Organ transplant recipients (OTRs) are at increased risk of cutaneous malignancy. Skin disorders in OTRs of color (OTRoC) have rarely been systematically assessed. We aimed to ascertain the burden of skin disease encountered in OTRoC by prospectively collecting data from OTRs attending 2 posttransplant skin surveillance clinics: 1 in London, UK and 1 in Philadelphia, USA. Retrospective review of all dermatological diagnoses was performed. Data from 1766 OTRs were analyzed: 1024 (58%) white, 376 (21%) black, 261 (15%) Asian, 57 (3%) Middle Eastern/Mediterranean (ME/M), and 48 (2.7%) Hispanic; and 1128 (64%) male. Viral infections affected 45.1% of OTRs, and were more common in white and ME/M patients (P < .001). Fungal infections affected 28.1% and were more common in ME/M patients (P < .001). Inflammatory skin disease affected 24.5%, and was most common in black patients (P < .001). In addition, 26.4% of patients developed skin cancer. There was an increased risk of skin cancer in white vs nonwhite OTRs (HR 4.4, 95% CI 3.5‐5.7, P < .001): keratinocyte cancers were more common in white OTRs (P < .001) and Kaposi sarcoma was more common in black OTRs (P < .001). These data support the need for programs that promote targeted dermatology surveillance for all OTRs, regardless of race/ethnicity or country of origin.


A simple, mild, efficient, and organic solvent-free biochemical approach for the deprotection of carbonyl compounds protected as 1,3-dioxolanes through the use of cyclodextrins as catalysts has been developed. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)


The main purpose of the study reported is to show how computer assisted instruction (CAI) has significantly impacted on all aspects of our live particularly on education, it has radically influenced the way knowledge and information are generated, developed and transmitted in technology education. Every technology teacher must be acquainted with how to apply CAI in teaching technology education programme since teachers have a vital role in trainees skill development. Therefore, this study was designed to determine relevance of computer assisted instruction for effective skill development among technology education students in Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses, tested at 0.05% level of significance. The respondents for the study comprised of 310 technology vocational teachers.  Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the research questions, while t-test statistics was employed to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study among others revealed that technology vocational teachers should be skilful in using CAI in the production  of  teaching materials that can be used in developing appropriate skills, incorporate the  use of media and technology for teaching where appropriate and technology vocational teachers teaching and managing courses through web-based system. It was recommended that Federal government should ensure that her policy statement regarding the provision of necessary infrastructure and training for use of computer in the school system is effectively implemented and making it mandatory for technology vocational teachers  in developing computer skills needed in classroom environment. This could be achieved through adequate financial provision for tools and resources. Key words: Computer assisted instruction, Technology education, Technical vocational teachers, and Skill development.


Automatic caption generation of images has gained significant interest. It gives rise to a lot of interesting image-related applications. For example, it could help in image/video retrieval and management of vast amount of multimedia data available on the Internet. It could also help in development of tools that can aid visually impaired individuals in accessing multimedia content. In this paper, we particularly focus on news images and propose a methodology for automatically generating captions for news paper articles consisting of a text paragraph and an image. We propose several deep neural network architectures built upon Recurrent Neural Networks. Results on a BBC News dataset show that our proposed approach outperforms a traditional method based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation using both automatic evaluation based on BLEU scores and human evaluation.


In this paper we present a novel network-conscious approach to the problem of end-to-end video delivery over wide-area networks using proxy servers situated between local-area networks (LANs) and a backbone wide-area network (WAN). We develop a novel and effective video delivery technique called video staging via intelligent utilization of the disk bandwidth and storage space available at proxy servers. We also design several video staging methods and evaluate their effectiveness in reducing the backbone WAN bandwidth requirement. Our results demonstrate that the proposed proxy-server-based, network-conscious approach provides an effective and scalable solution to the problem of the end-to-end video delivery over wide-area networks.


Fast neutrons from deuteron-deuteron fusion reactions were used for a study of fast deuterons in the PF-1000 plasma-focus device. The energy spectrum of neutrons was determined by the time-of-flight method using ten scintillation detectors positioned downstream, upstream, and side-on the experimental facility. Neutron energy-distribution functions enabled the determination of axial and radial components of energy of deuterons producing the fusion neutrons, as well as a rough evaluation of the total energy distribution of all fast deuterons in the pinch. It was found that the total deuteron energy-distribution function decreases with the deuteron energy more slowly than the tail of the Maxwellian distribution for 1-2-keV deuterons.


In this research, composites of polypropylene (PP) and a relatively small concentrations of iron ferrite (Fe3O4) nanopowder equal to 2, 5 and 10 wt.% have been made. An methacrylate monomer 2,2'-bis-[4-(2-methylprop-2-enoyloxy)phenyl]-propane (BAD) was added at a small amount (3 wt.%) to part of the composites during the thermoplastic mixing. The BAD has been used as a compatibilizing agent on the phase interaction between the filler and the matrix of polypropylene. It has been found that composites have adjustable mechanical, structural and magnetic properties dependent on the content of magnetic filler. Increase of concentration of ferrite particles affects a notable increase of elastic modulus and reduces the deformability in comparison to pure polypropylene, whereas the modification with BAD has mainly a plasticizing effect, affecting a small decrease on stiffness but a notable increase of strain at break. An important role of Fe3O4 adhesion in polymer matrix and interphase effects on the changes of crystallinity and magnetic properties has been found.


Purpose – Extant studies have shown immigration does not lead to higher crime rates, yet this fallacy persists. The aim of this chapter is to explore the relationship between crime and the presence and growth of the Latino and the foreign-born populations in Washington DC's City Council Wards.

Methodology/approach – This chapter draws on Uniform Crime Reports data and Census information to compare and contrast crimes rates, the presence and growth of the Latino and foreign-born populations, and socioeconomic indicators across Washington DC.

Findings – Violent and property crimes rates have decreased consistently since the mid-1990s despite the growth of the Latino and the foreign-born populations. While there are significant differences between crimes rates at the Council Ward level, they appear to be associated with persistent structural inequality – not the presence or growth of either group.

Research limitations – This work is largely exploratory and descriptive. Results should be interpreted with caution. Future research should employ multivariate methods to systematically identify factors that most significantly and strongly explicate crime rates within and across DC Wards.

Social implications – Preliminary findings suggest policy makers should shift attention away from scapegoating immigrants for social ills and focus on improving social and economic opportunities and the life outcomes of racialized subordinate group members throughout the United States.

Originality – Little empirical research exists focusing on the relationship between immigration and crime in the nation's capital. This is a significant gap in the literature considering the recent rapid growth of the foreign-born and Latino populations in Washington DC.


This study provides a framework for a single-camera odometry system for localizing a surgical C-arm base. An application-specific monocular visual odometry system (a downward-looking consumer-grade camera rigidly attached to the C-arm base) is proposed in this research. The cumulative dead-reckoning estimation of the base is extracted based on frame-to-frame homography estimation. Optical-flow results are utilized to feed the odometry. Online positional and orientation parameters are then reported. Positional accuracy of better than 2% (of the total traveled distance) for most of the cases and 4% for all the cases studied and angular accuracy of better than 2% (of absolute cumulative changes in orientation) were achieved with this method. This study provides a robust and accurate tracking framework that not only can be integrated with the current C-arm joint-tracking system (i.e. TC-arm) but also is capable of being employed for similar applications in other fields (e.g. robotics).


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the change in consumption of specific antibiotics in a neonatal intensive care unit after the implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP).

DESIGN
Retrospective cohort study between January 1, 2010, and December 31,2019.

SETTING
The neonatal intensive care unit at British Columbia Women's Hospital (Vancouver Canada), a tertiary-care center.

PATIENTS
Admitted neonates prescribed antibiotics.

METHODS
We implemented an ASP with an early implementation phase starting in January 2014 (period 2) and a later phase starting in January 2017 (period 3). Patient demographics were collected, including birth weight, gestational age, history of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and surgical operations from existing databases. Interrupted time-series analysis was used, and comparison of antibiotic days of therapy (DOT) averages were conducted across the preimplementation period (period 1), period 2, and period 3 regarding total patients and subgroups.

RESULTS
We identified 4,512 infants. There was a significant decrease in DOT from 472 (95% confidence interval [CI], 431-517) in period 1 to 405 (95% CI, 367-446) in period 2 to 313 (95% CI, 280-350) in period 3. We detected a significant decrease in the use of ampicillin, aminoglycosides, cloxacillin, and linezolid but not in vancomycin or cefotaxime. Subgroup analyses of infants <1,500 g and those without NEC or surgery showed decreases in the use of cloxacillin, aminoglycosides, and linezolid.

CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of an ASP was associated with a significant decrease in the overall DOT and use of certain antibiotics. This study presents important targets for ongoing ASP work.


Information literacy is a meta-competency that encapsulates the generic skills of defining, locating and accessing information. It is an essential and integral competency for both the knowledge worker and effective knowledge management. Librarians need to realign their roles from providers and organizers of information, to facilitators and educators of clients' information access and process. This requires librarians to develop partnerships with workplace communities so as to understand the role that information plays in the knowledge economy; and to develop a new language that is relevant to workplace communities and ties information literacy instruction to the authentic situations of the workplace. Information literacy is a meta-competency: it is the currency of the knowledge economy. The themes introduced in this paper are drawn from the current doctoral research of the author. The research examines what it means to individuals to be information literate in a workplace context, and how information literacy manifests and transfers in to workplace practice.


