.. Objectives: To determine role of histoacryl injection in preventing upper acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Study Design: Prospective Study. Setting: Gastroenterology ward of DHQ Teaching Hospital Gujranwala. Period: One year from 1st September 2017 to 31st August 2018. Material & Methods: Patients presented to the study hospital having upper gastrointestinal bleeding of acute onset due to gastric varices bleeding were included in this study. All other cases having upper GIT bleeding due to other causes like peptic ulcer disease, Mallory weise syndrome, gastritis or esophageal varices were not included in this study. Both male and female patients were included irrespective of their age. Hemostasis in these cases was achieved by endoscopic sclerotherapy using histoacryl glue (N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate) injection without lipoidal dilution. After first session of injection patients were called on follow up after 5 days and they were assessed for recurrent GIT bleeding and treatment failure. All data was documented on a predesigned performa. Frequencies and percentage were calculated and results were expressed in tabular form and graphs. Results: Total 80 cases were studied including 56% male and 44% female cases. Endoscopic sclerotherapy using histoacryl injection proved successful in 87.5% cases and recurrent bleeding occurred in 12.5% cases. Minimum age of patients was 25 years and maximum age 70 years with mean age of 45 years. Total 450 cases presented in study institution with Upper GIT bleeding during study period and causes among them were liver cirrhosis in 92% cases, peptic ulcer disease in 4% cases, Malloryweise Syndrome in 2.5% and gastritis in 1.5% cases. In our study group cause of gastric varices was liver cirrhosis due to viral hepatitis in 73% cases and alcoholic hepatitis in 27% cases. After single session of endoscopic histoacryl glue injection to 80 cases, no bleeding occurred after 5 days in 71(88.7%) cases, recurrent bleeding occurred within 5 days in 9(11.2%) cases. Two cases died due to massive recurrent bleeding and mortality rate was 2.5%. Conclusion: Endoscopic sclerotherapy using Histoacryl injection is very successful treatment for acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding with very low recurrence rate of bleeding and low mortality rate.


Abstract It is widely accepted in cognitive science that cognition can be understood at two levels: a cognitive level and a neural level. This position has been challenged by Bennett and Hacker who claim that attempts at cognitive‐level explanations of behavioural phenomena are always mere re‐descriptions of these phenomena, and hence are never of any explanatory value. For them, only explanations at the neural (brain) level are acceptable. They accept that currently nothing is known about the neural bases of many of the behavioural phenomena they consider. Hence for them, these behavioural phenomena are completely inexplicable at present. I argue that the cognitive‐level explanations that have been offered for such phenomena cannot be mere re‐descriptions since (1) they are falsifiable by experiment; and (2) there are often mutually incompatible cognitive‐level explanations being offered for a particular phenomenon, explanations between which adjudication is possible by further experimentation. Such explanations are therefore scientifically acceptable rather than being empty, and they provide us with understandings of many behavioural phenomena that are utterly mysterious to Bennett and Hacker.


ABSTRACT Both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria possess protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) with a catalytic Cys residue. In addition, many gram-positive bacteria have acquired a new family of PTPs, whose first characterized member was CpsB from Streptococcus pneumoniae. Bacillus subtilis contains one such CpsB-like PTP, YwqE, in addition to two class II Cys-based PTPs, YwlE and YfkJ. The substrates for both YwlE and YfkJ are presently unknown, while YwqE was shown to dephosphorylate two phosphotyrosine-containing proteins implicated in UDP-glucuronate biosynthesis, YwqD and YwqF. In this study, we characterize YwqE, compare the activities of the three B. subtilis PTPs (YwqE, YwlE, and YfkJ), and demonstrate that the two B. subtilis class II PTPs do not dephosphorylate the physiological substrates of YwqE.


INTRODUCTION
The severity of urinary tract infection (UTI) produced by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is due to the expression of a wide spectrum of virulence genes. E. coli strains were divided into four phylogenetic groups (A, B1, B2 and D) based on their virulence genes. The present study aimed to assess the relationship between virulence genes, phylogenetic groups, and antibiotic resistance of UPEC.

METHODOLOGY
A total of 148 E. coli were tested for antimicrobial resistance against 10 drugs using the disk diffusion method. The isolates were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of virulence genes and categorized into the four major phylogenetic groups.

RESULTS
Phylogenetic group B2 was predominant (33.8%), followed by D (28.4%), A (19.6), and B1 (18.2%). A higher prevalence of fimH (89.9%), fyuA (70.3%), traT (66.2%), iutA (62.2%), kpsMTII (58.8%), and aer (56.1%) genes were found in UPEC, indicating a putative role of adhesins, iron acquisition systems, and protectins that are main cause of UTIs. The most common antibiotic resistance was to cephalotin (85.1%), ampicillin (78.4%) and the least to nitrofurantoin (5.4%) and imipenem (2%). In total, 93.9% of isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR).

CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that group B2 and D were the predominant phylogenetic groups and virulence-associated genes were mostly distributed in these groups. The virulence genes encoding components of adhesins, iron acquisition systems, and protectins were highly prevalent among antibiotic-resistant UPEC. Although the majority of strains are MDR, nitrofurantoin is the drug of choice for treatment of UTI patients in Ulaanbaatar.


Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatase 1 (DUSP1/MKP-1) is a member of the threonine-tyrosine dual-specificity phosphatase family that is endogenous inhibitor for extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs), p38 MAPKs, and JNKs signaling. MKP-1 plays a key role in determining the magnitude and duration of MAPK activation in response to extracellular stimuli. In human cancers, abnormal expression of DUSP1 is associated with tumor development, chemoresistance and prognosis. However, the mechanism by which MKP-1 is regulated is not fully understood. Here, we show that GP78, an E3 ligase, plays an important role in regulation of MKP-1 protein levels. Specifically, we found that MKP-1 interacts with GP78 both in vitro and in vivo. Their interaction occurs between the N-terminal, Rhodanese domain of MKP-1 and C-terminal E3 ligase domain of GP78. We also found that K230, 280, and 289 residues on MKP-1 are responsible for its ubiquitination. Importantly, this interaction causes MKP-1 ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. Furthermore, we showed by overexpression and knockdown studies that GP78 downregulates the level of MKP-1 protein in cancer cells. Therefore, we identify a novel mechanism by which GP78 controls MKP-1 protein levels and suggest that this regulatory mechanism may play an important in cancer. Citation Format: Dhonghyo Kho, Gen Sheng Wu. Regulation of the MAPK phosphatase MKP-1 by the E3 ligase GP78 in cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2360. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-2360


The role played by the curvature of the body surface on the hydrodynamics of water entry with high horizontal velocity component is investigated experimentally. The study is a part of a research activity finalized at the understanding of the aircraft ditching problem. In order to avoid scaling effects which may prevent the development of ventilation/cavitation phenomena, the study is carried out at full scale velocity. Measurements are presented in terms of pressures and loads whereas some underwater visualizations are used for the interpretation of the data. Both a convex and concave body surface are considered and comparisons with the flat plate data are established.
 In the case of a concave shape, a quite complicated flow with large air entrainment develops beneath the plate. The air entrainment causes a general reduction of the pressure peak at the middle, whereas the pressure peaks recorded at the side probes are about in line with those found for the flat plate in the same conditions. The total hydrodynamic load acting normal to the plate grows more regularly but the maximum load is essentially the same as that measured in the flat plate case. For the convex shape, the pressure probes located in the middle of the plate get wetted well before the ones at the side and the pressure peaks at the sides are much lower than those in the middle. The reduced pressures at the sides cause a reduction of the total loading in the normal direction compared to flat and concave plates.


Meningitis is the most common manifestation of disseminated cryptococcosis. Cryptococcal meningitis is the most common systemic mycotic infection in AIDS, which is the most frequent predisposing condition. The most severe complication is acute cerebral hypertension. Medical options for therapy have broadened considerably, but generally include initial intensive induction treatment followed, in patients with AIDS, by chronic suppression. With aggressive management of cryptococcal meningitis, mortality may be reduced to 10% or less.


Abstract Today Security is an important part of our everyday lives. Biometric technologies are used for providing and increasing the security of the organizations. Human face recognition is a potential method of biometric authentication. This paper represents a process of face detection and recognition system using principal component analysis with back-propagation neural network. For recognizing the faces there are several steps required. Principal component analysis is used for feature extraction whereas backpropagation neural network is used as face recognition classifier. This paper focuses on identifying and verifying a person by matching the test image comparing with the facial database images .The aim of this paper is to provide a better security system by identifying and recognizing human face. The proposed face recognition system gives an accuracy of more than 85%. Keywords: Face recognition, facial feature extraction, principal component analysis, back-propagation neural network, face detection, acceptance ratio


OBJECTIVE
To determine the surgery site dependency of root contact during drilling for orthodontic microimplant placement and to analyze the influence of clinicians' expertise on the results.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Dental arches with resin teeth were mounted on a dental phantom (P-5/3 TS, Frasaco, Germany). Drilling was conducted in six locations frequently selected for microimplant placement: between the central incisors, between the maxillary first molar and second premolar, and between the mandibular first and second molars, bilaterally. The 28 qualified dentists who participated were divided into two groups based on their clinical experience. A total of 192 drillings were performed by the experienced group and 240 by the inexperienced group. The damaged root surfaces were classified as "moderate" or "severe."

RESULTS
Significant differences in both overall and site-dependent rates of root contacts were found between the groups. Overall rates for the experienced and inexperienced groups were 13.5% and 21.3%, respectively. For the experienced group, the incidents occurred predominantly in the lower left (34.4%) and upper right (18.8%) posterior regions. The most susceptible teeth were numbers 36 and 16. In contrast, for the inexperienced group, all four posterior regions were susceptible.

