The variation of polar sea ice is an indicator of polar environmental change, which plays an important role in the study of regional and global climate change. In this paper, the latest sea ice data sets from the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative were firstly combined to comprehensively analyze the spatial and temporal variation of Arctic sea ice concentration (SIC) and sea ice thickness (SIT) from 2002 to 2017. The results show that during this period, the SIC of the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea decreases the most significantly, reaching −1.11%·year−1. The Arctic annual average sea ice extent (SIE) and sea ice area (SIA) exhibit noticeable decreasing trends, reaching −0.0592 × 106 km·year−1 and −0.0628 × 106 km·year−1, respectively. Both of Arctic SIE and SIA vary seasonally, and they reach the minimum values of 4.97 × 106 km2 and 3.96 × 106 km2 in September and the maximum values of 14.58 × 106 km2 and 13.35 × 106 km2 in March, respectively. Moreover, the Arctic SIE and SIA anomaly series from 2002 to 2017 were analyzed based on the linear regression method. It is found the most noticeable decreasing trends of the Arctic SIE and SIA are from July to October. The maximum variation of the SIE is −1.06 × 106 km2(10a)−1, and the maximum variation of the SIA is −1.09 × 106 km2(10a)−1. The Arctic SIE and SIA present the smallest decreasing trends from April to May, which are −0.19 × 106 km2(10a)−1 and −0.2 × 106 km2(10a)−1, respectively. The Arctic SIT also displays a pronounced decreasing trend with −0.015 m·year−1 in autumn and −0.018 m·year−1 in winter. The annual average SIT reaches a minimum of 1.28 m in 2013 and a maximum of 1.66 m in 2005. Particularly, the SIT of the Hudson Bay decreases the most significantly, reaching −0.051 m·year−1. Finally, the Arctic average SIT was tested by the Mann‐Kendall method. It is found that the SIT has a sudden change in 2007, from a slight increase in 2003–2007 to a significant decrease in 2007–2017. Overall, the decreasing trend of the Arctic sea ice (both SIC and SIT) is significant in the past decade. These findings can contribute to future research on polar regions and global climate change.


1. Phylogenetic methods that account for the degree of relationship between species are increasingly commonly used for cross-species comparisons of ecological data. In particular 'phylogenetic contrasts' are commonly used to generate data for analysis that are phylogenetically independent. The efficacy of this technique for removing phylogenetic correlations is rarely tested, however.

2. For a number of reasons, including non-Brownian modes of evolution, phylogenetic contrasts may not always be phylogenetically independent. This lack of independence defeats the object of phylogenetic analysis and effectively invalidates the results of such analyses. Typically such problems may be overcome using simple data transformations but it is necessary to identify the correct transformation for each analysis variable.

3. Examples are presented for which contrasts have failed to control for phylogenetic correlation. This was because the correct transformation of the data was not identified prior to analysis. It is highlighted that the very act of transformation of data increases our understanding of the ecological variables being studied because the choice of transformation depends on how the character in question evolved.


A numerical study of the flow-induced vibration of two elastically mounted cylinders in tandem and staggered arrangements at Reynolds number $Re=200$ is presented. The cylinder centres are set at a streamwise distance of 1.5 cylinder diameters, placing the rear cylinder in the near-wake region of the front cylinder for the tandem arrangement. The cross-stream or lateral offset is varied between 0 and 5 cylinder diameters. The two cylinders are identical, with the same elastic mounting, and constrained to oscillate only in the cross-flow direction. The variation of flow behaviours is examined for static cylinders and for elastic mountings of a range of spring stiffnesses, or reduced velocity. At least seven major modes of flow response are identified, delineated by whether the oscillation is effectively symmetric, and the strength of the influence of the flow through the gap between the two cylinders. Submodes of these are also identified based on whether or not the flow remains periodic. More subtle temporal behaviours, such as period doubling, quasi-periodicity and chaos, are also identified and mapped. Across all of these regimes, the amplitudes of vibration and the magnitude of the fluid forces are quantified. The modes identified span the parameter space between two important limiting cases: two static bodies at varying lateral offset; and two elastically mounted bodies in a tandem configuration at varying spring stiffnesses. Some similarity in the response of extremely stiff or static bodies and extremely slack bodies is shown. This is explained by the fact that the slack bodies are free to move to an equilibrium position and stop, effectively becoming a static system. However, the most complex behaviour appears between these limits, when the bodies are in reasonably close proximity, and the natural structural frequency is close to the vortex shedding frequency of a single cylinder. This appears to be driven by the interplay between a series of time scales, including the vortex formation time, the advection time across the gap between the cylinders and the oscillation period of both bodies. This points out an important difference between this multi-body system and the classic single-cylinder vortex-induced vibration: two bodies in close proximity will not oscillate in a synchronised, periodic manner when their natural structural frequencies are close to the nominal vortex shedding frequency of a single cylinder.


UTI, one of the most common infections noted in children, is reported with incidence of 2% in boys and 8% in girls of less than 8year. Absence of specific signs of UTI in younger children and increased risk for complications make it almost mandatory to test for UTI in very young children with fever. Fairly common genitourinary tract abnormalities in young children makes it even more important to screen for UTI as it can lead to chronic kidney injury later. Emperic antibiotic treatment in suspected UTI in children is rampant in our community; equally high is the possibility of antibiotic resistance, which is not studied due to cost limitations. Hence the need for identifying the change in microbial flora causing UTI and their changes in resistance pattern at community level, making it an important tool for preventing and addressing the growth issues, complications like CKD, etc. The study aims at addressing this infelt need of the community. Analysis of culture-positive UTI cases referred as suspected UTI from the community for evaluation from April 2017-March 2018 were done. Demographic data, organisms, their susceptibility to common antibiotics prescribed in our community settings were analysed. UTI was common in boys between 1-5years. The common organism isolated was E.coli and Enterococcus species, followed by Klebsiella in girls and Proteus in males. Nearly 40% of GNB isolates were ESBL producing organisms with E.coli being highest. 70% of E.coli were resistant to commonly used 1stline antibiotics-Ampicillin and cephalexin. 50% of other isolates were resistant to common antibiotics. This may lead to failure of treatment in UTI, leading to long-term complications. Hence empirical antibiotic therapy is not advised even in resource constraint community settings.


Removal of noise and restoration of images has been one of the most interesting topics in the field of image processing in the past few years. Existing filter-based methods can remove image noise; however, they cannot preserve image quality and information such as lines and edges. In this article, various classifiers and spatial filters are combined to achieve desirable image restoration. Meanwhile, the time adaptive self-organizing map (TASOM) classifier is more emphasized in our feature extraction and dimensionality reduction approaches to preserve the details during the process, and restore the images from noise. The TASOM was compared with the self-organizing map (SOM) network, and a suitable noise reduction method for images was attempted. As a result, we achieved an optimum method to reduce impulsive noise. In addition, by using this neural network, better noise suppression was achieved. Experimental results show that the proposed method effectively removes impulse noise and maintains color information as well as image details.


The existence of true scale-invariance in slowly driven models of self-organized criticality without a conservation law, such as forest-fires or earthquake automata, is scrutinized in this paper. By using three different levels of description—(i) a simple mean field, (ii) a more detailed mean-field description in terms of a (self-organized) branching processes, and (iii) a full stochastic representation in terms of a Langevin equation—it is shown on general grounds that non-conserving dynamics does not lead to bona fide criticality. Contrary to the case for conserving systems, a parameter, which we term the 're-charging' rate (e.g. the tree-growth rate in forest-fire models), needs to be fine-tuned in non-conserving systems to obtain criticality. In the infinite-size limit, such a fine-tuning of the loading rate is easy to achieve, as it emerges by imposing a second separation of timescales but, for any finite size, a precise tuning is required to achieve criticality and a coherent finite-size scaling picture. Using the approaches above, we shed light on the common mechanisms by which 'apparent criticality' is observed in non-conserving systems, and explain in detail (both qualitatively and quantitatively) the difference with respect to true criticality obtained in conserving systems. We propose to call this self-organized quasi-criticality (SOqC). Some of the reported results are already known and some of them are new. We hope that the unified framework presented here will help to elucidate the confusing and contradictory literature in this field. In a forthcoming paper, we shall discuss the implications of the general results obtained here for models of neural avalanches in neuroscience for which self-organized scale-invariance in the absence of conservation has been claimed.


Abstract. The digital documentation of architectural heritage is important for monitoring, preserving, managing as well as 3B BIM modelling, time-space VR (virtual reality) applications. The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been widely used in these application thanks to rapid developments in technology which enable the high resolution images with resolutions in millimeters. Moreover, it has become possible to produce highly accurate 3D point clouds with structure from motion (SfM) and multi-view stereo (MVS), to obtain a surface reconstruction of a realistic 3D architectural heritage model by using high-overlap images and 3D modeling software such as Context capture, Pix4Dmapper, Photoscan. In this study, digital documentation of Otag-i Humayun (The Ottoman Empire Sultan's Summer Palace) located in Davutpasa, Istanbul/Turkey is aimed using low cost UAV. The data collections have been made with low cost UAS 3DR Solo UAV with GoPro Hero 4 with fisheye lens. The data processing was accomplished by using commercial Pix4D software. The dense point clouds, a true orthophoto and 3D solid model of the Otag-i Humayun were produced results. The quality check of the produced point clouds has been performed. The obtained result from Otag-i Humayun in Istanbul proved that, the low cost UAV with fisheye lens can be successfully used for architectural heritage documentation.