In this study Trichoderma harzianum (T7) was selected as high producer of beta glucosidase enzyme in optimum conditions among 30 isolates of Trichoderma speices. Genomic DNA from a native Iranian isolate of Trichoderma harzianum (T7) that has been isolated from Kerman province was extracted by CTAB method and specific primers (TFbgl2 & TRbgl2) were used for bgl2 amplification. The amplified DNA fragment approximately 1.4 Kb was digested with appropriate enzymes and cloned into plasmid vector pUC19 and designated as pUCSA1. The sequence obtained from this construct is under accession number EF426298. For cDNA synthesis the mRNA of bgl2 was extracted from induced culture with 1% lactose and 1% CMC and used. This cDNA (approximately 1.3 kb) was isolated, digested, then confirmed with appropriate restriction enzymes and cloned into pUC19 plasmid vector and designated as pUCSA2. The DNA sequence of bgl2 from this construct is under accession number EF426299. Comparison of the genomic DNA with the cDNA sequences showed that bgl2 gene contains one short intron, 79 bp in length and its open reading frame (ORF) with approximately 1.3 kb encodes a polypeptide with 454 amino acids and estimated molecular mass of 51 kDa. Multiple alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence of Bgl2 with those from Hypocrea jecorina (BAA74959), T. viride (AAQ21384), Humicola grisea (BAA74958) and A. niger (AAF74209) showed 89.6%, 80.7%, 72.8% and 83.6% homology, respectively.


PURPOSE
The aim of the study was to compare the use of combination therapy of topical amphotericin B (0.5 mg/mL) eye drops together with subconjunctival injection of fluconazole (2 mg/mL) with the use of topical amphotericin B (0.5 mg/mL) eye drops alone in dealing with cases of fungal keratitis.

METHODS
The study was performed in the Ophthalmology Department, Zagazig University and included 48 eyes of 48 patients who presented clinically with fungal keratitis. Laboratory investigations were performed, including direct microscopy of corneal smear using gram staining and culture of corneal specimens using Saboraud agar media and bacterial agar media. According to laboratory results, cases were classified into 2 groups: group 1 comprising 24 eyes treated by a combination therapy of topical amphotericin B eye drops (0.5 mg/mL) with subconjunctival injection of fluconazole (2 mg/mL) and group 2 comprising 24 eyes treated by topical amphotericin B eye drops (0.5 mg/mL) alone.

RESULTS
Direct corneal smear for all 48 eyes included in the study revealed 18 eyes (38%) with positive fungal spores, 3 of them (6%) with gram-positive bacterial infection. Fungal culture of corneal specimens revealed positive result in 36 eyes (75%), including the positive corneal smear cases showing Candida in 12 eyes and filamentous fungi in 24 eyes. Treatment by a combination therapy in group 1 revealed statistically significant result (P < 0.05) of healing of corneal ulcers in 20 eyes (83%), with a mean duration of healing of 31 days (standard deviation [SD] +/-3), in comparison to group 2 with monotherapy, which revealed 16 eyes (67%), with a mean duration of healing of 37 days (SD +/-2).

CONCLUSION
Combination therapy of topical amphotericin B eye drops with subconjunctival injection of fluconazole was more efficient (according to the percentage and the duration of healing of the ulcers) than the use of topical amphotericin B eye drops alone in dealing with cases of fungal keratitis--it may be contributed to the broad spectrum of the antifungal agents of the combination therapy than the monotherapy.


Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs), have ability to monitor and predict underwater environment and gather scientific data. Essentially UASNs consist of underwater sensor nodes, underwater automatic vehicles (AUVs) and stations that are located on surface of water, which is used as gateways to prepare radio link communication with offshore stations. Quality of service in these networks is limited with some parameters such as, bandwidth of acoustic channel, propagation delay of sound and high-level ambient noise in the water. In this paper, at first, several aspects of underwater acoustic communications are investigated, after that; different architectures of UASN are discussed. In addition, we propose a new multipath scheme for UASN, which can improve end-to-end packet error rate while achieving a good balance between the overall energy efficiency and the end-to-end packet delay. Simulation results show that our method is highly energy-efficient with low endto-end packet delays.


Introduction The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world. (1) A significant contribution to this mass incarceration is the detention and removal of hundreds of thousands of the undocumented (2) through a "civil" (non-criminal) process for immigration offenses. (3) Currently, in criminal (non-civil) proceedings, all individuals, undocumented or not, are appointed an attorney at no charge to address an unequal power dynamic in which a government lawyer has superior legal knowledge and skill, compared to a self-representing litigant who may not have formal education or legal training, or may be indigent. (4) This is not the case for civil proceedings. Undocumented persons facing removal proceedings are not legally entitled to an attorney (5) and are often processed without legal representation. (6) This is despite the similarities to criminal proceedings where the person facing removal is detained in jail-like conditions (7) for substantial periods of time while they await their hearing. (8) This essay aims to comment on emerging initiatives to challenge this un-civil practice. This essay (1) compares the treatment and processing of undocumented persons in immigration hearings to those facing proceedings within the US criminal justice system, (2) provides a brief historical review that describes the legal underpinning of one's right to counsel, (3) analyzes the current state of the law and scholarship to illustrate efforts to provide such representation in immigration proceedings, and (4) puts forth a new "earned rights" doctrine, granting Constitutional protections and fundamental civil rights to these undocumented non-citizens living in our society, despite conventional legal reasoning and public opinion holding that undocumented persons should not receive such rights because they entered the country without proper documentation. Section I: Detention as Punishment In academic or political forums, relatively little attention has been focused on the fact that, as a consequence of mass incarceration and immigration legislation, Latinos now constitute the most-represented ethnic group in federal courts, primarily as a result of immigration crimes. (9) Total annual expenditures for US law enforcement mechanisms are approximately $212 billion. (10) As many wrestle with the tremendous unequal impact of mass incarceration to African American populations, (11) they also need to consider an interwoven connection to immigration. (12) Today, more than 400,000 immigrants are detained annually. (13) This is the largest number of non-citizens detained in the world. (14) Indeed, immigration detainees represent the fastest-growing segment of the jail population in the United States, driven in large part by illegal reentry, a federal crime that now constitutes one-fourth of the federal docket. (15) In recent decades the civil immigration system has decidedly shifted to be more punitive. (16) Such a conflation between immigration and criminal law has developed a relatively new area of legal scholarship described as "Crimmigration." (17) The Supreme Court has recognized and reaffirmed repeatedly that for "noncitizens facing expulsion, deportation is often a far more severe consequence than a criminal sentence." (18) The court has not, however, extended criminal procedure safeguards to expulsion and deportation. (19) This did not happen overnight or by accident. Legislators contributed to shifting attitudes of the "immigration problem" by reinforcing a coordinated regulatory environment. (20) Not only have crimes subject to deportation increased, but recent legislation has mandated detention of criminal immigrants, limited grounds for relief, limited federal judicial review, and applied changes of law retroactively to crimes that were not crimes previously. (21) Until the 1980s, deportations were limited to a number of crimes, detention of undocumented individuals was less common, and criminal sanctions for immigration offenses were rare. …


As in neoliberal market theory, where maximal information is said to make markets more efficient, what Joselit calls "Conceptual art of the press release" (in which the artwork is "translated" into text as a proposition about its meaning) makes even difficult art easy to consume. The once radical proposal of Conceptual art—that objects exist in a transactional relation with text (and prosaic photographic documents)—has now become business as usual. But this is not merely the result of the now-standard practice of training artists in MFA programs, where learning consists of verbally justifying one's artworks before a cohort of peers and artist-instructors, nor the demands of a global and increasingly virtual art market. It is also a condition of today's academic practice in which art history is little more than the weaving together of primary and secondary sources that "historicize" and "theorize" objects without attending to them specifically. The current challenge for artists and critics is not to forego engaging with information, but rather to resist the allure of its transparency in favor of tracking its plasticity—in other words, the shapes of social governance and aesthetic speculation that its myriad overlapping channels assume.


Urine culture in usual practice is done by inoculation of the sample separately onto blood agar and Mac-Conkey's Medium. This practice of inoculation is not only costly but also requires more man-power. To reduce such cost and man-power, Cystline Lactose Electrolyte Deficient medium (with Andrade indicator) has been procured for inoculation of urine samples. But as this media is also costly, in present study as single medium having some combining properties of both blood agar and Mac-Conkey's has been used.


A study of patients with pulmonary hypertension caused by chronic inflammatory pulmonary diseases revealed that ibuprofen may induce an elevation of the pressure in the lesser circulation that is most probably connected with inhibition of synthesis of prostacyclin and prostaglandins of type E.


A hot cathode plasma discharge in a toroidal system has been studied and it is found that the plasma discharge current has low frequency (ω ≤ Ωi) oscillations. These oscillations have been studied with the help of Fast Fourier Transforms and the method of time series analysis for nonlinear systems. The statistical properties of these fluctuations have also been studied with increasing magnetic field in the system. It is found that as the magnetic field is increased the power spectrum of the fluctuations change from a coherent multimode spectrum at lower fields to a wide band turbulent spectrum at higher fields. These changes can also be seen in the amplitude distribution of the fluctuations. At higher fields the distribution is very close to Gaussian distribution. The method of time series analysis has been applied to study the invariants of the dynamics of these fluctuations. The phase space reconstruction of the time series has been made using the method of time delay. The reconstructed phase space shows that the system has periodic orbits at lower magnetic fields and the periodicity is lost as we change to higher fields.


This study examined the relationship between skin physiological indices and pressure ulcers in elderly people. The subjects were 55 bedridden elderly Japanese patients with a median age of 85 years. The following parame-ters were measured using non-invasive devices: skin surface temperature, moisture content in the stratum corneum, moisture content in the dermis, transepidermal water loss as an index of skin barrier function, skin erythema and skin elasticity. The sacral and 2 heel areas were observed as sites predisposed to pressure ulcers. Within one month after measuring the skin physiological indices, we confirmed pressure ulcers of National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel classification Stage II or worse based on medical records. Among the 55 patients, 4 (7.3%) prospectively developed a total of 5 pressure ulcers within 16 days. Only the skin erythema score was significantly higher with than without pressure ulcers (p < 0.001). We performed a binary logistic regression analysis and confirmed a significant relationship between pressure-ulcer development and the level of erythema (odds ratio = 1.026; 95% confidence interval: 1.011-1.042). Skin erythema increased before the development of pressure ulcers. Taken together, our results show that the high skin erythema score can be a predictive indicator of pressure ulcers.


Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that genetic variants, including deletion and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) have role in the genesis and progression of various cancers. BIM (also known as BCL2L11) is a proapoptotic protein that is essential in the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-induced apoptosis in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cells. We therefore attempted to develop new detection assay system of the BIM genetic variants in CML patients and clinical relevance. Subjects and methods: We assessed knownBIM polymorphic variants (BIM deletion polymorphism in intron 2 and silent SNP in BIM exon 5) by using the Q-Invader method with molecular response by TKIs in 47 Japanese chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients who achieved 4-log reduction of molecular response (MR 4.0 ) or more. Results: The Q-Invader assay was able to detect BIM deletion polymorphism expanding approximately 2900 bp and BIMSNP at exon 5 (c465C>T). Six of 47 (12.8%) showed the BIM intron 2 deletion polymorphism and 11 of 47 (23.4%) CML patients did the SNP. In healthy volunteers, 4 of 20 (20%) had the BIM deletion polymorphism and 4 of 20 (20%) did the BIM SNP: none of our subjects had the BIM deletion polymorphism and SNP (c465C>T) concurrently. CML patients with BIM polymorphic variants showed high frequencies of reduction of imatinib dose and switching to second-line Conclusion: TKIs. BIM is an essential protein for the apoptotic process in cancer cells with TKI therapy, the detection assay of polymorphic variants, such as Q-Invader assay, could be useful in clinical practice.


others in the series: Volume 33 (Predicting Breeding Values with Applications in Forest Tree Improvement) and Volume 39 (Handbook of Quantitative Forest Genetics). The papers may be grouped into three major sections. Eight papers consider the patterns of genetic variation within and between species and their possible causes. Four deal with tree mating systems, gene dispersal and genetic structure within populations and four review the applications of biochemical markers to problems of forest management. It is perhaps indicative of the rate of development of scientific methods and understanding that, at a conference in 1990, the major emphases were on isozymes and terpenes with only two papers addressing issues of DNA polymorphisms and markers. By now, some four years later, many papers have covered the theory, research results and applications of techniques and attributes such as mitochondrial, chloroplast and nuclear DNA, RAPD and RFLP. Despite this gap, the book represents a major contribution to the literature of forest genetics and tree breeding; it also has significance for evolutionists, systematists and ecologists. The individual papers are of high quality and the standards of editing and production are exceptional. The price may limit its purchase by individuals to only the most dedicated specialist yet it should be on the shelves of every forestry and genetics library.


Treatment and control of schistosomiasis still rely on only one effective drug, praziquantel (PZQ), and due to mass treatment, the increasing risk of selecting for schistosome strains that are resistant to PZQ has alerted investigators to the urgent need to develop novel therapeutic strategies. The histone-modifying enzymes (HMEs) represent promising targets for the development of epigenetic drugs against Schistosoma mansoni. In the present study, we targeted the S. mansoni lysine-specific demethylase 1 (SmLSD1), a transcriptional corepressor, using a novel and selective synthetic inhibitor, MC3935. We synthesized a novel and potent LSD1 inhibitor, MC3935, which was used to treat schistosomula or adult worms in vitro. By using cell viability assays and optical and electron microscopy, we showed that treatment with MC3935 affected parasite motility, egg-laying, tegument, and cellular organelle structures, culminating in the death of schistosomula and adult worms. In silico molecular modeling and docking analysis suggested that MC3935 binds to the catalytic pocket of SmLSD1. Western blot analysis revealed that MC3935 inhibited SmLSD1 demethylation activity of H3K4me1/2. Knockdown of SmLSD1 by RNAi recapitulated MC3935 phenotypes in adult worms. RNA-seq analysis of MC3935-treated parasites revealed significant differences in gene expression related to critical biological processes. Collectively, our findings show that SmLSD1 is a promising drug target for the treatment of schistosomiasis and strongly support the further development and in vivo testing of selective schistosome LSD1 inhibitors. Author Summary Schistosomiasis mansoni is a chronic and debilitating tropical disease caused by the helminth Schistosoma mansoni. The control and treatment of the disease rely almost exclusively on praziquantel (PZQ). Thus, there is an urgent need to search for promising protein targets to develop new drugs. Drugs that inhibit enzymes that modify the chromatin structure have been developed for a number of diseases. We and others have shown that S. mansoni epigenetic enzymes are also potential therapeutic targets. Here we evaluated the potential of the S. mansoni histone demethylase LSD1 (SmLSD1) as a drug target. We reported the synthesis of a novel and potent LSD1 inhibitor, MC3935, and show that it selectively inhibited the enzymatic activity of SmLSD1. Treatment of juvenile or adult worms with MC3935 caused severe damage to the tegument of the parasites and compromised egg production. Importantly, MC3935 proved to be highly toxic to S. mansoni, culminating in the death of juvenile or adult worms within 96 h. Transcriptomic analysis of MC3935-treated parasites revealed changes in the gene expression of hundreds of genes involved in key biological processes. Importantly, SmLSD1 contains unique sequences within its polypeptide chain that could be explored to develop a S. mansoni selective drug.


Little is known about the logic of lending transactions and the development of credit markets in Mexico, or the rest of Latin America, prior to banks. We know even less about what role financial intermediaries played in these pre-banking markets, or who these intermediaries were. This article analyzes the intermediary role notaries played in the long-term credit market in Yucatan, in southeastern Mexico, in the nineteenth-century. Using a unique dataset of mortgages from the notarial records in the Yucatan state archive, the article shows that, in the absence of banks, notaries facilitated access to credit, and that, in the institutional and political context of Yucatan, both entrepreneurship and monopoly were being fostered.


Using two different ion-exchange resins (Dowex 50W-X4 as cation and Dowex 1-X4 as anion) added directly to assay plates seeded with Bacillus subtilis or Micrococcus luteus, the size of the inhibitory zone produced by 36 antimicrobial agents around a disc or cup was characterized into various types, such as acidic, basic or amphoteric. An increase of the inhibition zone following addition of 15% Dowex 50W-X4 was evident in penicillins except for ampicillin and penicillin-G, and polyethers. Aminoglycosides, macrolides and colistin, lincomycin, and sulphonamides on assay medium treated with Dowex 1-X4 showed a similar effect on the inhibition zone. Tetracyclines, virginiamycin, oxolinic acid and furazoridone revealed no effects on the inhibition zone with either of the resins. These antibiotics could be divided into various groups on the basis of their chemical structure. This simple and rapid method may be useful for routine laboratory testing of residual antibiotics in meat.


Background

According to the Cancer Genome Atlas, gastric cancers involve 30% BRD9 changes. Studying the signaling net controlled by BRD9 is important and provides useful information for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer and BRD9 alteration.
Objective

We performed this study to find the signaling pathways controlled by BRD9 in gastric cancer cells.
Methods

MGC-803 and AGS cells were selected as BRD9 overexpression and normal expression models, respectively, and added with BRD9 inhibitors BI9564 and BI7273, respectively. RNA-seq and limma R language were used to obtain differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and heatmap R language was employed for cluster analysis. Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) was applied to identify the gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichments, and STRING database was utilized to construct the protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks. Analysis was performed through Cytoscape software to determine the possible signaling pathway and target genes.
Results

Group MGC-803: 1204 and 1338 DEGs were found in MGC-803 cells added with BI9564 and BI7273, respectively, and 425 DEGs were found in the intersection of these two sets. AGS group: 974 and 1006 DEGs were found in AGS cells added with BI9564 and BI7273, respectively, and 382 DEGs were found in the intersection of these two sets. The DEG number in the intersection of groups MGC-803 and AGS was only 12, and only 3 of which showed the same regulation direction. Hence, these two types of gastric cancers are greatly altered in the signaling network. GO enrichment and KEGG signaling pathway analyses showed that in group MGC-803, BRD9 mainly controls cell adhesion molecule (CAM) pathway, and genes SPP1 and GNAO1 may play important an important role in the BRD9 controlling network. In group AGS, BRD9 mainly controls protein digestion and absorption pathway, and genes AR and GNGT2 have an important function in the BRD9 controlling network.
Conclusion

Comprehensive bioinformatics analyses were conducted to screen the DEGs and signaling pathways controlled by BRD9 in different gastric cancer cells. The findings provide a theoretical basis in curing patients with clinical gastric cancer.


This study attempted to investigate the developmental alterations of the cerebral cortex. The effects of EGEE on the developmental cerebral cortex in the prenatal, postnatal and adults were examined by lectin histochemical methods. To investigate the change of sugar residues of glycoconjugates, biotinylated lectins(DBA, SBA, PNA, BSL-1, RCA-1, sWGA, UEA-1, Con A and LCA) were detected with by IHC using ABC kit. In the case of injection of EGEE, the reactions to Con A and LCA were shown in binding phase in the cerebral cortex commonly, and the reactions to PNA, RCA-1 and LCA were shown partially, the number of lectins to be shown reaction were decreased, and there were no reactions to DBA, SBA, BSL-1, RCA-1 and UEA-1. The reaction to Con A was similar to control group during developmental phases. The reaction to LCA was increased in the fetal, suckling, and weanning phases compared with control group. But there were no reactions to SBA and sWGA, the reaction to PNA was decreased in the frontal and occipital cortex and no reaction to sWGA in the fetal phase. There were no reactions to sWGA and PNA in the suckling phase and, no reaction to PNA and sWGA. The reaction to Con A was decreased in the frontal, parietal and occipital cortexes and, the reaction to LCA was decreased in the frontal and occipital cortexes in adult phase. As the results, the effects of EGEE, environmental hormone on the each part of cerebral cortex have shown differences. But, It had deep effect on the differentiation and growth in the cerebral cortex pathologically. In particular, the effect was severe in suckling phase. Galactosyl-(β-1,3)-N-acetyl-Dgalactosamine, β-N-acetyl-D-galactosamine and β-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine were decreased while α-D-mannose and α-D-glucose were increased. It affected the sugar metabloism, and it was severe in fetal and suckling phases.


