A field study was performed in order to investigate the relationships between the salt use, the mechanisms affecting the salt emission and dispersion, and the salt exposure in a modeling approach. The salt was collected on gauze filter salt vanes at distances of 2.5 to 100 m from the road, allowing a time resolution of 30-min to 24-h exposure time. The results will be implemented in a winter maintenance management model under development by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. The results showed that the roadside exposure to airborne salt was related strongly to the wind direction. The road conditions of packed snow and thin ice seemed to abate the roadside exposure temporarily by capturing the salt on the road surface. Even at a distance of 100 m from the road, a positive relation of the wind sum and chloride deposition showed on days with strong winds. The modeling approach indicates the importance of residual salt, traffic, road surface characteristics, and wind for roadside exposure but also indicates that there are several aspects of these variables that need further investigation.


Three diversity points of 4(3H)-quinazolinone are introduced at the 3-, 6-, and 7-positions with an efficient parallel solution-phase synthetic method. A one-pot synthesis was developed that gave the key intermediate in high yield. Five hit compounds exhibit preferable activities against a panel of human tumor cell lines, which pointed out preliminary structure-activity relationships.


From the deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps ecosystems, more than 600 species containing many endemic species have been discovered. The deep-sea mussels of the genus Bathymodiolus are dominant species at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps throughout the world. They are known to rely on the nutrients produced by the chemosynthetic symbiont in their gills. In 2009, we found a colony of bathymodiolin mussels at a hydrothermal vent of Myojinsho (Myojin Reef), which is a hardly investigated area. Myojinsho lies in the northern segment of the Izu-Ogasawara (Bonin) Arc and had been volcanically active until recently. We collected specimens from the colony using a remotely operated vehicle. We identified them as Bathymodiolus aduloides by morphological observation and phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial DNA sequencing. We could not find any other species of mussels during the dive. This result is interesting because this species has not been discovered from hydrothermal vents in this region; the dominant species in this region, including the neighbouring Myojin Knoll Caldera, is B. septemdierum .


Purpose To clarify the ocular surface features of patients with recent history of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) and the relation between corneal dendritic cells (DCs) and ocular discomfort.Methods Normal controls (NC) and dry eye (DE) patients without EKC were recruited. Patients with recent EKC history (onset >4 weeks, but <20 weeks) were recruited as EKC + DE group (with dry eye) or EKC-DE group (without dry eye). Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, tear film parameters including lipid layer thickness, first tear break-up time (fBUT), average tear break-up time (aBUT), tear meniscus height and Schirmer I test, meibomian gland parameters, and in vivo corneal confocal microscopy were evaluated.Results 50 subjects in the NC group, 83 patients in the DE group, 76 patients in the EKC + DE group, and 38 patients in the EKC-DE group were included. Compared with the NC, DE, and EKC-DE groups, the EKC + DE group represented higher OSDI, lid margin, and meibum score (P < 0.05). In the EKC + DE group, the tear volume (10.5 ± 3.7mm) was significantly higher than in the DE group (8.1 ± 2.8mm, P < 0.001). The DC density in the EKC + DE group (29.98 ± 15.38 cells/image) was significantly higher than in NC, DE, and EKC-DE groups (4.68 ± 4.05 cells/image) (P < 0.001). The DC density was positively correlated with OSDI, lid margin, and meibum score (all P < 0.01) while inversely correlated with fBUT, aBUT (all P < 0.001) in the EKC + DE group.Conclusions Corneal DC density significantly correlates to ocular discomfort and tear film instability in patients with recent EKC history who suffer from DE without aqueous tear deficiency.


The author outlines that in "current modernity" (Z. Bauman), among the urgent problems of research, one can name tradition, which is the foundation of culture. Many of its components are among those that are difficult to comprehend, and national cuisine is among them.
Methods of research. In the presented article, national cuisine is examined through the prism of an analytical method that allows you to identify authentic ways of studying and showing its versatility. In the course of the research, a theoretical analysis of the methodological basis for the study of national cuisine as a phenomenon of gastronomic culture was carried out.
It is noted that being a unique phenomenon of the traditional ethnic culture, national cuisine has its own gastronomic code and contains information about the specifics of the people's life, encrypted through processes related to food and its preparation. The author pays special attention to the fact that the most effective methods of researching national cuisine are structural, phenomenological and hermeneutic. They help to identify designs and highlight the structural components of national cuisine (culinary culture, culture of eating and gastronomic reflection), study and analyze them with the help of feelings and experience as a direct connection to each of them, comprehend the process of cooking based on the culinary recipe and the process of tasting, reveal the symbolic meanings of the elements of national cuisine and establish their origins.
Results of research. The simultaneous use of phenomenological, structural and hermeneutic methods contributes to the comprehension of the gastronomic code of the people and the peculiarities of their cuisine. The knowledge gained allows us to interpret not only the secrets of national cuisine, but also the history and culture of the ethnos from new perspectives.


The metallothionein (MT)3 gene is expressed predominantly in the brain and the organs of the reproductive system, and fails to respond to metal ions in vivo. A CTG repeat was proposed to function as a potential repressor element in nonpermissive cells, and a sequence similar to the JC virus silencer element was found to function as a negative element in permissive primary astrocytes. The objective of this study was to characterize further the mechanisms governing cell-type specific MT-3 gene transcription. We searched for a suitable cell line expressing the MT-3 gene to be used for determination of MT-3 promoter tissue specificity, and showed that MT-3 expression is activated during neuroectodermal differentiation of P19 cells induced by retinoic acid to levels similar to those found in whole brain. Deletion of the CTG repeat or of the JC virus silencer did not promote MT-3 promoter activity in nonpermissive cells, or enhance expression in permissive cells. We identified MT-3 promoter sequences interacting with liver and brain nuclear proteins, as assayed by DNase I footprinting analyses and electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and assessed the role of these sequences in the regulation of MT-3 expression by cotransfection experiments. We generated stable transfectants in permissive C6 and nonpermissive NIH-3T3 cells, and analysed the methylation status of the MT-3 gene. These studies show that regulation of tissue-specific MT-3 gene expression does not appear to involve a repressor, and suggest that other mechanisms such as chromatin organization and epigenetic modifications could account for the absence of MT-3 gene transcription in nonpermissive cells.


High-altitude forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains (USA) are frequently immersed in clouds, as are many mountain forests. They may be particularly sensitive to predicted increases in cloud base altitude with global warming. However, few studies have addressed the impacts of immersion on incident sunlight and photosynthesis. Understory sunlight (photosynthetically active radiation, PAR) was measured during clear, low cloud, and cloud-immersed conditions at Mount Mitchell and Roan Mountain, NC (USA) along with accompanying photosynthesis in four representative understory species. Understory PAR was substantially less variable on immersed vs. clear days. Photosynthesis became light-saturated between ∼100 and 400 μmol · m(-2) · s(-1) PAR for all species measured, corresponding closely to the sunlight environment measured during immersion. Estimated daily carbon gain was 26% greater on clear days at a more open canopy site but was 22% greater on immersed/cloudy days at a more closed canopy site. F(v)/F(m) (maximum photosystem II efficiency) in Abies fraseri seedlings exposed to 2.5 min full sunlight was significantly reduced (10%), indicating potential reductions in photosynthesis on clear days. In addition, photosynthesis in microsites with canopy cover was nearly 3-fold greater under immersed (2.6 mmol · m(-2) · h(-1)) vs. clear conditions (0.9 mmol · m(-2) · h(-1)). Thus, cloud immersion provided more constant PAR regimes that enhanced photosynthesis, especially in shaded microsites. Future studies are needed to predict the survival of these refugial forests under potential changes in cloud regimes.


Partially coherent pulses, especially those with non-Gaussian correlated functions, have rarely been explored in nonlinear media because of the demanding procedure of the widely used coherent-mode representation method. This study develops temporal analogues of the complex screen and phase screen methods, which were recently introduced for the spatial counterpart of a partially coherent beam. These methods were employed to study the beam propagation properties of partially coherent pulses, and the obtained results show that they both are highly precise, convenient, and powerful. We believe that these protocols can effectively provide useful insight into the behavior of many coherence-related phenomena in nonlinear media.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is an opportunistic viral infection primarily affecting immunocompromised patients. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have an increased risk for developing CMV infections of the gastrointestinal tract. While receiving continuous infusion of 5‐fluorouracil and interferon‐α, a 72‐year‐old woman with stage IV pancreatic carcinoma developed severe colitis with diarrhea that was refractory to conventional antidiarrheals. A biopsy specimen from the colon revealed CMV inclusions, which were confirmed by immunofluorescence. The patient was given ganciclovir 210 mg (5 mg/kg) every 12 hours for 14 days, and the diarrhea resolved after approximately 8 days of therapy. This is the first reported case of CMV colitis associated with combination 5‐fluorouracil and interferon‐α therapy.


Adrian Parkin, operations director at Howorth Air Technology, describes how, in May, Ireland's Aut Even Hospital near Kilkenny became the country's first healthcare facility to be fitted out exclusively with UCV (ultra-clean ventilated) operating theatres, guaranteeing that patients' operations take place in the cleanest air possible.


Advantage has been taken of the relative transparency of the claw of the mouse to devise a method, here described, to measure the blood pressure in the animal's leg. Direct measurements of the systolic blood pressure from the carotid arteries of anesthetized mice have also been made. Simultaneous blood pressure readings by both these methods applied to the same animal showed close agreement. The systolic pressure ranged from 60 to 126 mm. Hg, according to the conditions.


