancer registry data. A total 214patients were diagnosed with breast cancer; with incidence of5/10,000 ofpopulation per year; accounting for l3.3%of new cancer cases and 29.9%of all female cancer. Male breast cancer is rare accounting for 3.2% of total number. Qatari patients were 23%and non-Qatari patients were 36.2%. The disease more common in ages between 46-55years old accounting for 64%of total breast cancer; patients usually presented beyond or equal to stage II and with distant metastasis in 7% of cases, patients commonly present with invasive ductal carcinoma and histological grade 2and 3, it has been noticed that were decrease in incidence of stage III and IV and increase in stage I and II which reflect improvement in patient awareness of this problem.


The specific surface area (SSA) of a soil is commonly estimated by the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) equation, which implies linearity between applied pressure and volume of adsorbate for a restricted scale range. Dinitrogen adsorption isotherms provide useful data for BET analysis, but they also contain additional information that may render useful a multifractal analysis. The objectives of this work were: (i) to find out if differences in soil use intensity cause changes in SSA assessed by the BET method, and (ii) to evaluate the usefulness of multifractal analysis for characterizing N2 adsorption isotherms also used for SSA determination. The study soils were a Vertisol and a Mollisol from Entre Ríos, Argentina. Treatments included: (i) native land never previously cultivated; (ii) permanent pasture; (iii) crop–pasture rotation; and (iv) continuous cropping. Vertisols had significantly greater SSA than Mollisols. Continuous cropping resulted in significant losses of organic matter (OM) content and aggregate stability decay in both soil types. Losses of OM by land use intensification significantly increased SSA in the Mollisol, but this trend was reversed in the Vertisol. All N2 adsorption isotherms exhibited multifractal behavior. Singularity spectra showed strongly asymmetric concave parabolic shapes with a left‐hand side much wider than the right‐hand one. Entropy dimension, D1, values were in the range 0.357 to 0.558 for the Vertisol and 0.401 to 0.658 for the Mollisol, which indicates that most of the measure concentrates in a small size domain. Several multifractal parameters were significantly different between soil types and soil use intensities.


Regular expressions are an important building block of rule-based information extraction systems. Regexes can encode rules to recognize instances of simple entities which can then feed into the identification of more complex cross-entity relationships. Manually crafting a regex that recognizes all possible instances of an entity is difficult since an entity can manifest in a variety of different forms. Thus, the problem of automatically generalizing manually crafted seed regexes to improve the recall of IE systems has attracted research attention. In this paper, we propose a bootstrapped approach to improve the recall for extraction of regex-formatted entities, with the only source of supervision being the seed regex. Our approach starts from a manually authored high precision seed regex for the entity of interest, and uses the matches of the seed regex and the context around these matches to identify more instances of the entity. These are then used to identify a set of diverse, high recall regexes that are representative of this entity. Through an empirical evaluation over multiple real world document corpora, we illustrate the effectiveness of our approach.


Diesel engines exhibit highly efficient, environmentally sound performance under good operational control; however, because of the demand of controlling multiple actuators under various environmental conditions, the conventional experimental method for controlling diesel engines has become increasingly difficult. Therefore, diesel combustion models with less calculation loads were ultimately developed with the aim of implementing such model-based controllers for engine control unit in the future. To achieve the on-board application of the diesel combustion model, the in-cylinder state of a single cycle was discretized into several representative phases such as a valve-opening and valve-closing phase, ignition phase, and maximum pressure phase. Temperature and oxygen quantities in residual gas were considered as the state variables of the system because they have a critical effect on combustion and induce cyclic coupling. The model could take account of the effect of actuators in diesel engines, and the states in each phase were calculated by fundamental thermodynamic equations and some empirical equations. The model was validated against experimental results and had a good agreement with in-cylinder pressures and temperatures at each phase. In addition, the calculation times of the model were confirmed to be capable of on-board application. Furthermore, as a demonstrative example and to show the added value of the model, it was used to synthesize controllers to enable multi-input/multi-output control of a diesel engine in simulation.


Using information-theoretic principles, we consider the generalization error (gen-error) of iterative semi-supervised learning (SSL) algorithms that iteratively generate pseudo-labels for a large amount of unlabelled data to progressively refine the model parameters. In contrast to most previous works that {\em bound} the gen-error, we provide an {\em exact} expression for the gen-error and particularize it to the binary Gaussian mixture model. Our theoretical results suggest that when the class conditional variances are not too large, the gen-error decreases with the number of iterations, but quickly saturates. On the flip side, if the class conditional variances (and so amount of overlap between the classes) are large, the gen-error increases with the number of iterations. To mitigate this undesirable effect, we show that regularization can reduce the gen-error. The theoretical results are corroborated by extensive experiments on the MNIST and CIFAR datasets in which we notice that for easy-to-distinguish classes, the gen-error improves after several pseudo-labelling iterations, but saturates afterwards, and for more difficult-to-distinguish classes, regularization improves the generalization performance.