CONCLUSIONS
The surgery site and clinicians' expertise had significant effects on the rate as well as the pattern of root contacts.


This article applies the behavioural economics theory of Omission Bias to the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), assessing whether WTO and Appellate Body's assessment of 'foregone revenue' as illegal subsidies indicate a bias against finding culpability in omissions as distinct from commissions. Using available case law, the article shows that there is no evidence of Omission Bias among WTO adjudicator's in terms of their rulings, but rather the case law discloses evidentiary and practical problems which may prevent the instigating and enforcing of claims of this nature. Specifically the test for this kind of subsidization is complex and its application is frustrated by the lack of tax expertise among WTO panellists and Appellate Body members as well as the opacity in many countries' revenue and tax incentive regimes. The article concludes by acknowledging the need for greater transparency in domestic revenue laws and the more ready use of expertise in tax relief cases in the WTO dispute settlement system.


In general a philosophical approach is classified into Western and Eastern. But then, when it comes to the handling of subjects like Ethics, Morality and to a large extent human-temperament, there is no visible schism in the viewpoints. A philosophical outlook usually deals with queries related to people's varied levels of comprehension and reactions towards a set of situations. In this regard the classic philosophical approach is quite obvious and common with the sensitive minds which permit very little scope to flexibility, in handling perceptions. Philosophical approaches do help us to remove the ambiguities or rather vagueness clearly present in our expressions. At the same time a verbose write-up or prolix lecture, for some time might impress us but would lead nowhere. It is in this context that a philosophical approach, which takes into consideration "behavioural psychological facts", is of utmost importance to gain clarity. The idealistic proposals that impress us in general in all fields, somehow do not provide a thorough satisfaction in case of "human behaviour". It is an open fact that there are a huge number of complicated factors which relentlessly influence human mind /nature. One of the major ones is "circumstances" having a thorough hold, owing to which the bookish principles in practice miserably fail. In order to overcome psychological disorders, there have been various methods employed. However, Freud's exhaustive case study approach stands valid even today. Therefore, in the modern times we understand the need of getting into details of each case to reach the roots and then apply remedial methods. Despite so many solutions that are proposed, yet tackling the problems with a philosophical outlook, somehow is not encouraged. Human nature had been burdened by many ideologies, mostly in a theoretical manner. Since the results are not arriving as surmised, it is almost declared that functioning of human nature is enigmatic. This paper explores the possibility of philosophical handling of this tricky problem by proposing certain reflective ideas.


Pick up any magazine or visit almost any IT website or blog, you will be sure to see talk about Cloud Computing. The only problem is that not everyone agrees on what it is exactly. Every individual has different views, but still there is a growing trend of using cloud environments. However, adopting a cloud computing environment may have positive as well as negative effects. This paper primarily aims to highlight the major security issues which are contentious and may delay its adoption. So we carry out a survey to investigate the security mechanisms that are enforced by major cloud service providers. And which can be used by a prospective Cloud service for analyzing the data security risk before putting the confidential data into a cloud computing environment.


Abstract Wood volume and quality are the most important aspects of commercial forestry production, and studies of wood formation are important in order to increase the value and efficiency of forestry production. The phenylpropanoid pathway produces various compounds with diverse functions both for plant defence against biotic and abiotic stress as well as structural development. One of the main roles is monolignol production for lignin biosynthesis, which is a crucial aspect of wood formation. For this study three candidate genes involved in lignin biosynthesis were selected: phenylalanine ammonialyase (PAL1), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) and cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR). Candidate gene expression was analysed in selected individuals with high and low wood density from open-pollinated Scots pine families during early wood (EW) and late wood (LW) formation and correlation between expression of these genes, total lignin content, and wood density was determined. Wood density values for analysed trees were similar within tree families but differed significantly between families with high and low wood density (p=1,06E-20). Wood density was slightly negatively correlated with lignin content (r=-0.36, p=0.038), but only in individuals in the high density wood group. In trees with low wood density, expression of the CAD gene was significantly lower in late wood formation compared to early wood (p=0.00179). In trees with high wood density, expression of the PAL1 gene was five times higher during early wood formation compared to late wood formation. A positive correlation was detected between PAL1 and CCR gene expression during early wood formation (r=0.804) and late wood formation (r=0.466).


Abstract Invasive Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) creates a dense shrub layer in eastern deciduous forests that negatively impacts native herbs and tree seedlings. Given the well-studied influence of habitat structure on spider abundance and guild composition, we examined the effects of this invasive shrub on spiders in forests of southwestern Ohio. Because spiders are sensitive to shrub architecture, we predicted that increased vegetative cover caused by invasion of L. maackii would increase diversity and abundance of spider taxa and guilds. We used paired plots (e.g., honeysuckle present and honeysuckle-absent) in ten deciduous forest locations to sample spiders and measured vertical cover of woody vegetation in the shrub layer. Abundance of spiders overall, spider families (Anyphaenidae, Araneidae, Salticidae, Theridiidae) and spider guilds (foliage runners, orb weavers, space web builders, stalkers), was higher in honeysuckle-present than in honeysuckle-absent plots, but diversity was not affected. Ordination of spider taxa and guilds significantly distinguished honeysuckle-present from honeysuckle-absent plots. Invasion by honeysuckle more than doubled the amount of vertical cover on honeysuckle-present plots compared to honeysuckle-absent plots. This increased vertical cover explained the significant increase in abundance of spiders and spider guilds on honeysuckle-present plots, likely because of increased complexity of vegetation. While a positive association between vegetation complexity, spider abundance, and guild structure has been documented for native habitats, our study extends this relationship to result from invasion by an exotic shrub. Because spiders are important predators in forest food webs, and their abundance is higher in areas containing honeysuckle, forests could be managed to retain some honeysuckle in the system, thereby preserving their positive effect on spider populations.


Abstract Herein I synonymize the ranid frog Platymantis rhipiphalcus, from New Britain, with Platymantis boulengeri, from the same island. The four mensural characters originally used to separate these frogs covary continuously with body size, and sex is highly correlated with body size, with females much larger than males. Consequently, no features other than size separate these presumptive species, and specimens described as P. rhipiphalcus merely represent males and juvenile females of P. boulengeri. Males of P. boulengeri are here recognized as such for the first time, which leads to the discovery that this species has the most extreme sexual size dimorphism yet reported for any anuran. Female body length averages >3 times that for males, and female body mass averages >40 times that for males. The physical mechanics of reproduction in a species exhibiting such extreme size dimorphism are unknown but will certainly merit future investigation.


Web services are the de facto standard in biomedical data integration. However, there are data integration scenarios that cannot be fully covered by Web services. A number of Web databases and tools do not support Web services, and existing Web services do not cover for all possible user data demands. As a consequence, Web data scraping, one of the oldest techniques for extracting Web contents, is still in position to offer a valid and valuable service to a wide range of bioinformatics applications, ranging from simple extraction robots to online meta-servers. This article reviews existing scraping frameworks and tools, identifying their strengths and limitations in terms of extraction capabilities. The main focus is set on showing how straightforward it is today to set up a data scraping pipeline, with minimal programming effort, and answer a number of practical needs. For exemplification purposes, we introduce a biomedical data extraction scenario where the desired data sources, well-known in clinical microbiology and similar domains, do not offer programmatic interfaces yet. Moreover, we describe the operation of WhichGenes and PathJam, two bioinformatics meta-servers that use scraping as means to cope with gene set enrichment analysis.


ABSTRACT Considering the detrimental impact of emotional suffering on patient recovery (e.g. increased mortality rates), a key component in rehabilitation settings should be the promotion of psychosocial health. Research has shown cardiac rehabilitation (CR) to decrease anxiety and depression, enhance emotional well-being and reduce the deleterious effects of negative emotions on prognosis. Nevertheless, limited attention has been given to heart disease as a lived experience and the presence of the patient's voice in CR is negligible. Using an ethnographic approach, the aim of the current research was to provide a penetrative insight into the social and psychological environment of a CR setting in the United Kingdom. Three main methods were used to collect data over a 12-month period, including participant observation (225 h), informal and formal interviews, and a reflexive diary. Thematic analysis was used to generate patterns (themes) in the data. Following thematic development, ethnographic creative non-fiction was adopted to fashion non-fictional stories grounded in real events and patients' lived experiences. Three composite narratives illustrated the emotional intensity of recovering from a cardiac event and highlighted the value of CR to aid patients with reskilling and emotional support. In discussing our data, we emphasise the potential value of emotional intelligent care provision, and the creation of an environment that encourages emotional disclosure. We conclude with a discussion of the value of narrative medicine as a pedagogical tool for CR staff and patients.


Abstract The transferring modified lipid coated PLGA nanoparticles, as a targetable vector, were developed for the targeting delivery of anticancer drugs with paclitaxel (PTX) as a model drug to the ovarian carcinoma, which combines the advantages and avoids disadvantages of polymeric nanoparticles and liposomes in drug delivery. A transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the lipid coating on the polymeric core. Physicochemical characterizations of TFLPs, such as particle size, zeta potential, morphology, encapsulation efficiency, and in vitro PTX release, were also evaluated. In the cellular uptake study, the TFLPs were more efficiently endocytosed by the A2780 cells with high expression of transferrin receptors than HUVEC cells without the transferrin receptors. Furthermore, the anticancer efficacy of TFLPs on the tumor spheroids was stronger than that of lipid coated PLGA nanoparticles (LPs) and PLGA nanoparticles. In the in vivo study, the TFLPs showed the best inhibition effect of the tumor growth for the ovarian carcinoma-bearing mice. In brief, the TFLPs were proved to be an efficient targeting drug delivery system for ovarian carcinoma.


