The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is still significantly impacting health care systems around the globe. Refined animal models are needed to study SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity as well as efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics. ABSTRACT Several models were developed to study the pathogenicity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as well as the in vivo efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics. Since wild-type mice are naturally resistant to infection by ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strains, several transgenic mouse models expressing human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) were developed. An alternative approach has been to develop mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 strains. Here, we compared the clinical progression, viral replication kinetics and dissemination, pulmonary tropism, and host innate immune response dynamics between the mouse-adapted MA10 strain and its parental strain (USA-WA1/2020) following intranasal inoculation of K18-hACE2 mice, a widely used model. Compared to its parental counterpart, the MA10 strain induced earlier clinical decline with significantly higher viral replication and earlier neurodissemination. Importantly, the MA10 strain also showed a wider tropism, with infection of bronchiolar epithelia. While both SARS-CoV-2 strains induced comparable pulmonary cytokine/chemokine responses, many proinflammatory and monocyte-recruitment chemokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), IP-10/CXCL10, and MCP-1/CCL2, showed an earlier peak in MA10-infected mice. Furthermore, both strains induced a similar downregulation of murine Ace2, with only a transient downregulation of Tmprss2 and no alterations in hACE2 expression. Overall, these data demonstrate that in K18-hACE2 mice, the MA10 strain has a pulmonary tropism that more closely resembles SARS-CoV-2 tropism in humans (airways and pneumocytes) than its parental strain. Its rapid replication and neurodissemination and early host pulmonary responses can have a significant impact on the clinical outcomes of infection and are, therefore, critical features to consider for study designs using these strains and mouse model. IMPORTANCE The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, is still significantly impacting health care systems around the globe. Refined animal models are needed to study SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity as well as efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics. In line with this, thorough evaluation of animal models and virus strains/variants are paramount for standardization and meaningful comparisons. Here, we demonstrated differences in replication dynamics between the Wuhan-like USA-WA1/2020 strain and the derivative mouse-adapted MA10 strain in K18-hACE2 mice. The MA10 strain showed accelerated viral replication and neurodissemination, differential pulmonary tropism, and earlier pulmonary innate immune responses. The observed differences allow us to better refine experimental designs when considering the use of the MA10 strain in the widely utilized K18-hACE2 murine model.


OBJECTIVE
To establish a reference dental model used for trueness evaluation of photo-curing 3D printing technologies, and to establish a multidimensional trueness evaluation method based on the reference dental model, which can yield a comprehensive objective evaluating result.

METHODS
A reference dental model was designed in 3ds Max 2018 software based on the statistical analysis results of dental crown and dental arch of Chinese population in previous studies in order to simulate a real dental model. This model was made up of several simple geometrical configurations, which could minimize the manual measurement error. Physical models were fabricated using three types of photo-curing three-dimensional printers using different techniques: Objet30 Pro (PJ), Projet 3510 HD Plus (MJP), and Perfactory DDP (DLP). The models were scanned by a laser-scanning device and the files were exported in a stereolithography file format. In Geomagic Studio 2012, 3D shape deviations (including overall 3D deviation, flatness error, parallelism error and perpendicularity error) were measured by several commands using the data obtained from the scanning. With regard to the feature size of the simulated dental crown and dental arch, linear measurements (including mesiodistal diameter, buccolingual diameter, crown height of each simulated dental crown and feature size of dental arch) were recorded for selected landmarks using a digital caliper. The measurement results of feature sizes were used to analyze the occlusal plane percentage error and the occlusogingival direction percentage error.

RESULTS
For the 3D shape deviation, the results showed that the printed model made by the Objet30 Pro had the lowest overall 3D deviation, the model made by Projet 3510 HD Plus had the best perpendicularity accuracy and the model made by Perfactory DDP had the best flatness accuracy. In terms of the accuracy of the feature size, the model made by the Objet30 Pro was the most accurate in consideration of the results of the occlusal plane percentage error and the occlusogingival direction percentage error.

CONCLUSION
The reference dental model and the trueness evaluation method using this model is universally applicable in evaluating the trueness of photo-curing three-dimensional printed dental model and can provide a comprehensive objective evaluating result, which can serve as a reference for the clinical use of photo-curing 3D printing technology.


Generalized chaotic synchronization regime is observed in the unidirectionally coupled one-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau equations. The mechanism resulting in the generalized synchronization regime arising in the coupled spatially extended chaotic systems demonstrating spatiotemporal chaotic oscillations has been described. The cause of the generalized synchronization occurrence is studied with the help of the modified Ginzburg-Landau equation with additional dissipation.


This paper describes the proposed procedure for the multi-site capacity planning of a food company that was obliged to move one of its production sites to a new location. Due to this change the managers of the company wanted to know the ca- pacity requirement of the new site, the assigned products to this plant and the impact of these decisions over the other manu- facturing sites. In brief, they wanted to know the efficient production map of the company for the next 3 - 5 years. The company had 6 manufacturing sites which produced about 100 products grouped in 22 families. Each family was associated to a production line. The most demanded products could be produced in several plants, at the same time, whereas some other products only on a certain site. Only one raw material was critical and with influence on the productive map, therefore, it was considered in the problem formulation. The plants sent their output to 5 regional centres which were in charge of supplying the demand of 38 distribution centres. This distribution centres, in turn, were in charge of serving the requirements of the points of sale. Therefore, the supply chain consis- ted of 4 levels: suppliers, plants, regional centres and distribution centres. The problem was formulated as a mathematical program. The main variables were the quantity to produce of each product at each plant, in a certain period of time, the quantity to be transported of each product from the manufacturing sites to the re- gional centres and the raw material supplied for each supplier to each plant. The mathematical constraints described the pro- duction constraints, the supply and transport constraints and the rules established by the company. The parameters were the avai- lability of raw materials from each supplier, the minimum lot size of each product, the capacity of vehicles from transport the products, the demand of each product per distribution centre and the cost associated to suppliers, to the transport, with the set up of lines and the changeover cost in each line. The objective was to minimize the operating cost. The mathematical model had to allow simulating several scenarios of demand, capacity and configuration of plants. The system was implemented in three modules. The first module was a pre-processor to set the information and scenario to simulate with different hypothesis of demand, minimum lot size, and constraints. Next, the processor implemented in Lindo and finally, the post- processor to summarize the obtained and to prepare and show several reports. Finally, the results and conclusions were presented to the steering committee. Our proposal was not the cheapest but was the one that demanded less inversion and changes. The implemented system was transferred to the company who continued with the study to take the final decision.


The gene mutated in Bloom's syndrome, BLM, is important in the repair of damaged replication forks, and it has both pro- and anti-recombinogenic roles in homologous recombination (HR). At damaged forks, BLM interacts with RAD51 recombinase, the essential enzyme in HR that catalyzes homology-dependent strand invasion. We have previously shown that defects in BLM modification by the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) cause increased gamma-H2AX foci. Because the increased gamma-H2AX could result from defective repair of spontaneous DNA damage, we hypothesized that SUMO modification regulates BLM's function in HR repair at damaged forks. To test this hypothesis, we treated cells that stably expressed a normal BLM (BLM+) or a SUMO-mutant BLM (SM-BLM) with hydroxyurea (HU) and examined the effects of stalled replication forks on RAD51 and its DNA repair functions. HU treatment generated excess gamma-H2AX in SM-BLM compared to BLM+ cells, consistent with a defect in replication-fork repair. SM-BLM cells accumulated increased numbers of DNA breaks and were hypersensitive to DNA damage. Importantly, HU treatment failed to induce sister-chromatid exchanges in SM-BLM cells compared to BLM+ cells, indicating a specific defect in HR repair and suggesting that RAD51 function could be compromised. Consistent with this hypothesis, RAD51 localization to HU-induced repair foci was impaired in SM-BLM cells. These data suggested that RAD51 might interact noncovalently with SUMO. We found that in vitro RAD51 interacts noncovalently with SUMO and that it interacts more efficiently with SUMO-modified BLM compared to unmodified BLM. These data suggest that SUMOylation controls the switch between BLM's pro- and anti-recombinogenic roles in HR. In the absence of BLM SUMOylation, BLM perturbs RAD51 localization at damaged replication forks and inhibits fork repair by HR. Conversely, BLM SUMOylation relieves its inhibitory effects on HR, and it promotes RAD51 function.


Among the many factors affecting the hospital utilization rate in a region, little attention has been given to the supply of physicians. Characteristics of patients have been studied as well as policies of hospitals and practices of physicians. This paper explores the relationship of the physician-population ratio to the hospital admission rate in the 48 continental states of the United States. After making statistical corrections for insurance coverage and the available supply of hospital beds, it was found that below a threshold supply of 110 physicians per 100,000, the rate of hospital admissions tends to go up as the supply of physicians goes down. Possible explanations for this are explored. Rising hospital admission rates, therefore, may be partially due to the existing lag in the output of physicians. The implications of this for medical education are discussed.


COVID-19 started in December 2019 in Wuhan and spread worldwide. The cause of COVID-19 is the newly discovered coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until now, this pandemic is affecting almost every country in the world and over 100 million cases were confirmed. It is expected that vaccination could be a beneficial way to control and protect against COVID-19. This review aimed to compare 4 platforms of COVID-19 vaccines and used recently developed vaccines candidates as examples to illustrate. Safety, efficacy, scaling, cost, and adaptation to the mutated virus were included. Theoretical and clinical vaccine research results were used and we attempted to conclude the advantage and disadvantage of each candidate platform. Countries should choose an appropriate vaccine for their people and satisfy the demand for vaccines.