Apolipoprotein B (apoB) mRNA editing leads to a single base change in its mRNA and the production of apoB-48. Currently, the degree of apoB mRNA editing is analyzed by the RT-PCR primer extension method. While this method is quantitative, it is labor intensive, utilizes radioactivity for labeling and may not be sensitive enough to discriminate between low levels of editing and inherent assay background levels. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligonucletides have been used in single point mutation detection through PCR clamping. In the present work, we developed a PCR based assay which can detect the single base change responsible for the apoB-48 production. We found that as low as 0.5% of the edited form can be clearly detected by PNA mediated PCR clamping. When combined with the primer extension assay, an approximately 180-fold enrichment of the edited percentage is observed, reflecting selected PCR amplification of templates containing the edited base.


Mass-movement features defined by high-resolution and air gun seismic profiling are located at nine specific sites in silty clays and clayey silts on slope and slope apron settings. Two basic scales of processes occur: eight small-scale mud flows and slumps 2 to 8 m thick and 4 to 15 sq km in area extent; and a large compound feature about 100 sq km in areal extent and 2 to 25 m thick in the northeast part of the central basin. Mud flow and slump deposits sampled with box and piston cores have liquid limits (% dry basis) of 50 to 120, plasticity indices of 15 to 60, and water contents (wwb) of 40 to 65%. The compound feature has liquid limits of 75 to 105, plasticity indices of 25 to 45 and water contents of 55 to 85%. Envelopes of values of plasticity indices versus liqu d limits for different mud flows, slumps, and the compound feature show good separation, perhaps indicative of varying sedimentation rates. Mud flows and slumps exhibit a swirled x-radiography signature, fluid escape features, inclined and folded layers, and dramatic matrix-supported random fabrics with round clasts as large as 4 cm. Distorted laminations, minor faults, small folds, and homogenous sections typify different areas of the large compound feature. Suspended sediment transport, centered on the compound mass movement feature, provides faster sedimentation rates which may partly explain the feature. Only a relatively small part of the basin, the deep flat area which slopes gradually to the south, is somewhat immune to mass movement. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1001------------


Chlamydia trachomatis is currently recognized as one of the most common sexually transmitted pathogen and a major cause of perinatally acquired infection. Vertical transmission of infection from mother to the infant may result in the development of conjunctivitis and pneumonia. The study was conducted with the aim of determining the prevalence of C. trachomatis pneumonia and to identify its clinical manifestations. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from 50 infants (4-24 weeks of age) with pneumonia. C. trachomatis was detected in nasopharyngeal aspirates by direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) staining. Using DFA, C. trachomatis was found in 12.5% of infants. C. trachomatis pneumonia was associated with the age group of 4-12 weeks, cough of more than 7 days duration, presence of conjunctivitis, milder grade of pneumonia and absence of fever. The study showed a high prevalence of C. trachomatis pneumonia in infants.


Objective: To determine the association of red cell distribution width (RDW)and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR)with the severity of rheumatoid arthritis by using DAS28 ESR. Additionally, toxic granulations were assessed as an indicator of disease severity.
Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Rheumatology Outpatient Department, Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital, IslamabadPakistan, from Dec 2020 to Jun 2021.
Methodology: Two hundred ninety rheumatoid arthritis patients were included. DAS 28 ESR was calculated using the DAS 28 ESR calculator, and RDW and NLR were extracted from the complete blood picture and peripheral smears.
Results: There were 238(82.1%) female and 52 17.9%) male study participants. The mean age of patients was 45.2±12.8. The mean RDW, NLR and DAS 28 ESR in the study were 45.67±4.25, 2.93±1.35 and 4.29±1.25, respectively. Toxic granulations on peripheral smears were also found in 188(64.8%) patients. A significant positive association was found using the Spearman rho correlation between the DAS28 ESR score, RDW and NLR (p-value 0.024 and <0.001, respectively).
Conclusion: Red cell distribution width and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, along with toxic granulations, can be used as reliable biomarkers of inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Values higher than the reference range indicate higher disease severity.


Abstract Cocaine is the most commonly used stimulant in the Western world, and its use is increasing not only in young people but also in people older than 40 years. Intranasal use is associated with several pathologies, ranging from crusting and blockage, to fibrosis and scarring, to destruction of the osteocartilaginous structures of the midface. As its use becomes more prevalent in society, the reconstructive surgeon can accordingly expect to be faced with an increasing number of patients with cocaine-related nasal deformity. However, the use of cocaine adds a significant layer of complexity to the perioperative and operative care that requires careful consideration by the whole health care team. We present a practical evidence-based guide to management of reconstruction of the cocaine nose, taking in all aspects of periprocedural care. Finally, we present a model for surgical approach based on best evidence and the experience of the senior author. A search was performed of the Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Collection database using both MeSH keywords and free text words, identifying key articles on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and medical and psychiatric comorbidities of cocaine users. Both case series and case reports reporting cocaine-associated defects and their reconstruction were reviewed together with the senior authors (A.D.S., A.J.), and a series of recommendations synthesized based on these recommendations. The nasal deformities associated with cocaine use represent only the tip of the iceberg of underlying associated pathology. The surgeon who embarks upon reconstruction of the cocaine nose should be aware of possible coexisting medical and psychiatric comorbidities that may complicate both the patient's motivations for surgery and their fitness to undergo anesthesia. Ultimately, successful reconstructive outcomes are critically dependent on holistic perioperative care and the surgeon's ability to be flexible in their surgical approach.


The purpose of this paper is to develop a Bayesian approach for the log-Weibull-negative-binomial regression model under latent failure causes and presence of a randomized activation mechanism. We assume the number of competing causes of the event of interest follows a negative binomial distribution while the latent lifetimes are assumed to follows a Weibull distribution. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are used to develop a Bayesian approach. Model selection to compare the fitted models is discussed. Moreover, we develop case deletion influence diagnostics for the joint posterior distribution based on the ψ-divergence, which has several divergence measures as particular cases. The developed procedures are illustrated on artificial and real data sets.


We describe a novel method for automatic detection of errors in human-robot interactions. Our approach is to detect errors based on the classification of head and shoulder movements of humans who are interacting with erroneous robots. We conducted a user study in which participants interacted with a robot that we programmed to make two types of errors: social norm violations and technical failures. During the interaction, we recorded the behavior of the participants with a Kinect v1 RGB-D camera. Overall, we recorded a data corpus of 237,998 frames at 25 frames per second; 83.48% frames showed no error situation; 16.52% showed an error situation. Furthermore, we computed six different feature sets to represent the movements of the participants and temporal aspects of their movements. Using this data we trained a rule learner, a Naive Bayes classifier, and a k-nearest neighbor classifier and evaluated the classifiers with 10-fold cross validation and leave-one-out cross validation. The results of this evaluation suggest the following: (1) The detection of an error situation works well, when the robot has seen the human before; (2) Rule learner and k-nearest neighbor classifiers work well for automated error detection when the robot is interacting with a known human; (3) For unknown humans, the Naive Bayes classifier performed the best; (4) The classification of social norm violations does perform the worst; (5) There was no big performance difference between using the original data and normalized feature sets that represent the relative position of the participants.


The figure of Eve is a powerful and evocative poetic image. In Rose Auslander's poetry, Eve sheds her traditional role as unwitting accomplice to the corruption of humanity and instead becomes a symbol of creation, creativity, and the power of the female poet. The poems emphasize Eve's active role in the Garden of Eden and constitute a playful revision of the Biblical creation myth. Auslander uses Eve to access the forbidden knowledge of opposites as a poetic source and reinterprets the role of sin as a driving force in the creative process. (KvH)


Face recognition is a challenging field of research not only because of the complexity of this subject, but also because of its numerous practical applications. Much progress has been made towards recognising faces under controlled conditions, especially under normalised pose and lighting conditions and with neutral expression. However, the recognition of face images acquired in an outdoor environment with changes in illumination and/or pose remains a largely unsolved problem. This is due to the fact that most of face recognition methods assume that the pose of the face is known. In this paper, we propose the use of a Gabor Filter Bank to extract an augmented Gabor-face vector to solve the pose estimation problem, extract some statistical features such as means and variances. And then the classification is performed using the nearest neighbour algorithm with the Euclidean distance. Finally, experimental results are reported to show the robustness of the extracted feature vectors for the recognition problem


Ninety nursery pigs were used in two metabolism experiments to determine the effects of roasting and extruding on the nutritional value of Williams 82 soybeans with (+K) and without (-K) gene expression for the Kunitz trypsin inhibitor. Treatments for both experiments were: 1) soybean meal; 2) +K roasted; 3) +K extruded; 4) -K roasted; and 5) -K extruded. The roasting and extrusion treatments were accomplished with a Roast-A-Tron8 roaster and an InstaPr0 8 extruder. Diets were the soybean preparations (96.5% of the diet) with only vitamins and minerals added as needed to meet or exceed NRC requirements. Daily feed allowance was 5% of initial body wt given as three equal meals. In Exp. I, 50 weanling pigs (10.4 Ib average body wt and 21 d average age) were used. Apparent values for N digestibility, biological value (BV), percentage N retention, gross energy (GE) digestibility, and metabolizable energy (ME) were greater for pigs fed extruded soybeans compared to pigs fed roasted soybeans. Also, N digestibility, BV, and percentage N retention were greater for pigs fed -K soybeans compared to those fed + K soybeans. In Exp. 2, 40 pigs (21.4 lb average body wt and 35 d average age) were allowed to adjust to the nursery environment before use in the experiment. In general, the pigs in Exp. 2 (Le., the older pigs) had greater utilization of nutrients from all of the soybean products than the younger pigs used in Exp. 1. Digestibilities of OM, N, and GE were greater for pigs fed -K soybeans compared to those fed + K soybeans, and extruded soybeans gave greater digestibilities of OM, N, and GE compared to roasted soybeans. Also, percentage N retention and percentage ME were greater for pigs fed extruded soybeans were greater than for pigs fed roasted soybeans. In conclusion, extruded and -K soybeans were of greater nutritional value than roasted and + K soybeans for 10and 20-lb nursery pigs.; Swine Day, Manhattan, KS, November 17, 1994


Polynomial parahermitian matrices can accurately and elegantly capture the space-time covariance in broadband array problems. To factorise such matrices, a number of polynomial EVD (PEVD) algorithms have been suggested. At every step, these algorithms move various amounts of off-diagonal energy onto the diagonal, to eventually reach an approximate diagonalisation. In practical experiments, we have found that the relative performance of these algorithms depends quite significantly on the type of parahermitian matrix that is to be factorised. This paper aims to explore this performance space, and to provide some insight into the characteristics of PEVD algorithms.