Field modeling becomes simpler if strong field nonuniformities are solved theoretically. The early obtained formulas for 2-D ldquocornerrdquo and ldquoconstrictionrdquo permeances pertain to right angle configurations. In this paper, using a conformal mapping, the field in the vicinity of arbitrary angle vertex is studied and the fringing permeance determined. The results are applied to permeance evaluation of lunate cross section grooves from the rotors of certain types of reluctance motors. Closed-form expressions are obtained, in good agreement with finite element analysis. Combined with the finite element method, obtained results offer the possibility to make simpler and more accurate analytical calculations of motors and other magnetic devices and to better evaluate magnetic forces that act on them.


Spectrum awareness is the key technique for Cognitive Radio (CR). A special spectrum sensing scheme is necessary for Cognitive UWB radio (CUWB) because of its lower radio power and ultra wide bandwidth. Although CUWB transmitter and receiver could respectively detect the spectrum holes, they couldn't communicate with each other probably if they are out of the communication range or there isn't common usable spectrum segment for them. No sensing technique deals with these problems properly. In this paper a novel active spectrum sensing scheme for cognitive MB-OFDM UWB radio is presented to settle the above problems. The scheme takes full advantage of UWB and finds usable channels directly for CUWB transmitter and receiver through sending beacon signals and acknowledgement signals. This active spectrum sensing scheme is totally different from existing sensing methods and has its own advantages.


Three patients with ulcerative colitis in the active stage demonstrated reduced levels of F XIII activity and F XIII subunit A (61 and 80.3%, respectively). Because of the lack of clinical improvement during conservative therapy, the patients were treated additionally with F XIII concentrate (Fibrogammin HS, Behring, FRG) for 10 days. The substitution resulted in an increase in F XIII activity (144.3%) and F XIII subunit A (238%) as well as in a marked improvement in symptoms.


Aim: As high gamma-glutamyltransferase level or low albumin had negative impacts on the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the prognostic role of albumin to gamma-glutamyltransferase ratio (AGR) in HCC patients after hepatectomy remains unclear. Methods: Between January 2007 and December 2015, 1143 HCC patients after hepatectomy were reviewed from a prospectively maintained database in West China Hospital. All qualified patients (n = 959) were classified as training set (year 2007–2012, n = 480) and validation set (year 2012–2017, n = 479). A time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the performance. Result: AGR = 0.5 was identified as the best cut-off point to predict recurrence free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in the training set. Low AGR was related to poor tumor characteristics and high systemic inflammation. Based on the multivariate analysis, high AGR was an independent predictor for better RFS and OS with an hazard ratio of 0.696 and 0.673. The high AGR group had better RFS and OS than the low AGR group in the training set as well as the validation set. The AGR-based score (AGR-PLR) could stratify HCC patients into three subgroups with different prognosis in the training and validation set. Patients with score 1 had a worse prognosis than those with AGR-PLR score 0, but better than those with AGR-PLR score 2. The predictive accuracy of the AGR-PLR score appeared superior to that of the AGR or PLR alone. Conclusions: we firstly reported that AGR ≤ 0.5 was an independently prognostic factor in HCC after hepatectomy. The AGR-PLR score could further improve the discriminatory ability of prognosis.


Objectives: To describe causes of syncope in outpatients in whom structural heart disease was ruled out as a cause, and to analyse the role of a multidisciplinary approach in a syncope unit for the diagnosis of patients with syncope of unknown origin. Methods: Cardiovascular autonomic nervous system (ANS) function was evaluated extensively in 521 outpatients by careful history, physical examination including orthostatic blood pressure measurement and standard ECG, and tilt testing. Results: Causes of syncope remained unknown in 29.2% of cases. ANS dysfunction was found in 58.6% of those presenting with either neurally mediated syncope (53.6%) or chronic autonomic failure (5%); 3.8% of the patients suffered from syncope of cardiogenic origin (2.5%) or non-neurogenic hypotension (1.3%), and 8.4% had loss of consciousness of non-syncopal origin. Loss of consciousness was confirmed as being related to seizures in under 30% of patients initially diagnosed as having epilepsy. Conclusions: Neurally mediated syncope represents the commonest type of syncope. ANS evaluation including tilt testing should be considered as preliminary screening in patients with syncope in the absence of definite heart abnormalities. Neurologists should consider syncope from ANS failure as a comorbid factor in patients with seizures where the clinical characteristics are not straightforward.


Medicinal plants have been used in the indigenous system of medicine for the treatment of numerous human health complications. Medicinal plants were used for the separation and isolation of pure phytochemical and some of the best examples are tubocurarine, aspirin, morphine, digoxin, atropine, quinine and reserpine. Phytoconstituents are pure plant derived natural chemical found to be present in the medicinal plants and examples are flavonoids, alkaloids and phenolic compounds etc. In the modern medicine there is global growth of herbal medicines due to their nutrition, physical effectiveness and pharmacological activities. Plants have been used in the traditional medicines and modern drug discoveries program. In order to investigate the biological potential of poncirin in modern medicine, here different scientific data have been analyzed in the present investigation through various literature sources. Detailed pharmacological activities of poncirin were also investigated in the present investigation to reveal the medicinal properties of poncirin in the medicine and other allied health sectors. Analytical techniques used for the isolation of poncirin from various medicinal plants have been also presented in this study. Poncirin is a flavanone glycoside found to be present in the Poncirus trifoliata and Citrus reticulate having bitter taste. Biological importance of poncirin for their anti-inflammatory activity through inhibition of PGE2 and IL-6 production has been investigated in the scientific field. Biological importance of poncirin against bacterial, viral infections, gastric disease and human gastric cancer has been investigated in the medicine. Pharmacological data analysis revealed the biological application of poncirin against bone loss, inflammation, colitis, human gastric cancer, gastritis, liver injury and alzheimer's disease. From the analysis of the presented scientific information of poncirin it was found that poncirin have significant biological activities and health benefit in the modern health sectors for the treatment of human health complications and could be used as a drug in the future.


Objective: Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies and bevacizumab are commonly used, sequentially, as palliative chemotherapies for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. However, little is known about the efficacy of second-line treatments containing bevacizumab after first-line treatment with an anti-EGFR antibody. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 128 patients who received second-line bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy and evaluated the effect of prior use of anti-EGFR antibody on the efficacy of the second-line treatment. Results: As first-line treatments, 35 of these patients received only cytotoxic chemotherapy (cohort A), 58 received bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy (cohort B), and 35 received anti-EGFR-containing chemotherapy (cohort C). The median progression-free survival (PFS) with the second-line bevacizumab-containing therapy was 8.3 months in cohort C, 6.9 months in cohort A (hazard ratio [HR], 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.83-2.51), and 5.6 months in cohort B (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.18-3.22). Multivariate analysis showed that PFS in cohort C was the same as that in cohort A, but better than that in cohort B. The overall response rate in cohort C (25.7%) was also similar to that in cohort A (20.0%), but better than that in cohort B (10.3%). Conclusions: Prior use of anti-EGFR antibody did not adversely affect the efficacy of subsequent bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on people with disabilities and underlying health conditions by analysing their personal stories. The research questions explored in this paper are (1) what impact did lockdown have on disabled people's mental health? and (2) were there any positive impacts of lockdown? To answer these research questions, 46 personal stories from the first year of the pandemic from March 2020 to March 2021, when restrictions were imposed on people's lives, were selected from the internet to examine how lockdown and self-isolation impacted people's lives. The data was analysed using two corpus software: first, LIWC (Pennebaker, Conglomerates, 2022), to see what the language reveals about people's emotional struggles during the pandemic through analysing stylistic features such as the use of words for cognitive processes, emotional affect and personal pronouns; secondly, SketchEngine was used to search for keywords and to analyse concordance lines. The results from the data analysis reveals that paradoxically, while the first year of the pandemic has had a massive impact on mental health breakdown, it has also at the same time, given people the opportunity to find themselves and to explore avenues they would not have done, if not for the lockdown. The results also show that the duration of the lockdown had a severe impact on mental health, particularly anxiety and depression. In terms of language use, there was a high frequency of use of cognitive processes, first person singular pronouns and negative emotions. The high use of cognitive processes revealed that through their stories, the writers were reappraising and reflecting on the events they have experienced; the use of first person singular pronouns illustrated the self-focus of the writers and the negative emotions showcased their immersion in the events and the state of their mental health condition. The low number of positive emotions reveal the upheaval caused by the pandemic.


Abstract Natural disturbances can provide insights into mechanisms organizing communities by perturbing systems at larger scales and more realistic intensities than can often be achieved otherwise. We took advantage of 2 winterkills of fish, a common disturbance of small lakes on the Boreal Plains of northern Alberta (Canada), to assess the effects of sudden, large reductions in fish densities on littoral macroinvertebrate assemblages. Winterkill nearly eliminated the native fish assemblages (dominated by northern pike, Esox lucius, and yellow perch, Perca flavescens) in the 2 lakes, whereas 2 nearby lakes with similar fish assemblages were unaffected and served as references. Environmental characteristics of both winterkill and reference lakes changed little from year to year. Uni- and multivariate analyses of macroinvertebrates revealed some inherent among-lake differences; however, strong and parallel changes in the invertebrate assemblages occurred only in the 2 winterkill lakes, congruent with the winterkills of fish. Decreases in fish biomass were generally accompanied by increases in macroinvertebrate density, particularly among taxa (e.g., amphipods, leeches, chironomids) commonly eaten by the native fish. As a result, analyses of matrix concordance and variance partitioning showed variation in macroinvertebrate assemblages was related to both temporal changes in fish density and environmental differences among lakes but that the fish and environmental matrices were not strongly concordant. Our serendipitous study of community-level disturbance revealed that winterkill-induced reductions of fish densities can have strong, cascading effects on littoral macroinvertebrates in these boreal lakes.


