Background: Despite widespread vaccination against measles in Bangladesh outbreak continue to occur. The Objective of the study was to see the demographic characteristics of patients who had the diagnosis of measles at Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital and occurrence of measles from the time of vaccination.Methodology: This retrospective study was conducted on patient who were diagnosed as measles at Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital between 1st January 2017 to 30th April 2017. The diagnosis of measles based on clinical features and laboratory confirmation. Demographic characteristics of patients and occurrence of measles from the time of vaccination was recorded. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 21.Results: Total 13864 patients were admitted during the study period and among them 23 were confirmed as measles. Rate of measles was found as 0.16% among hospitalized children with male predominance. Among the measles patients age of onset was <9 months in 2(8.7%), 9-12 months in 8(34.8%), 13-14 months in 11(47.8%) and 15 months and above in 2(8.6%) cases. Among 23 measles patients vaccine was not given in 2(8.7%) patients, one dose of vaccine was given in 19(82.60%) patients and two doses of vaccine were given in 2(8.7%) patients. Most of the measles patients came after one vaccination which means after first dose. Though measles incidence significantly reduced after the successful introduction of measles vaccination in EPI, still measles are prevalent in our country and occurs before completion of two doses of vaccine.Conclusion: Majority of measles cases developed before completion of two doses of vaccine though the successful measles vaccination are going on.Bangladesh J Child Health 2018; VOL 42 (1) :15-18


The paper presents an experience in the development of a web-based learning environment in project management, capable of building and conducting a complete and personalized training cycle for each learner. The initial design solution was based on IMS Learning Design standard. After the development of a first prototype, it was decided to redesign the system in order to move it gradually towards a service-oriented e-learning solution.


THE CLINICAL application of lung transplantation awaits the resolution of the immunological mechanism responsible for homograft rejection. Lung transplantation in the dog has become feasible as a result of resolution of technical difficulties. 1,2 In order to study homotransplantation intelligently it would appear necessary to develop techniques for autotransplantation (reimplantation). One is immediately impressed with the dearth of reports in the literature concerning reimplantation of an entire lung in the experimental animal with longterm survival. Borrie 3 has been working with sheep for years and has not yet been able to obtain a long-term survivor with a functional reimplanted lung. In 1951 Juvenelle et al. 4 reported the first successful reimplantation; on sacrifice 35 months later this animal had a functioning lung. Neptune et al. 1 in 1953 described a one-year survivor of lung reimplantation with normal function as determined by bronchospirometry. In 1959 we obtained a successful reimplantation which


Employees' interests of SOEs are composed of 9 factors. Among them, job stability, experience, and human relations are best realized. Career planning, management participation, and pays are worst realized. Performance of SOEs was discussed in two dimensions: task performance and contextual performance. The former is driven by career planning, experience, and human relations. The latter is driven by affiliation, career planning, job stability, and benefits. SOEs should transfer more resources and efforts from improving benefits and working conditions to enhancing employees' psychological affiliation to SOEs


The author wishes to amplify Christiansen's recent communication [P.L. Christiansen, "On the closed form of the array factor for linear arrays," IEEE Trans. on Antennas and Prop. (Commun.), vol. AP-11, p. 198, March, 1963.] on the use of Z-transform theory for obtaining a closed form for the array polynomial of linear antenna arrays. He is convinced that his proposed approach provides a concise and convenient way for linear array analysis, and his new results will be useful. In his communication Christiansen stressed that the Z-transform approach does not require that the envelope function of the current distribution be periodic, nor is the approach limited to envelope functions with a linear phase relation. That a unit gate function could be used in cases where the amplitude envelope is not representable by a periodic function was pointed out previously by the present author [1960]. Christiansen gave the array factor of a very complicated amplitude distribution function without showing the intermediate steps. In an effort to clarify the situation, two examples are provided that may prove to be helpful to interested readers.


When forced by horizontal vibrations, granular material responds over a wide range of time scales. These include rapid shearing, harmonic response, period-doubling and long-time convection. Using high-speed video imaging and analysis, we map out the corresponding two-dimensional velocity fields. The presence of a free surface parallel to the shear direction and the fact that gravity acts perpendicularly to that direction lead to a decoupling of the system into two horizontal layers of different character. We observe this decoupling on all time scales, implying that, in contrast to vertically excited systems, models without internal degrees of freedom are unable to describe the observed response modes.


Cast aluminum alloy 354 is widely used for production of critical automobile components, thanks to its outstanding castability and attractive combination of mechanical properties in heat-treated condition. With the engines of higher performance entering the scene, there has been a constant demand to further improve the mechanical behavior of the castings made of the alloy. Exploring improvements in processing has been one important approach in this context. The present study explores the possibility of improving tensile properties of the alloy by adopting certain non-conventional aging treatments. The treatments include aging cycles similar to T6I4 and T6I6 referred to in the published literature, artificial aging in two steps instead of in single step and artificial aging preceded by various natural aging times. The results show that these nonconventional treatments do not lead to overall improvement of tensile properties compared to the standard T61 treatment.


Written by self-described "theatre junkies" for those who love to read novels about the theatre, A Novel Approach to Theatre contains over 600 entries describing novels that have theatrical settings or in which characters work in the theatre. Excluded from the work are novels which inspired plays, and those titles set exclusively in the world of ballet, opera or film. A finding tool that is itself highly readable and fun, its entries are arranged under one of the following categories: bio-novels, classics, fantasy, historical novels, mystery, romance, westerns, and young adult. Extensive cross-references assist the reader in finding the primary entry for the novel. For ease in locating copies of the books, the authors have included ISBNs for all titles published after 1969 and format references for those interested in books on tape, film or video. Indexes identify novels by author, title and subject.


Background Infectious Spondylodiscitis is rare among elderly people. Besides being life-threatening it has variable clinical presentations and insidious onset, leading to a delay in diagnosis and a difficulty in treating Objectives To analyse the characteristics of spondylodiscitis in the elderly patients focusing upon epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment outcome. Methods A retrospective monocentric study was performed. All patients with spondylodiscitis admitted between 1999 and 2013 at the rheumatology department of the Charles Nicolles Hospital, and aged more than sixty-five years were included. Demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, imaging studies, isolated microorganisms, different treatments, complications, and outcome were recorded. Results Twenty two patients among seventy seven cases of spinal spondylodiscitis were more than sixty-five years old. Ten patients were male. Duration of symptoms before the diagnosis was 6.3 months (20 days-24 months). The presence of diabetes mellitus was found in five patients, underlying chronic comorbidities in three cases, high-dose ofcorticotherapy in one case and renal failure in one case. Inflammatory back pain was reported in 19 cases, stiffness in 14 cases, fever in only 5 cases with an average of 38.3°, impaired general condition in 16 cases and night sweat in 9 cases. Neurological involvement was found in 3 cases. The vertebral level involved was lumbar in 15 patients, thoracic in 5 patients, in the thoracolumbar junction in 2 patients, sacral in one patient and cervical in one other. Multifocal spondylodiscitis was found in 6 cases. Radiographies have shown anomalies in all patients. MRI has shown epiduritis in 9 cases, abscess of psoas in 8 patients, paravertebral abscess in 5 cases and medullar compression in 2 cases. Hyperleucocytose and leucopenia were noted in 4 cases each, whether increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were observed in all patients with a mean value of 96mm. The mean CRP was 70mg/l. In our study, we found 8 cases of pyogenic spondylodiscitis and 14 cases of specific spondylodiscitis. Among pyogenic spondylodiscitis patients', blood cultures identified the microorganism in three cases: Serratia Marcescens in one case, Lactococcus cremoris in one case and association of Staphylococcus and Enterobacter cloacae in the last case. In the other 5 casesdiagnosis was madeonclinical features and the results of the punction biopsy of the intervertebral disc (PBID). Among specific spondylodiscitis, positive Wright serology yielded the diagnosis of brucellar spondylodiscitis in 3 cases, whether 11 cases of tuberculosis spondylodiscitis were confirmed by positive tuberculin skin test and specific lesions in the PBID. During treatment, 5 patients experienced different complications: renal failure in one case, medullar compression in another case, relapse in two cases, and death in one case. Conclusions Spondylodiscitis in elderly patients is characterized by a delayed diagnosis. A large spectrum of microorganism may be involved. In a significant number of cases, neurological impairment, relapse or fatal outcome may occur. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


This paper is to suggest the test method of sound attenuation
 (insertion loss) caused by absorptive Duct Silencer using sound
 intensity method in field. In order to estimate sound attenuation,
 sound power being radiated from sound power source and Duct exhaust
 terminal was measured by the sound pressure method and sound
intensity method in semianechoic and common room.
The results of the measured sound attenuation values by sound
intensity method are more similar to those of theoretical
calulation than those by the sound pressure method.
In addition, sound intensity measurement is much less influenced
by sound field condition or continuous background noise than the
 sound pressure method is.


The epidemiology, frequency and behaviour of hydatidiform moles, chorion adenomas and chorion carcinomas are summarised. The importance of angiography is stressed and illustrated by two examples. The value of the early correct diagnosis for the success of chemotherapy is pointed out.


