Abstract The EU 2030 climate package calls for raising energy efficiency, increasing usage of RES and decreasing the carbon footprint. There are stringent requirements for new buildings, but the energy efficiency potential in the existing building stock is still not fully explored. The latest trend in urban energy efficiency is the Positive Energy Block (PEB) strategies for new developments. It includes raising building energy efficiency, optimizing energy flow and implementing renewable energy sources (RES). Transforming all existing blocks in a city centre to a PEB would radically change the pattern of energy supply and consumption. European cities have historic centres with great architectural and cultural value. Any urban regeneration strategies must respect and preserve historic values. This paper describes double multi-criteria analysis evaluating urban blocks from both the energy efficiency and cultural heritage perspective with the goal to select the sample block for a "Smart urban regeneration – transition to the Positive Energy Block" case study. Proposed criteria for multi-criteria analysis to evaluate cultural heritage, liveability and energy efficiency potential describes specific qualities of the urban block. The obtained results show that blocks with higher cultural value show less energy efficiency potential and vice versa. It is recommended to apply cultural value and liveability qualities in the Smart urban regeneration process to those blocks with high energy efficiency potential.


Recent advances in neural text-to-speech research have been dominated by two-stage pipelines utilizing low-level intermediate speech representation such as mel-spectrograms. However, such predetermined features are fundamentally limited, because they do not allow to exploit the full potential of a data-driven approach through learning hidden representations. For this rea-son, several end-to-end methods have been proposed. However, such models are harder to train and require a large number of high-quality recordings with transcriptions. Here, we propose WavThruVec – a two-stage architecture that resolves the bot-tleneck by using high-dimensional WAV 2 VEC 2.0 embeddings as intermediate speech representation. Since these hidden activations provide high-level linguistic features, they are more robust to noise. That allows us to utilize annotated speech datasets of a lower quality to train the first-stage module. At the same time, the second-stage component can be trained on large-scale untranscribed audio corpora, as WAV 2 VEC 2.0 embeddings are already time-aligned. This results in an increased generalization capability to out-of-vocabulary words, as well as to a better generalization to unseen speakers. We show that the proposed model not only matches the quality of state-of-the-art neural models, but also presents useful properties enabling tasks like voice conversion or zero-shot synthesis.


Most of phenomenologically acceptable supersymmetric models imply breaking of supersymmetry in a separate sector of fields introduced just for this purpose. Supersymmetry breaking is transferred to the Standard Model due to a certain interaction with this additional sector. In this review we discuss one of the popular mechanisms of such mediation with the key role played by the Standard Model gauge interactions. We consider general principles of gauge mediation and give a critical analysis of specific models together with their phenomenological and cosmological implications. We also present basic facts concerning mechanisms of dynamical supersymmetry breaking.


Participatory design has been used to bring user requirements into design of interactive multimedia systems. The case study of participatory design, discussed in this paper, employs scenario-based techniques for redesigning a Web site of Computer Science Department. It reveals that scenarios can encourage real users to participate in redesign activities and to identify usability problems on Web sites, yet they may feel that scenario writing process becomes an effort. This paper discusses some issues on conducting scenario-based participatory redesign of Web sites also.


The architecture described in this paper encodes a theory of intentions based on the key principles of non-procrastination, persistence, and automatically limiting reasoning to relevant knowledge and observations. The architecture reasons with transition diagrams of any given domain at two different resolutions, with the fine-resolution description defined as a refinement of, and hence tightly-coupled to, a coarse-resolution description. For any given goal, nonmonotonic logical reasoning with the coarse-resolution description computes an activity, i.e., a plan, comprising a sequence of abstract actions to be executed to achieve the goal. Each abstract action is implemented as a sequence of concrete actions by automatically zooming to and reasoning with the part of the fine-resolution transition diagram relevant to the current coarse-resolution transition and the goal. Each concrete action in this sequence is executed using probabilistic models of the uncertainty in sensing and actuation, and the corresponding fine-resolution outcomes are used to infer coarse-resolution observations that are added to the coarse-resolution history. The architecture's capabilities are evaluated in the context of a simulated robot assisting humans in an office domain, on a physical robot (Baxter) manipulating tabletop objects, and on a wheeled robot (Turtlebot) moving objects to particular places or people. The experimental results indicate improve-ments in reliability and computational efficiency compared with an architecture that does not include the theory of intentions, and an architecture that does not include zooming for fine-resolution reasoning.


Most of public travel information services nowadays are limited to the driving navigation or bus/subway guidance. Practical needs for pedestrian navigation yet haven't got met enough and usually result in unacceptable travel route planning. This paper presents an approach on building Walkway network with different map layers for pedestrian specified facilities, and then implements pedestrian aimed route planning considering complete walking guidance. With the road network dataset and the walking concerned facilities dataset (e.g. overpass, underpass, pedestrian crosswalk in separate map layers), this research established a walkway network automatically through neighbourhood searching, topological and geometrical computation, as well as attribute considering. The walkway network is argued suitable for foot walking and critical for the walking guidance during mode transfer in multi-modal journeys, and also the fundamental difference with traditional approaches and current map websites and mobile navigation systems. A prototype system was developed to verify above approach. Data utilized in this prototype comprise detailed road network navigation dataset, and overpass, underpass and pedestrian crosswalk dataset in Beijing downtown. * Corresponding author


Abstract This article offers both a critique and reconstruction of cosmopolitan democracy. It argues that cosmopolitan democracy promotes an excessively individualist account of political life and a functionalist approach to political community that are likely to undermine the kinds of national communities and citizens that are most likely to mobilise against global injustices. It argues that the alleviation of global injustices depends on the rescuing and reframing, rather than weakening, of national identities so that they take on a more cosmopolitan character. Cosmopolitan democracy is dependent upon cosmopolitan nationalism, based on a commitment to common liberty and justice at home and abroad.


Cardiotoxicity during cancer treatment has become an acknowledged problem of chemotherapy medications and radiation therapy. Limitations of biomarkers and imaging tests such as echocardiography left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) hinder early detection of cardiotoxicity and proactive cardioprotective therapy. Once the heart is unable to compensate for subclinical dysfunction, systemic damage and remodeling occurs increasing the potential for heart failure. Fast-SENC segmental intramyocardial strain (fSENC) is a unique cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) test that regionally detects subclinical intramyocardial dysfunction in 1 heartbeat. This study evaluates the ability of fSENC to detect subclinical cardiotoxicity and manage cardioprotective therapy in cancer patients.

 This single center, prospective Prefect Study was used to evaluate cardiotoxicity and the impact of cardioprotective therapy in Breast Cancer and Lymphoma patients (NCT03543228). fSENC was acquired with a 1.5T MRI and processed with the MyoStrain software to quantify intramyocardial strain. Segmental strain was measured in three short axis scans (basal, midventricular & apical) with 16LV/6RV longitudinal segments & three long axis scans (2-, 3-, 4-chamber) with 21LV/5RV circumferential segments. fSENC CMR was performed before chemotherapy, during and after anthracycline/taxan therapy, at 1 year follow-up, and as needed in between designated follow-up periods. Cardioprotective therapy was offered to patients meeting the definition of cardiotoxicity by the ESC Guidelines on Cardiotoxicity and/or ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines or those observing a substantial decline in cardiac function. Comparisons were made with paired t-Test with a 95% confidence interval.

 Two hundred eight (208) CMRs were performed in fifty-two (52) patients (44 female). Patients had an average (± stdev) age of 53 (15) yrs, BMI of 26 (5) kg/m2; 77% had breast cancer, 23% had Lymphoma. fSENC CMRs required 11 (2) min total exam time. Figure 1 shows bar graphs of the % of normal LV myocardium (e.g. % LV MyoStrain Segments <−17%) at baseline and sequential follow-ups for patients without cardiotoxicity and with cardiotoxicity requiring cardioprotective therapy. Patients observing cardiotoxicity had a statistically significant decline in cardiac function measured by segmental fSENC (p=0.0002) which resolved after cardioprotective therapy.
 Figure 1

 Segmental fSENC intramyocardial strain detects subclinical cardiotoxicity during chemotherapy and impact of cardioprotective therapy. The ability to serve as a surrogate safety endpoint for chemotherapy or other pharmacological agents, and aid management of cardiotoxicity by serving as a surrogate efficacy endpoint for cardioprotection agents, dosage, and patient compliance may help physicians detect subclinical cardiac dysfunction, and proactively manage cancer patients to avoid early or late heart failure.


We propose a novel approach to quantum cryptography systems merging, on a single bench top, entangled photons generation and their distribution using standard telecommunication technologies. We employ our technique for distributing photonic entanglement over a fully fibered network, and achieve unprecedented bit rates, which go beyond the state of the art for similar approaches, emphasizing the potential of our system for long-distance and high-speed quantum cryptography applications.


Geographic variation in size (skull length) and sexual dimorphism in Mustela erminea, Mustela frenata and Mustela nivalis in North America is described and analysed in relation to latitude, longitude, climatic variables, and sympatry or allopatry of these species. Only erminea increases in size with latitude; it does so regardless of the presence or absence of frenata or nivalis. Latitude is a better predictor of size in erminea than available measures of climate, seasonality or prey size. There is no evidence for character displacement between any pair of species. The sexes covary in size in frenata and erminea, and probably in nivalis, although geographic variation in sexual dimorphism occurs in frenata and erminea. The principal cause of sexual dimorphism appears to be sexual selection for large size in males rather than the high energetic requirements resulting from an elongate body shape. However, prey size may constrain female size (and possibly also male size). Regional differences in the abundance of prey during the growth of young weasels may affect adult size much more in males than in females and contribute to geographic variation in sexual dimorphism.