Signalling models of IPO underpricing argue that owners of high-quality firms signal firm quality by underpricing shares sold at the IPO and retaining a large equity stake because they benefit from IPO signalling by selling further shares in the aftermarket at a higher share price. This hypothesis is tested by examining whether the probabilities and volumes of subsequent share issues or insider sales are related to the proposed IPO signals. There is evidence that post-IPO share issuance is related to initial returns, but the same is not true for insider selling. Moreover, little evidence is found to support the view that the proportion of equity retained by initial owners is an IPO signal. Therefore, the signalling hypothesis is rejected. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998.


Molecular functions of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) or intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), such as molecular recognition and cellular signaling, are ascribed to dynamic changes in the conformational space in response to binding of target molecules. Sortase, a transpeptitase in Gram-positive bacteria, has an IDR in a loop which undergoes a disordered-to-ordered transition (called "disordered loop"), accompanying a tilt of another loop ("dynamic loop"), upon binding of a signal peptide and a calcium ion. In this study, all-atom conformational ensembles of sortase were calculated for the four different binding states (with/without the peptide and with/without a calcium ion) by the multiscale enhanced sampling (MSES) simulation to examine how the binding of the peptide and/or calcium influences the conformational ensemble. The MSES is a multiscale and multicopy simulation method that allows an enhanced sampling of the all-atom model of large proteins including explicit solvent. A 100 ns MSES simulation of the ligand-free sortase using 20 replicas (in total 2 μs) demonstrated large flexibility in both the disordered and dynamic loops; however, their distributions were not random but had a clear preference which populates the N-terminal part of the disordered loop near the bound form. The MSES simulations of the three binding states clarified the allosteric mechanism of sortase: the N- and C-terminal parts of the disordered loop undergo a disorder-to-order transition independently of each other upon binding of the peptide and a calcium ion, respectively; however, upon binding of both ligands, the two parts work cooperatively to stabilize the bound peptide.


Changes in retinal vessels associated with the level of systolic blood pressure above 130 mm Hg. It reveal by narrowing and hardening of the retinal arterioles, arterioles branching at right and obtuse angles, plethora and increase in tortuosity venules, as well as the presence of symptoms intersection I-II degree. Without antihypertensive treatment of hypertension the function of the retina and optic nerve are worsened. Reduction of blood pressure with antihypertensive therapy is accompanied by a decrease in retinal arteriolar narrowing and tortuosity venules, improved function of the retina and optic nerve and the state of the central and peripheral hemodynamics.


The invention of mummification enabled the ancient Egyptians to preserve the bodies not only of humans but also of animals, so that they could live forever. Mummified animals are of four different types: food offerings, pets, sacred animals, and votive offerings. For the first time, a series of studies on the different types of animal mummies, the methods of mummification, and the animal cemeteries located at sites throughout Egypt are drawn together in a definitive volume on ancient Egyptian animal mummies. Studies of these animals provide information not only about the fauna of the country, and indirectly, its climate, but also about animal domestication, veterinary practices, human nutrition, mummification technology, and the religious practices of the ancient Egyptians.


BOSTON-- Harvard University goes to court next week to defend itself in a sex-discrimination suit brought by a researcher at its school of public health. Barring an unexpected last-minute settlement, it would be the first such case against Harvard brought to trial by a scientist and only the second such case to be heard by a jury. It will also shine a spotlight on Harvard Provost Harvey Fineberg, who attended last month9s meeting on equitable treatment of women at elite U.S. research universities.


Wind turbines are widely used for conversion of the wind power into mechanical energy. The failure of the blade during operation is a common phenomenon which can lead to the degradation of the power output. Modeling and analysis of wind turbine blade is critical for the design and safe and efficient operation. In this study, a one-way coupled Finite Element (FE) scale model of RM1 SAFL turbine is developed to simulate structural integrity and deformations in the blades. The study is primarily focusses on the strength and deformation of the blades under varying wind speeds ranging from 5 m/s to 30 m/s. The wind turbine blades were modelled from aluminum alloy and unidirectional carbon reinforced composite (epoxy carbon). The results obtained from numerical simulation demonstrated higher stresses and blade tip deformation in blades from composite compared to aluminum AL 6061 alloy. Maximum displacements were calculated at the tip of blades and were well under the threshold level. The maximum stress intensity was found in the center of the blades. On the basis of the current geometry, modal analysis of turbine blades was performed and benchmark cases for the dynamic response were investigated. The natural frequency for aluminum alloy was calculated to be almost three time higher than of composite material structure. The modal in case of composite material was approximately 35% of that obtained using aluminum alloy. This study suggests further analysis to predict surface integrity of the turbine blades under more volatile wind conditions


Slug flows cause an alternating force on the piping which depend on the velocity, composition and shape of the slug. From experience, it is known that the stress levels in the pipes stay within the acceptable limits, but large impact on pipe supports due to slug loads should be expected. The time history analysis in Caesar II is used to predict these load but the results from this analysis seem too conservative. Research is needed to accurately predict these forces. The goal of this study is to find better modeling techniques in Caesar II which will predict the reaction force in the supports more accurately.
In order to calculate the transient response of a system, the natural frequencies of the piping system are calculated in the time history analysis in Caesar II. The dynamical response study investigates the impact of the dynamical input on each natural frequency up to the so called cut-off frequency. The default cut-off frequency in Caesar II is 33 Hz, which is too low for predicting the dynamic response for slug flows. The rise time of slug loads is in the order of 10ms, resulting in a minimum input frequency of 50 Hz. Increasing the cut-off frequency increases the accuracy and reduces the maximum calculated response forces in many cases. For this reason the cut-off frequency is set at 100 Hz for all Caesar II simulations.
Slugs are studied using Fluent, the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver in the finite element package ANSYS. The influence of flow velocities, pressure and pipe diameter on the liquid front are studied. These simulations show that the liquid front is steeper when the velocities are high and the pressure is low. As this yields the steepest change in linear momentum, simulations with high flow velocities and low pressure give the most conservative results.
The next step is the simulation of the reaction forces in the supports. This is done by coupling the flow and structural domain with the system coupling feature in ANSYS. These results are compared with the dynamic time history analysis in Caesar II. Close to the inlet of the slug the differences between Caesar II and ANSYS results are small. Further downstream of the inlet, the differences Caesar II and ANSYS results increases because the diffusion of the slug is not taken into account in the Caesar II simulation. The input forces in Caesar II should be altered to get more realistic dynamic behavior. Mass flow rate plots in ANSYS show that the rise time entered in Caesar II should be higher to achieve more realistic slug loads. Furthermore, the ANSYS simulations show that the slug length should be significantly longer than the longest bend length, which is currently used in the Caesar II analyses. Simulations also show that forces on supports can be three to four times as big as the initial load when a pipe system has a low stiffness due to low frequency vibrations. These forces can be reduced by implementing axial stops up- and downstream of each elbow.
It can be concluded that Caesar II provides a good model for calculating dynamic responses when the right cut-off frequency is used. The time dependent input forces for this model are too conservative because the diffusion of the slug is not taken into account. The expected slug velocity and density should be examined closely by process engineering. Challenging these parameters could result in significant lower expected loads resulting in lower construction costs.


Recently, magnetic gearboxes (MGBs) are serious contenders to their conventional mechanical counterparts in terms of reduced maintenance requirements, improved reliability, tolerance to mechanical inaccuracies, and inherent overload protection. MGBs are preferably employed in high speed applications and compact harsh environments. One of the challenging design aspects of MGBs is the proper selection of the combination of the number of pole-pairs of both inner and outer rotors, yielding specific gear ratios, to minimize cogging torque magnitude. For any general desired gear ratio, the torque ripple magnitude may be unacceptable. Since MGBs generally belongs to permanent magnet (PM) machines family, the same techniques for torque ripple mitigation can be employed. This paper introduces a new technique for torque ripple reduction in MGB based on step skew technique. In the proposed technique, the MGB is divided into two equal parts along its stack length and the optimum skew angle between the two parts is determined for minimum torque ripple. A conventional 14/4 MGB, which is normally results in a significant cogging torque magnitude, is designed and simulated using 3D finite-element analysis (FEA) for different skew angles. Based on the simulation results, the required optimum skew angle that optimizes torque transmission while minimizes the corresponding cogging torque is recognized.


Purpose Myocardial computed tomography perfusion (CTP) allows the assessment of the functional relevance of coronary artery stenosis. This study investigates to what extent the contour sharpness of sequences acquired by dynamic myocardial CTP is influenced by the following noise reduction methods: temporal averaging and adaptive iterative dose reduction 3D (AIDR 3D). Materials and methods Dynamic myocardial CT perfusion was conducted in 29 patients at a dose level of 9.5±2.0 mSv and was reconstructed with both filtered back projection (FBP) and strong levels of AIDR 3D. Temporal averaging to reduce noise was performed as a post-processing step by combining two, three, four, six and eight original consecutive 3D datasets. We evaluated the contour sharpness at four distinct edges of the left-ventricular myocardium based on two different approaches: the distance between 25% and 75% of the maximal grey value (d) and the slope in the contour (m). Results Iterative reconstruction reduced contour sharpness: both measures of contour sharpness performed better for FBP than for AIDR 3D (d = 1.7±0.4 mm versus 2.0±0.5 mm, p>0.059 at all edges; m = 255.9±123.9 HU/mm versus 160.6±123.5 HU/mm; p<0.023 for all edges). Increasing levels of temporal averaging degraded contour sharpness. When FBP reconstruction was applied, contour sharpness was best without temporal averaging (d = 1.7±0.4 mm, m = 255.9±123.9 HU/mm) and poorest for the strongest levels of temporal averaging (d = 2.1±0.3 mm, m = 142.2±104.9 HU/mm; comparison between lowest and highest temporal averaging level: for d p>0.052 at all edges and for m p<0.001 at all edges). Conclusion The use of both temporal averaging and iterative reconstruction degrades objective contour sharpness parameters of dynamic myocardial CTP. Thus, further advances in image processing are needed to optimise contour sharpness of 4D myocardial CTP.