Target detection and field surveillance are among the most prominent applications of sensor networks (SN). The quality of detection achieved by a SN can be quantified by evaluating the probability of detecting a mobile target crossing a field of interest (Fol). In this paper, we analytically evaluate the detection probability of mobile targets when N sensors are stochastically deployed to monitor a Fol. We map the target detection problem to a line-set intersection problem and derive analytical formulas using tools from integral geometry and geometric probability. We show that the detection probability depends on the length of the perimeters of the sensing areas of the sensors and not their shape. Hence, compared to prior work, our formulation allows us to consider a heterogeneous sensing model, where each sensor can have an arbitrary sensing area. We also evaluate the mean free path until a target is first detected.


We explore the shortening of multiple channels arising from either over-sampling or from using multiple antennas between a single transmitter and receiver. Using terminology we develop, we give new necessary and sufficient conditions for perfect channel shortening (PCS). In an example, the perfect channel shortener's robustness against wide-band noise, narrow-band interferers and received signal SNR mismeasurement is compared to that of an imperfect channel shortener. The work concludes with a list of possible extensions of the results and future work.


Background Our previous study demonstrated that the expression of miR-16 was downregulated in the cell and animal models of atherosclerosis (AS), a main contributor to coronary artery disease (CAD). Overexpression of miR-16 inhibited the formation of foam cells by exerting anti-inflammatory roles. These findings indicated miR-16 may be an anti-atherogenic and CAD miRNA. The goal of this study was to further validate the expression of miR-16 in CAD patients and explore its therapeutic roles in an AS animal model. Methods A total of 40 CAD patients and 40 non-CAD people were prospectively registered in our study. The AS model was established in ApoE-/- mice fed a high-fat diet. The model mice were randomly treated with miR-16 agomiR (n = 10) or miR-negative control (n = 10). Hematoxylin-eosin staining was conducted for histopathological examination in thoracic aorta samples. ELISA and immunohistochemistry were performed to determine the expression levels of inflammatory factors (IL-6, TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-1β, IL-10, and TGF-β). qRT-PCR and western blotting were carried out to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels of PDCD4, miR-16, and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway-related genes. Results Compared with the normal control, miR-16 was downregulated in the plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cell of CAD patients, and its expression level was negatively associated with IL-6 and the severity of CAD evaluated by the Gensini score, but positively related with IL-10. Injection of miR-16 agomiR in ApoE-/- mice reduced the formation of atherosclerotic plaque and suppressed the accumulation of proinflammatory factors (IL-6, TNF-α, MCP-1, and IL-1β) in the plasma and tissues but promoted the secretion of anti-inflammatory factors (IL-10 and TGF-β). Mechanism analysis showed overexpression of miR-16 might downregulate target mRNA PDCD4 and then activate p38 and ERK1/2, but inactivate the JNK pathway. Conclusions Our findings suggest miR-16 may be a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for atherosclerotic CAD.


Traffic analysis attacks to identify which web page a client is browsing, using only her packet metadata --- known as website fingerprinting --- has been proven effective in closed-world experiments against privacy technologies like Tor. However, due to the base rate fallacy, these attacks have failed in large open-world settings against clients that visit sensitive pages with a low base rate. We find that this is because they have poor precision as they were designed to maximize recall.
In this work, we argue that precision is more important than recall for open-world website fingerprinting. For this reason, we develop three classes of {\em precision optimizers}, based on confidence, distance, and ensemble learning, that can be applied to any classifier to increase precision. We test them on known website fingerprinting attacks and show significant improvements in precision. Against a difficult scenario, where the attacker wants to monitor and distinguish 100 sensitive pages each with a low mean base rate of 0.00001, our best optimized classifier can achieve a precision of 0.78; the highest precision of any known attack before optimization was 0.014. We use precise classifiers to tackle realistic objectives in website fingerprinting, including selection, identification, and defeating website fingerprinting defenses.


The letter presents the fabrication and characterization of on-chip spiral inductors with Ni-anodic alumina oxide (Ni-AAO) nanocomposite core. Ni nanorods with 70 nm diameter are deposited and isolated in an AAO matrix to form a layer of nanocomposite on silicon substrate. About 3% inductance enhancement to the inductor with the nanocomposite core has been observed and the enhancement can be kept up more than 6 GHz. Because the proposed inductance enhancement scheme using ferromagnetic-AAO-based nanocomposite as inductor core employs a CMOS-compatible fabrication process with the characteristics that can be further improved, it is our belief that the scheme has a great potential application for future radio frequency integrated circuitry (RFIC) manufacture.


Abstract In the last few years, the agricultural sector in Syria has suffered from major problems related to land degradation. To cope with this problem, a land suitability assessment has become an essential tool for sustainable land use management. The present research qualitatively evaluated the suitability of land in the Al-Yarmouk Basin (S-Syria) for rainfed winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivation. In this study, a regional spatial approach involving three steps was developed, based on the method proposed by Sys et al. In the first step, a soil survey was carried out and 107 soil profiles were described, sampled and analyzed. In the second step, climatic gridded datasets from 1984–2014 MRm at a high spatial resolution (30 meters) and the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) were clipped from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and prepared for the study area. In the third step, a land suitability assessment was performed using the geographical information system (GIS) and multi criteria decision support (MCDS). Soil survey outcomes showed that the study area was dominated by five soil orders: Mollisols, Inceptisols, Vertisols, Entisols and Aridisols. Also, results from the Sys model illustrated that more than 23.8% of the study area is highly suitable (S1–0) for wheat production without any limitations, whereas 38.7% and 37.5% are highly suitable (S1–1) and moderately suitable (S2), respectively. Also, the study emphasizes the important role of topographical factors in the study area for wheat cultivation. All in all, this research suggests W-Syria as a potential region for wheat cultivation, instead of the eastern area which is subject to climate change and a shortage of water. Integrating the Sys-approach and the GIS framework offers a good tool for policy-makers to apply in Syria for land suitability assessments.


Self-organizing networks (SON) have appeared as a promising solution for improving network management, performance and flexibility. SON capitalizes on self-x techniques and functions, namely self-planning, self-configuration, self-optimization, self-healing, etc., in order to automate the traditional manual network operation and management processes and eventually to reduce the network operation cost and increase efficiency (higher quality-of-service/experience levels in a more cost-efficient manner). SON has received a lot of attention in recent years by researchers, academics and industrial players worldwide. SON features and functionalities are an integral part of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and are considered a vital feature of future radio access networks (RANs). LTE actually rendered SON as a key technology for assisting mobile operators to address challenges associated with the operation and management of their RAN. Despite its significant industrial footprint, SON is expected to continue as a hot research topic in the forthcoming years as it presents more and more challenges and for that reason further research as well as more industrial-oriented solutions are required so as to assist in the faster uptake of the technology. Thus the major goal of this special issue of the International Journal of Network Management is to present innovative approaches and solutions towards this direction. Accordingly, a total of eight submissions were received for this special issue, for which we wish to thank all authors. Each paper received at least three independent reviews from qualified colleagues in the international research community, with expertise in self-organizing, autonomic and radio access networking and management. Four papers were finally selected for publication. These papers present SON solutions in various use cases (mobility management, load balancing, coverage and capacity optimization); they span various domains (LTE, macro and femtocells and UMTS networks), and they were written by authors coming from academia, industry and research institutes. The first paper, 'zCap: a zero configuration adaptive paging and mobility management mechanism', by Per Kreuger et al., is based on the ascertainment that cell tracking areas for user mobile localization are manually configured today, hard to adapt to local mobility, and influence several resource usage and quality-of-service metrics. The authors propose a decentralized and self-adaptive approach to mobility management, based on a probabilistic model of local mobility. The second paper, 'Self-organizing femtocell offloading at the flow level', by Zwi Altman et al., presents a paradigm of applying SON in femtocell technology. In particular, it describes, models and validates a distributed, self-optimized offloading mechanism for improving capacity in a heterogeneous network with macrocells and femtocells.