Background Unintentional injuries need to be better studied to be avoided, as they are responsible for 25,000 deaths per year in France, including one a day in children under 15 years old. One of the objectives of "school surveys" is to describe these injuries, the conditions of their occurrence, their severity, their consequences in terms of limitations and healthcare, and the factors associated with the injury. Methods The same questionnaire on the occurrence of injuries was used in three nationally representative samples in France: 17,000 schoolchildren aged 5–6 years in 2012–2013, 7,000 schoolchildren aged 10–11 in 2004–2005, and 7,000 students aged 14–15 in 2008–2009. The data were weighted; descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed. Results In the three months preceding the survey, 4% of 5–6 year-olds, and 9% of 10–11 and 14–15 year-olds reported an injury. The proportion of traffic accidents was 10% at 14–15 years, and only 4% at 10–11 years and 2% at 5–6 years. The proportion of fractures was similar among the three samples, representing between 20% and 24%. Sprains increased with age: 8%, 33% and 54%. The head was the most affected part at 5–6 years (57%) and lower limbs at 10–11 years and 14–15 years (41 and 48%). Injuries were more frequent among boys in the three surveys, in middle class children, in children spending less time watching a screen, in children with a history of asthma or practicing a sport activity in the 14–15 years age group, and in overweight children in the 5–6 years age group. They were less frequent in 5–6 years and 10–11 years old children attending school in priority education zones. Conclusions As all the children attend school in France, these results relate to all unintentional injuries of children of one age group. Further specific surveys on the most severe injuries are needed to define preventive actions.


Objective To construct recombinant adenovirus Ad-CMV-TK,and determine the inhibitory effect of Ad-CMV-TK / GCV system on murine lung cancer Lewis cells. Methods Amplify HSV-TK gene by PCR to construct recombinant adenovirus Ad-CMV-TK using replication-defective adenovirus as vector. Ad-CMV-TK was packed in HEK293 cells and purified by cesium chloride gradient centrifugation. Infect Lewis cells with the purified Ad-CMV-TK and determine the expressed HSV-TK protein by Western blot. Ad-CMV-TK / GCV was determined for inhibitory effect on Lewis cells by MTT method,and evaluated for tumorinhibiting effect in tumor-bearing C57 mice. Results HSV-TK protein was expressed in Lewis cells infected with recombinant adenovirus Ad-CMV-TK. Ad-CMV-TK / GCV system significantly inhibited the growth of Lewis cells in vitro. When the concentration of GCV was 100 μmol / L,the survival rate of Lewis cells was only 16%. The tumor sizes of mice treated with Ad-CMV-TK / GCV were significantly smaller than those with Ad-Blank / GCV and PBS controls. Conclusion Recombinant adenovirus Ad-CMV-TK was successfully constructed. Ad-CMV-TK / GCV system inhibited both in vitro and in vivo growths of Lewis cells significantly,which laid a foundation of further study on anti-tumor mechanism of the system.


This paper reports the strength behaviour of concrete containing three types of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) aggregate. Results are also analysed to determine the PET-aggregate's effect on the relationship between the flexural and splitting tensile strengths and compressive strength and to know whether the relationships between compressive strength and other strength characteristics given in European design codes are applicable to concrete made with PET-aggregates. The compressive strength development of concrete containing all types of PET-aggregate behaves like in conventional concrete, though the incorporation of any type of PET-aggregate significantly lowers the compressive strength of the resulting concrete. The PET-aggregate incorporation improves the toughness behaviour of the resulting concrete. This behaviour is dependent on PET-aggregate's shape and is maximised for concrete containing coarse, flaky PET-aggregate. The splitting tensile and flexural strength characteristics are proportional to the loss in compressive strength of concrete containing plastic aggregates.


Poverty reduction has been an overarching and universal goal for global and local development agendas. Global leaders chose to combine eradicating extreme poverty and hunger in the first Millennium Development Goal under the assumption that institutional arrangements to reduce poverty would automatically reduce hunger. Further assumptions suggested that all governments would design poverty reduction policies consistent with food security outcomes. We argue that concurrent hunger and poverty eradication in the rural settings of Uganda need direct institutional arrangements and action to reduce hunger as well as mechanisms that address other contextual factors. We empirically confirm that there are diverse determinants of hunger in Uganda with an associated socio-economic and political context. There is a relationship between poverty and hunger; therefore, government policies intended to address poverty need to embark on a synergy that coordinates interventions to address the interrelated societal problems of poverty and hunger.


A partially unitarized model for scattering amplitudes is constructed starting from the impact-parameter representation. In this model, in which the singularity at the origin of the impact-parameter plane is explicitly taken into account, a dominating peripheral trajectory generates an effective trajectory of the same kind in the t-channel. Thus it is demonstrated that there exists a model in which the peripheral trajectory comes out as a bootstrap solution.


Well-formed context aware image captions and tags in enterprise content such as marketing material are critical to ensure their brand presence and content recall. Manual creation and updates to ensure the same is non trivial given the scale and the tedium towards this task. We propose a new unified Vision-Language (VL) model based on the One For All (OFA) model, with a focus on context-assisted image captioning where the caption is generated based on both the image and its context. Our approach aims to overcome the context-independent (image and text are treated independently) nature of the existing approaches. We exploit context by pretraining our model with datasets of three tasks- news image captioning where the news article is the context, contextual visual entailment, and keyword extraction from the context. The second pretraining task is a new VL task, and we construct and release two datasets for the task with 1.1M and 2.2K data instances. Our system achieves state-of-the-art results with an improvement of up to 8.34 CIDEr score on the benchmark news image captioning datasets. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first effort at incorporating contextual information in pretraining the models for the VL tasks.


This study evaluated the effect of megestrol acetate administration on the serological assessment of some sex steroid hormones in women with advanced hormone-sensitive breast cancer. The serum levels of 17-beta estradiol, androstenedione and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) were measured by means of radioimmunometric assays, before and during drug administration. A significant suppressive effect on SHBG and androstenedione levels in comparison with the baseline values was reached in 100% (40/40) and 51% (20/39) of patients, respectively, after two months of therapy; by contrast, 17-beta estradiol levels showed an increase above the baseline levels in 18 out of 22 patients. These findings might be explained on the basis of a possible interference in vivo of megestrol acetate metabolites particularly in the estradiol assay, since a direct influence of the solubilized megestrol acetate was not observed in vitro. The hormone levels generally did not shaw any relationship with the course of the disease, so their serial determinations do not seem to be useful to assess the clinical status or evaluate response to therapy. In our group of patients, CEA and CA15.3 serum determinations were also carried out to monitor the efficacy of treatment. CEA and CA15.3 levels reflected the course of the disease in 58.9% (23/39) and 65.8% (25/38) of patients, respectively. The two tumor markers displayed a similar sensitivity in detecting cancer progression (64% CEA and 63% CA15.3), but CA15.3 seemed to have a better diagnostic value in evaluating the response to therapy and signalling tumor relapse.


A Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of 3-chloropropane-1,2-diol fatty acid esters (3-MCPDEs), 2-chloropropane-1,3-diol fatty acid esters (2-MCPDEs), 1,3-dichloro2-propanol fatty acid esters (1,3-DCPEs) and 2,3-dichloro-1-propanol fatty acid esters (2,3-DCPEs) in refined corn oil. The analytes were extracted by solid-phase extraction and were eluted with ethyl acetate. The detection was performed by selected ion monitoring mode for the target compounds. The procedure showed good linearity and precision. The limit of detection and quantification were less than 0.03 ng/ml and 0.1 ng/ml, respectively. The recoveries of chloropropanol fatty acid esters were in the range of 98.6 % ~ 108.3 %. The method has been successfully applied to determine these compounds in refined corn oil.


Despite the widespread availability of insulin pumps, continuous glucose sensors, and insulin analogs with rapid-acting pharmacokinetic profiles, most people with type 1 diabetes fail to meet recommended glycemic targets, rates of severe hypoglycemia remain unacceptably high, and the burden of care on patients and loved ones exacts an enormous psychosocial toll. The combination of continuous glucose monitoring with insulin delivery into an integrated automated system promises to improve diabetes control while at the same time reduce the burden of care. A wide variety of automated insulin delivery systems, ranging in scope from simple pump suspension to reduce hypoglycemia, to complex multiple hormone systems under separate regulation and delivery, have been studied in both controlled inpatient settings and more free-ranging outpatient environments. Preliminary findings have been positive, with most studies demonstrating reduction in overall glucose levels, increased time-in-target range, and reductions in exposure to hypoglycemia. As these systems move closer to commercialization, the focus of ongoing efforts will need to address the continuing challenges of sensor accuracy and reliability, connectivity issues, and human factors considerations.


Genetic transformation of plants by Agrobacterium, which in nature causes neoplastic growths, represents the only known case of trans‐kingdom DNA transfer. Furthermore, under laboratory conditions, Agrobacterium can also transform a wide range of other eukaryotic species, from fungi to sea urchins to human cells. How can the Agrobacterium virulence machinery function in such a variety of evolutionarily distant and diverse species? The answer to this question lies in the ability of Agrobacterium to hijack fundamental cellular processes which are shared by most eukaryotic organisms. Our knowledge of these host cellular functions is critical for understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie genetic transformation of eukaryotic cells. This review outlines the bacterial virulence machinery and provides a detailed discussion of seven major biological systems of the host cell–cell surface receptor arrays, cellular motors, nuclear import, chromatin targeting, targeted proteolysis, DNA repair, and plant immunity – thought to participate in the Agrobacterium‐mediated genetic transformation.


The electron in a rectangular potential well in the presence of a magnetic field perpendicular to the gradient of the confining potential is considered theoretically. The description serves as a model for semiconductor quasi-two-dimensional systems in a magnetic field parallel to interfaces. It is shown that the electric quantisation at low magnetic fields goes over to the Landau quantisation at high fields. The case of narrow-gap semiconductors is also considered. The system offers interesting possibilities for tunable light sources and detectors.


