The immune system is inextricably linked with many neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a devastating neuromuscular disorder affecting motor cell function with an average survival of 3 years from symptoms onset. In ALS, there is a dynamic interplay between the resident innate immune cells, that is, microglia and astrocytes, which may become progressively harmful to motor neurons. Although innate and adaptive immune responses are associated with progressive neurodegeneration, in the early stages of ALS immune activation pathways are primarily considered to be beneficial promoting neuronal repair of the damaged tissues, though a harmful effect of T cells at this stage of disease has also been observed. In addition, although auto-antibodies against neuronal antigens are present in ALS, it is unclear whether these arise as a primary or secondary event to neuronal damage, and whether the auto-antibodies are indeed pathogenic. Understanding how the immune system contributes to the fate of motor cells in ALS may shed light on the triggers of disease as well as on the mechanisms contributing to the propagation of the pathology. Immune markers may also act as biomarkers while pathways involved in immune action may be targets of new therapeutic strategies. Here, we review the modalities by which the immune system senses the core pathological process in motor neuron disorders, focusing on tissue-specific immune responses in the neuromuscular junction and in the neuroaxis observed in affected individuals and in animal models of ALS. We elaborate on existing data on the immunological fingerprint of ALS that could be used to identify clues on the disease origin and patterns of progression.


The no-pumping theorem states that seemingly natural driving cycles of stochastic machines fail to generate directed motion. Initially derived for single particle systems, the no-pumping theorem was recently extended to many-particle systems with zero-range interactions. Interestingly, it is known that the theorem is violated by systems with exclusion interactions. These two paradigmatic interactions differ by two qualitative aspects: the range of interactions and the dependence of branching fractions on the state of the system. In this work two different models are studied in order to identify the qualitative property of the interaction that leads to breakdown of no pumping. A model with finite-range interaction is shown analytically to satisfy no pumping. In contrast, a model in which the interaction affects the probabilities of reaching different sites, given that a particle is making a transition, is shown numerically to violate the no-pumping theorem. The results suggest that systems with interactions that lead to state-dependent branching fractions do not satisfy the no-pumping theorem.


A project in Gabon, Jamaica and Sri Lanka to eliminate mercury in skin-lightening products is highlighting the challenges faced in achieving that aim. Tatum Anderson reports.


Hepatic endothelial cell damage was evaluated in patients following liver transplantation using 2 serum markers: hyaluronic acid (HA), which measures hepatic endothelial cell function, and factor VIII related antigen (VIIIRAg), an indicator of generalized endothelial damage. HA was elevated in rejection (median 22.3 x control) when compared with stable patients (3.7 x control; P less than 0.00001) and those with posttransplant complications not related to rejection (6.8 x control; P less than 0.0005). The highest levels were seen in patients with chronic rejection (28.7 x control). Levels were also elevated in acute rejection (21.3 x control), and the highest levels in this group were seen in patients who subsequently developed chronic rejection (25.2 x control). Serial studies demonstrated that HA increased 24 hr before serum bilirubin in patients developing acute rejection. VIIIRAg was elevated in all posttransplant patients with no significant difference between rejection and other complications. These results show that hepatic endothelial dysfunction occurs during acute and particularly chronic rejection of liver allografts suggesting that VECs may be an important target of the immune response. Measurement of HA may allow for the early diagnosis of acute rejection and the identification of patients at risk of developing chronic rejection.


Antenna arrays located on airplanes or other mobile platforms for satellite communication applications are typically required to support very large scan angles (close to end-_re). How- ever, planar antenna arrays are typically characterized by scan loss. To increase the scan range conformal arrays and multi-panel configuration can be found in literature, but the height of the structures is still too large to be installed on airplanes without significant impact on the aircraft drag. To obtain wide-scan capability while still maintaining a low antenna profile, hybrid scanning mechanism are currently implemented (F. Tiezzi et al., Eu- CAP, 2010). The idea is to scan the beam electronically from broadside to a positive, as high as possible, angle and then to achieve the full coverage by mechanical rotation of the array along the azimuth. In this work we present a study to determine the parameters affecting the power radiated in specific directions by antenna arrays with tilted elements. We developed an efficient Method of Moments (MoM) for the analysis of linear arrays with arbitrarily tilted dipole elements, in free space or in the presence of a backing reflector. By using this analysis method, we study the radiation characteristics of arrays of stacked dipoles over a ground plane, highlighting the variation of the patterns as a function of the inter-element distance and the angle of inclination of the element. For half wavelength inter-element distance the array pattern is rather symmetric even for tilted elements, as expected from the Floquet theory (A.K. Bhattacharyya et al., IEEE TAP, 51, 1572-1581, 2003). However, when the elements are tilted by positive angles and for inter-element distance larger than half wavelength, a null and a reduction in directivity in the radiation pattern is achieved for negative scanning angles. Grating lobes in the visible region are weighted by element pattern. The minimum of the radiation pattern is not necessarily aligned with the dipole axis but, due to mutual coupling, it can move to different angles depending on the combination of inclination angle and distance. The array directivity is almost at for positive angles up to very large scanning directions, and decreases rapidly at specific negative angles that change with the inter-element distance. Moreover, it is shown that, for large arrays (i.e. with more than 10 elements), the shape of the active element pattern does not change significantly as a function of the number of elements. At the conference considerations concerning the effects on the active element pattern of mutual coupling and of the onset of grating lobes for a given grid size/tilt angle will be presented. Moreover, a linear array design with selective pattern characteristics will be presented.


We detail a cyclic odd bit inversion length 16 (COBI-16) code mapping and modulation scheme designed especially for devices in the enhanced wireless personal area networks (WPAN) operating in the 868 MHz for the emerging IEEE 802.15.4b standard. This COBI-16 scheme has been accepted and incorporated in the draft IEEE 802.15.4b standard. This carefully designed coding and modulation scheme meets all the following three essential criteria: (a) no spikes in the frequency spectrum, (b) low complexity correlation operations and (c) simple frequency offset and DC compensation operations. The transmitted signal meets all the IEEE standard's stringent PSD mask requirements. The system is tested in both AWGN and Rayleigh fading (flat and frequency selective) channels. Both coherent and non-coherent demodulations are investigated. Also investigated are the synchronous false alarm rate and synchronous miss rate in the AWGN channel


ABSTRACT Dissimilatory sulfate reduction is a microbial catabolic pathway that preferentially processes less massive sulfur isotopes relative to their heavier counterparts. This sulfur isotope fractionation is recorded in ancient sedimentary rocks and generally is considered to reflect a phenotypic response to environmental variations rather than to evolutionary adaptation. Modern sulfate-reducing microorganisms isolated from similar environments can exhibit a wide range of sulfur isotope fractionations, suggesting that adaptive processes influence the sulfur isotope phenotype. To date, the relationship between evolutionary adaptation and isotopic phenotypes has not been explored. We addressed this by studying the covariation of fitness, sulfur isotope fractionation, and growth characteristics in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough in a microbial evolution experiment. After 560 generations, the mean fitness of the evolved lineages relative to the starting isogenic population had increased by ∼17%. After 927 generations, the mean fitness relative to the initial ancestral population had increased by ∼20%. Growth rate in exponential phase increased during the course of the experiment, suggesting that this was a primary influence behind the fitness increases. Consistent changes were observed within different selection intervals between fractionation and fitness. Fitness changes were associated with changes in exponential growth rate but changes in fractionation were not. Instead, they appeared to be a response to changes in the parameters that govern growth rate: yield and cell-specific sulfate respiration rate. We hypothesize that cell-specific sulfate respiration rate, in particular, provides a bridge that allows physiological controls on fractionation to cross over to the adaptive realm.


Cryo-scanning electron microscopy (CSEM) is reviewed by exploring how the images obtained have changed paradigms of plant functions and interactions with their environment. Its power to arrest and stabilise plant parts in milliseconds, and to preserve them at full hydration for examination at micrometre resolution has changed many views of plant function. For example, it provides the only feasible way of accurately measuring stomatal aperture during active transpiration, and volume and shape changes in guard cells, or examining the contents of laticifers. It has revealed that many xylem conduits contain gas, not liquid, during the day, and that they can be refilled with sap and resume water transport. It has elucidated the management of ice to prevent cell damage in frost tolerant plants and has revealed for the first time inherent biological and physical features of root/soil interactions in the field. CSEM is increasingly used to reveal complementary structural information in studies of metabolism, fungal infection and symbiosis, molecular and genetic analysis.


The purpose of the work was to answer the question whether time of haemodialysis treatment affects the secretion of lutropin (LH) in patients with chronic renal failure. The study was carried out in 41 men with chronic renal failure and 15 healthy controls. There were three groups of hemodialyzed patients. The first one comprised 17 patients dialyzed up to 50 months, the second one 14 patients treated during 51-100 months and the third one 10 patients hemodialyzed for more than 100 months. In all these subjects the test of stimulation with luliberin (LH-RH) was done. Significantly higher serum levels of LH were found in patients as compared to controls. No significant alterations in LH levels were observed in the groups of patients. After administration of LH-RH the reactivity of LH secretion was significantly lower in patients dialyzed longer than 50 months then in men dialyzed shorter and in controls. These facts suggest an influence of long-term dialysis treatment on the secretion of LH in men with chronic renal failure.


Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has received increasing attention, both in the academic field and clinical operation. Master/slave control is the most widely adopted manipulation mode for surgical robots. Thus, sensing the force of the surgical instruments located at the end of the slave manipulator through the main manipulator is critical to the operation. This study mainly addressed the force detection of the surgical instrument and force feedback control of the serial surgical robotic arm. A measurement device was developed to record the tool end force from the slave manipulator. An elastic element with an orthogonal beam structure was designed to sense the strain induced by force interactions. The relationship between the acting force and the output voltage was obtained through experiment, and the three-dimensional force output was decomposed using an extreme learning machine algorithm while considering the nonlinearity. The control of the force from the slave manipulator end was achieved. An impedance control strategy was adopted to restrict the force interaction amplitude. Modeling, simulation, and experimental verification were completed on the serial robotic manipulator platform along with virtual control in the MATLAB/Simulink software environment. The experimental results show that the measured force from the slave manipulator can provide feedback for impedance control with a delay of 0.15 s.


Religion and the resurgence of faith-based foreign policies have become a central theme in contemporary world politics. In a series of short essays, Lorraine Elliott, Mark Beeson, Shahram Azbarzadeh, Greg Fealy and Stuart Harris investigate the main features of this resurgence and put to the test some of the assumptions about religion and foreign policy that feature in public debate.


This paper presents the flow characteristics in the fluid circulation loop using the tubular type linear induction motor(TLIM) electromagnetic pump. A TLIM pump was designed using the equivalent and genetic algorithm for the flow system of 40[l/min]. The flow characteristics are analyzed by coupling the Maxwell equations with the Navier-Stokes equation. The analysis algorithm also takes account of the effects of the thrust. The flow characteristics are analysed with the proposed method and compared with the commercial program and experiment and discussed.


In this paper, we formulate the hypothesis that brain waves and Schumann waves are quantum fields with elementary excitation energy, Psychon with E Psychon =10 -15 eV . With the Psychon entity, we formulate the model for calculation of normalized energy spectra for brain and Schuman waves. The model calculations are in very good agreement with measured energy spectra for both Schuman and Brain waves.


Nontropical sprue is, in the opinion of a number of investigators, a complex disorder of unknown etiology chiefly characterized by intestinal malabsorption which may be genetically transmitted. 1-3 It is possible that celiac disease in children as well as tropical and nontropical sprue in adults are clinical manifestations of the same unknown basic metabolic disturbance. 3-5 Symptoms may start early in life or remain latent for years and become manifest at middle age or later. 3 It has been suggested that various factors such as the stress of tropical climates, infections, antibiotics, and possibly psychological disturbances may act as precipitating mechanisms converting a predisposed person with "latent sprue" into a patient with the symptoms and signs of "manifest sprue." An additional precipitating mechanism is hinted at by the clinical course and findings in the case to be described. This patient exhibited manifestations of malabsorption which possibly coincided with the development


The objective of this research is to determine the significant effects of financial perfor mance of manufacturing industries to stock return in Indonesia Stock Exchange. The secondary data was used with the multiple linear regression analysis. The results show that earning per share and price earning ratio have positive and significantly effects to stock return. This research also finds retum on equity and price to book value does not have any significant effects to stock return. The finding of this research suggests that to include all of the fisting companies for futher research. Keywords: earning per share, price earning ratio, return on equity, price to book value, stock return, manufacturing industries, Indonesia stock exchange.


Abstract:The practice of clinical medicine involves not only the science of universal laws applied toward an intervention in disease but also the art of attending to someone's particular circumstances of suffering. However, while the scientific method is rigorous, the art of attending suffering remains to be formalized. I develop an approach to the art of attending suffering in three stages. First, I outline the kinds of movements that Thomas Aquinas describes in the sensory nature: apprehension of, appetition toward, and finally abiding in the good. Second, I offer a descriptive definition of suffering as a hindrance to these sensory movements in pursuit of the good. Finally, I submit that practical reason is that intelligence which enables the sensory nature to move toward flourishing while emerging from suffering. If the sensory nature is "hard-wired" toward the good while avoiding the not-so-good, and if the work of practical reason is to pursue with prudence the good and shun evil, then it becomes apparent that the sensory nature and practical reason are both engaged in the movements of emerging from suffering-as-evil into flourishing-as-good. I conclude that while the scientific method guides our medical interventions, it is the dynamics of the sensory nature, rendered intelligent by practical reason, that are important for the art of attending suffering. It is practical reason with its habit of prudence that affords the medical art of attending the sufferer its formal aspect.


In this thesis, a method for producing few-cycle short wavelength infrared pulses is presented. The pulses are created by down converting the 800 nm output of a Ti:Sapphire laser in an optical parametric amplifier to 1300 nm, and spectrally broadened in a hollow core fiber in order to obtain a short transform limited pulse duration. Further, they are to be compressed using the anomalous dispersion of a potassium dihydrogen phostphate crystal. The aim of the compression is to generate few cycle pulses in the short wave infrared regime for future high-order harmonic generation experiments. By increasing the wavelength, the energy of the harmonics will be increased, which would allow for new kinds of experiments to be conducted. The pulses have been successfully broadened to support a four cycle duration, however, compression of the pulses remains to be done.


In August 2007, the 0+ juvenile fish assemblage of the upper River Elbe was surveyed using electrofishing. Thirty-six localities were sampled along a 177 km long section between the towns of Verdek and Brandýs nad Labem (river km (RKM) 136-313). Four localities with natural riverbeds, 14 channelized stretches, nine beaches, and nine backwaters were sampled. Altogether, 4521 0+ juvenile fishes were caught, belonging to 26 species. A decrease in species richness and abundance was evident near Hradec Kralove, while decreased species abundance was noted along the navigated stretch below Přelouc. The highest catch-per- unit-effort (CPUE), species richness, and Shannon index values were observed at beach habitats, the lowest in channelized habitats, and intermediate values in backwaters. Generally, rare beach habitats had significantly more rheophilic species than other habitats, while backwaters had significantly more eurytopic species and higher CPUE for limnophilic species. Backwaters and channel habitats, however, did not differ in any other 0+ fish assemblage parameter studied. The study demonstrated the importance of beaches for fish assemblages along navigable channels. Surprisingly, however, backwaters were not confirmed as important nursery habitats.


One of the key events occurring during fetal brain development is the induction of permanent morpho-functional sexual differences in many brain areas. This "imprinting" mechanism, operating on a plastic brain within a narrow sensitive window, leads to gender-specific responses to the same stimulus both in neurochemistry/neuroendocrinology, and in some behavioral responses. The origin of CNS dimorphism is a topic that has fascinated neuroscientists for more than 60 years. The conventional view of brain sexual differentiation proposes that the masculine or feminine brain organization depends on the presence or absence of early gonadal steroid exposure: prenatal testosterone (T) surge in males induces both the masculinization and the defeminization of some brain nuclei, while in the absence of fetal gonadal hormones, as in females, the brain appears to feminize spontaneously. Some effects of T depend on its conversion to estradiol or DHT, two active metabolites formed by the enzymes aromatase and 5alpha-reductase type 2, respectively. Many studies carried out on rodents in our and in other laboratories clarified that estradiol and DHT are implicated in both masculinization and defeminization; on the contrary, T as such and DHT seem to be the main brain organizers in men. However, the most recent research, briefly discussed in this paper, has now clarified that the hormonal environment alone is not sufficient to trigger the whole process and that a precise coordination and interaction among hormonal signals, neuronal genome and the epigenome are pivotal to the genesis of brain gender-specific differentiation. Given the complexity of the whole process, it is not surprising that any external perturbation that alter brain sex differentiation may have heavy consequences on several parameters. Some possible variations related to prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants that interfere with the hormonal activity and/or the epigenome will be briefly analyzed in the final part of the paper.


We consider single part-type problems. Since all parts produced are identical, it is sufficient to determine the sequence of moves performed by the robot. The processing constraints define the cell to be a flowshop. The objective is the minimization of the steady-state cycle time to produce a part, or equivalently the maximization of the throughput rate. We study the problem of scheduling robot moves in dual gripper robot cells functioning in a bufferless environment. We develop an analytical framework for studying dual gripper robotic cells and examine the cycle time advantage of using a dual gripper rather than a single gripper robot. It is shown that an m-machine dual gripper robot cell can have at most double the productivity of its single gripper counterpart. We also propose a practical heuristic algorithm to compare productivity for given cell data. Computational testing of the algorithm on realistic problem instances is also described.


Much of the conventional historiography and contemporary debate on immigration to the United States has been framed in reference to the institution of national citizenship. In recent years, however, a growing number of critics have raised questions about the actual performance of liberal notions of citizenship as a guarantor of social democracy in a changing world. Some theorists have highlighted the increasingly arbitrary and capricious nature of distinctions between "citizens" and "non-citizens" in cosmopolitan, multicultural settings where the forces of economic globalization have made daily, intimate interaction between people of different legal statuses commonplace. Others have juxtaposed the institution's historical and contemporary role as a mechanism of social sorting, control, and discipline against its potential as a means of political emancipation. Yet another group of social critics has begun to explore long-ignored dissenting voices in the debate over immigration and citizenship by exploring the views of groups and individuals who have been defined as aliens and outliers.This essay builds on insights drawn from this critical scholarship to explore some of the political and social dynamics between "citizens" and "non-citizens" in a period of intensive globalization at the turn of the last century. By analyzing this important early period, the article attempts to explore genealogies and draw parallels between historical debates over the contested nature of membership in the United States in the last century and the current controversies swirling around issues of undocumented migration, globalization, and the implications of demographic change and cultural conflict over time.


Flowers, trees and coral like TiO2 films are first produced by the micro-arc-oxidation method in electrolyte of phosphate. Nanowhiskers with high surface area grow at the tail ends of the coralloid film when the positive current density is set to be 17.14 A/dm2. With acetamide in electrolyte, N element is doped. The analysis results indicate that the ratio of anatase phase to rutile phases is about 2 : 1 in the micro-arc-oxidation produced N-TiO2 film. The optical absorption edge red shifts in the presence of N doping.