This report discusses results of a plant demonstration of the double shell slurry process which was conducted April 25 to 28, 1977. 274,000 gallons of double shell slurry were produced from 365,000 gallons of Hanford Defense Residual Liquor. The volume reduction was 25%. Process control was maintained near the proper zone in the early part of the run. However, the feed was underconcentrated in the latter part of the run. Hydroxide concentrations of the product samples ranged from 2.1 to 5.9 M. The aluminum to caustic ratio varied from 0.33 to 1.07. The solids were primarily sodium nitrate, carbonate, aluminate, and nitrate. All samples were totally water soluble. The double shell slurry product increased in volume by 19,000 gallons from April to October 1977, probably caused by organic chelating agents.


Using density functional methods, the initial reaction steps of limonene ozonolysis have been investigated with a focus on primary ozonide formation and its decomposition to Criegee intermediates and carbonyl compounds. The ozonide formation is highly exothermic, and the decomposition channels have similar free energies of activation, ΔG(‡), indicating that there is no primary pathway for ozonide decomposition. Assuming that ozonide formation is the rate limiting step, the theoretical rate coefficient, k = 1.6 × 10(-16) molecule(-1) cm(3) s(-1), evaluated at the CCSD(T)/6-31G(d,p)//BHandHLYP/cc-pvdz level and 298.15 K for d-limonene is in good agreement with the experimental value, k(exp) = 3.3 × 10(-16) molecule(-1) cm(3) s(-1). The theoretical Arrhenius expression is also in good agreement with experimental results.


We explore the significance of pi-cation interactions in the binding of ligands to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Specifically, the Austin method of semiempirical molecular orbital theory is utilized to estimate the interaction of aromatic amino acid side chains with the cation-containing heterocyclic ring fragments of nicotinic ligands. Variational interaction energies (E(i)) of side chain-ligand fragment pairs are shown to be distance-dependent and follow a Morse-like potential function. The tryptophan side chain shows the most pronounced interaction with the cation fragments, followed by tyrosine and phenylalanine. For a given side chain, cationic fragments exhibit characteristically different E(i) profiles, with the azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane fragment of the potent nicotinic ligand epibatidine eliciting the greatest interaction energy of the study set. Most significantly, the minimum energy values calculated for numerous fragments correlate with the binding affinity of the parent ligands- we show this to be the case for heteropentameric (alpha4beta2) and homopentameric (alpha7) nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes. Furthermore, intermolecular distances corresponding to the Morse-like potential minimum also correlate with high-affinity binding. A number of parallel calculations were conducted at the Hartree-Fock 6-31G ab initio level of theory in an effort to substantiate these findings.


OBJECTIVES
A variety of abused drugs, including psychostimulants, can modulate the expression of anxiety. Although the effect of nicotine and D-amphetamine on anxiety-related behaviour in animal models has been investigated, the mechanisms underlying the anxiogenic or anxiolytic actions of these drugs have not been clarified. Bupropion is an antidepressant drug which may alleviate some symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, although its effects on anxiety are not clear. We have investigated the effect of nicotine and D-amphetamine on anxiety in the elevated plus maze test in mice.

METHODS
We examined the influence of acute administration of nicotine (0.1 mg/kg, s.c.) and D-amphetamine (2 mg/kg, i.p.) on anxiety level. We then evaluated the anxiety-related response after subchronic injection of both psychostimulants, including crossover effects. For this purpose, nicotine (0.1 mg/kg, s.c.) was administered daily for six days, and on the seventh day mice were challenged with nicotine (0.1 mg/kg, s.c.) or D-amphetamine (2 mg/kg, i.p.). A distinct group of mice was pretreated with D-amphetamine (2 mg/kg, i.p., 8 days), and subjected to D-amphetamine (2 mg/kg, i.p.) or nicotine (0.1 mg/kg, s.c.) challenge on the ninth day. Moreover, we investigated acute and subchronic effects of coadministration of bupropion (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg; i.p.) and nicotine or D-amphetamine.

KEY FINDINGS
We observed that acute anxiogenic effects of nicotine and D-amphetamine as well as the development of tolerance and cross-tolerance to their effects were blunted by a pretreatment with a nonactive dose of bupropion (5 mg/kg, i.p.).

CONCLUSIONS
These results demonstrated that similar neural mechanisms were involved in the regulation of nicotine and D-amphetamine anxiety-like behaviour in mice. The results have provided new findings to support the use of bupropion in the treatment of nicotine and/or amphetamine addiction.


The synthesis of new Cp*Ir complexes bearing an N-heterocyclic carbene ligand and a chelated primary benzylamine is described. The new complexes are chiral at metal and have a stereogenic carbon at the benzylamine ligand. The synthesis is diastereoselective, and the origin is thermodynamically controlled. The chiral complexes have been fully characterized. The catalytic results show that the complexes are very active in transfer hydrogenation: for example, acetophenone is reduced to 1-phenylethanol in 2 h at 50 °C using a catalyst loading of 1 mol %. More interestingly is that no base, apart from the required for catalyst activation, is needed in the process. The enantioselectivities obtained range from low to moderate, with a maximum of 58% ee in the case of 2′-methylacetophenone. Initial mechanistic studies by means of DFT calculations suggest that the mechanism is based on a direct hydrogen transfer via a highly ordered transition state centered at the iridium amido group. The calculations are in good ...


The selection of outsourcing service provider plays a key role in the outsourcing of human resource management. The scientific evaluation to the outsourcing service provider is an important part in reducing outsourcing risk. In this paper, by using the Delphi method we determine the selection criteria of service provider and build a scientific outsourcing service provider selection and evaluation system. We get the result of how to select and evaluate the service provider, which can fully reflect the practical need of the enterprise in Chinese outsourcing market which is still in the initial stage. Besides we provide detailed procedures of selecting service provider, which could be a reference to the outsourcing service provider selection.


Analyses of the diversity of women entrepreneurs and their enterprises, using novel approaches and theoretical viewpoints, is lacking in contemporary scholarship. Accordingly, this article reviews and critiques five articles that constitute this Special Issue (SI) focused on exploring the diversity of women's entrepreneurship. The authors acknowledge that entrepreneurship is a rich and multi-coloured tapestry, hence, these SI articles highlight the complexities of women entrepreneurs and celebrate their diversity through signposting towards research conceptualisations that reflect the actual rather than the assumed status quo. The article contributes to extant scholarship by platforming the heterogeneity of women's entrepreneurial endeavours, supporting the view that in terms of supporting women's entrepreneurship, 'one size (still) does not fit all'. We also propose a framework to help future scholars strengthen the quality and relevance of their research on women entrepreneurs along four key dimensions: influence of context; theoretical development; multiplicity of dimensions; and heterogeneity.


Abstract Several factors affecting the growth and the metal uptake of pepper plants treated with cadmium solutions have been studied. These include concentration of cadmium, type of treatment, type of soil, plant species, and some properties of solutions used for treatment such as acidity, degree of salinity and temperature. Cadmium had an obvious effect on the growth of pepper plants. Foliar‐treated plants were affected more than root‐treated plants. The least degree of growth‐inhibition and of cadmium uptake was found in plants grown in soils with high organic matter content. Various species of pepper plants acted very differently towards cadmium treatment. Both growth‐inhibition and cadmium uptake was increased in plants treated with acidic, saline and hot solutions.


We introduce a photonic topological Floquet Z2-insulator with fermionic time reversal symmetry (TRS). Our experiments demonstrate the characteristic protected counter-propagating edge modes and unequivocally prove the presence of fermionic TRS in this bosonic system. © 2019 The Author(s)


Introduction and Overview. Case Formulation. Choosing Interventions. Structural Analysis of Social Behavior: The Clarifying Lens. Step 1: Collaboration with the Green Against the Red. Step 2: Learning about Patterns, Where They Are From, and What They Are For. Step 3: Blocking Maladaptive Patterns. Step 4: Enabling the Will to Change. Step 5: Learning New Patterns. Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy in Clinical and Research Contexts.


The researcher investigated substance use in rural Kansas fifth and sixth graders. Independent variables were gender, family structure, perceived relationship with parents, family substance use, attitude towards family, peer substance use, and self-concept. Dependent variables were number of cigarettes smoked, frequency of cigarette use, amount of alcohol use, and frequency of marijuana use. (No subjects reported use of marijuana.) The sample consisted of 160 students, comprised of 71 fifth graders, 89 sixth graders, with 78 boys and 82 girls. A status survey design was employed using a three-way analysis of variance. Results showed peer substance use was a significant main effect for all dependent variables, and was more influential when attitude towards family was average to poor. Higher family substance use resulted in significantly higher mean use by subjects in 11 out of 15 interactions. Subjects with poor self-concept who were users nearly always reported greater mean use than those with positive self-concepts. Although peer influence is a significant factor, this study supports the importance of low substance use by family and of maintaining a working relationship with the child in reducing substance use among rural elementary students.


The primal-dual method of multipliers (PDMM) was originally designed for solving a decomposable optimisation problem over a general network. In this paper, we revisit PDMM for optimisation over a centralised network. We first note that the recently proposed method FedSplit [1] implements PDMM for a centralised network. In [1], Inexact FedSplit (i.e., gradient based FedSplit) was also studied both empirically and theoretically. We identify the cause for the poor reported performance of Inexact FedSplit, which is due to the suboptimal initialisation in the gradient operations at the client side. To fix the issue of Inexact FedSplit, we propose two versions of Inexact PDMM, which are referred to as gradient-based PDMM (GPDMM) and accelerated GPDMM (AGPDMM), respectively. AGPDMM accelerates GPDMM at the cost of transmitting two times the number of parameters from the server to each client per iteration compared to GPDMM. We provide a new convergence bound for GPDMM for a class of convex optimisation problems. Our new bounds are tighter than those derived for Inexact FedSplit. We also investigate the update expressions of AGPDMM and SCAFFOLD to find their similarities. It is found that when the number K of gradient steps at the client side per iteration is K=1, both AGPDMM and SCAFFOLD reduce to vanilla gradient descent with proper parameter setup. Experimental results indicate that AGPDMM converges faster than SCAFFOLD when K>1 while GPDMM converges slightly slower than SCAFFOLD.


