PURPOSE
To investigate the biomechanical and refractive behaviors of normal and keratoconic corneas based on three-dimensional anisotropic hyperelastic corneal models with two layers.

METHODS
Based on an anisotropic hyperelastic formula, the finite element method was employed to develop normal and keratoconic corneal models in which the fiber orientations and the biomechanical differences between corneal layers were taken into account. The displacements for normal and keratoconic corneal models were studied, as well as changes in corneal refractive power with intraocular pressure (IOP).

RESULTS
There were different displacements for keratoconic and normal corneas. Positive correlations were found in the keratoconic cornea between IOP and apical displacement, as well as between IOP and corneal refractive power. Under normal IOP, both the corneal shape and refractive power map were affected by the stiffness distributions of the corneal layers.

CONCLUSIONS
Finite element analysis can be used to demonstrate the biomechanical and refractive behavior of a cornea with keratoconus. From a biomechanical viewpoint, the displacement changes seen under normal IOP were due to the decreased stiffness in the keratoconic corneal tissue and local thinning disorders. Thus, the curvature and corneal refractive power map will be abnormal in keratoconus.


Electronic word-of-mouth on social networking sites is one of the most effective marketing resources in the lodging industry. Furthermore, Generation Y is becoming an important customer base for the luxury hotel industry and relies heavily on eWOM on social networking sties. By adopting and using four selected constructs (perceived usefulness, enjoyment, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) from the extended Technology Acceptance Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study reveals how eWOM on social networking sites influences Generation Y's purchase intentions when booking luxury hotels. The current study suggests that the usage of eWOM on social networking sites not only helps potential Generation Y customers select suitable luxury hotels but also allows luxury hoteliers to better cater to this growing market segment.


Deoxidation is a key step for steel refining, and it would influence the cleanliness of final product. In present study, the measured and calculated oxygen activities in Al-killed bulk steel were compared according to industrial trails, and the Fe–O equilibrium at the interface between slag and steel was also concerned by thermodynamic analysis. Finally, the deoxidation mechanism of Al-killed during industrial refining was proposed. It is found that the activity of oxygen in bulk steel is controlled by Al content, since the activity of oxygen in bulk steel is very close to the equilibrium value as the activity of Al2O3 is treated as unity. In order to keep low oxygen in molten steel, a certain Al content needs to be guaranteed. At slag-steel interface, the activity of oxygen is controlled by FeO, which is much larger than that of bulk steel, so the oxygen would transfer from slag into bulk steel. Slagging therefore presents its importance for deoxidation to reduce the oxygen transfer. Besides, the essence of SiO2 supplying oxygen is Al consumption in bulk steel, which gives rise to the increase of dissolved oxygen. So, stable refining slag is also very important to obtain low oxygen steel, and the slag basicity needs to be no smaller than 3 to reduce the Al consumption caused by SiO2 reduction. In present study, the basicity of 3–4 is recommended to refine low oxygen Al-killed steel.


Abstract This study examined how the roles of perceived brand-social cause fit (i.e., functional fit and image fit) and consumer skepticism in influencing consumers' perception of brand opportunism and its subsequent outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic. A 2 (high vs. low fit) × 2 (industry: travel vs. grocery) between-participants online experiments (n = 373) were conducted. Results showed that the lack of brand-social cause fit leads to less favorable consumer attitude due to their perception of the brand's opportunism. Specifically, with individuals high in skepticism, such perception of brand opportunism was greater, which in turn has a stronger negative influence on consumers' attitude toward the message and the brand. Theoretical contributions, managerial implications, limitations and future studies are also discussed.


A new approach to q-space NMR studies of microstructure is proposed that exploits the combined information contained in the water proton transverse relaxation time distribution and the frequency dependence of the apparent water diffusivity. A simple protocol is used to eliminate undesirable crossterms in background susceptibility gradients. Local, microscopic nonlinearity in the applied field gradients is shown to lead to enhancement of the apparent water diffusivity in small pores at high frequencies. The relationships between NMR relaxation studies of pore emptying with sorption isotherms, electrical conductivity, and microbiological survival are indicated. Copyright 0 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.


An attribute-based encryption scheme capable of handling multiple authorities was recently proposed by Chase. The scheme is built upon a single-authority attribute-based encryption scheme presented earlier by Sahai and Waters. Chase's construction uses a trusted central authority that is inherently capable of decrypting arbitrary ciphertexts created within the system. We present a multi-authority attribute-based encryption scheme in which only the set of recipients defined by the encrypting party can decrypt a corresponding ciphertext. The central authority is viewed as 'honest-but-curious': on the one hand, it honestly follows the protocol, and on the other hand, it is curious to decrypt arbitrary ciphertexts thus violating the intent of the encrypting party. The proposed scheme, which like its predecessors relies on the Bilinear Diffie–Hellman assumption, has a complexity comparable to that of Chase's scheme. We prove that our scheme is secure in the selective ID model and can tolerate an honest-but-curious central authority.


The genus Senecio L. is one of the largest genera in the family Asteraceae. The number of taxa included in this genus is 1250. Pollen morphology has proved useful in the systematics of Asteraceae as well as in that of some of its genera and species. The pollen morphology of 16 taxa of the genus Senecio and Iranecio was investigated in detail by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Examination showed pollen grains to be isopolar and radiosymmetric, prolate spheroidal. The close relationships are observed between the species of the section Quadridentati and the genus Iranecio. The species of the section Jacobaea showed a palynological overlap with the section Senecio. The results indicate that the palynological characters of the genus Senecio are valuable for taxonomic applications and are useful for classification.


The interest to obtain products for the bio-fuel industry from renewable resources has directed research to find resistant and costs-effective biotechnological systems. Corynebacterium glutamicum, is a microorganism used to produce amino acids, that grows in wide variety of substrates and its resistance during fermentation to pH, temperature, osmotic pressure variations and alcohol aggregate, renders this organism a suitable candidate to improve by genetic modifications lactic acid and ethanol synthesis. However, some aspects of its physiology remain unknown, such us increase lactic acid and ethanol production from C5 and C6 sugars. For this reason, the main aim in our work was to identify the most important variables with impact on culture and the best culture conditions to produce lactic acid or ethanol in batch culture. To achieve this objective, eight variables were tested in culture using a statistical model. The best culture conditions were obtained and tested in a bacth biorreactor system. Temperature, biotin and glucose concentration were the variables with most impact (p< 0.05) in culture. Using optimal conditions, 36 °C; 6.1 mg/L of biotin and 50 g/L of glucose; a μmax of 0.394 h-1, 16 g/L of lactic acid was obtained after 15 h of culture with an efficiency of 32%. High glucose consumption was observed during bacterial growth, which leads to low concentration of substrate for the production process; this suggests a culture feeding at the end of exponential growth phase, which can increase the production yield.


This paper compares formulas for reflection in rectangular waveguide from an E-plane junction with radial guide. There is a major discrepancy between results for the junction parameters from earlier results of the author and those in the Waveguide Handbook. The two sets of results are discussed; the Handbook result is apparently in error, but the formulas do not seem capable of reconciliation. Limitations and slight improvements on the author's earlier result are given, together with supporting measurements taken at X band.


ABSTRACT
There is a gap in the literature on the best treatment of clinical sequelae within adolescent and young adult pediatric cancer populations. Children, adolescents, and young adults are at risk for a multitude of immediate and late effects of their disease and treatment that warrant a comprehensive, multidisciplinary team approach to optimize care. Sports medicine providers are well-equipped with their background to join the oncology rehabilitation team in diagnosing and managing cancer-related impairments to help these populations live a healthier and more active lifestyle. In this manuscript, four essential clinical components to consider when returning children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer history to physical activity are discussed: chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, cardiotoxicity, nutritional deficiencies, and deconditioning.


Mainstream economics has persistently failed to predict housing market outcomes, and with a growing body of evidence to suggest that its foundational tenets are unrealistic, applied researchers are showing a renewed interest in the microstructures of housing markets and behavioural economics. The process of searching for and purchasing a dwelling to live in is one of the most complex consumption decisions a household will make. Yet many households undertake it successfully. It is intuitively and theoretically clear that households are likely to have varied experiences of the search process, yet there is a dearth of evidence of their actual behaviours, or the variations between different types of behaviours. This research is a response to this substantial gap in knowledge: it aims to describe the variation in search behaviours and to construct a typology by clustering similar search behaviours together. A conceptual model is created to distinguish the key variables across different stages of the search process that potentially exhibit variation between households. A bespoke postal survey was designed to gather households' perceptions of their behaviour in the housing market in Sheffield in 2010. From this it is evident that households do exhibit very different behaviours and do not conform to the standards of homo economicus. However, there is a spectrum of behaviour from households that exhibit some similarity to utility maximisers through to satisficers. Using the survey responses, in an original application of a combined categorical principal components analysis and cluster analysis method, four distinct clusters are evident. The clusters: relational satisficers, financial responders, discontents and petite, lifestyle decisives exhibit different behaviours in the housing market. This typology has potential to be used in modelling of housing markets and in supporting the creation of nuanced policies designed for specific behaviours and outcomes.


To the Editor.— Good theories should give way to better theories, and even good theories may become untenable as new information is discovered. Periodic questioning of dogma is a useful way to reevaluate dogma, lest we be complacent with obsolete conclusions. The article by Warwick L. Morison, MD, "What Is the Function of Melanin?" in the September 1985 issue of theArchives1is commendable for calling into question melanin's importance as a sunscreen. In the same spirit, I would like to review reasons I, for one, remain comfortable with the notion that melanin is an important sunscreen and hesitate to deny its importance. Formal education has convinced me that how well one scores in tests of knowledge and skill is strongly dependent on which questions are asked. In the context of Dr Morison's commentary, I take the greatest exception to his criteria for evaluating a sunscreen. The ability to prevent


This text will try to explore the question of adopting gaming into education. Explore its possible benefits by measuring the test results of college students. The goal of this research is to try to find if there is a noticeable difference and benefit from this new type of pedagogical approach. What are the student's opinions and sentiments towards it with the objective of providing the best possible result in students' motivation.