ABSTRACT This article draws upon novel survey evidence to examine the possible regional impacts of Brexit as a 'disruptive process' to manufacturing operations and logistics in the automotive industry, in the context of the regional resilience literature. The current Brexit (and Covid-19) context, along with the sector's need to re-orientate towards electrification, provides renewed urgency to reconsider industrial policy in spatial terms. The findings have salience not only in the context of anticipating and reacting to Brexit-induced economic shocks at a regional level, but also over the role of decentralized regional bodies. In this regard, the UK government's agenda of 'levelling up' will be challenging, especially in the context of the place-based shocks likely to arise from Brexit as well as the impact of Covid-19. The article concludes that a more place-based regional industrial policy is required both to anticipate and to respond to shocks and also to reposition the sector in the region going forward.


This research focuses on how capitalising on community pattern, a character of ecological communities, could improve the predictability of community models, thus facilitating research in conservation. Patterns of communities not only depict phenomena but are also useful for predicting potential changes in species composition when patterns are governed by specific mechanisms. Most conventional prediction models do not take community pattern into consideration, despite the fact that incorporating community patterns into conventional models for predicting species richness and composition may enhance predictability. In this thesis, I assessed if incorporating two community patterns, nestedness and species co-occurrence, into conventional prediction models could improve the model predictability. Nestedness is a non-random species distribution pattern in which species in depauperate sites are contained in species-rich sites. Co-occurrence networks categorise species assemblages that reflect differential habitat requirements. I demonstrate that capitalising on nestedness provides a novel approach for improving the predictive power of species accumulation curves for species richness in unsampled areas. Specifically, while species richness is usually overestimated when the data are inputted in random order (the conventional approach), species richness is underestimated when the data are inputted in nested order. Taking an average of projected species richness of these two inputting orders dramatically lowers the prediction error rate, indicating that using nestedness in addition to random orders can greatly improve the predictive power of species distribution curves. I also show that network analysis can improve the ability to correctly classify site groups, which is the basis for calculating the indicator species value, by accurately reflecting similar ecological requirements of co-occurred species. Indicator species identified by network modularity, comparing to conventionally based on the k-means clustering method, can more successfully assign unsampled sites to the correct species groups and recognise representative species for the groups. These methods were tested using both British and Taiwanese bird assemblages. Both case studies supported the above conclusions, suggesting that the methods developed in this thesis have real promise for conservation applications. However, further work is required to assess whether these two novel pattern-based approaches are similarly applicable in other geographic regions or taxas.


Since the problems in bioinformatics are related to massive computing and massive data. In recent years, due to distributed computing is gaining recognition. The task originally requiring high computing power does not only rely on supercomputer. Distributed computing used off-the-shelf PC with high speed network can offer low cost and high performance computing power to handle the task. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to implement a complete distributed computing platform based on peer-to-peer file sharing technology. The platform integrated scheduling, load balancing, file sharing, maintenance of data integrity, and user-friendly interface etc. functions. Through the platform can assist bioinformaticists in massive computing and massive data problems. Besides, the platform is easier use, more reliable, and more helpful than others for researchers to conduct bioinformatics research.


Doughnut-shaped beams can trap low-index or non-transparent particles. It is demonstrated that a TEM01* mode beam emitted directly by a photonic-crystal (PC) laser can stably trap metal particles in two dimensions. Replacing a conventional Gaussian-beam laser with a PC laser overcomes the limits of conventional optical tweezers, thereby opening the way for novel applications.


In this paper, we propose a novel online topic tracking framework, named IEDL, for tracking the topic changes related to deep learning techniques on Stack Exchange and automatically interpreting each identified topic. The proposed framework combines the prior topic distributions in a time window during inferring the topics in current time slice, and introduces a new ranking scheme to select most representative phrases and sentences for the inferred topics. Experiments on 7,076 Stack Exchange posts show the effectiveness of IEDL in tracking topic changes.


This is an historical account of the birth of the industrial design profession that seeks an understanding of what industrial design is and does. This understanding is necessary given that industrial design is being called upon to contribute to sustainability. So far, attempts to orient industrial design toward sustainability have been limited because of a failure to acknowledge its agency in the current crisis of over consumption and because of a limited understanding of industrial design thinking. Tony Fry's 'defuturing'a means offmding the historical bases ofunsustainabilityis used as a starting point to help understand how industrial design is implicated in the environmental crisis of the present. Primary design and secondary design history texts are used to investigate the early industrial designers ' aims and methods. More recent theories from the fields of design thinking and sociology are also used in discussion to help understand why design failed to grasp its future. It is asserted, following Fry, that industrial design is implicated in unsustainability because it sought to stimulate consumption by creating desirable and stylish products. It appears, however, that accelerated consumption was considered by the designers as a means to an end. Industrial design arrived as a new profession in the midst of the Depression in America and announced itself as the means to solve the ills of the world. Its ambition was to design a technocratic Utopia, which it could achieve by providing creative leadership and practical methods. To realise this vision and to speed its arrival, design stimulated demand for the products of industry. Industrial designers quickly became men of influence and their products were in huge demand. They ascribed to Modernism, and developed comprehensive methods that were believed capable of yielding functional perfection. Because the methods were so successful in generating practical and desirable products, they were logically extended to the task of environmental reconstruction. It was the faith in the creative genius of leading industrial designers, coupled with a functionalist epistemology that concealed the indeterminacy of design methods and design ' s relational consequences. Now, in the face of over-consumption, industrial design needs to know its history and its agency. What it has done to date is attempt to counter unsustainability by making its products less environmentally impacting. It has done this by applying the same design methods that were developed to counter 'underconsumption'. So it sustains that which is inherently unsustainable, contributing always to product-based well-being. It has forgotten its agency in bringing about this conception of well-being and ignores design's creative potential to not only conceive of new solutions, but to steer the sustainability or not of behaviours and attitudes.


Socially assistive robots have shown potential benefits in therapy of child and elderly patients with social and cognitive deficits. In particular, for autistic children, humanoid robots could enhance engagement and attention, thanks to their simplified toy-like appearance and the reduced set of possible movements and expressions. The recent focus on autism-related motor impairments has increased the interest on developing new robotic tools aimed at improving not only the social capabilities but also the motor skills of autistic children. To this purpose, we have designed two embodied mirroring setups using the NAO humanoid robot. Two different tracking systems were used and compared: Inertial Measurement Units and the Microsoft Kinect, a marker-less vision based system. Both platforms were able to mirror upper limb basic movements of two healthy subjects, an adult and a child. However, despite the lower accuracy, the Kinect-based setup was chosen as the best candidate for embodied mirroring in autism treatment, thanks to the lower intrusiveness and reduced setup time. A prototype of an interactive mirroring game was developed and successfully tested with the Kinect-based platform, paving the way to the development of a versatile and powerful tool for clinical use with autistic children.


Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), an important intestinal flora-derived metabolite, plays a role in the development of cardiovascular disease and tumor immunity. Here, we determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics against Escherichia coli under gradient concentrations of TMAO and performed a bacterial killing analysis. Overall, TMAO (in the range of 10 ~ 100 mM) increased the MIC of quinolones, aminoglycosides, and β-lactams in a concentration-dependent manner, and increased the lethal dose of antibiotics against E. coli. It implies that TMAO is a potential risk for failure of anti-infective therapy, and presents a case for the relationship between intestinal flora-derived metabolites and antibiotic resistance. Further data demonstrated that the inhibition of antibiotic efficacy by TMAO is independent of the downstream metabolic processes of TMAO and the typical bacterial resistance mechanisms (mar motif and efflux pump). Interestingly, TMAO protects E. coli from high-protein denaturant (urea) stress and improves the viability of bacteria following treatment with two disinfectants (ethanol and hydrogen peroxide) that mediate protein denaturation by chemical action or oxidation. Since antibiotics can induce protein inactivation directly or indirectly, our work suggests that disruption of protein homeostasis may be a common pathway for different stress-mediated bacterial growth inhibition/cell death. In addition, we further discuss this possibility, which provides a different perspective to address the global public health problem of antibiotic resistance.


We report a case of a 32-year-old man who was hospitalized at the Department of Surgery for hepatic cystic echinococcosis. Standard preoperative electrocardiogram revealed the presence of Q waves in the inferior leads, suggesting the presence of a previous myocardial infarction. Two-dimensional echocardiography showed a hepatic cystic echinococcosis raising the diaphragmatic wall of the left ventricle. The electrocardiogram performed the day after surgery showed disappearance of Q waves in the inferior leads. Thus, it is suggested that the preoperative electrocardiographic picture of a previous myocardial infarction was determined by the mass of the hepatic cystic echinococcosis.


Providing personalized and context-aware assessment contents to learners in mobile environment require to consider and to represent the term context in such environments. Context-awareness means being able to collect environment and assessment resources information from the learner and surrounding equipment to provide learners with the context-related assessment activities and content. In this paper, we aim to provide learners with personalized assessment content. To serve this purpose, we first define the concept of MAO (Mobile Assessment Object) and we consider various parameters allowing mobile assessment personalization. Similarly, we detail models used to implement the semantics of our framework. Models are described through ontologies. Ontologies are one of the most functional means for representing data and allow a semantic information representation and interchange between different tools. Finally, we introduce a formal description for assessment personalization in a mobile learning environment.


SUMMARY  Breast cancer surgery has changed dramatically from the en bloc removal of the breast to the less invasive breast-conserving surgery. The recent COBALT trial comparing ultrasound-guided surgery with palpation-guided surgery for palpable breast cancer showed less margin involvement and decreased excision volumes with ultrasonography, which resulted in less additional therapy and possibly improved cosmetic outcome. Other surgical techniques pursuing these same aims have been developed over the past two decades and are referred to as oncoplastic surgery. Unfortunately oncoplastic surgery lacks sufficient evidence to corroborate its widespread implementation and should thereby solely be applied to selected cases. This review aims to highlight the position of ultrasound-guided surgery from a perspective of breast-conserving surgery in the search for better oncological and cosmetic outcomes.


