Background
Chemotherapeutics can stimulate immune antitumor response by inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD), which is characterized by the appearance of Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) like the exposure of calreticulin (CRT) in cell surface, the release of ATP and the secretion of High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1).
Methods
Here, our objective was to investigate levels of ICD-associated DAMPs induced by chemotherapeutics commonly used in the clinical practice of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the prognosis values of these DAMPs.A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells were treated with cisplatin, carboplatin, etoposide, paclitaxel and gemcitabine using clinically relevant conditions (doses, times and co-treatments). We assessed ICD-associated DAMPs, cell viability, apoptosis and autophagy in an integrated way.
Results
We found that cisplatin induced the highest levels of apoptosis, while carboplatin and etoposide were the less cytotoxic. Cisplatin also induced the highest levels of ICD-associated DAMPs, which was not incremented by co-treatments. Etoposide induced the lower levels of ICD and the highest levels of autophagy, suggesting that the cytoprotective role of autophagy is dominant in relation to its pro-ICD role. High levels of CRT were associated with better prognosis in TCGA databank. In an integrative analysis we found a strong negative correlation between cell number and ICD-associated DAMPs as well as between autophagy and ICD-associated DAMPs. We also purpose a mathematical integration of ICD-associated DAMPs in an index (InDAMPs) that may represent with greater biological relevance this process.
Conclusions
Cisplatin alone induced the highest levels of ICD-associated DAMPs, so that its combination with immunotherapies can be a promising therapeutic strategy in NSCLC.


In British Columbia, Assisted Living has been at the forefront of housing options for older adults due to their growing numbers and inadequate housing and health care resources to accommodate them. Assisted Living is a potential viable alternative for relatively high functioning seniors. Fraser Health Authority, one of the largest health regions, anticipates the creation of up to 1200 units by the end of 2007. This study examines residents' satisfaction levels in Assisted Living facilities in Fraser Health Authority, and the extent to which organizational factors influence their satisfaction. Data were collected in interviews with 52 residents residing in funded beds in 10 for-profit and non-profit Assisted Living facilities. Site managers/administrators completed organizational factors' surveys. Results indicate that residents were generally satisfied with the care received. Organizational factors did not appear to influence residents' satisfaction. This study assists in exploring AL residents' experiences and identifies areas for further study.


&NA; Samples of pelleted feed may be taken during manufacturing and analyzed for nutrient content in order to estimate if nutrients are in accordance with diet formulation. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of mix time, sample location, sample number, and sample blending technique on analyzed nutrients. Ingredients were mixed in a single screw vertical mixer for 30 s or 10 minutes. Samples were taken post extrusion from the pellet die as hot pellets or post cooling and conveyance as finished feed. Two or 10 samples were collected at equally spaced time intervals and pooled. Subsamples were obtained by blending pooled samples by hand or using a sample splitting device. Proximate and supplemental amino acid analysis was determined on each blended subsample and standardized for moisture content. Crude fat and free supplemental DL‐methionine were affected by mix time (P < 0.05). The 10‐minute mix time produced crude fat and free supplemental DL‐methionine that had lower and higher values, respectively, compared to the 30‐second mix time and agreed more with the calculated nutrient profile and diet formulation. Free supplemental DL‐methionine was also affected by sampling location (P < 0.05). Samples obtained at the pellet die were higher and agreed more with diet formulation compared to finished feed samples. Analysis of free supplemental DL‐methionine from samples obtained at the pellet die may best indicate pelleted diet homogeneity and validate the diet formulation.


Service quality is a notion urging great awareness and debate for managers and researchers as its severe effect on service performance (Parasuraman et al., 1985; Lewis & Mitchell, 1990). The spa service is another business involving service quality and identified as treatments for rest and beauty treatments to wellness therapies (Department of Trade Negotiation, 2011). The purpose of this research is to 1) to explore the determinants that involve service quality 2) to study the related research and to propose the relationship between the determinants found and 3) to suggest the guidelines to enhance the quality service delivery for spa service. The results found were as follows 1) there were five determinants; service quality, service value, service encounter, customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions 2) evidences showed many related research about the involvement; service quality, service value and service encounter have an effect on customer satisfaction, service quality has an effect on service value, customer satisfaction have an effect on behavioral intentions and 3) suggested guidelines for developing the quality service delivery for spa service produced from concept of service quality were proposed. The method of this study employed a documentary research carrying out literature reviews and content analyses from secondary data. Key Words: Service quality; Service value; Service encounter; Customer satisfaction; Behavioral intentions; Spa Service


Aim. The purpose of this study was to compare three prophylactic regimens, sodium-bicarbonate based hydration, sodium-bicarbonate + N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and sodium-bicarbonate + NAC + theophylline, for the prevention of contrast induced nephropathy. Material and methods. We prospectively randomized 151 patients with baseline eGFR values between 30–59 ml/min/1.73m² who were also undergoing coronary angiography with three prophylactic treatments: intravenous hydration with sodiumbicarbonate (3 ml/kg/h for 1 hours before and 1 ml/kg/h for 6 hours after contrast exposure, group 1; n=50), hydration + NAC (600 mg p. o. twice daily the preceding day and the day of angiography, group 2; n=50), and hydration + NAC + theophylline (600 mg p. o. NAC and 200 mg theophylline p. o. twice daily for the preceding day and the day of angiography, group 3; n=51). The incidence of contrast induced nephropathy (0,5 mg/dl increase in serum creatinine from the baseline value 48 hours after intravascular injection of contrast) from the three groups was compared. Results. Of the 151 patients, 4 patients (7.8%) in group 3 experienced CIN (p=0.01). CIN did not develop in group 1 and 2. Conclusion. Among patients with eGFR values between 30–59 ml/min/1.73m² undergoing coronary angiography, use of sodium-bicarbonate based hydration alone and sodium-bicarbonate with NAC was associated with a reduction in the rate of contrast induced nephropathy. Sodium-bicarbonate with theophylline therapy was found to have no effect for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy.


Epidemiological evidence indicates that a sexually transmitted agent might be involved in the etiopathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). The prevalence of human papillomaviruses (HPV) in KS has been the focus of several investigations that have reported conflicting data. In addition, mutations of the p53 gene, which are the most frequent genetic changes found in human tumors, are absent in HPV-positive cervical carcinomas leading to the hypothesis that the function of p53 in HPV-positive tumors is inactivated through binding to the E6 viral gene product. Thus, the present study was designed to investigate the presence of HPV and p53 gene mutations in 17 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded KS [7 acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-KS (AIDS-KS) and 10 classic KS] specimens. HPV 6 DNA was detected in an AIDS-KS specimen, and HPV 16 DNA was found in 3 classic KS specimens. Heterozygous mutations of the p53 gene were detected in five (24%) KS samples. No p53 mutations were detected in HPV-positive KS. The p53 mutations were mainly transversions (four of five). These data indicate that HPV may contribute to the pathogenesis of some cases of KS and that p53 alteration may represent a key event in the progression of the malignancy.


The estimation of soil erosion rates in complex subtropical agricultural systems of hilly environment is difficult and most of the traditional methods have serious limitations. The 137Cs technique allows to obtain relatively quickly retrospective medium term soil erosion results. The objective of this study was using 137Cs approach to quantify soil loss under agricultural system which develops under growing human pressure on the hilly terrain of the Meghalaya Plateau. The measured values of caesium inventory for all sampling points are between 2% and 63% of the reference value of caesium inventory. The estimated annual soil loss for sampling points located on the slope are between 29 and 79 Mg·ha−1·yr−1 in the case of an improved mass balance model. It means that soil erosion in this manually tilled agricultural area cannot be neglected.


Finite-size exact diagonalization of the Hamiltonian for four, eight and 16 electrons in a half-filled Landau level under periodic boundary conditions in a rectangular geometry was carried out. The magnitude of the peak value of the structure factor is found to increase with the system size to the power 0.36, consistent with a picture of a quasi-solid discussed by Chui. The energy difference of the lowest-energy state of the two different particle-hole symmetry manifolds decreases as the system size is increased, suggestive of broken particle-hole symmetry.


Abstract Anuran monitoring has increased in recent years in response to global population declines. Delineating abiotic factors that influence anuran activity patterns is important for maximizing monitoring and research efficiency. The Houston toad (Bufo (Anaxyrus)houstonensis) was the first amphibian to be listed as federally endangered in the United States, and populations have continued to decline since it was listed. In this study we investigated the influence of six abiotic factors and one biotic factor on Houston toad calling activity and terrestrial movement in the Lost Pines ecoregion of Texas. Using program PRESENCE, we treated the factors as survey-specific covariates to determine their influence on detection probabilities, and thus presumably activity levels. We found that average daily absolute humidity, average daily wind speed, and presence/absence of Houston toad calling activity the previous night were important factors influencing calling activity, and average daily absolute humidity and detection/non-detection of Houston toad movement activity the previous night were important factors influencing movement activity. We also found that multiple survey years were necessary to delineate influential factors for this species, a result with implications for activity patterns of other rare anurans. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of amphibian activity patterns, and will improve the efficiency of future Houston toad research and monitoring efforts.


Abstract 3C75 consists of a pair of twin-jetted radio galaxies near the centre of the cluster Abell 400 which is a strong extended X-ray source. Fibre spectroscopy from the AAT, combined with number counts of the galaxies in Abell 400 give the gravitational potential of the cluster which is used to model the X-ray source. The inferred pressure of the X-ray gas suggests that the lobes of the radio source are probably confined. Evidence of excess X-ray emission near the centre of the cluster is also found.