Bovine corneal tissue was employed in the study of variable factors in a method of deep-freezing, storage and thawing, using Trypane blue staining as indicator of cellular damage. Variations in cell population density in the endothelial sheet were studied as a prerequisite for the evaluation of damage during the successive stages of the freezing procedures. 90% of the cells in the endothelial sheet survived freezing to ––160°C when the corneal buttons were passed through increasing concentrations of DMSO in serum and frozen at a certain rate in 1 ml 8% DMSO. The final concentration of DMSO, the amount of fluid surrounding the buttons during freezing and the duration of the isotermic part of the freezing curve were found to be critical.


Despite the meteoric rise of single cell RNA-seq, only a few preprocessing pipelines exist that are able to perform all steps from the original fastq files to a gene expression table ready for further analysis. Here we present Sharq, a versatile preprocessing pipeline designed to work with plate-based 3'-end protocols that include Unique Molecular Identifiers (UMIs). Sharq performs stringent step-wise trimming of reads, assigns them to features according to a flexible hierarchical model, and uses the barcode and UMI information to avoid amplification biases and produce gene expression tables. Additionally, Sharq provides an extensive plate diagnostics report for quality control and troubleshooting, including that of spatial artefacts. The diagnostics report includes measures of the quality of the individual plate wells as well as a robust assessment which of them contain material from live cells. Collectively, the innovative approaches presented here provide a valuable tool for processing and quality control of single cell RNA-seq data.


Can schools do more to tackle the rise of stress-related illnesses among their staff? Mandy Gallagher suggests some strategies that could help


Jazz Lecture Series presentation by Dave Holland on March 11, 1986 at 9:30AM at the UNT College of Music. Includes lecture and performance by Dave Holland, bass, interspersed with questions from the audience.


Acute pancreatitis (AP), a common disease, causes significant morbidity and mortality in clinical practice. Our objective of this study was to establish an experimental mouse AP model with cerulein treatment and to explore the susceptibility of mouse strains on the severity of pancreatic injury and the subsequent repair and regeneration. C57BL/6 and FVB/N mouse strains were used in this study. AP model was induced by six hourly intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of cerulein dissolved in saline (100 μg/kg) administered on four consecutive days. Animals were sacrificed on 1, 3 and 7 days after last cerulein treatment, and then pancreas tissues were harvested and subjected to various histological, cellular and molecular analysis. Analyses of pancreatic injury and pancreatic amylase expression indicated that this cerulein-induced AP model was established successfully and that FVB/N mice showed more severe pancreatic injury and poor recovery compared to C57BL/6 strain. Analyses of myeloperoxidase (MPO), IL-1β and NF-κB showed that FVB/N strain exhibited more severe inflammation in the pancreas compared to C57BL/6 mice. Immunofluorescence analysis of activated caspase-3 and TUNEL assay indicated that the pancreas of FVB/N strain had more apoptosis compared to C57BL/6 mice. Analysis of Ki67 indicated FVB/N mice experienced more active proliferation compared to C57BL/6 strain. Collectively, these results demonstrated that there exists differential susceptibility on pancreatic injury and regeneration between FVB/N and C57BL/6 mice in the cerulein-induced AP.


As the use of videos is becoming more popular in computer vision, the need for annotated video datasets increases. Such datasets are required either as training data or simply as ground truth for benchmark datasets. A particular challenge in video segmentation is due to disocclusions, which hamper frame-to-frame propagation, in conjunction with non-moving objects. We show that a combination of motion from point trajectories, as known from motion segmentation, along with minimal supervision can largely help solve this problem. Moreover, we integrate a new constraint that enforces consistency of the color distribution in successive frames. We quantify user interaction effort with respect to segmentation quality on challenging ego motion videos. We compare our approach to a diverse set of algorithms in terms of user effort and in terms of performance on common video segmentation benchmarks.


This book provides an innovative approach to meeting the challenges faced by philosophical hermeneutics in interpreting an ever-changing and multicultural world. Rudolf A Makkreel proposes an orientational and reflective conception of interpretation in which judgment plays a central role. Moving beyond the dialogical approaches found in much of contemporary hermeneutics, he focuses instead on the diagnostic use of reflective judgment, not only to discern the differentiating features of the phenomena to be understood, but also to orient us to the various contexts that can frame their interpretation. Makkreel develops overlooked resources of Kant's transcendental thought in order to reconceive hermeneutics as a critical inquiry into the appropriate contextual conditions of understanding and interpretation. He shows that a crucial task of hermeneutical critique is to establish priorities among the contexts that may be brought to bear on the interpretation of history and culture. The final chapter turns to the contemporary art scene and explores how orientational contexts can be reconfigured to respond to the ways in which media of communication are being transformed by digital technology. Altogether, Makkreel offers a promising way of thinking about the shifting contexts that we bring to bear on interpretations of all kinds, whether of texts, art works, or the world.


A nonlinear thermoviscoelastic, thermoviscoplastic, and thermo-visco damage constitutive model was developed recently to predict the response of asphalt mixtures under loading. This paper presents a systematic approach to determine the parameters of the model. The paper also demonstrates the efficacy of this approach through the calibration and validation of the model through various tests conducted on fine aggregate mixtures (FAM) and full asphalt mixtures. The dynamic modulus test was conducted to obtain linear viscoelastic model parameters while repeated creep-recovery tests were performed to obtain nonlinear visco elastic and viscoplastic parameters. Viscodamage model parameters were obtained through the constant strain rate test. Once the model was calibrated, it was validated through a comparison of the predicted results with measurements from repeated creep-recovery tests conducted at various combinations of recovery times and temperatures. The predicted responses for FAM and full asphalt mixtures on the basis of the model were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. Model parameters obtained on the basis of laboratory testing provided useful insights into the relationship between FAM and full asphalt mixture responses and the material properties that affect these responses.


Nitric oxide (NO) may activate soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), resulting in the increase of intracellular cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), a key molecule in the activation of type II cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG II). In our previous study, the membrane-permeable cGMP analogue 8-pCPT-cGMP was used to activate PKG II. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether NO/sGC-induced endogenous cGMP is able to activate PKG II and induce the corresponding effects. In the AGS gastric cancer cell line, the expression of PKG II was increased by infecting the cells with an adenoviral construct encoding PKG II cDNA (Ad-PKG II) and the activation of PKG II was induced by 8-pCPT-cGMP (positive control), the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and the NO precursor L-arginine. ELISA was performed to detect the concentration of cGMP in AGS cells and the Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to analyze the proliferation of differently treated cells. Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression and phosphorylation of associated proteins. The results demonstrated that the level of cGMP was increased in cells treated with the NO donor or precursor. There was an obvious increase of Ser239 phosphorylation of the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, representing the increase in the activity of PKG II. The epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced proliferation of AGS cells was inhibited by infection with Ad-PKG II and treatment with SNP or L-arginine. In addition, EGF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the EGF receptor (EGFR) and tyrosine/serine phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were also inhibited by infection with Ad-PKG II and treatment with the NO donor or precursor. These data indicated that NO donors and precursors may activate the expression of PKG II, thereby blocking EGF-initiated signaling of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK pathway and inhibiting EGF-induced proliferative activity through preventing the phosphorylation of EGFR at tyr1068.


Due to the high levels of unemployment in Durban South Africa, the New Venture Creation (NVC) groups I coached/mentored were seeking to become self-employed, to find social and economic independence. I have observed that many of the people in my NVC groups seemed to lack, self-confidence and self-esteem in the start-up process of their business. These lacunae pose a problem, as they are all necessary if one wants to create a viable, sustainable and profitable business. The reason that I coach these emerging entrepreneurs is to assist in building their self-confidence and self-esteem so that they have the courage to "go for it". The problem I have sought to address in this research is: How do I influence emerging entrepreneurs to become sufficiently self-confident to be able to design, establish and sustain their own employment and employment for others? I work on the assumption that most people have the capacity to be self-employed. I have used autoethnography with action research to describe the interventions that I initiated, report on their implementation, as well as the evolution of new perceptions and understandings that developed as a result. By using my own and the participants visual data with still images and video with visual narrative I demonstrate the evidence of my living theory and self-study to influence creative economic independence in others and reflect critically on what has been done and achieved, and critically assess the way forward. I verbally explained the ethical issue of obtaining consent to use names and photographs in my study to the participants. My explanation was followed by obtaining written consent from the five key participants and others in the pictorial data.