Output growth, investment and the real interest rate are all found empirically to be negatively a¤ected by in‡ation. But a seeming puzzle arises of opposite Tobin-like in‡ation e¤ects because theory indicates a negative Tobin e¤ect when investment falls and a positive Tobin e¤ect when the real interest rate rises. We de…ne in‡ation's Tobin e¤ect more speci…cally in terms of the e¤ect on the capital to e¤ective labor ratio and resolve the puzzle by showing the simultaneous occurrence of all three negative in‡ation e¤ects, on growth, investment and real interest rates, in a model calibrated to postwar US data. Here, investment along with consumption are exchanged for within a monetary endogenous growth economy with human capital and a decentralized credit-producing sector. JEL: C23, E44, O16, O42


DNA microarrays are a powerful and promising approach to gain a detailed understanding of the bacterial response and the molecular cross-talk that can occur as a consequence of host-pathogen interactions. However, published studies mainly describe the host response to infection. Analysis of bacterial gene regulation in the course of infection has confronted many challenges. This review summarizes the different strategies used over the last few years to investigate, at the genomic scale, and using microarrays, the alterations in the bacterial transcriptome in response to interactions with host cells. Thirty-seven studies involving 19 different bacterial pathogens were compiled and analyzed. Our in silico comparison of the transcription profiles of bacteria grown in broth or in contact with eukaryotic cells revealed some features commonly observed when bacteria interact with host cells, including stringent response and cell surface remodeling.


Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) combine the simplicity of the hypertext paradigm with the flexibility of desktop interfaces. However, RIAs are complex applications and their development requires designing and implementation which are time-consuming and the available tools are specialized in manual design. In this paper, we present an approach for the model driven generation of Rich Internet Application using the Interaction Flow Modeling Language (IFML). The approach exploits the new language IFML recently adopted by the Object Management Group by extending first the graphical part of the Meta Model to fit the RIAs' needs. We used frameworks and technologies known to model-driven engineering, such as Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) for Meta Models, Query View Transformation (QVT) for model transformations and Acceleo for code generation. The approach allows to quickly and efficiently generating a RIA focusing on the graphical aspect of the application.


Lates calcarifer supports important fisheries throughout tropical Australia. Community-driven fish stocking has resulted in the creation of impoundment fisheries and supplemental stocking of selected wild riverine populations. Using predominantly tag–recapture methods, condition assessment and stomach flushing techniques, this study compared the growth of stocked and wild L. calcarifer in a tropical Australian river (Johnstone River) and stocked fish in a nearby impoundment (Lake Tinaroo). Growth of L. calcarifer in the Johnstone River appeared resource-limited, with juvenile fish in its lower freshwater reaches feeding mainly on small aytid shrimp and limited quantities of fish. Growth was probably greatest in estuarine and coastal areas than in the lower freshwater river. Fish in Lake Tinaroo, where prey availability was greater, grew faster than either wild or stocked fish in the lower freshwater areas of the Johnstone River. Growth of L. calcarifer was highly seasonal with marked declines in the cooler months. This was reflected in both stomach fullness and the percentage of fish with empty stomachs but the condition of L. calcarifer was similar across most sites. In areas where food resources appear stretched, adverse effects on resident L. calcarifer populations and their attendant prey species should be minimised through cessation of, or more conservative, stocking practices.


The andesitic dome-building eruption of Soufrère Hills Volcano wreaked havoc on the small Caribbean island of Montserrat. About half of this 'Emerald Isle' was rendered barren and uninhabitable, almost two-thirds of the original population had to leave, and 19 lives were lost, all as a direct result of the volcanic activity. This Memoir presents results of monitoring and associated research covering almost five-years; from the onset of the eruption in July 1995 until November 1999. Many diverse phenomena related to the ascent and extrusion of andesitic magma have been studied at close quarters. The eruption has permitted detailed documentation and better understanding of processes and associated signals that lead to lava dome instability and to explosive decompression, and of the physical behaviour and characteristics of associated pyroclasti currents. It has also provided the opportunity for development of different methods in hazards assessment and zonation, including formal elicitations of international scientific expertise and statistical treatments of eruption-scenario models. The eruption and its consequences constitute an important case of volcanic crisis management and of the interactions between scientists, authorities and populace on a small island, with significant lessons for the future. This volume contains 30 papers, many of which address the chronology, dynamics, products and associated hazards of the eruption. It also includes papers specifically on the associated geophysics and geochemistry. Four introductory papers provide overviews of the eruption chronology and consequences, of the scientific results, of the evolution, organization, role and activities of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, and of the volcanic evolution of Montserrat through time. A large photographic record of the 1995-1999 eruptive period is included.


This paper describes the implementation and investigation the functionality of the GE 3.6 MW Wind Turbine model implemented in Matlab® and Simulink® when exposed to a wind-step. The robustness of the Wind Turbine is tested by varying the aerodynamic parameters Cp, max and λopt. It is found that, the implemented model operate as expected in different wind speed regions under different disturbances e.g. wind speed step, grid-fault. However, while simulating in the low-wind speed region, it is found that, the pitch controller does not work according to the expected behavior. The pitch-angle tends to change, although it should not be the case for low-wind speed operation.


Summary
The optimum conditions for cellulase production in culture filtrates by Trichosporon cutaneum and T. pullulans were determined. With ball-milled filter paper as a test substrate maximum activity was detected 4 to 7 days after transfer from glucose to cellulose (ball-milled filter paper) as growth substrate. Comparison of the yeast filtrates with those from the moulds Trichoderma viride and Myrothecium verrucaria showed that the total activity of one strain of T. pullulans was comparable to that of the moulds with ball-milled filter paper as assay substrate. Activities were always lower when α-cellulose or dewaxed cotton were used as assay substrates. The main products of cellulose degradation were cellobiose and glucose, although the ratio of these products clearly differentiated between culture filtrates of the species examined. Xylanase activity was present in all the culture filtrates examined. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of active filtrates produced strain-specific patterns of three to five stained bands with similar mobilities but an inactive filtrate lacked one band common to all the other filtrates.


Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent tumor radiosensitizer; however, its clinical use is limited by systemic side effects. We have demonstrated previously that gene transfer of the human inducible NO synthase (iNOS) gene into tumor cells and tumors induces high-output NO production that significantly enhances tumor radioresponsiveness, with no observed side effects. Notably, iNOS gene transfer enhances tumor radioresponsiveness via apoptotic cell death. Because NO and ionizing radiation are both known to promote p53-dependent apoptosis, we hypothesized that p53 activation might be a primary mechanism for the synergy of these two genotoxic stresses. We report that NO and ionizing radiation synergistically activate p53 in colorectal cancers grown in athymic mice by augmenting phosphorylation of p53 at serine 15. The effect of NO and ionizing radiation on tumor cell apoptosis and tumor radioresponsiveness is significantly reduced in p53 knockout isogenic cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the transfer of both p53 and iNOS genes into tumor cells lacking functional p53 enhanced their radioresponsiveness more than transfer of either gene alone.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most malignant cancers, and its incidence is still steadily increasing. The DDX RNA helicase family members have been found to play a role in various cancers; however, the role of DDX54 in colorectal cancer is still unclear and needed to be defined. Here, we found DDX54 was overexpressed in CRC tissues by the label-free mass spectrum, which was also verified in tissue microarray of colon cancer, as well as the CRC cell lines and TCGA database. High DDX54 level was correlated with tumor stage and distant metastasis, which always indicated a poor prognosis to the CRC patients. DDX54 could promote the proliferation and mobility of CRC cells through increasing the phosphorylation level p65 and AKT leading to the tumorigenesis. Here, we have preliminarily studied the function of DDX54 in CRC, which would improve our understanding of the underlying biology of CRC and provide the new insight that could be translated into novel therapeutic approaches.


: Over a three-week period, a sample of fourth grade pupils brought home nutrition education homework, with which their parents had previously agreed to help. Pupils in a comparison group had the same nutrition program in school but with no homework assignments. Six months later, parents in both samples anonymously completed a survey form inquiring about nutritional practices at home. Returns were obtained from 214 parents in the homework group and from 218 parents in the non-homework group. A significantly greater percentage of parents in the homework group reported that meals at home had changed in an important way in the interim period, that their children were eating more of the "right foods" for breakfast and for supper, and that they had requested printed materials on how to plan a balanced diet. In a parallel study, a greater reduction in cigarette smoking had been reported by parents who had helped their children with anti-smoking homework. The corroborative nature of the two sets of outcomes would suggest that it is worth while to encourage parental involvement with homework in nutrition education at the elementary grade levels.


Background: The concept of shared governance added into nursing in the 1980s as a professional practice model in which both nursing staff and nursing management are involved in decision-making. Successfulimplementation of shared governance leads to a greater commitment to the organization. Aim:the current study aimed todetermine the relation between shared governance, and organizational commitment among nursing managers in Port-Said hospitals. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive correlation designwas applied in this study. The study was conducted in eight hospitals affiliated to the Ministry of Health in Port-Said Governorate.Study samplewas 118 nursing managers. Two tools were used for data collection; Index of Professional Nursing Governance Questionnaire and Organizational Commitment Scale. Results: The results of the present study showed the majority of nursing managers (94.9%) had shared governance and more than two-thirds of them (72.9%) were committed to their organizations. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that, there was no statistically significance relation between shared governance and organizational commitment among nursing managers in Port-Said hospitals. It was recommended that hospitals' organizational structure officially redesigned and develop or adopt shared governance model.


The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Public-Private Initiative (APPI) evaluation is a retrospective mixed-methods study designed to answer a central question: "Can a multifaceted, scalable, community-based empowerment strategy focused on mitigating or preventing ACEs succeed in producing a wide array of positive outcomes in a community, including reduction of child maltreatment and improvement of child and youth development outcomes?†This cross-site interim report describes the development, theory of change, and current activities of five sites in Washington State; the report also summarizes the state- and county-level trends in ACEs and resilience-related risk and protective factors.