Human B lymphocytes were examined to determine whether transmembrane ion conductance plays a role in cell activation. Mitogens (anti-human IgM F(ab')2 fragment (anti-mu) and PMA) were used to stimulate B lymphocytes. Mitogen-induced DNA synthesis was inhibited by tetraethylammonium-Cl (TEA), 4-aminopyridine (4AP), verapamil, and diltiazem in a dose-dependent manner. This inhibition was not due to reduction in cell viability as determined by trypan blue exclusion. Mitogen-induced increases in RNA synthesis were partially inhibited by TEA and 4AP and were more completely inhibited by verapamil and diltiazem. Mitogen-induced cell volume increases were not affected by TEA or 4AP but were completely inhibited by verapamil and diltiazem. B lymphocytes stimulated with anti-mu expressed G1 phase cell surface antigens in the presence of TEA or 4AP, but failed to do so in the presence of verapamil or diltiazem. Substitution of PMA for anti-mu as the mitogen did not alter the effects of TEA or 4AP. However, verapamil inhibited PMA-induced expression of G1 phase cell surface markers although diltiazem did not. The patch clamp technique was used to directly examine plasma membrane ionic currents in whole-cell, cell-attached, and inside-out patch configurations. Activation of B lymphocytes with either anti-mu or the Ca2+ ionophore, A23187, inhibited opening of one type of channel in cell-attached patches. In inside-out patches, this channel type conducted current when the bath [Ca2+] was low (6 X 10(-8) M) but failed to conduct current when the bath [Ca2+] was increased above 1 X 10(-6) M. The results of these experiments are consistent with the hypothesis that activation of B lymphocytes induces alterations in plasma membrane ion conductance. Single channel studies suggest that activation induced increases in [Ca2+]i may directly inhibit a specific set of plasma membrane ion channels as one mechanism by which transmembrane ion flux is altered.


Late Miocene ($$\approx 12 Ma$$) hornblende-bearing andesitic to dacitic (\documentclass{aastex}
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\begin{document}$${\mathrm{63\ to\ 68\%\ SiO_{2};\ 1.2\ to\ 1.9\%\ K_{2}O}}$$\end{document}) "adakite" flows at the small Cerro Pampa center in Patagonia (47°55'S, 71°25') have some of the clearest slab-melt geochemical signatures yet seen in a Phanerozoic center on continental crust. These magmas formed in response to melting of the hot, thin slab that was subducting beneath South America prior to the collision of the Chile rise at $$\approx 6 Ma$$ or at $$\approx 10 Ma$$. Their N-MORB-like $$^{87}Sr/^{86}Sr$$ (0.70285-0.70309) and low $$^{206}Pb/^{204}Pb$$ (18.44-18.59) ratios show that they could have been generated by $$\approx 3-5\%$$ partial melting of eclogite facies N-MORB oceanic crust. Low FeO/MgO (0.9-1.3) ratios and high Cr (>85 ppm) and Ni (>43 ppm) concentrations indicate some interaction with mantle peridotite. Low $$\epsilon Nd$$ (+ 6.9 to + 5.5), high $$^{207}Pb/^{204}Pb$$ (15.57-15.58) ratios, and high Ba, Cs, U, and Th concentrations compared to N-MORB modeled melts indicate some upper crustal contamination. In comparison with previously proposed Patagonian slab-melts, Cerro Pampa magmas require less mantle contamination than those at Cook volcano (54°S) and less crustal contamination than those in the northern Austral Volcanic Zone (49°S to 52°S). These differences fit a ridge-trench collisional (slab-window) model that explains the properties of slab-melts formed before (Cerro Pampa) and after (Austral Volcanic Zone) ridge collision.


The study examined the corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) for socio-economic life of the host communities in Rivers State. The research design adopted was the descriptive survey design. The population of the study is one thousand, eight hundred and seventy two comprising of community development committee (CDC), Shell and Agip community Liaison officers (CLOs) who are the indigenes of the oil communities, staff of corporate community relation's department of SPDC and NAOC respectively. The total sampled size of 731 respondents representing 35% of the targeted population was drawn using proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The instruments used for data collection were questionnaire; focus group discussion and interview. These instruments were developed by the researcher. They are Community Corporate Social Responsibilities Questionnaire (CCSRQ), Community Corporate Social Responsibilities Focus Group Discussion (CCSRFGD) and Community Corporate Social Responsibilities Interview (CCSRI) respectively. The research questions were analyze using mean and standard deviation while t-test statistics was utilized to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the study revealed that Shell CSR programmes were not well known to their host communities. Shell, through CSR could not contribute much to socio-economic development of the host communities while Agip through CSR programmes contributed to socio-economic development of their host communities. Keywords: Corporate, Social Responsibilities, Socio-economic development and host communities.


General anesthesia in cats and dogs is the factor that directly affects the quality and comfort of the surgery. Inhalation anesthesia is an anesthetic technique that has been successfully used in veterinary surgery in recent years. Anesthesia complications can be reduced to minimum level with this anesthesia technique. The patient's introduction to anesthesia and recovery time from the anesthesia goes on without any problem. Inhalation anesthesia technique is more successful and advantageous than other techniques. However, equipment and used drugs are not economical. In this review the latest information about the technique of inhalation anesthesia and used drugs to provide general anesthesia in cats and dogs was evaluated.


This work demonstrates that in the thirteenth century there existed a variety of beliefs concerning the papal office. It departs from previous books, which have argued that the hierocratic theory of papal monarchy was systematic in character and the dominant way of understanding the papacy. Much has been written about the papacy, particularly the institution at what was arguably its zenith in the Middle Ages. Out of all the centuries which comprise this nebulous period, the thirteenth captures the papacy identifying itself in ever-more exalted language. By this time the pope is no mere Vicar of St. Peter, but now is the Vicar of none other than Christ himself. The figure most associated with self-identification of this nature is Innocent III, one of the most discussed popes of all time. Similarly, the word 'paradigm' is so familiar a term that it has long since moved beyond the semantic fields of academia into the lexicon of the everyday educated person. Justification has to be given, then, for a book on not one familiar topic, but two. Admittedly, one seldom sees these two subjects written about together. Nevertheless, it shall be shown that the paradigm concept can function as a means not only to critique longstanding assumptions about the nature of beliefs held in the thirteenth-century concerning the papal monarchy, but also as a methodological tool to analyse the differences between religious and scientific communities in hitherto unexplored ways.


This review addresses the effective and necessary use of early recollections in Adlerian psychotherapy and the support for this technique found in neuroscience research. We show in this review that the use of early recollections is essential in psychotherapy, not only for understanding the person's personality but also for triggering movement and change, through the process of reconstruction and reconsolidation of early recollections—all validated in the latest neuroscientific research. Although this review is focused on the use of early recollections in Adlerian psychotherapy, we are convinced that every psychotherapist should be exposed to the important new information found about memories and early recollections.


The WNT/β-catenin pathway plays an important role in pancreatic cancer carcinogenesis. We evaluated the correlation between aberrant β-catenin pathway activation and the prognosis pancreatic cancer, and the potential of applying the β-catenin pathway inhibitor FH535 to pancreatic cancer treatment. Meta-analysis and immunohistochemistry showed that abnormal β-catenin pathway activation was associated with unfavorable outcome. FH535 repressed pancreatic cancer xenograft growth in vivo. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of microarray data indicated that target genes responding to FH535 participated in stemness maintenance. Real-time PCR and flow cytometry confirmed that FH535 downregulated CD24 and CD44, pancreatic cancer stem cell (CSC) markers, suggesting FH535 impairs pancreatic CSC stemness. GO analysis of β-catenin chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing data identified angiogenesis-related gene regulation. Immunohistochemistry showed that higher microvessel density correlated with elevated nuclear β-catenin expression and unfavorable outcome. FH535 repressed the secretion of the proangiogenic cytokines vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α, and also inhibited angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Protein and mRNA microarrays revealed that FH535 downregulated the proangiogenic genes ANGPT2, VEGFR3, IFN-γ, PLAUR, THPO, TIMP1, and VEGF. FH535 not only represses pancreatic CSC stemness in vitro, but also remodels the tumor microenvironment by repressing angiogenesis, warranting further clinical investigation.


In 2020, Malaysia began to face Covid-19 pandemic that slowing down the economy from the beginning of March, and at the same time, environmental issues have been a source of pollutant. It has been perceived as the twenty-first century's greatest threat to nature and civilization and has also been one of the foremost environmental problems globally, especially in Malaysia. Environmental issues like global warming, climate change and sustainability has been impacting to the economy, infrastructure and society today. Climate change resulted from a rise in the persistence and the severity of adverse meteorological conditions such as droughts, floods, and hurricanes. Primarily carbon dioxide from automobiles, manufacturing area, construction site, power station, and logging all contribute to climate change by emitting heat-trapping pollutants. Besides, global warming has been primary environment issue in Malaysia. When gases like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and fluorinated gases clump together, they act as a dense shield, warming the world, changing the climate, and jeopardizing human health, economics, and natural ecosystems. Meanwhile, sustainability has become an issue as the community are not very aware with the sustainability. Community required fresh air, sources of nature, and a clean environment in order to shape good healthy communities. In this research, a closed based Likert-type scale questionnaire were built to determine the community perspectives on the environmental issues as mentioned above. There were 153 respondent's data gathered and then analyzed by statistics method. IBM SPSS Statistics 25 software was used to performed a simple frequency distribution, mean and relative important index (RII) in order to obtain the highest RII, mean score and the ranking of the aspects. The importance aspect which is climate change condition has been ranked 1 with the highest RII (0.946) value and mean score (4.73). This proven that community are very particular with the climate change and in order to overcome with the issue, community are advisable to practices sustainability activities such as recycling to sustain the environment. © 2023 Author(s).