The relative absorbed dose distribution in water around an 192Ir line source of 50 mm length and 0.3 mm diam has been measured using a liquid ionization chamber (LIC). The sensitive volume of the chamber is a cylinder with 3.0 mm diam and a thickness of 1.0 mm. The sensitive medium in the LIC consists of a mixture of two dielectric liquids, tetramethylsilane and isooctane. The mixture has been optimized so that the LIC provides an almost energy-independent response for the radiation qualities present at different distances from the source in water. The measurements were carried out at distances of 2.5-50.0 mm along the source bisector and at distances of 0.0 to +/-40.0 mm along the source axis. The results were compared with measurements made with LiF chips in Solid Water and with calculated data based on an analytical solution to the Sievert integral as well as with Monte Carlo calculations of absolute dose rate in water. Considering the uncertainties involved, the dose distribution measured by the LIC is in reasonably good agreement with the theoretical data as well as the results held with LiF. In comparison with the Monte Carlo calculations the discrepancies range from 0.1% to 18% with the largest differences at points close to the source. This work demonstrates the ability of the LIC for mapping the dose distribution around a low-dose-rate brachytherapy source emitting photons of intermediate energies.


Abstract Two groups of native English speakers, relatively inexperienced (N = 14) with 3 months of Mandarin study and relatively more experienced (N = 14) with 12 months of study, were asked to identify coarticulated Mandarin lexical tones in disyllabic words. The results show that 1) the experienced learners were better at identifying Mandarin tones than the inexperienced learners, 2) Tones in coarticulation were more difficult to identify than tones in isolation, 3) tonal context and syllable position affected tonal perception, and 4) experienced learners committed fewer tonal direction errors than inexperienced learners. However, experienced learners still made a considerable amount of tonal height errors.


Background: Food-borne intoxications are current problems in human society and most of them are caused by the enterotoxins of Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) is the most frequently responsible for staphylococcal food poisoning outbreaks. From a food safety and human health point of view, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) may provide a promising strategy to combat the pathogenic bacteria, particularly S. aureus. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory activity of two commercial lactobacillus strains on growth and enterotoxin A production by S. aureus. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of these strains on gene expression of enterotoxin type A was assessed using real-time Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Materials and Methods: In this study the inhibitory effect of two commercial probiotic strains, Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA5) and Lactobacillus casei 01 on the growth and enterotoxin production of S. aureus was evaluated at 25 and 35°C. The gene expression of SEA of S. aureus was also evaluated by real time (RT) PCR technique. Results: The lactobacillus strains decreased the bacterial count at both temperatures compared with the control group. This reduced effect was greater at 25°C (3 log/CFU) than 35°C (2 log/CFU). The production of SEA, SEC and SEE was inhibited by the lactobacillus strains. Furthermore, the gene expression of SEA was significantly suppressed in S. aureus co cultured with studied lactobacillus strains and the greatest down-regulation of sea (10.31 fold) was observed in co-incubation of S. aureus with LC01 at 25°C. Conclusion: This research raises important implications for the potential use of LAB as a natural preservative in foodstuffs by correct microbial ecology of the environment and a new approach for biocontrol of S. aureus.


(Sm211) refinement was achieved in Sm-Ba-Cu-O systems melt-textured at various oxygen partial pressures ( of 0.001 - 1 atm) via 1 wt% addition and size control of a precursor powder (a mixture of (Sm123) plus Sm211 powder) by means of attrition milling. The resulting Sm211 of the (Sm1.8) sample melt-textured without addition was as large as a few tens of while the Sm211 of the Sm1.8 sample melt-textured from the attrition-milled powder with 1 wt% addition was as small as 1 - , with uniform Sm211 distribution. The Sm211 refinement achieved is ascribable to both the controlled Sm211 nucleation during incongruent melting and the growth inhibition of the Sm211 in the partial melting state. Furthermore, the Sm211 shape was changed from equiaxed granular in the undoped sample to anisotropic in the samples containing . Effects of oxygen partial pressure on the Sm211 size and the shape was not significant in either the undoped Sm1.8 sample and the -added Sm1.8 sample.


Climate change adaptation and building resilience among vulnerable communities can leverage on adoption of broader principles of Disaster Risk Management. In recent years many developing countries have seen an increasing push to merge Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) approaches into a single framework because many of the tools developed by the disaster risk management (DRM) community, such as risk identification and preparedness are important to climate resilient development. The study sought to establish Zimbabwe's preparedness in managing meteorological disasters; mitigating climate change impacts using disaster risk management strategies; and to provide recommendations to help improve disaster preparedness in vulnerable communities in Masvingo province and proffer some disaster risk reduction remedies. The impact of the hybrid approach has far reaching positive results in dealing with climate change challenges in the country and beyond. One innovation adopted in this study is the use of an Android App to provide early warnings and other remedies after a disaster has struck. Given the wide use of Information technology products in Zimbabwe, minimum use of this App in managing climate change related disasters has potential to be effective especially for urban to peri-urban communities. The study established that the government is to a great extend prepared to manage disasters though more has to be done by availing more resources to avert impacts of disasters. Very little has been done to equip communities in terms of training and information dissemination especially in rural areas. The application developed was well received by communities and have great potential to inform vulnerable communities in preparation against disasters.


In recent years, closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) operation has been an important method to recover waste materials and products for resource conservation and environmental protection and paid more attention in industry and academia. We establish a dynamic model for closedloop supply chain with product recovering with the consideration of some uncertainties including remanufacturing rate, disposal rate, operation costs and customers' demand in this paper. Furthermore, we provide some insights about robust operation of closed-loop supply chain and propose a robust H∞ control strategy based on linear matrix inequality (LMI) arithmetic. Some simulations are executed to validate the effectiveness of our control strategy, and the results show that through state feedback control of supply chain inventories, it can not only make the CLSC achieve the goal of restraining uncertainty disturbances, but also result in an ideal operation cost. Streszczenie. Closed loop supply chain (CLCP – zamknieta petla lancucha zasobow) jest dziś wazną metodą odzyskiwania zmarnowanego materialu i produktu w celu ochrony środowiska i konserwacji zasobow. Zaproponowano model dynamiczny uwzgledniający niepewności typu tempo produkcji, tempo usuwania, koszty operacyjne i ządania klienta. (Model dynamiczny lancucha CLSC uwzgledniający odzyskiwanie produktow i odporne sterowanie)


Abstract Al2O3 nano-scaled coating was prepared on micro-textured YT5 cemented carbide cutting tools by atomic layer deposition ALD. The effect of Al2O3 nano-scaled coating, with and without combined action of texture, on the cutting performance was studied by orthogonal cutting test. The results were compared with micro-textured cutting tool and YT5 cutting tool. They show that the micro-texture and nano-scaled Al2O3 coated on the micro-texture both can reduce the cutting force and friction coefficient of the tool, and the tools with nano-scaled Al2O3 coated on the micro-texture are more efficient. Furthermore, the friction coefficient of the 100 nm Al2O3-coated micro-texture tool is relatively low. When the distance of the micro-pits is 0.15 mm, the friction coefficient is lowest among the four kinds of pit textured nanometer coating tools. The friction coefficient is the lowest when the direction of the groove in strip textured nanometer coating tool is perpendicular to the main cutting edge. The main mechanism of the nanometer Al2O3 on the micro-textured tool to reduction in cutting force and the friction coefficient is discussed. These results show that the developed tools effectively decrease the cutting force and friction coefficient of tool–chip interface.


Congenital hearing loss is the most common birth defect, estimated to affect 2‐3 in every 1000 births. Currently there is no cure for hearing loss. Treatment options are limited to hearing aids for mild and moderate cases, and cochlear implants for severe and profound hearing loss. Here we provide a literature overview of the environmental and genetic causes of congenital hearing loss, common animal models and methods used for hearing research, as well as recent advances towards developing therapies to treat congenital deafness. © 2021 The Authors.


1. 9 Studies of lymphocyte transport are reported in which the 51Cr labelling technique of Hersey (1971) was employed on 8 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and 1 with lymphosarcoma. 2. A new approach to the analysis of the data was formulated employing the principles of impulse analysis. This allowed the quantitation of cell transport between various locations making the minimum number of assumptions. It was also possible to take account of the principal defect of this label, its tendency to elute from live cells. 3. In spite of marked lymphocytosis, numbers of cells moving between those tissues whose lymphocytes exchange relatively slowly and the bloodstream was found to be normal. The blood and lymph nodes may therefore accumulate lymphocytes in response to a transport defect which hinders the progress of these cells from one pool to another. 4. The finding that CLL lymphocytes fluxes are normal in certain locations casts doubt on the hypothesis that lymphocyte proliferation is uncontrolled in this disease. An alternative possibility is that cell proliferation is regulated so as to maintain these fluxes within the normal range.


In this article, we study the effect of differentiation on firms' optimal investments in advertising and product quality in the specific context of the motion picture industry. To guide our empirical analysis, we develop a stylized model uncovering that competition in advertising is the highest for intermediate levels of horizontal differentiation, while product quality increases monotonically in differentiation. We corroborate our theoretical predictions with a large dataset on the movie industry confirming both the inverted U‐shaped relationship between advertising and differentiation, and the monotonically increasing relationship between product quality and differentiation.