The effect of post heat-treatment on the spectral properties of photopolymer reflection holograms scheme has been studied. It has been established that holograms with protective film retain a high diffraction efficiency of ~ 90% and do not have additional shrinkage during heat treatment for several days at a temperature of 80-90oC. The holograms without a protective film, removed after exposition, when heated in the temperature range of 40-110oC, show effective shrinkage up to 17% without compromising diffraction efficiency. Addiction the degree of shrinkage from the time of keeping the hologram at a given temperature is described by the function biexponential growth with saturation. The parameters of the approximating function are calculated. The characteristic shrinkage times in the temperature range of 40-110oC decrease from hours to minutes for fast components and from tens of days to tens of minutes for the slow component. Effect large shift of spectral response was used to create color-separated holograms. Color-separated holograms were obtained in two ways: two-layer version with shrinkage of one of the layers, single-layer version using photoresistive pattern and subsequent shrinkage. Keywords: reflection photopolymer holograms, thermal shrinkage, spectral shifts, color holograms


South Asian Cnemaspis are one of the most diverse clades of gekkonids in South Asia with their highest diversity in the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. These geckos include only a few nocturnal species and are largely diurnal or cathemeral and restricted to relatively cool habitats. One of the prominently diurnal subgroups in South Asian Cnemaspis is the bangara clade, which includes six species distributed in southern India on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, the southern Eastern Ghats and Palghat Gap. In this paper, we describe five more species of the bangara clade from the Shevaroyan landscape, including three from Kollimalai and one each from Yercaud and Pachaimalai, all in Tamil Nadu. These new species show 4.6–19.7 % uncorrected sequence divergence on the mitochondrial ND2 gene from each other and known species of the bangara clade and are morphologically diagnosable in body size, the number of paravertebral tubercles between limb insertions, the number of dorsal tubercle rows, the number of ventral scale rows across the belly, the number of femoral and precloacal pores and poreless scales separating these series, and aspects of colouration. The discovery of these five new species adds to the growing discoveries of cool-adapted species in southern India outside the Western Ghats and highlights the role of sky-islands in diversification. The Shevaroyan landscape shows high levels of microendemism with eight species distributed in an area of < 2000 km2, and all these species restricted to much smaller areas of actual distribution. With an area of < 500 km2 respectively, the massif of Pachaimalai has a single endemic and the massifs of Yercaud and Kollimalai have three endemic Cnemaspis species each.


An attempt to localize dopaminergic receptors in the rat neostriatum by high-resolution radioautography was realized using intracerebral injections of the new ligand (antagonist) 3H-domperidone. In tissue regions located far from the injection site, the weaker diffuse radioautographic reaction permitted us to observe the existence of clusters of silver grains over some cerebral structures. The specificity of this type of labelling was tested using intraperitoneal injections of large amounts of haloperidol in order to block the studied receptors. Thus, we observed specific labelling over some nerve terminals as well as a low number of synaptic contact of the asymmetric type (however some synapses of the symmetric type were also labelled). These result agree with our previous work (1), and confirm the existence of dopaminergic synapses in the rat caudate-putamen.


The achievements of contemporary biomedicine and biotechnology are now widely communicated across the globe. Yet, across different cultures and belief systems, the relationship between the possible and the acceptable when it comes to biomedical advance is highly variable and draws justification from a wide range of sources: culture, religion, 'common sense', family values, ideas of what is 'natural', ideas of what is progress etc. Students'attitudes towards science and by extension toward the new biotechnologies have been extensively researched western contexts. However, relatively little is known about how this relationship plays out in different cultural contexts and there is even less by way of empirical research in this area. In this paper, we are interested in two related questions, the answers to which, we hope will begin to fill these gaps. First, we consider how culture and religion feed into bioethical deliberation among an emerging generation of 'bioethical citizens'drawn from Sri Lanka; the contrast that we go on to make with students from the UK is both illuminating and instructive. Second, we consider the points of bioethical conver-gence and divergence between the two groups. We conclude by offering some observations about what we have coine'centres of ethical gravity'and what these might tell us about cultural relativism and the operation of bioethical sensibilities in different cultural contexts.


This article is both a work of historical reconstruction and a theoretical intervention. It looks at some influential contemporary accounts of human-animal relations and outlines a body of ideas from the 17th century that challenges what is presented as representative of the past in posthumanist thinking. Indeed, this article argues that this alternative past is much more in keeping with the shifts that posthumanist ideas mark in their departure from humanism. Taking a journey through ways of thinking that will, perhaps, be unfamiliar, the revised vision of human-animal relations outlined here emerges not from a history of philosophy but from an archival study of people's relationships with and understandings of their livestock in early modern England. At stake are conceptions of who we are and who we might have been, and the relation between those two, and the livestock on 17th-century smallholdings are our guides.


Because large new exploration areas have become scarce, the Cape Sorell basin has become an increasingly attractive frontier area. Cape Sorell basin, located along the western passive continental margin of Tasmania formed as a result of the breakup of eastern Gondwanaland 95{plus minus}5 Ma. An extensional fault system trending west-northwest with dip-slip movement down to the south-southwest forms the northern boundary and a second fault system trending north-northwest with oblique slip down to the south-southwest creates the basin. Second order extensional faults within the basin have created wrench-type flower structures, which are potential migration pathways for hydrocarbons. Nine distinct depositional sequences identified within the Cape Sorell basin record the evolution of this passive continental margin. Late Cretaceous-early Paleocene sequences were deposited as the rifting ceased and clastic progradation over the rift terrain began. Relative lowering of sea level occurred during the Paleocene, resulting in extensive channeling of the Late Cretaceous-early Paleocene sequences. A subsequent rise in relative sea level resulted in canyon-fill deposition during the early Paleocene to early Eocene. During the Eocene, sedimentation sufficiently increased to produce a downlapping sediment progradation characterized by deltaic depositional environment. Although interrupted several times by changes in relative sea level and shifting sedimentmore » sources, deltaic deposition continued until the late Oligocene. As the rate of clastic sedimentation slowed, carbonate shelf deposition began and has typified the basin since late the Oligocene.« less


Abstract As one of the worst invasive alien plant species in China, Ageratina adenophora has caused serious economic losses and reduced the diversity of native species, possibly due to allelopathic interactions. However, we have little knowledge of its effects on ferns. In Petri dish bioassays, the effects of the aqueous leachates from roots, stems and leaves of A. adenophora on spore germination and gametophyte development of Neocheiropteris palmatopedata were investigated. All leachates inhibited spore germination and rhizoid growth of N. palmatopedata. Furthermore, the inhibitory effects increased with increasing leachate concentrations, and root leachates exhibited the greatest inhibition. Possible inhibitory causes are discussed in the present study. Additionally, the gametophytes of N. palmatopedata treated with the leachates of A. adenophora did not show morphological differences compared with the control. This result differs from previous studies investigating morphological changes in other fern species when associated with A. adenophora. Varying sensitivity of different fern species to the same allelochemicals of A. adenophora may partly be responsible for this difference.


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) represents a combination of at least three primary metabolic abnormalities from among obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and high blood pressure, once combined, they increase significantly the cardiovascular risk. The APOE gene is considered as a genetic risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, it has been linked to MetS or its traits in several populations. Our study aimed to analyze the association of three APOE gene polymorphisms with MetS risk and its components in a general population sample, and to highlight the potential influence of these polymorphisms on individual susceptibility to MetS. We performed this work using a population-based, cross-sectional study of a representative sample of 787 individuals (378 men and 409 women, aged between 30 and 64 years) recruited in the city of Oran, Algeria (the ISOR Study); the subjects were genotyped for four polymorphisms, rs7412, rs429358, rs4420638 and rs439401, located in the APOE gene, using the KASPar technology. rs439401 showed a significant association with hypertension (HBP). The T allele confers a high risk of hypertension with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.46 (95 % CI [1.12–1.9], p = 0.006). rs4420638 was significantly associated with obesity in the general population. The G allele provides protection against obesity, the resulting OR is 0.48 (95 % CI [0.29–0.81], p = 0.004). Although APOE variants were not associated with the risk of MetS, the APOE polymorphism alleles were associated with some of the metabolic parameters in Algerian subjects. The relation of APOE rs439401 alleles with a HBP is likely to be indicative of a state of stress of the population.


The subject of missions-formal efforts at religious conversion of native peoples of the Americas by colonizing powers-is one that renders the modern student a bit uncomfortable. Where the mission enterprise was actuated by true belief it strikes the modern sensibility as fanaticism; where it sprang from territorial or economic motives it seems the rankest sort of hypocrisy. That both elements-greed and real faith-were usually present at the same time is bewildering. In this book seven scholars attempt to create a "new" mission history that deals honestly with the actions and philosophic motivations of the missionaries, both as individuals and organizations and as agents of secular powers, and with the experiences and reactions of the indigenous peoples, including their strategies of accommodation, co-optation, and resistance. The new mission historians examine cases from throughout the hemisphere-from the Andes to northern Mexico to California-in an effort to find patterns in the contact between the European missionaries and the various societies they encountered. Erick Langer is associate professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of Economic Change and Rural Resistance in Southern Bolivia, 1880-1930 and editor, with Zulema Bass Werner de Ruiz, of Historia de Tarija: Corpus Documental. Robert H. Jackson is the author of Indian Population Decline: The Missions of Northwestern New Spain, 1687-1840 and Regional Markets and the Agrarian Transformation in Bolivia Cochabamba, 1539-1960. He is an assistant professor in the Department of History and Geography at Texas Southern University.