Summary The paper forms a brief account of preliminary results of the routine scintigraphic search for symptomless bone metastases in breast cancer patients accepted to the Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, for radiotherapy, as performed regardless of the advancement of the disease and the type of treatment (alone or combined; radical or palliative). 103 patients were examined in 12 months' time. Five selected cases are described and briefly discussed, and respective scans are shown. It is concluded that scintigraphy enables demonstration of symptomless metastases of cancer of the breast in the bones, which is of utmost importance for establishing realistic prognosis and for planning of proper treatment.


ABSTRACTThe aim of this systematic review was to investigate the task specificity of strength training programs for walking in neurologic rehabilitation. Nine electronic databases were searched from conception to October 2012 for randomized controlled trials that used strength training to improve walking in adult neurologic populations. The search identified 25 randomized controlled trials that investigated the efficacy of strength training to improve walking in people with a variety of neurologic conditions. The results revealed that despite significant strength gains, many studies failed to show a significant improvement in walking capacity. Most studies did not include exercises relating to all three main power events important for walking. Strength testing and strengthening exercises were prioritized for the knee extensors and flexors, despite their relatively minor role in human walking. Strengthening exercises performed in the neurologic population are not specific to the main muscle groups responsible for the power generation required for walking. There is a predisposition for strength testing and strengthening exercises to focus on the knee flexors and extensors despite their relatively minor role during walking. Further consideration of the specificity of strength training may provide greater translation of strength gains to improved walking outcomes.


Detailed optical absorption curves of gamma-irradiated LiF:Mg, Ti are presented. Computerised curve-fitting of the spectra allow for the behaviour of the individual peaks to be followed as a function of irradiation dose, optical bleaching and post-irradiation annealing. The absorption spectra, taken at -196 degrees C, consists of at least six major peaks. The authors find no compelling evidence to relate either the 4.4 eV or the 5.3 eV bands to Z-type centres. The 5.7 eV may be a Z-type defect but of unknown structure. The results do not support the recently presented 'modified Z-centre model' for thermoluminescence production in this material.


Abstract. The spatial variability of the tropical tropospheric relative humidity (RH) throughout the vertical extent of the troposphere is examined using Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPSRO) observations from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) mission. These high vertical resolution observations capture the detailed structure and moisture budget of the Hadley Cell circulation. We compare the COSMIC observations with the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) Reanalysis Interim (ERA-Interim) and the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) climatologies. Qualitatively, the spatial pattern of RH in all data sets matches up remarkably well, capturing distinct features of the general circulation. However, RH discrepancies exist between ERA-Interim and COSMIC data sets that are noticeable across the tropical boundary layer. Specifically, ERA-Interim shows a drier Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) by 15–20% compared to both COSMIC and MERRA data sets, but this difference decreases with altitude. Unlike ECMWF, MERRA shows an excellent agreement with the COSMIC observations except above 400 hPa, where GPSRO observations capture drier air by 5–10%. RH climatologies were also used to evaluate intraseasonal variability. The results indicate that the tropical middle troposphere at ±5–25° is most sensitive to seasonal variations. COSMIC and MERRA data sets capture the same magnitude of the seasonal variability, but ERA-Interim shows a weaker seasonal fluctuation up to 10% in the middle troposphere inside the dry air subsidence regions of the Hadley Cell. Over the ITCZ, RH varies by maximum 9% between winter and summer.


Birds were an important, but little understood, part of the Aleut economy. Birds provided a tiny proportion of the food compared to sea mammals and fish, but their skins, feathers, and bones provided raw materials for clothing, tools, and religious purposes. This paper uses ethnohistorical, linguistic, and archaeological evidence to identify the specialized techniques and describe the tools used for hunting birds. McCartney's procurement system concept is used to organize the data and place bird hunting into a broader context. Men, women, and children hunted birds on land and sea, in fair weather and foul. Understanding the techniques and weapons used for bird hunting are only the first step to a more complete appreciation of the role of birds in Aleut culture.


Modern policy problems require analysts to capture the interactions between policy and the complexities of economic and social life, as well as between policies of different types. Increasingly, microsimulation is employed to analyse these problems. This book brings together examples of microsimulation modelling that are at the frontiers of developments in the field, either because they extend the range of techniques available to modellers, or because they demonstrate new applications for established methods. It represents the state of the art with chapters on the use of microsimulation for comparative policy research and for challenging conventional assumptions, combining microsimulation with other types of economic models and the much-neglected subjects of model alignment and validation. Data and case studies are taken from regions including Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America.


Background: Metabolic status plays an important role in cardio-respiratory disease development and measuring it in large surveys is a challenge. The Respiratory Health In Northern Europe III (RHINE) is the second postal follow-up study of the European Community Respiratory Health Study I (stage I). RHINE III introduced modernized figure stimuli, 9 body shapes depicting very thin (1) to obese (9) men and women, to obtain self-reported data as proxies for anthropometric and metabolic status. We validate the figural stimuli using objectively measured BMI in a subgroup of subjects aged 38-66 yrs.

Methods: Self-reported information on body shapes were available for N=10828 and anthropometric data for N= 1580 (weight, height, waist and hip circumference). We performed correlation analyses, ROC curves estimating the sensitivity and specificity of the figural stimuli, and ran a validation model based on the reported body shapes and additional subject data.

Results: Body silhouettes and BMI correlate highly (women 0.81, men 0.74). The mean BMI and respective IQR increased exponentially with increasing body shapes. The ROC analyses yielded very good discriminatory power for overweight (BMI >30; AUC women: 0.861/ men: 0.879). Thinness (BMI<20) and normal weight (BMI 20-25) showed poorer sensitivity and specificity for identifying thin and overweight subjects. The body image model explained 70% of the BMI variability.

Conclusion: The body shapes used in RHINE are a good proxy of measured BMI. They show a high discriminatory quality for overweight, a main risk factor for many chronic diseases. They can be used with good confidence, instead of measured anthropometric data, in epidemiological questionnaire studies.


A discussion is presented covering various methods available for cleaning tubular beat-transfer equipment, with particular emphasis on the use of an emulsifying oil for "in-place" cleaning, and on the use of sandblasting. The relative merits of the in-place and the mechanical methods are outlined as well as the factors to be considered in selecting a particular procedure for a given application.


RATIONALE
Impaired exercise ventilatory efficiency (high ventilatory requirements for CO2 [V̇E/V̇CO2]) provides an indication of pulmonary gas exchange abnormalities in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

OBJECTIVES
To determine: 1) the association between high V̇E/V̇CO2 and clinical outcomes (dyspnea and exercise capacity) and its relationship to lung function and structural radiographic abnormalities; and 2) its prevalence in a large population-based cohort.

METHODS
Participants were recruited randomly from the population and underwent clinical evaluation, pulmonary function, cardiopulmonary exercise testing and chest computed tomography (CT). Impaired exercise ventilatory efficiency was defined by a nadir V̇E/V̇CO2 above the upper limit of normal (V̇E/V̇CO2>ULN), using population-based normative values.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Participants included 445 never-smokers, 381 ever-smokers without airflow obstruction, 224 with GOLD 1 COPD, and 200 with GOLD 2-4 COPD. Participants with V̇E/V̇CO2>ULN were more likely to have activity-related dyspnea (Medical Research Council dyspnea scale≥2, odds ratio=1.77[1.31-2.39]) and abnormally low peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak<LLN, odds ratio=4.58[3.06-6.86]). The carbon monoxide transfer coefficient (KCO) had a stronger correlation with nadir V̇E/V̇CO2 (r=-0.38, p<0.001) than other relevant lung function and CT metrics. The prevalence of V̇E/V̇CO2>ULN was 24% in COPD (similar in GOLD 1 and 2-4), which was greater than in never-smokers (13%) and ever-smokers (12%).

CONCLUSIONS
V̇E/V̇CO2>ULN was associated with greater dyspnea and low VO2peak and was present in 24% of all participants with COPD, regardless of GOLD stage. The results show the importance of recognizing impaired exercise ventilatory efficiency as a potential contributor to dyspnea and exercise limitation, even in mild COPD.


In this work, we present a SIFT-Bag based generative-to-discriminative framework for addressing the problem of video event recognition in unconstrained news videos. In the generative stage, each video clip is encoded as a bag of SIFT feature vectors, the distribution of which is described by a Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM). In the discriminative stage, the SIFT-Bag Kernel is designed for characterizing the property of Kullback-Leibler divergence between the specialized GMMs of any two video clips, and then this kernel is utilized for supervised learning in two ways. On one hand, this kernel is further refined in discriminating power for centroid-based video event classification by using the Within-Class Covariance Normalization approach, which depresses the kernel components with high-variability for video clips of the same event. On the other hand, the SIFT-Bag Kernel is used in a Support Vector Machine for margin-based video event classification. Finally, the outputs from these two classifiers are fused together for final decision. The experiments on the TRECVID 2005 corpus demonstrate that the mean average precision is boosted from the best reported 38.2% in [36] to 60.4% based on our new framework.


In this study we investigated the change processes in five innovative Canadian schools to determine why these schools were innovative. To better answer these questions we used a mixed-methods methodology to: (1) examine the initiation, implementation and institutionalization of change and innovation, (2) investigate the nature of professional learning, (3) investigate how being a part of a virtual community facilitates collaborative (organizational) learning; (4) assess the impact that being part of a national Network has had on participating schools, and, (5) study the nature of leadership in these innovative schools. The paper outlines what we have learned about innovation and change from these schools and how they were able to move innovative ideas about teaching and the integration of ICT into everyday practice (implementation).