Cancer stem cells (CSC) are thought to be malignant cells that have the capacity to initiate and maintain tumor growth and survival. Studies have described CSC in various gastrointestinal neoplasms such as colon, pancreas and liver and gastroesophageal tumors. The mechanism by which CSC develop remains unclear. Several studies have explored the role of dysregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin, transformation growth factor-beta and hedhog pathways in generation of CSC. In this review, we discuss the various molecular abnormalities that may be related to formation of CSC in gastrointestinal malignancies, strategies to identify CSC and therapeutic strategies that are based on these concepts. Identification and targeting CSC is an intriguing area and may provide a new therapeutic option for patients with cancer including gastrointestinal malignancies. Although great progress has been made, many issues need to be addressed. Precise targeting of CSC will require precise isolation and characterization of those cells. This field is also evolving but further research is needed to identify markers that are specific for CSC. Although the application of this field has not entered the clinic yet, there continues to be significant optimism about its potential utility in overcoming cancer resistance and curing patients with cancer.


The study in hand is designed to investigate how much SELF (Personality) is reflected and how it is perceived through shared content on Facebook. To know about the reflection and perception through Facebook use, a survey method has been opted. A sample of 200 students among the population of University of Punjab Lahore was selected using a stratified and convenient sampling technique, study adopts the quantitative research approach. It was hypothesized that people tend to use Facebook to build their ideal image among the virtual community and to gratify their pre-existing cognition. Furthermore, users of Facebook perceive their virtual friends' images according to their own perceptions. Looking glass theory of self paved the way for a better understanding of the topic. Results certify the hypothesis that most people use Facebook to build an ideal identity. Keywords: Shared content, Virtual Personality, Self, Ideal Identity


Deformation and fracture behavior in aluminum and Al–1.0 mass%Mg alloy wire were investigated under cyclic bending test with the maximum strains up to 0.02 at the specimen surface, in order to develop light weight electric wire for automobiles. Microstructural aspects and geometrical characteristics of the fatigue crack initiation sites were examined where electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) analysis were employed to make the relationship between partially cracked grain boundaries and activated slip systems clarified. Grain size strongly affected the number of cycles to fracture. The fatigue cracks were generated at the grain boundaries with the inclination angles of 40–60 degrees against the tension-compression direction. Both deformation continuity at the grain boundaries and the work hardening inside crystal grains have effects on the number of cycles to fracture in the cyclic bending. (Received December 5, 2017 Accepted January 29, 2018)


Modeling contact in multibody simulation is a difficult problem frequently characterized by numerically brittle algorithms, long running times, and inaccurate (with respect to theory) models. We present a comprehensive evaluation of four methods for contact modeling on seven benchmark scenarios in order to quantify the performance of these methods with respect to robustness and speed. We also assess the accuracy of these methods where possible. We conclude the paper with a prescriptive description in order to guide the user of multibody simulation.


The primary objective of financial managers is to utilize the available resources to increase the company value that would lead to the shareholders' wealth maximization. The wealth maximization is the major challenge facing firms as a result of financial sub-optimality. The study examined the relationship between financing decision and shareholders' wealth maximization. Ex-post facto research design was adopted. Data were extracted from a sample of thirty-five (35) non-financial firms listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange for a period of ten (10) years (2008 to 2017), giving 350 firm-year observations. The effect of self-financing, equity-financing and debt-financing on market value added were empirically tested using multiple linear regression analysis. The findings indicated that financing decision had significant effect on market value added; self-financing had positive and significant effect on market value added, equity-financing negatively and significantly affected market value added while debtfinancing (DFD) had insignificant negative effect on market value added. Results further revealed that firm size significantly controlled the effect of financing decision on market value added. The study opined that management should enhance their financial planning strategy and increase the asset base of the firm for the achievement of shareholders' wealth maximization objective.


There are three important types of structural properties that remain unchanged under the structural transformation of condensed matter physics and chemistry. They are the properties that remain unchanged under the structural periodic transformation-periodic properties. The properties that remain unchanged under the structural multi scale transformation-fractal properties. The properties that remain unchanged under the structural continuous deformation transformation-topological properties. In this paper, we will describe topological properties and characterizations in three layers: the first layer is intuitive concept, characterizations and applications, the second layer is logical physics understanding of topological properties, characterizations and applications, and the third layer is the nature of topological properties and its power. Duality and trinity are viewed as intrinsically topological objects and are recognized as common knowledge shared among human society activity, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and many other kinds of nature science and technology. Some important methods used so far to characterize the topological properties, including topological index, topological order, topological invariant, topology class and the topology partition are discussed. The theories of molecular topology, topological quantum matter including topological insulators, topological metal and topological superconductors and topological quantum computing are reviewed. The development of the topological duality connection between the qubit and singularity via topological space time is briefly introduced. We will see the use of iterated function systems (IFS)to simulate the connection between singularities and their qubit control codes. The novel applications of topology in integrated circuits technology are also discussed in this paper.


Much research work has recently been carried out on increasing the recording density on a first-surface optical disk using the combination of a blue-violet laser diode and high-NA lens. In order to achieve higher recording densities for removable magneto-optical (MO) disks, an optical flying head (OFH) with an integrated magnetic field modulation (MFM) coil and high-NA lens has been developed. The combination of the OFH and high-density media technology is expected to lead to an areal density of 100 Gb/in/sup 2/ and a data-transfer rate of 100 Mbps. In this paper, we give an overview of an optical disk system using an OFH that is suitable for use with removable MO media. We also present the structure of a mechanism for high-precision tracking by this system.


River is one of the natural resources that are often used for various purposes. However, the river also often causes problems that is flood. The occurrence of floods can be caused byseveral things such as river flow is too large, rain is too heavy, misuse of maanfaat river by humans, river capacity is reduced due to sedimentation, and others. Based on the above, astudy is needed to plan the flood control building that is economically feasible. Thelocation of this river is located in the tourist area, it is necessary to touch the arrangementof the area in the form of fence and paving above the embankment and greening so that theriver embankment is expected to be a new destination for tourism in Badung regency.The development of course requires a huge investment cost so it is deemed necessary toanalyze the financial feasibility to know the development of the infrastructure along withthe arrangement around it as a tourist destination provides long-term and sustainablebenefits. Output from this research is financial feasibility decision with monte carlosimulation method which determined by variable of NPV, BCR and IRR. The researchstages are divided into three stages: analysis of project costs, direct and indirect projectbenefit analysis and investment feasibility analysis. The result of the research shows fromthe calculation of financial feasibility by taking into account the sensitivity at the minimuminterest rate of 12 % and maximum of 15% is got obtained value variable feasibility asfollows, the NPV value with the likelihood level of NPV ≤ Rp.29,692,664,381.20 of 50%with minimum NPV value Rp. 22,156,681,844.01 and maximum of Rp.39,030,628,589,32  ,average value of BCR 11,694 with minimum BCR value equal to 8,922 and value of BCRmaximum equal to 14,987 with cumulative value of BCR ≤ 11,694 equal to 40% and valueBCR ≥ 11,694 equal to 60%, and IRR value equal to 0,06%. This value is spread between21,85% to 22,18%. This indicates that when compared to the Minimum Attractive Rate ofReturn (MARR) above the defined MARR of 12%. Correlation analysis with Tornadodiagram shows that the most influential factor in determining the value of the feasibilityindicator of the development of tourism area of  Tukad Mati estuary is the number oftenants and the rental unit price in this case the boat rent is 46,9 up to 47%.


In the few last years, network virtualization concept has attracted a great deal of interest from both industry and research communities as an important enabler for designing the future Internet architecture. It has emerged as a powerful way to deploy different network architectures and protocols over a shared physical infrastructure. A major challenge associated with the deployment of network virtualization in operator infrastructure is how to describe efficiently virtual resources needed for one or many virtualization services. This paper proposes a virtual resources provisioning schema (VN-SLA) that specifies virtual resources properties and associations. Besides, it regulates agreements and interactions between virtualization network actors. We give the specification model of the proposed VN-SLA schema and we illustrate it with an example.


Background: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the major health problems affecting females in Egypt. Certain chromosomal loci abnormalities were proved to be associated with BC in different populations. One of them is chromosomal locus 6q25.1, that affects estrogen receptor gene (ESR) which controls ER receptor expression. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate locus 6q25.1 among group of Egyptian female BC patients and compare the results to healthy matched age controls. Methods: Formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples of sixty newly diagnosed BC patients were sequenced for locus 6q25.1 using genetic analyzer with capillary electrophoresis (3500 GA). The identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were compared to blood samples of forty controls. Realtime PCR using TaqMan probes was used for validation. Results: Two SNPs rs2046210 and rs2046211 were significantly associated with BC. Frequency of rs2046210-A minor allele was 30% in controls, while the frequency of rs2046211-G minor allele was 15%. Rs2046210-A allele was associated with increased risk of BC (P=0.0001), while rs2046211-G allele was associated with reduced risk of BC (P=0.021). Combined analysis of both SNPs showed that haplotype A/C was associated with increased risk of BC (P = 0.042). No significant correlation was found between rs2046210-A allele and ER status, while positive association was observed between rs204621-C allele and ER status (p= 0.005). Conclusion: Our data confirmed the important association between locus 6q25.1 and risk of BC in other populations. The frequencies of minor alleles of both significant SNPs will pave the way for a wider large-scale genome study and to be investigated with other BC risk factors.