Background
Meta-analysis of cross-sectional genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on creatinine-estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFRcrea) identified 53 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These SNP effects can be aggregated into a genetic risk score (GRS) for chronic kidney disease (CKD). To assess its clinical utility, we examined associations with creatinine-estimated kidney outcomes, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Additionally, we examined associations with cystatin C-estimated kidney outcomes to verify that a GRS based on eGFRcrea SNPs represents the genetics underlying kidney function.

Methods
In the community-based Prevention of REnal and Vascular ENdstage Disease (PREVEND) study, we assessed eGFRcrea and eGFRcysc at baseline and four follow-up examinations. The GRS comprised 53 SNPs for eGFRcrea weighted for reported effect-sizes. We adjusted for baseline demographics and renal risk factors.

Results
We included 3649 subjects (median age 49 years, 52% male, median follow-up 11 years, n = 85 baseline CKD, n = 154 incident CKD). At baseline, a higher GRS associated with lower eGFRcrea {adjusted B [95% confidence interval (CI)] = -2.05 (-2.45 to - 1.65) mL/min/1.73 m2, P < 0.001} and higher CKD prevalence [adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) = 1.41 (1.12-1.77), P = 0.002]. During follow-up, a higher GRS associated with higher CKD incidence [adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) = 1.28 (1.09-1.50), P = 0.004], but no longer significantly after adjustment for baseline eGFR. No significant association with eGFRcrea decline was found. Associations with cystatin C-estimated outcomes were similar.

Conclusions
The GRS robustly associated with baseline CKD and eGFR, independent of known risk factors. Associations with incident CKD were likely due to low baseline eGFR, not accelerated eGFR decline. The GRS for eGFRcrea likely represents the genetics underlying kidney function, not creatinine metabolism or underlying aetiologies. To improve the clinical utility of GWAS results for CKD, these need to specifically address eGFR decline and CKD incidence.


converting enzyme inhibition on renal function in patients with diabetic nephropathy. BMJ 1986;293:471-4. ment, starting with a small dose is advisable. The glomerular 4 Hommell E, Parving H-H, Mathiesen E, Edsberg B, Nielsen MD, Giese J. Effect of captopril on filtration rate may fall acutely during the first weeks and kidney function in insulin-dependent diabetic patients with nephropathy. BMJ7 1986;293:467-70. months of treatment, an effect that is exacerbated by overt 5 Parving H-H, Andersen AR, Smidt UM, Hommel E, Mathiesen ER, Svendsen PA. Effect of


The reliable prediction of turbulent non-equilibrium flows is of high academic and industrial interest in several engineering fields. Most turbulent flows are often predicted using single-time-scale Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models which assume the flows can be modelled through a single time or length scale which is an admittedly incorrect assumption. Therefore they are not expected to capture the lag in the response of the turbulence in non-equilibrium flows. In attempts to improve prediction of these flows, by taking into consideration some features of the turbulent kinetic energy spectrum, the multiple-time-scale models arose. A number of two-scale models have been proposed, but so far their use has been rather limited.This work thus focusses on the development of two-time-scale approaches. Two two-time-scale linear-eddy-viscosity models, referred to as NT1 and NT2 models, have been developed and the initial stages of the development of two-time-scale non-linear-eddy-viscosity models are also reported. The models' coefficients have been determined through asymptotic analysis of decaying grid turbulence, homogeneous shear flows and the flow in a boundary layer in local equilibrium. Three other important features of these models are that there is consistent partition of the large and the small scales for all above limiting cases, model sensitivity to the partition and production rate ratios and sensitivity of the eddy viscosity sensitive to the mean strain rates.The models developed have been tested through computations of a wide range of flows such as homogeneous shear and normally strained flows, fully developed channel flows, zero-pressure-gradient, adverse-pressure-gradient, favourable-pressure-gradient and oscillatory boundary layer flows, fully developed oscillatory and ramp up pipe flows and steady and pulsated backward-facing-step flows.The proposed NT1 and NT2 two-scale models have been shown to perform well in all test cases, being, among the benchmarked models tested, the models which best performed in the wide range of dimensionless shear values of homogeneous shear flows, the only linear-eddy-viscosity models which predicted well the turbulent kinetic energy in the normally strained cases and the only models which showed satisfactory sensitivity in predicting correctly the reattachment point in the unsteady backward facing step cases with different forcing frequencies. Although the development of the two-time-scale non-linear-eddy-viscosity models is still in progress, the interim versions proposed here have resulted in predictions of the Reynolds normal stresses similar to those of much more complex models in all test cases studied and in predictions of the turbulent kinetic energy in normally strained flows which are better than those of the other models tested in this study.


Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world. In plants, jasmonic acid (JA) plays essential roles in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. As one of the largest transcription factors (TFs), basic region/leucine zipper motif (bZIP) TFs play pivotal roles through the whole life of plant growth. However, the relationship between JA and bZIP TFs were rarely reported, especially in rice. In this study, we found two rice homologues of Arabidopsis VIP1 (VirE2-interacting protein 1), OsbZIP81, and OsbZIP84. OsbZIP81 has at least two alternative transcripts, OsbZIP81.1 and OsbZIP81.2. OsbZIP81.1 and OsbZIP84 are typical bZIP TFs, while OsbZIP81.2 is not. OsbZIP81.1 can directly bind OsPIOX and activate its expression. In OsbZIP81.1 overexpression transgenic rice plant, JA (Jasmonic Acid) and SA (Salicylic acid) were up-regulated, while ABA (Abscisic acid) was down-regulated. Moreover, Agrobacterium, Methyl Jasmonic Acid (MeJA), and PEG6000 can largely induce OsbZIP81. Based on ChIP-Seq and Random DNA Binding Selection Assay (RDSA), we identified a novel cis-element OVRE (Oryza VIP1 response element). Combining ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq, we obtained 1332 targeted genes that were categorized in biotic and abiotic responses, including α-linolenic acid metabolism and fatty acid degradation. Together, these results suggest that OsbZIP81 may positively regulate JA levels by directly targeting the genes in JA signaling and metabolism pathway in rice.


Since VANETs have great potential in improving the traffic condition and position-based protocol is popular in VANETs, a scheme is proposed to enhance the security performances of position-based routing protocols. Like other security solutions, this scheme employs digital signature to guarantee the identity authentication, data integrity and non-repudiation. The difference to most of other existed solutions is that an evaluation mechanism is proposed, which can detect malicious nodes that drop or tamper routing data. This mechanism has been proved efficiency and has better security and network performance by comparing with the hybrid signature routing scheme via NS2 simulation.


Abstract : The goals of this study are to develop models of radiative transfer for optically shallow waters with benthic substrates colonized by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). The models will enable prediction of upward spectral radiation from the seafloor, thereby permitting (i) the use of optical remote sensing to retrieve bathymetry, (ii) the search for submerged objects of anthropogenic origin and (iii) the mapping of submarine resource distribution and abundance in coastal waters. These models will also have important applications for predicting irradiance levels within submerged plant canopies, leading to better understanding of light requirements and primary productivity of these important resources.


Passing-off is a common law cause of action that protects traders with goodwill in their business against misrepresentations made by their competitors which confuse customers as to the source of goods or services. The typical passing-off scenario is where a trader, by the use of a brand name, logo, slogan, or packaging, deceives customers into thinking that its products or services are associated with another trader. Trade marks can be registered for signs or symbols that identify products or services as coming from a particular trader, so to be registrable a trade mark must be distinctive of a trader's goods and not similar to any earlier registered mark, or a non-registered mark that is in use. Registration of a trade mark gives substantial advantages over relying on passing-off. The law of registered trade marks has been harmonized by the European Union.


The paper reviews work in progress on modeling efforts of a manufacturing process for a crankcase of a diesel marine engine. Complexity of such a product with multiple customization opportunities and a long production cycle define a low-volume, asynchronous process with many interactions. Traditional modeling tools, suitable for high volume production where consecutively produced items do not interact with each other do not suffice to determine process dynamics and access to critical resources. An approach based on IDEF0 and CIMOSA architecture is utilized. Given process model, its further analysis can be conducted with the aim of flow improvement and guaranteed access to critical resources. The model will also be used as a basis of Process Flow Logic Machine control model.


Background Differences in arterial wave reflection and central blood pressure (BP) have been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in various populations and may contribute to ethnic differences in CVD. Whether ethnic differences in wave reflection and central BP can be explained by conventional risk factors for CVD or may result from physiological differences remains undetermined. Methods We examined ethnic differences in augmentation index (AIx) and central systolic BP and their determinants in a large multi-ethnic cohort study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. A total of 8812 (46% male) participants aged 18–70 years of Dutch, South-Asian Surinamese, African Surinamese and Ghanaian origin were included. AIx and central BP were measured in duplicate using the Arteriograph system. Results AIx and central systolic BP were significantly higher in South-Asian Surinamese (35±17%, 126±22 mmHg), African Surinamese (33±17%, 129±23 mmHg) and Ghanaian (33±16%, 135±24 mmHg) as compared with Dutch (27±17%, 118±20 mmHg, all p<0.001). Correction for cardiovascular risk factors only slightly reduced the difference in AIx, whereas correction for body height attenuated age and gender corrected ethnic differences in AIx the most. Differences in central systolic BP were primarily determined by differences in AIx for South-Asian Surinamese and by differences in peripheral systolic BP for subjects of African origin. Conclusions Substantial differences in AIx and central BP exist across different ethnic groups that cannot be explained by differences in conventional risk factors for CVD. These findings may explain part of the underestimation of cardiovascular risk observed in populations of African and South-Asian descent.