This work assesses the accuracy of two-phase flow measurement, based on cross correlation (XC) and cross-spectrum (CS) velocity computation, using dual plane nonintrusive electrical capacitance tomography (ECT), over a broad spectrum of horizontal flow configurations, combined with fraction distribution measurements from gamma-ray tomography (GRT). The measurement of two-phase flow encompasses the measurement of both the velocity and the phase concentration of the flow components. The accuracy of the flow velocity is still an open discussion and remains a key challenge in the field of multiphase flow measurement. The velocities of the two-phase components vary, both in between them and across the pipe cross section. This study assesses the use of XC techniques as methods for calculating the cross-sectional velocity distribution by deriving the transit time of the fluid flowing through two parallel ECT sensor arrays mounted on the perimeter of a pipe. The spectral distribution of the velocities is assessed for improved accuracy of individual component velocities. A dual-plane ECT is adopted for the velocity measurements and is combined with state-of-the-art density-based cross-sectional phase fraction distribution from a GRT system to measure the volumetric flow rates of the two phases. The results show that the CS method provides enhanced velocity estimation for both flow phases over the conventional XC technique. Further improvement was reported using a simple predictive correction model resulting in flowrate estimation accuracy of ±10%. The method for two-phase flow measurement suggested in this work leverages the accuracy of the tomography systems on accurate fraction measurement and fast data acquisition to lead to potential enhancement in process control by enabling a more accurate prediction of components velocities.


Objectives There are high levels of inappropriate antibiotic use in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Our objective was to examine evidence of the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce antibiotic use and/or inappropriate use in LTCFs. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources MEDLINE, Embase and CINAHL from 1997 until November 2018. Eligibility criteria Controlled and uncontrolled studies in LTCFs measuring intervention effects on rates of overall antibiotic use and/or appropriateness of use were included. Secondary outcomes were intervention implementation barriers from process evaluations. Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers independently applied the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care group's resources to classify interventions and assess risk of bias. Meta-analyses used random effects models to pool results. Results Of include studies (n=19), 10 had a control group and 17 had a high risk of bias. All interventions had multiple components. Eight studies (with high risk of bias) showed positive impacts on outcomes and included one of the following interventions: audit and feedback, introduction of care pathways or an infectious disease team. Meta-analyses on change in the percentage of residents on antibiotics (pooled relative risk (RR) (three studies, 6862 residents): 0.85, 95% CI: 0.61 to 1.18), appropriateness of decision to treat with antibiotics (pooled RR (three studies, 993 antibiotic orders): 1.10, 95% CI: 0.64 to 1.91) and appropriateness of antibiotic selection for respiratory tract infections (pooled RR (three studies, 292 orders): 1.15, 95% CI: 0.95 to 1.40), showed no significant intervention effects. However, meta-analyses only included results from intervention groups since most studies lacked a control group. Insufficient data prevented meta-analysis on other outcomes. Process evaluations (n=7) noted poor intervention adoption, low physician engagement and high staff turnover as barriers. Conclusions There is insufficient evidence that interventions employed to date are effective at improving antibiotic use in LTCFs. Future studies should use rigorous study designs and tailor intervention implementation to the setting.


In this paper, I present a Smartphone-based autonomous management of Location. When developing a location-aware application for Android, one can utilize GPS and Android's Network Location Provider to acquire the user location. Android's Network Location Provider determines user location using cell tower and Wi-Fi signals, providing location information in a way that works indoors and outdoors, responds faster, and uses less battery power. To obtain the user location in your application, one can use both GPS and the Network Location Provider, or just one. Here one could track the positions of the Android Device constantly for 2/4hrs and save them on a well secured webpage. So that if a device is found to be in a prohibited area it can be easily traced out. Hence it is very useful for the military purposes. No unauthorized devices can enter or leave the area without notification to the server. It can also help to create a daily log of device i.e each and every location visited by the device in a day.


The design process of city brand logo often become an exclusive program for executives,
thus exclude society as its main stakeholders. Nevertheless, the public involvement through
logo competition tend to resulting unprofessional result. Fundamentally, some cities still
assume that city branding is as merely logo making. Trough case study method, this
research aims to map and evaluate the city brand logo design models. City of objects include
Semarang, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. The paper concludes three methods of designing city
brand logo based on the involved dominant actors: (1) via competition, (2) via professional
collaboration, (3) via collaboration of government-expert-society. The evaluation reveals that
the competition method has weaknesses such as society dysfunction as designer, also the
subjective, unprofessional, and incomplete brand identity. On the other hand, even design
experts had fill in their role in design process, professional collaboration method is assumed
to lack of public participation. Society involvement is limited to informant during early
research and being subsided in the making of brand identities. Just as the competition method,
collaboration of three actors is judged to be an inefective method in involving local society.
Keywords: brand identity; city branding; city brand logo; logo competition; logo design; public
participation.


Summary form only given, as follows. Semiconductor spintronics aims to develop novel sensor, memory and logic devices by manipulating the spin states of carriers in semiconducting materials. This talk will focus on electrical spin injection into semiconductors, which is a prerequisite for spintronics and, in particular, on tunnel based spin injectors that are potentially operable above room temperature. The spin polarization of the electron current within the semiconductor is detected by measuring the circular polarization of the electroluminescence from a quantum well light emitting diode structure. The temperature and bias dependence of the electroluminescence polarization provides insight into the spin relaxation mechanisms within the semiconductor heterostructure.


We show how all non-MHV tree-level amplitudes in 0 ? ? 4 gauge theories can be obtained directly from the known MHV amplitudes using the scalar graph approach of Cachazo, Svrcek and Witten. Generic amplitudes are given by sums of inequivalent scalar diagrams with MHV vertices. The novel feature of our method is that after the `Feynman rules' for scalar diagrams are used, together with a particular choice of the reference spinor, no further helicity-spinor algebra is required to convert the results into a numerically usable form. Expressions for all relevant individual diagrams are free of singularities at generic phase space points, and amplitudes are manifestly Lorentz- (and gauge-) invariant. To illustrate the method, we derive expressions for n-point amplitudes with three negative helicities carried by fermions and/or gluons. We also write down a supersymmetric expression based on Nair's supervertex which gives rise to all such amplitudes in 0 ? ? 4 gauge theories.


Recent papers reported that the balance between the production of IL-1ra and IL-1 probably influences the regulation of host responses, the severity and prolongation of the inflammatory reaction in some diseases. Therefore, in our continuing investigation to clarify the significance of leukocytosis and its prolongation in prostatic fluid from prostatitis patients, we investigated whether low levels of IL-1ra versus IL-1β secreted in prostatic fluid were the cause of prolonged prostatitis, especially nonbacterial prostatitis (NBP). As a result of the present study, we concluded that a low level of IL-1ra in relation to that of IL-1 secreted in prostatic fluid is unlikely to cause prolongation of NBP for the following reasons: (1) IL-1β was detected in 5 of 10 cases (50.0%), but was slightly elevated in only 2 cases (20.0%) at 14 and 17 pg/ml; (2) the average IL-1ra level was not statistically low compared with that in prostatic fluid from acute bacterial prostatitis (ABP) patients who were cured promptly with antibiotics, and (3) in 5 cases of NBP in which IL-1β was detected, the average IL-1ra/IL-1β ratio was 118 which was comparable to or even higher than that in 3 ABP and 14 acute bacterial cystitis cases in which IL-1β was detected and the ratios were 40 and 88, respectively.


We estimated asthma hospitalization rates, prevalence, and their relationships for children under age 15 in Erie County, New York. Information on hospitalizations was obtained from hospital discharge data, and prevalence was estimated through a mailed survey of 9271 children. The hospitalization rate was 2.3 per 1000, the lifetime prevalence was 14.1%, and the hospitalization-to-prevalence ratio was 16.3 per 1000 prevalent cases. Hospitalization rates and hospitalization-to-prevalence ratios were higher among young children relative to older children; and hospitalization rates, prevalence, and hospitalization-to-prevalence ratios were higher among males, blacks, and Buffalo residents, suggesting greater severity, poorer management, and/or less access to care among these groups. The hospitalization-to-prevalence ratio may be useful in estimating prevalence from more easily available hospitalization data.


We consider the pointwise, uniform, quasi-uniform, and the almost uniform $\mathcal{I}$-convergence for a net $(f_d)_{d\in D}$ of functions from a topological space $X$ into a uniform space $(Y,\mathcal{U})$, where $\mathcal{I}$ is an ideal on $D$. The purpose of the present paper is to provide ideal versions of some classical results and to extend these to the nets of functions with values in uniform spaces. In particular, we define the notion of $\mathcal{I}$-equicontinuous family of functions on which pointwise and uniform $\mathcal{I}$-convergence coincide on compact sets. Generalizing the theorem of Arzela, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for a net of continuous functions from a compact space into a uniform space to $\mathcal{I}$-converge pointwise to a continuous function.


Unlike most criminal offenses in Germany, the rate of residential burglary has significantly increased since 2006. This high number of burglary cases is contrary to a very low rate of suspects actually identified by the police. However, official statistics indicate that individual districts in Germany strongly differ regarding the frequency rate as well as the number of suspects. Hereby, the Criminology Research Institute of Lower Saxony conducted a comprehensive study on residential burglary regarding the characteristics of burglary offenses, the situation of victims, criminal investigations and legal proceedings, as well as the characteristics of offenders. Written surveys were completed with victims of burglary (N=1,329) and criminal files were analyzed (N=3,668). The present paper represents the main results of this research project.


Abstract The Lingua Franca Core (LFC) proposes that NURSE is the only vowel quality important for international intelligibility, yet research findings regarding this issue are mixed. Moreover, it is unclear whether phonetic (rather than phonemic) substitutions of NURSE also affect international intelligibility more negatively than other phonemic vowel substitutions, though this seems unlikely on the basis of considerations of functional load (FL). This study compares the international intelligibility of two vowel substitutions typical of Austrian learners of English: the phonetic replacement of NURSE with a rounded and diphthongized vowel, and the phonemic replacement of TRAP with a vowel close to cardinal [e]. The findings suggest that, contrary to the LFC but in line with FL considerations, the phonetic substitution of NURSE is more intelligible to an international audience than the substitution of TRAP with [e]. However, differences in intelligibility between the two substitutions were largely 'neutralized' once contextual support was available.


