Nineteen healthy beagles, eight healthy basset hounds and 17 basset hounds with Malassezia dermatitis were tested intradermally with two extracts of M pachydermatis. One healthy beagle and two affected basset hounds showed wheal and flare reactions 15 minutes after the injection. Delayed reactions, consisting of erythematous macules and plaques, were commonly observed 24 hours after the injection in both the healthy and affected basset hounds, but occurred infrequently in the beagles. At 24 hours the diameters of the lesions in the healthy and affected basset hounds were significantly (P<0.01) greater than those in the healthy beagles, but the diameters in the healthy and affected basset hounds did not vary significantly. Delayed reactions in six of the basset hounds with Malassezia dermatitis were characterised histologically by superficial perivascular and periadnexal infiltrates of neutrophils and lymphocytes.


This paper analyzes the effect of third order dispersion on the pulse compression produced by a highly nonlinear fiber. The optical pulse train has been designed by a novel circuit using the principle of superposition of lightwaves. It is seen from the calculations that the pulsewidth of 7.5 psec can be compressed down to 4.4 psec level by the highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) of length 10 Km. The third order dispersion of the fiber reduces the pulsewidth in the pulse compression process of the highly nonlinear fiber.


The technique of removal of bladder tumours is discussed on the basis of experience with transurethral resection performed on 200 patients suffering from bladder tumour (113 benign and 87 malignant tumours). The indications for the intervention are as follows. With benign tumours, resection has to be given preference over exposure. When malignant tumours are operable and situated on the mobile part of the bladder, radical surgery is recommended. When the tumour is in some other position, transurethral resection is the procedure of choice.


In this study, magnetic field emission (MFE) of the high-power double-D (DD) coil-based wireless charging system is investigated and a shielding technique is proposed. The MFE pattern produced by the DD coils is significantly different from the MFE of the unipolar (e.g., circular, square, or rectangular) coils, and the traditional aluminum shield does not suppress the MFE from the DD coils. This study shows that a conventional aluminum shield increases the MFE, and a magnetic shield effectively suppresses the MFE of the DD coils. Therefore, a magnetic shield consisting of high-permeability magnetic material, such as ferrites, nanocrystalline, etc., is proposed for the DD pads. The shielding effectiveness of the proposed shield is evaluated through finite-element analysis and verified through experiments. An 11-kW DD coil-based wireless charging system was used to test the proposed shielding technique. The experimental results show that a traditional aluminum shield increased the MFE by 29.8%, and the proposed magnetic shield suppressed the MFE by 50.5%.


This paper presents a novel device-free motion tracking (DFMT) system using an RF sensor network with very few nodes. The system includes a newly designed measurement model and corresponding tracking algorithm. Based on the uniform theory of diffraction (UTD), we prove that the received signal strength (RSS) measurements can be separated into two parts, the long-term one and the short-term one, reflecting the shadowing and scattering effects of the target. Then a model considering both the two effects is proposed to obtain positions of target using RSS measurements, which expands the sensing range of each wireless link. Particle filtering algorithm is applied to perform tracking. Experiment results illustrates that the system works well with very few nodes in different settings.


In this paper, a vector quantization-block constrained trellis coded quantization (VQ-BCTCQ) is presented to quantize line spectrum frequency (LSF) parameters of the wideband speech codec. Both the predictive structure and safety-net concept are combined into VQ-BCTCQ to develop the predictive VQ-BCTCQ. The performance of this quantization is compared with that of the linear predictive coding (LPC) vector quantizer used in the AMR-WB codec, and reductions in spectral distortion (SD) and encoding complexity are demonstrated.


Glow discharge plasma nitriding of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel has been car- ried out for different processing time under optimum discharge conditions established by spectro- scopic analysis. The treated samples were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to explore the changes induced in the crystallographic structure. The XRD pattern confirmed the formation of an expanded austenite phase (γN) owing to incorporation of nitrogen as an interstitial solid solu- tion in the iron lattice. A Vickers microhardness tester was used to evaluate the surface hardness as a function of indentation depth (μm). The results showed clear evidence of surface changes with substantial increase in surface hardness.


We demonstrate an electro-tunable laser based on a plano-concave (p-c) Fabry-Pérot (FP) microcavity filled with dye-doped liquid crystal (LC) gain material. Owing to the high Q-factor of the p-c FP microcavity, the lasing threshold of the LC laser is as low as 0.58 µJ/mm2. The single-mode emission wavelength can be easily tuned by varying applied voltage, which induces the reconfiguration of LC molecules. Furthermore, this lasing platform operates at room temperature, thanks to the wide temperature range of the nematic LC. We believe that our LC laser is widely applicable to light sources of various micro total analysis systems.


Adhesive bonding has become more efficient in the last few decades due to the adhesives developments, granting higher strength and ductility. As a result, adhesives are being increasingly used in industries such as the automotive, aerospace and construction. Thus, it is highly important to predict the strength of bonded joints to assess the feasibility of joining during the fabrication process of components (e.g. due to complex geometries) or for repairing purposes. When using the Finite Element Method with advanced propagation laws, the tensile (Gnc) and shear (Gsc) fracture toughness of adhesive joints must be determined with accuracy. Several conventional methods to obtain Gnc and Gsc exist in the literature, mainly based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM). The J-integral technique is accurate to measure these parameters for adhesives with high ductility. In this work, the J-integral is used to obtain Gnc by the Double-Cantilever Beam (DCB) test. An optical measurement method is developed for the evaluation of the crack tip opening and adherends rotation at the crack tip during the test, supported by a Matlab® sub-routine for the automated extraction of these quantities. As output of this work, an optical method that allows an easier and quicker extraction of the parameters to obtain Gnc than the available methods is proposed (by the J-integral technique) and some results are presented regarding joints with different geometry and adherend material.


Rats euhydrated and dehydrated during two or four days were given intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in a daily dose of 200 ng dissolved in 10 microliters of 0.9% sodium chloride. A single dose of TRH injected to euhydrated animals increased the hypothalamic vasopressin content but did not affect significantly the content of vasopressin in the neurohypophysis as well as that of oxytocin both in the hypothalamus and neurohypophysis. In rats deprived of water for two days TRH completely prevented the decrease of neurohypophysial oxytocin due to stimulation of osmoreceptor origin. Similarly, TRH restrained both the hypothalamic and the neurohypophysial vasopressin and oxytocin depletion in rats dehydrated for four days.


Groundwater contamination by chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as tetrachloroethene (PCE) or trichloroethene (TCE), is a major concern throughout the United States. A developing strategy for the remediation of PCE and TCE contaminated aquifers is anaerobic biodegradation. From a TCE contaminated groundwater site, microorganisms were enriched with the ability to anaerobically convert PCE and TCE completely to ethene. Kinetic studies performed with this culture showed that degradation of PCE, TCE, and vinyl chloride (VC) was first order with respect to substrate concentration up to their solubility. It was also shown that, although VC inhibited TCE degradation, a finite degradation rate could be achieved in the presence of high VC concentrations. PCE and TCE form dense-nonaqueous-phase liquids (DNAPLs) which can provide a persistent groundwater contamination source. Under saturating PCE and TCE conditions, these chlorinated ethenes were rapidly converted to ethene with little or no accumulation of VC. These results suggest that anaerobic remediation can potentially be used in the remediation of PCE and TCE DNAPLs.


UNLABELLED
It is generally accepted that Fabry disease (angiokeratoma corporis diffusum) is an X-linked disorder resulting from the deficient activity of the lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase. In males, the enzymatic defect leads to accumulation of glycosphingolipids, particularly in the kidney which causes end-stage renal disease. We report here a woman who presented in 1987 with focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis and required hemodialysis 4 years later when her son was evaluated for proteinuria. In these patients morphologic, biochemical, and genetic investigations were performed to explore the possibility of a hereditary renal disorder. Ultrastructural examination of the son's renal biopsy specimen revealed lamellated osmiophilic inclusions in the glomeruli, typical of Fabry disease. Four months after kidney transplantation in the mother, a graft biopsy specimen also revealed dense lamellated inclusions on electron microscopy. The leukocyte alpha-galactosidase activity was 0.008 mumol/min.10(9) cells in the son and 0.070 in the mother (range 0.100-0.500 mumol/min.10(9) cells). The diagnosis of Fabry disease was confirmed in both patients by the identification by DNA sequencing of a novel mutation in the alpha-galactosidase gene: one single base pair deletion in exon 3 (7317delA).

IN CONCLUSION
(1) end-stage renal disease may occur in heterozygous women with Fabry disease; (2) morphologic lesions due to glycosphingolipid accumulation may be observed in the renal allograft after transplantation, and (3) DNA analysis confirmed the diagnosis by demonstrating a frameshift mutation, which has as yet not been reported.


Over a century of phonetic research has established the crosslinguistic existence of the so called 'voicing effect', by which vowels tend to be shorter when followed by voiceless stops and longer when the following stop is voiced. However, no agreement is found among scholars regarding the source of this effect, and several causal accounts have been advanced. A notable one is the compensatory temporal adjustment account, according to which the duration of the vowel is inversely correlated with the stop closure duration (voiceless stops having longer closure durations than voiced stops). The compensatory account has been criticised due to lack of empirical support and its vagueness regarding the temporal interval within which compensation is implemented. The results from an exploratory study of Italian and Polish suggest that the duration of the interval between two consecutive stop releases in CVCV words in these languages is not affected by the voicing of the second stop. The durational difference of the first vowel and the stop closure would then follow from differences in timing of the VC boundary within this interval. While other aspects, like production mechanisms related to laryngeal features effects and perceptual biases cannot be ruled out, the data discussed here are compatible with a production account based on compensatory mechanisms.