The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine selected units of commonly used elementary science texts, using the Project Synthesis goal clusters as a framework for part of the examination. An inquiry classification scheme was used for the remaining segment. Four questions were answered: (1) To what extent do elementary science textbooks focus on each Project Synthesis goal cluster? (2) In which part of the text is such information found? (3) To what extent are the activities and experiments merely verifications of information already introduced in the text? (4) If inquiry is present in an activity, then what is the level of such inquiry?

Eleven science textbook series, which comprise approximately 90 percent of the national market, were selected for analysis. Two units, one primary (K-3) and one intermediate (4-6), were selected for analysis by first identifying units common to most series, then randomly selecting one primary and one intermediate unit for analysis.

Each randomly selected unit was carefully read, using the sentence as the unit of analysis. Each declarative and interrogative sentence in the body of the text was classified as: (1) academic; (2) personal; (3) career; or (4) societal in its focus. Each illustration, except those used in evaluation items, was similarly classified. Each activity/experiment and each miscellaneous sentence in end-of-chapter segments labelled "review," "summary," "evaluation," etc., were similarly classified. Finally, each activity/experiment, as a whole, was categorized according to a four-category inquiry scheme (confirmation, structured inquiry, guided inquiry, open inquiry).

In general, results of the analysis are: (1) most text prose focuses on academic science; (2) most remaining text prose focuses on the personal goal cluster; (3) the career and societal goal clusters receive only minor attention; (4) text illustrations exhibit a pattern similar to text prose; (5) text activities/experiments are academic in orientation, almost to the exclusion of other goal clusters; (6) end-of-chapter sentences are largely academic; (7) inquiry is absent or present only in limited forms in text activities/experiments; and (8) texts allocate only a minor portion of space to activities/experiments. Detailed findings are given as numeral, percentage, and decimal values. Discussion focuses on the implications of the results and a comparison of NSTA recommendations with the results of this analysis.


Tourism environmental impact has been a core issue in Tourism studies and its investigation has originated from 1960s abroad while it attracted researcher's attention till early 1980s in China. Although the impacts of tourism development on natural and social environment has been recognized, systematic studies of destination environment and its sustainable development in evaluation models, measure approaches, determinant factors, mechanism, integrative measures and management are still relatively rare. Researchers and policymakers pay much attention to the particular region, but give little consideration to that environmental impact of tourism development has the characteristics of interregional diffusion, spatial shift and worldwide influence of ecological liability. Therefore how to investigate the tourist environmental impact thoroughly and how to realize sustainable development from a broad perspective is a theoretical and empirical issue. This paper gives the definition of tourist wastes from the characters of tourism ecosystem cycle of substances and energy. Based on the abroad related literatures of tourism wastes studies published in recent years. It is found that the relative studies covered a wide range regarding their contents and study areas, including tourism waste of tourism exploitation, tourist and tourist corporation activities. But in China, the studies on the tourism wastes are still on the initial stage. The suitable management system for handling the tourism wastes has not been established in China. Some key issues of tourism waste should be Strengthen the research, such as follows. First, research the concept of tourism waste, type, production process and mechanism. Second, analyze the correlations between tourism waste and socio-economic, cultural life. Third, discuss the recycling use of waste tourism. Fourth, Eco-efficiency of tourism waste. Fifth, CO2 emissions of tourism industry and the global climate change. Sixth, assessment the environmental and ecological impacts of tourism waste.


It is commonly agreed that the Iron Age I–II transition was gradual and that processes of social complexity initiated in the Iron Age I simply matured in the Iron Age II. The emergence of Levantine kingdoms – whether the so-called "United Monarchy" (i.e., the highland polity) or other polities – was therefore seen as an outcome of this gradual maturation, even if the date of their emergence is hotly debated. The present paper challenges both the perceived gradual nature of Iron Age complexity and the dated understanding of state formation processes that lies behind the common scholarly reconstructions of Iron Age political developments. Instead, the paper shows that the Iron Age I–II transition was troubled and was accompanied by drastic changes in many parameters, whether settlement patterns, settlement forms, or various material traits. Acknowledging these transformations is therefore the first step in understanding the process through which local kingdoms emerged.


Abstract The COVID-19 outbreak imposed stress worldwide, as daily routine changed almost overnight, with no time to prepare. A pandemic like this may trigger a chain reaction starting out as surprise, continuing to uncertainty and ending up either in adaptation or in symptoms of fear, anxiety, and/or depression. Resilience on the other hand could lessen anxiety and prove to be a prophylactic coping mechanism against distress. This study explored peritraumatic distress, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and resilient coping in a sample of 2717 adults who voluntarily and anonymously participated in an online survey conducted in April 2020, in Greece. Results indicated a moderate pandemic-related mental burden and medium resilient coping and designated IU as a significant positive predictor of peritraumatic distress; resilient coping proved to be a significant moderator that alters the strength of the association between IU and distress reactions.


Detection of gene-modules is one of the fundamental tasks for the integral analysis of network architecture. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm using an integrated approach comprising statistical method and normalized mutual information-based hypograph mining for discovering the multiview co-similarity gene modules contained in multiview datasets. For this purpose, we first identify the statistically significant genes corresponding to each data profile and subsequently obtain the union set consisting of all these statistically significant genes. For each data profile, we then propose a new similarity score called as integrated normalized mutual information to obtain the similarity scores across all possible pairs of genes belonging to the union set by employing the results of gene clustering obtained through applying normalized mutual information-based graph clustering on the corresponding data profile. Moreover, we propose a new information theoretic measure called as multiview normalized mutual information to integrate all the similarity scores of a given gene-pair obtained across all the data profiles. For the experiment, we utilize one of the recently used multiview dataset named TCGA acute myeloid leukemia dataset comprising five different categories of data profiles. Furthermore, the co-similarity strengths of all the multiview gene modules obtained using the proposed method (PM) are reported. Finally, we provide a comparative study between the proposed and other existing methods for demonstrating the superiority of the PM over others. Code is available in http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.


1 De Hertogh R, Thomas K, Bietlot Y, Vanderheyden I, Ferin J. Plasma levels of unconjugated oestrone, oestradiol and oestriol and of hCS throughout pregnancy in normal women. J ClGn Entdocrinol Metab 1975;40:93-101. 2 Mathur RS, Landgrebe S, Williamson HO. Progesterone, 17 alpha OH progesterone, oestradiol and oestriol in late pregnancy and labour. Amer ()bstet Gynec 1980;136:25-7. 3 Tulchinsky D, Hobel CJ. Plasma human chorionic gonadotrophin, oestrone, oestradiol, progesterone and 17 alpha hydroxyprogesterone in human pregnancy. III. Early normal pregnancy. Amner .J Obstet Gynecol 1973;117:884-93. 4 Liggins GC, Fairclough RJ, Grieves SA, Kendall JZ, Kinox BS. The mechanism of initiation of parturition in the ewe. Rec Prog Horni Res 1973;29: 111-59. 5 Turnibutll AC, Patten PT, Flint APF, Keirse MJNC, Je:remy JIY, Andterson ABM. Significant fall in progesterone and rise in oestradiol levels in human peripheral plasma before onset of labour. Lancet 1974;i:101-3. 6 Kauppila A, Jouppila P, Karvonen P, Tuimala R, Ylikorkala 0. Effect of dexamethasone on blood levels of ACTH, cortisol, progesterone, oestradiol and oestriol during late pregnancy. Int J Gynaec Obstet 1976;14:177-81.


An ovary-hysterectomy (OH) laparoscopic procedure was performed in 20 healthy female dogs of several ages. The surgical protocol is described, taking into account the instruments used, patient preparation, surgery area preparation, surgical position of the patient, points localization, and stages of the surgical technique using a laparoscopic procedure. Complications inherent to the technique were also analyzed. The patients recovered of anesthesia without any complications. The OH through laparoscopy can be done safety and with minimum periods of recuperation and trans- and post-surgical complications.


The author proposes an order recursive algorithm to compute efficiently the solution to the set of linear equations for finding the parameters of a recursive filter whose unit impulse response best approximates that of the prescribed ideal response. The algorithm requires only O(p/sup 2/) operations. The inherent structure of the coefficient matrix in the system of linear equations and the inversion procedure for a partitioned matrix are used in the algorithm. In a numerical example of a low-pass filter the system of linear equations is found to be ill-conditioned. A satisfactory solution can not be achieved using the usual software routines, even with double precision, for a moderate value of the order p. The proposed algorithm is shown to be more accurate and less sensitive to this ill-conditioned case.<<ETX>>


A thesis presented to the Department of Building Technology, College of Art And Built Environment in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy, 2016


The brain is often called a computer and likened to a Turing machine, in part because the mind can manipulate discrete symbols such as numbers. But the brain is a dynamical system, more like a Watt governor than a Turing machine. Can a dynamical system be said to operate using"representations"? This paper argues that it can, although not in the way a digital computer does. Instead, it uses phenomena best described using mathematic concepts such as chaotic attractors to stand in for aspects of the world.


The number of ground cover classes for which proportions estimates can be derived by application of spectral mixture modelling is constrained by the dimensionality of the data. This may limit the usefulness of the approach, as often there are a larger number of discriminated classes than dimensions of data. Typically, relatively few, broadly defined end-member classes have been used but this is likely to degrade the precision of the proportions estimates at the pixel level as the end-member signatures attempt to represent a spectrally diverse range of vegetation covers within each broad class. To overcome this problem, multiple end-member mixture models have been proposed that iterate through a larger number of more narrowly defined end-members. In this study, broad and multiple end-member mixture models were applied to satellite data at 1 km 2 spatial resolution of a semi-arid environment to evaluate their respective precision of proportions estimates against ground survey data for 25 1-km 2 segments. This study demonstrates improved precision of proportions estimates by application of a multiple end-member mixture model. However, the study also shows that the achievable level of precision of proportions estimates using mixture modelling for a semi-arid environment and satellite data can range within limits of 0.22 to 0.84. These results are unlikely to be acceptable for environmental monitoring purposes and the technique cannot be deemed a suitable approach for the study of semi-arid vegetation cover types using mixture model analysis of remote sensing data with intermediate spatial resolution.