I study two privacy-preserving social network graphs to dis- close the types of relationships of connecting edges and provide flexible multigrained access control. To create such graphs, my schemes employ the concept of secretaries and types of relationships. It is significantly more efficient than those that using expensive cryptographic primitives. I also show how these schemes can be used for multigrained access control with various options. In addition, I describe how much these schemes are resilient to infer the types of connecting edges.


According to previous phylogeographic studies, high mountains at low latitudes are important areas for the study of the evolutionary history of arctic–alpine plants in surviving the Pleistocene climatic oscillations. To evaluate this hypothesis, we elucidated the genetic structure of the arctic–alpine plant, Loiseleuria procumbens, in the Japanese archipelago, which corresponds to one of the southernmost limits of its distribution, using 152 individuals from 17 populations that covered the entire distribution of the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin, in addition to samples from Sweden. Based on 854 bp of chloroplast DNA, we detected eight haplotypes. Along with haplotype distribution, strong genetic differentiation between populations in central and northern Japan was elucidated by a neighbour-joining tree (100%) and spatial analysis of molecular variance (79%), which is consistent with other alpine plants in Japan, regardless of the species' range. In addition, the southernmost populations from northern Japan showed specific genetic structure, although the remaining areas of northern Japan and Sakhalin harboured an homogenous genetic structure. Our results suggest that the populations in central Japan persisted for a long time during the Pleistocene climatic oscillation and that genetic divergence occurred in situ, supporting our hypothesis in conjunction with a previous study of another arctic–alpine plant, Diapensia lapponica subsp. obovata. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 403–412.


Enterobacter microorganisms cause important bacterial infections in humans. Recently, carbapenem resistant isolates carrying the blaKPC gene were described and their clonal transmission in different nosocomial outbreaks reported. In this study, the relative numbers of Enterobacter species, their antimicrobial susceptibility along 3 years of observation and the identification ability of the two most common MALDI-TOF platforms were evaluated. A clustering analysis was performed to identify changes in the microbial population within the nosocomial environment. Enterobacter were identified using two platforms (MALDI-TOF Biotyper and VITEK MS). Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by Vitek2 Compact and MIC50 and MIC90 was evaluated using GraphPad software. Clustering analysis was performed by MALDI-TOF and a dendrogram was built with both platforms and compared. The most frequent species isolated were Enterobacter cloacae and Enterobacter aerogenes with a gradual increase of Enterobacter asburiae in 2017. MALDI-TOF platforms showed a very good sensitivity and specificity except for E. asburiae identification that was reliable only by MALDI-TOF MS Biotyper. An increase of resistance for Enterobacter, confirmed by the isolation of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) strains and the emergence of E. cloacae multidrug-resistant (MDR) and carbapenem resistant strains, was observed. A clonal route of transmission involving general surgery and geriatric wards was evidenced as previously described for Klebsiella pneumoniae MDR strains in the same nosocomial setting. These data represent an important source of information about the spreading of Enterobacter in the nosocomial environment.


Background: The purpose of this study is to outline whether patients, undergoing elective myocardial revascularization nowadays have a better or worse preoperative Quality of Life (QoL) than years ago. Methods: The EuroQol instrument, EQ-5D and EQ-VAS is used for assessing QoL. Preoperative QoL data of 3175 patients undergoing elective isolated coronary bypass operations, January 2002–December 2013 were analyzed. The total group was divided into three time cohorts. Group A (879 patients) operated between January 2002 and December 2005, group B (944 patients) operated between January 2006 and December 2009, and group C (1352 patients) operated between January 2010 and December 2013 (n=803).
Results: There is no statistical significant difference among the three groups for the registered EQ-5D index. The registered EQ-VAS index is significantly lower for group A versus B and C (p=0.001). The domains of the EQ-5D, 'mobility', 'usual activities' and 'pain/discomfort' show a statistically significant difference over time with an increased percentage of patients with no problems in these domains. However, in contrast with these domains, the domain anxiety/depression, shows, a statistical significant increase of the percentage patients with problems.
Conclusion: Patients nowadays are not at a worse QoL than years ago. Nevertheless, the percentage of patients with anxiety and problems of depression increased the last years.


Backlash occurs in gear drive systems that are used with machine tools and transport mechanism. The problem with backlash is that it reduces positioning accuracy and tends to make vibrations worse, especially when the driving load is large and a large drive system is used. By using a system with a twin-motor drive, in this paper, a method that compensates for backlash is introduced mechanically. In this method, the phase of a slave motor is displaced depending on the phase of the main drive motor at the final position of the system. This method is suitable for applying to multiple motor drive system. When a pair of motor is driven by the same direction, a double thrust is obtained, of course. At final positioning of this method, the phase between main motor and slave motor is controlled to compensate the backlash. It is shown that this method is effective in increasing the stiffness of a gear drive system and improves the positioning accuracy of the system.


Rapid industrialization is consuming too much energy, and non-renewable energy resources are currently supplying the world's majority of energy requirements. As a result, the global energy mix is being pushed towards renewable and sustainable energy sources by the world's future energy plan and climate change. Thus, hydrogen has been suggested as a potential energy source for sustainable development. Currently, the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels is dominant in the world and its utilization is increasing daily. As discussed in the paper, a large amount of hydrogen is used in rocket engines, oil refining, ammonia production, and many other processes. This paper also analyzes the environmental impacts of hydrogen utilization in various applications such as iron and steel production, rocket engines, ammonia production, and hydrogenation. It is predicted that all of our fossil fuels will run out soon if we continue to consume them at our current pace of consumption. Hydrogen is only ecologically friendly when it is produced from renewable energy. Therefore, a transition towards hydrogen production from renewable energy resources such as solar, geothermal, and wind is necessary. However, many things need to be achieved before we can transition from a fossil-fuel-driven economy to one based on renewable energy.


In an attempt to find the premetamorphic discordance pattern of detrital zircons extracted from Central European metasediments, unmetamorphosed or only slightly metamorphosed sediments were collected from two areas: (1) from the Montagne Noire, the southernmost part of the French Central Massif and (2) from the innerbohemian Algonkian (=Proterozoic) in the CSSR. The generally accepted hypothesis that zircons from Central European metasediments must have plotted close to or at the corresponding upper intercept between discordia trajectory and concordia curve prior to the metamorphism of the host rocks could not be supported. The zircon populations from sediments of both areas are similar in discordance to those of the numerous populations extracted from metasediments of the Central European basement complexes. However, in contrast to the latter, the data points of size fractions scatter considerably and reliable intercept ages cannot be calculated. In the case of the Cambro-Ordovician sandand siltstones of the Montagne Noire, the ages of detrital muscovites strongly argue for a Cadomian (550-700 m.y.) provenance of the detritus. Thus, the strong discordance of the analyzed fractions most probably is caused by zircons newly formed and/or partly or completely reset during a Cadomian event in the provenance of the detritus. In addition, lattice unit parameters indicate that the detrital zircons must have been recrystallized after their primary formation more than 1.7 b.y. ago. The Algonkian sediments of Bohemia (CSSR) can be taken as the very low-grade metamorphic equivalents of the Moldanubian paragneisses from which discordia trajectories between about 2 b.y. and 460-320 m.y. are known (Gebauer and Grfinenfelder, 1974; Grauert et al., 1974). Nevertheless, all analyzed zircon fractions are strongly discordant indicating that they probably recrystallized during the Assyntian (=Cadomian) very low-grade metamorphism of the host rock loosing most of their accumulated radiogenic lead. If such an interpretation is correct, the lowtemperature recrystallization model of Gebauer and Grfinenfelder (1976) can be applied to metamict zircons in host rocks formed at temperatures as low as 300 ~ C. In our 1976-paper we gave temperatures of 350-400~ C for the maximum temperature necessary to recrystallize metamict zircons in chlorite-grade quartzphyllites in agreement with the experimental results of Pidgeon et al. (1973). In contrast to the zircons of the Montagne Noire it can be shown that the U-Pb systems of the Algonkian zircons must have been re-opened in post-Assyntian time, probably recently or in the Tertiary. However, no plausible explanation can be given to account for this.


That polycythemia should present a problem to the neurosurgeon will seem, to many, a novel idea. However, recognition of the remarkably high incidence of complications of the central nervous system associated with polycythemia will show that the possibilities are not so remote as they at first appear. In the fields of general medicine and surgery, differential diagnoses are many, as related both to similar and to dissimilar processes. In neurosurgery, not only is the field itself relatively narrow, but the actual number of differential problems is fewer. The immediate chief concern in cases of intracranial disease is whether or not the patient has an operable condition. The lesions commonly associated with this aspect of the problem include intracranial neoplasms, hemorrhage, abscess, infections, hypertensive cardiovascular disease, degenerative lesions and diseases of the eye producing papilledema. Less common are such conditions as pseudotumor,1renal disease with uremia2and blood dyscrasias.


Objectives: The study examined a relationship between organizational factors and the health outcomes (health behaviors and blood pressure control) at a company level. Methods: This cross-sectional study using data from listed corporations on a stock exchange with 1000 to 30,000 employees that completed the health and productivity management survey of Japan in 2019. Results: We analyzed 886 companies. The presence of occupational health staff was associated with good health behaviors (no smoking and healthy body mass index) and good control of blood pressure. Implementation of education for manager was associated with low smoking rates. Conclusion: The implementation of organizational factors by corporations may improve the lifestyle behaviors and disease management of their employees.