The application of usability techniques to the development of music-related hardware is rarely discussed in the HCI literature. This is in spite of the fact that such devices could potentially be improved by employing usability methods during their development. This paper documents a case study of an existing electric guitar pre-amplifier. The ease of use of its user interface was investigated using the traditional HCI methods of heuristic evaluation and usability testing. The user interface was susequently modified, and a follow-up usability test confirmed improvements to ease of use. These findings demonstrate that HCI methods can and should be used to enhance the usability of music-related hardware.


Network packet classification plays a pivotal role in packet-switched networks; it is at the heart of many functions including firewalling, QoS routing, and OpenFlow-based switching. However, packet classification is a hard problem, as packets must be classified within a short time frame. Existing classification techniques use sophisticated data structures which are traversed by generic search algorithms - that is, the algorithm is static, while the data structure reflects the configuration of the classifier. In this paper, we propose to break up the strict separation between data structure and algorithm by specializing the algorithm's implementation on the specific classification rules. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by introducing JitVector, which builds upon the well-known bit vector classification algorithm, but generates instance-specific machine code at runtime. In our evaluation, which also includes an integration into the OpenFlow Reference Switch, we show that JitVector achieves significant performance gains over an equivalent generic search scheme.


It is morally justifiable for every person of good will to venture into HIV and AIDs prevention among the populace. Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) administration promises to help meet the promise of this moral claim, which is founded on two ethical principles of ensuring wellbeing and justice for all. In spite of the efforts, challenges abound, especially in Africa. Some African tenets of sexuality, unavailability of contextualized and harmonized African sexuality theory as well as Africa's poor economic standing are major threats to the administration of PrEP. This paper highlighted the major challenges and calls for their resolution if PrEP administration is to be of help to the poor and HIV burdened Africans.Key Words: HIV prevention, Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), well-being, justice


Abstract This paper explores the World Bank's concept of "good governance" as applied in rural Central America. It argues that World Bank good governance seeks to constrain unequal accumulation and privilege in the public sector, but leaves largely unaddressed structural inequalities in the private sector and the conflation of economic and political power in the public sector. This paper suggests that the World Bank analysis does not adequately consider more embedded state/civil society relations linked to national and sub-national political cultures. In contexts in which nation-building projects have promoted forms citizenship linked to more activist "leveling" and paternalistic states, good governance is likely to be ideologically contested. World Bank good governance under these circumstances is unlikely to quell discontent or naturalize the neoliberal state.


The article considers the statistical and cause-effect relationship between social conditions and two groups of features characterizing the psychophysical development and incidence in HIV infected children from residential institutions in comparison with a group of HIV infected children from families. The authors have obtained data on the adverse influence of social living conditions (residential institutions) on the health of HIV infected children. HIV infected children without parental care, living in residential institutions, are more vulnerable in terms of a number of factors and need enhanced integrated medical and social support to correct the existing defects and improve the quality of life.


Abstract Surveys of nesting sites of feral honey bees (Apis mellifera) and regent parrots (Polytelis anthopeplus) were made in the red gum/black box woodlands of Wyperfeld National Park, Victoria, Australia. Data on tree species and size, and number of hollows were collected from all trees within seven 500 × 100m plots. Nest site characteristics were quantified for both bees and parrots. We found 27 feral honey bee colonies, suggesting a density of 77.1 colonies per km2. The average occupation rate for bees was 1.3% of trees and 0.7% of available hollows. The height, aspect and entrance characteristics of honey bee nests at Wyperfeld were not qualitatively different to those reported elsewhere. We found 15 pairs of nesting regent parrots. Nest sites chosen by these birds overlapped those chosen by honey bees, but 52% of bee nests were in cavities unsuitable for regent parrots. We suggest that honey bee population growth may be limited in the park by a lack of water.


This Research analyzed that comparative advantage and competitive of broiler chicken's livestock business in Musuk Subdistrict of Boyolali Regency. For sampling uses a Saturated Sampling technique (census method) by taking all available samples as many thirty-two sample of broiler's breeder around Musuk Subdistrict. To analyzed chicken livestock business uses Policy Analysis Matrik (PAM) and Ms. Excel as analysis tools. The result of this research shows that PCR ( Private Cost Ratio ) value  <1  is  0,63  that  means  the  commodity  system  of  broiler  chicken  which  is cultivated by breeder has a small competitive advantage. In addition to defraying domestic factor at private price, breeders are also able to compete with broiler chickens  livestock  business  in  other  region.  A  commodity  has  a  comparative advantage if it has DRCR ( Domestic Resources Cost Ratio ) value <1, the meaning is the profit obtained by the breeder is grater than the cost of social input non tradable. In case of broiler chickens in Musuk Subdistrict obtained grade DRCR <1 is 0,95 that means livestock business   produced has comparative competitiveness because it is able to finance domestic factors at social prices and is economically efficient.


Chronic periodontitis (CP), an infectious disease resulting in inflammation within the periodontal tissue, is the main cause of adult tooth loss. CP is a multi-factorial disorder and the interaction between multiple genetic and environmental factors results in the manifestation of this disease. Recent researches in periodontitis has focused on cytokine gene polymorphisms that play important role in periodontal inflammation, but few studies investigated histological change that occur during CP in the supporting tissue of teeth. The aims of this study were to investigate the association of IFN-γ +874 A/T polymorphisms and quantitative parameters of interdental gingiva in CP patients. The study samples were interdental gingiva biopsies from 60 individuals including 38 patients and 22 healthy subjects. After determination of IFN-γ +874 A/T gene polymorphism by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR), patients were divided in three subgroups: 10 AA, 18 AT and 10 TT. After slides preparation, quantitative parameters were estimated by Cavalieri's point-counting method. Statistical analyses were performed using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis test to compare differences between groups. The volume density (Vv) of epithelium, connective tissue and its components were significantly different between the control and CP groups (P<0.05). Statistically significant differences in the Vv of collagenous and non-collagenous matrix of interdental gingiva between AA, AT and TT groups were found (P<0.05). Result of present study shows that IFN-γ +874 A/T is strongly associated with some quantitative parameters of connective tissue constituents of interdental papilla in CP patients.


This work has been carried out as part of an ongoing investigation in which thin film ferroelectric phase shifters are being constructed, tested, and optimized. The phase shifters will be incorporated into multi-element phased array antennas. The beam steering material used here was Ba/sub 0.6/Sr/sub 0.4/TiO/sub 3/ (BSTO) and BSTO with 1 wt% oxide additive. Thin films of BSTO have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) onto various oxide and fluoride substrates. These include oxide substrates such as magnesium oxide (MgO), sapphire (Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/), lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO/sub 3/), neodymium gallate (NdGaO/sub 3/), and fluoride substrates such as rubidium manganese fluoride (RbMnF/sub 3/). These substrates were selected for their relatively low dielectric constants and good lattice matches to the ferroelectric thin film compound (a=3.94 /spl Aring/). The substrate/film interfaces, areal film thicknesses and compositional variation have been studied using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), and physical thicknesses have been measured using a profilometer. The orientation of the thin films was investigated using glancing angle X-ray diffraction. Various electrodes have been used in order to optimize the electronic properties of the films. These electronic properties were tested at 30 KHz using an HP 4194A impedance analyzer. The measured electronic properties include the dielectric constant, and (change in the dielectric constant with applied electric field). The electronic properties have been correlated to the results derived from RBS and x-ray data and will be discussed in terms of substrate and electroding optimization.


This document describes the measurements of the branching fractions and isospin violations of the radiative electroweak penguin decays B {yields} ({rho}/{omega}){gamma} at the asymmetric-energy e{sup +}e{sup -} PEP-II collider with the BABAR detector. Together with the previously measured branching fractions of the decays B {yields} K*{gamma} the ratio of CKM-matrix elements |V{sub td}/V{sub ts}| are extracted and the length of the far side of the unitarity triangle is determined.


Follicular helper T cells (Tfh) have been identified as the primary cell subpopulation regulating B cell responses in germinal centers, thus supporting high-affinity antibody production. Among the transcription factors orchestrating Tfh cell differentiation and function, the role played by the proto-oncogene c-Maf remains poorly characterized. We report herein that selective loss of c-Maf expression in the T cell compartment results in defective development of Tfh cells in response to both antigen/adjuvant vaccinations and commensal intestinal bacteria. Accordingly, c-Maf expression in T cells was essential for the development and high-affinity antibody secretion in vaccinated animals. c-Maf was expressed early, concomitantly to BCL6, in Tfh cell precursors and found to regulate Tfh fate in a cell-autonomous fashion. Altogether, our findings reveal a novel, non-redundant, function for c-Maf in the differentiation of Tfh cells and the regulation of humoral immune responses to T-cell-dependent antigens.


Analyzing the use of function words such as pronouns in conversation is an increasingly popular approach in social psychology, but has not yet been applied to the study of school-based consultation. The two central purposes of this study were to: (1) examine how language is used by consultants-in-training (CITs) and consultees within a collaborative model of consultation, and (2) to explore the relation between language use and the collaborative relationship, consultee outcomes, and client outcomes. Analyses focused on CITs' (n = 18) and consultees' (n = 18) use of pronouns in a problem identification and analysis (PID/PA) session of problem solving. Data indicated CITs and consultees used pronouns differently during PID/PA, particularly first-person plural words (e.g., we, us, our), and some of these differences were related to consultation outcomes. Implications of this research for school consultation practice and potential avenues for future research are explored.