This paper focuses on extracting features from time series for pattern recognition. System identification techniques are used to represent the signals by a parameterized system model (PSM) with the parameter vector describing the PSM becoming the feature vector. A deconvolution procedure is used to enhance pattern class discrimination. The advantages of the PSM approach is a reduction of the dimensionality of the feature space thereby simplifying the classifier design and evaluation. The PSM feature extraction technique is applied to a flaw characterization problem arising from ultrasonic nondestructive testing of materials.


The recently renewed focus on the human exploration of outer space has boosted the interest toward a variety of questions regarding health of astronauts and cosmonauts. Among the others, sleep has traditionally been considered a central issue. To extend the research chances, human sleep alterations have been investigated in several analog environments, called ICEs (Isolated, Confined, and Extreme). ICEs share different features with the spaceflight itself and have been implemented in natural facilities and artificial simulations. The current paper presents a systematic review of research findings on sleep disturbances in ICEs. We looked for evidence from studies run in polar settings (mostly Antarctica) during space missions, Head-Down Bed-Rest protocols, simulations, and in a few ICE-resembling settings such as caves and submarines. Even though research has shown that sleep can be widely affected in ICEs, mostly evidencing general and non-specific changes in REM and SWS sleep, results show a very blurred picture, often with contradictory findings. The variable coexistence of the many factors characterizing the ICE environments (such as isolation and confinement, microgravity, circadian disentrainment, hypoxia, noise levels, and radiations) does not provide a clear indication of what role is played by each factor per se or in association one with each other in determining the pattern observed, and how. Most importantly, a number of methodological limitations contribute immensely to the unclear pattern of results reported in the literature. Among them, small sample sizes, small effect sizes, and large variability among experimental conditions, protocols, and measurements make it difficult to draw hints about whether sleep alterations in ICEs do exist due to the specific environmental characteristics, and which of them plays a major role. More systematic and cross-settings research is needed to address the mechanisms underlying the sleep alterations in ICE environments and possibly develop appropriate countermeasures to be used during long-term space missions.


Developing a public charging infrastructure is essential for the promotion of electric cars (EVs), especially in developing countries. The use of renewable energy sources (RESs), especially solar and the replacement of fossil fuels in EV charging stations has the potential to improve economic efficiency while significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions and improving urban air quality. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the economic feasibility of a hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage system (BESS) for environmentally friendly EV charging stations in a university campus under different EV charger utilization rates, electricity costs, and charging types. The results showed that installing a level 2 solar PV charging station at the current subsidized rate provides the most economic benefits, while installing BESS for peak shaving is the least profitable due to the high cost. The sensitivity analysis also revealed that if the cost of the BESS decreases, the IRR of the project will increase. This study aims to promote the development of technologically and environmentally feasible EV charging stations powered by RESs.


Despite the impact of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing on the detection and management of prostate cancer, controversy about its usefulness as a marker of disease activity continues. This review, based on a recent roundtable discussion, examines whether PSA measurements can be used rationally in several clinical settings. Following radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy, prediction of survival by PSA level is most reliable in high-risk patients. PSA doubling time after radiation therapy is the strongest predictor of biochemical failure. PSA measurements have been associated with inconsistent results following hormonal treatment; reduced PSA levels may result from antiandrogen treatment, which decreases expression of the PSA gene, and therefore, the level of PSA production. In the setting of primary and secondary cancer prevention, PSA is important in risk stratification when selecting patients for studies. Part 2 of this two-part article, which began in the August issue, discusses the role of PSA in hormonal and drug therapies and in primary and secondary chemoprevention. [ONCOLOGY 16:1218-1236, 2002] In part 1 of this article, which was published in the August issue, we focused on the physiology of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), its measurement and use in clinical practice, and its predictive value following radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy. In part 2, we discuss the role of hormonal and drug therapies in the treatment of prostate cancer and how PSA defines the efficacy of these therapies. We also address the use of various chemopreventive agents such as diet, supplements, and drugs, and consider whether, in evaluating these approaches, an effect on PSA level means a corresponding effect on the disease process. PSA in Hormonal and Other Drug Therapies Hormonal therapy is the mainstay of treatment for prostate cancer that has recurred outside the prostate bed and the prostate following surgery or radiation therapy. A variety of medical and surgical options are available that affect points on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Testicular androgen suppression is achieved with bilateral orchiectomy, estrogen therapy, androgen blockade with a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist such as goserelin (Zoladex) or leuprolide acetate (Lupron), or an LHRH receptor antagonist such as abarelix depot, which is under investigation in phase III studies.[1] Additional adrenal androgen suppression (resulting in total androgen ablation) is achieved by adding an oral antiandrogen to testicular ablation; bicalutamide (Casodex), flutamide (Eulexin), and nilutamide (Nilandron) have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. For most patients, these treatments are palliative. Following an initial response, progression (generally to an androgen-insensitive state) becomes manifest.


Vittorio Gremigni is a scientific leader in the field of planarian biology with a very long historical perspective. By using electron microscopy, he contributed to the reconstruction of the phylogenesis of free living "Turbellaria", and he pioneered the study of the origin of blastema cells by using chromosomal markers. In this interview, Professor Gremigni describes the steps that moved his career towards the planarian field, the main scientific achievements he obtained and the changes that are taking place in the field. He also discusses recent progress and unanswered questions on planarian neoblasts and regeneration.


Speech emotion recognition (SER) is essential for understanding a speaker's intention. Recently, some groups have attempted to improve SER performance using a bidirectional long short-term memory (BLSTM) to extract features from speech sequences and a self-attention mechanism to focus on the important parts of the speech sequences. SER also benefits from combining the information in speech with text, which can be accomplished automatically using an automatic speech recognizer (ASR), further improving its performance. However, ASR performance deteriorates in the presence of emotion in speech. Although there is a method to improve ASR performance in the presence of emotional speech, it requires the fine-tuning of ASR, which has a high computational cost and leads to the loss of cues important for determining the presence of emotion in speech segments, which can be helpful in SER. To solve these problems, we propose a BLSTM-and-self-attention-based SER method using self-attention weight correction (SAWC) with confidence measures. This method is applied to acoustic and text feature extractors in SER to adjust the importance weights of speech segments and words with a high possibility of ASR error. Our proposed SAWC reduces the importance of words with speech recognition error in the text feature while emphasizing the importance of speech segments containing these words in acoustic features. Our experimental results on the Interactive Emotional Dyadic Motion Capture (IEMOCAP) dataset reveal that our proposed method achieves a weighted average accuracy of 76.6%, outperforming other state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, we investigated the behavior of our proposed SAWC in each of the feature extractors.


Introduction/Background Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed in advanced stage. The goal of primary debulking is to achieve no residual disease (RD). Proper selection of candidates for complete debulking is crucial for the avoidance of suboptimal laparotomies. The aim of this study is to compare 'Fagotti' diagnostic laparoscopy and preoperative 'Suidan' criteria (age, ASA score, CA125, CT results) in the selection of patients for primary debulking. Methodology We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with advanced ovarian cancer that underwent 'Fagotti' diagnostic laparoscopy (January 2017 - January 2019) in our clinic. Results 25 patients with advanced ovarian cancer underwent 'Fagotti' diagnostic laparoscopy, in order to decide their treatment plan. 7 patients were excluded from the study, because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. According to the preoperative predictive score, half of the patients (n=9) were assigned for primary debulking (PDS) (Group A) and the other half (n=9) for neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by interval debulking (IDS) (Group B). After 'Fagotti' diagnostic laparoscopy, the treatment plan changed in a total of 9 patients: 4 from Group A (from PDS to NACT+IDS) and 5 from Group B (from NACT+IDS to PDS), but with no statistically significant difference. From all patients (n=16) that underwent PDS or IDS, no case of suboptimal cytoreduction was documented (13 RD=0 and 3 RD<1). On the other hand, if the treatment plan was based only in the preoperative predictive score, 4 patients would have been offered an unnecessary suboptimal laparotomy and 5 patients would have been offered NACT, when they could have been offered a successful primary debulking. Conclusion 'Fagotti' diagnostic laparoscopy continues to be the method of choice for the proper selection of patients for primary debulking, despite being an invasive technique. Disclosure Nothing to disclose


This paper provides evidence of the market segmentation of stock and options. We find that informed out-of-the money (OTM) option trading measure, which is publicly available, predicts the returns of underlying stock and its at-the-money (ATM) options, but not the returns of OTM options. Specifically, higher OTM put-call trading volume ratio predicts negative returns of stock and ATM calls while predicting positive returns of ATM puts. The results are robust in large stock and not driven by short-selling costs. Using the OTM put-call volume ratio, we propose an implementable investment strategy that offers 20 bp weekly risk-adjusted stock returns (i.e., about 10% annually). Our findings support the segmentation between stock and option markets and between the option contracts in the same class.


Juvenile and young hatchery-reared Mekong giant catfish Pangasianodon gigas have been released into reservoirs throughout Thailand. For the sustainable reservoir fishery of the giant catfish, new science-based fishery management measures are expected in Thailand, such as the establishment of protected areas. Therefore, the habitat use and movement patterns of the hatchery-reared giant catfish have been investigated in the Mae Peum reservoir from 2003 to 2005. Our results suggest that the hatchery-reared fish spent their time in shallow depths above hypoxic water in the reservoir. The fish which have been reared in a fish pond may recognize and avoid hypoxic conditions.