Semi-infinite forms on the moduli spaces of genus-zero Riemann surfaces with punctures and local coordinates are introduced. A partial operad of semi-infinite forms is constructed. Using semi-infinite forms and motivated by a partial suboperad of the partial operad of semi-infinite forms, topological vertex partial operads of type k<0 and strong topological vertex partial operads of type k<0 are constructed. It is proved that the category of (locally-)grading-restricted (strong) topological vertex operator algebras of type k<0 and the category of (weakly) meromorphic ℤ×ℤ-graded algebras over the (strong) topological vertex partial operad of type k are isomorphic. As an application of this isomorphism theorem, the following conjecture of Lian-Zuckerman and Kimura-Voronov-Zuckerman is proved: A strong topological vertex operator algebra gives a (weak) homotopy Gerstenhaber algebra. These results hold in particular for the tensor product of the moonshine module vertex operator algebra, the vertex algebra constructed from a rank 2 Lorentz lattice and the ghost vertex operator algebra, studied in detail first by Lian and Zuckerman.


Three space-oriented projects at CMU's Robotics Institute are described: the Ambler planetary rover, the self-mobile space manipulator and the Hubble space telescope scheduling system. The Ambler planetary rover project is a comprehensive research program to design and build an intelligent machine that will explore and sample extraterrestrial planetary surfaces. The self-mobile space manipulator robot is part of an effort to develop technologies that will enable mobile robots to be used on the space station and other space structures. The Hubble space telescope scheduling (HSTS) Project is developing a software architecture to formulate and solve complex planning and scheduling problems.<<ETX>>


Objectives We examined health care disparities in Korean urban homeless people and individual characteristics associated with the utilization of health care. Methods We selected a sample of 203 homeless individuals at streets, shelters, and drop-in centers in Seoul and Daejeon by a quota sampling method. We surveyed demographic information, information related to using health care, and health status with a questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was adopted to identify factors associated with using health care and to reveal health care disparities within the Korean urban homeless population. Results Among 203 respondents, 89 reported that they had visited health care providers at least once in the past 6 months. Twenty persons (22.5%) in the group that used health care (n = 89) reported feeling discriminated against. After adjustment for age, sex, marital status, educational level, monthly income, perceived health status, Beck Depression Inventory score, homeless period, and other covariates, three factors were significantly associated with medical utilization: female sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR, 15.95; 95% CI, 3.97 to 64.04], having three or more diseases (aOR, 24.58; 95% CI, 4.23 to 142.78), and non-street residency (aOR, 11.39; 95% CI, 3.58 to 36.24). Conclusions Health care disparities in Seoul and Daejeon homeless exist in terms of the main place to stay, physical illnesses, and gender. Under the current homeless support system in South Korea, street homeless have poorer accessibility to health care versus non-street homeless. To provide equitable medical aid for homeless people, strategies to overcome barriers against health care for the street homeless are needed.


Recent improvements in optical imaging, genetically encoded fluorophores and genetic tools allowing efficient establishment of desired transgenic animal lines have enabled biological processes to be studied in the context of a living, and in some instances even behaving, organism. In this protocol we will describe how to anesthetize intact Drosophila larvae, using the volatile anesthetic desflurane, to follow the development and plasticity of synaptic populations at sub-cellular resolution1-3. While other useful methods to anesthetize Drosophila melanogaster larvae have been previously described4,5,6,7,8, the protocol presented herein demonstrates significant improvements due to the following combined key features: (1) A very high degree of anesthetization; even the heart beat is arrested allowing for lateral resolution of up to 150 nm1, (2) a high survival rate of > 90% per anesthetization cycle, permitting the recording of more than five time-points over a period of hours to days2 and (3) a high sensitivity enabling us in 2 instances to study the dynamics of proteins expressed at physiological levels. In detail, we were able to visualize the postsynaptic glutamate receptor subunit GluR-IIA expressed via the endogenous promoter1 in stable transgenic lines and the exon trap line FasII-GFP1. (4) In contrast to other methods4,7 the larvae can be imaged not only alive, but also intact (i.e. non-dissected) allowing observation to occur over a number of days1. The accompanying video details the function of individual parts of the in vivo imaging chamber2,3, the correct mounting of the larvae, the anesthetization procedure, how to re-identify specific positions within a larva and the safe removal of the larvae from the imaging chamber.


Locating users and terminals accurately within buildings is an important technology for mobile applications. However indoor geolocation systems presented in the past are often restricted to certain applications or sensor systems and mostly provide location information in a context-specific manner. The WhereMoPS system is a flexible research platform for advanced indoor geolocation systems which can be extended to integrate additional sensing subsystems and positioning algorithms. The location information is distributed by means of the Mobile Positioning Protocol (MPP) originally designed for location-based services in GSM networks. This paper describes the WhereMoPS system design and implementation as well as the modifications necessary to adapt MPP to indoor environments.


The M2 subset of macrophages has a critical role to play in host tissue repair, tissue fibrosis and modulation of adaptive immunity during helminth infection. Infection with the helminth, Fasciola hepatica, is associated with M2 macrophages in its mammalian host, and this response is mimicked by its excretory‐secretory products (FhES). The tegumental coat of F. hepatica (FhTeg) is another major source of immune‐modulatory molecules; we have previously shown that FhTeg can modulate the activity of both dendritic cells and mast cells inhibiting their ability to prime a Th1 immune response. Here, we report that FhTeg does not induce Th2 immune responses but can induce M2‐like phenotype in vivo that modulates cytokine production from CD4+ cells in response to anti‐CD3 stimulation. FhTeg induces a RELMα expressing macrophage population in vitro, while in vivo, the expression of Arg1 and Ym‐1/2 but not RELMα in FhTeg‐stimulated macrophages was STAT6 dependent. To support this finding, FhTeg induces RELMα expression in vivo prior to the induction of IL‐13. FhTeg can induce IL‐13‐producing peritoneal macrophages following intraperitoneal injection This study highlights the important role of FhTeg as an immune‐modulatory source during F. hepatica infection and sheds further light on helminth–macrophage interactions.


Pharmaco-electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive method used to assess the effects of pharmacological compounds on the central nervous system by processing the EEG signals which directly reveal the spontaneous synchronised postsynaptic neuronal activity of the cortex with high temporal resolution. The International Pharmaco-Encephalography Society (IPEG) has recently published guidelines, which were produced by a global panel of EEG experts, with the goal to increase the standardisation of pharmaco-EEG studies in human subjects and facilitate the comparability of data across laboratories, thus enabling data-pooling and meta-analyses. The recommended standard experimental procedure is to measure EEG activity under vigilance-controlled and resting conditions. The IPEG guidelines thoroughly present the technical details and therefore constitute a robust reference. The complementary aim of the present paper is to focus on practical aspects, pitfalls and precautions to be considered when processing pharmaco-EEG data by covering the following topics: (1) investigate the stability and reliability of 5-min EEG recordings under both vigilance-controlled and resting conditions; (2) assess the spontaneous time-dependent changes in spectral activity over time, and (3) apply the data-processing strategies suggested in the pharmaco-EEG guidelines and designed to optimally capture drug effects. For this purpose, the EEG data from a randomised, double-blind, crossover trial aimed at comparing the effect of diazepam (10 mg) and placebo in 16 healthy male volunteers is used to illustrate the discussion of the processing techniques and difficulties commonly faced when analysing pharmaco-EEG data.


Retirement age reform in the Russian Federation is widely discussed in recent Russian economic literature. This literature mainly focuses on economic justification of increasing retirement age, less often considers demographic issues. The latter that according to economists' point of view provide additional arguments for this reform are critically considered in the article. As indicated in it, none of these issues (population ageing, life expectancy growth, health of the elderly) nowadays provide empirical grounds for making decisions on changes in retirement age. On the contrary, modern demographic processes in Russia give arguments against this reform.


The objective of this study is to investigate the Influence of process parameters, such as power of laser, travel speed of laser and material thickness, on the practical cutting region and the kerf width for the case of cutting of CSP 1N sheet using high power Nd·YAG laser with continuous wave(CW), In order to find the practical cutting region and the relationship between process parameters on the kerfwidth, several laser cutting experiments are earned out
The effective heat input is introduced to consider the influence of power and travel speed of laser on the kerfwidth together From the results of experiments, the allowable cutting region and the relationship between the effective heat input and kerfwidth for the case of cutting of CSP 1N sheet using high power CW Nd.YAG laser have been obtained to improve the dimensional accuracy of the cut area.


This work presents the design of compact multimode patch antennas for application in medium-size MIMO terminals combining spatial and radiation-pattern diversity. This design was inspired by previous work, which proposed the use of patch antennas providing two services at two frequency bands that required different radiation patterns. These precedents are briefly reviewed, before extending the concept of the dual-pattern two-frequency case to one in which diversity is demanded at a single frequency. A design with three modes at a single frequency is also accomplished. Some prototypes have been manufactured and measured. An example of the advantages of using these multimode antennas in terms of spectral efficiency in MIMO systems is also included. The key aspect of this work is the use of short-circuited ring patch (SCRP) antennas.


Thymidylate, a vital DNA precursor, is synthesized by thymidylate synthases (TSs). A second class of TSs, encoded by the thyX gene, is found in bacteria and a few other microbes and is especially widespread in anaerobes. TS encoded by thyX requires a flavin adenine dinucleotide prosthetic group for activity. In the oxidative half-reaction, the reduced flavin is oxidized by 2′-deoxyuridine 5′-monophosphate (dUMP) and (6R)-N5,N10-methylene-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolate (CH2THF), synthesizing 2′-deoxythymidine 5′-monophosphate (dTMP). dTMP synthesis is a complex process, requiring the enzyme to promote carbon transfer, probably by increasing the nucleophilicity of dUMP and the electrophilicity of CH2THF, and reduction of the transferred carbon. The mechanism of the oxidative half-reaction was investigated by transient kinetics. Two intermediates were detected, the first by a change in the flavin absorbance spectrum in stopped-flow experiments and the second by the transient disappearance of deoxynucleotide in acid quenching experiments. The effects of substrate analogues and the behavior of mutated enzymes on these reactions lead to the conclusion that activation of dUMP does not occur through a Michael-like addition, the mechanism for the activation analogous with that of the flavin-independent TS. Rather, we propose that the nucleophilicity of dUMP is enhanced by electrostatic polarization upon binding to the active site. This conclusion rationalizes many of our observations, for instance, the markedly slower reactions when two arginine residues that hydrogen bond with the uracil moiety of dUMP were mutated to alanine. The activation of dUMP by polarization is consistent with the majority of the published data on ThyX and provides a testable mechanistic hypothesis.