Electronic Toll Collection System (ETCS), so called "Hi-Pass" in Korea, has improved traffic flow at toll gate of highways. It is known that the improvement of traffic flow should reduce air pollutants and from vehicles. In this study, real driving emission of a light duty truck with Portable Emission Measurement System(PEMS) has been measured to evaluate the emission reduction effect due to ETCS. The correlations between driving variables and emissions have been analyzed to verify its effect on traffic flow improvement and emission reduction at toll gate. We considered average vehicle speed, Relative Positive Acceleration (RPA), and the distance of queue as driving variables. Compared to passing Manual Toll Collection System (MTCS) lane without queue, ETCS was able to reduce 38.7% of , 21.6% of soot, and 27.7% of . The results showed that the higher the average vehicle speed, the lower RPA and no queue in ETCS contributed to the emission reductions. Linear equation models with RPA and queue have been established by the multiple linear regression method. The linear models resulted in the higher coefficient of determination than those with only average vehicle speed used for establishing vehicle emission factors.


We present an approach for interactively scanning highly reflective objects with a commodity RGBD sensor. In addition to shape, our approach models the surface light field, encoding scene appearance from all directions. By factoring the surface light field into view-independent and wavelength-independent components, we arrive at a representation that can be robustly estimated with IR-equipped commodity depth sensors, and achieves high quality results.


Maternal diet is widely recognized to be one of the major environmental factors influencing the development of the embryo and fetus. It is important that women of childbearing age maintain good nutrition throughout their reproductive years, including before conception, as there is a strong relationship between fertility and a successful pregnancy, and a sufficient intake of micronutrients. Yet even in 'high-income', industrialized countries, where dietary resources are more readily available, micronutrient levels in such women may be inadequate.
This review looked at the micronutrient status of women of childbearing age in industrialized countries, as well as those who were pregnant, to determine whether there are any gaps in micronutrient levels. A second objective was to assess whether the evidence indicates a role for multiple micronutrients other than folate and iron during these periods. Results indicated that although some women might have a sufficient intake of micronutrients (although not necessarily all of them), there are those who have lower than the currently-recommended daily intake of micronutrients, particularly folate, vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, iodine, iron and selenium. The evidence suggests that multiple micronutrient supplementation during the periconceptional period (i.e. before conception until the end of the first trimester) and throughout pregnancy could help to address inadequate dietary intake of micronutrients, improve maternal status prior to and during pregnancy, and thereby help to minimize reproductive risks.


Despite numerous calls to the discipline, attention to poverty and social class remains minimal in psychology even though most human experience is significantly affected by social ranking. As a result, educators lack models for training in the context of poverty. Recent and concerted efforts to define and implement competency-based models for the practice of professional psychology have resulted in the creation of Competency Benchmarks (American Psychological Association, 2011). Here, these Competency Benchmarks frame the integration of best practices in working with poor and working-class clients with what we know about what constitutes good training. The result is a competency-based approach for those who are training psychologists-to-be to work effectively with economically challenged clients.


Abstract Correspondence tests on discrimination usually report only whether an applicant was invited for a job interview or not. Yet, data from a field experiment in Switzerland demonstrate that candidates with the same outcome are not necessarily treated equally. The paper complements correspondence test results with information on the time elapsed until candidates were contacted, as well as qualitative differences in invitation or rejection emails.


Citation for pulished version (APA): Rise, J. E., Juel Ahrenfeldt, L., Lindahl-Jacobsen, R., & Andersen-Ranberg, K. (2019). The association between self-reported physical activity and physical performance: Does advancing age matter? In A. Börsch-Supan, J. Bristle, K. Andersen-Ranberg, A. Brugiavini, F. Jusot, H. Litwin, & G. Weber (Eds.), Health and socio-economic status over the life course: First results from SHARE Waves 6 and 7 (pp. 319-326). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110617245-033


Some suggest there is a dilemma in post-secondary education between the tidal pulls of career- or disciplinary-oriented education and liberal education. A survey of University of Lethbridge alumni indicated that they found their liberal education important for developing skills that are valuable in life and work after graduation. Specific skills the Conference Board of Canada (2000) identified as important for employment success were indeed skills which alumni say they developed during their liberal education experience. I argue there is no dilemma at all and that liberal education does provide skills for employment success.


Edited by two of the most experienced trauma anesthesiologists in the USA, with chapters written by experts from leading US and Canadian trauma centers with the highest and most varied caseload of critically injured patients, Essentials of Trauma Anesthesia identifies new trends in surgery and anesthesiology practices that impact on the management of trauma patients. Dedicated chapters address the management of special populations including pediatric, geriatric, burn and pregnant patients. Covering the most important topics in trauma anesthesia, Essentials of Trauma Anesthesia provides anesthesiology trainees and practitioners with a practical basis for managing trauma patients.


This work is an investigation on the large threshold voltage variation exhibited in CMOS based ISFETs. This irregularity is thoroughly examined and is identified to be caused by mobile ionic charge that is induced in the sensing membrane when the membrane is in contact with the ionic-solution. This auxiliary charge increments the effective capacitance of the sensing membrane, causing irregular shifts in the characteristics of the devices. Several methods for overcoming this issue are addressed.


Risk assessment is one of the main tools used in the implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) projects in any economic sector. Risk analysis is necessary for the formation of a resource-efficient system of distribution and risk management, i.e. a SMART system.Aim. The presented study aims to develop and test a risk assessment methodology for PPP projects based on the concept of SMART financing.Tasks. The authors formulate a criteria framework for the formation of PPP projects using the concept of SMART financing, develop a risk assessment methodology, and conduct applied research based on one of economic sectors.Methods. This study is based on the systematization of publications of Russian and foreign economists on the problem of forming public-private partnership projects using risk management tools, statisti cal and economic-mathematical methods for analyzing the economic indicators of the selected sector and the living standards in the regions of the Central Federal District (CFD), and a comprehensive approach to assessing the risks of PPP projects using SMART financing.Results. A criteria framework for the formation of PPP projects using the concept of SMART financing and a methodology for assessing the risks of PPP projects in the housing and utilities sector using the concept of SMART financing are developed.Conclusions. The practical significance of the study consists in the development of a methodology for assessing the risks of PPP projects using the concept of SMART financing, which is based on the principle of point distribution of financial resources based on risk assessment. This will make it possible to prioritize the distribution of financial resources in the implementation of PPP projects.


This paper is proposed a new linear actuator with the permanent magnet on the mover. This linear actuator is designed to produce the vibration of an oscillator for human body. In order to evaluate its dynamic performance, the equivalent coupling parameter between mechanical and electromagnetic equations of the linear actuator, which is considered the magnetic nonlinear phenomena, is analyzed by the finite element method and estimated the thrust, displacement and acceleration with the simulation values and the experimental ones.


In clinical practice, acute-phase protein measurements during inflammation are usually used to monitor the activity and severity of adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD).Objective: to study the possibility of using the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in complete blood cell count as a marker for the activity and severity of AOSD in clinical practice.Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 48 patients (29 females and 19 males; mean age, 32.8±12.5 years) with active AOSD, who met the criteria devised by M. Yamaguchi et al. Along with standard clinical and laboratory parameters and systemic scores, NLR was calculated in complete blood cell count.Results and discussion. There was a statistically significant correlation of NLR with the level of CRP (r=0.532), ferritin (r=0.43), ESR (r=0.40), and the systemic score reflecting the severity of the disease (r=0.449), which allows NLR to be regarded as a tool that is convenient to assess the activity and severity of AOSD in clinical practice.Conclusion. The findings have shown the good sensitivity and specificity of NLR, which indicates the possibility of using the latter as an available marker for assessing the activity and severity of AOSD in clinical practice.


A new method (FINDER) that uses the area of influence and Bayesian statistics to aid in selection of target areas on the basis of one or more variables and multiple observations was tested with drill hole data. A previously defined bimodal distribution of Na 2 O with the low sodium group confined to a 1.5 X 3.0-km zone beneath the cluster of deposits at Fukazawa was used as a control area for one test of FINDER. Using the Na 2 O means and standard deviations for the control area and minimum Na 2 O values from 174 drill holes, a probability map of centers of sodium depletion is produced for the Hokuroku district. High probability areas correspond to the known deposits that should have been rediscovered and to several areas without known deposits.Use of X-ray data from 165 drill holes, some of which also have chemical analyses, led to the identification of two additional variables, sericite and gypsum plus anhydrite, that allow more drill holes to be used and that expand the areas of influence around drill holes. Sericite is enriched up to 2.15 km and gypsum plus anhydrite up to 3.5 km from the centroid of the control area Fukazawa deposits. For the deposit groups with X-ray data nearby, Fukazawa, Shakanai, and Furutobe, a pattern of sericite enrichment, kuroko deposits, and gypsum plus anhydrite enrichment over 4 or 5 km is shown.With sodium, sericite, and gypsum plus anhydrite, FINDER's high probability areas include each of the four groups of kuroko deposits that should have been rediscovered and only one known deposit that is much smaller than Fukazawa is missed. Several large areas that are favorable centers of undiscovered deposits and other areas that are unlikely centers of deposits are also identified.