ABSTRACT The study aimed to examine the influence of time of application and concentration of paclobutrazol on growth and yield of potato crop Supejohn held in District Modoinding South Minahasa regency, from March to June 2012, using a randomized block design with two factors. The first factor is the concentration of Paclobutrazol with four standards are: 0 ppm, 75 ppm, 100 ppm, 125 ppm and the second factor is the provision of a three-level applications MST 4, 5 and 6 MST MST (Week After Planting). Based on research, the results of analysis of variance showed an interaction between application timing and concentration of paclobutrazol. Combination treatment with 125 ppm paclobutrazol 6 WAP application time can give significant effect on plant height, number of chlorophyll content, percentage weight class tuber yield components in the form of increased crop production amounted to 45.04 kg / plot (24 plants) / range 52. ton / ha by pressing the vegetative growth of plants. Key words : Supejohn, time application, concentration, paclobutrazol


Understanding enzymatic mechanisms is essential knowledge for
further medicine and biotechnology development. Our
long-standing effort is aimed at the explanation of the
reaction mechanism of endonucleases (enzymes cleaving DNA
chain(s)) using computational approaches. According to the
published experimental and theoretical results, the suggested
mechanism is SN2 hydrolysis of the phosphate backbone. [1]
Presented work is focused on the study of simplified model of
the enzymatic reaction. This model consists of
dimethylphosphate and the nucleophile (water, hydroxyl ion)
attacking the phosphodiester bond. The hydrolysis was simulated
using Car Parrinello Molecular Dynamics (CPMD) [2] in vacuum
and in water. The reaction free energy profiles were evaluated
using metadynamics [3] and obtained results were compared to
the experimental data [4]. The model serves as a reference
system for the upcoming simulation of the enzymatic reactions.


The department of energy (DOE) office of solar energy technologies uses a systems-driven approach to program management. The approach uses market analysis, modeling, and test and evaluation to prioritize research needs and assess progress. For each target market application, a reference system design is developed. Parametric analysis of the reference design is used to identify technology improvement opportunities that will lead to lower levelized cost of energy. Multiple technology pathways, where appropriate, are used to reduce risk. A formal stage-gate management process is used to determine when research activities should be graduated to the next stage or should be terminated due to insufficient progress.


This paper examines the challenges faced by students who do not belong to the majority culture served by their school. Two related topics will be discussed in the study. The first topic is the situational and dispositional challenges that confront many minority and cross border students in distance education. The second topic is a discussion of the multicultural communication and educational strategies that promote social equity and social justice. The main titles will be situational challenges (digital divide, personal costs, and computer mediated communication), dispositional challenges (field dependent cognitive style, collectivism etc.) and multicultural education. As a result of this paper, as education is still largely a cultural process embedded in diverse national, ethnic, religious, linguistic settings, there are risks that cross border provision does not acknowledge and respect cultural sensitivities.


Among professional, elite amateur and recreational athletes, having a sports injury can cause physical, social and psychological concern. Individuals with a sports injury may experience a significant challenge due to the reduced ability to participate in regular training. The injury may result in changes to their daily routine, and require time to heal. Regardless of etiology or prognosis, the loss presents a serious challenge to the athlete's health. In order to promote recovery, it is important for the injured person to adopt alternative approaches to remaining active. The injured athlete can engage in a variety of challenging and satisfying activities which will provide assistance in overcoming physical psychological and social concerns associated with being inactive. Outdoor recreation allows injured athletes the opportunity to modify their training activity in order to rest the injured body part, and provide a variety of physical activity opportunities to maintain health and wellness.


Complex bacterial glycoconjugates are essential for bacterial survival, and drive interactions between pathogens and symbionts, and their human hosts. Glycoconjugate biosynthesis is initiated at the membrane interface by phosphoglycosyl transferases (PGTs), which catalyze the transfer of a phosphosugar from a soluble uridine diphospho-sugar (UDP-sugar) substrate to a membrane-bound polyprenol-phosphate (Pren-P). Two distinct superfamilies of PGT enzymes, denoted as polytopic and monotopic, carry out this reaction but show striking differences in structure and mechanism. With the goal of creating non-hydrolyzable mimics (UBP-sugars) of the UDP-sugar substrates as chemical probes to interrogate critical aspects of these essential enzymes, we designed and synthesized a series of uridine bisphosphonates (UBPs), wherein the diphosphate bridging oxygen of the UDP and UDP-sugar is replaced by a substituted methylene group (CXY; X/Y = F/F, Cl/Cl, (S)-H/F, (R)-H/F, H/H, CH3/CH3). These compounds, which incorporated as the conjugating sugar an N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) substituent at the β-phosphonate, were evaluated as inhibitors of a representative polytopic PGT (WecA from Thermotoga maritima) and a monotopic PGT (PglC from Campylobacter jejuni). Although CHF-BP most closely mimics pyrophosphate with respect to its acid/base properties, the less basic CF2-BP conjugate most strongly inhibited PglC, whereas the more basic CH2-BP analogue was the strongest inhibitor of WecA. These surprising differences indicate different modes of ligand binding for the different PGT superfamilies implicating a modified P–O− interaction with the structural Mg2+, consistent with their catalytic divergence. Furthermore, at least for the monoPGT superfamily example, this was not the sole determinant of ligand binding: the two diastereomeric CHF-BP conjugates, which feature a chiral center at the Pα-CHF-Pβ carbon, exhibited strikingly different binding affinities and the inclusion of GlcNAc with the native α-anomer configuration significantly improved binding affinity. UBP-sugars are a valuable tool for elucidating the structures and mechanisms of the distinct PGT superfamilies and offer a promising scaffold to develop novel antibiotic agents for the exclusively prokaryotic monoPGT superfamily. TABLE OF CONTENTS GRAPHIC


Mr. Twyman has written a detailed but unenlightening company history. On the credit side, the reader will find a factual and compulsively documented account of how Marshall Field and Levi Leiter took over the business of Potter Palmer in 1865, how Field gained sole control in 1881, and what happened to the firm down to Field's death in 1906. Anyone looking for raw data concerning the rise of this particular company will be apt to discover what he wants in Mr. Twyman's volume. What will not be found is (1) any serious and sustained attempt to explain or size up Field as an entrepreneur; (2) any coherent explanation of the role of the firm in the life of Chicago; (3) any continuous effort to relate this bit of business history substantively to the broader economic landscape of the late nineteenth century. Since the book yields no significant conclusions, it is perhaps appropriate that it should end as it does in mid-air. The last, inconclusive sentence of the text, stressing the growing importance of retail over wholesale trade in the Chicago area, gives way to Table XIV. And that's that. (Or almost that: 56 pages of footnotes follow; for 171 pages of text this is indeed generous.) Mr. Twyman, who wrote the History of Marshall Field originally as a doctoral dissertation, plans to complete his story in another volume, taking the firm through its first hundred years. Since he is dealing with potentially interesting material, this reviewer would like to insert the plea that he use it less woodenly, that he focus on real questions and organize his material so as to answer them and, above all, that he realize that institutional history is composed of the decisions taken by real men in a real world. Unless the men come to life and the world is made understandable both to author and to reader, the detailed institutional decisions taken are by themselves meaningless. No such sense of reality animates Mr. Twyman's first volume: may the next Field be greener.


This research was designed to evaluate the workplace protection factors of Health and Safety Executive Approved, negative pressure full-facepiece dust respirators, during asbestos stripping. A standard method to measure the concentration of asbestos fibres inside full-facepiece respirators has been developed and the workplace protection factors have been calculated from the data obtained. The respirators in this study are approved for use by the Health and Safety Executive in concentrations of up 900 times the Control Limit [HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE, Guidance Note EH 41 (1985)] but the preliminary test results suggest that this level is inappropriately high for this type of respiratory protective equipment.


The recent deployment of multi-agent systems in a wide range of scenarios has enabled the solution of learning problems in a distributed fashion. In this context, agents are tasked with collecting local data and then cooperatively train a model, without directly sharing the data. While distributed learning offers the advantage of preserving agents' privacy, it also poses several challenges in terms of designing and analyzing suitable algorithms. This work focuses specifically on the following challenges motivated by practical implementation: (i) online learning, where the local data change over time; (ii) asynchronous agent computations; (iii) unreliable and limited communications; and (iv) inexact local computations. To tackle these challenges, we introduce the Distributed Operator Theoretical (DOT) version of the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM), which we call the DOT-ADMM Algorithm. We prove that it converges with a linear rate for a large class of convex learning problems (e.g., linear and logistic regression problems) toward a bounded neighborhood of the optimal time-varying solution, and characterize how the neighborhood depends on~$\text{(i)--(iv)}$. We corroborate the theoretical analysis with numerical simulations comparing the DOT-ADMM Algorithm with other state-of-the-art algorithms, showing that only the proposed algorithm exhibits robustness to (i)--(iv).


An enzyme catalyzing the ligation of long chain fatty acids to bacterial acyl carrier protein (ACP) has been detected and partially characterized in cell extracts of the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio harveyi. Acyl-ACP synthetase activity (optimal pH 7.5-8.0) required millimolar concentrations of ATP and Mg2+ and was slightly activated by Ca2+, but was inhibited at high ionic strength and by Triton X-100. ACP from either Escherichia coli (apparent Km = 20 microM) or V. harveyi was used as a substrate. Of the [14C]fatty acids tested as substrates (8-18 carbons), a preference for fatty acids less than or equal to 14 carbons in length was observed. Vibrio harveyi acyl-ACP synthetase appears to be a soluble hydrophilic enzyme on the basis of subcellular fractionation and Triton X-114 phase partition assay. The enzyme was not coinduced with luciferase activity or light emission in vivo during the late exponential growth phase in liquid culture. Acyl-ACP synthetase activity was also detected in extracts from the luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri, but not Photobacterium phosphoreum. The cytosolic nature and enzymatic properties of V. harveyi acyl-ACP synthetase indicate that it may have a different physiological role than the membrane-bound activity of E. coli, which has been implicated in phosphatidylethanolamine turnover. Acyl-ACP synthetase activity in V. harveyi could be involved in the intracellular activation and elongation of exogenous fatty acids that occurs in this species or in the reactivation of free myristic acid generated by luciferase.