What is the value of Yoruba epistemology, theory of knowledge, particularly its philosophy of perception, to humanity in general, and to contemporary Nigeria, in particular? How does Yorùbá epistemology connect with educational theory and practice in Nigeria? This essay recognizes but goes beyond the more general overviews on classical Yoruba education and its contemporary significance represented in works of Yorùbá and Africanist scholars. I demonstrate the significance of Yoruba philosophy of education beyond its cultural context, by projecting its universal and timeless value, foregrounding its distinctive concepts in dialogue with ideas from other cultures. In its engagement with Nigerian educational dynamics, the essay concentrates, first, on Yoruba epistemology in its intersection with ethical and metaphysical perspectives from Yoruba thought. Second, the essay deploys the African art-centered investigations of the role of the senses in relating with art, understood as paradigmatic of navigating the world.


The article examines the commemoration of Waterloo (1815) since the Second World War by placing the battle's polyvalent image in the context of European integration. To this end it traces the cultural significance of Waterloo in regional, national, transnational and international perspective to elucidate the longevity of the event as a lieu de mémoire, and then argues that even now the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars remain in some respects an unmastered past because of uncertainty in European public memory about how to commemorate these conflicts.


The acquisition time of astronomical polarimeters has in the past been restricted to by the use of polarimeters utilizing modulated or rotating components (1). If the polarisation state being measured is changing in the order of nanoseconds, how does one measure this? The Galway Astronomical Stokes Polarimeter (GASP) is an instantaneous full Stokes Division Of Amplitude Polarimeter (DOAP) that has been developed for astronomical imaging polarimetry. It also uses just one camera thus restricting the acquisition time to photon statistics. Following the work of Compain and Drevillon (2), the main component - the Retarding Beam-Splitter, was redesigned and enhanced for imaging use. We present how the polarization and imaging optics were developed to create a broadband imaging instantaneous polarimeter.


In safety analysis, one of important parameters is core damage as this occasion can cause fission products to release. In that regard, all possible sequences afterward must be analyzed in order to ensure that all events have been considered, because each sequence has different consequence. The objective of this research is to determine the probability of event sequences after core damage so safety level of AP1000 could be known. The AP1000 reactor is chosen as the research object because currently many units are under construction. In this research the accident sequences were analyzed by using event tree, and the probability of top event was calculated by fault tree analysis. Meanwhile, the failure rates of component or operator action were collected from IAEA documents and also published documents of the AP1000 from Westinghouse Inc. The analysis results show that probability of event sequences which causes fission product release is ranging from 10 -2 to 10 -26 and the total probability is 3,48 x 10 -2 . Based on this analysis, it can be concluded that the AP1000 has high safety level because the probability of event sequences leading to fission product release is small. Moreover, if these results are joined with core damage probability then probability of fission product release would be less than 10 -9 .


SUMMARY Objective: The cholesterol absorption inhibitor, ezetimibe, significantly decreases low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia. The pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic, and safety profiles of ezetimibe and fenofibrate were evaluated alone and after co-administration in 32 subjects with primary hypercholesterolemia. Research design and methods: This was a randomized, evaluator (single)-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Subjects with untreated LDL-C ≥ 130 mg/dL (3.37 mmol/L) were randomized to receive one of four oral treatments each morning for 14 days: fenofibrate 200 mg + ezetimibe 10 mg, fenofibrate 200 mg, ezetimibe 10 mg, or placebo. Serum lipids were assessed before drug administration on day 1, day 7, and day 14. Pharmacokinetic parameters were assessed on day 14. Main outcome measures: The primary pharmacodynamic parameter was percentage change from baseline in LDL-C concentration following co-administration of ezetimibe and fenofibrate vs either drug alone, or placebo. A secondary outcome was the potential for a pharmacokinetic interaction between ezetimibe and fenofibrate. Results: Ezetimibe and fenofibrate co-administration was well tolerated and produced statistically significant mean percentage reductions from baseline in LDL-C ( p ≤ 0.05 vs either drug alone or placebo), total cholesterol and triglycerides ( p ≤ 0.05 vs either fenofibrate or placebo), apolipoprotein C-III ( p ≤ 0.05 vs placebo), and LDL-III ( p ≤ 0.05 vs either drug alone or placebo). Ezetimibe did not significantly affect the pharmacokinetics of fenofibrate. Concomitant fenofibrate administration significantly increased the mean Cmax and AUC of total ezetimibe approximately 64% and 48%, respectively. However, based on the established safety profile and flat dose-response of ezetimibe, this effect is not considered to be clinically significant. Conclusion: Co-administration of ezetimibe and fenofibrate produced significantly greater reductions in LDL-C than either drug alone and greater reductions in triglycerides than fenofibrate. These effects were accompanied by improvements in the lipid/lipoprotein profile, suggesting that co-administration therapy with ezetimibe and fenofibrate may be an effective therapeutic option for patients with mixed dyslipidemia.


A major impediment to the full benefit of electronic medical records is the lack of a comprehensive clinical vocabulary. Most existing vocabularies do not allow the full expressiveness of clinical diagnoses and findings that are often qualified by modifiers relating to severity, acuity, and temporal factors. One reason for the lack of expressivity is the inability of traditional manual construction techniques to identify the diversity of language used by clinicians. This study used advanced natural language processing tools to identify terminology in a clinical findings domain, compare its coverage with the UMLS Metathesaurus, and quantify the effort required to discover the additional terminology. It was found that substantial amounts of phrases and individual modifiers were not present in the UMLS Metathesaurus and that modest effort in human time and computer processing were needed to obtain the larger quantity of terms.


Free oxygen radicals and nitric oxide (NO) play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of myoglobinuric acute renal failure (ARF). In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of melatonin, a potent free radical scavenger, on the myoglobinuric ARF formed by injecting hypertonic glycerol intramuscularly (im). The rats were randomly divided into 4 Groups. Rats in Group 1 were given saline and those in Groups 2, 3, and 4 were injected with glycerol (10 mL/kg) im. Concomitant and 24 hours after glycerol injection Group 3 (5 mg/kg) and Group 4 (10 mg/kg) were administrated melatonin intraperitoneally. Forty‐eight hours after the glycerol injection, the blood and kidneys of the rats were taken under anesthesia. Kidney morphology and the levels of urea, creatinine and nitric oxide metabolites (NOx) in the plasma and the enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the kidney were determined. In both groups of melatonin administration, there was no protective effect of melatonin. Moreover, melatonin significantly decreased the level of NO. As a result, we suggest that the decreasing effect of melatonin on NO, which is a strong vasodilatator, may further increase the renal ischemia in this model. Thus, melatonin may have worsening rather than beneficial effects on myoglobinuric ARF.


Abstract The empirical focus of this paper is the syntax and semantics of embedded clauses, and in particular, finite object clauses that are weak islands for extraction and incompatible with main clause phenomena (MCP). Such CPs (which subsume factive complements) have been shown to have referential properties both distributionally and in terms of their semantics (de Cuba & Ürögdi, Eliminating factivity from syntax: Sentential complements in Hungarian, John Benjamins, 2009a). By analogy with proposals for the derivation of adverbial clauses (Haegeman, Main clause phenomena and intervention, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, 2009a, English Language and Linguistics 13: 385– 408, b, The internal syntax of adverbial clauses, 2010), this paper develops a movement derivation for such referential embedded clauses. The paper updates a tradition of work on 'reduced' or 'impoverished' complement clauses and shows that their referential property can be made to follow from event relativization, which in turn accounts for the constraints on the syntax of their left periphery. Looking at the feature make-up of the operator enables us to make fine-grained predictions with respect to the availability of various MCP in these clauses. Pursuing insights due to Campbell (Studia Linguistica 50: 161–188, 1996), Aboh (The morphosyntax of complement-head sequences. Clause structure and word order patterns in Kwa, Oxford University Press, 2004: 84–90), it is proposed that both referential DPs and referential clauses (RCP) are derived by operator movement. The paper thus offers further evidence for the CP/DP parallelism.


The major message conveyed by this article is that the enzymes involved in the mitochondrial respiratory chain are impaired to a similar extent after blood and crystalloid cardioplegia, thereby suggesting that the purported superiority of the former technique (supported in this study by a decreased tissue acidosis) is not related to a better utilization of oxygen. This result is consistent with the observations made almost 20 years ago that cold (4" or 10°C) diluted blood (as used in the present study) releases small amounts of oxygen,' which can be easily explained by the authors by the greater affinity of myoglobin for oxygen at low temperatures. It is therefore sound to postulate that the protective effects of cold blood cardioplegia are related to other factors than oxygen availability such as buffering, free radical scavenging, or oncogenicity. In a clinical perspective, it is thus important to realize that these factors can, to a large extent, be reproduced by appropriately formulated oxygenated crystalloid solutions in that they can release as much oxygen as sanguineous media because of the linearity of their oxygen dissociation curve,2 which allows the total amount of oxygen dissolved in the solution to be available provided an oxygen tension gradient is present to drive oxygen into cells. That the cardioprotective effects of cold blood cardioplegia can be matched by oxygenated crystalloid solutions has been shown far many years4 and further demonstrated in a recent study using an isolated myocyte model of hypothermic, hyperkaelemic arrest that showed that both types of media yield similar results with respect to contractility, inotropic responsiveness, and regulation of intracellular volume.4 Thus, an important conclusion that can be derived from this study is that profound hypothermia and excessive dilution prevent blood cardioplegia from being as effective as it could be with respect to oxygen utilization by the mitochondrial electron transport chain, subsequent energy production, and the related preservation of myocardial tissue integrity. As the rationale behind the use of a blood vehicle is to bring the crossclamped heart as close as possible to an areobiotic environment, it seems logical to create the conditions necessary to meet this objective. These considerations have underlied the development of minimally diluted, tepid blood cardioplegia, a technique that we have coined "minicardioplegia," that maximizes oxygen supply and a subsequent preservation of aerobic metabolism, in particularly when cardioplegia is run in an almost continuous fashion. The present study suffers from several methodologic limitations in particular the small number of patients in each group (which makes a comparative assessment of patient outcomes virtually impossible) and the lack of tissue measurements of high-enery phosphates. Nevertheless, the authors should be commended for having undertaken complex biochemical measurements that at the mitochondrial level demonstrate that the traditional and popular method of cold diluted blood cardioplegia is not the most effective method for fully exploiting the protective effects of sanguineous media against surgically induced myocardial ischemia.