3D spin systems provide an important platform to investigate the novel magnetic behaviors, which arise due to the complex network of spins in such materials. In this context, we have studied a rare-earth orthovanadate PrVO4, in which the distorted PrO8 polyhedral results in complex spin geometries made by the near neighbor Pr atoms. The fourth near neighbor Pr atoms form linear chains, which are separated by non-magnetic VO4 tetrahedra. DC magnetic susceptibility reveals a broad maximum and its position remains unaltered under applied magnetic field. The magnetic heat capacity shows a broad maximum with almost zero value at low temperatures. This indicates the presence of spin gap in the excitation spectra and hints toward the possibility of low dimensional magnetism. Our investigations reveal that PrVO4 can be a potential candidate to study low dimensional magnetism in rare-earth-based systems.


Flight in ground effect above a flat, smooth surface may give an animal considerable performance advantages, including a reduction in cost of transport of up to 15%, and a reduction in mechanical flight power of as much as 35%, compared with values for flight out of ground effect. Previous theories modelling the phenomenon have either been incomplete or marred by typographical errors. A complete lifting line theory of flight in ground effect with a fixed wing is developed, and instructions are given so that it may be applied to animals such as skimmers, pelicans and myotid bats which fly and forage close above water. Several predictions are made about likely flight behaviour in ground effect, and about the appropriate flight morphology for taking advantage of the potential performance improvements. The most important conclusion, differing from previous analyses, is that slow flight performance in ground effect is very poor, owing to the horizontal air velocity induced around the wing in the presence of the ground.


Background Bone erosions are a central feature of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In particular small erosions not yet detectable on radiographs or even MRI, but already well depicted in high-resolution quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) are a sign for early RA and may guide intervention before major bone destruction and functional impairment. Objectives To compare standard segmentation tools implemented on the HR-pQCT scanner (XCT) with MIAF (Medical Image Analysis Framework) software in their ability to quantify erosion shape and size in metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints. MIAF runs on external PCs and requires DICOM export of XtremeCT images. Methods 2D threshold based contouring of bone is a standard feature of the XtremeCT software to segment the distal radius and tibia. These contouring algorithms along with the manual editing options were applied to segment erosions of MCP joints. In contrast MIAF uses more sophisticated 3D algorithms to separately segment periosteal bone surface and erosions. In particular the cortical break and (for larger erosions) the border between bone marrow and erosion can be better defined. HR-pQCT scans of the 2nd and 3rd MCP joints of ACPA positive RA patients, which represent a homogeneous subgroup with high level structural damage, were analyzed. Based on volume, erosions were categorized into 2 groups: <10mm3 (MIAF measurement) and >10mm3. Based on their shape, they also were visually classified into "regular" or "Irregular". This classification was compared with sphericity (0–1), which can be obtained with MIAF but not with XCT. Results 76 erosions of 65 (46F; 19M) patients were analyzed. Irregular erosions were larger (>10mm3) than regular erosions (χ(1)2=20.52, p<0.001). Irregular erosions had lower sphericity (0.53±0.08); than regular ones (0.63±0.09, t(74)= -4.645, p<0.001). Irregular erosions were considered smaller in MIAF than XCT (49.9±70.7 vs. 52.2±79.4; p=0.013), while regular erosions were larger than for XCT (7.0±9.4 vs. 4.0±4.5; p=0.002). There was a 47% absolute difference in size between MIAF and XCT. The differences could be largely explained over-segmentation of irregular erosions and under-segmentation of regular erosions in the XCT. The main reason was the under-segmentation of the cortical break. Conclusions Standard tools implemented on XtremeCT scanners can be applied for measurement of erosion size but compared to MIAF the segmentation of the cortical break is less accurate resulting in differences in the determination of erosion volume. MIAF performs a separate bone and erosion segmentation, avoiding under/overestimating volume. The visual classification of erosions according to their shape could be useful to infer the amount of bone damage in RA patients but an operator independent quantitative parameter such as sphericity may be preferable as precision will likely increase. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Directly north of Ofotfjorden in northern Norway, pelitic schists within the Evenes and Bogen Groups contain the mineral assemblage garnet + biotite ± kyanite ± staurolite + white mica + quartz ± plagio clase. This assemblage implies metamorphic P-T minima of-540"C and -4.8 kb. The rocks are thus at a higher grade than suggested by previous reports, which placed them in the greenschist facies. This indicates that several metamorphic allochthons in Ofoten, including rocks of the Narvik, Evenes, Bogen, and Niingen Groups, are all at kyanite grade, supporting recent interpretations which on structural grounds concluded that the metamorphic peak outlasted stacking of these allochthons. A proposed correlation of the Evenes Group with the Middle Ordovician-Lower Silurian Balsfjord Supergroup implies that this stacking and associated kyanite-grade metamorphism are post-early Silurian and are related to the Scandian phase of the Caledonian orogeny.


We developed the forward channel model for a DS-CDMA cellular system operating in a slow-flat Nakagami-fading and lognormal-shadowing environment. Forward error correction is integrated into the analysis by applying convolution encoding with soft-decision decoding. The worst-case probability of bit error for a mobile user at the edge of the center cell of a seven-cell cluster is developed using Gaussian approximation. We also incorporate user distribution and power control and antenna sectoring into our analysis.


Chronic postembolic pulmonary embolism (CTEPH) is the result of chronic pulmonary artery obstruction followed by pulmonary embolism. The frequency of CTEPH in patients with pulmonary embolism is approximately 3.8 %. Despite signifcant progress of pulmonary embolism management, the diagnosis of CTEPH remains diffcult. The current review is devoted to the opportunities of radionuclide methods in patients with CTEPH. The information about ventilationperfusion scintigraphy, equilibrium radionuclide angiography, myocardial perfusion scintigraphy as well as cardiac scintigraphy with 123IMIBG is presented.


Situation In Africa, there exist so many agreements and decisions that have been reached for road safety development, unfortunately the implementing agencies like road safety management agencies have not been able to implement such credible and proven measures because they lack authority or capacity to lobby for such to be made laws by their nation's legislative arm like National Assembly. Findings This research focused on 2007 Accra declaration a.k.a decisions by meeting of experts. Our research outcome shows that at the said conference is widely rated as a most credible gathering of African experts for accomplishment of set goals of UN/WHO target on global road injury and fatality reduction. On compulsory implementation of training of drivers and carrying of first did boxes as recommended by 'meeting of experts', of the 20 African countries investigated which endorsed the agreement, non has implemented the fist aid policy as a result of lack of legislative backing. Most road safety agencies in Africa lack both the financial capacity and reach to create appropriate sensitisation to lobby the the nation's legislative arm for approval of tested and known measures for reduction of road injuries and deaths as evinced from interviews conducted with road safety officials of the countries investigated. Recommendations National road safety agencies should seek ways of enhancing collaboration with both the media and relevant NGOs to ensure that their Continental endorsements on recommendations of experts are passed into law for gross reduction of road deaths and injuries.


Reading Circle is a monthly event organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences. The objective is to inculcate the spirit of inquiry and intellectual discussion based on the readings of key texts in social sciences. Faculty members may suggest reading chapter to be brought for discussion. From time to time, prominent social scientists are also invited to share a reading on chosen topic.


[3H]5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), [3H]lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and [3H]spiroperidol bind to membranes from the rat frontal cerebral cortex in a manner indicating a selective interaction with serotonin receptors. Differential drug potencies in competing for [3H]5-HT and [3H]spiroperidol binding sites suggest that these two [3H]ligands respectively label two distinct populations of receptors, while [3H]LSD labels both the [3H]5-HT and [3H]spiroperidol sites. After incubation of brain membranes with 30 nM spiroperidol, drug specificity of the residual [3H]LSD binding resembles that of receptors labeled by [3H]5-HT. Conversely, drug effects on [3H]LSD binding in the presence of 300 nM 5-HT resemble effects with [3H]spiroperidol. We propose that [3H]5-HT and [3H]-spiroperidol label distinct populations of serotonin receptors in rat brain, designated 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptors, respectively. [3H]LSD appears to bind to both receptors to a similar extent.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Richard M. Lebovitz for his skillful technical assistance and Pamela Morgan for manuscript preparation.


Market dynamics of goods stems from ensuring conformity to requirements related to the introduction of various regulations and rules for their implementation. By imposing new regulatory requirements to various sectors of production and trade and bringing existing requirements up to date, it is possible to guarantee consumer health of a particular sector of consumption throughout the whole chain. The purpose of the present paper is to analyse advantages and disadvantages in applying an integrated approach to the implementation of uniform regulatory rules which are to ensure the quality and safety of goods across the entire agro-food chain. By applying the principles of the preventive approach to legislation, we seek to emphasize the key role of governmental agencies and their activities in setting common priority policies aimed at public health protection. The usefulness of the systematic approach in developing the general legislative framework which regulates safety along the entire agro-food chain has been also assessed. The results of said analysis show that the regulatory requirements are directly related to the strategic issues and goals of public administration and control regarding the provision and consumption of safe foods that will guarantee public health.