The audience/actor relationship can be a fickle one. How many people do you know like to go to the theatre and be asked to participate, to stand on stage or be the butt of a performer's joke? Nowadays most people don't even like to go to a theatre if they know the chairs will be uncomfortable. People prefer movie theater chairs in a theatre atmosphere, the plush, large kind you can sink right into. Most people nowadays go to the theatre for the same reason they go to see a movie, in order to escape and to consume. But theatre was not always like that. In times of ritual performance there was little to no distinction between the actors and members of the audience, they actually needed each other in order to create. This book charts a specific path of the audience/actor relationship, one that moves from ritual performance to contemporary times in which the audience goes from witness to patron, then client to consumer. It explores reasons behind this shift taking a particular interest in how architectural and cultural changes can dictate and affect the relationship. "I've Already Got Your Money Dude" is a look at how commodification has changed the very idea of performance.


A prospective technology for manufacturing thermoplastic composites is based on hybrid commingled yarns. The hybrid yarns are further processed into semi-impregnated thermoplastic preforms in the form of woven or non-crimped fabrics, which are consolidated and molded in a single processing step. The quality of the component distribution in yarn is known to affect the mechanical properties of the manufactured composites. As part of a quality management system for the manufacturing process of thermoplastic composites based on commingling yarns, a new method for analyzing the blending quality along the length of commingled structures is presented in this work. By using this method, a new blending index (kb,yarn ) is introduced as a measure of the quality of commingled yarns. The blending index combines the existing coefficients of the lateral and radial distribution of fibers in the cross-section of hybrid yarns. Within this paper, the new analysis method is explained in detail using the example of glass fiber/polyamide 6 (GF/PA) commingled yarns. Due to the combination of the yarn analysis along the yarn axis and in its cross section, the new method allows for the first time a reliable comparison of the blending quality in commingled yarns used for the manufacturing of thermoplastic composites.


Many nations have addressed the need to produce graduates who are multilingual in the effort to compete in the global society. Malaysia has acknowledged the importance of proficiency in a third language in order to develop human capital that drives the keconomy as well as competes in the international arena. This study investigated Malaysian students' motivation to learn a foreign language. Triangulation of methods consisting of survey questionnaire, document analysis and focus group discussion were employed for data collection. A survey based on a 16-item questionnaire was formulated and more than 500 students from University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) responded to the survey. Responses to the survey were subjected to the Rasch and descriptive analyses in order to capture salient features of students' responses. The findings of the study indicate that UKM and UiTM students were extrinsically and intrinsically motivated to learn a foreign language. The results of the t-test, however, indicate a significant difference in terms of the motivation of students from the two universities.


"The Astors" is a catalogue of achievement, influence and scandal among the world's elite, assembled from archive sources in two continents. The Astors originated in Germany. They became millionaires in America. They exercised political and social leadership there and in Britain. The Astor family have left their mark on history as well as on the landscapes in which they lived and they personify two centuries of changing Anglo-American relations. Astors were seldom strangers to controversy: John Jacob I, a poor immigrant, became the richest man in America and adviser to presidents; the introverted eccentric, William Waldorf, created the splendours of Cliveden and Hever Castle; Nancy became the first female MP; Bill, 3rd Viscount, was involved in the Profumo scandal, the truth of which is told here, thanks to access to hitherto secret papers.


A key step in the life cycle of many viruses, including bacteriophages, adenoviruses, and herpesviruses, is the packaging of replicated viral genomes into pre-assembled proheads by the action of ATP-dependent portal motor complexes. Here we present a method that allows the initiation of packaging by single complexes to be studied using optical tweezers. A procedure is developed for assembling phage Φ29 prohead-motor complexes, which are demonstrated to bind and begin translocation of a target DNA molecule within only a few seconds. We show that the Φ29 DNA terminal protein (gene product 3), which functions to prime DNA replication, also has a dramatic effect on packaging. The DNA tether length measured immediately after binding varied from ~30-100% of the full length, yet shortened monotonically, indicating that packaging does not strictly begin at the terminal end of the DNA. Removal of the terminal protein eliminated this variability, causing packaging to initiate at or very near the end of the DNA. These findings, taken together with electron microscopy data, suggest that rather than simply threading into the portal, the motor captures and dynamically tensions a DNA loop, and that the function of the terminal protein is to load DNA segments on both sides of the loop junction onto separate DNA translocating units.


DNA data embedding is a relatively recent area which aims at embedding arbitrary information in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) strands. One interesting application of DNA data embedding can be tracing pathways of genetic material in novel ways. This paper explores the decoding performance of several DNA data embedding algorithms proposed in the literature, which are also briefly reviewed. DNA may undergo random mutations, which can cause errors at the decoding stage of such algorithms. Although some proposed methods do account for such errors, decoding performance under mutations has not been previously studied in general. The empirical performance comparison that we provide here allows to fairly compare a number of DNA data embedding algorithms under mutations for the first time. The evaluation is undertaken in silico by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Additionally, we propose two new DNA data embedding algorithms with good robustness properties. Keywords-DNA Data Embedding; Decoding Performance; DNA watermarking


Down syndrome (DS) is the most common aneuploid disorder at birth. The life expectancy of persons with DS has improved over the last forty years and is now at about sixty years. Phenotypic characteristics include general hypotonia, maxillary hypoplasia with a small oral cavity and a somewhat larger appearing tongue, frequent constricted maxillary arch, nasal obstruction and others. This prospective study assesses the effects of rapid maxillary expansion (RME) on nasal patency of children with DS, using acoustic rhinometry (AR). Twenty four children with DS, aged 5 to 12 years, had been randomly allocated to the RME and control groups. AR was performed to these individuals prior to expansion, approximately one month after, post maximal expansion, and after a 5 months period of retention. The data between the two groups were compared. Rapid maxillary expansion produced a significant augmentation of nasal volume in children who had been treated (p < 0.05) compared to the control group; these results were stable through the period of retention.


ABSTRACT Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) (Berliner) strain LLP29 produces a crystal protein Cyt1Aa6 toxic to mosquito vectors of human diseases. However, the susceptibility of Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) in the current study was 8.25 times higher than that of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) with this single protein Cyt1Aa6 purified from LLP29. To understand the mechanism of the novel mosquitocidal protein, the binding characteristic of brush border membrane vesicles from the two tested mosquitoes was investigated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that Cyt1Aa6 bound to the two mosquitoes' brush border membrane vesicles. However, the titer of Ae. albopictus was a little higher than that of Cx. quinquefasciatus, with 3.21 and 2.91, respectively. Ligand Western blot analysis showed Cyt1Aa6 toxin specifically bound to the same three proteins (i.e., 68, 54, and 26 kDa) in the two mosquitoes, but one another protein, approximately to 37 kDa, could just be detected in Cx. quinquefasciatus. However, little difference was found in the test of immunohistochemistry. Cyt1Aa6 was detected in the midguts of both mosquitoes with histopathological changes. It would of great importance to the knowledge of the novel toxin against to Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ae. albopictus.


Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have recently been introduced to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) diagnosis. Despite their encouraging prospects, most of the existing models only process AD-related brain atrophy on a single spatial scale, and have high computational complexity. Here, we propose a novel Attention-based 3D Multi-scale CNN model (AMSNet), which can better capture and integrate multiple spatial-scale features of AD, with a concise structure. For the binary classification between 384 AD patients and 389 Cognitively Normal (CN) controls using sMRI scannings, AMSNet achieves remarkable overall performance (91.3% accuracy, 88.3% sensitivity, and 94.2% specificity) with fewer parameters and lower computational load, generally surpassing seven comparative models. Furthermore, AMSNet generalizes well in other AD-related classification tasks, such as the three-way classification (AD-MCI-CN). Our results manifest the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed multi-scale spatial feature integration and attention mechanism used in AMSNet for AD classification, and provide potential biomarkers to explore the neuropathological causes of AD.


We propose an elicitation method for quantifying an expert's opinion about an uncertain population mean and variance. The method involves eliciting judgements directly about the population mean or median, and eliciting judgements about the population proportion with a particular characteristic, as a means of inferring the expert's beliefs about the variance. The method can be used for a range of two-parameter parametric families of distributions, assuming a finite mean and variance. An illustration is given involving an expert's beliefs about the distribution of times taken to translate pages of text. The method can be implemented in R using the package SHELF.


Economic growth and development are macroeconomic problems in the long run. Every country has the opportunity to realize economic growth because the factors of the production increase from one period to another and therefore national income can be increased. National income is one of the important variables in macroeconomic discussions. The term national income is a translation of national income (in full, National Income Accounts). National income does not only calculate national income but also calculates expenditures, even for goods and products nationally. These calculations are performed periodically, usually in annual or quarterly units of time. Since national income can mean all income, all expenditure, or all production of goods and services, the calculation can be made based on the type of economic activity. In Islamic economics, national income is measured by the parameter Falah, namely true welfare and welfare. The sources of national income according to Islam are zakat, fai, and ghanimah. In a literal sense, Falah is glory and victory in life. For the life of the world, Falah includes three definitions, namely survival, freedom of desire, and strength and honor. As for the hereafter, Falah includes the meaning of eternal life, prosperity and eternal glory, and eternal knowledge.


Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a key biogeochemical control in coastal systems, and its concentration and drivers vary markedly through time and space. This makes it difficult to accurately represent coastal DO and associated biogeochemical processes in models, limiting our ability to predict how these systems will respond to global change. We obtained high‐frequency (5‐min) in situ measurements of DO collected at three locations across the interface of a tidal creek and coastal marsh in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Random Forest machine learning models quantified the importance of three categories of environmental drivers (Aquatic, Climatic, and Terrestrial) of DO variability across the creek–marsh interface. We selected two 4‐month datasets representing Summer and Winter seasonal periods to test two hypotheses on the dominant drivers of DO at the coastal interface. We found that the Terrestrial driver—characterized by long periods of anaerobic conditions and episodic pulses in DO after floods—was most important during the Winter, whereas the Aquatic driver—characterized by variability over tidal, diel, and lunar cycles—was most important during the Summer. We explored how future climate change scenarios could alter the drivers of DO variability using a cumulative sums driver–response framework. Our results suggest that under climate change, Aquatic and Climatic drivers may increase in importance during the Summer, potentially linked to changing metabolic regimes and sea level, with Terrestrial driver importance potentially increasing during the Winter. Our approach highlights useful methods for understanding the spatiotemporal complexity of oxygen across coastal interfaces and quantifying the relative importance of distinct environmental drivers.