Objectives : Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are essential for the growth and development of the foetus, and dietary supplementation may be beneficial. DHA can be directly supplied from the diet through the addition of fish oil, or it may result from the conversion of dietary precursors. As fish oil becomes a scarce resource, research for sustainable alternatives is needed. This study aims to evaluate two sources of n-3 PUFA: linseed oil as a source of α-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3n-3) and echium oil as a source of stearidonic acid (SDA, C18:4n-3). As SDA is one step further than ALA in the conversion to DHA, the hypothesis is that echium oil will yield a higher conversion to DHA than linseed oil.
Materials and Methods : Two groups of sixteen sows each were fed a diet containing 1% linseed oil or 1% echium oil from day 73 of gestation and during lactation. At birth, two piglets per sow were sacrificed and blood, liver and Longissimus dorsi (LD) samples were taken for fatty acid analysis. The effect of diet was analysed by GLM using SAS 4.3.
Results : The transfer of the dietary n-3 PUFA from sows to piglets differed according to the source. All tissues had a higher content of ALA when linseed oil was fed. However, when echium oil was fed only plasma and LD but not red blood cells and liver showed a higher content of SDA (and C20:4n-3). Furthermore no difference was found between linseed oil and echium oil in the amount of DHA.
Conclusions : Echium oil did not result in a higher conversion to DHA than linseed oil. As echium oil contains less SDA than linseed oil contains ALA, feeding higher amounts of echium oil or richer sources of SDA should be investigated.


A quasi experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of
information education and communication package on knowledge and practice regarding self-care among diabetes mellitus patients on insulin therapy in selected hospital at Trichy.
OBJECTIVES :
1. To assess the existing level of knowledge and practice regarding self-care among diabetes mellitus patients on Insulin therapy in experimental group and control group.
2. To assess the effectiveness of information education and
communication package on knowledge and practice regarding
self-care among diabetes mellitus patients on Insulin therapy in experimental group.
3. To correlate the posttest level of knowledge and practice regarding self-care among diabetes mellitus patients on Insulin therapy in experimental group and control group.
4. To determine the association between selected demographic
variables and pretest level of knowledge and also selected
demographic variables and posttest level of knowledge regarding self-care among diabetes mellitus patients on Insulin therapy in experimental group and control group.
5. To determine the association between selected demographic
variables and pretest level of practice and also selected
demographic variables and posttest level of practice regarding selfcare among diabetes mellitus patients on Insulin therapy in experimental group and control group.
Conceptual frame work : Based on general system
theory
Research Design : "Quasi-experimental design",
E O1 X O2, C O1 O2.
Population : Diabetes mellitus patients on insulin therapy
Sample size : 60 samples.
Sampling : Non- Probability Convenience Sampling.
Setting : G.V.N Hospital and DR.G.Viswanathan
specialty hospital, Trichy.
Tools : self-administer questionnaire and observation
check list.
DATA COLLECTION :
A quasi-experimental design was used. Pretest knowledge and
practice was assessed in experimental group and control group. Nursing intervention (Information Education and Communication) was given to experimental group. After 1 week, posttest Knowledge and practice was assessed using the same tools.
DATA ANALYSIS :
1. Percentage, mean, standard deviation and chi-square were used to test the association between demographic variables and the post test scores between experimental group and control group.
2. Paired "t"-test was used to compare the knowledge and practice pretest and post test score between experimental group and control group.
3. Independent"t" test was used to assess the posttest scores of knowledge and practice between control group and
experimental group.
4. Correlation between the posttest knowledge and practice in experimental group and control group.
MAJOR FINDINGS :
1. The mean posttest level of knowledge was higher than the mean pretest level of knowledge in experimental group.
2. The mean posttest level of practice was higher than the mean pretest level of practice in experimental group.
3. There were no significant association between selected
demographic variables and their pretest level of knowledge in both experimental and control group.
4. There was significant association between selected
demographic variables such as duration of diabetes mellitus and duration of taking insulin and posttest level of knowledge in control group.
5. There was significant association between selected
demographic variables such as educational status and
occupation and pretest level of practice scores in control group.
6. There was significant association between selected
demographic variables such as occupation and posttest level of practice score in experimental group.
CONCLUSION :
The knowledge and practice of regarding self-care among diabetes mellitus patients on insulin therapy was inadequate knowledge and unfavorable practice during pretest. The study showed that Information, Education and Communication was effective an improving knowledge and practice regarding self-care among diabetes mellitus patients on insulin therapy. So the result reveals that there is a positive relationship between knowledge and practice.


The temperature and chemical potential dependent surface tension of bags is introduced into the gas of quark-gluon bags model. The suggested model is solved analytically. It resolves a long standing problem of a unified description of the first and second order phase transition with the cross-over. Such an approach is necessary to model the complicated properties of quark-gluon plasma and hadronic matter from the first principles of statistical mechanics. In addition to the deconfinement phase transition, we found that at the curve of a zero surface tension coefficient there must exist the surface induced phase tranition of the 2 or higher order, which separates the pure quark gluon plasma (QGP) from the cross-over states. Thus, the present model predicts that the critical endpoint of quantum chromodynamics is the tricritical endpoint. PACS: 25.75.-q,25.75.Nq


This report is part of a broader work program on shaping a more positive narrative on regional integration in South Asia. It is a follow-up to a recent flagship report published by the South Asia Region of the World Bank, A Glass Half Full : The Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia. E-commerce is dramatically changing the way goods and services are transacted nationally, regionally, and globally. It facilitates international trade by reducing the cost of distance and remoteness and can be more inclusive of underrepresented groups such as women, small businesses, and rural entrepreneurs. Intraregional trade in South Asia is still below its potential, and the region lags behind other parts of the world in activating the potential benefits from e-commerce. Adopting a novel yet practical approach, this report explores how e-commerce can be boosted to deepen intraregional trade in South Asia. It examines the main transacting models in the digital space and the channels through which e-commerce helps reduce transactions costs for firms and consumers. It considers the regulations, as well as the regulatory gaps, affecting private sector participation in e-commerce, focusing on data privacy, consumer protection, delivery, cybersecurity, market-access regulations, and digital payments. Finally, the report presents recommendations for regulatory reforms that could enhance e-trade, especially in a regional context and as a possible platform for greater global engagement by South Asian firms. The scale of these recommendations ranges from the modest, such as allowing cross-border payments and streamlining the customs regime, to the more ambitious, such as allowing the operation of regional e-commerce platforms and liberalizing related cross-border logistics services.


1040 °C was studied during the period imposed 137MPa tensile creep nickel-base single crystal superalloys γ/γ the evolution of two-phase approach. ANSYS finite element method is using a single crystal alloy with / without external load when the Von Mises stress in the gand γ two phase distribution. The comprehensive analysis of the formula, the coefficient values usually experience, not very accurate, this article dealing with GA coefficient. This algorithm uses orthogonal crossover to generate initial population and uses elitist-crossover to increase the good patterns of the population and uses hybrid mutation to increase the ability of local and global optimization. It has shown fascinating results when being used in the optimization of multimodal function. The results showed that: In the creep period, the corresponding cubic γ along the von Mises stress and strain energy density of the crystal face to form raft-like organizations.


An integrated magnetic, self-potential (S.P.) and electrical resistivity survey involving magnetic profiling and 1D Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) electrical imaging techniques were carried out in the transition environment between the Nupe Basin and Southwestern Nigeria Basement Complex at Ikanje-Share in Kwara State, Nigeria. The Ikanje-Share perennial springs started gaining a lot of attention after many travelers and tertiary institutions in Nigeria made it a good choice for their fieldwork exercise. The surveys were done in order to delineate the subsurface layers, determine the geoelectrical characteristics and identify geological structures (e.g., faults and fractures) that are responsible for the perennial spring formation. The magnetic profiling was used as reconnaissance technique to identify lineament features that are favourable to groundwater accumulation and transmission. Some magnetic lineaments were qualitatively inferred from some profiles in the study area. The fault locations coincide with inflection points in S.P. curves and occur as horizontal and consistent planes of discontinuities at depths of approximately 1.25, 4.25, 8.75, 13.15 and 21.25 m, respectively. The VES interpretation results indicated four to five major geologic units, which include: the topsoil/clay/lateritic layer, the lateritic layer, the weathered basement, the weathered/fractured basement and the fresh bedrock. The weathered and fractured basements constitute the main aquifer units and the overburden thickness varies from 5.0 to 16.8 m. The study has shown the usefulness of integrated geophysical methods and techniques in subsurface structural and groundwater development study over the perennial springs in the transition environment between the Nupe Basin and the Southwestern Nigeria Basement complex.


This paper provides a principled and elegant solution to the Gettier problem. The key move is to draw a general metaphysical distinction and conscript it for epistemological purposes. Section 1 introduces the Gettier problem. Sections 2–5 discuss instructively wrong or incomplete previous proposals. Section 6 presents my solution and explains its virtues. Section 7 answers the most common objection.