The over irrigation method applies to meet crop demand may not be a sustainable approach in the near future. Considering agricultural water demand constitutes a huge water consumption than the portable demand, alternative to the over-irrigation practice could be explored as over-irrigation could lead to water wastage and groundwater pollution. The current study investigates the Perlis state soil by determining the minimal water storage in the soil to maintain crop water demand. All the soil series in the state were identified and classified into soil texture based on its sand, silt, and clay composition. The soil water characteristic curve was determined to relate the soil water content to soil particle suction pressure, which then used to determine the soil water content field capacity and permanent wilting point. Subsequently, the plant available water can be determined. The Chengai, Kangar, Hutan, Sogomana, Gajah Mati, Kundor, and Tualang soil series constitute the highest plant available so that it could store more water for crop usage than the other soil series. The study concludes that crop irrigation at field capacity was necessary to avoid water wastage than irrigation at fully saturated soil water content.


This study was made to provide sociological explanation about social honesty effect on political participation. Since our community has undergone many changes during the time and considering that it has been changing from traditional society to a modern community, there is necessary need to have enough knowledge and recognition in context of quantity and quality of political participation more than ever.so that, political condition in one country, and in smaller classification as a city, can influence political awareness and behavior of people towards political and social issues. This study aimed at recognizing political participation and providing sociological explanation for social honesty effect on that. This research was performed in survey method and tools of study included the questionnaire. Statistical population included women and men aged between 18-65 years. Sample volume included 400 people in Gorgan city who were selected by stratified random sampling and they all were studied. Research results indicated that: there is relationship between honesty variables including speech and performing affairs, loyalty, and value behaviors and contacts with political participation. In addition, based on statistical tests performed on social-economic base, education level, age group and gender, it was identified that there is significant relationship between base, education and age groups with political participation. However there was no significant relationship between gender and political participation. In path analysis of direct and indirect effects of variables, results illustrated that maximum effect on political participation was related to honesty in behavior which included 0/248. Findings showed 0/084% changes in dependent variable are able to be explained by analytical model of path analysis.


Substitution of local TiO2 on the synthesis of Li4Ti5O12 for anodes lithium ion battery with solid state reaction method had been done. This study aimed to substitute raw materials TiO2 and determine the length of sintering time. Synthesis was done by mixing the raw materials like local TiO2 and LiOH.H2O in a stoichiometric then milled for 15 hours followed by calcination at a temperature of 600oC with sintering time of 2 hours for each samples. Sintering was done by varying the length of sintering time i.e. 4, 6 and 8 hours at a temperature of 850 °C. In this study the effect of sintering time on the material characteristics and performance of battery cells studied in detail. The characterization was conducted by the XRD to determine the structure and the LTO phases, SEM/EDX test to determine the morphology, surface topography and composition of all samples. PSA test was performed to determine the particle size while battery cell performance was tests with automatic charge-discharge battery cycler. From characterization found that the maximum length of time that is resistant to sintering samples 6 hours. The resulting active material has an LTO phase with spinel crystal structure simple cubic, but not produced a single phase, there are some impurity phases. The results of SEM/EDX provides irregular morphology, have pores, many impurities and varying sizes. Charge-discharge measurement showed that optimum sintering was got at 6 h which gave specific capacity about 50 mAh/g.


The therapeutic effect of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells has been proven on various disease models. One of the mechanisms is the paracrine effect of the cells on the surrounding tissues.The aim. To investigate the secretome effectiveness of the multipotent mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of adjuvant arthritis and contact-allergic dermatitis in Wistar rats.Materials and methods. Adjuvant arthritis was simulated in 26 female rats by the administration of Freund's complete adjuvant and then treated with the administration of 100 µl of multipotent mesenchymal stem cell secretome or saline. Contact-allergic dermatitis was modeled on 30 female rats by applying 200 μl of an oil solution of dinitrofluorobenzene to the skin on days 1, 5 and 6. Then the rats were treated with fluocinolone ointment (a positive control), baby cream (a negative control), baby cream with a secretome of native multipotent mesenchymal stem cells or from the cells processed with dexamethasone.Results. Judging by the indicators of the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the paws in rats and a histological examination, the secretome did not have any anti-inflammatory effect on adjuvant arthritis. A cream with a secret from multipotent mesenchymal stem cells processed with dexamethasone, was the most effective on the model of contact-allergic dermatitis: the clinical improvement occurred on the 2nd day. The secretome from native multipotent mesenchymal stem cells and fluocinolone had a therapeutic effect on the 3rd day of application, the negative control - on the 4th day. The lymphocytic infiltration coefficient was significantly lower (p <0.05) in all the cases compared to the negative control (2.8 ± 0.1). However, the lowest infiltration was observed when the cream with secretome from native (1.75 ± 0,1) and dexamethasone-stimulated (1.76 ± 0.1) multipotent mesenchymal stem cells was being used.Conclusion. The cream with the secretome of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells suppresses lymphocytic infiltration more strongly than the highly active topical glucocorticosteroid - fluocinolone - on the model of contact-allergic dermatitis, which is a classic local delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction. However, a further study of the therapeutic effect of the secretome on models of systemic inflammatory diseases is required after its preliminary purification from large-molecular proteins.


An automated wavelength-dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometer is operational for analysis of major elements in rocks and minerals. Procedures for trace-element analy¬ sis are being developed. Sample preparation methods and analytical techniques are similar to those commonly used elsewhere, but data reduction is conducted by the Funda¬ mental Parameters program developed by Criss. Unlike empirically derived calibration curves, this data reduction method considers x-ray absorption and secondary fluores¬ cence, which vary with differences in sample composition. X-ray intensities for each element from several standards are averaged to develop a " theoret ical standard" for comparison with samples of unknown composition. Accurate data for samples with wide compositional ranges result from these data reduction and standardization techniques.


We report on calculation of the $\Lambda$ - hypernuclear production induced by the stopped $K^-$. The calculation was performed within the framework of the distorted wave impulse approximation and employed chirally motivated model for the microscopic description of the elementary $K^-$-nucleon process. The sensitivity of the calculation was tested with various wave functions of both the kaon in the initial state and the pion in the final state. Our results are closer to the experimental values then the results of previous calculations.


PC12 cells are a nerve growth factor‐responsive clone derived from a rat pheochromocytoma. The cells contain catecholamines and secrete them in response to depolarizing stimuli and cholinergic agonists. Treatment of the cells with nerve growth factor produces a number of very rapid changes, including the structural rearrangement of the cell membrane, the generation of a number of different second messengers, and the phosphorylation of several proteins. The present studies show that nerve growth factor treatment increases the release of dopamine and norepinephrine from the cells within a few minutes and does so independently of its effect on their metabolism. The experiments indicate that this effect on nerve growth factor is dependent on the presence of extra‐cellular calcium and can be blocked by calcium channel antagonists. K‐252a, an alkaloid‐like material, usually found to inhibit the actions of nerve growth factor on PC12 cells, also increases the release of cat‐echolamines under these conditions.


The study was conducted to find out whether or not professionalizing human resources is a vital response to the increasing onslaught of technology. Specifically, this study sought to determine the extent of qualification standards used among the engineer respondents as compared to Civil Service Standards, the management support on the initiation, development, and propagation along Local Scholarship Programs, Computer Training Programs, and Other Measures to beef up the existing capabilities of the respondents, and the frequency of occurrence on the issues they found in the organization. Qualification standards, management support on measures to beef up the existing capabilities of the respondents, and issues have implication to develop human resources. In support to National and Global Competitiveness and Excellence, the human resources are considered as the ultimate wealth of the nation should be given real priority, more opportunities and support on quality education, relevant training and development to sustain engineering competencies and versatility. Building a high quality and excellent human resources will result to building quality infrastructure projects and a progressive world. Indeed, it's the engineers' responsibility to provide a society with sustainable development not only on technological but in environment terms as well and the increasingly limited resources. Keywords – Management, human resources, global competitiveness, technology and qualification standards, descriptive, Vigan City, Philippines


In all polynomial zerofinding algorithms, a good convergence requires a very good initial approximation of the exact roots. The objective of the work is to study the conditions for determining the initial approximations for an iterative matrix zerofinding method. The investigation is based on the Newbery's matrix construction which is similar to Fiedler's construction associated with a characteristic polynomial. To ensure that convergence to both the real and complex roots of polynomials can be attained, three methods are employed. It is found that the initial values for the Fiedler's companion matrix which is supplied by the Schmeisser's method give a better approximation to the solution in comparison to when working on these values using the Schmeisser's construction towards finding the solutions. In addition, empirical results suggest that a good convergence can still be attained when an initial approximation for the polynomial root is selected away from its real value while other approximations should be sufficiently close to their real values. Tables and figures on the errors that resulted from the implementation of the method are also given.