Competitive global markets oblige the firms to reduce their overall costs while maintaining the same customer service level and this can be achieved just through a precise and efficient management of their supply chain network. The Fixed Charge Transportation Problem (FCTP) which is a more comprehensive type of Transportation Problem (TP) has several applications from different aspects in this network. Since the problem is NP-hard and solving this problem with decisive methods and heuristics will be computationally time consuming and expensive, two Genetic Algorithm are applied for this problem and also two fuzzy logic controllers are developed to automatically tune two critical parameters (Pc and Pm) of one of these two GAs. Finally the results from the simple conventional GA and automatically tuned GA are compared together. This comparison demonstrated that the GA that is tuned with FLC reach the local optimum remarkably faster.


Attention to girls psychological health and well-being in adolescence reduces their psychological disorders in higher ages. The objective of the present research is investigating positive psychological education on psychological well-being in bad-parenting and non-parenting girls, the present research is applied, and its design is pretest-post-test with control group. Sample includes 30 non-parenting and bad-parenting girls of Mashhad well-being administration which were selected as volunteer and responded to positive psychological education in two pretest-post-test steps to Ryff psychological well-being scale. Positive psychological education was executed in 8 ninety-minute sessions. According to obtained results from covariance, there was significant difference between averages of psychological well-being post-test and control test (P<0.001; F=120.52) Positive psychological education increases psychological well-being in non-parenting and bad-parenting girls. Therefore, it had better educational services and promoting programs be based on positive psychology with proper methods such as education based on solution or participation of active people in discussion or formulated planning procces


As major components of the random matrix theory, Gaussian random matrices have been playing an important role in many "elds, because they are both unitary invariant and have independent entries and can be used as models for multivariate data or multivariate phenomena. Tail bounds for eigenvalues of Gaussian random matrices are one of the hot study problems. In this paper, we present tail and expectation bounds for the l1 norm of Gaussian random matrices, respectively. Moreover, the tail and expectation bounds for the l1 norm of the Gaussian Wigner matrix are calculated based on the resulting bounds. Compared with existing results, our results are more suitable for the high-dimensional matrix case. Finally, we study the tail bounds for the parameter vector of some existing regularization algorithms.


The paper gives a general theory designed mainly for application to the two types of vacuum lamps commonly used in optical pyrometry: namely, the heavy-current strip lamps which serve as standards for calibration and the fine filament lamps embodied in the pyrometers themselves. Simplifying assumptions are made regarding the properties of tungsten, namely, that resistivity and emissivity both vary directly as the absolute temperature, while thermal conductivity remains constant. These allow a complete solution of the main differential equation governing temperature distribution. A comparison of results obtained in this way with a few computations, specially undertaken without resort to the resistivity and emissivity assumptions, shows that the simplifications suffice for all practical purposes. Further, the general agreement between the calculated and observed characteristics of lamps suggests that no great error results from the assumption of constant thermal conductivity. However, other simplifications are also briefly considered. The problems treated on the basis indicated are as follows: the distribution of temperature along a filament of known dimensions, carrying a constant current and with its ends at a constant temperature; the voltage on, and resistance of, such a filament; the temperature coefficients of calibration, i.e. the change in maximum temperature with change in surrounding temperature with the filament run at constant amps, volts or ohms, as the case may be; the modifications of the above mentioned characteristics due to appreciable gradients in the leads, and the asymmetry of distribution induced by the Peltier and Thomson effects. These subjects are treated generally for short filaments and also for the simpler case of infinitely long filaments to which, in fact, many lamps tend to conform. In addition to these matters, which are all concerned with the steady state of temperature distribution, the approach to that state is considered under conditions giving an estimate of the maximum speed of response attainable in practice. Numerical examples of the formulae developed are given for typical lamps and some of these are compared with other calculations and with observations. For pyrometer lamps a table is given showing how their main characteristics can be estimated, with fair accuracy, merely from a knowledge of the filament dimensions, or, in the case of existing lamps, by means of a simple test. Suggestions are also made for possible modifications in the design of standard strip lamps.


Caudipteryx zoui is a small enigmatic theropod known from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of the People's Republic of China. From the time of its initial description, this taxon has stimulated a great deal of ongoing debate regarding the phylogenetic relationship between non-avialan theropods and birds (Avialae) because it preserves structures that have been uncontroversially accepted as feathers (albeit aerodynamically unsuitable for flight). However, it has also been proposed that both the relative proportions of the hind limb bones (when compared with overall leg length), and the position of the center of mass in Caudipteryx are more similar to those seen in extant cusorial birds than they are to other non-avialan theropod dinosaurs. This conclusion has been used to imply that Caudipteryx may not have been correctly interpreted as a feathered non-avialan theropod, but instead that this taxon represents some kind of flightless bird. We review the evidence for this claim at the level of both the included fossil specimen data, and in terms of the validity of the results presented. There is no reason-phylogenetic, morphometric or otherwise-to conclude that Caudipteryx is anything other than a small non-avialan theropod dinosaur.


Tests for asymmetric adjustment in possibly nonstationary, nearly nonstationary, or stationary time series data are developed. The asymmetry is modeled by the momentum threshold autoregressive model of Enders and Granger and an extension of it. The tests are t-type tests and Wald tests based on instrumental-variable estimators and are asymptotically normal or chi-squared regardless of stationarity/nonstationarity of data-generating processes. This is in contrast to the fact that the ttests and the Wald tests based on the ordinary least squares estimator (OLSE) are asymptotically normal and chisquared, respectively, only under stationarity and are thus statistically invalid under nonstationarity. A Monte Carlo simulation shows that the proposed tests have stable sizes. Powers of the proposed tests against stationary alternatives are comparable to those of the OLSE-based tests. The Monte Carlo study also shows that the new estimators are less biased than the OLSE when data-generating processes are random walks. The proposed tests are applied to a monthly U.K. interest-rate dataset to find evidences for asymmetry in directions of adjustments as well as in amounts of adjustments.


This paper explores recent controversies concerning the disposal of embryonic and fetal remains in order to ask how such remains came to be classified as "medical waste." Based on archival research into the social history of human embryo collecting in Baltimore, Maryland, in the early 20th century, I argue that the classification of embryos and fetal remains as medical waste can be traced to a pragmatic alliance between embryologists and state functionaries. Embryologists relied on the state to assist them in acquiring thousands of human embryo remains for scientific study, while state authorities relied on embryologists to provide authoritative knowledge that could be used to facilitate state control over nascent citizens. This alliance contributed to the development of an "embryological worldview," in which human embryos were cast as objective biological "specimens" of use only to embryologists. This exclusive view of the social value of embryos and fetal tissue is now being challenged as other constituencies claim jurisdiction over the remains in order to advance diverse social agendas.


Aromatic poly(ether sulfone)s are a family of amorphous thermoplastics that possess unique high performance properties as engineering materials: high strength, the highest service temperature of all melt-processable thermoplastics, low creep, good electrical characteristics, transparency, self-extinguishing properties and resistance to greases, many solvents and chemicals. They may be processed by extrusion and injection molding. Since the chemical and physical properties of polymers may be tailored by the chemist for particular needs, they gained importance in the construction of sensor devices. The knowledge of new materials, such as polysulfone allows to expand the possibilities of constructing potentiometric and amperometric sensors. Recently polysulfones have been used in the fabrication of sensors in various fields such as: humidity sensor, gas sensors, biosensors, immobilization of enzyme, enzyme membrane reactor, etc.


In Kenya, the Ministry of Education has set the pass mark for university entry examination as C plus and above. Using publicly available data for 2006-2010, differences in KCSE performance amongst the three types of schools in Kenya—boys only, girls only, and mixed schools—was assessed. A generalized estimating equations marginal model was applied in order to account for association between scores within a school in the five year period. To account for the missing data, multiple imputation was performed followed by estimation and inference. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between the three type of schools in their candidates' odds of attaining the stipulated minimum university entry grade. However, the odds of success in KCSE did not depend on the year under review as was evident in the slope parameters which was not statistically significant. Although it was clear that same-gender schools perform better than mixed gender schools, there is need to weigh the social benefits of mixed-schools against respective performance in KCSE. This should guide the policy makers on the way forward with regards to the education policy in Nakuru County.


(Dated: The interface effects of quark matter play important roles in the properties of compact stars and small nuggets such as strangelets and ud QM nuggets. By introducing a density derivative term to the Lagrangian density and adopting Thomas-Fermi approximation, we find it is possible to reproduce the results obtained by solving Dirac equations. Adopting certain parameter sets, the energy per baryon of ud QM nuggets decreases with baryon number A and become more stable than nuclei at A > ∼ 300. The effects of quark matter symmetry energy are examined, where ud QM nuggets at A ≈ 1000 can be more stable than others if large symmetry energy is adopted. In such cases, larger ud QM nuggets will decay via fission and the surface of an ud QM star will fragment into a crust made of ud QM nuggets and electrons, which resembles the cases of a strange star's crust. The corresponding microscopic structures are then investigated adopting spherical and cylindrical approximations for the Wigner-Seitz cell, where the droplet phase is found to be the most stable configuration with ud QM stars' crusts and ud QM dwarfs made of ud QM nuggets ( A ≈ 1000) and electrons. For the cases considered here, the crust thickness of ud QM stars is typically ∼ 200 m, which reaches a few kilometers if we neglect the interface effects and adopt Gibbs construction. The masses and radii of ud QM dwarfs are smaller than typical white dwarfs, which would increase if the interface effects are neglected.