RA110 is a computationally designed retro‐aldolase enzyme that utilizes amine catalysis to convert 4‐hydroxy‐4‐(6‐methoxy‐2‐naphthyl)‐2‐butanone to 6‐methoxy‐2‐naphthaldehyde and acetone. The original design accelerated substrate cleavage by a factor of 12 000 over background, and its activity was subsequently increased more than a thousand‐fold by directed evolution. The X‐ray structure of the evolved catalyst covalently modified with a 1,3‐diketone inhibitor deviates substantially from the design model, however, with the ligand adopting a completely different orientation than predicted. Moreover, significant activity was maintained even after relocation of the reactive lysine within the apolar binding pocket. These results suggest that the success of the original design is not ascribable to atomically accurate molecular recognition, but rather to successful placement of a reactive lysine adjacent to an apolar binding pocket. Nevertheless, the stabilizing interactions observed at the active site of the evolved variant suggest that improvements in the precision of design calculations will afford enzymes with higher catalytic activities.


Berberine is a bioactive isoquinoline alkaloid derived from many plants. Although berberine has been shown to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis of several tumor cell lines, its poor absorption and moderate activity hamper its full therapeutic potential. Here, we describe the synthesis of a series of 9-O-substituted berberine derivatives with improved antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities. An analysis of novel berberine derivatives by EPR spectroscopy confirmed their similar photosensitivity and analogous behavior upon UVA irradiation as berberine, supporting their potential to generate ROS. Improved antitumor activity of novel berberine derivatives was revealed by MTT assay, by flow cytometry and by detection of apoptotic DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 activation, respectively. We showed that novel berberine derivatives are potent inhibitors of growth of HeLa and HL-60 tumor cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 0.7 to 16.7 µM for HL-60 cells and 36 to >200 µM for HeLa cells after 48 h treatment. Further cell cycle analysis showed that the observed inhibition of growth of HL-60 cells treated with berberine derivatives was due to arresting these cells in the G2/M and S phases. Most strikingly, we found that berberine derivative 3 (9-(3-bromopropoxy)-10-methoxy-5,6-dihydro-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-g]isoquino[3,2-a] isoquinolin-7-ylium bromide) possesses 30-fold superior antiproliferative activity with an IC50 value of 0.7 µM and 6-fold higher apoptosis-inducing activity in HL-60 leukemia cells compared to berberine. Therefore, further studies are merited of the antitumor activity in leukemia cells of this berberine derivative.


This article details the role of collaborative journalism during the process of rebuilding investigative journalism at its core thus assuring enduring investment in its quality.
We will start by characterizing the concepts of investigative journalism and collaborative journalism, using leading scholars in both of these complementary areas; we will, then, identify the pressures that constrains investigative journalism, and analyse how journalistic collaboration has a potential for resistance that can protect both investigative journalism and the journalists who practice it.
Our article path will be complemented with the case study of the "Daphne Project", the first project of the consortium "Forbidden Stories", the international platform created by Laurent Richard. This project will be characterized through a documentary analysis and with interviews we conducted with both its founder, Laurent Richard, and Mathew Caruana Galizia, the son of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Maltese journalist murdered on October 16th 2017, during her investigations.
The Daphne Project was created for the purpose of keeping alive stories of journalists who have been killed, imprisoned or, for some reason, were unable to pursue their investigations.
Not only does collaborative journalism protect investigative journalism and investigative journalists, but cross-borders collaboration also allows "sharing the risk across a wide range of international players" (Sambrook, 2017).
If the absolute exposure of the lonely investigative journalist turns him/her into a target in territories where freedom of speech is threatened, the murder of this Maltese journalist, followed by the murder of Slovakian Ján Kuciak, in 2018, placed Europe as an unlikely set on the risk map.
While acknowledging the problems caused by international consortium of journalists, this research highlights, above all, how these partnerships, anchored in "radical sharing" (Guevara, 2016), are contributing to enhance investigative journalism.


Innate recognition and signaling by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) is facilitated by functionally associated coreceptors, although the cooperativity mechanisms involved are poorly understood. As a model we investigated TLR2 interactions with the GD1a ganglioside binding subunit of type IIb Escherichia coli enterotoxin (LT-IIb-B5). Both LT-IIb-B5 and a GD1a binding-defective mutant (LT-IIb-B5(T13I)) could modestly bind to TLR2, but only the wild-type molecule displayed a dramatic increase in TLR2 binding activity in the presence of GD1a (although not in the presence of irrelevant gangliosides). Moreover, fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments indicated that LT-IIb-B5 induces lipid raft recruitment of TLR2 and TLR1 and their clustering with GD1a, in contrast to the GD1a binding-defective mutant, which moreover fails to activate TLR2 signaling. LT-IIb-B5-induced cell activation was critically dependent upon the Toll/IL-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor protein, which was induced to colocalize with TLR2 and GD1a, as shown by confocal imaging. Therefore, GD1a provides TLR2 coreceptor function by enabling the ligand to recruit, bind, and activate TLR2. These findings establish a model of TLR2 coreceptor function and, moreover, suggest novel mechanisms of adjuvanticity by non-toxic derivatives of type II enterotoxins dependent upon GD1a/TLR2 cooperative activity.


Database of natural medicinal compounds, primarily derived from plants are widely available, distributed and can be accessed for free via the Internet. The protein database that is responsible for a particular disease in molecular biology also has been established since 1971. Limited access of information on results of Indonesian research, repeatability of objects and topics of research are often the case, extract and fraction of medicinal plant resulted nonselective conclusion of target activity of disease, the lack of advanced research that gained successful outcome due to a very few in number of pure isolates that obtained from certain plants and many other difficulties that will be found in the development of Indonesian medicinal compounds. The insufficiency of research funding given decreased the amount of research and increased competition to get so as to the preliminary studies using prediction theory through computational chemistry is needed to rise the accomplishment of research, one of them is the virtual screening using docking tools. This study aimed to compare the docking tools is available for free. The parameters of comparison are simplicity of use, easiness of access to information, advantages and disadvantages for the novice user, the system that must be prepared, speediness for obtaining and analysing the results and the level of confidentiality. MarvinSketch and OpenBabel are main software that needed for supporting Docking tools. The selected docking tools must be available free for use online or offline. The use of online docking tools that provided by a third-party does not meet the desired level of confidentiality. Dock6, Dock3.7 and PLANTS are not stress-free in the installation or the docking procedure because it needs further experience concerning computer systems. PyRx, Chimera, MarvinSpace or VegaZZ could be selected as a candidate docking tools. They have an easy setup and operation as well as their trustworthy because they can be run offline. Chimera and PyRx recommended as docking tool that have to be used because it has the following advantages: both can be run on any operating system (Windows, Mac or Linux) and fulfil all the requirement. Application of database of natural medicinal compounds and protein targets using docking tool: Chimera and PyRx should be recommended by the Indonesian government in order to become standard procedure of research before performing a certain activity assay of the plant as early prediction approaching the results to be acquired.


In this work we measure the thermal diffusivity of a series of porous carbon fibre reinforced plastics specimens using pulsed thermography in reflection mode. These diffusivity values are compared with porosity values derived by means of computed tomography. In addition, numerical simulations of the heat transfer are performed using a finite-element program. The simulation shows that the effective thermal diffusivity values derived in reflection mode scatter more than the transmission results especially at low porosity. Furthermore, for porosities higher than 10 percent the sensitivity for both methods decreases. The experimental results are similar to those seen in the numerical study.


Objective: To assess the validity of the Forced Expiratory Flow 25-75 (FEF 25-75) for identification of a positive bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BH). Methods: We conducted a prospective, consecutive, observational study. All subjects who underwent a spirometry and methacholine test (MT) for suspicion of BH from January 2009 to November 2010 were included. The cut-off point used for a positive FEF 25-75 was a value <60% (from the theoretical value) and for MT a PC20<=8 mg/ml. We calculated the FEF 25-75 sensitivity (S), specificity (E), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). The data was analyzed by the SPSS 15 statistical program.

Results: A total of 343 subjects were included. The mean age was 41,9 years (SD 15,4) and 103 (30 %) were male. The mean height and BMI were 163,7 cms (SD 9,7) and 26,9 Kg/m2 (SD 5,1) respectively. Of them, 167 (48,7%) had a positive MT and 66 (19,2%) a positive FEF 25-75 result. We found a strong association between FEF 25-75 and MT (X2, p<0,000). The S, E, PPV and NPV were 29,3%, 90,3%, 74,2% and 57,4% respectively.

Conclusions: According to our data, there is a strong association between FEF 25-75 and MT. The FEF 25-75 seems to have a high E and PPV for identification of bronchial hyperresponsiveness. The FEF 25-75 might be useful to gauge the MT initial dose.


Exascale computing requires complex runtime systems that need to consider affinity, load balancing and low time and message complexity for scheduling massive scale parallel computations. Simultaneous consideration of these objectives makes online distributed scheduling a very challenging problem. Prior distributed scheduling approaches are limited to shared memory or primarily use work-stealing across distributed memory nodes for load-balancing or depend on the programmer specified affinity. However, the performance of affinity driven scheduling and work stealing based algorithms degrades when the input is irregular(UTS) and/or sparse. In this paper we present a novel adaptive distributed scheduling algorithm (ALDS) for multi-place parallel computations, that uses a unique combination of remote (inter-place) spawns and remote work steals to reduce the overheads in the scheduler, which helps to dynamically maintain load balance across the compute nodes of the system, while ensuring affinity maximally. Using parallel machine learning algorithms such as Support Vector Regression running concurrently with program execution on the target architecture, ALDS can automatically and adaptively tune the parameters for scalable performance. Our design was implemented using GASNet API and POSIX threads. For the UTS (Unbalanced Tree Search) benchmark (using up to 2048 nodes of Blue Gene/P), we deliver superior performance over Charm++ [1] and [2].