Fat-induced hepatic insulin resistance (FIHIR) in obesity induced by high-fat diet leads to ectopic lipid accumulation and may contribute to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. We examined the alterations in hepatic gene expression involved in FIHIR by using obese insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters that received high-fat diet with or without low-dose streptozotocin. Microarray analysis and confirmatory real-time RT-PCR indicated that increased mRNA levels of sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs) and decreased mRNA levels of liver X receptor (LXRalpha) and peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor (PPARalpha) occurred in FIHIR in insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters. Expression levels of hepatic LXRalpha, SREBPs, and PPARalpha differed significantly between insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters. Expression of LXRalpha, SREBPs, and PPARalpha all change in FIHIR associated with hepatic lipid accumulation in insulin-resistant and diabetic hamsters in which disease is induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin injection.


The Himalayan traders of this book's title are four Nepalese groups: ' The Sherpas of Solu-Khumbu ' ; ' Bhotias of the Arun and Tamur regions ' (east Nepal); ' Highlanders of the Dhaulagiri zone ' (the Thakalis and Dolpo folk); and ' Traders of the Karnali zone ' (Bhotias, Thakuris, and Chetris of the Humla and adjacent regions of north-west Nepal). The emphasis of the book is on economic activity, and what links all these groups together from this point of view is their common participation, at least down to 1959, in the trans-Himalayan exchange of goods, especially the trading of grain from plains and lower hills for Tibetan salt. Although this is made its theme, the book is about far more than trade ; it is a study of the economic life of these peoples in general. In so far as the traditional trade with Tibet has largely stopped with the Chinese takeover of that land, and with the gradual drawing of outlying parts of Nepal into a market economy based on money and motor roads, with Indian connexions, the common denominator of trans-Himalayan trade is now of slight significance. The response of the various groups to the withdrawal of the trade has indeed been very different: concentration on tourism for the Sherpas, transfer of business activities to other parts of Nepal for the Thakalis, impoverishment and emigration for some of the western Bhotia groups. To this extent the title Himalayan traders is somewhat misleading.


This research examines the Nice 2 Meet U intervention program which, unlike other programs promoting dialogue between Arab/Palestinian and Jewish students on Israeli campuses, was a grassroots program initiated and moderated by students. The program was designed jointly by the initiators, the participants and the researcher/advisor using action research. The objective of the current study was to describe the negotiations among all the partners with respect to a central dilemma: should the program include political discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The research proposes seeing the negotiations over designing grassroots conflict intervention programs as an arena in which the participants' academic, ethno-national and gender positions intersect and shape knowledge-power relations. Alongside the risks inherent in this process, it also offers potential for creating transformative spaces that challenge traditional patterns of power relations and encourage students to take part in changing the social atmosphere on campus.


The new Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative Vascular Access Guidelines now focus on a more comprehensive overall patient strategy. The patient's vascular access needs are part of a dialysis access strategy, which itself is part of an End Stage Kidney Disease Life-Plan strategy that stems from a unique patient's individualized needs. The End Stage Kidney Disease Life-Plan is an individualized and comprehensive map for dialysis modalities and dialysis access for the lifetime of the patient. New targets are introduced that align with this patient-centered approach. The Guidelines made significant changes to the use of surveillance techniques to detect stenosis and found insufficient evidence to make a recommendation for routine arteriovenous fistula surveillance by measuring access blood flow, pressure monitoring, or imaging for stenosis that was in addition to routine clinical monitoring. Routine surveillance is not recommended in arteriovenous grafts. Similarly, pre-emptive angioplasty of arteriovenous fistulas or arteriovenous grafts with stenosis, not associated with clinical indicators, is not recommended. The Guidelines represent a rigorous review of the evidence; however, the available evidence to guide vascular access practice remains limited. There is a significant need and opportunity for new and ongoing high-quality research to inform best practice.


'It is the worst of times. It is the best of times. Try as I might I cannot find a more appropriate opening for this volume' Terrorist attacks, natural disasters such as the Asian tsunami and the flooding of New Orleans, the reality of global warming, ongoing warfare in Iraq and the de-stabilisation of the Middle East - sometimes the future can seem bleak, if not frightening. Yet this is not a pessimistic book. Taking a line from the poet June Jordan who said 'We are the Ones we have been waiting for' - Alice Walker reasserts the power of the individual in making political change happen. In short, we can 'fix things' by focusing on what we share as human beings rather than what separates us. Looking at subjects as diverse as sending our children to war, the rich/poor divide, Nature, the I Ching, modern gender roles, women in the miltary, and even a piece on her dog Marley, Alice Walker looks towards an optimistic view of the future through a more intuitive understanding of the self and the world around us.


Closed-orbit theory is a semiclassical technique for explaining the spectra of Rydberg atoms in external fields. We derive an alternative version of closed-orbit theory that applies when the external fields are time dependent. We compare the results of this theory with experiments on lithium atoms in a weak oscillating electric field.


A circulating anodic antigen (CAA) was detected in Schistosoma japonicum-infected mice using counter- immunoelectrophoresis. The incidence of CAA increased with the total number of female and male worms and reached 100% in mice with 12 worms. The worm burdens, expressed as male worm equivalents based on the CAA content, also showed a close correlation with CAA frequency. On the other hand, the incidence of antibodies had an inverse relationship with CAA frequency. No reactions were seen in mice with more than 13 worms or 30 male worms equivalents. It was notable that mice infected with only male and/or immature worms had a significantly higher degree of reaction (54.5%) than bisexually infected mice (18.2%). For comparison, S. mansoniinfected mice were investigated using S. japonicum worm -derived antigen or antiserum. However, no CAA was detected in the sera from 18 mice, even though one group of mice had a large number of worms (X ± SE, 49.7 ± 11.7). In contrast, antibodies were detected in sera of all mice sacrificed at 14 and 20 weeks after the infection.


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 14-18, 2007; Los Angeles, CA

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Prostate cancer is one of the most common male malignancies and one of the most frequent causes of cancer-related deaths in men in the western world. Patients initially respond to androgen-ablation, but eventually progress to hormone refractory disease. Therefore, alternative strategies are required for treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer; chemotherapy has long been used for this purpose. Of the various cytotoxic drugs, cis-di amine platinum (II) dichloride (cisplatin), a member of platinum complexes, has been shown to exhibit therapeutic efficacy in patients with prostate cancer. However, its clinical effectiveness is compromised by its high systemic toxicity, which is an inherent problem for many chemotherapeutic agents. In this study we have tested the hypothesis that nanoparticles containing cisplatin in a starch-polyethylene glycol and coated with polycaprolactone-peptide and/or -folic acid conjugates enhance the therapeutic efficacy of platinum-based therapy. We have investigated the possibility of a more selective delivery of cisplatin to prostate cancer cells using nanoparticles as a cisplatin carrier. The induction of apoptosis and anti-proliferative activity of cisplatin or nanoparticles, containing cisplatin along with folic acid alone and/or prostate cancer cell specific homing peptide coatings, was determined on normal prostatic epithelial cells (PrEC) and human prostate cancer cell lines (PC3, DU145 and LNCaP) in vitro. Nanoparticles showed a selective ability to induce apoptosis and inhibit prostate cancer cells proliferation at lower cisplatin doses compared to cisplatin solution. In conclusion, prostate cancer cell-targeted delivery of cisplatin using nanoparticles demonstrated a greater efficiency and reduced the toxicity associated with this chemotherapeutic.


Several epidemiological surveys have reported the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in stray cats in Korea, but little information is available on T. gondii infection in household cats. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence and risk factors of T. gondii infection among household cats reared in Seoul, Korea. A total of 474 blood samples were collected from clinically healthy household cats. All samples were tested using ELISA and PCR. The risk factor analysis was based on a questionnaire filled out by the owners. The overall positive rate for ELISA and PCR assays was 2.2% (10/437) and 2.1% (10/474), respectively. With regard to the origin of cats, the positive rates among cats adopted from the animal shelter and veterinary clinic for stray cats were significantly different (P<0.05). Our study demonstrated that the positive rate of T. gondii infection in household cats was low and that this low prevalence was assumed to be associated with keeping the cats indoors and restriction of eating raw food and uncooked meat. Therefore, we suggest that the owners check the origin of the cats prior to adoption to prevent infection of other animals, including humans.


The effect of aluminum incorporation on silver metal quantum dots formation in the alumino-silicate glass film processed by sol-gel process was investigated. The sol-gel derived glass was coated onto the silica glass plate by spin coating with the mixture solution of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), C2H5OH, H2O, AgNO3, Al(NO3)3. 39H2O, and HNO3 with the molar ratios of Ag/Si = 0.12 and Al/Si varying from 0 to 0.12. The formation of the silver metal quantum dots was confirmed by the measurements of the UV/VIS optical spectra, the X-ray diffraction patterns, and the transmission electron microscope images. While the radius of silver metal quantum dots increased with the increase of aluminum concentration, the concentration of the silver metal quantum dots decreased. The formation of the silver metal quantum dots was found strongly suppressed by incorporation of aluminum ions in the glass. The change in the glass structure due to the aluminum incorporation was investigated by the analysis of the Raman spectra. The silver ions in the glass contributed to form stable (Al:Ag)O4 tetrahedra by pairing with aluminum ions and thus clustering of silver metal quantum dots was hindered.