In previous work we explained how to use standard optimization methods such as simulated annealing, gradient descent and genetic algorithms to optimize a parametric function which could be used as a learning rule for neural networks. To use these methods, we had to choose a fixed number of parameters and a rigid form for the learning rule. In this article, we propose to use genetic programming to find not only the values of rule parameters but also the optimal number of parameters and the form of the rule. Experiments on classification tasks suggest genetic programming finds better learning rules than other optimization methods. Furthermore, the best rule found with genetic programming outperformed the well-known backpropagation algorithm for a given set of tasks.<<ETX>>


The enantioselective degradation behavior of fenoxaprop-ethyl (FE) and its chiral metabolite fenoxaprop (FA) in three soils under native conditions was investigated. Two pairs of enantiomers were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an amylose tri-(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate) (ADMPC) chiral column. The degradation of racemic FE in three soils showed the herbicidally inactive S-(-)-enantiomer degraded faster than the active R-(+)-enantiomer. FE was configurationally stable in soils because no interconversion to the respective antipodes was observed during incubation of the enantiopure S-(-)- or R-(+)-FE. The main metabolites of FE were confirmed as FA and 6-chloro-2,3-dihydrobenzoxazol-2-one (CDHB), and the formation of the chiral metabolite FA showed enantioselectivity in soils. The degradation of rac-FA was also enantioselective with the S-(-)-FA preferentially degraded: the half-life (t(1/2)) of the S-form in the three soils ranged from 2.03 to 5.17 days, and that of R-form ranged from 2.42 to 20.39 days. The inversion of the S-(-)-enantiomer into the R-(+)-enantiomer occurred in two of the three soils when the enantiopure S-(-)- and R-(+)-FA were incubated. The data from sterilized control experiments indicated that the enantioselectivity of FE and FA was attributed to microbially mediated processes.


This paper deals with power conditioning of a photovoltaic system which generally faces the effects caused by shading, panel mismatch and variance in power output. To overcome the above mentioned effects and also to achieve the effective photo voltaic power conditioning we require a efficient power conversion and accurate maximum power point tracking which can be achieved by the proposed integrated boost resonant converter with low component count, galvanic isolation, simple control as well as high efficiency across a wide input and load range.


In addressing foundational perspectives, proponents of the current positive psychology movement typically identify Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Gordon Allport as precursors and ancestors. This article demonstrates that the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler preceded the aforementioned ancestors of positive psychology and could be viewed as the original positive psychology. Following a brief overview of key ideas from Adler's Individual Psychology, the authors specifically address two foundational tenets of Adler's theory that particularly resonate with those from positive psychology and then address more broadly the remarkable common ground between Adler's mature theoretical ideas and the positive psychology movement.


In this paper we present two prototype implementations of the policy-based network management framework, using peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols to improve policy distribution for the future IP-based airborne network. The policy-based management framework defines an architecture that simplifies and distributes network device configuration commands and thereby streamlines deployment of a coherent network-wide configuration scheme. The management capabilities offered by policy-based management may enable consistent quality of service (QoS) throughout the future airborne network, which is particularly important because of its highly dynamic topology and bandwidth limitations. However, the current policy-based management applications that have been developed for fixed-infrastructure networks do not present an effective solution for the airborne network. A more suitable approach for policy-based management of the future airborne network is a distributed system that can dynamically discover network devices. By providing distributed services and peer-discovery mechanisms, peer-to-peer networking appears to be an ideal candidate architecture for such a system. In JXTA, which is an open set of P2P protocols, there exists the potential to develop a more efficient policy-based network management application designed to meet the needs of the airborne network


This chapter seeks to examine the changing nature of coming out for female athletes engaged in competitive, organised, team sports. Using Griffin's (1998) climates of homophobia, it is possible to show the changing environments within team sports in a culture of declining homophobia. Additionally, the diminishing need for athletic capital is examined, using research from men's and women's sport in recreational settings. Finally, the need for athletes to make a statement when coming out has declined, in line with a decrease in cultural homophobia. The changing nature of women's sexual fluidity, and the lesbian label becoming negated, has led to a sporting environment that can be described as open and inclusive.


In this paper graph theory is used to identify coherent groups of generators and to locate PMUs for Inter-Area monitoring. Initially, the problem of identifying coherent groups is presented as a graphical problem. Then, three graph clustering methods are implemented to group coherent generators. Finally, when the electric network is separated in coherent regions, a placement of PMU based on centrality criteria is proposed. This can be used as a first stage in the implementation of a plan of monitoring in a large electric power system. Dynamic simulations and phasorial representation of simulations are done with the reduced order equivalent of the interconnected New England system (NETS) and New York power system (NYPS). The results show that graph theory can be applied to identify coherent groups and to locate PMUs to Inter-area monitoring.


In modern urban planning, in most cases, the construction of buildings and underground structures has a negative impact of new construction on existing buildings. As a rule, the foundations of new buildings are designed with a greater depth of laying compared to existing buildings. As a result of excavation work and subsequent installation of load-bearing structures of underground structures, existing buildings are subjected to uneven subsidence. Cracks may appear in the walls and the serviceability of structural elements may be impaired. Before the geotechnics there is a task to determine the dimensions of the zone of influence of new construction, ie the area where negative processes of stress-strain formation can occur. To comply with the safe operation of existing buildings, there is a need for a reliable forecast of additional deformations of existing buildings and structures, as well as the choice of a rational solution for the protection of the pit.
Modeling of the stress-strain state of the retaining wall of the pit with different diameters and changes in the number of rows of piles. Calculations of the stress-strain state of the protective structures together with the soil base were performed using the finite element method for a horizontal load of 1 m.p. retaining wall (the problem of flat deformation).
4 variants of the problem were solved:
V1 - retaining wall with piles 13.5 m, 420 mm in diameter, arranged in one row;
V2 - retaining wall with piles 13.5 m, 620 mm in diameter, arranged in one row;
V3 - retaining wall with piles 13.5 m, 420 mm in diameter, arranged in two rows;
V4 - retaining wall with piles 13.5 m, 620 mm in diameter, arranged in two rows;
The influence of increasing the diameter of piles in the structure of the retaining wall on the increase of the moment of inertia of the section, which leads to the perception of a greater value of bending moments, is shown.
The technical and economic comparison of the pit fencing options is performed.
The most rational solution of excavation of the pit in these conditions is revealed.


The study of sound change has been an important area of study in Linguistics throughout the modern era of the discipline. The approach taken to its examination, however, has varied considerably over the years, and it is only recently that phonetics has begun to fit seriously again into the equation. In this dissertation, an exploration of certain consonantal sound changes observed in the Lower Cross languages of South-Eastern Nigeria is presented, taking as basic the assumption that a detailed knowledge of the phonetic characteristics of the languages in question and of general phonetic theory are essential in coming to grips with the phenomena of sound change. In order to achieve the desired aim of the dissertation it has been necessary first to provide an adequate phonetic description, since the Lower Cross languages are for the most part previously undescribed. This is done placing primary, but by no means exclusive, emphasis on Ibibio, the largest language of the group. A variety of instrumental investigations (spectrography, aerometry, electropalatography, laryngography), as well as an impressionistic analysis, were conducted into the phonetics of this language, using a number of different speakers. Among the results of these investigations is a detailed description of the production of the labial-velar stop of Ibibio, to my knowledge the most detailed report on these stops to date, for any language. Description of the other languages of the group is primarily, but not exclusively, impressionistic in nature. To investigate the sound changes found in these languages, it has also been necessary to reconstruct the consonant system of their latest common ancestor, ProtoLower Cross. For the most part, this reconstruction was arrived at with a high degree of confidence, however it is recognized that in the absence of an adequate reconstruction of the vowel system, certain aspects of the consonant reconstruction, at least, must be considered tentative. The description of the phonetics of the Lower Cross languages, and in particular the instrumental investigations of Ibibio, is then used to examine the observed consonantal sound changes. This is done using a phonetic approach to sound change based in the principles of signal defection theory, which suggests that the speech signal may be perturbed by 'noise' at various places during the transmission process, from encoding and production to perception and decoding. Emphasis in the present work is on exploring perturbations during production, which leads to consideration of an alternative theory of sound change, known as Articulatory Evolution. These two phonetically-based theories of sound change are then examined in light of the Lower Cross data, to determine to what extent they must be viewed as competing theories, or whether they in any way complement each other. This is done through considering the implications of the two for a number of long standing issues with regard to sound change, in particular the graduality controversy and the role of perception in sound change. It is concluded that although these two theories have been considered to be competing by their adherents, with regard to production they may to a large extent, be seen as complementary. With regard to the role of perception in sound change, the area of least common ground between the two, both are found wanting.


Instruments for estimating the intake of food components can be useful in the prevention and/or treatment of diseases related to improper diet. There is, at present, no scientifically validated instrument for estimating consumption of trans fatty acids (TFA) in the Mexican population. The objective of this study was to design and validate such an instrument: a questionnaire that can be used to estimate consumption of TFA from food products. The questionnaire was applied to 162 students from the Autonomous University of Querétaro (UAQ). There were two phases to the study: (1) design of a food frequency questionnaire to assess consumption of trans fatty acids (FFQ-TFA) and an eating practices questionnaire (EPQ-TFA); (2) validation of the instrument. Content validity was measured by expert review and by Aiken's V method, obtaining an overall score of 0.895. As final tests for the FFQ-TFA analysis, criterion validity was measured using Spearman's correlation (r = 0.717, p < 0.01) and a linear regression (B = 0.668), considering the results of the 24-h dietary recall (24 HR); and reproducibility or temporal stability was measured using Pearson's correlation (r = 0.406, p < 0.01). Subsequently, a Pearson correlation was applied between TFA consumption estimated by the FFQ-TFA-2 and the global score from the EPQ-TFA-2 (r = 0.351, p < 0.01). A Pearson correlation was applied between the EPQ-TFA-1 and the EPQ-TFA-2 (r = 0.575, p < 0.01). TFA consumption per day was 2.49 ± 1.32 g in the participating population, which was 1.04 ± 0.51% of their total kcal consumption.


The authors of Ref. [1] drew incorrect conclusions when extending the results of Refs [2-14] on the stimulated one-photon Cherenkov effect and linear electromagnetic wave amplification, both for an infinite medium and for surface Cherenkov radiation in dielectric guides.