Dyke–Davidoff–Masson syndrome (DDMS) (also referred to as cerebral hemiatrophy) is a rare condition characterized by seizures, facial asymmetry, contralateral spastic hemiplegia, or hemiparesis, with or without learning difficulties. It usually presents in the early childhood or late adolescence. The diagnosis is mainly associated with the presence of radiologic findings which include contralateral cerebral hemiatrophy with ipsilateral dilatation of the lateral ventricle and hypertrophy of the sinuses. Here, we report a case of a 49-year-old female patient who presented with chronic headache episodes for 10 years, and radiological findings revealed the DDMS.


As an effective statistical learning tool, AdaBoosting has been widely used in the field of pattern recognition. In this paper, a new method is proposed to improve the classification performance of hyperspectral images by combining the minimum noise fraction (MNF) and AdaBoosting. Because the hyperspectral imagery has many bands which have strong correlation and high redundancy, the hyperspectral data are pre-processed by the minimum noise fraction to reduce the data's dimensionality, whilst to remove noise bands simultaneously. Then, we use an AdaBoost algorithm to conduct the classification of hyperspectral remotely sensed image. Experimental results show that the classification accuracy is improved and the time of calculation is reduced as well.


This study analyzes Queen Elizabeth's Rhetoric. The purpose of this research is to ascertain the types of rhetoric employed in Queen Elizabeth's Speech, specifically to ascertain the most prevalent type of rhetoric employed. The data for this study were analyzed using a descriptive qualitative approach. As a source of data, the researcher consulted a script. The researcher evaluated the script's sentences in order to assemble the data. They are as follows: Parallelism, Antithesis, Asyndenton, Alliteration, Anaphora, Metaphor, Metonymy, Simile, Personification, and Hyperbole. Queen Elizabeth used a variety of rhetorical styles. Personification was found to be 21%, Parallelism was found to be 15.7 percent, Alliteration was found to be 13.1 percent, Asyndenton was found to be 10.5 percent, Metaphor was found to be 10.5 percent, Hyperbole was found to be 10.5 percent, Anaphora was found to be 7.8%, Antithesis was found to be 5.2 percent, Metonymy was found to be 2.6 percent, and Simile was found to be 2.6 percent. According to the data above, a total of 21% of the speech had instances of personification. This suggests that personification is the most frequently employed type of rhetoric in Queen Elizabeth's speeches.


Identify the relationships among participants' lifestyle and their perceptions toward physiological health status.

 This is a cross-sectional research study. A convenience sampling was used to recruit 480 adult clients from Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

 The majority of the participants (48.8%) rated their physiological health status as sub-optimal health. Significant positive associations were found between participants' perceptions about physiological health status as 'healthy' and their positive lifestyle and low-risk behaviors for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Specifically, the associations were between not being smoker (χ2 = 4.17, p = 0.04), practicing physical activity (χ2 = 60.9, p < 0.001), eating ≥ 5 cups of fruits and vegetables daily (χ2 = 8.33, p = 0.004), and being normal/under-weight (χ2 = 65.5, p < 0.001).

 Perception about poor/sub-optimal physical health status is associated with many CVD risk factors. Using a brief screening tool to assess physical health status is recommended at each clinic visit. In addition, periodic physical assessment, full check-up, and follow-up with healthcare providers are highly suggested for those who perceived their physical health status as "poor" to prevent further CVD. Health education is pressingly recommended to improve the awareness of these Arab communities toward the prevention of CVD risk factors and enhancement of positive lifestyle behaviors.


To obtain more information about the relationships of the components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, we measured plasma renin activity (PRA) and the concentrations of plasma angiotensin II (AII) and aldosterone (PA) in 36 healthy 19-22-yr-old students, both after a night's bed rest and after 2 h of ambulation. The correlations of these parameters were calculated. PRA, AII, and PA were determined by RIAs. The values of AII after rest correlated positively both with PRA (r = 0.80; P less than 0.001) and with PA (r = 0.51; P less than 0.01). AII also showed a good correlation with PRA (r = 0.77; P less than 0.001) and with PA (r = 0.67; P less than 0.01) after ambulation. The latter correlation was higher than that after rest. Positive correlations were also found between the increases in PRA and AII and between AII and PA. Further, a multiple regression analysis was carried out to calculate the regression equations for these parameters. The results support the view that PRA and AII parallel each other in normal physiological circumstances. They also seem to indicate that AII has an important role in the basal as well as in the posture-stimulated secretion of aldosterone in normal man.


OBJECTIVE
Schizophrenia may be associated with hyperthermic syndromes such as febrile catatonia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, and heatstroke. The authors hypothesized that an exercise-heat tolerance test would disclose abnormal thermoregulation in schizophrenic patients.

METHOD
Seven male schizophrenic outpatients in remission maintained on depot antipsychotic treatment and eight healthy comparison subjects completed a heat tolerance test that consisted of two 50-minute bouts of walking a motor-driven treadmill at 40xC (relative humidity=40%).

RESULTS
A significantly higher rise in rectal and skin temperatures was observed in the patient group. No differences in heart rate, blood pressure, or perspiration were detected.

CONCLUSIONS
Schizophrenic patients maintained on antipsychotic drugs exhibit impaired heat tolerance. Possible explanations are a reduced ability to convey heat from the body's core to the periphery with or without excessive heat production. The hyperthermic response to the heat tolerance test may reflect a dysfunction associated with schizophrenia, a neuroleptic-induced side effect, or both.


Trawling disturbs benthic communities, eliminating the most vulnerable organisms and modifying habitat structure. While the cumulative effects of disturbance resulting from commercial trawling activities are poorly understood, several studies suggest that chronically disturbed commu- nities are dominated by opportunistic organisms. This study focuses on changes in functional compo- nents of the benthic community occurring in muddy sediments in a NW Mediterranean trawling ground, including an area that has not been fished for 20 yr. In both disturbed and undisturbed areas, the overall benthic community from the fishing ground was dominated by burrowing epifaunal deposit feeders and predators, and deep burrowing infaunal deposit feeders. The fished area had a higher abundance of burrowing epifaunal scavengers and motile burrowing infauna, while the undisturbed area was characterised by higher abundance of surface infauna, epifaunal suspension feeders and predatory fish. This study clearly demonstrates that changes in the functional compo- nents of a benthic community can result from fishing in areas dominated by organisms not considered especially vulnerable to trawling activities. Thus, fisheries managers aiming to reduce ecosystem dis- turbance must consider the implications of trawling on the structure and functioning of all types of benthic communities.


The calculation of the overall anisotropic response of materials with variations in properties on a scale short compared to the wavelength of the imposed stressfield is complicated but, when the variations in structure are one‐dimensional, a straightforward averaging technique exists. This method, originated by Riznichenko (1949) and Postma (1955), and further developed by Backus (1962), has been cast into a convenient matrix form by Helbig and Schoenberg (1987). Schoenberg and Douma (1988) have shown that distributions of parallel cracks may also be incorporated into the system by representation as layers in the limit of vanishing thickness and stiffness. Finally, Schoenberg and Muir (1989) cast the whole calculation into a form in which the rules of group theory apply, and suggest that distributions of intersecting sets of parallel cracks in fine layering can be manipulated in this way.


This paper introduces a facile one-pot method for synthesizing a new structured material, named "ant-cave microball", by continuous ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. The ant-cave-structured microballs are prepared from a colloidal spray solution with polystyrene nanobeads and sucrose. Networking between the nanovoids formed by decomposition of the polystyrene nanobeads results in the formation of nanochannels. The electrochemical properties of these ant-cave-structured MoO3-C microballs, prepared as the first target material for lithium ion batteries, are investigated. The nanochannels are uniformly distributed inside the microballs with MoO3 and carbon components uniformly distributed within the microballs. Further, the microballs have initial discharge and charge capacities of 1212 and 841 mA h g(-1), respectively, at a current density of 2 A g(-1), and the initial discharge and charge capacities based on the weight of MoO3 (disregarding carbon component) are as high as 1814 and 1259 mA h g(-1). The microballs deliver a high discharge capacity of 733 mA h g(-1) even after 300 cycles. This is although microsized MoO3 powders with a filled structure have discharge capacities of 1256 and 345 mA h g(-1) for the first and 300th cycles, respectively.


In this paper we examine the linkage of male-dominant family law systems and levels of nation-state security and stability. We expect such societies to be predisposed to parasitical rent-seeking and inefficiency, combined with coercive conflict resolution, resulting in higher levels of violence within the society. We demonstrate empirically that states with inequitable family law also exhibit higher levels of state fragility. Using standard indicators of state stability and security, our empirical results show that the ability to predict levels of state stability and security is significantly enhanced by examining a measure of Inequity in Family Law in addition to more conventional explanatory variables such as literacy rate, level of democracy, and civilizational influence.