The aim of the study was to compare the frying performance of soybean oil using microemulsified rosemary-gallic acid (RG30ME) liquid against non-microemulsified RG30 liquid in deep-fat frying of French fries. Frying trials were conducted for 70 frying cycles. The oil samples were analyzed for induction period at 100°C, peroxide value (PV), p-anisidine value (AV), acid value, % total polar compounds (TPC) and colour parameters after every 10 frying cycles and the results were statistically analyzed. Frying performance of soybean oil in terms of number of extra frying cycles and % improvement offered by microemulsified RG30ME liquid were compared against an untreated control and non-microemulsified RG30 liquid for all quality parameters. Overall, addition of microemulsified RG30ME liquid at 250 and 500 ppm respectively improved the frying performance of soybean oil by 280% and 940% for induction period, 125% and 150% for % total polar compounds and 50% and 70% in TOTOX value respectively in comparison to untreated control. When compared to non-microemulsified RG30 liquid at the same inclusion rate of 500 ppm, improvement by 34% for induction period, 11% for % total polar compounds and 6% in TOTOX value respectively were observed. Microemulsified RG30ME liquid is unique, as it is based on a microemulsion carrier allowing better distribution of the antioxidants combined with a better solubility into oil matrices, resulting in protection against oxidation in deep fat frying application.


[1] In this work, we investigate the issue of the turnaround in ozone trends of the recently homogenized Umkehr ozone record of Arosa, Switzerland, which is the longest Umkehr data set, extending from 1956 to date, using different statistical methods. All methods show statistically significant negative ozone trends from 1970 to 1995 in the upper stratosphere (above 32.6 km) throughout the course of the year as well as in the lower stratosphere (below 23.5 km) mainly during winter to spring, which can be partially attributed to dynamical changes. Over the recent period (1996–2004) the year-round trends in the lower stratosphere become positive and are more positive during the winter to spring period. The results also show changes in upper stratospheric ozone trends after 1996, which are, however, not statistically significant at 95% if aerosol correction is applied on the retrieved data. This lack of significant trend changes during the recent period in the upper stratosphere is regionally coherent with recent results derived from upper stratospheric ozone data recorded by lidars, microwave radiometers, and satellite instruments at an adjacent location. Although the positive change in trends after 1996 both for upper and lower stratospheric ozone is in line with the reduction of the emissions of ozone-depleting substances from the successful implementation of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, we recommend, because of lack of significance for the upper stratospheric trends, repeating this analysis in a few years in order to overcome ambiguous results for documentation of the turnaround of upper stratospheric ozone.


This paper presents major findings of a field study on the performance of five thermal distribution systems in four large commercial buildings. The five systems studied are typical single-duct or dual-duct constant air volume (CAV) systems and variable air volume (VAV) systems, each of which serves an office building or a retail building with floor area over 2,000 m 2. The air leakage from ducts are reported in terms of effective leakage area (ELA) at 25 Pa reference pressure, the ASHRAE-defined duct leakage class, and air leakage ratios. The specific ELAs ranged from 0.7 to 12.9 cm 2 per m 2 of duct surface area, and from 0.1 to 7.7 cm 2 per square meter of floor area served. The leakage classes ranged from 34 to 757 for the five systems and systems sections tested. The air leakage ratios are estimated to be up to one-third of the fan-supplied airflow in the constant-air-volume systems. The specific ELAs and leakage classes indicate that air leakage in large commercial duct systems varies significantly from system to system, and from system section to system section even within the same thermal distribution system. The duct systems measured are much leakier than the ductwork specified as "unsealed ducts" by ASHRAE. Energy losses from supply ducts by conduction (including convection and radiation) are found to be significant, on the scale


We investigate the robustness of compressive Fourier-domain sampling against the effect of rounding-off errors and ambient noise. Compressive sampling (CS) is accomplished with a two-dimensional line mask that samples the low frequency components of a signal at the prescribed Nyquist rate while undersampling its associated highfrequency components. Generally, the signal energy and details are encoded mostly in the low and high-frequency components, respectively. Rounding-off errors arise when an analog signal is digitized with an n-bit analog-to digital converter (ADC) that limits the dynamic range of the digital-signal amplitude representation to 2n different possible values. We show that reducing the dynamic range from ADC bit-number n = 64 to n = 14, does not compromise the CS reconstruction performance even at an effective sampling rates that is only a fraction (1/10, 1/5 and 3/10) of the Nyquist rate in the presence of additive Fourier domain noise. Lowering the dynamic range from n = 14 to n = 1 produces a reconstruction error that increases linearly with decreasing n. This behavior is observed for different images and noise strengths.