Background Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) reduces physical function and QoL; a treatment goal is to improve/maintain functionality. PALACE 1 (NCT01172938), 2 (NCT01212757), and 3 (NCT01212770) compared apremilast (APR) efficacy/safety with placebo (PBO) in patients (pts) with active PsA despite prior conventional DMARDs and/or biologics, providing one of the largest databases (N=1,489) examining physical disability in pts with moderate/severe PsA. Objectives Assess APR 30 mg BID (APR30) treatment impact on disability using the HAQ-DI over 104 wks with PALACE 1–3 pooled data. Methods Pts were randomized (1:1:1) to PBO, APR30, or APR 20 mg BID (APR20) stratified by baseline (BL) DMARD use (yes/no). At Wk 24, all remaining PBO pts were re-randomized to APR30 or APR20. HAQ-DI scores were collected at BL and Wks 16, 24, 40, 52 65, 78, 91, and 104. Mean change, proportion reaching MCID, and disability levels were calculated; HAQ-DI cutoff levels were ≤1.0 (clinically significant disability1), ≤0.5 (MDA criteria2), and ≤0.25. Score shift categories were examined in 0.25 increments to clarify pt disability level. Wk 16 data, compared with PBO, are analyzed by intent-to-treat/LOCF methodology. Other data shown are as observed to Wk 104. Mean change and MCID outcomes are for all pts receiving treatment with APR30 at any time during the study; for disability level and category shift assessments, data are shown for pts randomized to APR at BL. Results Pts exhibited significant BL physical disability (mean HAQ-DI=1.2); 60% of APR30 pts had a score >1.0, and 31% >1.5, noting marked difficulty/need for assistive devices in performing activities of daily living. Major disability was noted in 19% with BL HAQ-DI >1.75. As early as Wk 16, physical function improved with APR30; pts exhibited a mean HAQ-DI change of −0.23 (vs −0.08 PBO; P<0.0001), 56% achieved HAQ-DI ≤1.0 at Wk 16 (vs 48% PBO pts), and 29% achieved HAQ-DI ≤0.5 (vs 25% PBO pts). Fewer PBO vs APR30 pts reached the MCID of −0.13 (prespecified analysis; 37% vs 47%; P<0.005) or −0.30 (prespecified analysis)/−0.353 (post hoc analysis) (26% vs 36% for both; P<0.005). At Wk 52, decreases in disability were maintained (APR30 mean change in HAQ-DI=−0.33); 48% of APR30 pts achieved MCID −0.30 and −0.35. Importantly, at Wk 52, 58% of all APR30 pts achieved HAQ-DI ≤1.0, 34% ≤0.5, and 24% ≤0.25 (Table). Among pts with greater BL disability (HAQ-DI ≥1.5), 64% improved by ≥1 shift category and 47% by ≥2. At Wk 104, 50% of APR30 pts achieved MCID of −0.30 and −0.35, with 64% achieving HAQ-DI ≤1.0, 38% ≤0.5, and 28% ≤0.25; LOCF analysis confirmed Wk 104 results. Conclusions In APR30 pts, physical function improved at Wk 16 and was sustained with long-term treatment. Most pts achieved HAQ-DI MCID −0.30 or −0.35 and HAQ-DI scores ≤1.0, with many obtaining HAQ-DI ≤0.5, defined as minimal disease in recent criteria. These data indicate improvement and long-term maintenance of functionality with APR treatment. References Arthritis Rheum. 2003;48:59–63. Ann Rheum Dis. 2010;69:48–53. J Rheumatol. 2011;38:2461–5. Disclosure of Interest P. Mease Grant/research support from: Abbott, Amgen, Biogen Idec, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Pfizer Inc, UCB, Celgene Corporation, Novartis, Roche, Consultant for: Abbott, Amgen, Biogen Idec, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genentech, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Pfizer Inc, UCB, Celgene Corporation, Novartis, Roche, J. Wollenhaupt Grant/research support from: Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MSD, Pfizer Inc, and UCB, Consultant for: Abbott, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MSD, Pfizer Inc, and UCB, S. Hall Grant/research support from: Celgene Corporation, Pfizer, UCB, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Glaxo-Smith Kline, Roche, Janssen, Novartis, Merck, Consultant for: Celgene Corporation, Pfizer, UCB, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Glaxo-Smith Kline, Roche, Janssen, Novartis, Merck, F. Van den Bosch Grant/research support from: Celgene Corporation, E. Lespessailles Grant/research support from: Amgen, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Novartis, and Servier, Speakers bureau: Amgen, Eli Lilly, Novartis, and Servier, M. McIlraith Employee of: Celgene Corporation, L. Teng Employee of: Celgene Corporation, C. Edwards Grant/research support from: Celgene Corporation, Pfizer Inc, Roche, Samsung, Consultant for: Celgene Corporation, Pfizer Inc, Roche, Samsung, Speakers bureau: Abbott, Glaxo-SmithKline, Pfizer Inc, Roche


The work reported in this thesis was carried out in the School of Engineering Science, University of Warwick, between October 1967 and April 1971.

It establishes that by using high sensitivity eddy current crack detection, fatigue damage accumulation for both random and constant amplitude loading can be represented as occurring in two stages:-

Stage A:- Microcrack Initiation and Propagation.
Stage B:- Macrocrack Propagation.

The results of specimen sectioning and optical microscope work suggest that there is some correlation between the observed stage behaviour and that proposed by Forsyth (17).

An empirical relationship is restated for constant amplitude loading whereby the proportion of life spent in either stage can be estimated from the elastic stress concentration factor. This relationship is based on the behaviour observed from a wide range of specimen configurations.

It is established under random loading that for a given specimen configuration the proportion of time spent in Stage A behaviour for a given fatigue life remains unaltered for changes in waveform irregularity factor. This statement applies to two series of tests for loading waveforms of unaltered fundamental p.s.d. shapes and Gaussian amplitude probability density distributions. It is suggested that the signal maximum peak/rms. ratio is a significant factor in determining the proportion of life spent in crack initiation.

On-line computer techniques are described which enable data acquisition for the accurate definition of the statistical properties of random loading waveforms. The computer programs which perform off-line analysis of data and provide power spectral density, peak probability density and amplitude probability density descriptions of random signal properties are described.

Cumulative damage predictions are made using Miner's Hypothesis on a basis of positive peak stresses to failure for Stage A and Stage B lives, and overall fatigue life. The results confirm that Miner seriously underestimates the damage contribution of low stresses on fatigue life as a whole, and they also show that the damage contribution of low stresses is underestimated for the crack initiation phase of life. It is suggested that the inadequacies in Miner's Hypothesis cannot always be accounted for by adopting the "hypothetical S/N curve" concept.

An investigation into size effect behaviour under random and constant amplitude loading is presented, and indicates a striking similarity in Stage A/Total life behaviour for both large and small geometrically similar specimens.

The fundamentals involved in the design of electro-hydraulic servo controlled fatigue test rigs are outlined and applied to the three servohydraulic rigs which were built in order to carry out the described experimental program.


Objective The aim of the study was to determine psychological, psychophysiological, and anthropometric factors connected with life events, level of depression, and quality of life in people at risk for cardiovascular disease and healthy controls. Methods This is a cross-sectional study involving arterial hypertension patients and healthy controls. There were several measurements including physical, anthropological, cardiovascular, and psychophysiological measurements and administration of questionnaires. Results A total of 99 participants were recruited for this study, 54 healthy controls (mean age: 35.59±13.39 years) and 45 patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) (mean age: 46.33±12.39 years). The healthy controls and the patients with CVD significantly differed in the mean total score of life events, level of depression, quality of life score, temperature, blood pressure (BP), pulse transit time, heart rate, high-frequency total power, heart rate variability total power, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), body fat percentage, fat control, pulse wave velocity, and augmentation index. In healthy subjects, the total score of the life events was not correlated with any cardiovascular or anthropometric factor. A score of depression significantly correlated with the WHtR, augmentation index, body fat percentage, and fat control. The quality of life – visual scale correlated with the body temperature, BP, and percentage of body fat. In the group of the patients with CVD, the score of the life events did not correlate with any measured cardiovascular or anthropometric factor. The level of depression correlated with the augmentation index. The quality of life – visual scale significantly correlated with body temperature, WHtR, and fat control. Conclusion The patients with CVD reported higher scores of life events, worse quality of life, and a greater level of depressive symptoms than healthy controls. In healthy controls, a higher mean total score of life events significantly negatively correlated with high-frequency total power, and the degree of depression correlated with being overweight. In patients with CVD, a score of depression was linked to being overweight.