The optical measurement of surface roughness for cold-rolled steel sheet has been studied experimentally. Two parameters of the surface roughness, such as root-mean-square (rms) roughness and auto-correlation length are measured by optical method and converted into average surface roughness (Ra) and the number of peaks per inch (PPI), respectively. The rms roughness shows the linear relationship with Ra UP to certain limit that depends on the wavelength of a laser. We have developed an automatic surface roughness measurement system and installed at cold-rolled mill, and tested in-situ. The system is verified to be able to measure Ra in the range of 0.1-2.0 /spl mu/m and PPI of 100-600 per inch.


Type II pneumocytes secrete surfactant, a lipoprotein‐like substance reducing the surface tension in the lung, by regulated exocytosis of secretory vesicles termed lamellar bodies (LBs). This secretory process is characterized by a protracted postfusion phase in which fusion pores open slowly and may act as mechanical barriers for release. Combining dark‐field with fluorescence microscopy, we show in ß‐actin green fluorescent protein‐transfected pneumocytes that LB fusion with the plasma membrane is followed by actin coating of the fused LB. This is inhibited by cytoplasmic Ca2+ chelation or the phospholipase D inhibitor C2 ceramide. Actin coating occurs by polymerization of actin monomers, as evidenced by staining with Alexa 568 phalloidin. After actin coating of the fused LB, it either shrinks while releasing surfactant ("kiss‐coat‐and‐release"), remains in this fused state without further action ("kiss‐coat‐and‐wait"), or is retrieved and pushed forward in the cell on top of an actin tail ("kiss‐coat‐and‐run"). In the absence of actin coating, no release or run was observed. These data suggest that actin coating creates a force needed for either extrusion of vesicle contents or retrieval and intracellular propulsion.


The paper presents a new approach to the robust Hinfin control of an uncertain system via an output feedback controller which is both stable and positive real. The uncertain systems under consideration contain structured uncertainty described by integral quadratic constraints. The controller is designed to achieve absolute stabilization with a specified level of disturbance attenuation. The main result involves solving a state feedback version of the problem by solving an algebraic Riccati equation dependent on a set of scaling parameters. Then two further algebraic Riccati equations are solved which depend on a further set of scaling parameters. The required controller is constructed from the Riccati solutions.


This article examines the ways in which gendered bodies and gendered ideas about labour were built into American office furniture by way of human factors from the 1960s through the early 1990s. Using an analysis of chairs and desks, including their forms and technical dimensions, the author argues that executive and secretarial furniture, in particular, encoded exaggerated and idealized gendered bodies in their design and excluded bodies that did not fit the expected gendered norms. The persistence of this convention, even in the design of ergonomic chairs which first appeared in the 1970s, reproduced sexism in organizational hierarchy and inscribed in furniture gendered assumptions of labour and gendered ideals of leadership.


Muslim anti-Christian and anti-Jewish polemics from Christian Iberia often include references and quotations from the Qurʾān, the Torah, and the Gospels. Even when they are composed in Romance, the script used in their writing is often Arabic. This article discusses the conversion narrative of "the lines of the Torah," in which translation is halfway between the faithful rendering of the original and its interpretation by its Muslim scribe. I show in this paper that the ability to convey, or so to speak, to "unveil," new meanings makes translation a powerful means to convert the opponent and to strengthen the faith in Islam. The analysis aims to shed light on the intellectual and social milieus of "the lines of the Torah," and deals with translation in other anti-Jewish Muslim writings from the Christian territories: the "Jewish Confession," or Ashamnu; the chronology in Seder Olam; and the lengthy Muslim anti-Jewish polemic of Taʾyīd al-milla (The Fortification of the Faith or Community).


A preliminary study explored the relative contribution of residential sources of lead exposure on mentally challenged children who attend "special education" institutions (GI) compared to a group of age and sex matched school children (G2). We captured descriptive information and analyzed demographic variables, personal and household information, medical effects, environmental exposure factors, and children habits. Home paint, dust, soil, and water sampling was conducted and blood lead (BPb) levels determined. Eighteen G1 and 20 G2 children were studied. The mean G1 BPb was 16.9 +/- 7.9 microg/dl and was significantly higher than that in G2. Fifty percent of G1 children had PbB >20 microg/dl and 72.2% were >10 microg/dl. Low muscular strength, decreased osteotendinose reflexes, fine and gross motricity, deficient equilibrium, and hipotonic muscular tone coincided with >18 microg/dl BPb levels. In 61.1% of G1 homes paint lead levels were higher than permissible levels and 33.3% had dust lead exceeding that level. The high BPb levels in G1 probably resulted from ingestion of household paint, dust, and soil via "hand-to-mouth" activity. Environmental exposure to lead can be an important source of lead intake by infants and children and could affect neurological development. This study provides new insights currently unavailable for these children in Venezuela.


An efficient chemoselective general procedure for the synthesis of γ-substituted β,γ-unsaturated α-ketomethylthioesters from α,β-unsaturated ketones has been achieved through an unprecedented PPh3 ⋅HBr-DMSO mediated oxidative bromination and Kornblum oxidation sequence. The newly developed reagent system serves admirably for the synthesis of α-bromoenals from enals. Furthermore, AuCl3 -catalyzed efficient access to 3(2H)-furanones from the above intermediates under extremely mild conditions are described.


Managing any inland fishery requires reliable age data and accurate estimates of growth rate. Clarias gariepinus, the largest catfish species in most tropical African floodplain river systems, is an important constituent of subsistence fishery catches. We used otolith-derived age estimates to describe patterns of age and growth for C. gariepinus from the Lower Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. Edge analysis of sectioned sagittal otoliths showed that growth zone deposition occurred during the annual flood peak between July and September. The maximum recorded age was 8 years. Growth was best described by the von Bertalanffy Growth Model of the form E[L|age] = 528.70(1–e–0.72(age+1.35)). A comparison of growth parameters from this study with those from previous studies suggests two distinct populations of C. gariepinus between the Upper and Lower Okavango Delta, emphasising the importance of regional stock assessment for key fishery species. The fairly short life span and high variability in growth of C. gariepinus are important indicators that it is imperative to maintain natural habitat and flow regime for sustainable management of fishery resources in the Lower Okavango Delta.


This paper surveys the haptic technologies deployed in cars and their uses to enhance drivers' safety during manual driving. These technologies enable to deliver haptic (tactile or kinesthetic) feedback at various areas of the car, such as the steering wheel, the seat or the pedal. The paper explores two main uses of the haptic modality to fulfill the safety objective: to provide driving assistance and warning. Driving assistance concerns the transmission of information usually conveyed with other modalities for controlling the car's functions, maneuvering support and guidance. Warning concerns the prevention of accidents using emergency warnings, increasing the awareness of surroundings and preventing collisions, lane departures and speeding. This paper discusses how haptic feedback has been introduced so far for these purposes, and provides perspectives regarding the present and future of haptic cars meant to increase driver's safety.


The reaction of iron atoms with benzene has been studied for nearly 40 years. Despite this, there is no agreement as to the nature of the products. With the aid of density functional theory calculations of the energetics and the infrared spectra of the various species, the present work provides a rationalization of the conflicting reports regarding the nature of the products of the reaction of iron atoms with benzene in low-temperature matrices. At low temperature in dilute benzene matrices, Fe(eta(6)-C(6)H(6)) and Fe(eta(6)-C(6)H(6))(2) are the major products. At high iron concentrations, Fe(2)(eta(2)-C(6)H(6)) is also formed. In pure benzene at low temperature, Fe(eta(6)-C(6)H(6))(2) and Fe(eta(6)-C(6)H(6))(eta(4)-C(6)H(6)) are formed. None of the species undergo photoexcitation to give insertion products HFe(C(6)H(5)). In pure benzene at 77 K, Fe(eta(6)-C(6)H(6))(eta(4)-C(6)H(6)) is the major product, together with small amounts of Fe(eta(6)-C(6)H(6))(2) and iron clusters. The infrared spectra of pure benzene are complicated by the activation of infrared forbidden modes by the presence of the metal atom.


Abstract Introduction: Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for 75 to 80% of all such cases in this population. Survival has increased among children and adolescents due to advances in diagnosis and treatment, with a growing emphasis on the need for rehabilitation to improve functionality and quality of life, mitigating the long-term effects of treatment. Objective: To describe the process of compiling and validating an exercise booklet for children and adolescents during and after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Methods: Methodological study using the Delphi technique for validation. The panel of experts consisted of seven healthcare professionals and three mothers of children without ALL. The booklet was evaluated using a form containing 15 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale, and by qualitative assessment. The frequency of the expert ratings, percentage agreement and content validity index (CVI) were presented for each item and the instrument as a whole. Analyses were performed in R 3.5.1 software. Results: The booklet containing stretching, aerobics, strength and relaxation exercises was validated in the second round, reaching 100% consensus. When assessed only by the mothers, 93.33% consensus was achieved in a single round. Conclusion: The exercises booklet was validated for use in the population studied.