The 2010 IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits Best paper award was given to "An 18 b 12.5 MS/s ADC with 93 dB SNR," by Christopher Peter Hurrell, Colin Lyden, David Laing, Derek Hummerston, and Mark Vickery, published in IEEE Journal of Solid- State Circuits (JSSC), vol. 45, no. 12, pp. 2647?2654, December 2010. According to JSSC Editor-in-Chief Un-Ku Moon, this work was judged the best in JSSC 2010 because "it sets a new performance benchmark for high-resolution CMOS converters, showing a measured SNR of 93 dB at a sampling rate of 12.5 MS/s. Hurrell et al. achieve this level of performance by pipelining two multibit successive approximation converters via a highgain residue amplifier. Through this architectural partition, the presented ADC judiciously unites favorable analog design capabilities and digital enhancements such as weight calibration, redundancy, and dither. The end result is a substantial advancement of the state of the art that stands out in a publication space that is dominated by less intimidating low-to-moderate precision designs."


The determination of the sequence of all nucleotide base-pairs in a DNA molecule, from restriction-fragment data, is a complex task and can be posed as the problem of finding the optima of a multimodal function. A genetic algorithm that uses multiniche crowding permits us to do this. Performance of this algorithm is first tested using a standard suite of test functions. The algorithm is next tested using two data sets obtained from the Human Genome Project at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The new method holds promise in automating the sequencing computations.


The demand on communication networks has increased over the past years and is predicted to continue for the foreseeable future [Cis16]. Cellular network access with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53 % is the main area of growth [Cis16]. This affects the network quality, bringing current network technologies to their limits [Qua13]. Future network standards like 5G promise to satisfy this demand, providing a 1000-fold increase in data rates and latencies as low as 1 ms [Qua13].

With information and communications technology (ICT) causing 10 % of the global energy consumption [Mil13], the increasing demand is also reflected in a growing energy consumption of communication networks [BBD+11]. The major contributor to the network power consumption are home gateways (HGWs) in the fixed access network, and mobile base stations in the cellular network [VHD+11]. This trend is predicted to continue [BBD+11].

To assess and optimize the power consumption of communication networks, power models of the involved devices are required. Using these, the efficiency of proposed optimization approaches can be assessed before deployment. A number of power models of conventional network equipment for different device classes can be derived from literature. Still, models of new device classes such as single-board computers (SBCs) and OpenFlow switches are not available. For each class, representative power models of several device types are presented. Further, the power consumption caused by new communication protocols such as MultiPath TCP (MPTCP) is not fully analyzed yet. This work is, to the best of the author's knowledge, the first to publish SBC and OpenFlow power models and contributes to the understanding of MPTCP power consumption during constant bit rate (CBR) streaming.

For the analysis of the power consumption, also the knowledge of network performance is required, as it defines relative costs and the maximum number of supported users. This is well known and comparatively simple in fixed networks, but more challenging in a wireless context. A number of approaches are described in literature and implemented as commercial software (e.g. [SSM13; OpS]), but the data required for analysis and optimization is not available. Hence, extensive measurements of the cellular network are conducted in this work. The location-based availability and performance of cellular and WiFi networks are assessed in a crowd-sensing study. Based on measurements on regional trains, the predictability of the cellular service quality based only on available network technology and latency is shown to be feasible. Anomalies observed within the crowd-sensing data are analyzed using dedicated, stationary measurements. The main observation is that network management decisions have significant effects on end-to-end performance. By allocating users to random points of presence (PoPs)/exit gateways of the mobile network operator (MNO), the latency compared to the best observed allocation is increased by more than 58 % in over 80 % of the time.