The concentration of selenium (Se) and the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in plasma and erythrocytes were measured in healthy men and in patients with Duchenne-type progressive muscular dystrophy (DMD). In healthy men, the Se concentration in erythrocytes showed a steep rise with aging and ascended gradually in plasma. The GSH-Px activity in both plasma and erythrocytes clearly increased with aging. The relationship between the Se concentration and the GSH-Px activity in healthy men showed a parallel rise with aging, but the coefficients of correlation were not very high (r = 0.44 and 0.56 in plasma and erythrocytes, respectively. In DMD patients, on the other hand, the Se concentration in erythrocytes decreased steeply with aging, and it decreased gradually in plasma. The GSH-Px activity in both plasma and erythrocytes apparently increased as in healthy men with aging, but the level was about 80% of that of healthy men. When selenite (Se+4) is added to the whole blood in vitro at 25 degrees C, it is rapidly taken up by erythrocytes (within several minutes) and is then released into plasma (a period of 30 min), then subsequent reuptake by erythrocytes is proceeded slowly. Our attention was attracted to the pattern of selenite release from erythrocytes of DMD patients.


We describe the polarization synchrotron, an experimental implementation of a superluminal (faster than light in vacuo) polarization current distribution that both oscillates and undergoes centripetal acceleration. The prototype machine produces tightly-beamed monochromatic radiation in the 100s of MHz range. The technique should also have applications as a broad-band GHz-THz source.


Studies carried out in 1978 and 1981 found postneonatal mortality to be associated with poor environmental conditions. Since then, many changes have occurred to the environment. This study was designed to discover which factors are now associated with a higher risk of postneonatal death. A retrospective case-control study was carried out using 107 cases and 422 controls matched only for date of birth, to look at the effect of area of residence, social class, mother's age, and sex, birthweight, legitimacy and number of siblings. Fifty-eight per cent of the deaths were due to the sudden infant death syndrome, making this the leading cause of death. Causes previously absent from the death certificates are now appearing, particularly prematurity related deaths which now account for almost 6 per cent. The deaths were found to occur more frequently at home, in the winter, and at a peak age of 2 to 4 months. As shown previously in Nottingham, the deaths were more likely to have been male (relative risk 2.03), illegitimate (2.91), and of low birthweight (28.8). Total mortality was significantly higher in babies of mothers aged 19 or less and in babies of manual workers. Surprisingly, babies born to unemployed parents were found to have a very low relative risk of death (0.26). Mortality is still higher in the city than the suburbs and in areas of deprivation. Although still a risk factor for SIDS, high parity of the mother was found to be non-significant for postneonatal mortality in total.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


To investigate static and free vibration for thin plate bending structures, a four-node quadrilateral finite element is proposed in this research paper. This element has been formulated by using both the assumptions of thin plates theory (Kirchhoff plate theory) and strain approach. The suggested element which possesses only three degrees of freedom (one transverse displacement and two normal rotations) at each of four corner nodes is based on assumed higher-order functions for the various components of strain field that satisfies the compatibility equation. The displacement functions of the developed element are obtained by integrating the assumed strains functions and satisfy the exact representation of the rigid body modes. Several numerical tests in both static and free vibration analysis are presented to assess the performance of the new element. The obtained results show high solution accuracy, especially for coarse meshes, of the developed element compared with analytical and other numerical solutions available in the literature.


At Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin two EU-projects within EuropeAid's Edulink and Asia-Link programmes are coordinated which focus on incorporating Value Chain research into horticultural and agricultural curricula at universities in partner countries in East Africa and Asia. The project ValueLEad aims at enabling student education at two African universities in sustainable and quality-oriented fresh-food chain management (FFCM) with a focus on poverty alleviation and meeting the needs of the agri-food sector, in particular the vegetables and fruit as well as dairy sectors. The project DOCUMAP focuses on education and training in the fields of supply chain management and postharvest handling of vegetables and fruit at three Asian universities. These projects are based on three assumptions: a) graduates of horticultural (and agricultural) study programmes require analytical and problem-solving skills, an interdisciplinary thinking style, team work and communication skills and — centrally — aptitude and attitude of self-directed learning in order to master the challenges of their future jobs in rapidly changing horticultural and food sectors. b) Problem-Based Learning (PBL)-type student research projects and multiple collaboration with actors of the agri-food sector are central elements of study programmes with these competence-based learning objectives. c) Curricula, institutions and human resources need to be simultaneously developed on different levels in order to adapt study programmes to this end. The projects thus address lecturers at the African and Asian partner universities within various complementary project activities for development of student-centred PBL and interdisciplinary research as well as other Value-Chain related curriculum elements. Furthermore, the cooperation between the universities offers a basis for North-South and South-South academic partnership networks for continuous development of the food value chain analysis concept and its adaptation to African and Asian realities. The concepts of and experiences with the two projects will be described, sucesses and challenges analysed and conclusions for refinement of the approach presented.


A 47-year-old male patient underwent living-related renal transplant. On day 3 posttransplant, without evidence of associated clinical symptoms, the patient's serum creatinine levels had increased. The patient was given immunosuppressive medication, and a followup Doppler ultrasonography revealed hypoechoic areas in the inferior pole of the renal parenchyma. Eventually, on day 25, there was no perfusion in the superior and inferior poles of the transplanted kidney. No venous flow was shown in the middle segment, and only arterial vascularization with a high resistive index and negative diastolic phase was observed. Renal biopsy showed acute humoral rejection. This was interpreted as venous thrombosis secondary to acute humoral rejection. Tissue plasminogen activator infusion, plasmapheresis, and hemodialysis were administered. After 1.5 months, arterial flow returned to its normal pattern and the renal allograft recovered by gaining back its full vascularity at the end of month 8.


Using the fruit-branch system of Unshiu Mandarian, the dynamic detachment test was done by the exciting apparatus in our laboratoty. The various component forces and moment produced by fruit motion were measured and the combined stre宿sesapplied to the abscission zone that were required to detach the fruit were calculated. Also, a high speed 8 mm cinema camera was used to observe the process of fruit detachment and the dynamic mechanism to detach the fruit from the acscission zone without any fruit damages was discussed. In order to detach Unshiu Mandarian from its abscission zone within short time, itwas important to occur the pendlum motion of the fruit supported by the abscission zone叩 dto increase the bending and torsional stresses applied to the zone. This motion became more active at such a time that the exciting velocity became the highest. That is, the detachment of the fruit was dependent on the exciting velcocity and independent of the exciting acceleration. The repeated combined stresses required to detach Unshiu Mandarian were more th叩 90kgf/cm 2(8.8 MPa) in maximum principal stress and more than 45 kgf/cm (4.4 MPa) in maximum shearing stress, whose value was about half of the maximum principal stres. When these stresses applied to the abscission zone, the fruit detachment was occurred in repeated number of les than 10 times and in time of les than 1 second. The exciting velocities required to generate these stresses were more than 2.5 m/sec in the case of exciting the fruit-branch system horizontally, and more than 1. 5 m/sec in the case of exciting the system in the 45 degree direction from


Recently, there is a need for a general-purpose event generator of decays of an elementary particle or a hadron to a state of higher multiplicity ($N > 2$) that is simple to use and universal. We present the structure of such a library to produce generators that generate kinematics of decay processes and can be used to integrate any matrix element squared over phase space of this decay. Some test examples are presented, and results are compared with results known from the literature. As one of examples we consider the Standard Model Higgs boson decay into four leptons. The generators discussed here are compatible with the ROOT interface.


In this paper, we have attempted to do comparative analysis of the following functions: 2n, n! and nn. We analyzed these functions, discussed how the functions can be computed and also studied how their computational time can be derived. The paper also discussed how to evaluate a given algorithm and determine its time complexity and memory complexity using graphical representation of the various functions, displaying how the function behaves graphically. However, it was noticed that when data are inputted into these functions, they gave cumbersome outputs that make it impossible to determine the execution (computational) time for the functions. We plotted a graph by taking a snapshot of the integer values n = 1 to 10 to compute the functions of 2n, n!, nn. From the graph, we noticed that 2n function had lower growth value; nn had the largest growth value and n! had slightly greater increase in growth than the 2n function. From our result, the execution time cannot be computed due to the largeness of the outputs.
However, we were able to determine the function with the highest computing time and discovered that the time growth for the functions differs from one to the other.

Keywords Algorithm, Pseudo code, Exponential functions, Recursion, Complexity.


Summer heat can result in stressful conditions for Bos taurus feeder cattle, and in
extreme instances these conditions can be fatal. A study was conducted during the summer of
2001 at RLHUSMARC to determine physiological responses of cattle under shade or no-shade
conditions. The study involved eight steers assigned to individual pens with four pens fitted with
shade structures and the remainder had no shade available. Respiration rate (RR), feed intake,
and body temperature were measured as response variables to the shade treatments.
Environmental conditions were monitored for the experimental period. The resulting RR data
demonstrated a 25°C threshold for the treatment of shade/no-shade. A linear regression was
developed for RR that included effects of temperature, humidity, air speed, and solar radiation.
Thresholds were developed from that linear relationship to relate RR to THI (temperaturehumidity
index) to estimate thermal status of livestock. The equations and the corresponding
thresholds have been implemented in a monitoring device for use at livestock production
facilities. The monitoring device, referred to as a Livestock Safety Monitor (LSM), consists of a
commercial weather station (Vantage PRO by Davis Instruments, Hayward, CA) coupled to a
microcomputer (TFX-11, by Onset Computer, Pocasset, MA). The weather station collects
current weather data including temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. The
weather information is transferred to the micro-computer where values alert the operator of current conditions that include: 1) normal, 2) alert, 3) danger, and 4) emergency. This report will
summarize operating experience using the LSM.