There is little awareness among rural farming communities on their vulnerability to climate change. This paper examined the vulnerabilities of the rural small scale farming communities in the uMzinyathi District of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa to climate change. A survey among 200 households who were randomly chosen but who had lived in the community for over twenty years was conducted. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were carried out to obtain qualitative data. Over the period 1993 to 2010, average annual temperature had increased by 1.5°C. Rainfall generally decreased over the period 1981 to 2010 with a range of 907 mm. Household perception on extreme climate conditions were a reflection of the quantitative climate data collected. Households were anxious (76%) that they will face negative impacts of climate change in future. Households were evenly distributed across the five vulnerability categories. Perceptions of communities to climate change should be considered by policy makers in advancing strategies to mitigate impacts of climate change. Vulnerability of farmers to climate change could be reduced by investing in early warning systems, providing farmers with information on climate change and farmers seeking alternative livelihood options rather than agriculture. Household specific interventions should be considered in mitigating climate change.


Purpose
Bureaucracy in libraries is typically presented in terms of six banal characteristics originally identified by the historian Max Weber at the turn of the twentieth century. In some cases, bureaucracy in libraries is seen as a system that might be undone. These characterizations underestimate the power of bureaucracy as a force external and intrinsic to libraries. The purpose of this paper is to reintroduce the topic of libraries as bureaucracies such that library practitioners can identify, question and reform aspects of bureaucracy in libraries.

Design/methodology/approach
A review of literature from the library field and from the social sciences is presented in the framework of a SWOT analysis, such that readers can see bureaucracy in libraries for its strengths and weaknesses, as well as in regards to its external opportunities and threats.

Findings
Bureaucracy is a largely misunderstood and overlooked topic, in all disciplines, including library science. Generally, bureaucracy is presented as a negative and ineffective system operating in the public sector only, though bureaucracies serve many positive purposes and functions in all aspects of society. Bureaucracy cannot be dismantled, though opportunities exist to eliminate its less desirable aspects and effects. In some ways, libraries exemplify bureaucratic thinking, yet in webs, libraries are poised to offset or challenge the harmful effects of bureaucracy in all other aspects of society.

Originality/value
Bureaucracy is seldom considered in library research or in other fields. As such, it is a grossly misunderstood subject. This extensively research paper synthesizes the literature that does exist on the topic, and expands upon it using theory from the social sciences. As such, this paper stands to begin a discussion about how libraries can restructure and respond to change.


The United Nations (UN) Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000 (Trafficking Protocol), is a watershed in galvanising the global movement against human trafficking. Thanks to the Protocol, international and regional bodies, along with civil society groups, have become involved in researching the issue and supporting anti-trafficking efforts; and states have begun to introduce new laws and policies aimed at criminalising trafficking, protecting victims and preventing future trafficking.[1][1] J N Ezeilo, 'First decade of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children', A/HRC/26/37, UN, 2014.


The demand for lamb meat is rapidly growing in the Jordan market where body and tail dimensions, in particular, are commercially important in judging meat lambs. This study aims to present effects of different factors and heterosis on body and tail dimensions of Awassi, Chios and their reciprocal crossbred lambs. Significant effects of year, sex, age, and sire and dam breed were obtained on some traits. The significant two-way interaction effects were also obtained. For example, birth type-sex had significant effect on body length, shoulder width, heart girth, tail circumference and tail width. Furthermore, sire breed-sex significantly affected tail width, whereas dam breed-sex significantly affected rear leg height, tail circumference and tail width. Heterosis effects were always in favor of crossing Awassi sire with Chios ewe. Moreover, lambs from this crossing had similar dimensions of tail length, width and circumference as pure Awassi which is favored by local market over thin tailed sheep.


Objective. Clinical studies about the necessity of standard obstetric interventions raise questions, making refusal by pregnant women of treatment a legitimate choice. The present study was aimed at characterising patients refusing medical treatment during pregnancy and delivery, and to examine whether refusal of treatment in obstetrics is associated with adverse perinatal outcome. Methods. A population-based study, comparing patients who refused (1898) and did not refuse (164,064) medical intervention during pregnancy and delivery, was conducted. Deliveries occurred between the years 1988 and 2002 in a tertiary medical centre. Results. Patients refusing medical intervention tended to be older (30.5 ± 5.0 vs. 28.4 ± 5.9, p < 0.001) and of higher parity (above parity 5: 52.5% vs. 32.4%; parity 1: 10.2% vs. 20.0%; p < 0.001) than the controls. Parturients refusing medical treatment experienced significantly higher rates of adverse perinatal outcome including low Apgar scores (less than 7, in 1 and 5 min: 12.4% vs. 4.4%, p < 0.001 and 1.9% vs. 0.6%, p < 0.001, respectively). Moreover, higher rates of perinatal mortality in general and intra-partum death, in particular, were documented among women refusing medical treatment (3.3% vs. 1.5%, p < 0.001; 0.8% vs. 0.1%, p < 0.001). When using a multiple logistic regression model of risk factors for perinatal mortality, refuse of treatment was an independent risk factor for perinatal mortality (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.1–2.0; p = 0.010). Conclusion. Patients refusing a medically indicated intervention have higher rates of pregnancy- and labour- related complications. Refusal of treatment is an independent risk factor for perinatal mortality.


We present a technique to optimize the intrapulse difference frequency generation efficiency for mid-infrared generation. The approach employs a multi-order wave plate that is designed to selectively rotate the polarization state of the incoming spectral components on the relevant orthogonal axes for subsequent nonlinear interaction. We demonstrate a significant increase of the mid-infrared average power generated, of a factor ≥2.5 compared with the conventional scheme, owing to an optimally distributed number of photons enrolled in the difference frequency generation process.


The notion of robustness of an adaptive algorithm is discussed. A number of simple examples are given of adaptive algorithms behaving in a nonrobust manner, and then conditions for robustness are presented which demand use of persistently exciting signals.


This paper presents a method to perform a high-level segmentation of videos into scenes. A scene can be defined as a subdivision of a play in which either the setting is fixed, or when it presents continuous action in one place. We exploit this fact and propose a novel approach for clustering shots into scenes by transforming this task into a graph partitioning problem. This is achieved by constructing a weighted undirected graph called a shot similarity graph (SSG), where each node represents a shot and the edges between the shots are weighted by their similarity based on color and motion information. The SSG is then split into subgraphs by applying the normalized cuts for graph partitioning. The partitions so obtained represent individual scenes in the video. When clustering the shots, we consider the global similarities of shots rather than the individual shot pairs. We also propose a method to describe the content of each scene by selecting one representative image from the video as a scene key-frame. Recently, DVDs have become available with a chapter selection option where each chapter is represented by one image. Our algorithm automates this objective which is useful for applications such as video-on-demand, digital libraries, and the Internet. Experiments are presented with promising results on several Hollywood movies and one sitcom.


The kinetic characteristics of the hydrogen uptake reaction of hydrogenase, obtained by conventional activity measurements, led to the proposal of an autocatalytic reaction step in the hydrogenase cycle or during the activation process. The autocatalytic behavior of an enzyme reaction may result in oscillating concentrations of enzyme intermediates and/or products contributing to the autocatalytic step. This behavior has been investigated in the early phase of the hydrogenase-methyl viologen reaction. To measure fast hydrogenase kinetics, flash-reduced methyl viologen has been used as a light-induced trigger in transient kinetic phenomena associated with intermolecular electron transfer to hydrogenase. Here we report fast kinetic measurements of the hydrogenase-methyl viologen reaction by use of the excimer laser flash-reduced redox dye. The results are evaluated on the assumption of an autocatalytic reaction in the hydrogenase kinetic cycle. The kinetic constants of the autocatalytic reaction, i.e. the methyl viologen binding to and release from hydrogenase, were determined, and limits of the kinetic constants relating to the intramolecular (intraenzyme) reactions were set.


There are many layers of complexity involving the processes through which somatic cells transform into malignant cancers. Historically, cancer was considered to be a disease primarily caused by gene mutations, however it is now well established that the dysregulated expression of the genes leading to the tumorigenic phenotype involves not only mutations but also epigenetic changes. To understand the process of malignant transformation, it is thus important to determine the specific genes targeted by both types of changes.

The studies in this thesis have focused on miRNA expression and its dysregulation in various malignancies and the subsequent role of such dysregulation in tumor pathogenesis. The work includes an analysis of the functional consequences of miRNA alterations in three distinct malignancies, (1) chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), (2) Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and (3) Basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Furthermore, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was used as a model to describe the role of miRNAs in anticancer treatment. Moreover, we analyzed the effect of the anticancer drug dexamethasone on miRNA expressions and the impact of manipulation of miRNA levels on drug efficacy.

In the CLL study, we demonstrated that the frequently deleted DLEU2 gene functions as a regulatory host gene for two miRNAs, miR-15a and miR16-1, which negatively regulate the cell cycle by direct targeting G1 cyclins D1 and E1 at the post-transcriptional level, and which, when expressed at high levels in cell line models, lead to the inhibition of colony formation ability. In addition, we demonstrated that the oncoprotein Myc negatively regulates DLEU2 transcription by targeting the DLEU2 promoter. These results suggest that the loss of DLEU2 may be an important pathogenic factor in CLL development.

Our studies on two non-melanoma-skin cancers, SCC and BCC, identified the preferential loss of expression of a skin-specific miRNA, miR-203, in these tumors. Our results further indicate a function of miR-203 in cell cycle regulation, migration and invasion, through the post-transcriptional targeting of the oncogenes c-JUN and c-MYC, and ultimately leading to an inappropriate inactivation of Hedgehog pathway.

Finally, in the ALL study we demonstrated dexamethasone mediated global down-regulation of miRNAs, in particular the rapid downregulation of MIR17HG which occurred following direct binding of the glucocorticoid receptor protein to the MIR17HG promoter. The subsequent repression of miR-17 expression aids in dexamethasone cytotoxicity of ALL cells, possibly through de-repression of miR-17 mediated targeting of the anti-apoptotic protein Bim. Analysis of primary B-ALL tumor samples also demonstrated that the cytotoxic efficacy of dexamethasone is associated with its ability to regulate miR-17 levels.