The purposes of this research article were 1) to analyze crises situation and measures to prevent the epidemic of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), 2) to conduct lessons learned on management of the Coronavirus Outbreak situation 2019 (COVID-19) of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), and 3) to propose an innovative prototype model of management to confront with Coronavirus epidemic situation (COVID-19) of MCU. Action research was conducted as it was a research method that suitable for urgent situations where action must be taken to resolve problems promptly. Target groups were personnel and students of MCU who work or live in the area of MCU. The research tools were interview question guidelines, issues in group interviews, and field record. Qualitative data analysis using content analysis and analytic in duction was conducted. Results indicated that 1) the outbreak of the coronavirus 2019 affects the university administration that was unable to operate normally. For disease prevention measures, five measures were established consisted of 1) measures for the performance of university personnel; 2) measures for educational management; 3) measures for staff and students living in university; 4) measures for public communication; and 5) a measure of internal management within the university area. All five measures will be carried out with the university's center for the control and prevention of the epidemic of COVID 19. 2) The sixth prototype was being conducted from lessons learned on management of the coronavirus epidemic situation (COVID-19) of MCU. 3) An innovative prototype model of Seven ways of New Normal Confronting with COVID-19, there are 7 ways consisted of 1) method of new normal life focusing on health care, 2) method of new normal working using online communication, 3) method of new normal teaching and instruction using online blended learning, 4) method of new normal research and academic management focusing on online working, 5) method of Dhamma public communication in new normal focusing on social distancing, 6) method of sharing expression in new normal using sharing pantries, and 7) method of coexistence in university following Buddhist New Normal


We develop intrinsic tools for computing the periodic Hopf cyclic cohomology of Hopf algebras related to transverse symmetry in codi-mension 1. Besides the Hopf algebra found by Connes and the first author in their work on the local index formula for transversely hy-poelliptic operators on foliations, this family includes its 'Schwarzian' quotient, on which the Rankin-Cohen universal deformation formula is based, the extended Connes-Kreimer Hopf algebra related to renor-malization of divergences in QFT, as well as a series of cyclic coverings of these Hopf algebras, motivated by the treatment of transverse symmetry for nonorientable foliations. The method for calculating their Hopf cyclic cohomology is based on two computational devices, which work in tandem and complement each other: one is a spectral sequence for bicrossed product Hopf algebras and the other a Cartan-type homotopy formula in Hopf cyclic cohomology.


Introduction The methylation at position N6 of adenine is called N6-methyladenosine (m6A). This transcriptional RNA modification exerts a very active and important role in RNA metabolism and in other biological processes. However, the activities of m6A associated with malignant liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) are unknown and are worthy of study. Materials and Methods Using the data of University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), the expression of M6A methylation regulators in pan-cancer was evaluated as a screening approach to identify the association of M6A gene expression and 18 cancer types, with a specific focus on LIHC. LIHC datasets of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were used to explore the expression of M6A methylation regulators and their clinical significance. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) were used to explore the underlying mechanism based on the evaluation of aberrant expression of m6A methylation regulators. Results The expression alterations of m6A-related genes varied across cancer types. In LIHC, we found that in univariate Cox regression analysis, up-regulated m6A modification regulators were associated with worse prognosis, except for ZC3H13. Kaplan–Meier survival curve analysis indicated that higher expression of methyltransferase-like protein 3 (METTL3) and YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 1 (YTHDF1) genes related to the worse survival rate defined by disease-related survival (DSS), overall survival (OS), progression-free interval (PFI), and disease-free interval (DFI). Up-regulated m6A methylation regulator group (cluster2) obtained by consensus clustering was associated with poor prognosis. A six-gene prognostic signature established using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression algorithm performed better in the early (I + II; T1 + T2) stages than in the late (III + IV; T3 + T4) stages of LIHC. Using the gene signature, we constructed a risk score and found that it was an independent predictive factor for prognosis. Using GSEA, we identified processes involved in DNA damage repair and several biological processes associated with malignant tumors that were closely related to the high-risk group. Conclusion In summary, our study identified several genes associated with m6A in LIHC, especially METTL3 and YTHDF1, and confirmed that a risk signature comprised of m6A-related genes was able to forecast prognosis.


This paper investigates the outdoor performance of a new kind of hybrid concentrator photovoltaic module. The concept which we name, EyeCon, uses an array of Fresnel lenses to concentrate direct irradiance onto III-V four-junction solar cells while a large-area silicon cell absorbs diffuse sunlight and also acts as a heat distributing substrate. The preliminary results show that under a high ratio of direct to global irradiance (> 0.9) the concept is capable to convert up to 36.8 % of the global solar resource rather than just the direct beam. Moreover at a low ratio of direct to global irradiance (0.57) the hybrid module generates 30 % additional power with respect to the array of concentrator four-junction solar cells alone. The Eyecon module is applicable to all regions of the world and allows reaching the highest energy yield per module area of any PV technology.This paper investigates the outdoor performance of a new kind of hybrid concentrator photovoltaic module. The concept which we name, EyeCon, uses an array of Fresnel lenses to concentrate direct irradiance onto III-V four-junction solar cells while a large-area silicon cell absorbs diffuse sunlight and also acts as a heat distributing substrate. The preliminary results show that under a high ratio of direct to global irradiance (> 0.9) the concept is capable to convert up to 36.8 % of the global solar resource rather than just the direct beam. Moreover at a low ratio of direct to global irradiance (0.57) the hybrid module generates 30 % additional power with respect to the array of concentrator four-junction solar cells alone. The Eyecon module is applicable to all regions of the world and allows reaching the highest energy yield per module area of any PV technology.


Aims
The relationship between life-course body mass index (BMI) trajectories and adult risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) is poorly described. In a longitudinal cohort, we describe BMI trajectories from early childhood to adulthood and investigate their association with CVD risk factors [Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), high-risk lipid levels, hypertension, and high carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT)] in adulthood (34-49 years).

Methods and results
Six discrete long-term BMI trajectories were identified using latent class growth mixture modelling among 2631 Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study participants (6-49 years): stable normal (55.2%), resolving (1.6%), progressively overweight (33.4%), progressively obese (4.2%), rapidly overweight/obese (4.3%), and persistent increasing overweight/obese (1.2%). Trajectories of worsening or persisting obesity were generally associated with increased risk of CVD outcomes in adulthood (24-49 years) [all risk ratios (RRs) >15, P < 0.05 compared with the stable normal group]. Although residual risk for adult T2DM could not be confirmed [RR = 2.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.14-8.23], participants who resolved their elevated child BMI had similar risk for dyslipidaemia and hypertension as those never obese or overweight (all RRs close to 1). However, they had significantly higher risk for increased cIMT (RR = 3.37, 95% CI = 1.80-6.39).

Conclusion
The long-term BMI trajectories that reach or persist at high levels associate with CVD risk factors in adulthood. Stabilizing BMI in obese adults and resolving elevated child BMI by adulthood might limit and reduce adverse cardiometabolic profiles. However, efforts to prevent child obesity might be most effective to reduce the risk for adult atherosclerosis.


A nonlinear transformation in the momentum space is constructed which converts the deformed action of Lorentz and Weyl generators on momenta into the standard one.


Background/Objective: Environmental exposure to anti-acetylcholinesterases (AChEs) aggravates the risk of Parkinsonism due to currently unclear mechanism(s). We explored the possibility that the brain's capacity to induce a widespread adaptive alternative splicing response to such exposure may be involved. Methods: Following exposure to the dopaminergic neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), brain region transcriptome profiles were tested. Results: Changes in transcript profiles, alternative splicing patterns and splicing-related gene categories were identified. Engineered mice over-expressing the protective AChE-R splice variant showed less total changes but more splicing-related ones than hypersensitive AChE-S over-expressors with similarly increased hydrolytic activities. Following MPTP exposure, the substantia nigra and prefrontal cortex (PFC) of both strains showed a nuclear increase in the splicing factor ASF/SF2 protein. Furthermore, intravenous injection with highly purified recombinant human AChE-R changed transcript profiles in the striatum. Conclusions: Our findings are compatible with the working hypothesis that inherited or acquired alternative splicing deficits may promote parkinsonism, and we propose adaptive alternative splicing as a strategy for attenuating its progression.


Background Nonvitamin K oral anticoagulants require dose adjustment based on kidney function.The most common estimate of kidney function employed in clinical practice is estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR); however, product monographs recommend the use of the Cockcroft‐Gault estimated creatinine clearance (eCrCl) for dose adjustment. Methods and Results The authors included patients enrolled in the ORBIT‐AF II (Outcomes Registry for Better Informed Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation AF II) trial. Dosing was considered inappropriate when use of eGFR resulted in a lower (undertreatment) or higher (overtreatment) dose than that recommended by the eCrCl. The primary outcome of major adverse cardiovascular and neurological events was a composite of cardiovascular death, stroke or systemic embolism, new‐onset heart failure, and myocardial infarction. Among 8727 in the overall cohort, agreement between eCrCl and eGFR was observed in 93.5% to 93.8% of patients. Among 2184 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), the agreement between eCrCl and eGFR was 79.9% to 80.7%. Dosing misclassification was more frequent in the CKD population (41.9% of rivaroxaban users, 5.7% of dabigatran users, and 4.6% apixaban users). At 1 year, undertreated patients in the CKD group had significantly greater major adverse cardiovascular and neurological events (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.93 [95% CI, 1.08–7.92]) compared with the group with appropriate nonvitamin K oral anticoagulants dosing (P=0.03). Conclusions The prevalence of misclassification of nonvitamin K oral anticoagulants dosing was high when using eGFR, particularly among patients with CKD. Among patients with CKD, potential undertreatment due to inappropriate and off‐label renal formulae may result in worse clinical outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of using eCrCl, and not eGFR, for dose adjustment in all patients with AF receiving nonvitamin K oral anticoagulants.


Dispersion management is critical in many optical applications, whether to reduce impairments in fiber optic communication or chirp pulse amplification, or to create time stretch instruments for single-shot continuous recording of fast phenomena. The most common solutions for achieving large dispersion with low loss include dispersion compensation fiber, fiber Bragg grating, and diffraction grating pairs. Such dispersive elements have finite operational bandwidth, limited total dispersion, or insufficient power handling. In this Letter, we demonstrate a new, to the best of our knowledge, implementation of the chromo-modal dispersion device based on a silicon waveguide slab that addresses these limitations. The device provides extremely large dispersion with a widely tunable spectrum. We also propose a new time-stretch spectrometer where the absorption cell simultaneously provides spectrum-to-time mapping for fast single-shot spectroscopy.