This monograph deals with the entrepreneurs, the partnerships they formed and how these partnerships evolved through a time span of about fourteen centuries, that is, from the birth of Islam to the present. The first part of the book examines the evolution of medieval partnership forms in Europe and finally in the United States, while in the second part the much less known Islamic evolution is studied. The study of the Islamic evolution is based on extensive original research conducted in the Ottoman archives. Comparative economic and business historians of these two great civilizations will find this book highly important, while modern Islamic bankers and economists interested in the actual functioning of an Islamic economy will find this volume indispensable reading, for here they have a unique chance to observe an Islamic economy and business operating within an historical framework.


Background: Young next of kin to patients with mental health problems are faced with many challenges. It is important to focus on the special needs of children and adolescents as next of kin to ensure their welfare and prevent harm. Research questions: We aimed to investigate young next of kin's need for information and involvement, to examine the ways they cope with situations involving coercion related to the treatment of their relative, and to identify ethical challenges. Research design: We conducted a qualitative study based on semi-structured, individual interviews. Participants and research context: Seven young next of kin aged 14–22 years participated in the study. The informants were recruited from a regional hospital trust in Norway. Ethical considerations: The study was approved by the National Data Protection Official for Research and based upon informed consent and confidentiality. Findings: The adolescents wanted more information and described a need for increased interaction with their sick relative at the hospital. They struggled to keep their relationship with their relative intact, and they described communication problems in the family. Coercive treatment was perceived in a negative way. Discussion: The study finds that there are ethical challenges at stake for young next of kin and their families other than those that are often emphasized by traditional healthcare, which often focuses on the individual patient's rights. These challenges are related to the young next of kin's needs for interconnectedness and for the preservation of relationships as well as challenges related to family communication and the need for information. Conclusion: The study finds a need for more family-oriented perspectives in both mental healthcare practices and healthcare ethics.


0-1 knapsack is of fundamental importance across many fields. In this paper, we present a gametheoretic method to solve 0-1 knapsack problems (KPs) where the number of items (products) is large and the values of items are not predetermined but decided by an external value assignment function (e.g., neural network in our case) during the optimization process. While existing papers are interested in predicting solutions with neural networks for classical KPs whose objective functions are mostly linear functions, we are interested in solving KPs whose objective functions are neural networks. In other words, we choose a subset of items that maximizes the sum of the values predicted by neural networks. Its key challenge is how to optimize the neural networkbased non-linear KP objective with a budget constraint. Our solution is inspired by game-theoretic approaches in deep learning, e.g., generative adversarial networks. After formally defining our two-player game, we develop an adaptive gradient ascent method to solve it. In our experiments, our method successfully solves two neural networkbased non-linear KPs and conventional linear KPs with 1 million items.


In order to ease and achieve best desired results in waste management procedures and operations in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State of Nigeria, the government, through the Kwara State Waste Management Corporation (KWMC), has provided different equipment including vehicles and containers. The distribution and utilization of these equipments are very vital. This paper attempts to examine this using TORA-Optimization model and GIS technique. Data required for this study (facilities and equipments, including container types, vehicle types and cost, maintenance cost of equipments, and manpower welfare) were sourced secondarily from the archives of KWMC, and primarily through interviews from some randomly selected street cleaners and drivers. The study observed that the optimal use of these equipments in the study area is highly decry-able. This can be attributed to non adoption of land use system for planning by KWMC. Appropriate recommendations


In the domain of candidly captured student presentation videos, we examine and evaluate approaches for multi-modal analysis and indexing of audio and video. We apply visual segmentation techniques on unedited video to determine likely changes of topics. Speaker segmentation methods are employed to determine individual student appearances, which are linked to extracted headshots to create a visual speaker index. Videos are augmented with time-aligned filtered keywords and phrases from highly inaccurate speech transcripts. Our experimental user interface, the VAST MM Browser (Video Audio Structure Text Multi Media Browser), combines streaming videos, visual, and textual indices for browsing and searching. We evaluate the UI and methods in a large engineering design course. We report on observations and statistics collected over 4 semesters and 598 student participants. Results suggest that our video indexing and retrieval approach is effective, and that our continuous improvements are reflecting in an increase in precision and recall of user study tasks.


Mathematics is crucial in our technologically oriented world, and it is important that all children become proficient in the subject, including in algebra. Homeschooled students are perhaps at a particular disadvantage in this regard. Without the rigor of daily mathematics instruction in a classroom with a trained educator, they may need additional reinforcement and tools to further develop algebraic understanding and competency. Computer games are popular and engaging, and have been used for educational purposes, though research has been inconclusive as to their effectiveness in learning mathematics. The purpose of this case study was to investigate and understand the ways the computer game Dimension M could improve the motivation and performance of a homeschooled high school student in beginning Algebra. This study was conducted using interviews, a pre-test, a log of the student's comments regarding game play, and a post-test. Although no measurable improvement in mathematics performance was demonstrated by the post-test, the student went on to pass the mathematics portion of the CAHSEE, a significant accomplishment. The student's motivation to learn algebra appeared to increase as a result of his experience with the game. Previous research as well as the results of this study suggest that incorporating computer games such as Dimension M into daily learning activities may be advantageous and warrants additional research. Technology and Mathematics Education 1


Glutamate toxicity is a major contributor to neurodegeneration in the nervous system. In the past few years, palm tocotrienol-rich fraction (TRF) has been shown to provide neuroprotection to neurons against glutamate excitotoxicity. Palm TRF is an extract of palm oil and consists of 25% a-tocopherol and 75% tocotrienols. TRF has been shown to possess potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, neuroprotection and cholesterol-lowering activities. The main objective of the present study is to observe the effects of vitamin E when given to astrocytes before (pre-treatment) and after (post- treatment) glutamate excitotoxicity. A few parameters were selected; cell viability, mRNA expression of neuron specific enolase (NSE), concentration of glutathione (GSH) in the astrocytes and morphology of the cell. Cell viability was measured by using the MTT assay. NSE which is a type of neurobiological marker was observed by using the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Finally, cell morphology was monitored under fluorescence microscope by using the acridine orange/propidium iodide (AO/PI) assay. The concentration of glutamate (180mM) used throughout this study was only meant to cause injury to the astrocytes. Three types of vitamin E were used for the cell viability assay; tocotrienol rich fraction (TRF), tocotrienol enriched fraction (TEF) and a-tocopherol. Exposure to 180 mM glutamate resulted in 20% of cells death. There was no significant difference between the viability of the cells that were pre- and post-treated with various concentrations of TRF, TEF and a-tocopherol upon glutamate exposure. In contrast, the mRNA expression of NSE was reduced significantly when treated with TRF, but not tocopherol. At 300 ng ofTRF, the NSE expression for both pre- and post-treatment was reduced by 50%. In addition, the concentration of GSH in cells treated with TRF was higher compared to the cells treated with tocopherol. Further results from the histology studies also showed that TRF not only provide a better protection against glutamate, but also able to reduce the number of necrotic and apoptotic cells. When 300 ng of TRF was given to the astrocytes, the percentage of healthy cells increased to 60% for pre-treatment and 30% for post¬treatment which indicated that even at nanogram concentration, TRF protects the astrocytes against glutamate induced oxidative stress. On the other hand, high concentration of a-tocopherol showed the pro-oxidant effects which promoted cells death at 300 ng of a-tocopherol which increased the expression ofNSE. The percentage of apoptotic and necrotic cell remained high upon tocopherol treatment. The results from the present study demonstrate that tocotrienols, but not a-tocopherol, protect astrocytes against glutamate-induced cells death.


In her article, "Transformations of Desire and Despair: Reflections on the Termination Process from a Relational Perspective," Jody Messler Davies (2005) gives us a finely crafted set of relationally honed tools for refining our work and attending to the multiplicities of self and other during the "termination" process. In reading Davies's article, I began to wonder about the ways in which we conceptualize termination, as an end-phase-specific stopping point, with a heavy expectation that analyst and patient must bring to bear "in the final days, the insights that have been gained from a thorough reworking of the past" (Davies, 2005, p. 790). Perhaps we need to throw the termination baby out with the bathwater and reformulate termination more along the lines of a state of "going on being" (Winnicott, 1965) with a broadening sense that the entire analytic journey cannot be contained or even made sense of at the end of a treatment.


Background Newborn screening (NBS) for cystic fibrosis (CF) is associated with improved early nutritional outcomes and improved spirometry in children. The aim of this study was to determine whether early diagnosis and treatment of CF with NBS in New South Wales in 1981 led to better clinical outcomes and survival into early adulthood. Methods Retrospective observational study comprising two original cohorts born in the 3 years before ('non-screened cohort', n=57) and after ('screened'; n=60) the introduction of NBS. Patient records were assessed at transfer from paediatric to adult care by age 19 years and survival was documented to age 25 years. Results Non-screened patients (n=38) when compared with screened patients (n=41) had a higher rate and lower age of Pseudomonas aeruginosa acquisition at age 18 years (p≤0.01). Height, weight and body mass index (BMI) z scores (all p<0.01) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)% were better in the screened group (n=41) (difference: 16.7±6.4%; p=0.01) compared to non-screened (n=38) subjects on transfer to adult care. Each 1% increase in FEV1% was associated with a 3% (95% CI 1% to 5%; p=0.001) decrease in risk of death and each 1.0 kg/m2 increase in BMI contributed to a 44% (95% CI 31% to 55%; p<0.001) decrease in risk of death. This accumulated in a significant survival difference at age 25 years (25 vs 13 deaths or lung transplants; p=0.01). Conclusion NBS for CF leads to better lung function, nutritional status and improved survival in screened patients in early adulthood.