The construction of microvascular network is one of the greatest challenges for tissue engineering and cell therapy. Endothelial cells are essential for the construction of network of blood vessels. However, their application meets challenges in clinic due to the limited resource of autologous endothelium. Mesenchymal stem cells can effectively promote the angiogenesis in ischemic tissues for their abilities of endothelial differentiation and paracrine, and abundant sources. Extracellular matrix (ECM) has been widely used as an ideal biomaterial to mimic cellular microenvironment for tissue engineering due to its merits of neutrality, good biocompatibility, degradability, and controllability. In this study, a functional cell derived ECM biomaterial enriched with VEGFA and bFGF by expressing the collagen-binding domain fused factor genes in host cells was prepared. This material could induce endothelial differentiation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) and promote angiogenesis, which may improve the healing effect of skin injury. Our research not only provides a functional ECM material to inducing angiogenesis by inducing endothelial differentiation of hUCMSCs, but also shed light on the ubiquitous approaches to endow ECM materials different functions by enriching different factors. This study will benefit tissue engineering and regenerative medicine researches.


The jalapeño is derived from the Capsicum genus of the family Solanaceae. Jalapeños are members of a diverse group, which also include ancho poblano, cayenne, serrano, Anaheim, banana, Asian, habanero, and Hungarian wax peppers. Hot peppers are classified by their heat and shape. The heat of the pepper comes from the chemical compound capsaicin, which is measured by the Scoville scale. This 8-page fact sheet is a guide of jalapeño and other hot pepper varieties used in Florida was written by Monica Ozores-Hampton and Gene McAvoy, and published by the UF Department of Horticultural Sciences, October 2014.


This article raises questions about the tools available to feminist critics interested in both the politics of mental distress and the particularity of texts, using Virginia Woolf as a preliminary example. Reading two little discussed modernist novels, Emily Holmes Coleman's The Shutter of Snow (1930) and Antonia White's Beyond the Glass (1955), this essay establishes a model for analysis that is attentive to the particularities of both mental distress and fiction. The intertextuality between modernism and psychoanalysis that has been recognized elsewhere, the essay argues, emerges again in the texts of White and Coleman, suggesting that these intertextual links occur more frequently and with more diverse effects than has yet been documented. Although this essay's discussion of these novels is not especially invested in their recuperation as feminist writing or in lamenting their neglect, nonetheless, within the clinical-cultural context of modernism, these novels do suggest that the range of modernist interventions in madness and psychiatry is broader than has been acknowledged and prove themselves worthy of the kind of discussion mobilized around other, canonical modernist texts.


The current challenge in treating periodontitis is regenerating the periodontium. This motivates tissue-engineering researchers to develop scaffolds as artificial matrices that give mechanical support for osteoblasts, cementoblasts, gingival and periodontal ligament fibroblast cells. In this study, modified hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan (CS) were employed to create a hybrid CS-HA hydrogel scaffold for periodontal regeneration. CS, HA, and CS-HA scaffolds were obtained by freeze-drying technique, resulting in porous structures suitable for use in tissue engineering. Scaffolds were submitted to gamma and UV-sterilization without significant morphology changes. The ATR-FTIR spectra of CS-HA hydrogels showed peaks at 377 cm-1 , 1566 cm-1 , and 1614 cm-1 , representing secondary amide, primary amine, and carboxyl acid respectively, and it was also observed the emergence of peaks at 886 cm-1 , which probably represents the Schiff base formed in the case of hybrid CS-HA hydrogels. The scaffolds presented a high rate of PBS uptake, reaching values higher than 95%. Thermal degradation of HA scaffolds was around 225°C and CS was around 285°C. The ATR-FTIR spectra and swelling degree were slightly disturbed mainly after gamma sterilization, but degradation temperature did not change after sterilization. The performance of the CS-HA hydrogel scaffolds for in vitro cell culture was tested using NIH3T3 and MG63 cell lines. The Alamar Blue test showed a significant increase in cellular viability and high CD44 expression, suggesting that the cells migrated more when seeded onto the scaffolds. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 104B: 1691-1702, 2016.


Background Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world. Efforts to reduce maternal mortality have included initiatives to encourage more women to deliver at health facilities. Despite the introduction of the free health care initiative for pregnant women, many women still continue to deliver at home, with few having access to a skilled birth attendant. In addition, inequalities between rural and urban areas in accessing and utilising health facilities persist. Further insight into how and why women make decisions around childbirth will help guide future plans and initiatives in improving maternal health in Sierra Leone. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions and decision-making processes of women and their communities during childbirth in rural Sierra Leone. Methods and findings Data were collected through seven focus group discussions and 22 in-depth interviews with recently pregnant women and their community members in two rural villages. Data were analysed using systematic text condensation. Findings revealed that decision-making processes during childbirth are dynamic, intricate and need to be understood within the broader social context that they take place. Factors such as distance and lack of transport, perceived negative behaviour of hospital staff, direct and indirect financial obstacles, as well as the position of women in society all interact and influence how and what decisions are made. Conclusions Pregnant women face multiple interacting vulnerabilities that influence their healthcare-seeking decisions during pregnancy and childbirth. Future initiatives to improve access and utilisation of safe healthcare services for pregnant women need to be based on adequate knowledge of structural constraints and health inequities that affect women in rural Sierra Leone.


Objective: To study the relationship between activity of seminal plasma or spermatozoa lactate dehydrogenases isoenzyme(LDH-X) and male infertility.Methods: The methods of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(PAGE),enzyme-linked staining,desitometric scanning,etc.were used to study LDH-X activity of seminal plasma and spermatozoa obtained from 40 fertile men and 83 infertile men.Semen major parameters were measured and analyzed according to WHO laboratory handbook.Results: The activity of seminal plasma LDH-X(826.0±47.3U/L) in infertile group were higher than that of fertile group(614.0±22.1U/L)(P0.05).The activity of spermatozoon LDH-X(8.40±3.50mU/106) in infertile group were lower than that of fertile group(15.8±10.8mU/106)(P0.05).The rates of seminal plasma LDH-X and total spermatozoon LDH-X of two groups were different statisticly(P0.01).There was no difference in semen concentration,motility,a+b grade motility between two groups.Conclusion: These results suggested that the examining of LDH-X activity may be used as a reliable marker for testing the quality of spermatozoa and diagnosing the male sterility,which is helpful to select the ways of assisted production technology(ART).


Centaurea benedicta L., commonly known as "cardo santo," is used as a tonic, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiseptic in traditional medicine. This study evaluated the topical anti-inflammatory potential of an extract (ECB) and cnicin (CNI) from C. benedicta leaves in a mouse model. Activity was assessed using the ear edema method with croton oil, phenol, capsaicin, and histamine as phlogistic agents. Myeloperoxidase (MPO), N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), nitric oxide (NO), t umor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and histopathology were assessed as markers of edema/inflammation. Interaction profiles between CNI and cyclooxygenase-1 and -2, induced nitric oxide synthase, and glucocorticoid receptor were examined with molecular docking. Twenty-four h after induction of inflammation, ECB and CNI treatments decreased the thickness and weight of ears by 39.59%– 94.72%. MPO, NAG, NO, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels were also reduced. Histopathological, treatments reduced edema thickness, leukocytes, and vasodilation. Inflammation induced by phenol and histamine was inhibited by ECB and CNI, and ECB suppressed capsaicin-induced inflammation. CNI interacts with cyclooxygenase-1 and nitric oxide synthase through conventional hydrogen bonds, indicating inhibition of these enzymes. ECB and its compound cnicin reduce chemically-induced inflammation in mice suggesting new possibilities for the treatment of diseases associated with dermal inflammatory processes.


Three cases of acute myeloid leukemia with megakaryocyte predominance are reported. In the first case megakaryocytosis was particularly evident in bone marrow, liver and spleen. In the second case high content of megakaryocytes was observed in the bone marrow and spleen, during the preleukemic phase only. Third case exhibited a strong predominance of megakaryocytes exclusively within the bone marrow. The characteristics of such observations and their nosologic position within myeloproliferative disorders group are discussed, with special reference to modern views concerning myeloid leukemia.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of high volume hemofiltration (HVHF) and its therapeutic timing on mortality in patients with septic shock.

METHODS
Randomized controlled trials (RCT), case-control studies and prospective cohort studies on HVHF treating septic shock patients from 1999 to 2009 were identified by electronic and manually retrieving related data. An Meta-analysis of HVHF on mortality in septic shock patients was conducted through the methods recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration.

RESULTS
3 RCTs, 1 case-control study and 5 prospective cohort studies were selected. A total of 167 cases in 4 studies (3 RCTs, 1 case-control study) involving 79 HVHF and 88 LVHF groups were included for a Meta-analysis. The mortalities of septic shock in HVHF and LVHF groups were 40.5% (32/79) and 72.7% (64/88) respectively. As compared with traditional LVHF, HVHF could reduce the mortality in patients with septic shock [OR 0.33, (95%CI, 0.17 - 0.64); P < 0.01]. For 170 patients with septic shock in 5 prospective cohort studies, their mortality rates were improved by HVHF [OR 0.31, (95%CI, 0.19 - 0.49); P < 0.01]. It was consistent with the results of 4 control studies. Only 2 studies indicated the early HVHF group versus the late HVHF group could improve the survival of septic shock. Since there was significant heterogeneity between them (P < 0.05), it was better not to perform a Meta-analysis.

CONCLUSION
There is a beneficial effect of high volume hemofiltration on mortality in septic shock patients. Further studies of a larger sample of high quality RCTs should be carried out to guide its use.


Purpose of this study is to assess the impacts of training packages on Cheese making on the Socio-economic lives of the poor communities in Korom Village, south Kordofan, Sudan. Methods of the study was to target all households trained on Cheese making in Korom Village, 60 heads of Households on Cheese making. A questionnaire was designed and field trip was undertaken to Korom Village area where a sample of 60 respondents was interviewed in the communities, and results were analysis using stratified random sampling techniques. Result was to ascertain whether engaging in Cheese-making has practically led to reduction in poverty among the communities in Korom Village. Importance of the research to draw the attention of authorities to the plight of the poor communities in Korom Village so as to solicit support and assistance to activities that would give them (communities) increased incomes to enable them ward off their deep-seated poverty.