Information Systems are in growing demand in various business and government organizations. Despite increased competition, business growth and technology innovation, at times, we overlook the governance, transparency, integrity and business ethics, with the result, the quality of deliverable products and services is compromised. Several external factors such as corruption, ineffective governance, political instability, flawed regulations and violation of rules of law, unaccountability affect the connectivity between outside influences and technology implementations. To summarize, weak governance practices and unjustified business ethics are impediments to business IS implementations. Appropriate technological innovations and remedial measures are needed that can substantiate our adaptation and implementation measures. The challenges are examined in the form of a three-tiered technology development motivation, which consists of mitigation, adaptation and implementation actions. We explore the relevant issues and challenges, and the need for a holistic IS research approach with follow-up technological remedies and accountability of results in the affected geographies and demography. The purpose of the research is to build IS artefacts to link governance attributes with the lapses existing between information management, organization strategies and e-business needs. An integrated IS architecture is proposed to explore the congruence between governance indicators and e-business IS requirements. The study further explores the wide-ranging of governance indicators that affected the business IS development and implementation. Cognizance of governance facts and their modelling in e-business contexts are pathways to instigate business IS artefacts and manage their needs in industry scenarios. Based on empirical research done on attribute modelling for 200 governments worldwide, we articulate our research findings with a claim that the e-business objectives are accomplishable through successful implementation of IS architectures in industrial environments through improved governance and transparency. Various IS strategies emerge to rescue the business and organization openness and transparency. Mitigation and critical interrogation of governance indicators facilitate us understand the research phenomena and adaptation of IS artefacts that accustomed to e-business change management. Models describing affected governments, documentation in the form of multidimensional repositories, with sustainability-manifested management and accounting are the outcomes of the research. Implementation of articulated IS architecture, and its adaptations by business and government organizations ensure us smart and sustainable e-business solutions in place, operationalizing governance policies, as adhered by various stakeholders. The research offers sustainable IS artefacts and online services to multiple government organizations and businesses. The benefits of the research are multifold, and they are improved internal operations and delivery of quality public services through established electronic services. Reduced waiting times, raising transparency, reinforcing equalities, and smoothening of the overall functioning of the organizations are added benefits of the study. Cost savings, improved communications, and increased government accountability are other gains of the study.


Identifying on-going activities for the provision of services that are capable of matching the needs of users poses a number of daunting challenges. Most existing approaches to activity recognition require training offline activity models before being applied to the identification of activities in real time. However, the dynamic nature of actual living environments can make previously learned activity models irrelevant. This study addressed the problem of learning and recognizing daily activities in a dynamic smart-home environment, using a novel approach referred to as hybrid user-assisted incremental model adaptation. This approach involves reconfiguring previously learned activity models within a dynamic environment, while pursuing maximum efficiency by using assistance from users as well as the system to annotate new training data. Experiments that are conducted in a fully equipped smart-home lab demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.


This paper proposes a fuzzy logic controlled genetic algorithm (FLC-GA) for the application of star pattern recognition. The proposed FLC-GA dynamically performs operator selection and parameter adjustment automatically. The fuzzy logic controller facilitates this automated control by employing an associated rulebase and inference engine. The rulebase/inference engine decides, using feedback from the genetic algorithm, what control action to take and when to take it. Results from our experiments indicate that optimal solutions evolve more rapidly, thus reducing the time taken to locate a solution within the search space.


Monetary and credit expansions have been the main tools used by the U.S. government and central bank to try and recover economically from the Great Recession of 2008. This paper expounds a radical criticism of these Keynesian policies, criticism developed by some contemporary economists of the Austrian School: the appropriate and fair remedy for this kind of crisis is not reflation but deflation.


A major challenge in using electronic health record repositories for research is the difficulty matching subject eligibility criteria to query capabilities of the repositories. We propose categories for study criteria corresponding to the effort needed for querying those criteria: "easy" (supporting automated queries), mixed (initial automated querying with manual review), "hard" (fully manual record review), and "impossible" or "point of enrollment" (not typically in health repositories). We obtained a sample of 292 criteria from 20 studies from ClinicalTrials.gov. Six independent reviewers, three each from two academic research institutions, rated criteria according to our four types. We observed high interrater reliability both within and between institutions. The analysis demonstrated typical features of criteria that map with varying levels of difficulty to repositories. We propose using these features to improve enrollment workflow through more standardized study criteria, self-service repository queries, and analyst-mediated retrievals.


In the article was analyzed the state of the problem study by Ukrainian scientists. Approaches of a pedagogue of a postgraduate educational institution to a modern pedagogue development taking into account changes and interactions between its subjects, strengthening of the role of information and communication that condition the features and character of the modern education and education environment development were presented. There were characterized the essential characteristics of the notions «soft skills» and «hard skills». There were revealed a necessity in their development in a modern pedagogue in the postgraduate education. Soft skills of a person allow a specialist to be successful, not depending on the specificity and direction of his/her professional activity realization. The systematization of soft skills development features in pedagogues with the great experience of pedagogical activity was realized. Three components of a pedagogue's soft skills development were separated: informativity, communicability, reflexiveness and their parameters. The positive dynamics in the soft skills development as a result of introduction of a learning course, directed on the development, into the elaborated educational-developing e-environment was presented


Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with highly
designable skeleton and inherent pores have emerged as promising organic
photocatalysts for hydrogen production. However, inefficient solar light harvesting, strong
excitonic effect, and the lack of active sites still pose major challenges to
the rational design of COFs for efficient photocatalytic water splitting and
the structure-property relationship has not been established. In this work, we investigated the
fundamental mechanism of photoelectrochemical conversion in fully conjugated
donor (D)-acceptor (A) COFs in Lieb lattice and proposed a facile strategy to
achieve broad visible and near-infrared absorption, prompt exciton
dissociation, tunable band alignment for overall water splitting, and
metal-free catalysis of hydrogen production. Interestingly, we found that the
exciton binding energy was substantially reduced with the narrowing of optical
band gap and the increase of static dielectric constant. Further, we unraveled
that the hydrogen bond played a vital role in suppressing the overpotential for
hydrogen evolution reaction to enable metal-free catalysis. These
findings not only highlight a novel route to modulating electronic properties
of COFs towards high photocatalytic activity for water splitting, but also
offer tremendous opportunities to design metal-free catalysts for other
chemical transformations.


Integrating renewable energy into the power grid while balancing supply and demand is a complex issue, given its intermittent nature. Demand side management (DSM) offers solutions to this challenge. We propose a new method for DSM, in particular the problem of controlling a large population of electrical devices to follow a desired consumption signal. We model it as a finite horizon Markovian mean field control problem. We develop a new algorithm, MD-MFC, which provides theoretical guarantees for convex and Lipschitz objective functions. What distinguishes MD-MFC from the existing load control literature is its effectiveness in directly solving the target tracking problem without resorting to regularization techniques on the main problem. A non-standard Bregman divergence on a mirror descent scheme allows dynamic programming to be used to obtain simple closed-form solutions. In addition, we show that general mean-field game algorithms can be applied to this problem, which expands the possibilities for addressing load control problems. We illustrate our claims with experiments on a realistic data set.


RNA virus invasion induces a cytosolic RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) signaling pathway by promoting assembly of the Mitochondrial antiviral-signaling protein (MAVS) signalosome and triggers the rapid production of type I interferons (IFNs) and proinflammatory cytokines. During this process, the pivotal kinase TANK binding kinase 1 (TBK1) is recruited to the MAVS signalosome to transduce a robust innate antiviral immune response by phosphorylating transcription factors interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB and promoting their nuclear translocation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the negative regulation of TBK1 are largely unknown. In the present study, we found that THO complex subunit 7 homolog (THOC7) negatively regulated the cellular antiviral response by promoting the proteasomal degradation of TBK1. THOC7 overexpression potently inhibited Sendai virus- or polyI:C-induced IRF3 dimerization and phosphorylation and IFN-β production. In contrast, THOC7 knockdown had the opposite effects. Moreover, we simulated a node-activated pathway to show that THOC7 regulated the RIG-I-like receptors (RLR)-/MAVS-dependent signaling cascade at the TBK1 level. Furthermore, THOC7 was involved in the MAVS signalosome and promoted TBK1 degradation by increasing its K48 ubiquitin-associated polyubiquitination. Together, these findings suggest that THOC7 negatively regulates type I IFN production by promoting TBK1 proteasomal degradation, thus improving our understanding of innate antiviral immune responses.


This study examines the relationship between corporate socially responsible (CSR) activities and tax avoidance using residual book-tax differences (BTD), year residual BTD and total BTD. Using a sample of 1,148 publicly listed Korean firms on Korean Stock Exchange (KSE) covering periods between 2004 and 2009 it finds that the firms with higher CSR activities are less likely to avoid taxes regardless which proxy of tax avoidance is used. This finding is confirmed with two stage least square (2SLS) method after accounting for endogeneity of CSR. It also tests how seven different CSR activities affect tax avoidance, and finds that social services, satisfaction of employees and contributions to economic development are negatively related to tax avoidance. Overall, the empirical results of this paper support the previous studies arguing the negative relationship between tax avoidance and CSR.


Sixty blood samples from pregnant women during gestational weeks 9–28 were investigated. Cell-free fetal DNA was extracted from maternal plasma or serum to be detected by nested PCR for determination of fetal gender. The SRY gene as a marker for fetal Y chromosome was detected in 34/36 women carrying a male fetus. In 3/24 women carrying female fetuses, the SRY sequence was also detected. Overall, fetal sex was correctly predicted in 91.7% of the cases. Therefore, the new, non-invasive method of prenatal diagnosis of fetal gender for women at risk of producing children with X-linked disorders is reliable, secure, and can substantially reduce invasive prenatal tests.