ABSTRACT Fish-protection screens for water pumps and channels can conserve fish populations and deliver operational benefits to irrigators. However, the uptake of fish screens is mixed, and there is limited evidence concerning irrigator attitudes towards this technology. The current study addresses this knowledge deficit through 26 semi-structured in-depth interviews with irrigators and other associated water users. The purpose of this study was to understand pump screening practices and experiences, the current level of awareness of fish-screening options, attitudes towards potential environmental and financial benefits, overall intentions to install fish screens, the role of attitudes and other factors in impacting these intentions, and critical fish screening knowledge gaps and communication preferences. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Diffusion of Innovations (DOI), the study identified that irrigators have low awareness of native fish loss and the benefits of fish screening. However, they are interested in learning more about the economic, social, and environmental benefits of fish screen adoption. Customised communications and education programs are needed to increase intentions to install fish screens in Australia.


Previous studies have shown that social distance influences one's judgment at the decision-making stage, although its impact in the outcome evaluation stage, which is a vital stage in the decision-making process, is ignored. Using event-related potentials, we examined the influence of social distance on outcome feedback by requiring participants to make decisions for themselves, their friends, or strangers. Increased social distance reduced the feedback-related negativity amplitude in the early stage of outcome evaluation and reduced the P300 amplitude in the late stage of outcome evaluation. These results provide evidence for the power of social distance in decreasing motivation, emotional arousal, and cognitive investment in the outcome evaluation stage.


An external off-resonant pumping is proposed as a tool to control the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in ferromagnetic layers with strong spin-orbit coupling. Combining theoretical analysis with numerical simulations for an s-d-like model, we demonstrate that linearly polarized off-resonant light may help stabilize novel noncollinear magnetic phases by inducing a strong anisotropy of the DMI. We also investigate how with the application of electromagnetic pumping one can control the stability, shape, and size of individual Skyrmions to make them suitable for potential applications.


Background: A quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was licensed in 2009 for boys and young males aged 9-26 years for the prevention of genital warts. In 2011, new recommendations to routine vaccination were given for prevention of genital warts and anal cancer in males. Given that HPV vaccine is most effective if administered prior to HPV exposure through sexual contact, vaccination promotion strategies on male adolescents younger than 17 years old are essential. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the profile of parents of boys 9-17 years old, identify correlates associated with HPV vaccine initiation, and have a better understanding of the educational messages that might influence the HPV vaccine administration. Methods: A mixed-method study was conducted in HealthproMed, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Santurce, Puerto Rico. A self-administered questionnaire containing sociodemographic information as well as a module on HPV vaccine was collected among 200 parents. Also, two separate focus group sessions were held among parents of vaccinated and unvaccinated boys. Descriptive statistics were performed to characterize the study population. Bivariate analysis was used to assess HPV vaccine initiation (received ≤ 1 dose) as the dependent variable, and other parents and sons9 characteristics as independent variables. Those variables who achieved statistical significance (p Results: The mean age of the recruited parents was 37.7 ± 7.2 years old. The vast majority were females (88.5%), born in Puerto Rico (65.3%), and reported a high school degree or lower (57.4%). Regarding sons9 characteristics, their mean age was 12.5 ± 2.6 years old. Most of the parents reported that their sons had visited a healthcare provider in the last year (78.1%) and that they had a healthcare coverage (75.0%). Approximately a third of the parents reported that their sons had initiated the HPV vaccination (29.3%). Most of the interviewed parents have heard about HPV infection (88.1%), and the administration of the vaccine among males (62.4%). In multivariate analysis, parents who had asked a health provider (OR= 6.5; 95% CI= 1.2-34.4) and received a health provider recommendation (OR= 13.0; 95% CI= 2.1-82.7) to get their sons the HPV vaccine, as well as having a daughter who had received the HPV vaccine (OR= 4.9; 95% CI= 1.1-22.4), were more likely to have initiated the HPV vaccine administration. Focus groups supported our quantitative analysis in recommending health care providers for HPV vaccination. Presentations of clinical images to document the health consequences of HPV infection were suggested by parents. Interest topics among parents in order to increase HPV vaccination includes: (1) understanding of the risk factors for HPV infection; (2) vaccine costs; (3) places where the vaccine can be administered; and (4) understanding the importance of administer the vaccine in a timely schedule. Conclusions: Quantitative data shows that health care provider recommendation is associated with HPV vaccine initiation. Qualitative data, on the other hand, highlighted the topics and messages that should be included as part of educational campaigns targeting parents and young men for HPV vaccination. Since a high percentage of unvaccinated parents indicated that they have not received recommendation from healthcare providers, efforts in HPV vaccine promotion should include capacity building strategies for healthcare providers to then educate parents and their sons about the benefits of the HPV vaccination. Citation Format: Lizbeth M. Del Toro-Mejias, Alexandra Conde-Toro, Michelle Serra-Rivera, Tania M. Martinez, Veronica Rodriguez, Hector Villanueva, Luis Berdiel, Vivian Colon-Lopez. HPV vaccine initiation among Hispanic adolescent males in Puerto Rico: A mixed-method study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Sixth AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities; Dec 6–9, 2013; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2014;23(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B62. doi:10.1158/1538-7755.DISP13-B62


The solid-state additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) process is a layer-by-layer metal 3D-printing technology. In this study, AFSD is used to fabricate Al–Cu–Li 2050 alloy parts. The hardness values for various regions of the as-deposited built parts are measured, and the results are contrasted with those of the feedstock material. The as-fabricated Al2050 parts are found to have a unique hardness distribution due to the location-specific variations in the processing temperature profile. The XRD results indicate the presence of the secondary phases in the deposited parts, and EDS mapping confirms the formation of detectable alloying particles in the as-deposited Al2050 matrix. The AFSD thermal–mechanical process causes the unique hardness distribution and the reduced microhardness level in the AFSD components, in contrast to those of the feedstock material.


The aim of the paper is to derive a method for the construction of a-posteriori error estimate to approximate solutions to parabolic initial-boundary value problems. The computation of the suggested error bound requires only the computation of a finite number of systems or linear algebraic equations. These systems can be solved parallelly. It is proved that the suggested a-posteriori error estimate tends to zero if the approximation tends to the true solution.


The Nation and the Child – Nation Building in Hebrew Children's Literature, 1930–1970 is the first comprehensive study to investigate the active role of children's literature in the intensive cultural project of building a Hebrew nation. Which social actors and institutions participated in creating a Hebrew children's literature? How did they envision their young readership and what new cultural roles did they prescribe for them through literary texts? How tolerant was the children's literary field to alternative or even subversive national options and how did the perceptions of the "national child" change in the transition from the pre-state Jewish settlement in Palestine to a sovereign state? This book seeks to provide answers to such questions by focusing on the literary activities of leading taste-setters and writers for children, from the most intense period of Israeli nation building – the 1930s and 1940s, the two last decades of the pre-state era, and the 1950s, the first decade following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 – through the 1960s, when the nation-building fervor gradually waned.


This paper presents the results of a study which examined children's ideas about speciation. Two groups of elementary school students, 9-year-olds and 12-year-olds, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The results indicate that several children explain the phenomena of speciation in terms of consistent explanatory frameworks that strongly resemble either early Greek or renaissance variants of Essentialist theories in biology. The core beliefs of such frameworks constrain the types of solutions that are generated for a variety of biological problems.


Introduction: Seizure-related protein 6 (Sez6) contributes to chronic pain development as sez6 knockout mice show attenuated pain behaviours after peripheral nerve injury, compared with control mice. The type I transmembrane isoform of Sez6 is cleaved by the &bgr;-amyloid precursor protein cleavage enzyme 1 (BACE1), resulting in Sez6 extracellular domain shedding from the neuron surface. Objectives: To determine whether this BACE1-shed form of Sez6 can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and whether Sez6 levels in the CSF are altered in neuropathic pain or chronic inflammatory pain (IP). Methods: We analysed the CSF samples collected during surgery from patients with chronic neuropathic pain (n = 8) or IP (n = 33), comparing them to the CSF samples from patients with suspected subarachnoid haemorrhage that was subsequently excluded (nonsurgical group, n = 5). Western blots were used to determine the relative Sez6 levels in the CSF from the different patient and nonsurgical comparison groups. Results: The results show that BACE1-shed Sez6 can be readily detected in the CSF by Western blot and that the levels of Sez6 are significantly higher in the IP group than in the nonsurgical comparison group. Conclusion: The association between elevated Sez6 levels in the CSF and IP is further evidence for persistent alterations in central nervous system activity in chronic IP conditions.


As robotic systems increase in autonomy, there is a strong need to plan efficient trajectories in real-time. In this paper, we propose an approach to significantly reduce the complexity of solving optimal control problems both numerically and analytically. We exploit the property of differential flatness to show that it is always possible to decouple the forward dynamics of the system's state from the backward dynamics that emerge from the Euler-Lagrange equations. This coupling generally leads to instabilities in numerical approaches; thus, we expect our method to make traditional "shooting" methods a viable choice for optimal trajectory planning in differentially flat systems. To provide intuition for our approach, we also present an illustrative example of generating minimumthrust trajectories for a quadrotor. Furthermore, we employ quaternions to track the quadrotor's orientation, which, unlike the Euler-angle representation, do not introduce additional singularities into the model.