Calcium orthophosphate bone cements (CPCs) are widely used in orthopedic surgery. Implants are highly susceptible to infection and often lead to the formation of microbial biofilms. Antibiotics are often incorporated into bone cement to prevent infection. The increase in the number of microorganisms acquiring or developing resistance to antibiotics, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), is a major concern. Bacteriocins (antimicrobial peptides) offer an alternative to antibiotics. Their mode of activity involves permanent destabilization of the plasma membrane of target cells. A number of broad-spectrum bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria and Bacillus spp. have recently been reported. In this review the major characteristics of calcium phosphate bone cements, prosthetic joint-associated infections, and treatment of these infections is discussed. The role of antimicrobial agents in CPCs is discussed and the possibility of incorporating bacteriocins in prosthetic devices is investigated.


Monitoring of cutting tool systems are very important in machine tools and manufacturing equipment due to the impact they have in quality products and economy production. The cutting tool condition can be determined by direct or indirect sensing methods. Indirect methods are the only practical approach that offers better results by exploiting data sensor fusion techniques, which help to make a more robust and stable diagnosis. Different successful approaches from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) community are reviewed. A discussion of the implementation and evaluation of two AI techniques is done. Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based and Bayesian Networks based into an industrial machining center are tested. Excellent results demonstrated that HMM-based approach has a potential industrial application.


Carcinoma of the piriform sinus is one of the most aggressive tumors of the head and neck region. Almost 80% to 90% of the patients will be first seen in the advanced stages. No method of treatment is satisfactory. We present results of various methods of treatment, of which the combination of surgery and radiotherapy may be the best.


This study espoused lessons learnt from Indigenous root and tuber farmers' responses to Climate Change in Nigeria. Situated Learning Theory and Participatory Phenomenology framed the study. Data were generated using focus group discussions, in-depth interview and participant observation. An inductive thematic analysis was applied on the data. The experience of Climate Change by the farmers has been change in rainfall pattern and other indicators were identified. The farmers respond to Climate Change using their Indigenous knowledge of water conservation by making mounds, maintain soil fertility by practising crop rotation, use compost made from household wastes and sustainable use of natural resources. The farmers' preference for adapting to Climate Change using Indigenous knowledge was attributed to Indigenous knowledge being effective, easily accessible and inexpensive along with their apathy to scientific interventions. The study recommended possible ways of including the documented Indigenous knowledge into mainstream adaptation strategies and Agricultural Curriculum in Nigeria.


ABSTRACT – Schizophrenia is increasingly believed to represent a group of organic disorders which primarily, although not exclusively, affect the central nervous system. Our purpose is to review a representative sample of twentieth‐century literature which speaks to the biological substrates of the syndrome. Subjects reviewed include genetic and environmental contributions to the onset of illness, early and recent findings of gross structural anomalies, and apparent histopathological alterations in cerebral cortex, cerebellar vermis, limbic system, and brain stem, as well as problems of cerebral asymmetry. Data from a diverse group of electrophysiological studies reveal several promising correlates of these areas of investigation. Despite the inconsistent nature of the findings to date, several themes have begun to emerge, including patterns of hypofrontal/hyperparietal regional cerebral flow and glucose utilization, left hemispheric dysfunction, and deficits of interhemispheric information processing. The interpretation and significance of these emerging patterns remains unclear and must await more profound insights into the nature of normal and abnormal cerebral function.


The effect of aqueous extract of Sanguisorba officinalis L. (Rosaceae) root (SOAE) on the immediate-type allergic reactions by anal therapy was investigated. SOAE (0.01 to 1 g/kg) dose-dependently inhibited systemic anaphylaxis induced by compound 48/80 in mice. When SOAE was pretreated at the same concentrations with systemic anaphylaxis, the plasma histamine levels were reduced in a dose-dependent manner. SOAE (0.1 and 1 g/kg) also significantly inhibited local anaphylaxis activated by anti-DNP IgE. SOAE (0.001 to 1 mg/ml) dose-dependently inhibited the histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells (RPMC) activated by compound 48/80 or anti-DNP IgE. The level of cyclic AMP (cAMP) in RPMC, when SOAE (1 mg/ml) was added, transiently and significantly increased compared with that of basal cells. These results provide evidence that anal therapy of SOAE may be beneficial in the treatment of allergic diseases.


The basic engineering criteria for conceptual design of plasma focus devices is derived from a thermonuclear model, and applied successfully to the operation of small neutron pulsors. The theory is able to explain the variation of the neutron yield with the gas pressure in deuterium-filled chambers, the current evolution, and the electrode geometrical parameters. The performance of a prototype designed to optimize the flux/fluence ratio is presented, contrasting the experimental outcomes with the model. A set of effective design parameters is deduced, which ensure a band confidence of 20%.


Background: An ideal CO monitor should be noninvasive, cost effective, reproducible, reliable during various physiological states. Limited literature is available regarding the noninvasive CO monitoring in open chest surgeries. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the CO measurement by Regional Impedance Cardiography (RIC) and Thermodilution (TD) method in patients undergoing off pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery (OPCAB). Settings and Design: We conducted a prospective observational comparative study of CO measurement by the noninvasive RIC method using the NICaS Hemodynamic Navigator system and the gold standard TD method using pulmonary artery catheter in patients undergoing OPCAB. A total of 150 data pair from the two CO monitoring techniques were taken from 15 patients between 40-70 years at various predefined time intervals of the surgery. Patients and Methods: We have tried to find out the accuracy, precision and cost effectiveness of the newer RIC technique. Mean CO, bias and precision were compared for each pair i.e.TD-CO and RIC-CO as recommended by Bland and Altman. The Sensitivity and specificity of cutoff value to predict change in TD-CO was used to create a Receiver operating characteristic or ROC curve. Results: Mean TD-CO values were around 4.52 ± 1.09 L/min, while mean RIC- CO values were around 4.77± 1.84 L/min. The difference in CO change was found to be statistically not significant (p value 0.667). The bias was small (-0.25). The Bland Altman plot revealed a mean difference of -0.25 litres. The RIC method had a sensitivity of 55.56 % and specificity of 33.33 % in predicting 15% change in CO of TD method and the total diagnostic accuracy was 46.67%. Conclusion: A fair correlation was found between the two techniques. The RIC method may be considered as a promising noninvasive, potentially low cost alternative to the TD technique of hemodynamic measurement.


Current state-of-the-art approximate nearest neighbor search (ANNS) algorithms generate indices that must be stored in main memory for fast high-recall search. This makes them expensive and limits the size of the dataset. We present a new graph-based indexing and search system called DiskANN that can index, store, and search a billion point database on a single workstation with just 64GB RAM and an inexpensive solid-state drive (SSD). Contrary to current wisdom, we demonstrate that the SSD-based indices built by DiskANN can meet all three desiderata for large-scale ANNS: high-recall, low query latency and high density (points indexed per node). On the billion point SIFT1B bigann dataset, DiskANN serves > 5000 queries a second with < 3ms mean latency and 95%+ 1-recall@1 on a 16 core machine, where state-of-the-art billion-point ANNS algorithms with similar memory footprint like FAISS [18] and IVFOADC+G+P [8] plateau at around 50% 1-recall@1. Alternately, in the high recall regime, DiskANN can index and serve 5− 10x more points per node compared to state-of-the-art graphbased methods such as HNSW [21] and NSG [13]. Finally, as part of our overall DiskANN system, we introduce Vamana, a new graph-based ANNS index that is more versatile than the existing graph indices even for in-memory indices.


The main purpose of this project is to prepare MgB2 and BSCCO superconductor bulk samples and thin films, and also to determine the highest critical temperature for MgB₂ and BSCCO superconductor. In order to prepare the MgB2 and BSCCO superconductor, the solid state method will be applied which involve the process of grinding and sintering. The produced sample will be compress into pellet form before it is being sintered. The MgB₂ bulks were prepared by a pellet-in-sealed tube at different annealing temperatures of 650°C, 700°C, 750°C and 800°C. The superconducting thin films were prepared using sputtering technique. The bulk and thin film samples were then be characterized in various methods; electrical measurement, ac magnetic susceptibility measurement, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and also phase purity and composition by X-ray diffraction (XRD). For MgB₂ superconductor bulk samples, AC susceptibility measurements showed a sharp superconducting transition in all samples. The critical current density (Jc) was measured using ac magnetic susceptibility measurement method. The highest critical density in magnetic field, JC(T,H) from the magnetization measurements was recorded for the 650°C annealed MgB₂. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed small quantities of MgO and unreacted Mg phases as impurities in the samples which act as effective pinning centres for vortices. Unreacted Mg decreased with increasing annealing temperature…


This study aims to observe the effect of concentration of organitrofos fertilizer on the growth and productivity of organic tomato plants with sub irrigation systems. The method used in the study was completely randomized design  with six treatments. The six treatments were O0 (without organonitrofos), O1 (organonitrofos 10%, soil 90%), O2 (organonitrofos 20%, soil 80%), O3 (organonitrofos 30 %, soil 70%), O4 (organonitrofos 40%, soil 60%), and O5 (organonitrofos 50%, soil 50%). The results showed that different concentrations of organonitrofos fertilizer had no effect on the vegetative phase, but sinificantly different on the generative phase, yields, biomase, and evapotranspiration. Based on analysis of LSD, treatment ofO2 ( 20 % organonitrofos, soil 80 % ) was able to significantly increase crop yields compared with the treatments of O0 (without organonitrofos with additional chemical fertilizer ) and treatment O1treatment ( 10 % organonitrofos , soil 90 % ).  But the use of  higher than that in the treatment of O2 ( 20 % organonitrofos, soil 80 % ) did't significantly increase production. Keywords: Organic Farming, Organonitrofos, Tomato, Subs Irrigation