We report on the analysis of the Kepler short-cadence (SC) light curve of V344 Lyr obtained during 2009 June 20 through 2010 March 19 (Q2–Q4). The system is an SU UMa star showing dwarf nova (DN) outbursts and superoutbursts, and promises to be a touchstone for CV studies for the foreseeable future. The system displays both positive and negative superhumps with periods of 2.20 and 2.06 hr, respectively, and we identify an orbital period of 2.11 hr. The positive superhumps have a maximum amplitude of ∼0.25 mag, the negative superhumps have a maximum amplitude of ∼0.8 mag, and the orbital period at quiescence has an amplitude of ∼0.025 mag. The quality of the Kepler data is such that we can test vigorously the models for accretion disk dynamics that have been emerging in the past several years. The SC data for V344 Lyr are consistent with the model that two physical sources yield positive superhumps: early in the superoutburst, the superhump signal is generated by viscous dissipation within the periodically flexing disk, but late in the superoutburst, the signal is generated as the accretion stream bright spot sweeps around the rim of the non-axisymmetric disk. The disk superhumps are roughly anti-phased with the stream/late superhumps. The V344 Lyr data also reveal negative superhumps arising from accretion onto a tilted disk precessing in the retrograde direction and suggest that negative superhumps may appear during the decline of DN outbursts. The period of negative superhumps has a positive in between outbursts.


The author interrogates the critical question of whether forcible humanitarian intervention be legitimised in spite of clear contradiction to the classical norms of inter-state relations. Classical approach puts emphasize on the principle of sovereignty when governments become the perpetrators of human rights abuses of their citizens, or if states have collapsed into civil war, chaos, and disorder. The author examines this security debate by juxtaposing the age-old doctrine of humanitarian intervention vis-a-vis the imperatives of the concept of 'Responsibility to Protect'. The author argues that humanitarian intervention, due to the ambiguities and controversies surrounding its application, has become an anachronism, which ultimately led to the conceptualisation of Responsibility to Protect vulnerable populations. This approach is based on its concerns with human security as against that of the state and its relevance as arbiter to the longstanding discord between sovereignty and intervention.


Tool support for mobile application development can significantly improve programmer productivity and software quality. Pegboard is a novel tooling framework that extends the Eclipse integrated development environment to support the development of mobile distributed applications. Its extensible design supports multiple application models and the orchestration of external tooling components throughout the development cycle. In this paper we describe Pegboard's architecture and implementation, and show how it improves the development experience through organization, visualization, simplification and guidance. We also discuss insights gained from interviewing software developers, including early users of Pegboard.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS OF THE STUDY
This study aimed to investigate the early postoperative Doppler-derived hemodynamic results from the first patients receiving the On-XR prosthetic heart valve, a new bileaflet, pyrolytic carbon valve.

METHODS
Data were derived from 111 patients included in a 10-center international trial between September 1996 and December 1997.

RESULTS
The effective orifice area (EOA) for the valve, when implanted in the aortic position, ranged from 1.5 to 2.7 cm2 in 19 mm to 25 mm valves. The corresponding mean pressure gradients ranged from 11.8 to 7.6 mmHg. Mitral EOA was 2.3 cm2 for all sizes, these values being combined because the housing was identical for all mitral valves used in this study. The mitral mean gradient was 4.7 mmHg.

CONCLUSIONS
Early results of the study show the good hemodynamic performance of the On-X valve when implanted in the aortic or mitral positions.


Acute generalized peritonitis requires precocious diagnosis and immediate treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The purpose of this study is to determine hospital case frequency, to describe the clinical and therapeutic aspects and to evaluate the operating suites. We conducted a prospective study, lasting 16 months, from January 2005 to April 2006, looking at 40 cases of generalized acute peritonitis operated in several services, including a general surgery department, of the Sominé Dolo's hospital of Mopti.

RESULTS
We noted a hospital admittance rate of 3.1% with an average age of 26.3 years old and a 1.66 men to women ratio. Peritonitis at the Sominé Dolo hospital was dominated by intestinal perforation. The diagnosis was essentially made using the clinical approach. The treatment was medico-surgical. Operative mortality was recorded in 7 cases (17.5%) with 7 cases of inner-wall abscesses. The delay of consultations and the Mannheim score were the main factors causing bad prognostics. Excision - sutures associated with a cleansing drainage of the abdominal cavity was the most practised surgical procedure.

CONCLUSION
Mortality remains high. The two factors for a bad prognostic are the delay of consultation and the lack of means for reanimation.


The hepatocarcinogenic responses of rats to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) are believed to depend on microsomal activation of the toxin, followed by macromolecular binding. Dietary protein insufficiency is reported to reduce the level of microsomal metabolism, and therefore would be expected to reduce the AFB1-induced carcinogenicity. Indeed, diminished hepatocarcinogenicity in low-protein diet fed weanling rats that had received AFB1 has been reported. In the present study, carcinogenicity and other toxic effects of AFB1 (0.5 p.p.m.) fed to weanling male Fischer F344 rats on a low-protein diet (5%) or normal-protein (20%) diet for up to 8 weeks were examined. In our study, in contrast with the previous report, all animals that had survived some initial toxicity were found to have developed hepatic tumors or hyperplastic gamma-glutamyltransferase-positive foci a year later. The low-protein diet also produced sub-acute toxicity after AFB1 exposure in the weanling rats, leading to severe histological changes, and the death of about half the animals after 3-4 weeks of exposure. Animals fed an AFB1-containing normal-protein diet also exhibited AFB1-induced hepatocarcinogenicity, but not the sub-acute toxicity. The levels of hepatic enzymes involved in AFB1 metabolism were examined in animals fed the low- or normal-protein diets in the absence of AFB1. The low-protein diet, fed to 3 week weanlings for the subsequent 5 weeks, decreased hepatic cytochrome P450 levels, as well as the in vitro capacity of microsomal fractions to form AFB1-8,9-dihydrodiol, an index of AFB1-8,9-epoxide formation. Rats on a normal-protein diet did not show these changes. This discrepancy between the observed increase in sub-acute toxicity and decrease in microsomal activities in the low-protein fed animals implies that the toxic effects observed in these rats were not directly related to metabolic activation of the toxin. In contrast to the diminished microsomal in vitro AFB1 activation, however, in vivo AFB1-DNA adduct formation ability in rats receiving the low-protein diet in the absence of AFB1 was found to become elevated more rapidly during the 5 week experimental feeding period, compared with animals receiving the normal-protein diet. This was accompanied by a more rapid fall in the levels of AFB1-glutathione S-transferase isozyme activity in the low-protein fed animals. The results of this study on weanling rats support the importance of AFB1-GSH in protecting against the carcinogenic responses to AFB1, and probably also the sub-acute toxicity of the latter.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


miRNAs are a class of small, approximately 22nt, non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. They play profound and pervasive roles in manipulating gene expression involved in cell development, proliferation and apoptosis in various eukaryotes, which, in theory, could provide an access to many human diseases in theory. Recent evidence demonstrates that aberrant miRNA expression is a hallmark of tumor development, revealing that miRNA genes could function as potential oncogenes and repressors in the human body. miRNAs can affect tumorigenesis mainly by interrupting the cell cycle at the cellular level and by interacting with signaling, oncogenes and with the response to environmental factors at the molecular level. The established miRNA expression signature could be a potent tool to diagnose and treat human cancers in the future.


Research as a social practice enacts social hierarchies in the relation between researcher and the researched. Taking up the critique of the consequences of such hierarchies in the production of knowledge, participatory methods aim to decolonize this power relation. This article contributes to this topic by discussing limits of participation, highlighting the often unexpected reemergence of power and hierarchies in a leveled research field. We take a closer look at how inequalities are emerging and negotiated in the research process. Troublings of hierarchies during the research process are considered as eminently productive for the analysis of social inequalities and for maintaining a precarious ethics of care in the research process. Other articles that also contribute to the special issue opened by this contribution analyze sources and expressions of hierarchy and power troubles during qualitative research by putting a specific focus on unforeseen challenges, inversions, and obstacles that arise during research processes. The contributions demonstrate what specific insights into social inequalities can be gained through an analytical focus on such troubles. It is demonstrated that a critical reflection of inequalities in research relations can also be a contribution to research on social inequalities in general.


From 1977 to 1995, 25 of the fungal cultures referred to the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory at The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia were identified as Scedosporium apiospermum, Pseudallescheria boydii, or Scedosporium prolificans. These cultures had been isolated from 22 patients at metropolitan hospitals and three animals at Veterinary Institutes. Eight of the human isolates were identified as P. boydii, 11 as S. apiospermum and three as S. prolificans. Isolates of S. apiospermum and P. boydii were from localised infections in immunocompetent patients, after trauma in two cases; from the lungs of patients with predisposing pulmonary disorders, such as cystic fibrosis or mycobacterial infection; and from immunocompromised patients with haematological malignancies or after heart, lung or heart/lung transplantation. Scedosporium prolificans isolates were from immunocompromised patients, one of whom had received a heart transplant, another had HIV infection and the third suffered with acute myelogenous leukaemia and died with disseminated infection. An isolate from the vaginal discharge of a horse with an infected uterus was identified as S. apiospermum. Isolates from aseptically collected milk samples from a goat and a cow with histories of mastitis, were identified as P. boydii. This study records the spectrum of infections caused by these opportunistic fungal pathogens in Melbourne from 1977 to 1995.