Collectively, these results provide new evidence, not only on the function and importance of microRNAs in tumor pathogenesis, but also suggest the possibility of miRNA targeting to improve the efficacy of…


The purpose of the study to analyze the level of control the symptoms of bronchial asthma outpatient in the Samara region. Object and methods. The study involved 156 people, average age was (40,66±10,60) years, of which 55,13% of the women ( n =86) and 44,87% of men ( n =70). Results and discussion. Proved that the lack of use of questionnaires to control asthma symptoms contributes to poor disease control and leads to an overestimation of control. Also proven correlation between the questionnaires ACQ-5 and ACT and revealed the relationship between poor control of the disease and body mass index and the index of a smoker. Conclusion. Insufficient use of questionnaires to control the symptoms of asthma among physicians and narrow specialists leads to a reassessment of control and inadequate management of patients with mild to moderate asthma.


The presentation of results from Systematic Literature Reviews (SLRs) is generally done using tables. Prior research suggests that results summarized in tables are often difficult for readers to understand. One alternative to improve results' comprehensibility is to use graphical representations. The aim of this work is twofold: first, to investigate whether graph representations result is better comprehensibility than tables when presenting SLR results; second, to investigate whether interpretation using graphs impacts on performance, as measured by the time consumed to analyse and understand the data. We selected an SLR published in the literature and used two different formats to represent its results - tables and graphs, in three different combinations: (i) table format only; (ii) graph format only; and (iii) a mixture of tables and graphs. We conducted an experiment that compared the performance and capability of experts in SLR, as well as doctoral and masters students, in analysing and understanding the results of the SLR, as presented in one of the three different forms. We were interested in examining whether there is difference between the performance of participants using tables and graphs. The graphical representation of SLR data led to a reduction in the time taken for its analysis, without any loss in data comprehensibility. For our sample the analysis of graphical data proved to be faster than the analysis of tabular data. However, we found no evidence of a difference in comprehensibility whether using tables, graphical format or a combination. Overall we argue that graphs are a suitable alternative to tables when it comes to representing the results of an SLR.


Using a guinea pig model of allergic asthma, we investigated the effects of the inhaled, highly selective nonpeptide tachykinin NK1 and NK2 receptor antagonists SR 140333 and SR 48968, respectively, on allergen‐induced early (EAR) and late (LAR) asthmatic reactions, airway hyperreactivity (AHR) after these reactions, and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the airways. Both SR 140333 (100 nM, 3 min) and SR 48968 (100 nM, 3 min) had no effect on the severity of the EAR, while the NK2 receptor antagonist SR 48968, but not the NK1 receptor antagonist SR 140333, caused significant inhibition of the LAR. SR 140333 significantly reduced the allergen‐induced AHR to histamine, both after the EAR and the LAR. By contrast, SR 48968 did not affect the AHR after the EAR, but significantly attenuated the AHR after the LAR. Bronchoalveolar lavage studies performed after the LAR indicated that SR 140333 caused significant inhibition of allergen‐induced infiltration of eosinophils, neutrophils and lymphocytes, while SR 48968 attenuated the infiltration of neutrophils and lymphocytes, but not of eosinophils. Both NK receptor antagonists tended to reduce the accumulation of ciliated epithelial cells in the airways. These results indicate that NK1 and NK2 receptors are importantly, but differentially, involved in the development of allergen‐induced airways obstruction, AHR and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the airways. Therefore, both NK1 and NK2 receptor antagonists, or dual NK1 and NK2 antagonists, could be useful in the treatment of allergic asthma.


We report a case of giant serpentine aneurysm (GSA) of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) that successfully treated by an extracranial to intracranial ( ECA/ICA ) bypass with a graft from the superficial temporal artery of the external carotid artery to a temporal lobe branch of the middle cerebral artery. The patient was a 36 years old man who presented to our hospital with an acute headache. CT and MR examinations revealed a large serpentine aneurysm arising from right MCA. Angiography demonstrated a GSA. After revascularization, the patient obtained a very good outcome. doi:10.4021/jmc288e


cancer; (b) agents that can change the host genome by mutagenesis or by addition or deletion of genetic material should increase this background incidence; (c) abnormalities that favor either spontaneous or induced mutations should impose an elevated risk of cancer; and (d) inheritance of an initiating muta tion should strongly predipose to cancer. Consequently, there should be 4 groups of persons with respect to carcinogenesis (29). These groups may be designated as "oncodemes," because


Background: NUP98-NSD1 positive AML is a poor prognostic subgroup within pediatric and adult AML (Thol et al., 2013). However, targeted therapeutics for these AML patients are not available to date. As a result of the NUP98-NSD1 fusion, NSD1 causes H3K36 hypermethylation of HOXA genes, which contributes to myeloid progenitor cell immortalization and results in AML (Wang et al., 2007). Therefore, we hypothesized that inhibition of the methyltransferase activity of NSD1 could be an effective treatment strategy for NUP98-NSD1 AML patients. Here, we assessed the efficacy of NSD1 inhibitor suramin and NUP98-NSD1-directed siRNA-containing lipid nanoparticles (LNP) in a preclinical patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model of NUP98-NSD1 leukemia.
 Methods: A NUP98-NSD1 positive AML patient was screened through nested PCR and Sanger sequencing. Bone marrow cells from this patient were serially transplanted into NSG (NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ) mice to establish a NUP98-NSD1 PDX model. During serial transplantations, an alternative NUP98-NSD1 fusion gene appeared. Flow-cytometry was used to check the engraftment and immunophenotype of engrafted cells. Effective siRNAs against each of the two fusion genes were developed. The microfluidic mixing technology, Nanoassemblr was used to package siRNA into LNPs and the Zetasizer was used to characterize them. Fifteen days after transplantation, suramin and solvent treatment were initiated in 9 mice per group with 10 mg/kg suramin (2 days/week for 10 weeks). For LNP treatment, treatment was initiated 3 weeks after transplantation with a once daily dose of 2.5 mg/kg on days 1-3 and then every third day thereafter for a total of 17 injections.
 Results: Besides the NUP98-NSD1 translocation, our patient had a FLT3-ITD mutation and a normal karyotype. In our PDX model, the engraftment of human leukemia cells reached up to 90% after ten weeks of transplantation. In successive transplantations up to the 6th generation, the NUP98-NSD1 fusion was confirmed in leukemic cells, supporting the importance of the fusion for leukemia development and stability of the model. In later transplantations, a minor clone of NUP98-NSD1 was identified. A high blast count, high WBC count, increased spleen weight, and a low hemoglobin and platelet count at death demonstrated the development of acute leukemia. High expression of myeloid markers (e.g. CD33, 99%, N=9) and negligible expression of lymphoid markers (CD3, 2%; CD19, 2%; N=9) confirmed acute myeloid leukemia.
 In the suramin treatment study, the mean human leukemic cell engraftment was similar between the control and treatment groups at the start of treatment (0.51%, N=9 and 0.71%, N=9, respectively), but was lower in suramin treated mice after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment (4 weeks: CTRL, 4,8%; suramin, 2,66%, P=0.1; 8 weeks: CTRL, 87,3%; suramin: 66,5%, P=0.016). No significant effect was seen on the immunophenotype of suramin and control treated leukemia cells. Suramin treatment significantly prolonged the median survival of mice compared to control mice (126 vs 114 days after transplantation, P=0.008).
 To establish the siRNA-LNP treatment, we identified one siRNA against each NUP98-NSD1 clone that reduced expression levels by 78% and 89.5% in the major and minor clones, respectively. The effective siRNAs were modified to increase their in vivo stability and were packaged into LNPs and used in vivo. We started the treatment when the engraftment was similar in both control LNP and NUP98-NSD1 LNP groups (0.93%, N=7 and 1.25%, N=6, respectively). After 3 weeks of treatment, LNP uptake was 99.3% and 99.2% in the CTRL LNP and NUP98-NSD1 LNP groups, respectively. The mean engraftment was lower in NUP98-NSD1 LNP mice after 5 and 8 weeks of treatment (5 weeks: CTRL LNP, 15%; NUP98-NSD1 LNP, 4.6%, P= 0.08; 8 weeks: CTRL LNP, 94.8%; NUP98-NSD1 LNP, 55.83%, P=0.007). Importantly, the NUP98-NSD1 siRNA-LNP treated mice showed a significant survival benefit compared to CTRL siRNA-LNP treated mice (106 vs 82 days after transplantation, P=0.02).
 Conclusions: In summary, our findings demonstrate that targeted inhibition of NUP98-NSD1 either through siRNA-LNP or suramin delays leukemia development in vivo and prolongs the survival of mice carrying a NUP98-NSD1 positive AML. Our results provide the rationale for the evaluation of NSD1 methyltransferase inhibitors and siRNA-LNP formulations in NUP98-NSD1 positive AML.

 Heuser: Bayer Pharma AG, Berlin: Research Funding; Synimmune: Research Funding.


Background: Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is an unsolved clinical problem in critical care patients with a high mortality rate, increasing incidence, and no definitive therapy. We studied the incidence, risk factors, and mortality associated with AKI in ICU patients. Materials and Methods: In a prospective study, patient demographics, reason for hospitalization, reason for ICU admission, Length of ICU stay, laboratory data, and Vital signs were recorded in prepared forms during the ICU stay. AKI was defined as an increase in serum creatinine (SCr) of ≥ 0.3mg/dl from the baseline. Results: A total of 200 patients who were enrolled in our study; 134 (67%) did not develop AKI during their ICU stay while 66 (33%) developed AKI (SCr ≥ 0.3) according to the AKIN definition. Patients with AKI had higher APACHE II scores (12.3±5.6 vs. 6.9±3.6; P< 0.001), longer ICU stays (7.6±7.6 vs. 3.7±2.8 days respectively; P< 0.001), and higher mortality (19.7% vs. 0.7%; P< 0.001). Conclusion: The AKIN criteria are clinically valid and can be a good predictor of mortality and patient outcome in addition to APACHE II score in ICU patients.


Broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae [Pursh] Britt. & Rusby) is a major weed problem in the southwestern U.S. because it is toxic to livestock and suppresses forage productivity. In this study, broom snakeweed control, seed production and viability were determined after broadcast spraying in 1997 and 1998 with metsulfuron ({2-[[[[(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) amino]carbonyl]amino]sulfonyl]benzoic acid}; 0.03 kg a.i. ha-1) and picloram ((4-amino-3, 4, 6-trichloro-2-pyridine-carboxylic acid); 0.28 kg a.i. ha-1). In 1997, plants were sprayed every 2 weeks beginning 1 October when snakeweed was in mid-flower and seed fill and continued until 15 December when seeds were being dispersed. Broom snakeweed control was not different by spray date and averaged 98% with picloram and 77% with metsulfuron. Only plants sprayed on 1 October 1997 with either herbicide had significantly less seed viability than nonsprayed plants, but seed production was not different. In 1998, herbicide applications were repeated at 2 week intervals for 6 weeks beginning on 1 September when snakeweed was in early-flower and seed development. Broom snakeweed control with picloram (average 88%) was consistently high across all spray dates, whereas, control with metsulfuron (average 25%) was always poor. Both herbicides reduced seed production by an average of 99, 95, and 38% when applied on 1 and 15 September 1998 and 1 October 1998, respectively, but seed production was not different among sprayed and nonsprayed plants after these dates. In the spring of 1999, broom snakeweed seedlings were common in all areas previously sprayed in 1997, but few seedlings established in plots sprayed in 1998. In the spring of 2001, the number of newly emerged broom snakeweed seedlings observed in nonsprayed and herbicide-treated areas was the same, irrespective of spray year, herbicide type or date applied. Data indicate that herbicide applications made at flower when seed is in early fill can provide satisfactory plant control and lower seed production. Spraying after seed has reached physiological maturity does not affect seed production or viability. In this study, results were inconclusive for determining if timed herbicide applications in autumn can be used to minimize later broom snakeweed establishment. DOI:10.2458/azu_jrm_v55i6_mcdaniel


Naphthalene bisimides (NDIs) with a heterocyclic 1,4-dihydro-2,3-pyrazinedione moiety have been synthesized from both 2,6-dibromonaphthalene and 2,3,6,7-tetrabromonaphthalene bisanhydrides by means of a stepwise protocol including imidization, nucleophilic displacement of the bromine atoms by ethane-1,2-diamine, in situ reductive dehalogenation, and further oxidation. These heterocycles (R = n-pentyl, cyclohexyl) are yellow dyes with green emission in organic solvent, where the acid form dominates. The orange nonfluorescent conjugate base can be generated quantitatively by CH(3)COONBu(4) addition in DMSO, where it exhibits a pK(a) = 7.63. The conjugate base becomes the only detectable species (by UV-vis spectroscopy), in water solution, even under acid conditions (pH 1). In aqueous DMSO the acid/base equilibrium is a function of the DMSO/water ratio. The unexpected acidity of these heterocyclic NDIs, which justifies the reactivity with CH(2)N(2), has been rationalized by DFT computational means [PBE0/6-31+G(d,p)] in aqueous solvent (PCM models) as a result of a strong specific solvation effect, modeled by the inclusion of three water molecules.


Recently, a burgeoning literature has developed around the idea that personality traits influence political attitudes and orientations. There has also been increasing recognition that orientations like the sense of civic duty exert a powerful influence on voting behavior. Despite the theoretical and empirical importance of civic duty, little research has investigated its antecedents. This article turns to individual personality traits as a potential explanation for why some people feel a stronger sense of civic duty than others. The analysis shows that a number of the Big Five traits shape an individual's sense of civic duty, with Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Openness having statistically significant (p < .05) effects. The effects of personality traits rival and, in some cases, exceed the influence of variables that have typically been used to explain the sense of duty, including income. In the end, this study provides new evidence that personality traits influence broad orientations toward political life.


At last, a chance for football fans of a certain vintage to sigh nostalgically over the muddy magnificence of some proper footy kits. Many fans still harbour an unfading love for their clubs' classic shirts, as sported by their childhood heroes. And - whisper it - even for some of their rivals' timelessly classy (and less well-considered) gear. The Golden Age of Kits stretches from the 1960s round-collared cotton shirts via the bold new designs of the 1970s - enter the Admiral logo, Umbro diamonds and Adidas stripes - and selectively on through the 1980s. Remember Hummel testcard kits? There were even some crackers in the early days of the Premier League. Featuring a heartwarming selection of kits with great stories and memories attached - from design classics and big-match strips to striking curiosities and eye-boggling cock-ups - Shirt Tales & Shorts Stories will whisk you back to the lost world of football kits.


Vehicle driving simulators are widely employed in training and entertainment utilities because of its safe, economic and efficient. Amphibious vehicle driving simulator was used to simulate amphibious vehicle on land and in water. Because of the motion difference between aircraft and amphibious vehicle, it is necessary to design a reasonable 6-DOF motion system according to the flight simulator motion system standard and vehicle motion parameter. FFT of DSP and PSD were used to analysis the relationship between them. Finally according to the result analysis, a set of reasonable 6-DOF motion system motion parameter was given to realize the driving simulator motion cueing used to reproduce vehicle acceleration.


— The features of the geological backgrounds of the civil National Quemoy University Taiwan, create a morphology similar to that of a melting pot. Since other universities have limited social interactions with the students in Kinmen, the social life of the students can only be confined on the island so that the students form an ideal isolated population for social network study. This research explores the relationship between the academic performances and the social behaviors as well as the social and learning networks of 179 students of the Department of Civil and Engineering Management at the university. What is found is that the social networks do not become fragmented, but the number of cliques decreases for senior classes. This research depicts that living together during freshman year can be the most decisive factor, followed by participating in clubs and genders, in shaping students' social lives within the next 3 years. The highly consistent performances in grades and attendance of clique members compared to the average of the entire class confirm the inevitable peer influence within the cliques. This research is a pilot study of applying network theorems on analyzing engineering student social networks so that the results can be utilized to devise student counseling and to improve the quality of teaching..


We used 1H MRS at 4 T to quantify NAA concentrations and apparent T2 relaxation times in 104 psychosis patients compared to 50 matched healthy controls with four TEs (TE = 30, 90, 150 and 200 ms). Even at short TE (30 ms), NAA concentration without T2 correction was significantly lower in chronic psychosis compared to age-matched healthy controls. After T2 correction, no significant differences remained. Thus, it may be neuronal microenvironment indexed by T2 relaxation time, but not neuronal integrity indexed by NAA concentration that underlies the widely reported NAA concentration reductions in psychotic disorders.


Utilities use contingency reserves to deal with the contingency events. To ensure that the reliability and operating frequency are well maintained, the reserve scheduling guidelines always specify that the reserve quantity and response rate should meet some precise levels. This paper presents an algorithm to estimate the frequency response characteristic, beta, of an isolated system online. The real-time estimated beta could be gainfully used for the instant when the update of reserve scheduling is needed. A contingency reserve scheduling according to a series of frequency restoration processes is also proposed to ensure the effectiveness of the reserve response. Test results showing that the scheduling method in simulated conditions, and on actual operating data, was confirmed to be feasible to ensure the power system's reliability


Issues of implementation of WHO Guidelines on fortification of food grade salt with iodine for the prevention and control of iodine deficiency disorders in countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are discussed.


Within the past few years, the assumption that preterm infants experience little or no pain has been challenged in nursing and medical literature. It is not clear to what extent changes have taken place in the practice area. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the beliefs of NICU nurses and physicians about the existence and treatment of pain in preterm infants. Respondents to the open-ended interviews were 5 neonatologists and i0 nurses at two regional referral neonatal intensive care units in North Carolina. Interviews took from 20 to 40 minutes and were analyzed using the Ethnograph program AU respondents agreed that preterm. infants experience pain. Both groups identified behavioral and physiological cues to pain recognition. There were differences in initial approaches to treatment. However, both groups indicated that the nurse has the pivotal role in recognition and initiation of treatment to reduce or eliminate pain.


1. Single-electrode voltage clamp recordings in a rat brain stem slice preparation were used to determine the characteristics and postnatal development of a hyperpolarization-activated inward current (Ih) in hypoglossal motoneurons (HMs). 2. In young adult HMs (> P21), a noninactivating, time- and voltage-dependent inward current was evident during hyperpolarizing voltage steps to membrane potentials negative to approximately -65 mV from depolarized holding potentials [Vh = -56.2 +/- 1.0 (SE) mV]. The averaged reversal potential (Erev) of the inward current, estimated using an extrapolation procedure, was -38.8 +/- 2.9 mV (n = 5), suggesting that a mixed cationic current underlies inward rectification in HMs. 3. The voltage dependence of Ih activation was determined from tail current relaxations that followed a family of voltage steps to different membrane potentials. Normalized tail current amplitudes were well-fitted with a single Boltzman function with a half-activation at -79.8 +/- 0.7 mV and slope factor = 5.3 +/- 0.3 (n = 8). 4. Time constants of Ih activation and deactivation were voltage-dependent. Activation proceeded more quickly with larger hyperpolarizing voltage steps; time constants averaged 389, 181, and 134 ms at -69, -82, and -95 mV, respectively (n = 6). Ih deactivated during depolarizing voltage steps from hyperpolarized holding potentials. Deactivation was faster with larger depolarizing steps; time constants averaged 321, 215, and 107 ms at -80, -71, and -62 mV, respectively (n = 4). 5. Ih was sensitive to extracellular cesium but relatively insensitive to extracellular barium. The current amplitude near half-activation (approximately -84 mV) was almost completely blocked (to 11% of control) by Cs+ (3 mM, n = 3) but was reduced to only 85 and 60% in 0.5 (n = 2) and 2 mM Ba2+ (n = 3), respectively. 6. There was a marked increase in the amplitude of Ih during postnatal development of HMs. Measured near half-activation, Ih was approximately 10-fold larger in adult (> or = P21; n = 20) than in neonatal HMs (< or = P8; n = 7). Input conductance (GN) was only threefold higher in the same sample of HMs. There were no apparent differences in the voltage dependence or Erev of Ih between neonatal and older HMs. These results suggest that the increased amplitude of Ih results from an increase in Ih current density.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