The focal spot of electron beam depending on the anode angle in the structure and major parts of the X-ray tube was investigated by the OPERA-3D/SCALAR simulation program. The simulation worked on four spaces with with two spaces, including anode and cathode of X-ray tube, by applying the finite element method analysis. The analytical model and dimension for the emission orbit of thermal electrons made from one filament of the focused X-ray cathode is affected to the penumbra of detector for the X-ray depending on any real focal spot size. The model shape of focusing cap and focusing tube with an anode target angle and a cathode filament is analyzed by the current density distribution of thermal electrons. The focusing width of thermal electrons for the X-ray tube depended on the anode angle (θ). The focusing value of electron beams at a region of anode angle having 10 ~17 maintained to below value of 70 μm. The minimum focal size of the electron beam was 40 μm at an anode angle of 15 . The focused X-ray tube of many variables depended on the thermionic emission of hot electrons from the target trajectory. The focusing tube will contribute to


The Dynamic Source routing protocol is basically ondemand routing protocol which is used in multi hop wireless network or mesh network. Mobile nodes in Ad hoc network are typically dependent on batteries power. Generally some nodes stop working because battery run out of energy, therefore it is extremely important to conserve the energy. And allready existing route protocol based on Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) suffers from the drawback of energy-consuming. It has major advantages to provide route to data packets to source to destination but its disadvantage is transmission energy which is loss when the data packets are drop or when the acknowledgement not receive by neighbour nodes that time this routes not efficient for data packets. In this situation we give an approach to provide efficient routing which is transmission control approach.


Different microstructures in the weld zone of a metal structure such as a fusion zone or heat affected zone are formed as compared to the parent material. Thus, the mechanical properties in the weld zone are different from those in the parent material. As the basic data for reliably understanding the structural characteristics of welded PCHE prototype made of SUS316L, the mechanical properties in the weld zone and parent material for a SUS316L plate are measured using an the instrumented indentation technique in this study.


Methods based on self-assembly and self-organization for construction of lipid bilayer networks, consisting of vesicles (3-100 μm in diameter) connected by conduits (50-300 nm in diameter), have previously been developed. Control over network geometry, topology, content, and membrane composition has been demonstrated. Since the lipid bilayer behaves as a two-dimensional fluid, the network parameters mentioned above can be dynamically altered, rendering quite different possiblities compared to devices produced with conventional microfabrication methods. Such lipid bilayer networks are the foundation for the work described in this thesis, where methods for modification, manipulation, and utilization of the networks are described.
A protocol where nanotube-vesicle networks function as fluid mixing-devices, based on Marangoni flows, was developed. Controlled mixing of femtoliter to picoliter volumes of fluid was achieved.
A novel method for initiation of reactions in lipid bilayer vesicles was successfully developed and utilized to study enzymatic reactions with as few as approximately 15 enzyme molecules. The method is based on dynamic shape changes of the network geometry, permitting combination of two or more vesicles' content without creation of pores in the membrane.
Modification of the vesicles internal volume by microinjection of different polymers was also studied. A suspension of the ionomer mixture poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) / poly(styrene sulfonate) was utilized to change the diffusion rate of particles inside the vesicles. This was achieved through cross-linking of the ionomer suspension with calcium ions, thereby creating a hydrogel. Three methods for introduction of calcium ions into the vesicles, i.e. vesicle fusion, electroporation, and microinjection, were demostrated, showing the versatility of the system.
Furthermore, solutions of the thermosensitive polymer poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAAm) were shown to display the characteristic sol-gel phase transition inside vesicles at the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The phase transition was used to reversibly immobilize nanometer-sized particles suspended in the PNIPAAm solution, demonstrating temperaure-controlled, dynamic modification of the vesicles' internal volume.
At high concentrations and combined with certain additives, the PNIPAAm chains were shown to form a single hydrogel compartment when heated above the LCST. The hydrogel compartment displayed temperature-dependent shrinking and swelling, generating extremely heterogenous distribution of polymer inside the vesicle. By merging two or more vesicles containing PNIPAAm compartments, a single vesicle with multiple compartments could be created. Moreover, it was demostrated that nanometer-sized particles could be immobilized within the PNIPAAm compartments, thereby providing a generic method to functionalize and differentiate them (given that the particles carry the function). Both the compartment formation and the particle immobilization were shown to be reversible and repeatable.
The ability to aggregate the PNIPAAm chains into a single compartment was also utilized to make vesicles in networks function as valves. By alternating between the dissolved state and the shrunken hydrogel state, the passive diffusion rate through a PNIPAAm-filled vesicle could be changed. This provides a novel means to control passive transport between different nodes in the network.


In Japan, sorafenib and sunitinib, potential molecular targeted agents for advanced renal cell carcinoma, were approved in 2008. Currently, a total of four agents, including everolimus and temsirolimus in addition to these two agents, have been introduced into clinical practice. It would be comparatively easy to determine the indication of these molecular targeted agents because of several clinical guidelines developed based on the outcomes of reliable randomized clinical trials ; however, any adverse events associated with the use of these agents, need to be managed carefully according to each case. Furthermore, it seems difficult to properly manage adverse events encountered during treatment using these agents due to the following reasons : there are several adverse events which have not been experienced by urologists before, and there are marked differences in the incidence as well as severity of adverse events associated with these agents between the Western and Japanese populations. It is particularly important to try to achieve a maximal therapeutic benefit from treatment with molecular targeted agents through optimal management for adverse events associated with these agents. In this symposium, accordingly, five experts, well informed of the use of these agents, provided practical information on the management of adverse events associated with each agent.


Introduction PLAC 2 is a tumor-suppressive lncRNA in glioma, while its roles in other types of cancer remain unclear. This study was carried out to explore the potential involvement of PLAC 2 in osteosarcoma (OS). Methods Expression levels of PLAC 2 in OS and paired non-tumor tissues from OS patients were determined by RT-qPCR. A follow-up study was performed to analyze the prognostic value of PLAC 2 for OS. Interactions between PLAC 2 and miR-93 were assessed by cell transfection, followed by RT-qPCR. Cell proliferation assay was performed to analyze cell proliferation. Results Our results showed that PLAC 2 was downregulated in OS tissues, and the high expression levels of PLAC 2 were associated with favorable overall survival of OS patients. MiR-93 was upregulated in OS tissues and its expression was inversely correlated with the expression of PLAC 2. In OS cells, overexpression of PLAC 2 resulted in downregulated miR-93, while overexpression of miR-93 did not affect the expression of PLAC 2. Overexpression of PLAC 2 led to decreased proliferation rate of OS cells, while overexpression of miR-93 showed opposite roles and reduced the overexpressing effects of PLAC 2. Conclusion PLAC 2 is downregulated in OS and regulates cancer cell proliferation through miR-93.


In this study I will examine the negotiation of multiple identities in the
 Maronite Community of Cyprus which comprises four villages in the occupied
 territories (Kormakiti, Asomatos, Karpashia, Agia Marina) and a large number
 of displaced population in the area of Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol, and
 especially the extent to which some identities are negotiable, while others
 are not. I will analyze the concept of collective identity in relation to
 religious and ethnic factors (Maronite, Arab origin vs the Orthodox Cypriots
 of Greek origin), differences within the community in relation to language
 (use of a particular Arabic dialect only by the inhabitants of Kormakiti,
 while other villages speak the Greek-Cypriot dialect) and a deliberate
 identification with Lebanon through Catholicism and similarities in history.


Three manuscripts form the basis of this dissertation exploring the effect of extreme precipitation and climate change on residential property in New Zealand. The first manuscript investigates the public insurer's expected future liabilities, given future climate projections. Specifically, it examines the effect of extreme precipitation on direct property damage associated with rainfall-induced landslides, storms and floods. This study applies a fixed-effects panel regression model using claim data linked to extreme precipitation data over 2000-2017 and future climate change scenarios until 2100. The results show that liabilities will increase more if future greenhouse gasses emissions are higher. At the aggregate level, the percent change between past and future liabilities ranges between an increase of 7 to 8% higher in the next 20 years, and an increase between 9 to 25% increase by the end of the century, depending on the greenhouse gases emissions scenario.
The second manuscript examines the risk of property damage from landslides associated with extreme precipitation. The focus is on the Nelson region as it displays the highest number of claims and pay-outs relative to its population and residential stock asset, and two thirds of the pay-outs come from a single event. The focus is on this event. This research combines past insurance claim data with geographic and sociodemographic data to estimate probability of damage, which is then combined with property replacement values and damage-ratio information to calculate the expected loses and map the spatial distribution of risk. The study integrates into the risk estimates the impact of climate change on precipitation based on an 'attribution' study. The analysis shows that slope and social deprivation play a significant role in the probability of damage. Furthermore, higher expected losses are associated with higher property values.
The third manuscript studies the current and future risk of property damage from floods associated with extreme precipitation and climate change. The focus is on the most expensive event on record. This study applies a logistic cross-sectional regression model that exploits spatial variation of rainfall intensity-duration-frequency (with and without the effect of climate change), while controlling for other factors that might make a property more or less likely to experience damage. The expected monetary losses are calculated by factoring in the likelihood of flood damage derived from the regression model, property replacement values, and property vulnerability (based on flood-depth fragility functions). The results show that highest losses are associated with lowest annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs), still, sizeable losses are associated with higher AEPs. In this case, the effect of climate change for different emissions scenarios is too small to cause an economically meaningful increase in risk levels in the next 80 years (2100).


Nurses are primarily responsible for the care and maintenance of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes and yet their care is not often included in nursing skills textbooks. Best practice recommendations to care for a person with a PEG tube are described.