Power functions (e.g., f(t) = at−b) describe the relationships among many variables observed in nature. One example of this is the power law of forgetting: The decline in memory performance with time or intervening events is well fit by a power function. This simple functional relationship accounts for a great deal of accumulated data. In this note, we consider a simple yet general memory model in which all items decay monotonically in strength, but at different rates. To translate between continuous changes in strength and actual memory for events we assume a simple strength threshold for remembering. We prove a limit theorem for this model: as time grows large and memories decay, the empirical forgetting function approaches a power function under very general conditions. Power forgetting emerges for almost any monotonically decreasing strength function (including linear and exponential cases). We also illustrate by way of simulations that the power function provides an excellent fit to the entire time-course of the forgetting function, not just its limiting behavior.


Microwave modification was performed on graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) photocatalysts to tail the surface hydroxyl content for enhanced photocatalytic activity in this work. The influence of microwave heating on the surface hydroxyl density was investigated by a suite of characterization methods. The microwave treated g-C3N4 (MT-g-C3N4) delivered a higher photocatalytic activity in degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation than pristine g-C3N4 due to its improved separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carries and promoted absorption capacity of RhB reactants on surface, which resulted from the increased surface hydroxyl density induced by microwave treatment. This study provides a simple and convenient method to modify g-C3N4 materials with enhanced photocatalytic activity for the potential application in photocatalytic elimination of environmental pollutants.


A 14-year-old girl presented with painful, erythematous gingivae, which occasionally developed blisters. There were no other mucosal or skin lesions. Clinical, histopathological and immunofluorescence studies suggested a diagnosis of benign mucous membrane (cicatricial) pemphigoid, presenting as desquamative gingivitis. Benign mucous membrane pemphigoid in childhood is rare and only a few cases with exclusive oral mucosal involvement have been reported in the literature. The desquamative gingivitis responded well to a topical steroid regimen.


Air pollution is ranked as the second most serious risk for public health in India after malnutrition. The lack of spatially and temporally distributed air quality information prevents a scientific study on its impact on human health and on the national economy. In this paper, we present our initial efforts toward SATVAM, Streaming Analytics over Temporal Variables for Air quality Monitoring, that aims to address this gap. We introduce the multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional project and some of the key IoT technologies used. These cut across hardware integration of gas sensors with a wireless mote packaging, design of the wireless sensor network using 6LoWPAN and RPL, and integration with a cloud backend for data acquisition and analysis. The outcome of our initial deployment will inform an improved design that will enable affordable and manageable monitoring at the city scale. This should lead to data-driven policies for urban air quality management.


The detection of phishing websites based on machine learning has gained much attention due to its ability to detect newly generated phishing URLs. To detect phishing websites, most techniques combine URLs, web page content, and external features. However, the content of the web page and external features are time-consuming, require large computing power, and are not suitable for resource-constrained devices. To overcome this problem, this study applies feature selection techniques based on the URL to improve the detection process. The methodology for this study consists of seven stages, including data preparation, preprocessing, splitting the dataset into training and validation, feature selection, 10-fold cross-validation, validating the model, and finally performance evaluation. Two public datasets were used to validate the method. TreeSHAP and Information Gain were used to rank features and select the top 10, 15, and 20. These features are fed into three machine learning classifiers which are Naïve Bayes, Random Forest, and XGBoost. Their performance is evaluated based on accuracy, precision, and recall. As a result, the features ranked by TreeSHAP contributed most to improving detection accuracy. The highest accuracy of 98.59 percent was achieved by XGBoost for the first dataset with 15 features. For the second dataset, the highest accuracy is 90.21 percent using 20 features and Random Forest. As for Naïve Bayes, the highest accuracy recorded is 98.49 percent using the first dataset.


Abstract Objectives We aim to report the simultaneous effect of different protein and lipid concentrations on sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) measurement by direct and indirect ion selective electrodes (dISE and iISE) in patient samples. Materials and Methods Na+ and K+ were measured in 195 serum samples received in the laboratory using iISE by Roche Modular P800 autoanalyzer and using dISE by XI-921 ver. 6.0 Caretium electrolyte analyzer. Serum total protein (TP), cholesterol (Chol), and triglycerides (TG) were measured using conventional photometric methods on Roche Modular P800 autoanalyzer. Differences for each pair of results for Na+ (Diff_Na+ = [Na+ dISE–Na+ iISE]) and K+ (Diff_K+ = [K+ dISE–K+ iISE]) were calculated. Patient subgroups with high, normal, or low TP (< 5, 5–7.9, or ≥ 8 g/dL), Chol (< 150, 150–299, or ≥300 mg/dL), or TG (< 150, 150–299, or ≥300 mg/dL) were compared using analysis of variance. Note that 95% confidence interval of Diff_Na+ and Diff_K+ were calculated to see the number of samples showing clinically significant differences. Results Diff_Na+ (p = 0.007) and Diff_K+ (p = 0.002) were found significant between samples with normal and high TP. However, effect of TG was not significant. Chol concentration affected Diff_Na+ significantly between low versus normal (p = 0.002), and high versus normal (p = 0.031) Chol groups. Diff_K+ was significant (p = 0.009) between low versus normal Chol. Clinically relevant disagreement of ≥|5| mmol/L for Na+ was observed in high percentage of samples including all subcategories; however, for K+ only 3.6% of the total samples showed disagreement of ≥ |0.5| mmol/L. A multivariate regression equation based on fit regression model was also derived. Conclusion Summarily, interchangeable use of electrolyte results from dISE and iISE is not advisable, especially in a setting of hyperproteinemia (≥8 g/dL) or hypercholesterolemia (≥300 mg/dL); more so for Na+.


INTRODUCTION The focus of this paper -teachers' points of view in relation to engagement in and with research -is somewhat elusive. Selected teachers' voices can be found in peer-reviewed literature; and while it is probable that these voices are an incomplete representation they often demonstrate teachers' positive attitude towards their research engagement. This is particularly so when teachers' engagement is as practitioners undertaking research into their practice. McLaughlin et al (2004, p.7) suggest that three purposes can be discerned in the teacher research tradition: research and enquiry undertaken for primarily personal purposes; research and enquiry undertaken for primarily political purposes; and research and enquiry undertaken for primarily school improvement purposes. Often these are interwoven, not simple and distinguishable or as neat as here presented.


The implications of autophagy-related genes in serious neural degenerative diseases have been well documented. However, the functions and regulation of the family genes in embryonic development remain to be rigorously studied. Here, we report on for the first time the important role of atg5 gene in zebrafish neurogenesis and organogenesis as evidenced by the spatiotemporal expression pattern and functional analysis. Using morpholino oligo knockdown and mRNA overexpression, we demonstrated that zebrafish atg5 is required for normal morphogenesis of brain regionalization and body plan as well as for expression regulation of neural gene markers: gli1, huC, nkx2.2, pink1, β-synuclein, xb51 and zic1. We further demonstrated that ATG5 protein is involved in autophagy by LC3-II/LC3I ratio and rapamycin-induction experiments, and that ATG5 is capable of regulating expression of itself gene in the manner of a feedback inhibition loop. In addition, we found that expression of another autophagy-related gene, atg12, is maintained at a higher constant level like a housekeeping gene. This indicates that the formation of the ATG12–ATG5 conjugate may be dependent on ATG5 protein generation and its splicing, rather than on ATG12 protein in zebrafish. Importantly, in the present study, we provide a mechanistic insight into the regulation and functional roles of atg5 in development of zebrafish nervous system.


Objective The objectives of this study were to compare the effects of a newly designed magnetic suspension system with that of two existing suspension methods on pistoning inside the prosthetic socket and to compare satisfaction and perceived problems among transtibial amputees. Design In this prospective study, three lower limb prostheses with three different suspension systems were fabricated for ten transtibial amputees. The participants used each of the three prostheses for 1 mo in random order. Pistoning inside the prosthetic socket was measured by motion analysis system. The Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire was used to evaluate satisfaction and perceived problems with each suspension system. Results The lowest pistoning motion was found with the suction system compared with the other two suspension systems (P < 0.05). The new suspension system showed peak pistoning values similar to that of the pin lock system (P = 0.086). The results of the questionnaire survey revealed significantly higher satisfaction rates with the new system than with the other two systems in donning and doffing, walking, uneven walking, stair negotiation, and overall satisfaction (P < 0.05). Conclusions The new suspension system has the potential to be used as an alternative to the available suspension systems. The pistoning motion was comparable to that of the other two systems. The new system showed compatible prosthetic suspension with the other two systems (suction and pin lock). The satisfaction with donning and doffing was high with the magnetic system. Moreover, the subjects reported fewer problems with the new system.


Service representative is an activity to gift of service from one the side of other side, so that full fill requirement and satisfy to accepting it. With efficient and effective good service will push client to be devoted and loyal to company, because what their want and needed is fulfilled.

Target of this research is to know how far quality service have been given by front liner Bank Central Asia to customer, to get customer satisfaction. Method used by writer to answer question from identifying existing problem, by using descriptive method with approach of survey, where research of survey is research taking sample from one population and use questioners as a mean of assist fundamental, where questionaire used to measure relation between service with satisfaction of consumer.

Result of this research indicate that service given by PT. Bank Central Asia Capem Mayor Oking in this time is very good with average value 62,62. While satisfaction of customer at the moment to BCA Mayor Oking through analysis of regression got by result for the price of Y = 27,853 + 0,560 X, meaning that satisfaction of customer at Bank Central Asia with service (X) added by 1 becoming 28,42.