Parallel processing over the Internet is now becoming a realistic possibility. There are numerous of-the-shelf high-performance computing (HPC) platforms available with Internet access, on which to implement computationally intensive algorithms. HPC can be applied in the field of computational electromagnetics. The networking capabilities of the Internet now allow these computing resources to be used as a remote service. Additionally, the pragmatics of their utilization can be abstracted by adopting a World Wide Web (WWW) interface. A Web-based environment can provide the supportive tools for data entry, program initiation, result visualization, and even interactive modifications of the geometry and/or electromagnetic (EM) properties. For realistic interaction, the emerging question is which algorithm to use that supports the exploitation of parallelism. In order to exploit and utilize all the available performance of current and predicted HPC platforms, inherently-parallel-based algorithms have to be devised. One such algorithm is the parallel method of moments/method of auxiliary sources, P(MoM/MAS), introduced in this paper. The resulting algorithm parallelization enables the MoM/MAS method to be applied to solving electrically-large-in-size and complex EM structures on various computational platforms. This paper concentrates on the parallel-processing issues, and on the importance of adopting suitable algorithms, such as the MoM/MAS technique.


Introduction: Quality Indicators (QI) are parameters defined by Quality Management System (QMS) in a laboratory to assess and monitor quality of results generated. A regular and periodic review of these QI also help improves the quality of laboratory results. These QI are often under-utilised or less commonly followed-up in histopathology laboratory/Surgical Pathology. Aim: This study was conducted with the aim to evaluate QI and their role in improving the quality in histopathology. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in histopathology laboratory of a Tertiary Care Hospital and Teaching Institute located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India from January, 2016 to June, 2018. A set of nine QI were evaluated biannually and the data was analysed using ANOVA test followed by Post-hoc Tukey's test. Results: During the study period, number of unacceptable samples (QI-1) was zero. Number of errors at registration and/or accession (QI-2) was five (0.05% with respect to total number of specimens). Completeness of equipment (QI-3) and performance in External Quality Assurance Programs (EQAP) (QI-4) were satisfactory throughout. Number of amended reports (QI-5) were three (0.03%). There were two (0.02%) complaints/negative feedbacks from users (QI-7). QI-8 (laboratory safety and environment) and QI-9 (effectiveness of document control system) were maintained during the study period. Turn Around Time (TAT) (QI-6) as a QI which was deranged mostly (4.5%). Reasons for delayed TAT were further analysed. It was found that pre-analytical factors were the common and statistically significant reasons behind the delayed TAT as compared to analytical and post-analytical ones. Root cause analysis and future preventive actions were undertaken accordingly to improve the quality. Conclusion: Periodical review of QI helps in understanding the flaws in the analytic cycle and appropriate actions undertaken accordingly helps in improving the quality in histopathology.


Understanding an online argumentative discussion is essential for understanding users' opinions on a topic and their underlying reasoning. A key challenge in determining completeness and persuasiveness of argumentative discussions is to assess how arguments under a topic are connected in a logical and coherent manner. Online argumentative discussions, in contrast to essays or face-to-face communication, challenge techniques for judging argument relevance because online discussions involve multiple participants and often exhibit incoherence in reasoning and inconsistencies in writing style.

We define relevance as the logical and topical connections between small texts representing argument fragments in online discussions. We provide a corpus comprising pairs of sentences, labeled with argumentative relevance between the sentences in each pair. We propose a computational approach relying on content reduction and a Siamese neural network architecture for modeling argumentative connections and determining argumentative relevance between texts.

Experimental results indicate that our approach is effective in measuring relevance between arguments, and outperforms strong and well-adopted baselines.
Further analysis demonstrates the benefit of using our argumentative relevance encoding on a downstream task, predicting how impactful an online comment is to certain topic, comparing to encoding that does not consider logical connection.


Mobile-IP is the current standard for supporting macro-mobility of mobile hosts. However, in the case of micro-mobility support, there are several competing proposals. In this paper we present the design, implementation, and performance evaluation of HAWAII: a domain-based approach for supporting mobility. HAWAII uses specialized path setup schemes which install host-based forwarding entries in specific routers to support intra-domain micro-mobility. These path setup schemes deliver excellent performance by reducing mobility related disruption to user applications. Also, mobile hosts retain their network address while moving within the domain, simplifying QoS support. Furthermore, reliability is achieved through maintaining soft-state forwarding entries for the mobile hosts and leveraging fault detection mechanisms built in existing intra-domain routing protocols. HAWAII defaults to using Mobile IP for macro-mobility, thus providing a comprehensive solution for mobility support in wide-area wireless networks.


Surgeons are generally optimistic about achieving good results in appropriate cases with the surgical management of ulcerative colitis in children. Individual contact with surgeons as well as their reports in the literature substantiate these results. Presumably this includes an improvement in the child's emotional state and ability to function as a result of removing his diseased organ and his no longer being chronically sick. If the surgeons' clinical experience and judgment is valid, it would seem of interest to examine more carefully the psychological basis for these good results. This has not been reported on previously in the literature to our knowledge. An opportunity presented itself to study this question when two boys with ulcerative colitis, who were being seen in psychiatric treatment by the psychiatrist (L. C.), required surgical treatment. Both boys underwent the standard two-stage operation: stage 1: ileostomy and subtotal colectomy; stage 2: abdominoperineal resection. Both boys


The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector is a multi-purpose detector constructed in order to study high-energy particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The all-silicon design of the tracking system of the CMS experiment provided excellent resolution for charged tracks and an efficient tagging of jets during Run 1 and Run 2 of the LHC. After the pixel detector of the CMS experiment was upgraded and installed during the shutdown in the beginning of 2017, the positions and orientations of the tracker modules needed to be determined with a precision of several micrometers. The alignment also needs to be quickly recalculated each time the state of the CMS magnet is changed between 0 T and 3.8 T. The latest results of the CMS tracker performance in the 2017 run are presented, with a special focus on alignment and resolution performance using several million reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and collision data.


Introductions of the rabbit flea, Spilopsyllus cuniculi (Dale), were made on an island (3.1 km2) of the Kerguelen subantarctic archipelago in January and December 1987. Despite a small founding population, the species succeeded in establishing itself. Three years after introduction, the rate of spread was 614 ± 133 m (between 1990 and 1993). Despite the subantarctic climate of Kerguelen, the burdens were similar to those noted in habitats favourable to this ectoparasite. The flea burden of adult rabbits after colonisation of the whole island was higher for pregnant females (182 ± 21, n = 98) than for non-pregnant ones (85 ± 16, n = 68) or males (20 ± 3, n = 116). The circulation of myxoma virus, present on this island for several decades, has been favoured by the flea. As a result, the proportion of rabbits with antibodies rose from 34% before introduction of the flea to 85% in 1998. Moreover, the introduction of fleas has changed the relative proportions of both adult males and females with antibodies. Those proportions were not different before the introduction but more males than females showed antibodies when the flea colonised the whole island. Finally, the prospects of the introduction of Spilopsyllus cuniculi on the main island of the archipelago are discussed.


High inconsistency and incoherence in the stratigraphy of the Slovenian upper Paleogene and lower Miocene have remained unsolved in the past 150 years. To solve the problem, we tried to rigorously conduct the authentic Galilei's scientific method. Steps of logical and empirical verification confirmed the existence of the posited B1 Tertiary tectonostratigraphic unit, and a general chronostratigraphic model of new positional relationships of lithologic units resulted from rather good biochronostratigraphic resolution achieved by nannoplankton and planktonic foraminifera biostratigraphy. The application of principles of newly developed fields in science helped us to avoid errors in transmission of messages (to reduce noise) from the source (rock) to the concept formation, which had been done previously. This in turn has strongly reduced inconsistency and incoherence (high information entropy = uncertainty). The released amount of information enabled us to answer also questions that reached beyond the original difficulty, e.g.: is the tectonostratigraphic structure of eastern Slovenia a manifestation of plate tectonics processes, and of which ones, are theories of continental escape in the Alps and associated dissection and offset of the formerly uniform Slovenian-Hungarian Paleogene basin tenable or not, are then there in the B1 stratigraphic equivalents of the Hungarian Paleogene basin formations, where are the important Eocene / Oligocene, Paleogene / Neogene, Rupelian / Chattian and Kiscellian / Egerian boundaries in Slovenia, and is there a continuation of the B1 in Croatia and in the Mid-Hungarian tectonic zone?


The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been showing a speedy growth in the number of infected patients with a remarkable mortality rate, thus it has become a worldwide public health concern From March 8, 2020, the virus started spreading in Bangladesh Since then, people got infected so exponentially that the country positions at the list of top infected countries in the world Therefore, the objective of this comprehensive review was representing overall scenario of COVID-19 in different sectors of Bangladesh Because of insufficient scientific publications, we chose materials published by several agencies, media outlets, newspapers, and policy experts to retrieve details information Up to 4 March 2021, 547,930 confirmed cases and 8,428 deaths were reported in Bangladesh An alarming fact is that while the global mutation rate of coronavirus is 7 23 % in average, the rate is 12 6 % in Bangladesh Although the government ruled preventive strategies such as nationwide lockdown, social distancing, contact monitoring, quarantine, and isolation, it was difficult to implement those due to lack of public awareness, inappropriate attitudes and so on Moreover, the overburdened healthcare system had a weak response at initial stage because of insufficient healthcare facilities Consequently, this pandemic affected severely almost all the important sectors of the country, specifically the economy, agriculture, education, and health sector Hence, focusing on healthcare system, maintaining social distance, and other essential precautions can limit the spread of infection and help to alleviate the severity of this pandemic © 2021, Bangladesh Society for Microbiology, Immunology and Advanced Biotechnology All rights reserved