Isolated microtubules from cod and cow brains were compared with respect to their response to calcium ions. The effect of Ca2+ on cod microtubules was found to be temperature dependent. In contrast to cow microtubules, cod microtubules assembled at 18 degrees C. At this temperature the assembly was inhibited by Ca2+ concentrations of 2 mM and higher. This was also found for cow microtubules at 37 degrees C. However, at 30 degrees C there was no effect of 2 mM Ca2+ of the amount of assembly or disassembly of cod microtubules consisting of only tubulin or of tubulin and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). The morphology was affected though, since some coiled ribbons formed from tubulin and MAPs. The calcium-binding calmodulin did not alter the effect of calcium on cod microtubules markedly. At higher Ca2+ concentrations (> 4 mM), coiled ribbons were formed from cod tubulin and MAPs, but mainly amorphous aggregates and very few coiled ribbons were formed from cod tubulin alone, indicating that the Ca2+ effect is modulated by cod MAPs. The modulatory effect of cod MAPs was however not species specific, since both cod and cow MAPs had the same effect on cod microtubules, in spite of a different protein composition. A MAP-dependent effect of Ca2+ was also found for cow microtubule proteins. The assembly of pure cow tubulin, as well as that of cow tubulin and MAPs, was inhibited by 2 mM Ca2+. In the presence of 10 and 20 mM Ca2+, pure cow tubulin formed amorphous aggregates, rings, and even paracrystals, while the assembly of cow tubulin and MAPs was inhibited. Our results suggest therefore that the effect of Ca2+ can be moderated by MAPs, but depends on intrinsic properties of the different tubulins.


Cutaneous metastases from esophageal adenocarcinoma are exceedingly rare. With the institution of multimodality treatments and surgical resection for esophageal adenocarcinoma, loco-regional disease recurrence has been dramatically reduced. In this report, we present a 59-year-old white male with adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus that was treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy, followed by surgical excision. After a disease free interval of two years the patient presented with cutaneous metastatic disease.


Trastuzumab has dramatically improved the adjuvant therapy of Her2-positive breast cancer. However, acquired resistance to trastuzumab frequently occurs. Breast cancer cells in vitro selected for trastuzumab resistance exhibit over-expression of t-Darpp, a truncated form of the 32 kDa dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein (Darpp-32). t-Darpp over-expression has previously been demonstrated to confer trastuzumab resistance and to result in increased protein kinase A (PKA) activity and signaling. Phosphorylation of Darpp-32 at threonine 75 has been shown to promote inhibition (not activation) of PKA by a yet unknown mechanism. T75 phosphorylation on t-Darpp is required for its trastuzumab resistance activity but the role of T75 phosphorylation in PKA activation by t-Darpp is not known and the molecular mechanism by which t-Darpp enhances PKA activity has not been reported. We used cells stably over-expressing either wild type t-Darpp or a T75A mutant of t-Darpp. Using proximity ligation assays, we found that t-Darpp binds directly to the RI regulatory subunit of PKA leading to 75% less RI subunit bound to the catalytic subunit of PKA (PKAc), compared to parental cells. In contrast, the t-Darpp-T75A mutant does not bind RI and those cells have only 34% less RI bound to PKAc compared to parental. These results suggest a direct effect of t-Darpp on PKA activation by binding the regulatory subunit RI and thereby preventing RI from inhibiting PKAc. The T75 phosphorylation site appears to be required for this activity. Using enzymatic and caspase activity assays, we also show that cells over-expressing t-Darpp, but not t-Darpp-T75A, have increased proliferation, up to 4-fold more cellular ATP, and diminished apoptotic response to etoposide, relative to parental cell controls. So far, this data suggests a dual mode of t-Darpp action: modulation of cell metabolism (possibly via effects on ATP production) and direct effects on PKA holoenzyme. Ultimately, pro-apoptotic response is diminished. Further studies will determine whether PKA activation by t-Darpp is responsible for, or separately influenced by, the metabolic effects of t-Darpp. Citation Format: Lenz G, Theile D, Kane SE. t-Darpp enhances protein kinase A signaling through direct effects on PKA holoenzyme and indirectly influences cell metabolism, proliferation and apoptosis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-06-10.


The photo response non-uniformity noise associated with an imaging sensor has been shown to be a unique and persistent identifier that can be treated as the sensor's digital fingerprint. The method for attributing an image to a particular camera, however, is not suitable for source identification due to efficiency considerations, which is a one-to-many matching of a single fingerprint against a database of fingerprints. To address this problem, we propose a group-testing approach based on the notion of composite fingerprints (CFs), generated by combining many actual fingerprints together into a single fingerprint. Our technique organizes a database of fingerprints into an unordered binary search tree, wherein each internal node is represented by a fingerprint composited from all the fingerprints at the leaf nodes in the subtree beneath that node. Different search strategies are considered, and the performance is analyzed analytically and verified using numerical simulations as well as experimental results. Our results are presented in comparison with the linear search-based approach that utilizes fingerprint digests for more effective computation. Results obtained under the best achievable accuracy showed that the proposed method yields a lower overall computational cost. It is also shown that by complementary use of the fingerprint dimension reduction and CF-based search tree approaches, it is possible to further improve the search efficiency.


An easily prepared series of phenylindenyldihydridosilyl ruthenium complexes () was obtained by reaction of tertiary silanes with the commercially-available [RuCl(3-phenylindenyl)(PPh3)2] (). The [RuH2(3-phenylindenyl)(SiEt3)] () complex was shown to be highly efficient (1.5 mol%) in the ortho-selective borylation of pyridyl substrates, with yields of up to 90%. A novel ruthenium(iv)-catalysed C-H activation borylation/functionalization reaction using a remarkably low catalyst loadings is described.


A detailed chemical kinetic mechanism was used to simulate the oxidation of 1-butene, 2-butene, and isobutene under motored engine conditions. Predicted species concentrations were compared to measured species concentrations obtained from a motored, single-cylinder engine. The chemical kinetic model reproduced correctly the trends in the measured species concentrations. The computational and experimental results showed the main features of olefin chemistry: radical addition to the double bond leads to the production of the observed carbonyls and epoxides. For isobutene oxidation, the production of unreactive, 2-methyl allyl radicals leads to higher molecular-weight species and chain termination. 44 refs., 10 figs.


Exogenous adenosine causes a monophasic dilation of the coronary vessels in paced, perfused rat heart preparations. Because levels of endogenous adenosine in paced hearts may mask the presence of high potency adenosine receptors, we have developed a method to measure coronary vascular responses in a potassium-arrested heart. Hearts from adult male, Wistar rats were perfused at a constant flow rate of 10 mL/min in the nonrecirculating, Langendorff mode, using Krebs-Henseleit buffer. After 30 min, coronary perfusion pressure was 44 +/- 1 mmHg (mean +/- SEM). Hearts were then perfused with a modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 35 mM potassium. Coronary perfusion pressure increased by 84 +/- 3 mmHg. Adenosine-induced reductions in coronary perfusion pressure were expressed as a percentage of the maximal increase in pressure produced by modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer from the equilibration level. A concentration-response curve for adenosine (n = 6) was biphasic and best described by the presence of two adenosine receptors, with negative log EC50 values of 8.8 +/- 0.3 and 4.3 +/- 0.1, representing 29 +/- 3 and 71 +/- 3%, respectively, of the observed response. Interstitial adenosine sampled by microdialysis during potassium arrest was 25% of the concentration found in paced hearts. Endogenous adenosine in nonarrested hearts may obscure the biphasic response of the coronary vessels to adenosine.


Most modern computational techniques in the drug discovery areas put demands on large computer resources. Grid computing offers a powerful alternative way of running computationally intensive applications. One field of the drug innovation process that can benefit greatly from the use of grid resources is the high-throughput virtual screening approach for docking huge chemical compound libraries into known protein-binding sites. The use of computational grids is the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains, heterogeneous, and geographically dispersed applications to a common task that requires a great number of computer-processing cycles or the need to process large amounts of data. This study detailed a screening campaign, on Grid5000 cluster grid computing infrastructure, concerning the ZINC database, from which a subset of ∼600,000 "drug-like" molecules was extracted, against three structures of the liver-X receptor β (LXR β). A funnel strategy was used for that purpose, starting from a fast but simple shape matching procedure and achieved with more complex molecular dynamics simulations. From a total of ∼91 million three-dimensional conformations which were generated at the beginning of the funnel and after intermediate filtering steps, the process ended with 45 putative hits. The GRID5000 is a highly reconfigurable, controllable, and monitorable experimental cluster grid, connecting nine sites geographically distributed in France, and featuring more than 3,200 processors and 5,700 cores. To hide the complexity of the grid system from the user, the GRID5000 has been used through the virtual screening manager for grid computing (VSM-G) platform, dedicated to in silico screening and to provide maximum computing power by using grid resources efficiently. The whole screening process required around 82 days (78 days of pre-processing and 3.6 days for the docking funnel itself) and utilized 3,144 nodes over nine sites. The use of grid infrastructures and hierarchical filtering protocol enable us to perform evaluations of the binding capabilities of millions of compounds on several conformations of a given target and propose that, with a low cost, most promising compounds for in vitro tests.


This study replicates and extends the research on pre-employment predictors of attitudes toward labor unions, which subsequently influence willingness to join a union. The impact of a number of factors including family socialization, parental union attitude, work beliefs (Marxist and humanistic), and college major (field of study) is assessed on college students' attitudes toward labor unions. Selected demographic and attitudinal data were collected from a sample of 402 students representing several majors at a midsized Midwestern public university. The findings of the study strongly support the belief that family socialization and personal work beliefs are the most important predictors of college students' attitudes toward labor unions. Unlike prior studies, the impact of race on college students' attitudes toward labor unions was also assessed. Implications of these findings for employers and future research directions are also discussed.