BACKGROUND--Radiological estimates of hyperinflation are used in several clinical and radiographic scoring systems for cystic fibrosis, but it is not known if these estimates of hyperinflation are related to measured total lung capacity. METHODS--Comparison was made of independent clinical estimates of hyperinflation from chest radiographs with objective plethysmographic and radiographic measurements of total lung capacity in 25 children with cystic fibrosis. RESULTS--There was good agreement between plethysmographic and radiographic measurements. Clinical estimation correctly predicted the extremes of hyperinflation, but grading was no more than 50% accurate in all other groups. CONCLUSION--The degree of hyperinflation cannot be estimated by inspecting chest radiographs in many children with cystic fibrosis. This does not invalidate the scoring systems, but suggests that a better term than "hyperinflation" should be sought.


Much research relating to bilingual education in the early years has focused on how young children are learning a new language, viewed from a monolingual paradigm of language use (Tabors 1997, Clarke 1999, Cummins 2001, Drury 2007, Genesee 2008). Recent sociocultural research on meaning-making in communities (Garcia and Sylvan 2011, Gort and Sembiante 2015, Wei 2018, Creese and Blackledge 2019) reveals a less rigid boundary between named languages, and an emerging theory of translanguaging. This theory offers a new perspective from which to view pedagogical practices in bilingual classrooms.
The multimodal nature of young children's meaning-making has long been acknowledged, founded on the work of Vygotsky in the 1920s, and is evident in the variety of pedagogical practices used by early years teachers to support meaning-making (Rogoff 1990, Siraj-Blatchford et al 2002). More recently, multimodal meaning-making has been explored in different communities (Kress 2000, Flewitt 2013, Bezemer and Kress 2014), revealing the many different modes of communication regularly employed to share meaning. However, in studies of early bilingual education, the significance of non-verbal behaviours has often been overlooked.
This thesis therefore sets out to explore the significance of multimodal meaning-making and a pedagogy for translingual practice (Canagarajah 2013) in an early years bilingual context. Using ethnographic tools, it analyses the pedagogical practices of two teachers working in a co-teaching situation in a kindergarten in Abu Dhabi. By an iterative process of data analysis, it explores how those practices contribute to children's development as confident bilingual learners.
The findings indicate that, as teachers create new spaces for learning using action and gesture as well as speech, children are empowered to draw on both verbal and non-verbal modes of meaning-making in a fluid process of bilingual and multimodal languaging.
Emergent bilingualism, translanguaging, multimodality, sociocultural theory, early years, co-teaching, Arabian Gulf.


Reactive oxygen species(ROS) generated in cellular metabolism have an effect on cell maturation and development. In human reproductive tract, oxidative injury by ROS may induce female infertility. Also, oxidative injury may be responsible for developmental retardation and arrest of mammalian preimplantation embryos. Activating transcription factor 4(ATF4) is a member of the cyclic-AMP response element-binding(CREB) familiy of basic region- leucine zipper(bZip). ATF4 is known to regulate stress response to protect cell from various stress factors and inducer of apoptisis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether ATF4 is involved in the defensive mechanism in oxidative stress condition during the development of mouse preimplantation embryos. To verify the expression of ATF4 in oxidative stress condition, 2-cell stage embryos were cultured in HTF media containing 0.1mM, 0.5mM or 1mM hydrogen peroxide() for 1hr(2-cell), 8hr(4-cell), 17hr(8-cell), 24hr(morula), 48hr(early blastocyst) or 64hr(late blastocyst). The developmental rate decreased in the 0.1mM treated group compared with control group. In embryos treated with 0.5mM and 1mM showed 2-cell block. As a results of the semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of SOD1, ATF4 and Bax gene expression, SOD1, ATF4 and Bax genes were increased in 0.1mM, 0.5mM, 1mM treated groups compared with control group. In 2-cell embryos, expression of SOD1, ATF4 and Bax genes were notably increased in 0.1mM, 0.5mM, 1mM treated groups compared with control group. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that ATF4 protein was localized at the cytoplasm of preimplantation embryos. The increase in ATF4 immunoreactivety was observed in the 0.1mM, 0.5mM, 1mM treated groups compared with control group. It suggests that oxidative stress by induces expression of ATF4 and may be involved in protection mechanism in preimplantation embryos from oxidative injury.


Кулик В.А. Південночеський університет Before the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, Ukrainian business was developing rapidly. As a result of the hostilities, the industry's infrastructure was destroyed, logistics chains were severed, and a significant number of specialists fled Ukraine or joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend the country. Nevertheless, in 2022, IT revenues as the main part of e-business grew by 7%, compared to annual growth of 20-30% in the pre-war period. The study examines the most important areas of e-business development in Ukraine through wartime in the context of such economic models as G2B (Government-to-Business), B2G (Business-to-Government), and B2E (Business-toEmployees). The findings of the study can be used to complement the strategy of Ukraine's economic recovery in the postwar period.


In this paper, we propose a modified DSR protocol in special scenario and combined this protocol with location information. The location information gives each node local information rather than a global one in the routing of wireless ad hoc networks. The simulation results show that the modified protocol is more efficient than the traditional DSR in the two given scenarios.


This article seeks to explore the discourse of Internet fatawa relating to women and gender relations and its potential implications for international family law norms within a plural Islamic legal tradition. It will engage with selected fatawa (on women and gender) drawn from three Internet sites posing the question whether this burgeoning field of communication reflects emerging discursive sites for Muslim women within a counter-hegemonic 'virtual' space. This article argues that increasing access to the Internet challenges historical conceptions of legitimacy surrounding legislative prerogative of state and governments as well as regulatory norms (in the area of family and other areas, policy frameworks, etc.) arising from governmental and governance functions particularly those enacted in the name of Islam; furthermore, that these 'new' cyberspace regulatory mechanisms serve as a global Muslim space for generating an international discourse encompassing a wide spectrum of (legal) interacting norms exploring which set of rules to apply to a certain situation in issues relating to women and gender and why. It also highlights the 'irrepressible' plurality of the Islamic tradition, which is not lost even in the most contemporary communication systems as each Web site analysed adopts a distinctive approach towards similar questions posed. Finally, it argues that 'fatwa sites' have enabled Muslim women in particular from diasporic communities in the west to raise questions and issues surrounding their lives, which they would not have been able to frame in a 'face-to-face' encounter due to the sensitive private and at times challenging nature of the enquiry.


This address was originally presented at the AULSA Conference on 7 July 1989. It elaborates on the five principles established as the policy guidelines for dealing with issues relating to the Treaty of Waitangi. The Waitangi Tribunal is empowered to make recommendations to the Government following inquiry. Its jurisdiction has been extended to consider claims back to the date the Treaty was signed. It has done some outstanding work and its reports have been regarded as scholarly and authoritative. It has produced a dozen major reports, a number of which have received Government action although there are still a number awaiting attention. The public attention concerning these facts, however, is confused and uncertain. Partly this is because it is not clear what the document means. Some of the scholarship surrounding the Treaty is highly suspect, fuelled by political motivation rather than detached analysis, and much misleading information has been conveyed by the media. This has had two effects. It has raised public fears about what the Treaty can bring about. And it has raised Maori expectations about what may be achieved under it for Maori. Both impressions are exaggerated, distorted and unfortunate.The address discusses the New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney-General decision regarding the State-Owned Enterprises Act, viewing it as one of the most important decisions that any New Zealand court has ever made. The Government has had to find, in relation to the Treaty, a place to stand. It has agreed upon a series of principles for Crown action which are aimed to dispel doubt and remove confusion. More importantly, they will give Government Departments and agencies a clean set of policy guidelines about how to approach Treaty issues. It provides a clear articulation of the Crown's responsibilities and a clear delimitation of the Crown's obligations. These principles will guide the Crown's activity in dealing with issues which arise out of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand.The five principles are: The Principle of Government or Kawanatanga; the Principle of Self-Management, or Rangatiratanga; the Principle of Equality; the Principle of Reasonable Co-operation; and the Principle of Redress. The address considers each principle and discusses where it has been drawn from in the Treaty, its meaning and the implications of such a principle. As the whole picture of this complex matter becomes clear to New Zealand the country will see that this is an issue that can be dealt with calmly and rationally. Moreover they will see that there are no hidden traps and that this is a process from which we can all emerge winners.


We study the variation of average powers and spectral indices of electric field fluctuations with respect to the angle between average flow direction and the mean magnetic field in solar wind turbulence. Cluster spacecraft data from the years 2002 and 2007 are used for the present analysis. We perform a scale dependent study with respect to the local mean magnetic field using wavelet analysis technique. Prominent anisotropies are found for both the spectral index and power levels of the electric power spectra. Similar to the magnetic field fluctuations, the parallel (or antiparallel) electric fluctuation spectrum is found to be steeper than the perpendicular spectrum. However the parallel (or antiparallel) electric power is found to be greater than the perpendicular one. Below 0.1 Hz, the slope of the parallel electric power spectra deviates substantially from that of the total magnetic power spectra, supporting the existence of Alfvénic turbulence.