The last four decades have seen a substantial progress in the study of the Book of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) on the literary, historical, theological, and sociological level. The discovery of the Hebrew Ben Sira Scroll at Masada in 1964 and the find of Hebrew Ben Sira fragments among the Dead Sea Scrolls were crucial landmarks to encourage serious investigation into this deuterocanonical document. Nowadays the Book of Ben Sira, which originates from the early second Century B.C.E., is recognized more and more as being an outstanding document of Jewish wisdom literature and an important link between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Following a general introduction into the major topics of recent Ben Sira research, this volume offers a detailed study of several passages that are crucial to the book's history, its content and structure. Important theological issues, such as 'canon and scripture', 'prophets and prophecy', 'theodicee', and 'God's mercy', are discussed as well. This study concludes with some essays relating to the Hebrew text(s) of the Book of Ben Sira.


This article aims to discuss some of the problems we can encounter in addressing drug issues, especially in Brazil. It also shows, through the work of some authors, that psychoanalysts must go beyond the frontiers of psychoanalysis itself—overcoming elaborations that individualize the problem through concepts such as personality or structure—to enable a new understanding that can guarantee different strategies of intervention. At the end, it points out questions opened from the indicated problems, which are referring to the discourse of capitalism in the present time.


This paper describes a simplification approach based on equivalent cable-bundle models for calculating conducted back-door disturbances at vehicle level. The challenge is to be able to generate a model taking into account a huge number of wires organized in functional bundles and to maintain a reasonable computation time for prediction of the distribution of common mode currents at the interface of equipment pieces. This approach is tested on two representative test cases at system level and aircraft level.


Due to the importance of intestinal transport in pharmacological studies and the emerging role of intestinal signaling activity in the gut-liver axis, we have developed a new method to investigate intestinal transport and liver signaling using cell and serum free mesenteric perfusion system in the rat. The method regarding bile acid active absorption was validated, then, the portal venous content was examined for fibroblast growth factor 15(FGF15), a putative signaling protein produced by the ileal enterocytes following bile acid absorption. After isolation and cannulation of the relevant vessels (abdominal aorta and portal vein), the abdominal aorta and the terminal ileum were infused with respectively Krebs-Ringer solution and tauroursodeoxycholate (TUDCA) and the absorption was assessed by its recovery in the portal vein. After immunoblot, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry analysis were performed both on gel bands digestion products and on portal outflow samples in order to evaluate if negligible amounts of FGF15 were present in the portal circulation. TUDCA absorption was efficient, intestinal morphology and oxygen consumption were normal. Despite accurate analysis, we could not find FGF15. Our method proved to be reliable for studying the active bile acid absorption. It is also suitable to identify molecules produced by enterocytes and transferred to the portal circulation in response to absorption of different substances such as nutrients or drugs. Since FGF15 was not recovered we suggest the possibilities that this protein is produced in very little amounts, poorly transferred outside the cell, or that it is extremely unstable and rapidly degraded.


This paper presents a novel approach to the design and implementation of CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Devices) based DAS (Data Acquisition System) for varies application. This technique performs the acquisition of physical signal, conversion of analog signal to digital signal and storing of the information. The core heart of the proposed system is CPLD, which allows individual modules on a chip to work independently from each other which is configured and programmed to acquire real time data. The data for the process is acquired using suitable temperature and gas sensors. Signal conditioners are designed for each sensor and are tested in real time. The ADC0808 (analog to digital converter) is adopted for this system, which is a high speed monolithic CMOS device with an 8-bit, 8-channel analog-to-digital converter using successive approximation as the conversion technique. Cool Runner-II CPLD by Xilinx is used as the main controller from which all modules are implemented in VHDL using Xilinx ISE Design Suite9.2 and simulated using Isim. © 2016 Elixir All rights reserved. ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 25 February 2015; Received in revised form: 15 March 2015; Accepted: 31 March 2015;


The diagnosis of intermittent bacteremia is made when it occurs after the establishment of an appropriate antimicrobial treatment for which the isolated microorganism is sensitive, and the blood cultures are already negative. Inadequate concentration of the antimicrobial in blood, the presence of an endocarditis, an endovascular infection or hidden infectious focus have been suggested as its main causes. The presence of mycotic aneurysms in the context of an infectious endocarditis is infrequent, and its presence at the infrainguinal level is exceptional. Herein, we present a 82-year-old man with a previous history of hypertension. He was diagnosed of a mild aortic stenosis and permanent atrial fibrillation, and he was admitted to the Emergency Department due to fever and malaise of fifteen days of evolution. The physical examination did not show relevant findings, but the routine analysis showed severe leukocytosis, with elevated PCR and procalcitonin. With no apparent infectious focality, blood cultures were requested, and broad-spectrum empirical antibiotic therapy was initiated with Meropenem 1gr/8h+Linezolid 600mg/12h. The blood cultures were rapidly positive for methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and the antibiotic treatment was de-escalated to Cloxacillin 2gr/4h iv. Given the previous history of valvular heart disease, a transesophageal echocardiogram was requested, ruling out an endocarditis. However, in spite of the specific antibiotic treatment, episodes of bacteremia persisted. The antibiotic treatment was extended to Daptomycin 750mg/24h+Ceftaroline 600 mg/12h and with the diagnosis of intermittent bacteremia, the transesophageal echocardiography was repeated twice more, resulting in a negative result. However, progressively, purpuric lesions appeared in the right lower extremity that evolved to ulcers. Doppler ultrasound of the lower limbs was performed, compatible with a popliteal deep venous thrombosis. A Gallium-67 scan was requested, which detected multiple hypercaptator foci in the right gluteal and inguinal regions, compatible with septic emboli. The transesophageal echocardiography was repeated again, although it did not show aortic vegetations, it did detect the presence of severe aortic insufficiency not present in previous studies, which confirmed the infectious valvular dysfunction. Given the age and functional deterioration of the patient, conservative treatment was decided and he was discharged asymptomatically after 6 weeks of antibiotic treatment with Daptomycin and Ceftaroline. Two weeks later, the patient was admitted due to coldness and worsening of the right injuries. In the presence of signs of distal ischemia, an arteriography was requested showing two lobulated aneurysms at the level of the common femoral artery, as well as an aneurysm in the superficial femoral artery at the level of the thigh Figure 1, all of which were compatible with mycotic aneurysms. Quickly antibiotic treatment with Daptomycin 750mg/24h iv + Piperacillin-Tazobactam 4gr-0.5gr/8h iv was established. Given the risk of loss of the right extremity, surgical treatment with femoral reconstruction from iliofemoral to deep femoral junction and femoropopliteal bypass with homograft was decided. After two weeks of antibiotic treatment, the patient was discharged home afebrile and asymptomatic. Bacteremia is defined as the presence of bacteria in the blood. It is related to a high morbi-mortality, so the correct identification of the microorganism as well as its focus will be crucial to achieve optimal management.1–2 The term "intermittent" bacteremia is applied in those cases in which bacteremia persists despite the establishment of specific antibiotic treatment for the microorganism previously identified, and in the presence of negative blood cultures. An incorrect concentration of the antimicrobial agent, an unknown resistance to it, an immune alteration in the host, or the presence of hidden infectious foci, such as endocarditis or an unknown intravascular focus are usually its main causes and should be the main reason for suspicion.1–2 The appearance of mycotic aneurysms in the context of an infectious endocarditis is very infrequent (1.1%),3 being exceptional at an infrainguinal level. The presence of distal ischemic lesions in the presence of bacteremia or endocarditis, should make us suspect its presence. Its treatment includes resection or isolation of the aneurysm and revascularization of the affected limb with autologous or heterologous biological vascular grafts (homografts), always associating prolonged antibiotic treatment to reduce the risk of infection.3–4


This piece of research aims to obtain mobility profiles of the Swiss population. To that end, a survey of the Swiss Statistical Office (FSO) called Mobility and Transport Micro-census (MTMC) is utilized. Along with a qualitative method clustering, the respondents in the survey are clustered based on their mobility characteristics to obtain their profiles. The clustering, in particular acquiring medoids (centrotypes or exemplars), helps us then to generate a synthetic population of Switzerland. To gain medoids of each cluster, the k-Medoids clustering algorithm is utilized which partitions instances based on their positions in a latent space (symmetric distance matrix). Distances that shape this space can be generated by various metrics e.g. Euclidean, Gower, Manhattan. Since in this study features are mixed-type (e.g. numeric, categorical, etc.), the Gower distance metric is preferred. In this study, the default weights of the Gower distance are optimized to obtain a higher Average Silhouette Width (ASW) value of the clustering results. ASW can be used to measure the quality of clustering results in which high value leads to higher intra-cluster homogeneity and inter-cluster dissimilarity. So, maximizing the ASW value improves the quality of the clusters which is the goal of the optimization. At the end, this process helps us to obtain more accurate mobility profiles of the Swiss population.


BACKGROUND
The prevalence of hypertension (HTN) in Blacks is among the highest in the world. For Black women, 46% experience stage 2 HTN (blood pressure [BP] ≥140/90 mm Hg) as compared with 42% of Black men. Because of higher rates of stage 2 HTN, Black women have greater rates of cardiovascular disease and stroke. For reasons unknown, nonadherence to lifestyle modifications and antihypertensive medications continues. An understudied potential factor associated with poor adherence to the treatment regimen and negative health outcomes is stigma.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to gain insight and describe the psychological factor of stigma as an influence on poorly controlled HTN in Black women.