We investigate numerically and analytically the effects of conservation of total translational and angular momentum on the distribution of kinetic energy among particles in microcanonical particle systems with small number of degrees of freedom, specifically microclusters. Molecular dynamics simulations of microclusters with constant total energy and momenta, using Lennard-Jones, Morse, and Coulomb plus Born-Mayer-type potentials, show that the distribution of kinetic energy among particles can be inhomogeneous and depend on particle mass and position even in thermal equilibrium. Statistical analysis using a microcanonical measure taking into account of the additional conserved quantities gives theoretical expressions for kinetic energy as a function of the mass and position of a particle with only O(1/N;{2}) deviation from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. These expressions fit numerical results well. Finally, we propose an intuitive interpretation for the inhomogeneity of the kinetic energy distributions.


YouTube is currently becoming one of the main international platforms for amateur creators attempting to attract followers through a multiplicity of audiovisual content and engagement strategies based on search and algorithmic recommendation systems. In many cases, this environment, and especially its users, try to adapt to a celebrity network pattern on the basis of the construction of seemingly authentic and close relationships, leading to relevant phenomena such as parenting vlogs. This kind of content is focused on the presence of intimate moments that reflect the daily life of influencers or micro-influencers, capturing large numbers of followers, as well as important communication and information strategies. From this perspective, and through a quantitative content analysis of 1,034 videos and more than 900 viewing hours on two very popular YouTube family influencer channels, this study explores the degree of intimacy portrayed in their video content as performative strategies that configure the profiles' post through interactions with followers, brands, and self-promotion. The results suggest that the degree of intimacy shown in this content becomes a performative process for these family youtubers, whereby the more intimate the exposure, the more popular the information offered to the user. In short, this type of content prioritizes the routines of the youtubers, who include their closest family members and friends as a means of attracting attention, while dedicating their time to interacting with brands (advertising) and recording, editing, and submitting a vast amount of personal and private information on the platform (dissemination) in a sort of promotional–private performativity.


We present a framework enabling charging for composed services comprised of services offered by multiple providers. In the framework rating engines may generate charge information for individual services and provide this information upon request to other rating engines when these services are used as part of a composed service. Rating engines additionally employ a two-phase rating process which allows potentially complex business agreements between providers to be reflected in composed service charges. Charges can vary depending on the context in which a service is executed, for example, as part of a composed service which includes services offered by a partner provider. Crucially, the process allows rating engines to calculate these varying charges without having to be manually pre-configured with details of the structure of individual composed services. In the paper we provide an overview of the framework, specifying in detail the rating process and inter-rating engine communications, and describe via an example its deployment in a distributed environment supporting the execution of composed services


This paper examines the trade relations between Australia and Thailand over the period 1990-2011 with special emphasis on the trade patterns and trade performance of these two nations. The trade patterns are examined with regard to the changes in trade composition, the intra-industry trade index and trade intensity index. Trade performance is measured with the aid of standard techniques used in the literature such as the revealed comparative advantage index, the cosine index of trade similarity, net exports ratio and constant market share analysis (CMS). The findings of the paper suggest that the composition of bilateral trade has changed significantly since the 1990s. These changes have resulted from the economic and trade reforms that have taken place in these two countries during the period under review. The changes reflect shifts in the production structures of each economy which are indicative of long-term economic structural changes. It is evident that the Thai-Australian trade relationship has undergone further adjustment since the establishment of the Thailand Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) in 2005. However, the changes in trade patterns are not necessarily due to TAFTA but, rather, part of a long term trend. With regard to the trade performance of each nation, the strongest trade link between the two countries has been the export of automotive vehicles from Thailand to Australia. Moreover, the CMS analysis indicates that Thailand's export competitiveness significantly contributed to the remarkable growth of exports to Australia it experienced over the period. In comparison, Australia's export growth to Thailand did not result from any improvements in its competitiveness. In fact, Australian exports to Thailand have suffered; the main reason being that Australia enjoys competitiveness in commodities, which are not in big demand in Thailand.


Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy seems likely to increase mortality rates and delay the easing of social distancing restrictions Online platforms with large audiences may influence vaccine hesitancy by spreading fear and misinformation that is avoided by the mainstream media Understanding what types of vaccine hesitancy information is shared on the popular social web site Twitter may therefore help to design interventions to address misleading attitudes This study applies content analysis to a random sample of 446 vaccine hesitant Covid-19 tweets in English posted between 10 March and 5 December 2020 The main themes discussed were conspiracies, vaccine development speed, and vaccine safety Most (79%) of those tweeting refusal to take a vaccine expressed right-wing opinions, fear of a deep state, or conspiracy theories A substantial minority of vaccine refusers (18%) mainly tweeted non-politically about other themes The topics on Twitter reflect vaccine concerns, but those stating vaccine refusal in non-political contexts may unsettle the wider Twitter network by reaching outside right-wing areas of Twitter


UNESCO's placement of the large, multi-story communal vernacular buildings known as tulou (土楼, rammed earth building) on its World Heritage List, and the touristic development that followed, has produced great social transformations among the Hakka people of Southeast China who reside in these impressive dwellings. My research explores the impact of UNESCO-inspired tourism on community life in Hongkeng village (Yongding Hakka Tulou Folk Culture Village). In this brief essay, I explore the local reshaping of space and social relationships to illustrate the ways that heritage tourism transforms everyday life and local culture. My special interest in the larger project from which this essay draws is the ways that local people negotiate such transformations. The negotiation process involves local people adapting to the new heritage phenomenon and navigating situations of frequent cultural contact and regular conflicts of interest. On the one hand, heritage and tourism contribute to the museumification of local life and culture. Local government and natives consciously or subconsciously represent their identity and tradition as well as produce localness through the decoration and reshaping of local living space. On the other hand, heritage tourism activities result in new forms of social interaction that challenge local genealogical social structure and family relationships. In such circumstances, new modes and patterns of community interaction and local cultural practices are generated under the transformative forces of heritage and tourism. My investigations into the spatial, cultural, and social spheres of local life in Hongkeng aim to help understand the transformation of an indigenous community while it is engaging in (and with) heritage practices such as listing, landmarking, representation, historical recreation, cultural commodification, and touristic management. [


Background: A biosynthetic ginsenoside, 3-O- β -D-glucopyranosyl-12-O- β -D-glucopyrano-syl-dammar-24-ene-3 β , 12 β , 20S-triol (C 3 C 12 PPD), showed antitumor activity against many tumor cells in vitro, especially had better anti-lung cancer activity than Rg3 in vitro and in vivo. However, the effects and molecular mechanisms of C 3 C 12 PPD on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear. According to previous studies, we hypothesized ginsenoside C 3 C 12 PPD could inhibit the tumor growth of NSCLC by targeting proliferation, migration and angiogenesis. Methods: A thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide assay (MTT) was performed to evaluate cell viability. Additionally, Transwell and tube formation assays were conducted to analyze cell migration and angiogenesis. The Lewis and A549 tumor xenograft experiments were also performed to investigate the effects of C 3 C 12 PPD on tumor growth in vivo, Western blotting and IHC assay were performed to analyze protein expression. Results: C 3 C 12 PPD could effectively inhibit the proliferation and migration of lung cancer cells, and tube formation of EA.hy926 cell. Ginsenoside C 3 C 12 PPD suppressed Lewis and A549 tumor growth in vivo without obvious side effects on body weight and the hematology index. In addition, the Western blot analysis revealed that the effects of C 3 C 12 PPD on lung cancer were mediated by inhibiting Raf/MEK/ERK, AKT/mTOR and AKT/GSK-3 β / β -Catenin signaling pathways. Finally, C 3 C 12 PPD could signi fi cantly inhibit the proliferation index and vessel number in Lewis xenograft tumors analyzed by IHC. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that ginsenoside C 3 C 12 PPD may serve as a potential therapeutic candidate compound against NSCLC. 120.6±11.59 Abbreviations: WBC, white blood cells; RBC, red blood


The aim of this guidance is to provide GPs with an understanding as to how specialist mental health services manage referrals of people with depression. This guidance also provides a basic guide to the treatment of depression and has been developed as a collaborative initiative between the Irish College of General Practitioners and the College of Psychiatry of Ireland.


Two spectrum analysis techniques, namely Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and power spectral density (PSD),
were used for data preprocessing as part of development of neural networks for prediction of the rheological properties of
a cookie dough. The raw data were extracted from the mixing power consumption curves acquired during mixing of the
dough. The rheological properties studied were farinograph peak, extensibility and maximum resistance. Two types of
neural networks, namely back propagation (BP) and general regression neural network (GRNN) with different
architectures were developed for this study. The prediction accuracy of these networks when trained with the raw data, or
FFT or PSD treated data was evaluated. The results indicate that the FFT and PSD treated data retained most of the
characteristics of the raw data but with reduced noise and size. The performance of the networks trained with FFT or
PSD treated data was found to be comparable with that of the networks trained with the raw data. For the BP network,
the FFT treatment slightly improved the network performance while the PSD treatment resulted in a slightly higher but
acceptable APE. It was noted that the farinograph peak and extensibility were better predicted than the maximum
resistance by the neural network techniques. The prediction of maximum resistance was greatly improved by using a
GRNN trained with the FFT or PSD treated data. It is therefore concluded that the spectrum analysis techniques used in
the study can greatly improve the efficiency of the neural networks for the prediction of dough rheology while preserve
prediction accuracy.