These studies were conducted to investigate the chemical composition changes in in vitro digestibility for the improvement of nutritive value of rice straw by alkaline hydrogen peroxide. The content of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin in rice straw was decreased with higher level of . The content of ADF, cellulose and ash of the rice straw washed after treatment tended to be increased but NDF, hemicellulose and lignin were decreased with higher concentration of . In the rice straw washed after alkaline hydrogen peroxide treatment the decomposition of cellulose and lignin was effective in , in smaller cutting size and . The in vitro organic matter digestibility was increased with higher concentration and smaller cutting size of rice straw.


It is an essential design process to analyze the performance of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) processor before implementation. The contribution of this paper is to identify the chief sources and types of errors, to assess their impact on system performance, and to suggest the analysis technique for principal performance of the space-based SAR processor using Range-Doppler Algorithm (RDA). Also, simulation is performed by the Experimental-SAR (E-SAR) processor to examine the practicability and efficiency of the technique, the results are discussed, and solutions for the problems are recommended. Therefore, this technique can be used to analyze the performance of the space-based SAR processor using RDA.


This article compares Owen v. Galgey under Article 4 Rome II Regulation and YANG Shuying v. British Carnival Cruise under Article 44 Chinese Conflicts Act in the context of cross-border multi-party litigation on tort liability. The questions raised in these two cases include how to interpret the tort conflicts rules of lex loci delicti, lex domicilii communis and the closer/closest connection test when determining the applicable law. In particular, as regards the meaning of lex loci delicti, the notion of 'damage', the common habitual residence of the parties and the criteria to determine the closer/closest connection, different interpretations were provided in these two cases. In order to clarify certain ambiguity of tortious applicable law rules in cross-border multi-party litigation, a comparative study of Chinese and European tort conflicts rules is conducted. This article does not intend to reach a conclusion as to which law is better between the Rome II Regulation and the Chinese Conflicts Act, but rather highlights a common challenge faced by both Chinese courts and English courts in the field of international tortious litigation on personal injury and how to tackle such challenge in an efficient way under current legislation.


Wildfires can elevate dissolved organic matter (DOM) levels due to ash input and algal growth in source waters, and consequently impacting disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation in finished water; however, it remains unclear how quality and quantity of overall allochthonous and autochthonous DOM as well as associated DBP formation are changed during an entire algal life cycle. Microcystis aeruginosa was cultured in the medium containing low and high concentrations [10% and 65% (v/v)] of black and white ash water extracts (BE and WE) to study dynamic changes of carbonaceous, nitrogenous, and oxygenated DBP precursors during algal growth. DOM was characterized by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and chlorination/chloramination-based DBP formation experiments. Throughout the entire experiment, C-DBP precursors in the control ranged from 2.41 to 3.09 mmol/mol-C. In the treatment with 10% BE, the amount of C-DBP precursors decreased from 6.8 to 3.0 mmol/mol-C at initial-exponential phase then increased to 4.2 mmol/mol-C at death phase. The same trend was observed for O-DBP precursors. However, these dynamic changes of C- and O-DBP precursors exhibited opposite patterns in 65% extracts. Similar patterns were also observed in the WE treatments. On the other hand, N-DBP precursors continuously declined in all treatments. These results indicate that postfire ash loading and algal bloom stage may significantly affect DBP formation in source water.


This research is motivated by the importance of character problems in students who are still inadequate. In this regard, this study aims to determine the management of character formation to realize the morals of students at MI Al-Muttaqin Binangun. This research is a qualitative type. Data collection through interviews, observation and documentation. The validity of the data using triangulation. Data analysis techniques include data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions. This study resulted in five conclusions: (1) Character education planning is carried out through joint deliberations to determine the character and moral values to be developed. And after the plan is completed, the next step is to instill values and morality in students that aim to strengthen character education. These values and morals are in line with the vision and mission of the madrasa. These values and morals include: religious, sincere, hardworking, intelligent and caring. (2) Organizing character education, where the teacher becomes a role model for madrasah students is going well. These values and morals are implemented in different ways depending on the style of each teacher. (3) Character education directives include activities that improve teacher-student relationships, provide opportunities for students to voice their opinions, and motivate students. (4) Control of character education is carried out by equipping students with the development of moral values and literacy. These skills include: critical thinking, creative thinking, clear communication skills, listening skills, and good moral habits.


Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive review of symmetrically shaped antennas in terms of antenna size, dielectric materials, resonating band, peak gain, radiation pattern, simulating tools, and their applications. In this article, flower shape, leaf shape, tree shape, fan shape, Pi shape, butterfly shape, bat shape, wearable, multiband, monopole, and fractal antennas are discussed. Further, a survey of previously reported bandwidth enhancement techniques of microstrip patch antenna like introduction of thick and lower permittivity substrate, multilayer substrate, parasitic elements, slots and notches, shorting wall, shorting pin, defected ground structure, metamaterial-based split ring resonator structure, fractal geometry, and composite right-hand/left-handed transmission line approach is presented. The physics of these techniques has been discussed in detail which is supported by circuit theory model approach.


At high altitudes, amphibians brumate (over winter) during the winter months, an adaptation that provides protection from harsh weather and minimizes metabolic demand when food resources are scarce. However, brumation in ex situ populations is often avoided due to concerns regarding slow growth rates, compromised immunity, and increased morbidity, and to accelerate growth and sexual maturation. Running counter to these ideas is the hypothesis that husbandry that mimics the environmental conditions under which a species evolved may benefit animal health and reproduction. This may be particularly critical for animals slated for release into the wild. Here, we evaluated the effects of brumation on juvenile southern mountain yellow‐legged frogs (Rana muscosa) in a conservation breeding and release program. Growth measurements, (weight and snout‐urostyle length [SUL]), were examined in three experimental groups: Nonbrumated, 1 or 3‐month brumation. Postrelease survival was also analyzed and compared between nonbrumated and 3‐month brumated frogs. This study indicates that brumated R. muscosa juveniles grow to sizes and weights similar to controls within 3 to 4 months following brumation. Mark‐recapture models suggested that short‐term postrelease survival was not lower and in fact, may be higher in brumated compared to nonbrumated frogs. Results of this study indicate that although brumation entails short‐term costs to growth, this species possesses compensatory growth mechanisms following brumation which allow them to attain similar body size to nonbrumated conspecifics in time for the next winter and that for frogs destined for translocation to the wild, brumation could improve survival outcomes.


Abstract Context. Wild deer are increasing worldwide and, in Australia, prompting land managers to review management strategies. Management activities may be ineffective without a sound understanding of the ecology of the species. No peer-reviewed research has been published for wild red deer in Australia, where they have been introduced. Aims. To help land managers gain an understanding of some movement parameters of introduced wild red deer out of their natural range. Methods. GPS collars were used to obtain movement rates (m h–1), annual home range using three estimators and seasonal home range using the Local Convex Hull estimator. Key findings. Deer at our study site displayed typical crepuscular movements. However, the lack of elevated activity for stags in summer varies greatly to reports from overseas. The annual home range of hinds was much smaller than that of stags. Large differences for seasonal home ranges from the same deer for two winters suggest that seasonal conditions may exert a large influence on the size of home ranges. The home ranges of deer at our study site were comparable with the largest reported in European studies, but the relationship between deer density and home-range area was markedly different. Conclusions. It appears that Australian wild red deer behave differently from their European conspecifics for several important movement parameters. Wild stags did not display the high levels of movement activity in summer, like those in Europe, and the home-range areas of our deer were very large for the high densities we encountered compared with overseas reports. Implications. Targeted management of hinds may prove beneficial as hinds had a much smaller and continuous home range than stags. If managers want to target stags, there is only a short rut period when they continually associate with hinds and that may be the most efficacious time for control. Additionally, future research may need to explore the link between home range and deer density, and the effect of variation in rainfall on home range and movement of wild red deer which may influence management activities more than do the regular seasonal patterns found in Europe.


Aims To investigate the extent of breast milk substitute (BMS) advertising in high impact medical journals and assess its content for compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code). Methods A retrospective analysis of the number and content of BMS advertisements in high impact paediatric and general medical journals published in hard copy from 2003–2012. 12 journals were drawn from the 20 highest ranking journals by impact factor (Thompson Reuters 2011) in the categories 'Paediatrics' and 'Medicine, General and Internal.' For each journal we quantified the prevalence and type of BMS advertising. Two investigators independently assessed the content of the 2012 advertisements for compliance with article 7.2 of the Code. Results 63,167 journal pages were hand searched. 5462 pages were advertising of which 91 (1.7%) were for BMS. Five journals out of twelve contained BMS advertising, 1 general and 4 paediatric journals. In some paediatric journals BMS advertising was more prominent, 7 out of 29 pages of advertising (24%) for one journal in 2012. One publishing group was responsible for almost 75% of all BMS advertising across the sample, albeit spread between different journals. Five different BMS products for infants under six months were advertised. No single product had a clear majority over the timeframe. General first milks, allergy or intolerance milks, and preterm milks each represented 20 – 30% of BMS advertising. None of the 2012 advertisements contained all the information stipulated by the Code. Conclusions BMS advertising is uncommon overall, but varies greatly between different publishers and journals. Advertisement compliance with the Code is poor, raising questions about the value of information presented. Further research is needed on whether this adversely affects breastfeeding and other infant feeding advice provided by healthcare professionals. Although attempts could be made to improve the quality of BMS advertisements, we believe that a far better option is to invest in more independent sources of BMS information. In the short term, since most publishers avoid BMS adverts entirely, we question whether any should carry BMS advertising. This would be a certain way of avoiding any misunderstandings and potential risks.