METHODS
Hypertensive Black women attending a 6-week self-management program were invited to participate in an open-ended questionnaire. Six groups were held with 62 women aged 24 to 70 years, with group size ranging from 10 to 15. Women anonymously wrote their answer to 2 questions to capture individual responses without group persuasion. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS
Five themes were generated inductively from the data and included (1) desire to get control, (2) shame and embarrassment, (3) obesity characterizations, (4) stereotype threats, and lastly, (5) disrupted normality. During member checking, younger participants were more vocal about stigma, whereas older participants did not view stigma as problematic.

CONCLUSIONS
Hypertension stigma could potentially deter adherence to high BP treatment. Further research is needed to explore the prevalence of stigma in this population and its impact on behaviors that hinder BP control.


The theory of smallest area surfaces evolving with unit areal speed is a particular case of the theory of surfaces of minimum area subject to various constraints. Based on our recent results, such problems can be solved using the two-time maximum principle in a controlled evolution. Section 1 studies a controlled dynamics problem (smallest area surface evolving with unit areal speed) via the two-time maximum principle. The evolution PDE is of 2-flow type and the adjoint PDE is of divergence type. Section 2 analyzes the smallest area surfaces evolving with unit areal speed, avoiding an obstacle. Section 3 reconsiders the same problem for touching an obstacle, detailing the results for the cylinder and the sphere. M.S.C. 2010: 49J20, 49K20, 49N90, 90C29.


Arbitration involving state entities in Brazil has a long history. This paper analyses how this type of arbitration arose in Brazil, what were the strategies that Brazilian courts and legislative bodies employed to make it work and how do they compare to the rest of Latin America. This paper shows what were the key legal issues associated with resolving commercial conflicts with state parties in Brazil, how they were regulated and, most importantly, why arbitration became so relevant for state parties in Brazil, while other countries in Latin America avoid using the method.
State entities; arbitration; Brazil; development; public.


Background: Inguinal hernia repair is the most frequently performed operation in general surgery. The standard method for inguinal hernia repair had changed little over a hundred years until the introduction of synthetic mesh. This mesh can be placed by either using an open approach or by using a minimal access laparoscopic technique. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to compare minimal access laparoscopic mesh techniques with open techniques in hernioplasty. Methodology: This pragmatic randomized control trial was conducted in the Department of Surgery at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College & Hospital, Dhaka from January 2014 to December 2015 for a period of two years. Patients at any age with both sexes who were presented with inguinal hernia were selected as study population. These patients were divided into two group designated as group A and group B. In group A inguinal hernia repair was performed by laparoscopic technique and in group B open technique was used to repair the inguinal hernia. The comparison was done between open and laparoscopic technique of inguinal hernia repair in terms of duration of operation, per-operative complication, immediate post-operative pain, numbness, duration of hospital stay and time of return to normal activities. Follow up was done from 6 months to 2 years. Results: A total number of 200 patients were recruited for repairing of inguinal hernia. Duration of operation was longer initially in the laparoscopic groups (Laparoscopic approach 90 min vs. Lichtenstein approach 60 min). Post-operative pain was another important outcome to consider when choosing between laparoscopic and open repair of inguinal hernia. Laparoscopic repair had been associated with less post-operative pain than open repair. Operative complications were uncommon for both methods. Length of hospital stay was little shorter in laparoscopic group (laparoscopic 1-2 days vs. open technique 3-4 days); however, return to usual activity was earlier for laparoscopic groups (7 days) where open group: 20-30 days. The data available showed less persisting pain (Overall 8/80 versus 12/100) and less persisting numbness (Overall 3/80 versus 7/100) in the laparoscopic groups. Conclusions: In conclusion, minimal access laparoscopic mesh technique is better than open techniques in inguinal hernia repair. [Journal of National Institute of Neurosciences Bangladesh, January 2021;7(1): 75-78]


We apply a new general method of anholonomic frames with associated nonlinear connection structure to construct new classes of exact solutions of Einstein–Dirac equations in five-dimensional (5D) gravity. Such solutions are parametrized by off-diagonal metrics in coordinate (holonomic) bases or equivalently, by diagonal metrics given with respect to some anholonomic frames (pentads or funfbeins satisfying corresponding constraint relations). We consider two possibilities of generalization of the Taub-NUT metric in order to obtain vacuum solutions of 5D Einstein equations with effective renormalization of constants (by higher dimension anholonomic gravitational interactions) having distinguished anisotropies on an angular parameter or on an extra-dimensional coordinate. The constructions are extended to solutions describing self-consistent propagations of 3D Dirac wave packets in 5D anisotropic Taub-NUT spacetimes. We show that such anisotropic configurations of spinor matter can induce gravitational 3D solitons which are solutions of Kadomtsev–Petviashvili or sine–Gordon equations.


The Madayi clay deposit consists of a thick sequence of residual white kaolinitic clay underlying the sedimentary Warkallai Formation, which includes gray carbonaceous kaolinitic clays, lignite, ferruginous kaolinitic clays, laterite and bauxite with ferricretes. The conditions of clay genesis and the economic significance of the major residual kaolin seam have been investigated. The raw clay and <2 μm fractions were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical analysis, differential thermal analysis (DTA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies. The firing behavior of the <45 μm fraction of the major residual clay sequence (L), was investigated systematically to determine the potential industrial use of this kaolin.Geochemical and morphological studies of different strata indicate the following conditions for clay formation. (1) intense lateritized weathering conditions for kaolinization of the residual white clay from parent quartzo-felspathic mica-gneiss. (2) reducing environment for the gray carbonaceous layers; an. (3) oxidizing environment for the uppermost hematite-rich ferruginous clay. Pyrite/marcasite enriched detrital gray carbonaceous clay shows two distinct environments for in situ kaolinite crystallization. (1) within plant fossils influenced by the high organic content and FeS2 leaching; an. (2) precipitation from solution.Incomplete kaolinization of white residual clay is evident from the presence of pyrophyllite, muscovite with lenticular cleavage void and a lower percentage of fines (<2 μm). The plant fossils from the uppermost portion of residual clay show pyrite mineralization. The Hinckley Index, FTIR and rare earth analysis point towards diverse geochemical environments of deposition and technological evaluation indicates its suitability for application in the ceramics industry.


The COVID-19 is the contemporary element of worriment that has gripped the entire world since its emergence at the end of 2019 and it being declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As a means of protection, several countries around the world declared national lockdowns on every business and social activities; no one was allowed in or out of their country. Many businesses took a hit from the lockdown; contractual business or activities were the worst hit by this pandemic. Countries took several measures to help their people who had already be devoured by the economic and financial hardship. To many in the line of work associated with contract saw it prudent to enforce force majeure considering it as the only way of not fulfilling obligations addressed in the contract document on grounds of events that are beyond control (Private civil law). In many instances, the application of such a provision has always faced several obstacles since the interpretation of this clause by the courts is usually narrow. Many applications of force majeure get thrown out due to lack of compelling reason but today, that would be impossible. The research therefore will focus on the outbreak of COVID-19 as unforeseeable events that effected contractual relation thus the need for force majeure.


Abstract Emergomyces canadensis pulmonary infection was incidentally diagnosed in an asymptomatic patient suspected to have metastatic osteosarcoma. Molecular diagnosis was imperative to fungal identification given overlapping histopathological features with histoplasmosis. This report documents a case of isolated pulmonary emergomycosis in an otherwise immunocompetent patient while discussing diagnostic and management pitfalls of this emerging and underdiagnosed infection.


Cytomegalovirus infections are severe and frequent after BMT. This study included 34 bone marrow transplant recipients (23 aplastic anaemias and 11 leukaemias), their marrow donors and 125 related or non related normal controls. Assays were performed before transplantation and every 30 days between D 0 and D 90, and then every six months. They included detection of CMV induced lymphocyte proliferation in vitro, CMV antibody determinations by complement fixation and reverse haemagglutination, viraemia and/or viruria. Similarly, cellular immunity to mitogens and to other specific antigens was evaluated. During the period of study, 22 patients developed CMV infection. The diagnostic was confirmed by virus isolation from the 12th to the 96th day after the graft. Development of positive CMV proliferation test occurred from the 9th to the 84th day after virus isolation (30 to 120th day after the graft). In one case, the CMV infection was only proved by the lymphocyte proliferation to CMV in vitro and only 60 days later by viruria and 105 days later by detection of CMV antibodies. For the other 12 patients (7 aplasies and 5 leukaemias) and 10 of their bone marrow donors, no CMV infection was proved, before or after transplant, by any of the assays performed. By selecting a donor without previous CMV infection, we hope to reduce the incidence of CM infection in recipients.


Aims. We investigate the impact of updated atmospheric mean opacity input values on modelled transit radius and the distribution of interior layer mass fractions. Methods. We developed and applied a coupled interior–atmosphere model. Our straightforward semi-grey calculation of atmospheric temperature enables us to perform thousands of model realisations in a Monte Carlo approach to address potential degeneracies in interior and atmospheric mass fraction. Our main constraints are planetary mass and radius from which our model infers distributions of the internal structure of exoplanetary classes ranging from Super-Earth to Mini-Neptune. We varied the relative masses of gas, envelope, mantle, and core layers subject to constraints on the bulk density from observations, and investigated the effect of updating atmospheric mean opacities. Results. First, we validate our model output with observed temperature profiles for modern Neptune. We can reproduce the basic features in the middle atmosphere but not the temperature inversion in the upper layers, which is likely because our model lacks aerosol heating. Calculated interiors are generally consistent with modern Neptune. Second, we compare with the well-studied object GJ 1214 b and obtain results that are broadly consistent with previous findings; they suggest correlations between modelled gas, water, and core mass fractions, although these are generally weak. Updating the opacities leads to a change on the order of a few percent in the modelled transit radius. This is comparable in magnitude to the planned accuracy of the PLATO data for planetary radius, suggesting that the opacity update in the model is important to implement.