Optical fibers have been demonstrated by this group to show promising thermoluminescence (TL) properties with respect to ionizing radiation. Present research has focused on commercially produced single-mode telecommunication optical fibers manufactured by CorActive (Canada) either in the form of SiO2 optical fibers doped with either Ge or Al. Control of radiation dose is essential in performing an experiment in a biomedical context. One important aspect in this is the tissue equivalence of the dosimetric material. Mixtures or compounds that are similar in their radiation interaction characteristics to the soft tissue, bone or any other body constituents can be identified for this purpose. Effective atomic number of a medium prescribes its detection efficiency and tissue equivalence. To obtain the effective atomic number of the doped fibers, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) and EDXRS (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy) analysis was performed to acquire the composition of the element inside the optical fibers. From our investigation, the value of Zeff is in the range of 11.5-13.4 and 11.7-13.7 for Ge-doped and Al-doped respectively (value of Zeff in soft tissue is 7.5 and Zeff for bone is between 11.6-13.8). Given that Geand Al-doped optical fibers are not soft-tissue equivalent, the assessment of dose deposition in such media would need to be corrected for an expected over-response. However, the value of Zeff is within the range of bone, making the optical fiber a strong candidate for use in skeletal radiation dosimetry. Keyword: Ge-doped optical fibres


The LHCb Collaboration recently observed five narrow $\Omega_c^{0}$ resonances, and measured their masses and widths through the decays $ \Omega_c^{0} \to \Xi_c^{+}K^{-}$. Motivated by this discovery, and also by the fact that the ground-state bottom baryon $\Omega_b^{-}$ with spin-1/2 was already found experimentally, we perform theoretical investigation of the spin-1/2 and spin-3/2, $\Omega_b$, baryons by calculating decay width of their first orbitally and radially excited states to $\Xi_b^{0} K^{-}$. For this purpose, we employ QCD sum rule method on the light-cone by including into analysis the $K$ meson distribution amplitudes up to twist-4. Obtained analytical expressions are utilized to extract parameters of these decay processes which may be useful for forthcoming experimental studies of bottom baryons.


The results of enterosorbent of marine origin zoosterol application under nephropathy are cited. Detoxicational, lipid corregated action of zoosterol was revealed as a result of experimental researches on nephrocalcinosis model, but calcium accumulation was observed in animals' kidney tissue. Clinical examinations including zoosterol application and dietotheraphy showed the decreasing of heightened calcium level in serum and urine, cholesterol and triglycerides, stabilization of membranodestructive processes in urinary excretive system for patients with chronic pyelonephritic.


Reported is a new mechanism for electronic transport of liquid in virtual channels. These virtual channels are formed by application of voltage to an array of polymer posts. The posts are coated with a conducting electrode and hydrophobic dielectric, and thereby capable of electrowetting. Directional channel formation, as well as splitting and merging, is also demonstrated using specific arrangements of posts. The channel dimensions are (cid:2) 20 m m in cross-section, are scalable, and at the threshold for channel formation the minimum transport speed is (cid:2) 1 mm s (cid:3) 1 . The virtual electrowetting channels are further unique as they can retain any channel geometry even in the absence of voltage. With the addition of arrayed voltage controls, the virtual electrowetting channels have the potential to combine the advantages of programmable electrowetting and continuous channel functionality into a single lab-on-chip platform.


Why and how our living-bodies, such as human beings, have been originated from a barely non-life planet into the highly-intelligent life existing Earth have been interested and pursued by large population of readers and investigators. Apart from evolution of Darwin's arguments, [1]some detailed evolutionary theories and steps have been stated and discussed by modern evolutionists and investigators, including the evolutionary step of first genetic information duplication. There has been DNA-, RNA- and protein-originated evolution hypotheses regarding the first genetic information having been duplicated and translated. There were lot of experimental data can be used to support two possibilities of genetic material duplication. For example, we simulate genetic information duplication in the presence of one type of genetic materials. But this likes "chicken-or-the-egg" dilemma concerning which genetic polymer comes first and we cannot tell which is true [2]. Since genetic information duplication is the foremost important step to copy a life with integrity and persistency, it is widely accepted that this process is a crucial step in evolution progression for life creation. In this article, we try to overview these hypotheses and discuss one of the crucial factors for evolution, formation rate or turnover speeds of different genetic materials (DNA, RNA and protein), to further suggest an important role RNA may take in life origin on Earth. Also, we try to discuss one of strategies of justifying these hypothesis and theory of whether through DNA, RNA, or protein-based lifeevolution by using simulating system of different "prehistoric broths" and discover their relations by simulated calculations.


A novel double-stranded tetranuclear helicate composed of a pair of [CuII2] dimers has been prepared and characterized by exploiting the flexibility, chelating ability and bridging potential of a hexadentate bis-oximate ligand.


Over a period of 10 years 35,620 patients, admitted from a defined surveillance area, had a rectal swab culture done at a rural diarrhoea treatment centre in Bangladesh. Shigella spp. were isolated from 3,440 (9.7%) cases. Marked year to year variations were observed in isolation rates of Shigella spp. ranging from 5.7% to 16.7%. Sh. flexneri was the predominant isolate between 1978 to 1982 (56%-67%), Sh. dysenteriae type 1 predominated from 1983 to 1985 (45%-50%), and again Sh. flexneri became predominant in 1986 (55%) and 1987 (61%). Shigella were most commonly isolated from children aged 1-4 years followed by children 5-9 years and elderly people aged 45+ years. Sh. flexneri was isolated most frequently during August - January and Sh.dysenteriae type 1 during June to July. The overall case fatality rate in patients with shigellosis was 0.96%. It was 1.10% in children under 5 years of age. Prevalence of multiple antibiotic resistant strains increased over the years and at present most strains are resistant to commonly used antibiotics such as ampicillin and cotrimoxazole. Nalidixic acid is currently the drug of choice for Shigella infection in this area.


We present an in-depth analysis of Young's slit experiment when solely a single slit of the doublet is illuminated by a focused laser beam at visible and thermal infrared wavelengths. In line with the recent results obtained by Kuzmin et al.. [Opt. Lett. 32, 445 (2007)], even if only a single slit is illuminated by a focused beam, we show that the far-field pattern exhibits sinusoidal Young's fringes. Thanks to fully vectorial electromagnetic computations and to a simple model, we provide a comprehensive discussion of the nature of surface waves at work in the experiment.


Abstract Forty‐six eyes were examined with automated refraction with the Nidek 1000‐AR autorefractometer to determine how large variation there was in readings of each patient, under dry conditions (without cycloplegia) and in atropine and cyclopentolate cycloplegia. Likewise, the differences between methods of cycloplegia were analysed with regard to sphere, cylinder power, and axis. Overall the variation in each set of measurements was greatest for the spherical component, and a larger variation was found in the youngest age group. Variation in cylinder power and axis was small. Cycloplegics had a significant influence on the spherical component of automated refraction, and a mean difference of 0.76 D was found between atropine and dry readings, and 0.23 D between atropine and cyclopentolate readings. The differences between cycloplegic and dry readings in cylinder power and axis were insignificant. A regression model relating spherical power of dry and cyclopentolate automated refraction was developed, and the predictive power of this equation was tested.


The density of field populations of the root-knot nematode. Meloidogyne incognita Race 1, was suppressed and maintained at a low level for 3 yr in a small-scale crop rotation trial. The cropping sequence from mid-August, 1978, to early January, 1982, was: a 3:1 mixture of red and white sorrel (Hibiscus sabdariffa); a 5-wk weed fallow; cassava (Manihot esculenta); a 1- and 3-mo weed and clean fallow, respectively; chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis); maize (Zea mays); red kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris); a mixed crop of cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) and callaloo (Amaranthus viridis); and finallv, red sorrel. The density of Pratylenchus sp. increased in cassava and maize rhizosphere soil while those of Helicotylenchus sp. and Rotylenchulus reniformis increased in maize and cowpea rhizosphere soil. Tylenchorhynchus sp. density increased during the cultivation of red kidney beans and callaloo intercropped with cowpeas. Roots of the first crop of red sorrel and maize yielded large number


Background Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by microvascular injury, fibrosis and hypoxia of involved tissues causing progressive organ damage (i.e.digital ulcers-DU). The endothelin1 receptor antagonism (bosentan-BOS) is actually used to prevent DU in SSc patients. Nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) allows to characterize (SSc patterns), quantify and monitor the nailfold microvascular damage progression in SSc. Objectives To evaluate by NVC the effects of BOS treatment on nailfold microvascular damage evolution in SSc patients already under symptomatic treatment with prostacyclin (iloprost-ILO). Methods 26 SSc patients (pts- mean age 64±5 yrs, disease duration 7.4±1yrs) according to the LeRoy and Medsger's criteria, entered an open study after informed consent and Etical Committee approval. Subsequently, 13 SSc pts of them (mean age 61±16, disease duration 6.6±2.8) already receiving ILO from an average of 5.5±1.4 yrs, continued their treatment for at least 2 yrs (cycles of 5 day ILO iv-infusion-24 hours, 80 microgr/day every 4 months); the remaining 13 SSc pts (mean age 68±14, disease duration 8.1±3.8) were under treatment with ILO from an average of 7.3±2.8 yrs and at the first appearance of DU combined treatment with ILO+BOS (125mg twice a day). All SSc pts were followed for at least 2 yrs. NVC was yearly performed from basal analysis, in order to detect the SSc patterns and to score the markers of damage (namely number of normal and giant capillaries, microhaemorrhages and angiogenesis). Statistical analysis was carried out by non-parametric tests. Results At baseline, no statistically significant differences were present between the two groups concerning NVC SSc patterns. Interestingly, at 2 yrs, NVC showed a statistically significant increase of capillary number limited to the ILO+BOS SSc group (p=0.05). At the same time, both giant capillaries and microhaemorrhage scores significantly decreased only in ILO+BOS SSc pts (p=0.05 and p=0.02, respectively). On the contrary, the microangiopathy score (MES), evaluating the capillary markers of microvascular damage progression, significantly increased only in ILO-treated pts at 2 yrs (p=0.05). No side effects and appearance of further DU was observed during the survey in all SSc pts. Conclusions In SSc patients affected by DU, bosentan addiction significantly reduces the progression of the microvascuar damage as assessed by NVC over a period of 2 years. In particular, the number of normal capillaries significantly increases, whereas the number of giant capillaries and related microhaemorrhages significantly decreases, in comparison to SSc pts treated only with ILO. For the first time the microvascular effects induced by the long term endothelin1 receptor antagonism in SSc are detected by NVC. References Herrick AL. Curr Opin Rheumatol 2011;23:555-61. Sulli A, et al. Arthritis Rheum 2011;29. doi: 10.1002/art.33463. Smith V et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2010;69:1092-6. Cutolo, M. et al. Nature Rev Rheumatol 2010;6:578–587. LeRoy EC et al.J Rheumatol 2001;28:1573-6. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Spherical ruthenium nanoparticles (NPs) with a narrow size distribution were synthesised in ethanol by a facile low temperature solvothermal process without the assistance of templates, structure-directing agents or post annealing/reduction treatments. Surface passivation with a fluorescent perylene dye (EP), and with silane ligands (ETMS), both initially bearing alkyne groups and subsequently forming vinylidene linkages, provided stable suspensions of the marginally-soluble free EP. Quantitative analysis of the suspension gave an estimated EP surface coverage of 15%, corresponding to an EP:ETMS mole ratio of ~ 1:6. Photophysical evaluation of the bound and free dye revealed similar absorption bands and extinction coefficients and improved properties for the bound state including; enhanced fluorescence in the visible range for the bound dye; an extended absorption range into the near-UV providing strong emission in the visible, and significantly improved photostability. The physical basis of the enhanced photophysical properties, potential routes to further improvements and the implications for applications are discussed.