Augmented Wnt signaling has been implicated in many fibrotic diseases including obstructive nephropathy. Soluble form Klotho has been reported to function as a secreted Wnt antagonist. In this study, we tested whether Klotho protein could reduce renal fibrosis by inhibition of Wnt signaling. Transgenic mice that overexpressed Klotho, wild-type mice, and Klotho hetero mutant mice underwent unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). In some Klotho hetero mutant mice, Klotho-encoding plasmid was transferred into the skeletal muscle by electroporation. UUO induced activation of Wnt signaling in wild-type but less in Klotho transgenic mice. Enhanced tubulointerstitial fibrosis in wild-type mice was also attenuated in Klotho transgenic mice. In contrast, Wnt signaling and concomitant tubulointerstitial fibrosis were further augmented in Klotho hetero mutant mice after UUO compared with wild-type mice. In Klotho-encoding plasmid-transfected Klotho hetero mutant mice, however, Wnt signaling was markedly reduced accompanied by a decrease in extracellular matrix deposition after UUO. In vitro studies showed that stimulation of Wnt3a induced prolonged cell cycle arrest at G(2)/M phase, with a resultant increase in production of fibrogenic cytokines. Cotreatment with Klotho bypassed the G(2)/M arrest and reduced fibrogenic cytokine production. In conclusion, Klotho is a critical negative regulator of Wnt signaling and a suppressor of renal fibrosis in the obstructed kidney model.


AIM
To assess the relationship between nationality, gender and age and use of health services among patients visiting an urban university hospital emergency department (ED).

INTRODUCTION
ED crowding is an increasingly significant national and international problem. Overcrowding has many potential detrimental effects, including frustration for patients and ED personnel and greater risk of poor outcomes. This is partially caused by the growing numbers of visits by so called "walk-in patients" with minor problems.

METHODS
From May 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008, sociodemographic information was collected prospectively from 6955 male and 4303 female patients at Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland, who had requested our emergency services for non-urgent problems. A stratified sample of 1173 patients was taken for further analysis of referral by a general practitioner (GP) and having a GP at all.

RESULTS
In all, 26% of visits were by foreign nationals. Only 57% of these were registered with a GP, compared to 83% of Swiss nationals (p <0.0001). Swiss patients referred themselves to us in 87%, compared to 97% self-referrals among foreigners (p <0.0001). Between 7:00 pm and 7:00 am, our ED was significantly more often visited by non-Swiss patients (p <0.0001). Foreign patients were significantly younger than Swiss patients (median age 45, range 1-98 years versus age 35, range 2-89 years, p <0.0001).

CONCLUSION
Nationality is associated with greater use of ED services for non-urgent problems. Several explanations are conceivable for this. Clinical and policy efforts must address barriers to GP care, since in the long term the GP provides better and more cost-effective care for patients with minor complaints.


With the 21st century, the barriers to accessing information easily and in a healthy way were eliminated with the print media, radio, television and internet. It is a known fact that the flow of news and information reaches to the masses. On the other hand, it is known that in response to this possibility of expansion and access, the identification and production, interpretation and introduction of news and information will pose new challenges. On the one hand, the boundaries of the individual's fundamental rights expand with access to information, while on the other hand the quality of news and information and the professional principles of journalism are questioned in terms of human rights. Today, the accuracy of the information given by the news is discussed by all segments and another issue parallel to this discussion is that media institutions can ignore the impartiality of the media by making the news given in strict lines and that each media institution can give more space to the news consistent with its ideological character. In this study, the content analysis of news, information and documents about workers' rights and fundamental freedoms will be carried out between 1 April - 10 May 2019. In this context, five national and two local newspapers, as well as the analysis of the relation of the news media, which has been directly commented on or reported, to the demographic structure and ideological character of the media institution, and the effects of language and discourse forms used during this transmission will be emphasized. The study will be carried out using literature search and content analysis method. As a result, in this study, it is envisaged to scientifically reveal how alternative media is.


Intravenous pamidronate disodium has been used successfully in the treatment of malignancy-associated hypercalcemia and Paget's disease of bone. Although the definitive treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is surgical, intravenous pamidronate has been used to treat hypercalcemia of PHPT when surgery was contraindicated. We report two cases of PHPT in which intravenous pamidronate effectively reduced hypercalcemia and significantly improved the clinical symptoms. The results of our study and the experience in the literature suggest that pamidronate is a safe and effective method of reducing serum calcium in patients with PHPT when definitive surgery is contraindicated or must be postponed.


Homeland security and monitoring of critical infrastructures, such as buildings, bridges, nuclear power plants, aircrafts, etc., represent challenging application domains for modern networking technologies. In this context Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are gaining interest as a fundamental component of an advanced platform that embeds pervasive monitoring, networking and processing. Indeed, recent literature has addressed the perspectives of WSNs for monitoring structural and functional health of industrial plants, e.g. in (Akyildiz, et al., 2002; Bai et al., 2004; Barbaràn et al., 2007; Cho et al., 2008; Flammini et al., 2008; Kim et al., 2007): nevertheless, we can observe that the dominating paradigm is to exploit WSNs features in terms of a "network of small sensors", while almost unexplored is the more advanced paradigm of "networked smart sensors" and the underlying opportunity to actually support autonomous (anomaly) detection processes. A large body of specialized literature deals with this topic and several ad-hoc solutions can be found. On the contrary, we try to develop a different approach in this context: resorting to security mechanisms that are made available in traditional networks can provide a suitable and reliable framework, while smart adaptations are targeted to meet tight resource constraints and possible performance degradation.


The article deals with the question of the lexicographic interpretation of the poetic language of V.A. Zhukovsky (1783—1852) in the form of the author's dictionary, which became possible after the publication of the initial volumes of the "Complete Works and Letters" of the writer. Special attention is paid to poetic neologisms in the works of the first Russian romanticist. The question is raised about the typology of individual author's lexemes. Occasionalisms properly, rare words and poetry, which became such as a result of the "replication" by many writers of successful and historically promising author's neologisms of their predecessors are distinguished. The occasional units that are found in Zhukovsky's translation of Homer's poem "The Odyssey" and perform specific aesthetic functions are analyzed. The results of a comparative analysis of Zhukovsky's poetic language with the lexicon of poets of the 18th — 20th centuries (N. M. Karamzin, I. I. Dmitriev, D. V. Davydov, K. N. Batyushkov, P. A. Vyazemsky, N. M. Yazykov , A. I. Polezhaev, D. V. Venevitinov, M. Yu. Lermontov and others) are presented in the article. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that for the first time the neological layer of Zhukovsky's poetic language is comprehended. The relevance of the study is due to the possibility of using the observations, facts and conclusions stated in it in the theory and practice of lexicography — when compiling explanatory, historical and author's dictionaries.


We report a patient who underwent left bundle branch pacing (LBBP) because of intermittent complete heart block. During unipolar pacing at a deep septal site, a transition in QRS morphology from nonselective to selective pacing (presence of a discrete component on the intracardiac electrogram) was observed, but this was accompanied by concomitant prolongation of the stimulus‐to‐left ventricular activation time (Stim‐LVAT) from 96 to 116 ms. However, with several additional turns of the lead, a transition from nonselective to selective LBBP with a short and constant Stim‐LVAT of 78 ms was achieved. Our case suggests that a paced QRS morphology transition from nonselective to selective pacing does not always indicate LBBP. Assessment of high‐output pacing is mandatory to achieve LBBP.


This study aims to promote the sales of wild vegetables, which are considered well-being food. To do this, a survey was conducted based on the research model and hypotheses about the effects of the characteristics(safety, taste, price) on customer satisfaction, trust, and repurchase intention. The results are as follows. The characteristics of wild vegetables(safety, taste, price) had positive effects on customer satisfaction and trust(p<0.01). Also, customer satisfaction had a positive effect on customer trust(p<0.05). Therefore, the characteristics of wild vegetables(safety, taste, price) can be the major factors to improve customer satisfaction and trust, leading to continuous sales and repurchase.


A high-performance data acquisition (DAQ) system has been developed for steady-state fusion experiments at the Large Helical Device (LHD). Its significant characteristics are 110 MB s−1 continuous DAQ capability and the performance scalability using an unlimited number of DAQ units. Incoming data streams are first transferred temporarily onto the shared random access memory, and then cut into definite time chunks to be stored. They are also thinned out to 1/N to be served for the real-time monitoring clients. In LHD steady-state experiment, the DAQ cluster has established the world record for acquiring 90 GB/shot. The established technology of this steady-state acquisition and store can contribute to the ITER experiments whose data amount is estimated in the range 100 or 1000 GB/shot. This system also acquires experimental data from multiple remote sites through the fusion-dedicated virtual private network in Japan. The speed lowering problem in long-distance TCP/IP data transfer has been improved by the packet pacing optimization. The demonstrated collaboration scheme will be analogous to that of ITER and the supporting machines.


The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cancer patients is difficult to estimate because the infection may be lost from individuals with cancer or its precursor conditions. The bacterium does not colonize cancerous tissue and therefore studies using histopathology as a means of assessing infection require gastric biopsy material sampled separately from the tumour itself. Results from five such studies, with more than 50 patients, have demonstrated an H. pylori prevalence of 43%-78%. Studies using serological assessment of antibody presence have the advantage of enabling adequate case-control comparisons. Ten reported studies that were retrospective in design showed a range in prevalence from 52% to 89% among the cases and from 38% to 78% among the controls. Five studies showed a significant increase in infection prevalence among the cases, with odds ratios ranging from 1.6 to 4.2. The odds ratio increased in subjects who were younger. Retrospective studies may be biased in that the prevalence of H. pylori among cases may be systematically under-estimated. Three prospective serological studies showed a prevalence of 69%-95% among cases and 47%-76% among controls. All three studies had a significantly elevated odds ratio and a pooled estimate of this was 3.8 (95% CI: 2.3-6.2). In the pooled analysis there was a significant trend towards an increased odds ratio with increased time between the assessment of infection and cancer diagnosis. After 14 years of follow-up the overall infection prevalence among cases was 90% and the odds ratio was 8.7 (95% CI: 2.7-45.0). This might represent the best estimate of infection prevalence and associated risk.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


In an economy driven by ideas and intellectual know-how, top executives recognize the importance of employing smart, highly creative people. But if clever people have one defining characteristic, it's that they do not want to be led. So what is a leader to do? The authors conducted more than 100 interviews with leaders and their clever people at major organizations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cisco Systems, Novartis, the BBC, and Roche. What they learned is that the psychological relationships effective leaders have with their clever people are very different from the ones they have with traditional followers. Those relationships can be shaped by seven characteristics that clever people share: They know their worth--and they know you have to employ them if you want their tacit skills. They are organizationally savvy and will seek the company context in which their interests are most generously funded. They ignore corporate hierarchy; although intellectual status is important to them, you can't lure them with promotions. They expect instant access to top management, and if they don't get it, they may think the organization doesn't take their work seriously. They are plugged into highly developed knowledge networks, which both increases their value and makes them more of a flight risk. They have a low boredom threshold, so you have to keep them challenged and committed. They won't thank you--even when you're leading them well. The trick is to act like a benevolent guardian: to grant them the respect and recognition they demand, protect them from organizational rules and politics, and give them room to pursue private efforts and even to fail. The payoff will be a flourishing crop of creative minds that will enrich your whole organization.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our study is to present a series of 14 patients with chronic diverticulitis on barium enema examinations and to correlate the radiographic findings with the clinical and pathologic findings in these patients.