This work aims to study the effect of the polycarboxylate superplalsticizer (PCS) on the rheology, electrical conductivity, physico-chemical and mechanical properties of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes containing silica fume (SF). The blended cement pastes were prepared from OPC-SF (90 wt.% OPC + 10 wt.% SF). The results show that addition of PCS to the cement blends decreases their electrical conductivity during the early and later ages up to 28 days. In addition, PCS admixture considerably affects the amount of chemically combined water. Compressive strength of OPC pastes is higher than that of pastes containing SF. However, the addition of 0.75-1.5 wt.% PCS brings higher compressive strength values of OPC-SF pastes than those of OPC cement pastes.


Herein, we present a novel approach for the fabrication of micropatterned polymeric nanowire arrays that addresses the current need for scalable and customizable polymer nanofabrication. We describe two variations of this approach for the patterning of nanowire arrays on either flat polymeric films or discrete polymeric microstructures and go on to investigate biological applications for the resulting polymeric features. We demonstrate that the micropatterned arrays of densely packed nanowires facilitate rapid, low-waste drug and reagent localization with micron-scale resolution as a result of their high wettability. We also show that micropatterned nanowire arrays provide hierarchical cellular control by simultaneously directing cell shape on the micron scale and influencing focal adhesion formation on the nanoscale. This nanofabrication approach has potential applications in scaffold-based cellular control, biological assay miniaturization, and biomedical microdevice technology.


The role of technology in the cost of health care is a primary issue in current debates concerning national health care reform. The broad scope of studies for understanding technological impacts is known as technology assessment. Technology policy makers can improve their decision making by becoming more aware, and taking greater advantage, of key trends in health care technology assessment (HCTA). HCTA is the systematic evaluation of the properties, impacts, and other attributes of health care technologies, including: technical performance; clinical safety and efficacy/effectiveness; cost-effectiveness and other economic attributes; appropriate circumstances/indications for use; and social, legal, ethical, and political impacts. The main purpose of HCTA is to inform technology-related policy making in health care. Among the important trends in HCTA are: 1) proliferation of HCTA groups in the public and private sectors; 2) higher standards for scientific evidence concerning technologies; 3) methodological development in cost analyses, health-related quality of life measurement, and consolidation of available scientific evidence (e.g., meta-analysis); 4) emphasis on improved data on how well technologies work in routine practice and for traditionally under-represented patient groups; 5) development of priority-setting methods; 6) greater reliance on medical informatics to support and disseminate HCTA findings.


The effect of thermal annealing on the optical band gap of Cd1-xZnxS (x= 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) thin films have been investigated. The films were deposited using the dip technique. The fundamental optical property which has been investigated here is the absorbance of light at room temperature, using the KLB Ultraspec II 4050 (UV/Visible) spectrophotometer over the wavelength range 300 – 900 nm. The energy band gap and absorption coefficient of the films were determined from the absorption spectrum. The optical band gap of the as-deposited films varied from 2.42 eV (x =0.2) to 3.61 eV (x =0.8), that is, the band gap increased with increasing Zn concentration of the alloy. These values compare favorably well with that obtained from literature of similar films prepared using other deposition techniques. The as-deposited samples were thermally annealed in air for an hour at temperatures of 100°C, 200°C and 300°C and the absorption spectra again recorded. It was observed that thermal annealing decreased the band gap of the samples; this may be due to improving crystallinity or alternatively, a phase transformation taking place in the samples as a result of the heat treatment.


The Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite has now produced the first global maps of small-scale variances in the middle atmosphere. Initial analyses are presented here that suggest these variances are due to gravity waves, and the technique used to extract gravity wave information from saturated radiance measurements is described. Observations at 30–80km altitudes show that the variances of horizontal scales less than ∼100km are strongly correlated with upper tropospheric convection, surface topography and stratospheric jetstreams. MLS monthly averages during solstice periods suggest that the normalized variance amplitude grows exponentially with height in the stratosphere, and saturates in the mesosphere as expected from wave breaking and dissipation at these altitudes.


This paper proposes a method to measure distribution of refractive index for X-rays. Spatial differentiation of phase of the X-ray transmitted through an object is detected using an X-ray shearing interferometer. From such data for different transmission directions we can reconstruct refractive index distribution inside the object using a modified algorithm for computer tomography. Reconstruction experiment is made with plastics as objects.


Citizens of Character explores the attitudes, dispositions, and values of 14-16 year old students in a particular urban environment - the six schools of the Hodge Hill constituency in Birmingham - and the extent to which the education system and the local environment advance or inhibit their sense of self, their values and their character development. These students constituted a heterogeneous group of religious and non-religious individuals.
This project goes beyond the normal exploration and measurement of strengths of character in individuals and looks at the factors that build character in families and schools. This research has wider implications for the relationship between character and aspirations, social change, school cultures, citizenship, identity and religion. The study discusses what students understand by character. It set out to ascertain the moral values held by a group of students living in an inner-city area. The study sought to question who or what has influenced their moral values and examined which individuals, institutions and situations might have hindered or promoted their development. Some of the issues and concerns which arose - for example, relations with neighbours, the matter of local and national pride and questions of trust - may seem not to impinge upon character education as such but are relevant in a wider context.


Details of embryonic skeletal and muscular organization provide evidence for the evolution of the turtle shell. In On the Origin of Species, Darwin asserted: "Monstrosities cannot be separated by any clear line of distinction from mere variations" (1). But encased in its shell, the turtle appears to be just such a monstrosity. No other animal, living or extinct, has its body enclosed within a bony shell that is similarly constructed in its entirety. Over the last few years, developmental biologists have started to tackle the question of how the turtle shell evolved. On page 193 of this issue, Nagashima et al. (2) provide a detailed account of muscular and skeletal changes during the embryogenesis of the modern turtle, and in drawing parallels between these early developmental changes and what is seen in ancestral turtles, provide insights into how turtle shell evolution might have occurred.


The work is focused on technology and characterization issues of silicon pillar nanostructures in combination with metal oxides, such as ZnO and TiO2 , for various applications in field of biosensor and solar energy. The metal-assisted chemical etching method (MACE) modified with latex nanobeads lithography and spin-coating technique, was used to fabricate the uniform silicon nanopillar arrays. Atomic layer deposition technique (ALD) which is utilized for formation of oxide layers displays uniform coverage of the arrays and provides thin film formation independently on surface peculiarities. Therefore, it can be applied both for planar samples and 3D patterned substrates with porous media


A graph-theoretic approach is taken to the component order problem in the layout of statistical graphics. Eulerian tours and Hamiltonian decompositions of complete graphs are used to ameliorate order effects in statistical graphics. Similarly, traversals of edge weighted graphs are used to amplify the visual effect of selected salient features in the data. Relevant graph theory is summarized and classic algorithms are tailored to this problem. Graphics for multiple comparisons are reviewed and a new display developed that is based on graph traversal. Improved star glyph displays of multivariate data are described. Parallel coordinate displays tailored to particular features of the data are developed. The methods and new graphical displays are made available as an R package, PairViz.


Abstract. Droughts are becoming the most expensive natural disasters in China and have exerted serious impacts on local economic development and ecological environment. The fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) provides a unique opportunity to assess scientific understanding of climate variability and change over a range of historical and future period. In this study, fine-resolution multimodel climate projections over China are developed based on 7 CMIP5 climate models under RCP8.5 emissions scenarios by means of Bilinear Interpolation and Bias Correction. The results of downscaled CMIP5 models are evaluated over China by comparing the model outputs with the England Reanalysis CRU3.1 from 1951 to 2000. Accordingly, the results from the output of downscaled models are used to calculate the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). Time series of SPI has been used to identify drought from 20th century to 21st century over China. The results show that, most areas of China are projected to become wetter as a consequence of increasing precipitation under RCP8.5 scenarios. Detailed examination shows that the SPI show a slightly increasing trend in the future period for the most parts of China, but drought in Southwest region of China will become the norm in the future RCP8.5 scenarios.


OBJECTIVES
Although a wide range of therapeutic strategies have been developed to improve the outcome of severe sepsis, a convincing reduction in mortality is lacking. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to immunomodulatory effects of antimicrobials. This study set out to explore the immunomodulatory effects of fosfomycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic frequently used in septic patients, at the protein and molecular levels in vitro.

METHODS
Whole blood from 11 healthy volunteers was incubated with 50 pg/mL endotoxin and 100 microg/mL fosfomycin or physiological sodium chloride for 4 h. Real-time RT-PCR was performed for various pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Concentrations of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 in the supernatant were measured using a commercially available ELISA.

RESULTS
Incubation of human leucocytes with endotoxin increased messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of cytokines several thousand fold compared with baseline. The addition of fosfomycin significantly inhibited mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1-alpha, IL-6 and TNF-alpha after 2 h (P < 0.01), while no significant reduction was observed for the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4, IL-10 and IL-13 (P = 0.26). At the protein level, the concentrations of IL-6 and TNF-alpha increased approximately 3000- and 600-fold after 4 h of incubation with lipopolysaccharide as compared with baseline, respectively. Addition of fosfomycin significantly reduced cytokine levels by 56% and 73% for IL-6 and TNF-alpha, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Fosfomycin extensively decreased mRNA levels and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in human blood. The broad antimicrobial coverage of fosfomycin and its immunosuppressive effects could be clinically useful in patients with sepsis.