From result of calculation of correlation analysis got result of that happened positive and middle between quality service frontliner and customer satisfaction with value of correlation coefficient equal to 0,554. After that to analyze coefficient of determinacy to measure service contribution percentage given by BCA Mayor Oking to get customer satisfaction is got result of that service only owning contribution equal to 30,7% and the rest equal to 69,3% influenced by other factor


Random testing for alcohol and other drugs (AODs) in individuals who perform safety-sensitive activities as part of their aviation role was introduced in Australia in April 2009. One year later, an online survey (N = 2,226) was conducted to investigate attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge regarding random testing and to gauge perceptions regarding its effectiveness. Private, recreational, and student pilots were less likely than industry personnel to report being aware of the requirement (86.5% versus 97.1%), to have undergone testing (76.5% versus 96.1%), and to know of others who had undergone testing (39.9% versus 84.3%), and they had more positive attitudes toward random testing than industry personnel. However, logistic regression analyses indicated that random testing is more effective at deterring AOD use among industry personnel.


This article explores the benefits to older people of participation in formal study, and considers these in the context of the general debate about the constituents of quality of life. It is based on a study of older students who attended extra‐mural type classes at a London University college. The findings of a postal questionnaire survey are presented as context for a discussion of in‐depth interviews with a selection of participants. Illustrative case studies are presented, highlighting the discourses related to the benefits of study and their meanings in the different lives of the individuals. The second part of the analysis links these findings to issues related to the measuring of quality of life. It is argued that while the emotionally based concerns of individuals often figure most highly in their definition of quality of life, their need to spend time meaningfully is an additional, important dimension. Thus, formal study ‐ through the process itself as well as its outcomes ‐ plays an important ro...


Summary
Human leukocyte interferon (HuLeIF) preparations were separated into populations of molecules with different sizes, by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and with different charges, by isoelectric focusing. These populations with different sizes and charges were analysed for their antiviral activity on homologous cells and on heterologous (bovine) cells.
The distribution of interferon activity into two broad peaks by SDS-PAGE was similar whether assayed on human or bovine cells. However, within these peaks, the relative ratio of the activity in human cells and bovine cells varied significantly: while most of the size components had similar human/bovine cell activities, the fastest migrating component (apparent mol. wt. ∼ 13500) was more than 100 times more active on bovine cells than on human cells.
The peaks of activity in isoelectric focusing were distributed from pH 5.5 to 7.0. There was generally correspondence between human and bovine cell activities, but while the more neutral pH range peaks were consistently slightly more active on human cells than on bovine cells, the more acid range peaks were always slightly more active on bovine cells than on human cells. However, with the most acidic peak, there was more than 100 times greater activity on bovine cells than on human cells.
These data show that the heterogeneity of HuLeIFs is greater than merely two size populations, and data confirm that different forms of human leukocyte interferon can vary markedly in biological activity.


IEA-EBC Annex 68 "Indoor Air Quality Design and Control in Low Energy Residential Buildings" is an international collaborative project to provide new insight into methods and strategies for ensuring high indoor air quality in dwellings during both design and operation phase of their life cycle. Within the Annex 68 work, we defined a common exercise, which focusses on model-to-model comparison of different simulation tools to assess their modelling abilities with respect to combined heat, moisture and pollution transfer. As basis of the common exercise, we selected a model of the PASSYS cell (originally used as a common European outdoor test facility for thermal and solar building research). The PASSYS cell is modelled by using several simulation tools with different modelling capabilities (e.g. 2D hygrothermal building envelope models vs. 3D building energy models). Model comparisons are done at stepwise increased level of complexity starting at simple thermal analysis (heat transfer through walls, internal heat sources, internal long wave radiation, etc.) and ending at pollution emission analysis under operation of HVAC systems (demand controlled ventilation, heating and cooling). This paper introduces results from the first part of the exercise covering simulations carried out by using following 2D tools CHAMPS-BES, DELPHIN5 and DELPHIN6.


Abstract When Bessie Gotsfeld (1888-1962) founded the »Mizrachi Women's Organization of America« (aka AMIT) in 1925, religious Zionist women in Europe also started to organize their work in several European countries. In 1928, Meir Berlin (later Meir Bar-Ilan), one of the leading rabbis of the Mizrachi movement, met in Vienna with Anitta Müller-Cohen (1890-1962), a prominent Zionist woman activist. After that meeting, Müller-Cohen joined the ranks of the Mizrachi movement and started to build up a »European League of Mizrachi Women«. Besides Germany, there were important local associations in Belgium, Great Britain and the Netherlands. The ambitious project of the European Mizrachi women caused a conflict with the WIZO, the biggest and most important organization of Jewish women, that escalated at the VIth World Congress of Zionist Women in Basel in 1931. The rise to power of National Socialism in Germany in 1933, challenged the developing Mizrachi Women's League beyond their means and finally led to their destruction during the Shoah. In this paper, I trace the network of Jewish women who engaged with the Mizrachi Women's League, and analyse their personal commitment. Additionally, the paper focuses on the different ideological backgrounds of Mizrachi women at a local and international level. Hence, the conflict between different Zionist women's organisations, i. e. Mizrachi versus WIZO, gains center stage.


ABSTRACTSubject indexes are defined by international standards such as ISO 999 and ANSIZ39.4. These determine the functions that must be implemented in an index in order to give the information seeker an effective means for searching information inside a document. This functionality relies upon the structure and arrangement of index and is also affected by the quality of translation of contents into headings. The structure elements with their scope and the most common alphabetical arrangement are described thoroughly. Since time for index building is limited, the indexer should comply with guidelines that enable quick acquaintance with document contents and translation into headings. The indexer must also pay attention to selection and specificity of headings and depth of indexing.


This thesis report focuses on how the EMI behavior of a simple step-down or buck converter
can be simulated. A very basic switching circuit is first examined and the knowledge gathered
from this study, in terms of how parasitic and stray components can be modeled, is applied to a
more complex step-down converter. A lot of work has been placed on implementing a detailed
diode model in simulations, the Lauritzen model, the implementation proved difficult and requires
more work. A second diode model, the modified charge control model, was implemented
in order to produce more accurate EMI behavior from simulations that should be comparable to
results from simulations were the Lauritzen diode model is properly implemented. EMI measurements
was performed on the step-down converter according to the guidelines recommended
by IEC in their CISPR 25 standard and these measurement results were then compared to those
gathered from simulations.


Richter syndrome (RS) is an aggressive lymphoma arising on the back of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and is the most common B-cell malignancy in the Western world. In the majority of cases, RS presents an activated B cell (ABC) phenotype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). From the therapeutic point of view, selective inhibition of PI3Kδ with idelalisib represents a valuable addition to available treatment options for patients with CLL/SLL, many of whom do not respond to or cannot tolerate chemoimmunotherapy. However, to our knowledge, there have been no prospective studies evaluating idelalisib efficacy in a DLBCL-ABC form of RS. Here, we present a case of a DLBCL-ABC form of RS achieving a complete response at 3 weeks after initiating idelalisib and rituximab therapy for six cycles. This response was maintained during the idelalisib monotherapy, but the patient relapsed rapidly after treatment was withdrawn, because of a grade three immune colitis that developed at 10 months of treatment. This report demonstrates that idelalisib is highly effective in RS and provides an attractive option in this aggressive disease. This agent could meet an unmet need by providing a treatment option with a tolerable safety profile for elderly patients with RS.


The head lights is the device that the driver can see the object on the rail or check the emergency situation when the train is operated at night or in the tunnel, and also the head light is indicating the forward direction of the train. Generally, The sealed beam halogen type head lights for the rolling stock have been used, but the problems that are short life and the generation of heat have been brought about because the head lihgts of rolling stock are supposed to operated continuously long time, and high power consumption. So, the development of new type of head lights has been requested in order to solve these problems. And recently the various LED type lights have been developed and LED type head lights for rolling stock also has been developed. Therefore, we survey the characteristic, function and needed condition of the LED type head lights for rolling stock and present the developing system that can be a help to make design.


Objectives: Color selection is a relevant issue to determine clinical success of esthetic restorations. However as multiple layer technique have been applied, opalescence and translucency parameters are also significant to allow resin composite to match tooth structure. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare different resin composites commonly launched in market to provide enamel translucency effect. Material and Methods: Four resin composites of shade A1 for enamel were tested: nanotechnology composites Filtek Z350 (F) and Grandio (G) were compared to microhybrid composites Filtek Z250 (Z) and Master Fill (M). Eight cylindrical specimens of each resin composite were prepared (6 mm x 2.5 mm), finished and individually stored in distilled water. The color analysis was performed following Cielab system parameters using a spectophotometer (Esfera -X-Rite-SP62 and X-Riteccolor Master CM2). Readings were processed using standard white and black backgrounds. Translucency parameter (TP) of these materials were calculated through the formula TP= [(Lw- Lb)2+ (aw-ab)2 + (bw-bb)2]1/2. Data were statistically analyzed and as a normal distribution was verified, they were submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests with α= 0.05 preset. Results: Mean and standard deviations were: F= 35.54+0.34; Z= 39.11+0.39; G= 40.93+0.38 e M= 41.41+0.34. Greater values of translucency were observed to G and M without significant differences between them, and the lower values were attributed to F and Z. Conclusion: The translucency of each material was material dependent. It is suggested that small particle size provokes reduction of translucency of resin composites when enamel shade materials are compared.