One of the enduring problems in theories of religion is to explain why it often entails such a heavy investment of time and other resources without apparent prospects of immediate pay-off. This "costliness" of religion is especially salient in forms of religiosity known as mysticism and/or asceticism, both of which can be found in many religious traditions. The anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse's theory of the two modes of religiosity (or modes theory) attempts to explain costly and routinised religious practices by assuming that the frequent repetition of rituals serves the purpose of memorising religious teachings through activating the semantic memory. The present study tests the modes theory against an alternative hypothesis presented by Richard Payne that the repetition can be more fruitfully explained as an employment of effects produced by procedural memory involved in learning skills. The data examined here were obtained through questionnaire and interviews from contemporary Finnish practitioners of Hindu-based yoga and meditation. The results suggest that rather than activating semantic memory, the extremely high frequency practices found in Indian yoga can be more fruitfully explained as applications of procedures employing the effects of procedural memory. Mysticism may, thus, be regarded as cross-culturally recurrent pattern of religiosity precipitated by a number of mutually strengthening features.


Hospitals play a critical role in providing communities with essential medical care during all types of disaster. Depending on their scope and nature, disasters can lead to a rapidly increasing service demand that can overwhelm the functional capacity and safety of hospitals and the healthcare system at large. Planning during the community outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is critical for maintaining healthcare services during our response. This paper describes, besides general measures in times of a pandemic, also the necessary changes in the invasive diagnosis and treatment of patients presenting with different entities of acute coronary syndromes including structural adaptations (networks, spokes and hub centres) and therapeutic adjustments.


Posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) involves the mechanical and biological deterioration of articular cartilage that occurs following joint injury. PTOA is a growing problem in health care due to the lack of effective therapies combined with an aging population with high activity levels. Recently, acute mitochondrial dysfunction and altered cellular respiration have been associated with cartilage degeneration after injury. This finding is particularly important because recently developed mitoprotective drugs, including SS peptides, can preserve mitochondrial structure and function after acute injury in other tissues. It is not known, however, if cartilage injury induces rapid structural changes in mitochondria, to what degree mitochondrial dysfunction in cartilage depends on the mechanics of injury or the time frame over which such dysfunction develops. Similarly, it is unknown if SS‐peptide treatment can preserve mitochondrial structure and function after cartilage injury. Here, we combined fast camera elastography, longitudinal fluorescence assays, and computer vision techniques to track the fates of thousands of individual cells. Our results show that impact induces mechanically dependent mitochondrial depolarization within a few minutes after injury. Electron microscopy revealed that impact causes rapid structural changes in mitochondria that are related to reduced mitochondrial function, namely, fission and loss of cristae structure. We found that SS‐peptide treatment prior to impact protects the mitochondrial structure and preserves mitochondrial function at levels comparable with that of unimpacted control samples. Overall, this study reveals the vital role of mitochondria in mediating cartilage's peracute (within minutes) response to traumatic injury and demonstrates mitoprotection as a promising therapeutic strategy for injury‐induced cartilage damage.


In 1980, the U.S. Department of Energy gave the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory approval to design and build a tandem Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF-B) to support the goals of the National Mirror Program. We designed the MFTF-B vacuum vessel both to maintain the required ultrahigh vacuum environment and to structurally support the 42 superconducting mt nets plus auxiliary internal and external equipment. During our design work, we made extensive use of both simple and complex computer models to arrive at a cost-effective final configuration. As part of this work, we conducted a unique dynamic analysis to study the Interaction of the 32,000-tonne concrete-shielding vault with the 2,850-tonne vacuum vessel system. To —ft maintain a vacuum of 2 x 10 Torr during the physics experiments inside the vessel, we designed a vacuum pumping system of enormous capacity. The vacuum 3 vessel (4,200 m ) has been fabricated, erected, and acceptance tests have been completed at the Livermore site. The rest of the machine has been assembled, and individual systems have been successfully checked. On October 1, 1985, we began a series of integrated engineering tests to verify the operation of all components as a complete system. •SHKWTTOS OF TM* mmm c m i *


Venereal diseases or sexually transmitted diseases in the early twentieth century, according to Roy Porter, were "typical of the new plagues of an era of disturbance and migrations, being spread by international warfare, surging population and the movements of soldiers and refugees." This interpretation of the nature of venereal diseases (VDs) exposes the extent to which these social illnesses were affected by the character and stability of the politics and society of the time. VDs thrived under conditions of conflict when desperation, displacement and disillusionment generated a relaxation of sexual conduct. Conversely, during these times of social upheaval, an equally strong reaction occurred and extremes of progress in healthcare were also apparent. These opposite forces of regression and progression thus generated dramatic escalations in VDs in periods of war, yet also produced the greatest advancements in prevention and treatment of these social diseases. This trend was witnessed clearly during the Second World War. Many countries directly or indirectly involved such as Scotland, Canada and England, faced incredible obstacles in controlling the spread of VDs as the conditions created by the war began to influence behaviour and the effective operation of health services. As a major international port and migration point, the British colony of Trinidad and Tobago, in particular, was generally vulnerable to many social diseases. As worldwide focus on VDs increased, greater efforts were made to identify causes and generate and propagate treatments for these ailments. For many countries this resulted in the first extensive campaigns to control VDs. In Trinidad and Tobago, the foundation and success of the VD control program in the twentieth century was attributable largely to a situation also responsible for the rise of these diseases the presence of foreign military forces, particularly of the United States from 1941, on Trinidadian soil. This article examines the factors associated with the prevalence of VDs during this conflict in addition to the culpability of these outside forces in escalating and assisting in the control of VDs within the colony.


Central banks play a significant role in providing the macroeconomic context for development and poverty reduction. Promoting low inflation and currency stability is not just IMF mantra; economic growth suffers as a result of high inflation or currency instability, with the poor and vulnerable the worst affected. Central banking in most countries aims to achieve monetary stability – a sound currency, with a stable exchange rate and/or low inflation – and financial sector stability – sound banks which provide good services without undertaking excessive risk, and an effective non-cash payment system. Most central banks deal with their governments (principally the Ministry of Finance) and commercial banks. They rarely deal with individuals. But the whole population will benefit from good central banking: good quality bank notes and low inflation are important directly to everyone; and it is typically the case that failure to deliver these harms most the vulnerable in society. Relatively small but well-targeted inputs to strengthen these functions may be one of the most effective forms of aid provision. Millions can benefit very rapidly from a few months of well-targeted advice. Financial sector stability and financial market development will normally take longer to deliver results than improvements in the area of monetary stability. But they can support sustainable economic growth, to the benefit of all. It is probably harder to ensure that financial sector development will provide direct benefits to the poor and vulnerable, as they may not be users of the services; and microfinance development is normally led by the government and commercial providers rather than the by central bank. But there are important areas for central bank involvement: banking supervision, microfinance supervision, and the development of widely-available non-cash payment services. This paper aims to provide a broad understanding of what central banks are, focussing in particular on their functions in developing countries with a view to facilitating donors in targeting and monitoring effectively the provision of aid. It was written for the UK's Department for International Development, and is targeted at DFID – and other donor organisation – officials working with central banks. It aims to describe, in non-technical terms, what central banks are and what the appropriate role for them in developing countries might be. The final chapters look at institution and capacity building, and donor co-ordination.


Many organizations failed in adopting e-learning. A primary reason for this failure is the lack of assessment of organizational readiness for e-learning. To reduce failure risk, organizations should assess their readiness for adopting e-learning to identify some weak points which have to be improved by taking some improvement actions. In the literature we can find a variety of e-learning readiness and measurement models. We developed a model to measure the readiness of organizations for e-learning. We have applied it on KBC bank to measure the readiness of KBC-ICT department for e-learning.


We present a review of the different techniques available to study a special kind of fractal basins of attraction known as Wada basins, which have the intriguing property of having a single boundary separating three or more basins. We expose several approaches to identify this topological property that rely on different, but not exclusive, definitions of the Wada property.


In this note we investigate the filtering problem for linear time-delay systems. Unlike most of the existing results, we consider systems with an unknown and constant delay. From the Razumikhin stability theorem and some judicious mathematical manipulations, a reduced order H/sub /spl infin// filter able to ensure the asymptotic stability and the pro-specified H/sub /spl infin// performances of the filtering process is designed. Also the maximal allowable delay preserving the asymptotic stability is given. A numerical example is provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed technique.


This study aimed to develop a Chinese Mental Resilience Scale. A total of 2500 healthy participants, in two representative samples of the Chinese population, were administered the scale. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and correlation analysis were used to obtain the relevant coefficients and verify the reliability and validity of the scale. Five factors were extracted: willpower, family support, optimism and self-confidence, problem solving, and interpersonal interaction, plus a lying subscale, which together accounted for 54 percent of the total variance. The Chinese Mental Resilience Scale demonstrated good psychometric properties. It can be used to evaluate the mental resilience level of general Chinese population.


Conducting fundamental analysis within subsets of comparable firms has been demonstrated to provide more reliable inferences and increase the prediction quality in equity research. However, incorporating and representing both firm-specific information and common economic determinants has been widely recognized as the key challenge. This paper investigates how to leverage Semantic Web technologies to assist fundamental analysis by generating flexible and meaningful selections of comparable firms at low costs. We approach the problem by proposing Linked Open Financial Data as the data organization model and ontology modeling for knowledge representation. Results are verified in terms of efficiency with examples of quick mashups, and feasibility by adapting to existing valuation models.