Combining the energy models and network performance measurements as presented in this work, an energy evaluation environment is created to analyze the cost of mobile data communication. This combines the empirically determined performance of cellular and WiFi networks with the energy models of smartphones and traffic traces recorded
by the participants of a crowd-sensing study. Thereby, the power consumption of the generated data patterns is established, and the effectiveness of network optimization approaches as presented in literature assessed. These prove to be less potent than originally claimed by the authors. This is expected considering the improvements in cellular networks and smartphones. Nonetheless, energy savings are observed. Considering the requirement of 5G networks to reduce latency to 1 ms, and improve capacity by a factor of 1000, while simultaneously reducing energy consumption, also changes in fixed access networks are required. A promising approach assuming further virtualization of networks using software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) is the placement of services closer to the end-users. Extrapolating the trend of increasing hardware capabilities of HGWs at almost constant cost, these may be used to provide additional services to local users. This may be achieved by e.g. using virtualized content distribution network (CDN) nodes running on HGWs, thus utilizing these often idle resources. This further equalizes the traffic within the core network by providing content locally and refreshing it during less traffic intensive periods. Simultaneously, the end-user perceived service quality is expected to increase. Thus, installed capacities can be used longer, resulting in better service quality at fixed energy cost.


Abstract Florida is typical of many southeastern states in that it exports feeder cattle and imports carcass and boxed beef. The objective of this paper is to estimate the cost of retaining feeder cattle in Florida, feeding these cattle to slaughter weights, slaughtering them, and distributing the meat to retail outlets. A mixed integer programming model is developed. The optimal number and location of feedlots and slaughter plants are determined. The results indicate that at production levels exceeding 600,000 head, the cost of producing carcass beef in the State is comparable to the average for the United States.


Although olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are used to promote repair in the injured
spinal cord, little is known of their phenotype in this environment. This study examined the
effect of the injured spinal cord on OEC morphology and gene expression. For in situ
experiments OECs were encapsulated in porous polymer tubes and implanted into the lesioned
rat spinal cord. Adult male hooded Wistar rats (300-350g) were anaesthetised with isoflurane
maintained at 2.5% with 100% 02 (0.5L/min). Lesions were made to the corticospinal tract at the
level of T7-T8 and OEC-filled capsules were inserted under the dura above the lesion. After one
week animals were sacrificed and the capsules retrieved. Procedures were performed in
accordance with NHMRC guidelines approved by the University of Tasmania Animal Ethics
Committee. Morphological characteristics were examined using scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) for which implanted and un-implanted capsules were cut into halves so as the inner
surfaces could be viewed. Implanted capsules were filled with rounded OECs and extracellular
matrix (ECM)-like matter. Although no cells with the morphology of cultured OECs were
observed these may have been obscured by the abundant ECM. In the un-implanted capsules
cells with morphology typical of cultured OECs were predominant and although some rounded
cells were detected. Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was
used to analyse expression of Neuregulin-1 (Nrg-1) and Nogo in cultured OECs and
encapsulated OECs both in culture and after implantation. Neuregulins are known mitogens and
survival factors for central nervous system (CNS) cells whilst Nogo is an axonal growth
regulator. For comparison transcripts were also examined in a number of other glial cell types.
Similar to astrocytes (ASTs) and fibroblasts (FBs), OECs expressed various Nrg-1 subtypes
including neu Differentiation Factor (NDF), Glial Growth Factor (GGF) and Sensory and
Motomeuron-derived Factor (SMDF) along with other splice variants including those containing
the epidermal growth factor (EGF), a-EGF, s-EGF and secreted domains. After implantation,
OECs increased expression of NDF and secreted Neuregulin and decreased expression of the
other variants. Olfactory ensheathing cells, oligodendrocytes (OLGs) Schwann cells (SCs) and
ASTs all expressed Nogo-A, -B and -ABC. OECs and OLGs were also immunopositive for
Nogo-A protein. Unlike OLGs, OECs, SCs and ASTs expressed mRNA for the Nogo-66
receptor (NgR) although the protein could not be detected by immunocytochemistry in OECs.
Implantation of OECs resulted in an increase in Nogo-A and -B and a decrease in Nogo-ABC
and the NgR. Taken together these results show that OEC phenotype in the lesion environment is
different from their characteristic profile in culture.


This paper presents a micromachined filter for millimeter-wave applications operating at U-band. The structure was designed using a rectangular coaxial line with the center conductor suspended in air. The rectangular coaxial cables have been optimized to provide a low attenuation constant. The design includes a coplanar waveguide (CPW)-to-coaxial transition to interface the device with other components, or coplanar probes for measurements. The filter has been designed with a center frequency of 42 GHz and a 10% fractional bandwidth. A measured insertion loss of 0.77 dB has been obtained. This structure involves a low-cost micromachining manufacturing process using SU-8 photo resist which is very attractive for the implementation of integrated millimeter wave subsystems.