The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of prayer in the everyday life of an Irish Catholic community. Prayers are mental acts that need to be actualised following detailed instructions. This is so because prayers have to be "authentic", which means that there has to be a correspondence between the act of praying and the mental state of believing. Due to the fact that mental states are by definition invisible, the argument of this paper is that that correspondence can only be symbolised by the very special characteristics of the act of praying. By stressing the symbolic nature of the act of praying, an alternative to recent cognitive approaches to the analysis of ritualisation is also suggested.


Multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) provides a framework for problems involving multiple interacting agents. Despite appar-ent similarity to the single-agent case, multi-agent problems are often harder to train and analyze theoretically. In this work, we propose MA-Trace, a new on-policy actor-critic algorithm, which extends V-Trace to the MARL setting. The key advantage of our algorithm is its high scalability in a multi-worker setting. To this end, MA-Trace utilizes importance sampling as an off-policy correction method, which allows distributing the computations with no impact on the quality of training. Furthermore, our algorithm is theoretically grounded – we prove a fixed-point theorem that guarantees convergence. We evaluate the algorithm extensively on the StarCraft Multi-Agent Challenge, a standard benchmark for multi-agent algorithms. MA-Trace achieves high performance on all its tasks and exceeds state-of-the-art results on some of them.


This study aimed at examining fashion consumers' awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Big data analysis methods, such as text mining, social network analysis, and regression analysis, were applied to user posts about fashion on Korean portal websites and social media during COVID-19. R 3.4.4, UCINET 6, and SPSS 25.0 software were used to analyze the data. The results were as follows. In researching the popular fashion-related topics during COVID-19, the prevention of infection and prophylaxis were significant concerns in the early stage (Jan 1 to Jan 31, 2020), and changed to online channels and online fashion platforms. Then, various topics and fashion keywords appeared with COVID-19-related keywords afterwards. Fashion-related subjects concerned prophylaxis, home life, digital and beauty products, online channels, and fashion consumption. In comparing fashion consumers' awareness during COVID-19 with SARS and MERS, "face masks" was the common keyword for all three illnesses; yet, the prevention of infection was a major consumer concern in fashion-related subjects during COVD-19 only. As COVD-19 cases increased, the search volume for face masks, shoes, and home clothes also increased. Consumer awareness about face masks shifted from blocking yellow dust and micro-dust to the sociocultural significance and short supply. Keywords related to performance turned out to be the major awareness as to shoes, and home clothes were repurposed with an expanded range of use.


Computers with hard-disk storage and networks with dynamic spectrum access illustrate resources that allow fragmented items – in these examples, items are files and spectra, respectively. In our discrete model of such systems, the resource is a sequence of slots. There is a queue of items awaiting allocations of the resource; the queue is served in FIFO order. Specified for each item are the number of slots needed by the item, and for what period of time. Under the key assumption that an item's allocation can not be changed prior to its departure, fragmentation in the form of alternating gaps and allocated resource builds up as items come and go, regardless of the allocation algorithm adopted. The improvements in resource utilization created by fragmentation are countered by the added cost of manipulating fragmented items, so how fragmentation evolves is an important performance issue. Within a baseline probability model of the system operating at capacity, we prove that, in the stationary limit under any practical algorithm, almost all items are completely fragmented, i.e., items of size i are fragmented into i disjoint slots. In the full paper, this result is balanced by many experimental results which show that, in reality, the times to approach steady-state fragmentation are typically exceptionally long, and hence that even nearly complete fragmentation is often of no concern.


In a series of 4 studies, we explored preschoolers' understanding of thought bubbles. Very few 3-year-olds or 4-year-olds we tested knew what a thought-bubble depiction was without instruction. But, if simply told that the thought bubble "shows what someone is thinking," the vast majority of 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds easily understood the devices as depicting thoughts generally and individual thought contents specifically. In total, these children used thought-bubble depictions to ascertain the contents of characters' thoughts in a variety of situations; appropriately distinguished such depictions from mere associated actions or objects; described thought bubbles in the language of mental states; judged that persons' thoughts in these depictions were subjective in the sense of person-specific (and hence 2 people can have different thoughts about the same state of affairs); and judged that thought-bubble thoughts (a) were representational in the sense of depicting or showing some other state of affairs, (b) were mental and thus showed intangible, private, internal thoughts unlike real pictures or photographs, and (c) can be false, that is, can depict a person's misrepresentation of some state of affairs. We discuss the implications of these findings for young children's understanding of thoughts and thought bubbles, for their learning and comprehension of pictorial conventions, and for the use of thought bubbles to assess children's early understanding of mind.


Coastal intertidal soft-sediment habitats provide ecosystem services to millions of people worldwide, yet are under intense pressure from land-use change and sea-level rise (SLR). Both pressures interact to reduce light reaching the seafloor, thereby disrupting benthic primary producers and the ecosystem functions and services they provide. This study considers the implications of altered light climate on microphytobenthic (MPB) production in shallow estuaries. Continuous measurements of seafloor photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) were made over 9 mo on intertidal sandflats in 14 New Zealand estuaries spanning a turbidity gradient. A literature summary of benthic photosynthesis-irradiance curves was used to predict PAR limitation at sampling sites. Estimates of the proportion of time MPB would be light limited during emersion ranged from a median of 32-64% compared to a median of 55-100% during immersion. For estuaries close to 100% PAR limitation during immersion, emerged intertidal areas represent a refuge for MPB production which is vulnerable to SLR. Based on hypsometric curves (a representation of estuary bathymetry), the intertidal area of our study estuaries is predicted to decrease by 27-94% in response to SLR of 1.4 m. The combination of high PAR limitation during immersion and large losses of intertidal area will increase vulnerability to the loss of MPB production and the associated ecosystem services, which will push these ecosystems towards tipping points. The research highlights how the interplay between local and global scale stressors may ultimately trigger ecological collapse under future global change.


Sensitised excitation of the DMN[3]DCME donor[bridge]acceptor system allows population of a triplet CT state with a microsecond lifetime in polar solvents. This is more than five orders of magnitude longer than the lifetime of the corresponding singlet CT state which is populated exclusively upon direct excitation. The picture indicates the spin-forbidden nature of the charge recombination between the acceptor (red) to donor (green) moieties.


Palaeontology is an essential tool for tracing the history of life in the geological record. However, access to the origin of
life is blocked because of the lack of preservation of suitable rocks dating from the fi rst billion years of Earth's history. Nevertheless, study
of Early Archaean rocks (~4-3.3 Ga) indicates that the environmental conditions of the early Earth, upon which life emerged, were very
different to those of today and provides essential information for guiding investigations into the origin of life in terms of realistic environmental scenarios and possible timing of the appearance of life. Microbial palaeontology investigations of well-preserved, Early Archaean rocks ~3.5
to 3.3 Ga show that the earliest preserved life was diverse and widespread and suggest that it probably appeared in the Hadean, as soon as
the Earth's surface was habitable. The extreme, anaerobic conditions characterising the early Earth, together with the ingredients of life,
i.e. carbon molecules, liquid water and energy, were common on other planets and satellites in the early Solar System. Considering carbon
and water-based life forms to be a cosmically frequent phenomenon, it is hypothesised that life could have emerged on some of these bodies
and that traces of its appearance may still be preserved, for instance on Mars, Europa or Enceladus. Microbial palaeontology as well as
information gleaned from extant extremophiles and experimental data provides us with essential information about what kinds of extant or
fossilised life forms to look for on another planet or satellite. Moreover, the methods evolved to study and understand the remains of fossil
traces of primitive microbial life will aid the search for life and its origins on Mars or other satellites. The perspective of returning to Earth
rocks from Mars (or other samples from Europa or Enceladus?) containing potential traces of extraterrestrial life, most likely primitive
anaerobic chemotrophs, will be a challenge for microbial palaeontology that we need to start addressing now. Most importantly, it will open
up the possibility of establishing the universality of life.


PurposeDisease deconvolution in heterogeneous cerebellar ataxias (CAs) needs a focussed approach to overcome the diagnostic challenges. A diverse clinical presentation with over 100 reported genetic loci, in addition to the various challenges associated with genotype-phenotype correlation complicate the genetic diagnosis in 40-60% of the CA cases that remain uncharacterized. We present here an integrated whole exome sequencing combined with a functional validation approach to delineate the genetic etiology in Indian CA patients.MethodA total of 50 familial and sporadic progressive CA families (negative for CNG expansion) including 101 subjects were recruited for this study. Index patients from 50 families were subjected to singleton whole exome sequencing (S-WES). Family-based WES (F-WES) was carried out for seven S-WES selected families. Protein simulation and docking studies were performed for seven genetic variants identified through WES. A Cell line-based model was used to assess disease signatures for variants in KCNC3 and a new candidate gene, SPTB.ResultsClinically relevant variants identified in 70% (35/50) of the selected families. We achieved a 50% (25/50) definitive diagnostic yield and 14% (7/50) probable diagnostic yield while 6% (3/50) of the families showed variants of uncertain significance. We prioritized compound heterozygous variants in a candidate gene, SPTB for cerebellar ataxia with hereditary spherocytosis. Lymphoblastoid cell line derived from a patient with a KCNC3 variant showed altered disease signatures with induced ROS and elevated unfolded protein response markers at the basal level.ConclusionOur results highlight an extensive experimental design for the genetic diagnosis of CA. Through targeted analysis of ataxia phenotype-derived gene panel in S-WES, new gene identification through F-WES, and revaluation of unsolved families' WES data, we identified novel, reported and other clinically relevant variants in CA patients. Bioinformatic protein modeling along with the cellular insights into the pathogenicity of novel variants enabled delineation of genetic diagnostics and enhanced the mechanistic understanding of CAs.