The potential efficacy of recently developed cognitive and behavioural treatments (CBT) for residual hallucinations raises practical questions about the extent of applicability of such treatments and the possible need for programmatic responses by mental health services. This pilot study, conducted in a 355-bed acute and rehabilitation psychiatric hospital, explored the prevalence of persisting auditory hallucinations, patients' coping strategies, and indicators for cognitive and behavioural treatments. A census identified 123 patients with persisting hallucinations. Information about practical impediments to CBT was obtained from structured interviews with staff. Detailed interviews with a subsample of 35 hallucinators identified natural coping strategies and indicators for treatment. High rates of natural coping strategies were reported by this very disabled sample. Fifty-three per cent of hallucinators were considered "potential" candidates, and 20% "good" candidates for CBT for voices.


Mobile networks have urgent demands of fine-grained, cost-effective and flexible service provision for diversified user traffic. To cope with these demands, researchers have proposed various Service Function Chaining (SFC) solutions with the rise of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technologies. However, most of them are performed based on MAC address and/or OpenFlow protocols without Network Service Header (NSH) support, having drawbacks in complexity, scalability and flexibility. NSH-based approaches are more promising for mobile networks, since they support metadata-based packet information sharing and policy enforcement. Moreover, a hierarchical SFC (hSFC) architecture is proposed to alleviate the scalability and management problems in large-scale networks. Nevertheless, how to realize application awareness and on-demand service provision has not been investigated thoroughly in the hSFC environment. Thus, in this paper, we propose a proactive-based branching approach for application-aware and dynamic security function chaining, where application features are analyzed at first, and then carried in the metadata of NSHs for subsequent processes by the relevant security functions. In this way, the data plane is able to redirect traffic based on metadata without the participation of control plane. Besides, we verify the proposed approach through our prototype system via two typical use cases, the application-aware traffic control and lawful interception, and the related experiment results confirm its feasibility and elasticity.


Resumen en: A review of some of the theoretical approaches that contribute to the studies of discourse in the classroom is done in this paper. Without the pretensio...


Background Little information on dosing, and refill compliance in golimumab-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis has been published. Objectives This study reports golimumab (GLM) dosing and refill compliance observed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Methods This retrospective database analysis assessed GLM use in adult RA patients with ≥2 GLM prescriptions between 4/24/2009 and 12/31/2010; ≥1 RA diagnosis during the study period; continuous activity in the Source® LX database (≥6 months pre; ≥6 months post index prescription) and a 28-31 day GLM supply. Refill compliance was defined as refills occurring ± 1 week of the expected 28-31 day (d) interval. The percent of compliant GLM refill intervals and the percent of patients demonstrating refill compliance at the 6th GLM dose were assessed in the overall population and in bio-naïve/bio-experienced subgroups. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the study population (mean ± SD, median, n and %). Results A total of 1,103 RA patients and 6,432 GLM refill intervals were observed. The sample was 82% female; mean age of 53 years with 63% bio-experienced. A 50 mg GLM dose was found in 98% of all fills. The mean ± SD refill interval for the overall population was 35.7±22.0 d with a median of 31 d. Bio-experienced patients had slightly more frequent refill intervals (35.4±21.3 d) as compared to bio-naïve patients (36.3±23.0 d), but the median was 31 d in both subgroups. Refill compliance was observed in 80% of all intervals for the overall population. Refill compliance at the 6th GLM dose was achieved by 84% of patients overall. Conclusions In this retrospective analysis of a large national administrative claims database, 98% of GLM doses were 50 mg with approximately once monthly refill intervals. Overall refill compliance was observed in 80% of all GLM refills and in greater than 80% of RA patients at the sixth GLM dose. Median refill interval and refill compliance appeared similar in bio-experienced and bio-naïve subgroups. Further study of these trends using additional data sources are desired to substantiate these preliminary findings. Disclosure of Interest L. Ellis Employee of: Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, S. Haas Consultant for: Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, S. Bolge Employee of: Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, N. Tandon Employee of: Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC


BACKGROUND
In the health care services, children's rights to participate in all matters that concern them are considered important. However, in practice this can be challenging with young children. In My Shoes (IMS) is a computer-assisted interview tool developed to help children talk about their experiences. The aim of the study was to evaluate the IMS' ability to elicit pre-schoolers' subjective experiences and accurate accounts of a routine health visit as well as the children's engagement in the interview process.

METHODS
Interviews were conducted with 23 children aged 4-5 years, 2-4 weeks after their health visit. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a method inspired by Content Analysis to evaluate IMS's ability to elicit accounts about subjective experiences. Accurate accounts were assessed by comparing the transcribed interviews with the filmed visits at the child health centre. The children's engagement was defined by the completion and length of the interviews, and the children's interaction with the software.

RESULTS
All children gave accounts about their subjective experiences, such as their emotional state during the visit, available toys or rewards they received. All children related to the correct event, they all named at least one person who was present and 87% correctly named at least one examination procedure. The majority of children (91%) completed the interview, which lasted 17-39 min (M = 24), and 96% interacted with the IMS software.

CONCLUSIONS
IMS was feasible to help children describe their health care experiences, in both detail and depth. The children interacted with the software and maintained their interest for an extended period of time.


Pister's recollections of his tenure as the campus's sixth chancellor include his perspectives on a number of issues his administration faced: the recession-caused budget cuts UCSC absorbed, the UC Regents' controversial decision regarding affirmative action, the state of town-gown relations upon his arrival at UCSC in 1991, and controversies surrounding construction projects on campus. The oral history, entitled Karl S. Pister, UCSC Chancellorship, 1991- 1996, was transcribed and edited from interviews conducted by UCSC Regional Historian Randall Jarrell. Born in Stockton, California, Pister received his B.S. (1945) and M.S. degrees (1948) in civil engineering at UC Berkeley. In 1952 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in theoretical and applied mechanics. Prior to his tenure at UCSC, Pister had spent 30 years at UC Berkeley as a faculty member and 15 years there as an academic administrator. He began his career at Berkeley as a lecturer in 1947; in 1952, he joined the faculty of the campus's College of Engineering, where he had a distinguished career as a professor of engineering. He served as dean of the college from 1980 until 1990. In his narration, Pister describes a number of institutional conflicts he encountered early in his tenure as UCSC chancellor, and he discusses his efforts to reconcile UCSC's unique college system and emphasis on undergraduate education with the university's research mission. He also described controversies over campus building projects-- the founding of Colleges Nine and Ten and a music/performing arts complex-- and efforts that his administration made to improve UCSC's capital planning process. Pister also discusses the severe budget cuts, occurring during his tenure, that had a significant impact on campus academic programs and future planning. He describes a collaborative budget process that he said helped the campus weather those budget storms, while at the same time maintaining faculty, staff, and student morale during a difficult period in the campus's history. In the oral history, Pister also describes the difficult state of town-gown relations that he faced upon his arrival at UCSC. Pister believes he succeeded in toning down the rhetoric and establishing cordial relations with the city and county of Santa Cruz, ushering in a new era of cooperation. Throughout his tenure as chancellor, Pister was a tireless advocate for university involvement in the effort to improve K-12 education in the region, and he describes UCSC's role in the Monterey Bay Educational Consortium, which has fostered collaboration between the campus and public schools. He also describes his effort to expand UCSC's outreach to the region's 13 community colleges, as well as the Leadership Opportunity Awards scholarship program he instituted that assists community college students transferring to UCSC. The narrative also includes Pister's detailed commentary on UCSC's admissions strategies subsequent to the outlawing of affirmative action by the UC Regents. He describes the role he played in joining with other UC chancellors to issue a unanimous public statement opposing the board's decision.


A novel InGaP/GaAs/sub 0.92/Sb/sub 0.08//GaAs double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) with low turn-on voltage has been fabricated. The turn-on voltage of the DHBT is typically 150 mV lower than that of the conventional InGaP/GaAs HBT, indicating that GaAsSb is a suitable base material for reducing the turn-on voltage of GaAs HBTs. A current gain of 50 has been obtained for the InGaP/GaAs/sub 0.92/Sb/sub 0.08//GaAs DHBT. The results show that InGaP/GaAsSb/GaAs DHBTs have a great potential for reducing operating voltage and power dissipation.


Tulipa (tulips; Liliaceae) is a genus of geophytes comprising c. 76 species, occurring from southwestern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia. The taxonomy and classification of the genus have been contentious in the past. We investigated the phylogenetic relationships in the genus using DNA sequences from five plastid regions (trnL intron and trnL–trnF spacer, rpl16 intron, rps12–rpl20 intergenic spacer and matK) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Amana and Erythronium were used as outgroups. Sequences were obtained from 25 Tulipa taxa representing all major lineages previously identified as distinct and four outgroups (two Amana spp. and two Erythronium spp.). In the combined maximum parsimony analysis, Tulipa was strongly supported as monophyletic and four clearly defined clades in the genus were obtained, although the relationships between them were unclear. In support of previous molecular studies, the results suggest that section Clusianae should be excluded from subgenus Tulipa and accepted at subgeneric rank. Subgenus Eriostemones and subgenus Tulipa (excluding Clusianae) were both strongly supported. Tulipa sprengeri, traditionally placed in subgenus Tulipa, was shown to be a member of Eriostemones. Orithyia, in this study represented by T. uniflora, formed a fourth lineage, also to be treated at subgeneric level. In the Bayesian analysis, the genus Tulipa was strongly supported and the same four lineages (subgenera) were identified. In this case, Orithyia was sister to the rest of the genus (with moderate support) and subgenera Clusianae and Eriostemones together formed a clade with strong support. Original species descriptions and type specimens of as many names as possible were reviewed and, on this basis, a revised checklist with full synonymy, typification and distribution is provided. The status of T. ×gesneriana and its synonyms is discussed. All accepted species are classified into the four subgenera supported by our phylogenetic study. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 172, 280–328.