A serious departure from the norm in taking classes has been a regular phenomenon in the University of Dhaka in recent years. The present study aimed to investigate perceptions, reactions, and grievances of students towards class cancellation, class rescheduling, inadequate classes, and classes for less than duration at the University of Dhaka. Data were collected online from 522 students (51.5% male and 48.5% female, mean age = 21.74 years) of the university using a mixed-method design. The quantitative data were analyzed by t-test, Chi-square test, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients in SPSS version 24. The results of the t-test demonstrated no significant gender differences in perception towards the main variables. The Chi-square test reveals that the frequencies of occurrences of these phenomena significantly differ among the faculties of four hierarchical positions. The content analysis of the qualitative data revealed 12 major themes namely the four factors across academic units, the favorable impact of these phenomena, increased absenteeism, the sources of stress, anxiety, and frustration, lack of priority, teachers' disinterest in teaching and learning, a sense of punctuality and responsibility, mutual understanding, timetable of the rescheduled classes, teacher's accountability and students' feedback, introducing training for teachers, and the role of authority. The findings of the study suggest a clear lack of administrative control over the teaching behavior of the faculties. The study recommends that the university authority should immediately address these issues to redress the grievances of the students and thereby ensure a quality culture in teaching, learning and research.
Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 31(2): 309-319, 2022 (July)


The supply chain plays an essential role for modern companies to retain their competitive advantages in today's business environments. As supply chain members are often separate and independent economic entities, a key issue in supply chain management is to develop mechanisms that can align their objectives and coordinate their activities so as to optimize system performance. Information is a keyword in the coordination. In this paper, we provide a review of coordination of operational information in supply chain which is classified into information types, their impact on supply chain performance, and the policy of information sharing. Then the essentials for information coordination are indicated. In the end, future research direction is pointed out.


We consider a financial market where stocks are available for dynamic trading, and European and American options are available for static trading (semi-static trading strategies). We assume that the American options are infinitely divisible, and can only be bought but not sold. In the first part of the paper, we work within the framework without model ambiguity. We first get the fundamental theorem of asset pricing (FTAP). Using the FTAP, we get the dualities for the hedging prices of European and American options. Based on the hedging dualities, we also get the duality for the utility maximization. In the second part of the paper, we consider the market which admits non-dominated model uncertainty. We first establish the hedging result, and then using the hedging duality we further get the FTAP. Due to the technical difficulty stemming from the non-dominancy of the probability measure set, we use a discretization technique and apply the minimax theorem.


General geology is the study about geological features occurred on Earth including geomorphology, stratigraphy, structural geology and historical geology of the study area. Those geological features were observed by geological mapping and petrographic analysis. Landslide Hazard Zonation by Using Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) is producing a landslide hazard Zonation map of the study area by using remote sensing and GIS. The location of study area is Sungai Sam which include both Kuala Krai and Gua Musang, Kelantan. The objectives of the research to update the geological map of the study area in scale l:25,000, to determine the location of landslide in the study area based on satellite image and to produce landslide hazard zonation map of the study area. The main method used to update geological map is by geological mapping to observed
geological features in the study area while petrographic analysis is used for identification of rocks. The landform that made up the study area are hills and karst formation. The rocks unit found in the study area are sandstone unit, limestone unit and andesite unit aged from Permian to Triassic. The structure form are fold and foliation. In order to determine the location of landslide in the study area based on satellite image, the different value of Normalized Different Vegetation Index (NDVI) is calculated. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) is also calculated to determine the accuracy of the landslide location between in satellite imagery and in the field. Pre-processing of satellite imagery is the first step in preparation Landslide Hazard Zonation Map and followed by extraction of slope map, stream density and aspect map from Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Those map are then overlay according to right value to get the classification on hazard map.


The development and initial evaluation of a high-resolution positron emission tomography (PET) system to image the biodistribution of positron emitting tracers in live plants is underway. The positron emitting 11CO2 tracer is used in plant biology research investigating carbon sequestration in biomass, optimization of plant productivity and biofuel development. This PhytoPET design allows flexible arrangements of PET detectors based on individual standalone detector modules built from single 5 cm × 5 cm Hamamatsu H8500 position sensitive photomultiplier tubes. Each H8500 is coupled to a LYSO:Ce scintillator array composed of 48×48 elements that are 10 mm thick arranged with a 1.0 mm pitch. An Ethernet based 12-bit flash analog to digital data acquisition system with onboard coincident matrix definition is under development to digitize the signals. The detector modules of the PhytoPET system can be arranged and stacked to accommodate various sized plants and plant structures.


The Hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway is an important mediator of many mammalian developmental processes and mutations in Hh genes cause serious developmental disorders and birth defects in both mice and humans. The role of Hh signalling in the development of αβTCR+ cells has been, and continues to be, explored by our and other laboratories. However, the impact of Hh signalling on unconventional T cells is not well characterised. Here, we aim to investigate the effect of Hh signalling on thymic and peripheral γδ T cells, both in mice and humans. Our study reveals that key components of the Hh pathway are present in the murine thymus and spleen and that γδ T cells are responsive to Hh signalling. Furthermore, flow cytometry of mutant mice revealed that Sonic (Shh) and Desert (Dhh) hedgehog affect γδ T cell biology in distinct ways. Our research detected numerous changes in cell numbers, key cytokine production, subtype differentiation, peripheral localization in both fetal and adult tissues and in a LPS-induced disease model. In humans, we expanded γδ thymocytes and assessed their responsiveness to Hh signalling. Furthermore, we investigated the role of Indian hedgehog (Ihh) in the transition from CD4-CD8- double negative (DN) to CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP) stage during αβ T cell development. Analysis of mice with conditional deletion of Indian hedgehog showed that Ihh negatively regulates DN to DP transition of αβTCR+ cells. Crossing of this conditional knockout (KO) to the male-specific antigen HY indicated that this effect is related to TCR rearrangement and signalling and thymic selection. Analysis of fetal and adult thymi also demonstrated that Ihh plays a role in DP to single positive (SP) transition too. Analysis of hydrocortisone (HC)-treated heterozygous Ihh and RagKO conditional Ihh mice further elucidated the role of Ihh in αβ T cell development.


The course work in any engineering discipline is necessarily based on an assumption that the student has a good foundation of fundamental engineering mathematics. Yet, many Engineering Technology courses have been born out of the desire to provide the student with the more straightforward and practical application of the art and science of engineering to realistic engineering problems while minimizing the need for sophisticated mathematical solutions.
 This dilemma can be resolved by utilizing an inexpensive mathematical tool that is virtually omnipresent in even the least expensive PC: the spreadsheet. It is a software package that even the most mathematically challenged student is well aware and is comfortable in using for routine mathematical if not specifically, engineering applications: data reduction, curve-fitting, plug-in iterative solutions, etc.
 This paper will describe the author's effort, with the support from Northeastern University's Provost Office and The Center for Effective University Teaching (CEUT), in providing the ET student (and in the future, the physical science student) with a powerful tool for solving non-trivial engineering and physical science problems while also helping the student understand the engineering and scientific fundamentals behind the solutions. This effort will hopefully culminate in the development of an instructional Primer that can be used by engineering and Arts and Science students when studying engineering and physical (and natural) sciences.


Mangroves are usually characterized by their high potential for long-term sequestration of organic carbon. Sediment accretion by these valuable habitats increased their capability of organic carbon sequestration. In this study, we aimed to examine the organic carbon sequestration of mangrove expansion (Avicennia germinans) in southern Iran. Different variables have been investigated in the sampled sediments, including δ13C, δ 15N, TOC, TN, and C/N ratio. Our findings indicated of the significant variation of measured variables in the several top interval, reflecting the existence of autochthonous and allochthonous organic substances. Our data showed that the minority of δ13C values are lower than -23% in the S3 site, suggesting that mangrove litter is a critical input OC (δ13C, -28 to -30%).On the other hand, the significantly higher value of δ13C (-14 to -23%) indicates that phytoplankton and possibly local microphytobenthos are the primary sources of organic materials inputs. Moreover, site S4 presents the highest mean value of C/N, TN, and δ15N which can be justified because of its proximity to the estuary and supply of organic matters imported from algal sources. The substantial role of mangrove forests depositing organic carbon should be investigated in the global carbon cycle.


Brazilian macaw palm is a typical abundant tree spread almost all over South America. Theirs fruits are a sort of small coco much appreciated particularly by kids, as its pulp is sweet and pleasant to chew. Even the amount of the natural production for this palm tree is quite impressive. These fruits can be entirely used for the noblest purposes, which are the manufacture of human food products. The pulp of macaw palm fruits are plenty of Vitamin A precursor and the inside nut has Omegas 3 and 6 oils. Both palm tree and fruit are locally named as �bocaiuva� and despite all scientific already proved knowledge, the usage of these palm trees was dramatically dropping in the past. In order to recover a cultural behavior, we started a project back in 2004 devoted to visiting small isolated communities in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland region, and teaching people how to prepare a dehydrated product from the pulp of these fruits that is similar to a regular flour. The responses received at that time exceeded our expectations, and we decided to carry on new similar projects. Today, there are concrete results to be mentioned: a few industries to process �bocaiuva� are already installed in the country and new ones are in process. The bocaiuva subject is currently largely explored at many universities and research centers. New potential applications are being constantly discovered in the area of food processing and products, cosmetics, animal feeding, and even pharmaceutical products. All these processes started from a complete sustainable project that aimed to rescue a vanishing cultural behavior, that would at the same time give opportunity for those involved to generated earnings simply by respecting the environment, as the bocaiuva fruits were to be collected in total balance with nature. These origins naturally required that the new companies arriving to commercially explore the macaw palm have a framework of environment protection at the very beginning, making the projects more environmentally friendly. Large areas of macaw palm are being planned, and some are already installed or in process of implementation, all in the state-of-art concept of crops consortium.