In recent years, the potential role of planned, internal resettlement as a climate change adaptation measure has been highlighted by national governments and the international policy community. However, in many developing countries, resettlement is a deeply political process that often results in an unequal distribution of costs and benefits among relocated persons. This paper examines these tensions in Mozambique, drawing on a case study of flood-affected communities in the Lower Zambezi River valley. It takes a political ecology approach – focusing on discourses of human–environment interaction, as well as the power relationships that are supported by such discourses – to show how a dominant narrative of climate change-induced hazards for small-scale farmers is contributing to their involuntary resettlement to higher-altitude, less fertile areas of land. These forced relocations are buttressed by a series of wider economic and political interests in the Lower Zambezi River region, such as dam construction for hydroelectric power generation and the extension of control over rural populations, from which resettled people derive little direct benefit. Rather than engaging with these challenging issues, most international donors present in the country accept the 'inevitability' of extreme weather impacts and view resettlement as an unfortunate and, in some cases, necessary step to increase people's 'resilience', thus rationalising the top-down imposition of unpopular social policies. The findings add weight to the argument that a depoliticised interpretation of climate change can deflect attention away from underlying drivers of vulnerability and poverty, as well as obscure the interests of governments that are intent on reordering poor and vulnerable populations.


The mobility, fate and reactivity of NPs in groundwater are controlled by the intrinsic properties of the NPs (e.g. composition, size and size distribution, density, shape, nature of the suspension, surface chemistry) as well as by the environmental conditions (e.g groundwater and aquifer solids composition). Though biofilms have been reported to interact with NPs in saturated porous media (Lerner et al., 2012), the effects of biofilms on the mobility of reactive NPs remain poorly studied. As a part of the NANOREM project, our work presented here focuses on interactions between complex biofilms developed from contaminated groundwater under anaerobic conditions and zero valent iron (ZVI) NPs (NanoFer 25S; NANOIRON, 1g/L). The influence of the presence of microbial communities on the mobility of a NP suspension was investigated by laboratory experiments using glass columns. Biofilms were grown for 2 months from natural groundwater in 20cm-long column (2.5 cm in diameter) containing sand under anaerobic conditions. NPs suspension mobility was determined for high velocity conditions (i.e. 10m/d) in the absence and the presence of biofilm in the column. Before the NPs injection, SEM and Fluorescence images show a high density of bacteria and EPS in the column. The Fe concentration breakthrough curves indicate that the mobility of NPs through the sand in the absence and the presence of biofilm is low, with less than 1% of the total injected Fe NPs found in the effluent. Consequently, the influence of the biofilm on the retention of NPs within the sandy material of the column is not obvious. However, at the end of the experiment, the analysis of the sand from the column containing the biofilm shows that the variation of Fe content is concomitant with that of total organic carbon (TOC) strongly suggesting NPs-biofilm interactions. The influence of biofilm on mobility and reactivity of optimized ZVI NPs (more mobile but still reactive) is in progress.


During the week of 18-23 July 1976, an Engineering Foundation Conference on Full-Scale Structural Testing was held at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H. It was organized by members of the joint American Society of Civil Engineers' Research Council of Performance of Structures/American Society for Testing and Materials Committee E06 on Performance of Building Constructions (ASCE's RCPS)/ ASTM (E06) Committee for Developing a Guide to Professional Practice for Load Tests of Buildings. The conference was partly intended to provide further input for the development of this guide. Many facets of testing of structures were covered during the conference. This included historic aspects of buildings and structures, proof testing of structures including nuclear power plant containment, and existing opportunities for full-scale structural testing. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the conference and to present conclusions pertinent to the subject symposium and as a possible input to the Guide to Professional Practice.


c-Myc transcriptional factor encoded by c-myc protooncogene plays an important role in the regulation of cell cycle. It was also established that c-Myc is important for the transformation of fibroblasts and murine bone marrow cells induced by BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase encoded by bcr/abl oncogene localized on Philadelphia-chromosome (Ph1). The role of c-Myc in the proliferation of the leukemic cells was not known. Therefore, we examined the effect of c-Myc protein downregulation, using antisense oligodeoxynucleotides, on the growth of the BCR/ABL- dependent cell line and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients cells. Downregulation of c-Myc expression caused complete inhibition of the proliferation of BCR/ABL-dependent BV173 cell line and 50-70% inhibition of the colony formation of CML cells. These results suggests that c-Myc cooperates with BCR/ABL and is necessary for the growth of Ph1-positive leukemias.


Investigating heterogeneity in response to DDT with 2 strains of Aedes aegypti, the author has compared DDT-resistance in the F(1) and F(2) progenies of single-pair matings of resistant with resistant (TRINIDAD) and susceptible with susceptible (QS) strains.Both strains showed heterogeneity; however, there was little overlap between the most tolerant QS progeny and the least resistant TRIN progeny. A substrain of very high resistance was isolated from a single TRIN progeny and one of very low tolerance from a single QS progeny.Between QS progenies there was wide variation in DDT-tolerance, due in part to an environmental component but in part also to a genetic component. Variation between progenies in the already very resistant TRIN strain was marked. However, a genetic component was shown by the fact that it was possible to select an exceptionally resistant TRIN substrain in one step by rearing from the most tolerant TRIN progeny.


Objective. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is associated with hospitalization and may cause readmission following admission for any reason. We aimed to measure the incidence of readmissions due to CDI. Design. Retrospective cohort study. Patients. Adult inpatients in Orange County, California, who presented with new-onset CDI within 12 weeks of discharge. Methods. We assessed mandatory 2000–2007 hospital discharge data for trends in hospital-associated CDI (HA-CDI) incidence, with and without inclusion of postdischarge CDI (PD-CDI) events resulting in rehospitalization within 12 weeks of discharge. We measured the effect of including PD-CDI events on hospital-specific CDI incidence, a mandatory reporting measure in California, and on relative hospital ranks by CDI incidence. Results. From 2000 to 2007, countywide hospital-onset CDI (HO-CDI) incidence increased from 15 per 10,000 to 22 per 10,000 admissions. When including PD-CDI events, HA-CDI incidence doubled (29 per 10,000 in 2000 and 52 per 10,000 in 2007). Overall, including PD-CDI events resulted in significantly higher hospital-specific CDI incidence, although hospitals had disproportionate amounts of HA-CDI occurring postdischarge. This resulted in substantial shifts in some hospitals' rankings by CDI incidence. In multivariate models, both HO and PD-CDI were associated with increasing age, higher length of stay, and select comorbidities. Race and Hispanic ethnicity were predictive of PD-CDI but not HO-CDI. Conclusions. PD-CDI events associated with rehospitalization are increasingly common. The majority of HA-CDI cases may be occurring postdischarge, raising important questions about both accurate reporting and effective prevention strategies. Some risk factors for PD-CDI may be different than those for HO-CDI, allowing additional identification of high-risk groups before discharge. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2012;33(1):20-28


When a speaker wishes to charge his utterance with emotions and (temporarily) doesn't bother about social conventions, he can use a taboo minimizer. Such a minimizer consists of a negative element followed by a tabooed N. This article shows which Frisian taboo terms can function as the N and what their user frequency is. This has been investigated on the internet, as this is preeminently a place where emotional messages can be expected. Google searches demonstrate that Frisian has at least 23 taboo words showing up as a minimizer. The output can be subdivided into three categories: 1) obscenities, 2) religion and superstition and 3) diseases. The first category is the most extensive, the second category is the most frequent, while the third category consists of only one word. The four most popular taboo minimizers are bliksem ('lightning'), reet ('ass'), donder ('thunder') and sek ('scrotum'), and the fifth position is shared by barst ('crack') and moer ('mother'). The last two illustrate the idiomatic character of minimizers: moer and barst have an unclear denotation, but when used as the N in a minimizer it is perfectly clear what they mean.


We report a top-down method for fabricating ultra-high aspect ratio single-crystal silicon nanowires. The fabrication method is based on the standard photolithography technique and anisotropic wet etching of the single-crystal silicon in KOH solution. SiO₂ mask nanolines used for patterning single-crystal silicon nanowires are formed by the undercut etching of thin SiO₂ layer in buffered hydrofluoric solution. The minimum width of the SiO₂ mask nanolines are 50 nm. The length of SiO₂ mask nanolines is 2 cm. The single-crystal silicon nanowires have been successfully transferred from the SiO₂ mask nanolines by KOH anisotropic wet-chemical etching. The minimum width of the silicon nanowire has obtained to be 25 nm. The fabricated single-crystal silicon nanowires have trapezoidal and triangular cross sections, which are useful for applications in nanoelectronic and nanophotonic elements.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To describe difficulties experienced by women after treatment for primary breast cancer.

DESIGN
Descriptive and exploratory.

SETTING
Queensland, Australia.

SAMPLE
245 women (70% response rate) less than 16 weeks postsurgery for breast cancer completed a survey. The mean age for this sample was 55 years; 71% had undergone mastectomy, and 29% had undergone conservative breast surgery.

METHODS
Focus groups were used to generate items for the survey, "Experience of Breast Cancer Questionnaire" (EBCQ). The EBCQ and the psychological subscale of the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) were administered by mail to the sample.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Psychological distress, fear of recurrence, decisional uncertainty, informational support, self-image and social relationships, sexual morbidity, and physical effects of treatments.