Vitality of dental pulp is essential for long-term tooth survival. The aim of vital pulp therapy is to maintain healthy pulp tissue by eliminating bacteria from the dentin-pulp complex. There are several different treatment options for vital pulp therapy in extensively decayed or traumatized teeth. Pulp capping or pulpotomy procedures rely upon an accurate assessment of the pulp status, and careful management of the remaining pulp tissue. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of new approaches in vital pulp therapy in permanent teeth.


Three noble metal-free metal complexes [Fe(Me-bzimpy)2]2+ (Fe1), [Fe(bzimpy)2]2+ (Fe2) and [Zn(Me-bzimpy)2]2+ (Zn1) were synthesized and studied in the visible light-driven CO2 reduction, where ligands bzimpy and Me-bzimpy were 2,6-bis(1-methyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)pyridine and 2,6-bis(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)pyridine, respectively. It was found that Fe1 displayed the best photocatalytic performance with a turnover number (TON) of 878 and high selectivity up to 99.2% towards CO generation in the presence of an organic thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) photosensitizer, which was more than 10 times that of Fe2 (TONCO = 63) and Zn1 (TONCO = 53). This is attributed to the much higher stability of Fe1 upon reduction, as proved by the cyclic voltammograms of the three complexes. These results highlight the cooperation of ligands and metals in molecular metal complexes for CO2 photoreduction.


This paper presents details of the design and implementation of a report generator, MoonLight, which supports to design the report form from DB or data sources and print it to the printer. Also this paper defines the detailed model of the report system, the architecture and behavior of MoonLight, and the components of the report form, and also shows algorithms to make the report template and print the report bound to the data source. MoonLight takes advantage of XML language for the report template form. And also it is implemented by Java language to take the advantage of platform independency. This paper also shows the results of run-time performance of MoonLight which is measured with the time to construct page objects of a report and the time to render the page objects to the print images, respectively.


This study utilized a spatio-temporal framework to assess the dispersion and uncertainty of precipitation in Iran. Thirty-one rain gauges with data from 1960 to 2010 were selected in order to apply the entropy concept and study spatio-temporal variability of precipitation. The variability of monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation series was studied using the marginal disorder index (MDI). To investigate the intra-annual and decadal distribution of monthly and annual precipitation values, the apportionment disorder index (ADI) and decadal ADI (DADI) were applied to the time series. The continuous wavelet transform was used to decompose the ADI time series into time-frequency domains. The decomposition of the ADI series into different zones helped to identify the dominant modes of variability and the variation of those modes over time. The results revealed the high disorderliness in the amount of precipitation for different temporal scales based on disorder indices. Based on the DI outcome for all rain gauges, a self-organizing map (SOM) was trained to find the optimum number of clusters (seven) of rain gauges. It was observed from the clustering that there was hydrologic similarity in the clusters apart from the geographic neighborhood.


The Parallel Unstructured Mesh Infrastructure (PUMI) is designed to support the representation of, and operations on, unstructured meshes as needed for the execution of mesh-based simulations on massively parallel computers. In PUMI, the mesh representation is complete in the sense of being able to provide any adjacency of mesh entities of multiple topologies in O(1) time, and fully distributed to support relationships of mesh entities across multiple memory spaces in a manner consistent with supporting massively parallel simulation workflows. PUMI's mesh maintains links to the high-level model definition in terms of a model topology as produced by CAD systems, and is specifically designed to efficiently support evolving meshes as required for mesh generation and adaptation. To support the needs of parallel unstructured mesh simulations, PUMI also supports a specific set of services such as the migration of mesh entities between parts while maintaining the mesh adjacencies, maintaining read-only mesh entity copies from neighboring parts (ghosting), repartitioning parts as the mesh evolves, and dynamic mesh load balancing. Here we present the overall design, software structures, example programs, and performance results. The effectiveness of PUMI is demonstrated by its applications to massively parallel adaptive simulation workflows.


ABSTRACT In this study, an antimicrobial composition based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and zinc oxide (ZnO) was developed. The aim of the work was to obtain a film-forming product for antimicrobial treatment of surfaces. To improve the physical, mechanical, and film-forming properties of the compositions, three natural stabilizing agents were added to the formulation: gelatine, guar gum and hydroxyethyl cellulose. Formulations with different concentrations of each stabilizer were tested, and the physicochemical properties of the obtained products were measured. The size of zinc oxide particles in obtained compositions varied from 232 to 692 nm. The compositions had a slight acidic nature. Their pH ranged from 6.84 to 6.99. The average density of products was equal to 1.37 × 103 (kg/m3). It was confirmed that zinc oxide nanoparticles do not penetrate through a model dermal membrane which is a desired effect concerning their toxicity. The antimicrobial activity of the obtained compositions was assessed against Aspergillus niger strain. After 24 h of studying, the growth inhibition was in 71% greater than in reference material. After statistical analysis of the results, it was concluded in order to achieve the most desirable physicochemical and utilitarian properties, the concentrations of gelatine, guar gum and hydroxyethylcellulose should be equal to 0.5%, 0.03% and 0.055%, respectively. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


The interfacial region between two bulk media in organic semiconductor based devices, such as organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), organic light-emitting diodes, and organic photovoltaics, refers to the region where two different materials such as an organic material and an electrode come in contact with each other. Although the interfacial region contains a significantly smaller fraction of molecules compared to the bulk, it is the primary site where many photoinduced excited state processes occur, such as charge transfer, charge recombination, separation, energy transfer processes, etc. All such photoinduced processes have a dependence on molecular orientation and density of states at the interfaces, therefore having an understanding of the interfacial region is essential. However, conventional spectroscopic techniques, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, etc., face limitations in probing the orientation and density of states of interfacial molecules. Therefore, there is a need for noninvasive techniques capable of efficiently investigating the interfaces. The electronic sum frequency generation (ESFG) technique offers an interface selectivity based on the principle that the second-order nonlinear susceptibility tensor, within the electric dipole approximation, is zero in the isotropic bulk but nonzero at interfaces. This selectivity makes ESFG a promising spectroscopy tool to probe the molecular orientation and density of states at the buried interface. For beginners interested in employing ESFG to study the density of states at the interface, a detailed description of the experimental setup is provided here.


In this paper, a microstrip reflectarray on a two-layer substrate is presented. The delay lines were proximity-coupled to corners of patches. Compared with delay lines in a single-layer reflectarray, the delay lines used here play two important roles: phase delay and impedance match. As it is a two-layer structure, we can get more design flexibilities. For linear polarized waves, -3 dB gain bandwidth can be achieved to 22%. Antenna patterns with -15 dB side-lobe and -30 dB cross-polarization level can also be obtained. It is demonstrated that simple design formula used in a single-layer reflectarray can also be used for the present case.


Electromyography of masticatory muscles has proved useful for the functional study of occlusal dysfunctions. We employed this technique to study the activity of masseter and temporal muscles of 6 subjects with Class II division 2 malocclusion and 7 subjects with Class III malocclusion. Significant differences of masticatory muscles activity during mastication and swallowing were observed between the two groups. We hypothesize that the change of the activity of masticatory muscles might influence the clinical presentation of malocclusion.


The Editors ofBlood retract the 1April 2010 article cited above. The institutional investigations by the State University of NewYork Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, which focused on the research of Prabal Banerjee and Gerold Feuer, established that the data presented in this Blood paper were obtained using fraudulent methods and hence cannot be considered reliable. Specifically, the Investigation Committee concluded that data in Figures 1Q (inset) and 6D had been fabricated and/or falsified by using the same immunohistological image to represent different tissues. The Investigation Committee further concluded that data in Figure 2L-M have been fabricated and/or falsified by duplicating flow cytometry control plots. Michael D. Lairmore agrees to the retraction. Lindsey Crawford does not agree to the retraction. Prabal Banerjee, Adam Tripp, Michelle Sieburg, Juan Carlos Ramos, Mark A. Beilke, and Gerold Feuer do not agree to the retraction and maintain that no misconduct was committed. William J. Harrington, Jr. is deceased.


This study aims to identify the phenotypic effects of traits associated with soybean pods and their growth habit. The experiments were carried out during the 2012 - 2013 agricultural year. It was done in randomized blocks arranged in a 2×20 factorial design (environments × soybean cultivars) with three replications. Data were subjected to individual analysis of variance for each environment and growth habit to verify the homogeneity of variances. Phenotypic path analysis among agronomic traits was performed for each environment within the soybean growth habits. The results showed considerable influences of growth habit via traits associated with soybean pods. The traits number of pods with two, three, and four grains directly influenced the grain yield of genotypes with indeterminate growth habit regardless of the environment. The soybean genotypes with determinate growth habit contributed greatly to grain yield through the traits number of pods with one, two, and three grains and thousand grain weight via pods with two or four grains. Indirect selection of superior genotypes for pods per plant and grain weight could provide satisfactory results for soybean yield in relation to the growth habit. The interrelationships obtained between growth habits and environments, can be applied to superior genotypes selection strategies in breeding soybean programs.

 Key words: Agriculture science, biometric models, Glycine max L., indirect selection, grain yield, soybean breeding.


We study Bose-Einstein condensates with purely dipolar interactions in oblate traps. We find that the condensate always becomes unstable to collapse when the number of particles is sufficiently large. We analyze the instability, and find that it is the trapped-gas analogue of the "roton-maxon" instability previously reported for a gas that is unconfined in 2D. In addition, we find that under certain circumstances the condensate wave function attains a biconcave shape, with its maximum density away from the center of the gas. These biconcave condensates become unstable due to azimuthal excitation--an angular roton.