CONCLUSION
Chronic diverticulitis is a distinct pathologic entity characterized by the frequent development of chronic obstructive symptoms and abdominal pain rather than the classic clinical findings of acute sigmoid diverticulitis. Barium enema examinations usually reveal a relatively long segment of circumferential narrowing in the sigmoid colon with a spiculated contour and tapered margins, sometimes associated with retrograde obstruction. Our experience suggests that chronic diverticulitis can often be diagnosed on the basis of the characteristic clinical and radiographic findings in these patients.


In this Comment, the ultimate intent is to increase survival of the anticipated global flu pandemic. The apparent failure of "medicine" to provide a completely understood and logically based biochemical prevention and treatment for all influenzas (and many other viral diseases) may be an unavoidable result of the evolving complexity of the H5N1 virus. However, clinical experience cited in all accounts, including the 2003 to 2006 period, suggest that: (i) ascorbic acid is not being administered to humans infected or at risk for influenza, and (ii) ascorbic acid is (mistakenly) believed to be a vitamin ("vitamin C"). Proper use of ascorbic acid as described here could provide effective containment for the flu pandemic.


rates are obtained on the base of the two-body model with thed potential of a simple Gaussian form, which describes correctly the phase-shifts in the S-, P-, and D-waves, the binding energy and the asymptotic normalization constant in the final S-state. Wave functions of the bound and continuum states are calculated by using the Numerov algorithm of a high accuracy. A good convergence of the results for the E1- and E2- components of the transition is shown when increasing the upper limit of effective integrals up to 40 fm. The obtained results for the S-factor and reaction rates in the temperature interval 10 6 KT � 10 10 K are in a good agreement with the results of Ref. A.M. Mukhamedzhanov, et.al., Phys. Rev. C 83, 055805 (2011), where the authors used the known asymptotical form of wave function at low energies and a complicated potential at higher energies.


Background: Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a contact sport that has grown in popularity worldwide. MMA has been shown to be an activity that generates a high volume of injuries in its participants, especially when subjected to particular factors that are known to carry high risk in contact sports. Limited research has been conducted concerning the risk for injury development in MMA, with no South African statistics being produced to date. This study aims to bridge this gap. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and risk factors associated with musculoskeletal injuries in Mixed Martial Arts athletes in the greater Durban area of KwaZulu-Natal. Method: This study was a prospective, quantitative survey that sampled 105 MMA athletes from 16 accredited gyms in the greater Durban area. The information captured from the questionnaires enabled compilation of a fighter profile, training profile and injury profile assessing injuries present at the time of data collection and a history of injuries over a 12 month period. Data was analysed with SPSS version 23.0. Inferential techniques included the use of correlations and chi square test values, displayed as p-values and Eta scores. Relationships were considered significant with a p-value of <0.05 and an effect size of >0.23. Results: A 91% response rate was achieved with 83.3% male and 16.2% female participation. Overall, the most commonly injured areas were the upper extremity (36.5%), followed by the lower extremity (34.3%), spine (14.2%), head (8.6%) and trunk (6.5%) regions. In terms of single areas, the most common injuries were to the shoulder (30.9%), knee (29.2%) and elbow (14.4%). The most common injury types were joint sprains (31.1%), muscle strains (20.7%) and ligament tears (18.6%). The most common injury mechanisms were being struck (16.1%), falling (15.7%) and striking an opponent (13.6%). Participants were unsure of the mechanism of their injuries in 7.5% of the injury reports. The number of days missed from training due to injury ranged from zero to 270 days of incapacitation. Risk factors for injury were significant for favoring the dominant hand while fighting (p = 0.011), flexibility training/ stretching (p = 0.019), ground arm-bars (p = 0.014), ground strangles (p = 0.028), groundwork holds/pins (p = 0.028), falling (p = 0.006), increased age (η = 0,619) and increased body weight (η = 0.706). Participation in CrossFit as an additional sport/ conditioning program was a protective factor against injuries (p = 0.007). Conclusion and recommendations: Favouring one side, falling, stretching, arm-bars, strangles, pins and increasing weight are some of the largely modifiable risk factors that play an important role in the development of injuries in MMA athletes. Coaches and their athletes will benefit from adapting training strategies to reduce injury rates from over-exposure to activities that present a high risk of injury as well as by furthering the extent of exposure to conditioning.


This paper presents a new architecture for implementing intelligent agents cooperating in a special Multi Agent environment, namely the RoboCup Rescue Simulation System. This is a three layered architecture which customized for cooperating three kinds of agents to minimize damages, caused by a big earthquake in rescue simulation environment. Structural decision making algorithms are combined with heuristic ones in this model. One of advantage of this architecture is supporting both Centralized and Distributed multi agent systems. At the end comparing this new architecture with those which be used till now could show the strength of new architecture.


Postphenomenological studies have explored technological mediation between the human body and the world by analysing the bodily experience of the world. Applying this analytical perspective to predictive technology requires some expansions because humans cannot directly experience the future world. I conceptualize pre-spectival focus, which refers to how human attention is directed to the making-future-present process, and which features or aspects of its process are foregrounded or backgrounded. Through the concept of pre-spectival focus and actor-network theory (ANT), this article examines the case of System for the Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI), a Japanese technology used to simulate the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides released from nuclear reactors. SPEEDI provides prediction maps representing radiological consequences and was expected to support evacuation decisions during nuclear emergencies. However, this was not the case with the Fukushima disaster, which led to a socio-technical controversy regarding SPEEDI's usage. Based on bibliographic surveys and several interviews, I encapsulate four multistable uses of SPEEDI: prediction as supporting advice, prediction as a tool for evacuation drills, prediction as self-protection, and prediction as a source of misunderstanding. Relevant actors perceive the predictions of a nuclear disaster in each stability depending on the diversity of their pre-spectival foci, which is also related to the forms of life nourished through their professional and daily lives. A distinct rivalry can be observed between the two actor-networks around nuclear emergency management in which SPEEDI is differently enrolled: the social control network and self-determination network. In the former, the residents are constituted as passive selves who obediently follow governmental instructions; in the latter, residents are included as autonomous subjects who can actively decide protective actions. Moreover, I discuss future postphenomenology–ANT studies on predictive technologies based on these analyses.


The notion of a European heritage has become one of the main pillars of the EU's cultural policy. However, instead of the political wish for a European shared patrimony, Europe faces a highly conflicted past, which has become for many Europeans a contested heritage with strong repercussions for the backward-looking notion of European culture. For, there is no heritage without culture and no culture without conflict. One's heritage also defines one's identity, and the willingness of Europeans, and "Western" tourists more in general, to identify with deplorable and painful pasts makes Holocaust heritage tourism into a kind of healing experience. More than being a matter of shared values, the conservation of such painful pasts deals with their present uses. In other words, the meaning of heritage is produced by politics of memory and identity as much as by the performative experience of heritage tourists and other stakeholders with often conflicted interests and competing memories. This has resulted in many parts of Europe (and beyond) in what I would call urban "Holoscapes", where visitors now walk in the footsteps of victims in a virtually re-enacted site without Jews. Keywords: conflict, heritage, tourism, Holoscapes, Europe


A new method for designing cam profiles which modifies the residual vibration spectrum in a desired way is presented. This method utilizes the convolution operator to modify the dynamic properties of the cam motion in a specified way, while maintaining the total displacement of the motion. The method is illustrated by developing families of cam profiles of increasing continuity, and also by developing cam motions whose residual vibration spectra have significant zones of near zero vibration.


An integrated correlator of four superconformal stress-tensor primaries of N = 4 supersymmetric SU(N) Yang–Mills theory (SYM), originally obtained by localisation, is re-expressed as a twodimensional lattice sum that is manifestly invariant under SL(2,Z) S-duality. This expression is shown to satisfy a novel Laplace equation in the complex coupling constant τ that relates the SU(N) integrated correlator to those of the SU(N + 1) and SU(N − 1) theories. The lattice sum is shown to precisely reproduce known perturbative and non-perturbative properties of N = 4 SYM for any finite N , as well as extending previously conjectured properties of the large-N expansion.