Abstract Background C1-inhibitor (C1-inh) therapeutics can reduce neutrophil activity in various inflammatory conditions. This 'novel' anti-inflammatory effect of C1-inh is attributed to the tetrasaccharide sialyl LewisX (SLeX) present on its N-glycans. Via SLeX, C1-inh is suggested to interact with selectins on inflamed endothelium and prevent neutrophil rolling. However, C1-inh products contain plasma glycoprotein α1-antichymotrypsin (ACT) as a co-purified protein impurity. Objective This article investigates the contribution of ACT to the effects observed with C1-inh. Materials and Methods We have separated C1-inh and ACT from a therapeutic C1-inh preparation and investigated the influence of these proteins on SLeX–selectin interactions in a specific in vitro model, which makes use of rolling of SLeX-coated beads on immobilized E-selectin. Results We find that ACT and not C1-inh, shows a clear sialic acid-dependent interference in SLeX–selectin interactions, at concentrations present in C1-inh therapeutics. Furthermore, we do not find any evidence of SLeX on C1-inh using either Western blotting with anti-SLeX antibodies (CSLEX1 and KM93) or by mass spectrometric analysis of N-glycans. C1-inh reacts weakly to antibody HECA-452, which detects a broad range of selectin ligands, but ACT gives a much stronger signal, suggesting the presence of a selectin ligand on ACT. Conclusion The 'novel' anti-inflammatory effects of C1-inh are unlikely due to SLeX on C1-inh and can in fact be due to SLeX-like glycans on ACT, present in C1-inh products. In view of our results, it is important to assess the role of ACT in vivo and revisit past studies performed with commercial C1-inh.


Monoclonal antibodies specific to the alpha subunits of the photosynthetic coupling factor 1 (CF(1)) were used as marker molecules in an electron microscopic analysis of the subunit organization of this enzyme. Immune complexes were obtained by incubation of CF(1) with saturating amounts of anti-alpha-subunit IgG, isolated by gel filtration, and visualized by electron microscopy. The maximum number of antibodies bound to a CF(1) molecule was three, the angle defined by a neighboring pair of antibodies characteristically being 120 degrees . These results are interpreted as direct evidence for the presence of three alpha subunits in the CF(1) complex, the relative orientation of them being described by 3-fold rotary symmetry. Our observations thus favor an overall subunit stoichiometry of alpha(3)beta(3)gammadeltaepsilon.


Developmental plasticity enables organisms to cope with new environmental challenges. If deploying such plasticity is costly in terms of time or energy, the same adaptive behavior could subsequently evolve through piecemeal genomic reorganisation that replaces the requirement to acquire that adaptation by individual plasticity. Here we report a new dimension to the way in which plasticity can drive evolutionary change leading to ever greater complexity in biological organization. Our model deploys the concept of partially overlapping functional systems. We found that plasticity accelerated dramatically the evolutionary accumulation of adaptive systems in model organisms with relatively low rates of mutation. The effect of plasticity on the evolutionary growth of complexity was even greater when the number of elements needed to construct a functional system was increased. These results suggest that as the difficulty of challenges from the environment become greater, so plasticity exerts an ever more powerful role in meeting those challenges and in opening up new avenues for the subsequent evolution of complex adaptations.


Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are nomadic cells shed into peripheral blood from a primary tumor. As CTCs can be analyzed for early cancer detection and treatment monitoring, they play an important role in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Due to the extremely low number of CTCs in blood, separation has been regarded as an essential pretreatment step for the efficient detection of CTCs. In this work, we proposed a rapid and label-free method of separating human breast cancer cells from diluted blood using a spiral channel device. The effects of concentration and flow rate on blood cell focusing were investigated in order to optimize the operational parameters. Then, the separation of spiked MCF-7 cells was performed under a throughput of 400 μL min−1 and a blood dilution ratio of 100 fold. It was found that 99.04% of blood cells could be removed after a second stage separation. To further improve the separation performance, we separated the tumor cells from the lysed blood samples, and 87.98% of tumor cells were successfully recovered. With its advantageous features of a simple design, easy fabrication and low flow resistance, our device is expected to have great potential in biomedical and clinical applications.


Theory of mind (ToM), defined as the ability to infer other people's mental states, is a crucial prerequisite of human social interaction and a major topic of interest in the recent neuroscientific research. It has been proposed that ToM is mediated by a complex neuroanatomical network that includes the medial prefrontal cortex, the anterior gyrus cinguli, the sulcus temporalis superior, the temporal poles, and the amygdala. Various neurological and psychiatric diseases are accompanied by aspects of dysfunctional ToM processing. In this review, the association between basal ganglia, involved in the organization of complex cognitive and emotional behavior, and ToM processing is discussed. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of research on ToM abilities in basal ganglia disorders, especially Parkinson's Disease and related disorders. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society


The number of stations that can be supported in a unidirectional single-channel bus using amplifiers with identical directional-coupler taps is determined. Saturation and noise limits are considered together. Doped-fiber amplifiers with the optical pump power and fiber length optimized for a given value of unsaturated gain are considered. Perfect isolation, gain, and saturation uniform with wavelength and identical for signal and spontaneous emission are assumed. It is shown that a bus network with amplifiers can support thousands of stations with reasonable requirements on amplifier gain and saturation power. For example, over 5000 stations can be supported with 10-dB amplifiers between every two stations, even with a large combined loss of 4 dB station per and no spectral filtering.<<ETX>>


Rapid 3D radiation field evaluation is the key point of occupational dose optimization for design and operation of nuclear power plant. Based on the requirement analysis from designers and operators of nuclear power plant, three key technical issues are identified and solved through the development of the RPOS system, which are rapid calculation of 3D radiation field, reconstruction of the calculated 3D radiation field based on measured data, and occupational dose optimization based on 3D radiation field. Operational measurements of dose rate from in-service nuclear power plants are used to test the RPOS system, which shows that accurate 3D radiation field can be rapidly generated by the RPOS system and effectively used on the occupational dose optimization for on-site workers. *e applications of the established rapid 3D radiation field evaluation technique on HPR1000 unit design provide evidence on its feasibility in a large scale, the improvement of radiation protection design efficiency and the enhancement of ALARA assessment and justification for nuclear power plants.


The purpose of this qualitative research was to analyze the dimensions and manifestations of identity development embedded within commonly used instruments measuring student identity development. To this end, a content analysis of ten identity assessment tools was conducted to determine the assumptions about identity development contained therein. Findings suggest the importance of determining and assessing all dimensions and manifestations of identity development.


Listening comprehension lies at the heart of language learning, but it is the least understood and least researched skill. This paper brings together recent research and developments in the field of second and foreign language (L2) listening. It begins with a brief discussion of the different cognitive and social factors that impact listening, followed by a summary of recent research into the development of perception skills and metacognitive knowledge. An integrated model for teaching learners how to listen is then elaborated. In addition, recent research on listening in multimedia environments, academic listening and listening assessment is presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of areas for further research, arguing that the process of listening needs more research attention with in-depth studies that probe deeper into the interaction of the processes and factors that influence successful L2 listening.


More reliable rating scales are required for the study and evaluation of mental illness, including response to therapy. While most earlier scales were largely based on clinical symptomatology, inclusion of more specific features has made it possible to develop improved rating scales for obsessional states, schizophrenia and depression.


Drug‐induced liver injury became one of the most important liver disorders and diagnostic challenge for clinicians and pathologists. Here, we report a rare case of ashwagandha‐induced acute liver injury. The patient developed jaundice 2 weeks after starting ashwagandha intake and recovered within 5 months after withdrawal without any specific treatment.


The mixture of asphalt and filler called asphalt binder is an adhesive and packing material in asphalt mixture. In this paper, the influence of different filler sorts such as limestone dust and hydrated lime, and different rates of limestone dust and hydrated lime such as 2:1, 1:1 and 1:2 at the same mass ratio of filler/asphalt (1.0) on the asphalt binder's properties has been studied. The paper gives a description of the most commonly used conventional tests, such as Penetration and Softening Point, and a more detailed description of the viscoelastic behavior and dynamic testing of bitumen by way of Brookfield viscometer and Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR). The contrasts among different test results were presented. It is found that there are a decrease in penetration and an increase in softening point with increasing hydrated lime content. The viscosity also increases obviously with the mass of hydrated lime increases. The DSR results show that hydrated lime can increase asphalt binders' anti-shear stress and G*/sinδ, and are helpful to its properties at high temperature. The four tests results were also incorporated to evaluate the temperature susceptibility and the rheological characteristics of asphalt binders.