We propose a set of unified models to describe H-mode operation of the core plasma, the edge plasma including the transport barrier, and the scrape-off layer plasma to extrapolate to ITER. These models are being incorporated into several tokamak transport codes for use in extrapolating to ITER. Edge pedestal temperatures of 3.5-4 keV for edge densities between 6 and are predicted for ITER, which is the pedestal temperature range required for good confinement with ITG-based core models. The edge operational space predicted for ITER is compatible with both the required core density and core confinement and exhibits a large window between H-mode threshold and the ballooning limit.


Copyright: © 2017 Sohrabi M. This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. *Corresponding author: Mehdi Sohrabi, Department of Energy Engineering and Physics, Health Physics and Dosimetry Research Laboratory, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, Tel: 09121097485; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


The assemblage of models, texts, video and photographic imagery in this exhibition shows a pre-occupation with the acts of cutting, rejoining, inverting and reflecting, revealing a 'potential space' - perhaps within the 'joins' themselves. These acts often involve violence against a 'piece of work' and a feeling of calculated ruination befalls any intended 'outcome' - of course these acts also alter the genetic structure of the thing forming a new combination. The splice or seam is imagined as an abyss - something immeasurably deep or infinite - and this distance delays closure in the work and gives time to look and reflect together with a sense of 'remove'. The impression of provisionality in the work and referencing to ruin as a verb as well as a noun indicates something in process and in the act of taking place in the here and now.


Abstract:Belgian author J.H. Rosny aîné (1856–1940) is unique among early science fiction authors in his sympathetic treatment of the alien Other. In Les Xipéhuz (1887), a prehistoric tribe turns to Bakhoûn, a modern, rational man before his time, after a deadly encounter with an alien species, who then uses the scientific method to study the creatures and find their weakness. Rosny's novella moves away from the alien- encounter trope of his time, emphasizing a scientific approach to understanding the nonhuman figure, in the place of fear and superstition. However, Rosny's universe operates on a larger, evolutionary scale, where individual ethical responsibility and species survival cannot always be in harmony. This article examines Bakhoûn's regret that the two species cannot coexist by drawing on Emmanuel Lévinas's ethical concept of the face, in order to demonstrate how Bakhoûn's final reflections transcend species boundaries.


A signal detection paradigm was employed to investigate the possibility that changes in decision-making may contribute to the age-related decline in contrast sensitivity. Detection of sinusoidal grating patterns was measured at 3 and 15 c/deg for a range of contrasts which were psychophysically equivalent for young and old subjects. A decline in contrast sensitivity with age at the spatial frequencies studied was confirmed for contrast thresholds obtained both by an ascending method and from the 50% hit rate for detection of the grating pattern. The criterion adopted for decision-making, expressed as both B and percentage bias, did not change significantly between young and old subjects at 15 c/deg. At 3 c/deg, criterion did not change significantly at 0. 8x, 1.0x, or 1.2x contrast threshold, but at contrast giving 50% hit rate there was a significant increase with age. Paradoxically, the percentage bias increased significantly at contrast threshold but not at 50% hit rate. It is inferred from the results that the loss of contrast sensitivity is not accountable in terms of adoption of a more conservative criterion by older subjects. Hence visual loss in ageing is attributed to changes within the visual pathway rather than within higher decision-making centres. In order to further investigate this conclusion, the transient pattern visually evoked response (PVER) was recorded in young and old subjects to the onset of a vertical sinusoidal grating pattern of spatial frequency 3 and 8 c/deg and contrasts 40%, 20%, 10%, 5% and 3%. The waveform evoked contained a series of negative and positive components which were labelled N1, P1, N2 and P2. The latencies of the N1, P1 and N2 components were generally found to be significantly longer in old subjects compared with young, while no significant age-related differences were found for P2. Amplitudes and rise times were not found to be significantly different between the age groups. Latencies of the first 3 components generally generally showed a significant inverse correlation with log contrast although the 'gain' of the relationship was not significantly different between young and old subjects. Amplitude and rise time showed no significant correlation with log contrast. The age-related latency changes were confirmed when PVERs to grating patterns of 40% contrast and spatial frequencies 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 15 c/deg were recorded in young and old subjects. The latencies of N1 and P1 were found to be significantly correlated with increasing spatial frequency. Rise times of P1 and N2 were significantly inversely correlated with spatial frequency. Amplitudes of P1 and N2 showed a significant inverse correlation with spatial frequency only in young subjects. Age-related latency changes in the flash VER are interpreted in terms of a possible decline in cortical inhibitory function in old subjects. PVERs were also recorded to grating patterns of 3 and 8 c/deg, the contrasts of which were normalized with respect to contrast threshold and hence were psychophysically comparable between subjects of different ages. At 8 c/deg there were no significant latency, amplitude or rise time differences between young and old subjects. At 3 c/deg, however, the age-related latency differences were maintained, even though the stimuli had been made perceptually equivalent. The results indicate that the location of at least some of the physiological changes underlying the age-related deficit in visual performance must lie in or prior to the primary visual cortex where the early components of the PVER are thought to be generated. In addition, it is concluded that the results in the signal detection experiment where contrast thresholds obtained from the 50% hit rate at 3 c/deg (but not 15 c/deg) were higher than expected in old subjects, and the results in the PVER experiments where normalizing stimulus contrast failed to abolish age-related latency differences at 3 c/deg (but not 8 c/deg), can best be explained by an impairment in old people in the processing of transient stimuli at low spatial frequency.


The prime objective in the surgical treatment of basilar impression (BI), Chiari malformation (CM) and/or syringomyelia (SM) is based on the restoration of the normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics at the craniovertebral junction through the creation of a large artificial cisterna magna. A small suboccipital craniectomy has been emphasized to avoid caudal migration of the hindbrain structures into the vertebral canal. Nevertheless, the results showed downward migration of the hindbrain related to that type of craniectomy. The authors present, otherwise, the results of 104 cases of BI, CM and/or SM, whose surgical treatment was characterized by a large craniectomy with the patient in the sitting position, tonsillectomy, large opening of the fourth ventricle and duraplasty with creation of a large artificial cisterna magna. A significant upward migration of the posterior fossa structures was detected by postoperative magnetic resonance imaging.


ObjectivesHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is directly associated with the occurrence and development of cervical cancer. Targeting HPV infection has become the priority in treatment and prevention. Some treatment strategies have shown a limited therapeutic potential in suppressing and reversing the oncogenic effects of HPVs, but are compromised by the toxicity, immune suppression and the expense. Arsenic trioxide (As2O3) has shown therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of haematological and solid cancer and has been demonstrated to effectively induce apoptosis of HPV-infected cervical cancer cells in vitro. Here, we examined the effects and possible molecular pathway of As2O3-induced apoptosis in HPV-infected and noninfected cervical cancer cells. MethodsAs2O3 was added to HPV-infected cell lines HeLa and CaSki and the HPV-negative cell line C33A at concentrations from 1 to 10 µmol/l. Cell proliferation rates were evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assays after exposure. Expressions of tumour suppressor gene p53, activated caspase-3 and cell cycle distribution were evaluated in relation to HPV-E6 protein expression by confocal microscopy immunofluorescent staining and flow cytometry. ResultsAs2O3 reduced cell populations by 16% in C33A but by 48–60% in HPV-infected cell lines CaSki and HeLa. The expression of HPV-E6 proteins was drastically down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner, whereas p53 and activated caspase-3 expressions increased in the HPV-infected cell lines. Flow cytometry demonstrated cell cycle arrest in S-G2/M phases, and increasing apoptotic bodies were seen in HPV-infected lines only. ConclusionAs2O3, at low concentrations, inhibited HPV-E6 protein expression, leading to up-regulated p53 levels, induced S to G2/M arrest and apoptosis.


he purpose of this paper is to investigate the pressurization effects on sound transmission through airplane panels. The airborne sound transmission through airplane panels under the condition of overpressure at one side has been investigated by measurement. The test results agree well with the theoretic prediction of infinite cylindrical shell model at high frequencies, but have considerable discrepancies at low frequencies, which, however, are ready to be explained by the influence of finiteness and stiffeners of the panel. When the frequency is higher than the ring frequency of curved panel, both test and theoretic prediction reveal that the overpressure under laboratory conditions tends to reduce the sound transmission loss at the rate of about 0.5dB/10000 Pa. while at low frequencies, say below around the ring frequency, the overpressure may increase the sound transmission loss of ring-stiffened panel, the reason of this behavior is resulted from the shift of the resonant frequencies led by the increased in-plane tension.


We review the information gained when studying the same sample containing surfactants by SANS and SAXS. Specific information can be obtained if intensities I(q) are determined and used on absolute scale as well as over a large q-window, thus extending to the «Porod limit» asymptotic range. Comparing SAXS and SANS peak positions (when present) allows unambiguous identification of structure factors separated from underlying form factors. Absolute scale refers to scattering cross-section while resolution relates to the qmax/qmin ratio. Taking into account "external" knowledge of molecular volumes in constrained fitting from explicit models gives better results on aggregation numbers as well as on interfacial thickness than considering only Patterson functions. We assemble in this review results on adsorption isotherms on surfactant films as well as equations of state, quantifying colloidal interactions. Identification of the topological origin of swelling behaviour are made possible by using combined SAXS and SANS on the largest possible q-range. Best results using this general methodology up to now were obtained by considering data separated from background up to qmax= 0.6 A−1 − 0.8 A−1.