This special section is devoted to the topic of knowledge in policy making. Knowledge – data, arguments, scientific findings, ideas about policy instruments and their effects, even values and ideologies – guides judgements of decision makers about what to do or not to do. Expert or scientific knowledge and policy advice still dominate in policy analysis debates (particularly in the evidence-based policy making movement), although in recent years the role of other types of "usable" knowledge such as lay knowledge or tacit knowledge is acquiring increased recognition. In addition, processes of social learning and the building of advocacy coalitions around specific forms of knowledge are capturing scholars' attention. As can be seen, the (often conflicted and contested) role of knowledge in public policy can be understood from a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives – and this richness of perspectives, as well as conflicts around specific forms of knowledge, became the starting point for our call for papers, published in February 2014. From the number of contributions that we received, three are being published in this special section, accompanied by a literature review written by us, the Guest Editors.


In Reply .—I certainly agree with Ring and colleagues that performing a controlled study investigating treatment regimens in laryngotracheobronchitis is most difficult considering the natural variations in this illness. We were interested in observing the acute and long-term (24 to 72 hours) effects of intermittent positive-pressure breathing (IPPB) plus racemic epinephrine hydrochloride and therefore established fairly rigid criteria such as a fixed number of treatments. The suggestion by Ring et al that the patients "were deprived of the full benefit of these treatments" assumes that this form of treatment has already been proved effective. They missed the main point of the article, which was not to assume the value of the treatment regimen but to prove , in a controlled manner, its efficacy, if any. Although patient 5 of the treatment group had only a score of 9 during the first six hours, this patient's condition deteriorated subsequently (patients were not


Introduction: The Boey score is the most commonly used scoring system for risk stratification because of its simplicity and high predictive value for mortality and morbidity in cases of gastric perforation. This score is widely used in daily practice because it only assesses 3 assessment components; namely the onset of perforation, shock at first admission, and comorbid disease; which is easy to do and has a fairly good accuracy. In Boey score 2, the mortality rate is still high, so research on the factors that most influence mortality at Boey Score 2 needs to be done.Methods: This study uses secondary data from medical records of patients who meet criteria of inclusion and exclusion. This study is a comparative test using a cohort analytic observational study design (longitudinal retrospective), comparing the components of the Boey score which is the most influential in predicting the mortality rate in gastric perforated patients. Boey score 1 and Boey score 2 at RSUD Dr. Soetomo SurabayaResults: Total subject of the study was 65 people, consisting of 43 men (66.2%) and 22 women (33.8%). The Boey score was 16 people (24.6%) with a Boey score of 1 and 49 people (75.4%) with a Boey score 2.From the Boey score component, 49 people (75.4%) were obtained with the onset of perforation> 24 hours, 31 people (47.7%) with preoperative shock, and 34 people (52.3%) with comorbidities. Comorbidity in study subjects included hypertension in 17 people (26.2%), diabetes mellitus in 4 people (6.2%), heart disease in 4 people (6.2%), lung disease in 5 people (7.7%), and kidney disease in 7 people. people (10.8%)Conclusion: Shock is the most dominant Boey Score predictability factor that affects the mortality rate in gastric perforation patients with Boey score 1 and Boey score 2.


This paper contributes to the limited literature on the welfare impacts of market concentration by developing a simple model that shows how exogenous variations in market power affect poverty. Increased market power leads to economy-wide welfare losses, because it raises the prices of goods and services for all agents in an economy and thus reduces the relative incomes of households, particularly among the poor. Declines in poverty in this context are only possible in the case wherein the poor have access to a share of oligopolistic rents. Although this scenario seems highly unlikely, this result has important implications for public policy, particularly for economies with less-than-perfect markets and social objectives of poverty eradication. This result suggest the possibility of taxing extranormal rents extracted by firms with market power and redistributing them through targeted lump-sum social transfers, thereby contributing to poverty reduction by mitigating welfare losses from the negative price effect.


The advantages and disadvantages of the progesterone-releasing intrauterine device (IUD), Progestasert, are investigated, relying on the published literature and the authors' own experiences. Insertion of the Progestasert presents very few problems except in certain cases, particularly in nulliparous women. A complete gynecologic examination is indispensible before insertion to guarantee the absence of contraindications (e.g., pregnancy, anatomically abnormal uterus, tumors, pelvic inflammatory disease, acute cervicitis). Pain or discomfort at insertion appears infrequently, except among nulliparas. Similarly, pain after insertion is rare, but occurs most often in nulliparous women. Because of the insertion technique required for this IUD, cases of perforation of he uterus or cervix are virtually nonexistent. Expulsion of the Progestasert is very infrequent; it appears that incorrect insertion is the primary cause of expulsion. All studies verify a decrease in the expulsion rate after the 1st month of use. The incidence of pelvic inflammatory disease in Progestasert users is significantly lower than in users of other IUDs. This may be due, in part, to the shape of the device, which does not have wide surface areas and has no sharp or pointed edges which can become embedded in the endometrial wall. Additionally, the nature of the insertion device, guaranteeing lack of contact between the transverse arm of the IUD and the vagina, assures the sterility of the IUD even at the moment of introduction into the uterus, limiting the transport of bacteria into the cavity. Lack of sufficient data on ectopic pregnancies in Progestasert users impedes a complete evaluation and definition of the problem with this particular device. One of the most frequent reasons for discontinuing use of the IUD is distrubance of the menstrual cycle. Increase in menstrual blood loss, prolongation of the menstrual period, and intermenstrual bleeding are disturbances found in users of most IUDs. The Progestasert, however, appears to decrease menstrual bleeding and shorten the menstrual period in all cases. The advantages of the Progestasert are indisputable in treating dysmennorhea. All studies agree on the attributes of topical release of progesterone in treating this illness. Studies report disappearance of symptoms in 35% of dysmennorheic patients and a marked reduction of symptoms in 65%. Not enough data exist to draw any conclusions about the teratogenic action of the Progestasert. In normal pregnancies, however, natural progesterone is found in much higher levels than that released by the IUD. Theoretically, the hormone released by the IUD should not interfere with normal fetal development. The failure rate of Progestasert is equal to or lower than that of other IUDs. Overall, the Progestasert represents a remarkable improvement over conventional IUDs.


Hydrologists and geodesists met in November to share new results and discuss ways to facilitate the use of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) products for hydrological research and applications. More than 70 scientists from eight countries participated. Recommendations from the workshop were presented subsequently at the GRACE science team meeting.

The NASA/German Aerospace Center's GRACE mission, launched in 2002, provides a unique perspective on the water cycle. GRACE measures tiny variations in Earth's gravity field, from which are inferred changes in total column water: the sum of groundwater, soil moisture, surface water, snow, ice, and biomass. Workshop presentations included river basin—scale budget studies; groundwater, snow, river runoff, and ice sheet melt assessments; GRACE data assimilation; drought monitoring; and several papers devoted to data processing issues.


In this paper we focused upon the nature of Indian fly-ash and its various utilizations. In the past decade, there has been tremendous increase in the generation of fly-ash since more than 70% of country's demand for electricity is met by coalbased thermal power plants. At present scenario, around 160 million-tons of fly-ash is produced which is nearly twice over the last decade. The disposal of such huge quantity of ash is a serious issue. With detailed knowledge, it could be gainfully exploited in different sectors, thereby conserving soil and other resources by acting as their substitute material. Many governmental agencies have been made responsible for the comprehensive exploration of associated hazards and potential applications of fly-ash for its better and increased consumption. Fly-ash is used in numerous sectors with majority application in construction and related activities. Various mitigation measures have been discussed in this paper viz. brick making, roads & embankments construction, cement manufacturing and agricultural uses.


Hypnosis crime is a conventional crime that has existed since ancient times until today, although it has been around since before this country turns to date we have not had a clause governing criminal offenses. In Empirical hypnosis crime has a lot going on in Indonesia and has many court decisions are fixed (Incracht) that hypnosis criminal act is a criminal offense. The principle of legality to say that "there is no act can be imprisoned except by the power of the criminal provisions of the existing law" means that the person can not be punished without any written rules that govern them.In fact a lot of events that happen in the middle of the community where the event has not been set in criminal law today. Hypnosis crime is one of the many legal issues that occur at this time where the crime is no crime that govern article.Judge looks hypnosis is used as a tool for easy mode or intentions that resulted in harm to another person called a crime and imprisonment sanction that be a lesson to the public or to the law enforcement agencies for to ensure legal certainty and sense of fairness in society. Key words :Penegakkan hukum (law enforcement), Keadilan (Justice),  Kepastian (assurance)Sanksi ( Sanction )


We aimed to reveal psychological symptoms of young university students (18-25 y/o) with no secondary disease with complaints of migraine headaches. We compared the psychological symptoms with a young control group that did not present headaches and other studies examining migraines in different age groups to determine any similarities. The study consisted of 75 migraine cases; 13 with aura and 62 without aura) and 42 non-headache control subjects. The International Classification of Headache Disorders 3 (ICHD-3) with criteria questions and the Psychological Symptom Research Scale were applied to all participants and SPSS Statistics Program evaluated the data. Findings: 1) In the test of Descriptive Statistics for the Sample of Students, average values of both sexes were taken and found the average values of the migraine groups were higher than control group. 2) The Anova Test found differences in the diagnostic group besides depression (Somatisation p<., others p<.01) with no significant difference in depression (p=0.315). 3)The Pearson Correlation Analysis, found no association between age and psychological symptoms. There's a significant relationship between psychological symptoms with somatisation (besides paranoid) (p<.05). There's a significant relationship between depression and other psychological symptoms (p<.05). There's a significant relationship between anxiety, obsession, interpersonal relationships, psychoticism, paranoia, anger, phobia, additional scale and other psychological symptoms (p<.01). Result: The study demonstrated psychological symptoms in young migraineurs. The average psychological symptoms of both migraine groups were higher than the control group, this showed psychological symptom similarities between young migraineurs and migraine patients of different age groups.