FINDINGS
Factor analysis of the EBCQ identified five factors, accounting for 60% of the variance. These included psychological effects, treatment concerns, physical effects, self-image, and chemotherapy effects. Four of the five subscales had reliability coefficients of greater than 0.80. Psychological effects included cognitive and emotional effects. Treatment concerns included decisional uncertainty and poorly perceived informational support. Physical effects reflected the symptom pattern of axillary dissection. Self-image included breast loss and social isolation.

CONCLUSIONS
Nurses who assist women in adjusting to breast cancer should consider the effect of fear of recurrence and perceptions of body image on the recovery process. Because participation in treatment decisions may increase the demands on women at diagnosis, informational support appropriate to each woman's needs is essential. How self-esteem can affect self-image and social relationships after breast cancer requires further investigation.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
Understanding the experience of illness from the perspective of the patient assists nurses in validating their nursing practice and provides clinically relevant information to guide intervention. In particular, supportive psychological care should target both emotional and cognitive responses to breast cancer. Informational support is integral to a patient's satisfaction with treatment decisions and is likely to predict adjustment. When assisting women to adjust to self-image changes, nurses may need to target women's perceptions about their body image.


PURPOSE
Population-based estimates of the incidence of brain metastases are not generally available. The purpose of this study was to calculate population-based incidence proportions (IPs) of brain metastases from single primary lung, melanoma, breast, renal, or colorectal cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients diagnosed with single primary lung, melanoma, breast, renal, or colorectal cancer (1973 to 2001) in the Metropolitan Detroit Cancer Surveillance System (MDCSS) were used for analysis. IP of brain metastases by primary site and variable of interest (race, sex, age at diagnosis of primary cancer, and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results [SEER] stage of primary cancer) was calculated with 95% CIs.

RESULTS
Total IP percentage (IP%) of brain metastases was 9.6% for all primary sites combined, and highest for lung (19.9%), followed by melanoma (6.9%), renal (6.5%), breast (5.1%), and colorectal (1.8%) cancers. Racial differences were seen with African Americans demonstrating higher IP% of brain metastases compared with other racial groups for most primary sites. IP% was significantly higher for female patients with lung cancer, and significantly higher for male patients with melanoma. The highest IP% of brain metastases occurred at different ages at diagnoses: age 40 to 49 years for primary lung cancer; age 50 to 59 years for primary melanoma, renal, or colorectal cancers; and age 20 to 39 for primary breast cancer. IP% significantly increased as SEER stage of primary cancer advanced for all primary sites.

CONCLUSION
Total IP% of brain metastases was lower than previously reported, and it varied by primary site, race, sex, age at diagnosis of primary cancer, and SEER stage of primary cancer.


Laser linewidth is of central importance in spectroscopy, frequency metrology, and all applications of lasers requiring high coherence. It is also of fundamental importance, because the Schawlow-Townes laser linewidth limit is of quantum origin. Recently, a theory of stimulated Brillouin laser (SBL) linewidth has been reported. While the SBL linewidth formula exhibits power and optical Q factor dependences that are identical to the Schawlow-Townes formula, a source of noise not present in conventional lasers, phonon occupancy of the Brillouin mechanical mode is predicted to be the dominant SBL linewidth contribution. Moreover, the quantum limit of the SBL linewidth is predicted to be twice the Schawlow-Townes limit on account of phonon participation. To help confirm this theory the SBL fundamental linewidth is measured at cryogenic temperatures in a silica microresonator. Its temperature dependence and the SBL linewidth theory are combined to predict the number of thermomechanical quanta at three temperatures. The result agrees with the Bose-Einstein phonon occupancy of the microwave-rate Brillouin mode in support of the SBL linewidth theory prediction.


A Study of the Scipionic Circle. By RUTH MARTIN BROWN. [See C.R. XLVIII, 246.] THIS dissertation is an attempt to extend backwards and forwards in time the date of the Scipionic Circle by the claim that it not merely included the literary coterie which gathered round Scipio Aemilianus in the second century B.C., but had its foundation in the philhellenism of Scipio Africanus Maior and passed through an early period, a middle period, and, after the death of Scipio Aemilianus in 129, a final period under the leadership of Laelius Sapiens and then Q. Lutatius Catulus. The authoress assigns 15 names to the early period, 27 (a considerably higher number than ever before suggested) to the middle period, and 10 to the final period. On all of these biographical notes are given. Rather strangely, Blossius of Cumae is left out. It should be remembered that we have, as justification for the phrase ' Scipionic Circle' applied to the middle period, Cicero's own statement about P. Africanus, C. Laelius and L. Furius that they secum eruditissimos homines ex Graeciapalam semper habuerunt {De Orat. II . 37) and his words, put in Laelius' mouth, about Scipio's preeminence in nostro, ut ita dicam, grege {De Amic. XIX. 69). But for the early period we seem to have no ancient authority recording coherence enough from which clearly to infer membership of a ' Circle-' That some of the ultimate roots of the ' Scipionic Circle' in the ordinary sense ran back to the philhellenism of Africanus Maior and several of his contemporaries is not to be denied; but the authoress would have been on safer ground in tracing the influence of such men as making the ' Scipionic Circle ' possible and paving the way for it rather than in extending the phrase after ' revamping' (p. 14) the commonly accepted definition. The temptation, after taking the earlier ' Circle' for granted, is to find members for it, and in some cases include them dogmatically on slight grounds. There is an extraordinary monotony in the use of ' must' on pp. 29-30 : ' must have ' occurs 6 times on p. 55, and ' may have' 7 times on p. 56. Cicero should not be credited with writing incredibik virtute, p. 54, nor yet inimicissimiis. In the quotation from Bernhardy, p. 16, an essential word, verherrlicht, is omitted, and Vorturtheil is a misprint.


The forthcoming US Nuclear Posture Review should broaden the traditional focus of such policy reviews on deterrence requirements and include a thorough analysis of how US nuclear declaratory policy influences the likelihood of nuclear proliferation, the consequences of proliferation, and perceptions of the illegitimacy of nuclear terrorism. Such a broader frame of analysis leads to the conclusion that it would be in the US national interest to adopt a no-first-use declaratory policy, stating clearly that 'the role of U.S. nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear weapons use by other nuclear weapons states against the United States, our allies, and our armed forces, and to be able respond, with an appropriate range of second-strike nuclear retaliation options, if necessary, in the event that deterrence fails'.


HAIOU ZHU: A Loan-level Residential Mortgage Backed Security Pricing Model: are CAP CRA loans profit-making for the secondary market? (Under the direction of Mustafa Gültekin) This paper develops an industry comparable loan-level residential mortgage-backed security pricing model. It can be used to design hedging strategies for mortgage portfolio's interest rate risk, and price the cost of guaranteeing RMBS default risk. The loan-level pricing model is designed to address most of the problems with the Government-Sponsored Enterprises' (GSEs') current risk management models that were outlined in the Federal Housing and Finance Administration's 2009 report to Congress. The loan-level pricing model in this paper is able to automatically translate into RMBS prices the slight monthly changes in individual borrowers' prepayment and default risks due to borrower and loan characteristics, macroeconomic conditions, house price changes, and term structure movements. The loan-level model is especially useful for managing low-to-moderate income (LMI) mortgages, which are highly leveraged assets. Applying the loan-level pricing model to the Community Advantage Program (CAP) dataset yields the result that most (i.e. 65% of the purchased CAP loans) of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) mortgages in CAP have been profit-making (i.e. positive Option-Adjusted Spreads OAS) for the secondary market, given the market prices Fannie Mae paid. Moreover, the results suggest that the conventional indicators, such as race, income, credit score and loan-to-value at origination, are not reliable in determinants of the mortgage yield. Therefore, avoiding and discriminating iv against LMI mortgage pools are not rational. The identification of responsible LMI borrowers or pools and adequate risk based pricing require that the loan-level pricing model be run on each mortgage portfolio. Finally, the loan-level pricing model can help to address one challenge in the overhaul of mortgage finance system pointed out by Geithner, namely pricing the cost of a government guarantee of RMBS default risk. In particular, the expected cost for guaranteeing the default risk of a loan can be calculated as the difference in the OAS between 100% recovery and recovery at the current house price. In short, the loan-level pricing model developed may help the federal government to better meet the financial needs of responsible LMI borrowers, while maintaining the sustainability and soundness of the GSEs. v Acknowledgements


An efficient reduction of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] induced by gaseous glow discharge plasma (GDP) generated between a pointed platinum anode and the surface of an aqueous solution has been achieved for the first time. Experimental results show that Cr(VI) could be smoothly reduced to trivalent state [Cr(III)] by using GDP with 500 V as the optimum operating voltage. The rate of Cr(VI) reduction was enhanced by either decreasing the solution pH or adding radical scavengers to the solution. At initial pH 2.0, 100 mg/L of Cr(VI) was completely reduced within 10 min of GDP treatment in the presence of 100 mg/L phenol. A possible reaction mechanism was proposed based on the reduction kinetics. Energy efficiency of Cr(VI) reduction in GDP was compared with that in other competitive processes.


INTRODUCTION Inherited genetic disorders account for about 5% of all medical consultations. The importance of a genetic contribution to a widening spectrum of disorders is becoming evident in neurology, indeed in all facets of medicine. Genetic factors may contribute to the development of disease, influence its course and severity, prognosis and response to therapy. Therefore, as our knowledge of the human genome expands, efforts are being made to identify genetic predispositions and influences to improve identification of risk, target pharmacotherapy, design gene therapy, and to provide more accurate assessment of prognosis. Recognition of risk should facilitate timely screening and early or presymptomatic treatment when available; and even in the absence of accepted treatment strategies this may still encourage appropriate lifestyle measures to reduce risk. Better assessment of genetic risk is therefore an essential part of modern clinical assessment in all patients. A comprehensive family history is the first step and