The acceleration of hydrogen ions up to 35 MeV is observed in the z-pinch experiments on the GIT-12 generator at a 3 MA current and 0.6 MV driving voltage. High ion energies are obtained with a novel configuration of a deuterium gas-puff z-pinch. In this configuration, a hollow cylindrical plasma shell is injected around an inner deuterium gas puff to form a homogeneous, uniformly conducting layer between electrodes at the initial phase of z-pinch implosion. The stable implosion at the velocity up to 650 km s−1 is important to deliver more current onto the z-pinch axis. Magnetohydrodynamic instabilities become apparent first at stagnation. After the disruptive development of m = 0 instabilities, ∼20 ns pulses of high-energy photons, neutrons, electrons, and ions are observed. The average neutron yield is 2 × 1012. The ion emission is characterized by various diagnostic techniques including those based on the usage of neutron-producing samples. When a large neutron-producing sample is placed onto the axis below a cathode mesh, the neutron yield is increased up to (1.1 ± 0.3) × 1013. Considering a ∼130 kJ energy input into z-pinch plasmas and magnetic field, this implies the neutron production efficiency of ∼108 neutrons per one Joule of the z-pinch energy.


The purpose of this study is to assess the effects on food security in Georgia following a joint direct cash transfer project initiated as an emergency response to the conflict with Russia in August 2008. Based on interviews with beneficiaries, it was found that their food security situation had improved. Although increased food access and food utilisation promoted dietary diversity and food frequency, it was concluded that they remain dependent on external assistance. When considering various key determinants of transfer choice as well as preferences of both beneficiaries and partners, cash assistance was determined to constitute the optimal food assistance instrument when addressing the issue of food security in Georgia. While future cash assistance will benefit from greater knowledge and experience of partners, further improvements were acknowledged to require increased technological capacity, human capital, training and monitoring in order to achieve adequate information collection and dissemination.


Training a single deep blind model to handle different quality factors for JPEG image artifacts removal has been attracting considerable attention due to its convenience for practical usage. However, existing deep blind methods usually directly reconstruct the image without predicting the quality factor, thus lacking the flexibility to control the output as the non-blind methods. To remedy this problem, in this paper, we propose a flexible blind convolutional neural network, namely FBCNN, that can predict the adjustable quality factor to control the trade-off between artifacts removal and details preservation. Specifically, FBCNN decouples the quality factor from the JPEG image via a decoupler module and then embeds the predicted quality factor into the subsequent reconstructor module through a quality factor attention block for flexible control. Besides, We find existing methods are prone to fail on non-aligned double JPEG images even with only one pixel shift, and we thus propose a double JPEG degradation model to augment the training data. Extensive experiments on single JPEG images, more general double JPEG images and real-world JPEG images demonstrate that our proposed FBCNN achieves favorable performance against state-of-the-art methods in terms of both quantitative metrics and visual quality.


We studied the prehistoric and historic distribution of arctic foxes in Norway by examining material and reports from archaeological excavations. A total of 44 arctic fox bones were found in 15 excavations, all of which were younger than 5000 years before present (B.P.). The majority of these sites was located within or close to the present distribution of arctic foxes. Additionally, 44 naturally deposited arctic fox bones were found in two excavations dated 36 000-28 000 and 13 000 B.P. respectively, indicating that the arctic fox also lived along the Norwegian coast in the Pleistocene. No arctic fox bone was dated to the period 9000-5000 B.P., and the species may have been rare or absent during this comparatively warm period. Since most bones (61%) were from the distal part of the limbs, the foxes may have been skinned elsewhere and transported to the site of deposition. Bones from red foxes were found in three excavations within the present distribution of arctic foxes, indicating that the arctic fox was relatively more abundant than red foxes during the late prehistoric and the historic periods in south Norway, but less abundant in north Norway. Key words: arctic fox, red fox, prehistoric and historic distributions, archaeological excavations, Norway


The redundancy theory of truth, according to which a sentence of the form 'p' is true is equivalent to p, is commonly attributed to the philosophers Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) and Frank Ramsey (1903-1930), and is viewed as an important development in 20th century philosophical logic. In this paper I argue that such a perspective on truth may in fact be found much earlier, in Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole's Logic, or the Art of Thinking (also known as the Port-Royal Logic and published in its final form in 1683). Although ignored by many philosophers who work on the concept of truth today, Arnauld and Nicole should be credited as the originators of the redundancy theory. In addition to identifying and explaining the relevant passages of the Port-Royal Logic, I discuss the authors' strikingly modern take on linguistic meaning. Their approach to this issue, also generally overlooked in current discussions, merits serious consideration, and, I argue, is to be preferred to other, currently popular, approaches to this topic. Theirs is a sophisticated and subtle «internalist» account of meaning-one that, as we shall see, is largely immune to the usual objections to semantic internalism.


Recent changes in national and state mathematics standards have increased the level of algebraic thinking taught in younger grades. These changes have prompted more inclusive curriculum designs that open the opportunity to enroll in advanced mathematics courses at younger ages. Of particular interest to this study is the access to eighth-grade algebra, once traditionally reserved for select populations. This study examined long-term academic outcomes for students who did or did not enroll in eighth-grade algebra in one district that implemented an initiative to increase access. The outcomes of students with similar ability, as measured by preassessment in seventh grade, were compared. The groups performed similarly on end-of-course exams in high school math and the mathematics section of the SAT I. However, students who completed algebra in the eighth grade stayed in the mathematics pipeline longer and attended college at greater rates than those who did not. Because of the sequential nature of mathematics course work, students taking algebra at an earlier age have the opportunity to enroll in more advanced courses in the future. Results suggest the need for further exploration of how to provide access and promote enrollment in eighth-grade algebra for students who demonstrate readiness.


Allogeneic stem cell transplantation can be a curative treatment for hematological malignancies. After HLA-matched allogeneic stem cell transplantation, beneficial anti-tumor immunity as well as detrimental side-effects can develop due to donor-derived T-cells recognizing polymorphic peptides that are presented by HLA on patient cells. Polymorphic peptides on patient cells that are recognized by specific T-cells are called minor histocompatibility antigens (MiHA), while the respective peptides in donor cells are allelic variants. MiHA can be identified by reverse strategies in which large sets of peptides are screened for T-cell recognition. In these strategies, selection of peptides by prediction algorithms may be relevant to increase the efficiency of MiHA discovery. We investigated the value of online prediction algorithms for MiHA discovery and determined the in silico characteristics of 68 autosomal HLA class I-restricted MiHA that have been identified as natural ligands by forward strategies in which T-cells from in vivo immune responses after allogeneic stem cell transplantation are used to identify the antigen. Our analysis showed that HLA class I binding was accurately predicted for 87% of MiHA of which a relatively large proportion of peptides had strong binding affinity (56%). Weak binding affinity was also predicted for a considerable number of antigens (31%) and the remaining 13% of MiHA were not predicted as HLA class I binding peptides. Besides prediction for HLA class I binding, none of the other online algorithms significantly contributed to MiHA characterization. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the majority of MiHA do not differ from their allelic variants in in silico characteristics, suggesting that allelic variants can potentially be processed and presented on the cell surface. In conclusion, our analyses revealed the in silico characteristics of 68 HLA class I-restricted MiHA and explored the value of online algorithms to predict T-cell ligands that are created by genetic variants.


Microarrays have become extremely useful for analysing gen etic phenomena, but establishing a relation between microarray analysis results (typically a list of genes) and their biological significance is often difficult. Currently , the standard approach is to mapposteriori the results onto gene networks to elucidate the functions pe rturbed at the level of pathways. However, integrating a priori knowledge of the gene networks could help in the statistical analysis of gene expression data and in their biological int erpretation. Here we propose a method to integrate a priori the knowledge of a gene network in the analysis of gene expres sion data. The approach is based on the spectral decomposition of gene expression profiles with respect to th e eigenfunctions of the graph, resulting in an attenuation of the high-frequency components of the expression profiles with respect to the topology of the graph. We show how to derive unsupervised and supervised classification algor ithms of expression profiles, resulting in classifiers with biological relevance. We applied the method to the analysis of a set of expression profiles from irradiated and nonirradiated yeast strains. It performed at least as well as th e usual classification but provides much more biologically relevant results and allows a direct biological interpreta tion. Supplementary material: http://bioinfo.curie.fr/projects/kernelchip


the lung parenchyma. Provided that the adverseeffects of bronchospasmcan be ruled out, measurement of diffusing capacity is a reliable indication of the particularstate of respiratoryinefficiency reached. It also appeared,from this study, that the onset of right heart failure was heraldedby a fall in the diffusing capacity. The authors conclude that while control of bronchial obstruction and bronchospasmmay delay further emphysematouschanges, it is the reduction in the pulmonarycapillary bed which is the real disabling lesion related directly to the prognosis, and satisfactorilyassessedby estimationsof the pulmonary diffusing capacity.'


Background: Developing a new reliable prognostic marker to predict the prognosis and supply better and more suitable therapy for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is urgent. Therefore, we performed this systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis to clarify and explore the associate expression of nm23-H1 with prognosis of NPC patients. Methods: Literature research in Cochrane Library, PubMed, and EMBASE was performed up to July 2016. Eligible case–control studies of associate expression of nm23-H1 with prognosis of NPC patients were included. Results: Nine studies met our inclusion criteria and were finally included for the analysis, involving 861 participants. Our meta-analysis revealed that the low expression of nm23-H1 in NPC was: RR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.15–3.95 and R = 2.56, 95% CI 2.03–3.22; and poorer overall survival (OS) rate was 3-year OS rate: RR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.45–0.67 and 5-year OS rate: RR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.52–0.69. Furthermore, the statistical significance was constant irrespective of different NPC subtypes. Conclusion: The low expression of nm23-H1 is associated with poorer prognosis in patients with NPC, suggesting that it is a prognostic factor and potential biomarker for survival in NPC.