The potential of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to demonstrate the mediastinal veins was evaluated retrospectively in 25 patients with no evidence of a venous abnormality, 28 patients who had narrowing or occlusion of a mediastinal vein, and two patients who had a venous anomaly. In patients with venous occlusion, the MR images graphically demonstrated the sites and extent. MR images also demonstrated slow flow within venous structures proximal to the obstruction. Generally, venous collaterals in the mediastinum and chest wall were better seen with contrast material-enhanced computed tomography scans. The marked contrast on MR images between the signal void of normal vascular structures, the moderate signal intensity of tumor, and the high signal intensity of a thrombus or slowly flowing blood allows ready detection of venous occlusion and may suggest the nature of the occlusion.


Abundant autologous proteins, like serum albumin, should be immunologically inert. However, individuals with no apparent predisposition to autoimmune disease can develop immune responses to autologous therapeutic proteins. Protein aggregation is a potential major trigger of these responses. Adsorption of proteins to particles provides macromolecular size and may generate structural changes in the protein, resembling aggregation. Using aldehyde/sulfate latex beads coated with murine serum albumin (MSA), we found that BALB/c mice mounted MSA‐specific IgG responses that were dependent on CD4+ T cells. IgGs were specific for MSA adsorbed to solid surfaces and noncross‐reactive with human, bovine, or pig albumins. T cells induced in response to MSA augmented the primary and induced boosted secondary IgG and IgM responses specific for the T cell‐independent antigen, capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 14 (PPS14), when the latter was attached to the same bead. Similar to the anti‐MSA IgG response, the boosted PPS14‐specific IgG secondary response was CD4+ T‐cell dependent, displayed a typical carrier effect, and was enhanced by, but did not require, Toll‐like receptor stimulation. These results provide a potential mechanism for the induction of responses to autoantigens unable to induce specific T‐cell responses, and provide new insights into polysaccharide‐specific immunity.


Introduction Hypothermic machine perfusion offers great promise in kidney transplantation and experimental studies are needed to establish the optimal conditions for this to occur. Pig kidneys are considered to be a good model for this purpose and share many properties with human organs. However it is not established whether the metabolism of pig kidneys in such hypothermic hypoxic conditions is comparable to human organs. Methods Standard criteria human (n = 12) and porcine (n = 10) kidneys underwent HMP using the LifePort Kidney Transporter 1.0 (Organ Recovery Systems) using KPS-1 solution. Perfusate was sampled at 45 minutes and 4 hours of perfusion and metabolomic analysis performed using 1-D 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Results There was no inter-species difference in the number of metabolites identified. Of the 30 metabolites analysed, 16 (53.3%) were present in comparable concentrations in the pig and human kidney perfusates. The rate of change of concentration for 3-Hydroxybutyrate was greater for human kidneys (p<0.001). For the other 29 metabolites (96.7%), there was no difference in the rate of change of concentration between pig and human samples. Conclusions Whilst there are some differences between pig and human kidneys during HMP they appear to be metabolically similar and the pig seems to be a valid model for human studies.


Endocytosis of immunoglobulin G (IgG)-coated colloidal gold particles in cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages was studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. At 4 degrees C, the tracers adhered to the plasma membrane and accumulated in coated pits located in the bottom of furrows or deep invaginations on the cell surface. In the presence of an excess of unlabeled mouse IgG, cellular binding of the tracer was reduced by 80 to 90%. After warming to 37 degrees C, surface-bound tracer particles were rapidly ingested and transported to small and large vesicles lacking membrane coat. From here, they were then passed over to multivesicular bodies and lysosomes characterized by their content of myelin-like figures and other inclusions. Double-labeling experiments with IgG-coated colloidal gold particles of two different sizes (20 and 5 nm diameter) indicated that the plasma membrane was depleted of binding sites after uptake of a polyvalent ligand. The restoration of the binding capacity was a slow process requiring ongoing protein synthesis. On the basis of these observations, a model for endocytosis of immune complexes in macrophages is presented. It includes the following four steps: IgG-containing macromolecular aggregates bind to specific receptors in the plasma membrane. These appear to be preclustered in coated pits or able to move laterally within the membrane even at 4 degrees C. The receptor-ligand complexes are internalized and transferred sequentially to larger uncoated vesicles or endosomes, multivesicular bodies, and lysosomes with inclusions of varying appearance. Receptors and ligands are degraded within the lysosomes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Three hundred and nine patients, whose chief complaint was dizziness following a flexion-extension type of acceleration neck injury, were examined in the Neurosensory Laboratory of Temple University Health Sciences Center between 1965 and 1972. Specific attention was devoted to vestibular tests, including a search for latent and positional nystagmus, bithermal calorics, and rotatory tests. All tests were performed with the aid of electronystagmography; latent nystagmus was present in 29 percent of the patients, caloric tests were abnormal in 57 percent, and rotatory tests were abnormal in 51 percent. These findings suggest that many of these patients have a verifiable objective vestibular disturbance as a cause of dizziness, even though the neurologic examination may be normal. Furthermore, in order to detect this objective vestibular dysfunction, the patient should be tested with aid of electronystagmography since nystagmus may be inhibited by visual fixation.


Glucocorticoids (GCs) selectively trigger cell death in the multiple myeloma cell line MM1S which express NR3C1/Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) protein, but fail to kill MM1R cells which lack GR protein. Given recent demonstrations of altered microRNA profiles in a diverse range of haematological malignancies and drug resistance, we characterized GC inducible mRNA and microRNA transcription profiles in GC sensitive MM1S as compared to GC resistant MM1R cells. Transcriptome analysis revealed that GCs regulate expression of multiple genes involved in cell cycle control, cell organization, cell death and immunological disease in MM1S cells, which remain unaffected in MM1R cells. With respect to microRNAs, mir-150-5p was identified as the most time persistent GC regulated microRNA, out of 5 QPCR validated microRNAs (mir-26b, mir-125a-5p, mir-146-5p, mir-150-5p, and mir-184), which are GC inducible in MM1S but not in MM1R cells. Functional studies further revealed that ectopic transfection of a synthetic mir-150-5p mimics GR dependent gene expression changes involved in cell death and cell proliferation pathways. Remarkably, despite the gene expression changes observed, overexpression of mir-150-5p in absence of GCs did not trigger significant cytotoxicity in MM1S or MM1R cells. This suggests the requirement of additional steps in GC induced cell death, which can not be mimicked by mir-150-5p overexpression alone. Interestingly, a combination of mir-150-5p transfection with low doses GC in MM1S cells was found to sensitize therapy response, whereas opposite effects could be observed with a mir-150-5p specific antagomir. Although mir-150-5p overexpression did not substantially change GR expression levels, it was found that mir-150-5p evokes GR specific effects through indirect mRNA regulation of GR interacting transcription factors and hormone receptors, GR chaperones, as well as various effectors of unfolded protein stress and chemokine signalling. Altogether GC-inducible mir-150-5p adds another level of regulation to GC specific therapeutic responses in multiple myeloma.


AbstractBreaking surface waves generate layers of bubble clouds as air parcels entrain into the upper ocean through the action of turbulent motions. The turbulent diffusivity in the bubble cloud layer is investigated by combining measurements of surface winds, waves, bubble acoustic backscatter, currents, and hydrography. These measurements were made at water depths of 60–90 m on the shelf of the Gulf of Alaska near Kayak Island during late December 2012, a period when the ocean was experiencing winds and significant wave heights up to 22 m s−1 and 9 m, respectively. Vertical profiles of acoustic backscatter decayed exponentially from the wave surface with e-folding lengths of about 0.6 to 6 m, while the bubble penetration depths were about 3 to 30 m. Both e-folding lengths and bubble depths were highly correlated with surface wind and wave conditions. The turbulent diffusion coefficients, inferred from e-folding length and bubble depth, varied from about 0.01 to 0.4 m2 s−1. Analysis suggests that the tur...


Amino acids (AA's) are interesting materials as feedstocks for the chemical industry as they contain chemical functionalities similar to conventional petrochemicals. This offers the possibility to circumvent process steps, energy and reagents. AA's can be obtained by the hydrolysis of potentially inexpensive voluminous protein streams derived from biofuel production. However, isolation of the preferred AA is required in order to carry out further transformation into the desired product. Theoretically separation may be achieved using electrodialysis. To increase efficiency, specific modification to a product of industrial interest and removes charged groups of AA's with similar isoelectric points is required. Here, the reaction of L-lysine decarboxylase (LDC) was studied as a means to specifically convert L-lysine (Lys) to 1,5-pentanediamine (PDA) in the presence of L-arginine (Arg) to produce products with different charge thus allowing isolation of products by electrodialysis. Immobilization of LDC in calcium alginate enhanced the operational stability and conversion in mixtures of amino acids was highly specific. At 30 °C the presence of Arg had little effect on the activity of the enzyme although inhibition by the product PDA could be observed. Volumetric productivity was calculated and raw material and transformation costs were estimated for a potential process using a mixture of Arg and Lys.


The idea of the invention is to negotiate the resource allocation between two network elements on the Application or Transport layer level so that the negotiation is possible over the network, even if the network comprises several physically different networks. To determine the transmission capacity for the allocation, the sending element must first send a request message with a proposal for the capacity and media types. The receiving element either accepts the proposal or makes a new proposal by changing the parameter values so that they are acceptable from the point of view of the receiver, and sends a response to the sending element. Based on the response from the receiving element, the sending element the either accepts or rejects the allocation and informs the receiving element of its decision by sending a confirmation.


In our information-rich world, computers generate so much data that it comprehending and understanding it in its raw form is difficult. Visual representations are imperative if we are to understand even a small part of it. In addition - or as an alternative to visual mappings - we could map information into nonvisual forms, any form that stimulates any of our senses: from auditory, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory to vestibular.