This work had the aim to verify the effect of the number of plants per plot in the evaluation of half-sib families. For that, 25 half-sib families of CMS-39 were evaluated with the experimental design being a simple lattice, 5†x†5, with two replications. Each plot was constituted by three lines with 10†m of length. Each plot was subdivided in sub-plots with five plants, being discarded extremities. Associating the contiguous sub-plots it was possible to simulate 270 variance analyses, with the number of plants per plot varying from 5 to 135. Genetic and phenotypic parameters were estimated with their respective errors. Expected selection response yield was also simulated for each sample size. In this simulation, it was verified that the number of plants per plot affected experimental precision. As larger was the number of plants, more accurate were the experiments; plots with the same number of plants, even so distributed in two or three lines, provide greater experimental precision. The selection expected response decreases with the increase in the number of plants per plot.


The present study investigated how increasing silica content modifies the chemical and morphological characteristics and microbial degradation of rice straw. Two rice straws grown on culture media with different silica contents were collected and analysed for chemical and morphological composition and ultrastructure. Silica content (g/kg DM) of the two straws was high (98·0, straw H) and low (0·0, not detected, straw L). The ground (2 mm) straws were incubated in the rumen of three ruminally cannulated cows for 4, 8, 16, 24, 48 and 96 h for in sacco degradability measurements. The main fractions (stem, leaf sheath and blade) of each straw were incubated for 24 h. Kinetics were fitted to an exponential model with lag time. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine intact fragments of stems and fragments incubated for 6, 24, 72 and 96 h in cow rumen. X-ray analysis was carried out on non-incubated fragments for silica mapping. A reduction of stem content from 320 to 270 g/kg straw, and an increase in leaf sheath content from 360 to 400 g/kg straw, were found for an increase in silica content from 0 to 100 g/kg DM. Chemical composition differed little between straws H and L, except for ash and silica contents. The ash originated mainly from the leaves and increased with silica content from 70 to 140 g/kg DM. The DM degradability was lower in the H than in the L straw. This reduction came mainly from a lower non-NDF component degradation in straw H. Stems were more degraded than leaf fractions for DM, NDF and non-NDF components; their degradation was depressed in the H straw. X-ray analysis showed that the deposition of silica on the stem epidermis was different, with a thick layer on H stems and no deposition on L stem surfaces. As a consequence, microbial colonization and degradation were faster on the epidermis of straw L. Epidermal silica did not hinder degradation from the internal cavity.


Background: This study aims to systematically evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome (MS) and pulmonary function through meta-analysis. Methods: Electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, were systematically searched to obtain articles associated with MS and lung function published before December 31, 2021. According to the including and excluding criteria, certain studies were obtained and data were extracted. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the quality of the studies. A pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated by means of random-effects meta-analysis. Different effect models were used according to the heterogeneity. Meta-regression and sensitivity analyses were performed to examine the possible sources of heterogeneity. The Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test were used to evaluate publication bias. Analyses were performed using Stata MP, version14.0 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, USA). Results: A total of 15 studies, involving 10,285 cases of MS and 25,416 cases of control, were included in this meta-analysis on the relationship between MS and forced vital capacity (FVC). The pooled SMD for FVC was -0.247 (95% CI = -0.327 to -0.2167, P < 0.001) using random effect model, indicating the decrease of FVC in the patients with MS. In the same studies, the pooled SMD for forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) was -0.205 (95% CI = -0.3278 to -0.133, P < 0.001), indicating the decrease of FEV1 also existed in the MS cases. A total of 13 studies, involving 8167 cases of MS and 19,788 cases of control, were included in this meta-analysis on the relationship between MS and FEV1/FVC. The pooled SMD for FEV1/FVC was 0.011 (95% CI = -0.072 to 0.093, P = 0.798) using random effect model, indicating that there was no significant difference between the patients with MS and the control. After introducing the diastolic blood pressure and glycemia into the regression model of the relationship between MS and FVC, the variance of the studies (tau2) decreased from 0.0190 to 0.006694 and 0.007205, which could explain 66.70% and 78.04% of the sources of heterogeneity, and the P values were 0.038 and 0.023. The results suggested that hypertension (diastolic pressure) and hyperglycemia were the factors linked to the heterogeneity among the included studies on both FVC and FEV1. The Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test both showed no evidence of publication bias. Conclusions: Our results show that FVC and FEV1 decrease in MS patients, while FEV1/FVC has no significant difference compared with the control group. It indicates that the patients with MS have restrictive ventilatory functional disturbance. Meta-regression analysis suggests that hypertension (diastolic pressure) and hyperglycemia are the factors linked to the heterogeneity among the included studies on both FVC and FEV1.


ABSTRACT Tuck, M.E.; Ford, M.R.; Masselink, G., and Kench, P.S., 2018. Physical Modelling of Reef Platform Hydrodynamics. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 491–495. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Low-lying coral reef islands are considered extremely vulnerable to the implications of climate change, particularly sea level rise. Over the last decade numerical modelling has been the primary method used to predict the future state of coral reef islands in response to rising sea level. However, disregarding complex island morphodynamics, numerical models treat islands as geomorphically inert landforms despite evidence showing islands fluctuate in size, shape and position on the reef flat across a range of timescales. In order to improve our understanding and incorporate reef island morphodynamics into predictive models, a physical modelling methodology is applied to a motu, a gravel island generally located on the windward side of coral reef atolls. Physical modelling experiments took place in the Coastal Basin at the COAST laboratory, Plymouth University, UK. A 1:50 scale reef platform was constructed based on the morphology of the reef platform on the windward side of Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu. Wave processes on the reef platform have a strong influence on island geomorphology and therefore accurate replication of the hydrodynamic processes are a crucial aspect of successfully physically modelling island morphodynamics. This paper details the reef platform hydrodynamics observed during 18 experiments where wave height, wave period and water level were varied. Results highlight the successful application of physical modelling to reproduce field observations of reef platform hydrodynamics in the flume, demonstrating the accuracy of the scaled physical modelling experiments.


The use of radio for the purpose of gathering and disseminating agricultural information was investigated among 120 farmers who were purposively and randomly selected in two village settings. The three objectives of the study were; (1) to identify the agricultural technologies /recommendations which rural farmers used with the help of radio; (2) to assess the frequency by rural farmers' access radio in getting extension information; and (3) to assess the frequency by which the rural farmer listening to some radio programmes produced on farm practices in their vernacular. Results showed that the respondents used to source , on moderate level (averagely), information on the following technologies/recommendations on improved maize, from radio; improved maize varieties, seed rate, seed dressing, plant spacing, fertilizer application, post-harvest processing and storage. Further findings revealed that the majority of the farmers 60 (50%) had access to radio daily, 58 (48.33 %) weekly and the majority of the respondents ranked first in frequently listening to radio programmes with extension messages, in their vernacular. Keywords : radio, rural farmers, extension, information, improved maize Global Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 4(1&2) 2005: 33-36


In a study to isolate fungal pathogens with potential for the biocontrol of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), some lakes in the Lagos State and its environs, Nigeria, were surveyed for diseased water hyacinth (E. crassipes). The fungi present in the diseased tissue were isolated and identified as: Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium sp., Curvularia pallescens, Fusarium solani and Myrothecium roridum. The pathogenicity of isolates of these fungi on fresh, non-diseased water hyacinth plants was investigated. Myrothecium was the only species capable of inducing disease symptoms. Necrosis was observed on water hyacinth leaves three days post inoculation (DPI) with M. roridum (1 × 106 spores/ml). The leaves and the petioles were withered at the end of day 24, and the disease incidence and disease severity were 100% and 8.67%, respectively. Molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer rDNA of the M. roridum isolate from water hyacinth showed >98% homology to authenticated sequences of M. roridum. The isolate, deposited at the International Mycological Institute, UK, as M. roridum Tode: Fries (IMI 394934), possesses the level of virulence needed in a potential mycoherbicide for use in the management of water hyacinth.


What drives the formation of basaltic melts beneath intraplate volcanoes not associated with extensive thermal anomalies or lithospheric extension? Detailed constraints on the melting conditions and source region are imperative to resolve this question. Here we model the geochemistry of alkali basalts and mantle nodules brought up by young (12–0.1 Ma) intraplate volcanoes distributed across the Carpathian‐Pannonian region and combine the results with geophysical observations. Rare earth element inversion and forward calculation of elemental concentrations show that the basalts require the mantle to have undergone less than 1% melting in the garnet‐spinel transition zone, at depths of about 63–72 km. The calculated melt distributions correspond to a mantle potential temperature of ∼1257°C, equivalent to a real temperature of 1290°C at 65 km beneath the Pannonian Basin. The composition, modal mineralogy, and clinopyroxene geochemistry of some of the entrained mantle nodules closely resemble the basalt source, though the latter equilibrated at greater depths. The gravity anomalies and topography of the Basin reveal no large‐scale features that can account for the post‐extensional volcanism. Instead, the lithospheric thickness and geotherm show that melting occurs because the base of the lithosphere, at ∼50‐km depth, is close to or at the solidus temperature over a large part of the Basin. Hence, only a small amount of upwelling is required to produce minor volumes (up to a few cubic kilometers) of melt. We conclude that the Pannonian volcanism originates from upwelling in the asthenosphere just below thinned lithosphere, which is likely to be driven by thermal buoyancy.