Life histories involving transitions between differing habitats (i.e., aquatic to terrestrial or marine to freshwater) require numerous anatomical, physiological, and behavioral changes. Often, the traits associated with these changes are thought to come in suites, but all traits thought to be associated with particular life histories may not be required. While some traits are found in all species with a particular habitat transition, a grab bag approach may apply to other traits in that any trait may be sufficient for successful habitat transitions. We examine patterns of morphological traits associated with prolonged emersion in mudskipper, an amphibious fishes clade, where prolonged emersion appears twice. We test the evolutionary history of multiple characteristics associated with cutaneous respiration. We find most traits thought to be key for prolonged emersion show no phylogenetic signal and no tight correlation with prolonged emersion. Such traits appear in species with prolonged emersion but also non-emerging species. Only capillary density, which, when increased, allows for increased oxygen absorption, shows strong phylogenetic signal and correlation with prolonged emersion. Further experimental, functional genomics, and observational studies are needed to fully understand the mechanisms associated with each of these traits. With respect to traits associated with other particular behaviors, a comparative framework can be helpful in identifying evolutionary correlates.


OBJECTIVES
The authors examined factors predicting abortion use in two communes in northern Vietnam.

METHODS
A survey of 504 rural and 523 urban women of childbearing age was conducted.

RESULTS
For the 13.6% of urban and 19% of rural commune women having had an abortion in the previous year, logistic regression analyses demonstrated that use of an intrauterine device reduced the likelihood of subsequent abortion in both communes. Traditional method use in the rural commune, however, increased women's likelihood of a subsequent abortion.

CONCLUSIONS
Contraceptive use in these 2 communes affected abortion more than sociodemographic factors. Traditional method use by rural women is a risk for abortion.


Digital Television, also known as Digital TV, is the most significant advancement in television technology since the medium was created over a century ago. Digital TV offers consumers more choice and makes the viewing experience more interactive. The analog system of broadcasting television has been in place for well over 60 years. During this period, viewers experienced the transition from black-and-white sets to color TV sets. The migration from black-and-white television to color television required viewers to purchase new TV sets, and broadcasters had to acquire new transmitters, pre, and post production equipment. Today, the industry is going through a profound transition, migrating from conventional TV to a new era of digital technology. Most TVoperators have upgraded their existing networks and have deployed advanced digital platforms in an effort to migrate their subscribers away from traditional analog services to more sophisticated digital services. A new technology called Internet Protocol-based television (IPTV), has started to grab headlines across the world with stories about several large telecommunication, cable, satellite, terrestrial, and a slew of Internet start-ups delivering video over an IP based service. As the name suggests, IPTV describes a mechanism for transporting a stream of video content over a network that uses the IP networking protocol. The benefits of this mechanism of delivering TV signals vary from increased support for interactivity to faster channel changing times and improved interoperability with existing home networks. Before describing the various technologies that make up an end-to-end IPTV system, this chapter will start by defining IPTV. The growth drivers for the industry sector are then examined, and


Mindfulness is a growing field in the study of psychological well-being, with reports of individuals experiencing increases in resilience and reduced stress. The current research on mindfulness lacks information on a comprehensive analysis on the relationship between mindfulness and executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and subsequent academic performance for children. Additionally, studies contain methodological issues, such as the absence of active control groups. Hence, the current study assessed the effects of mindfulness training on children's executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and academic outcomes compared to an active control group. There were 51 younger children from grades 2 to 4 (Mean Age = 8.51, SD = .731) and 47 older children from grades 7 to 8 (Mean Age = 12.68, SD = .471) who participated in the present study. Children were randomly assigned to an eight-week Mindful Me! or Social Skills program, the active control group. Children completed preand post-test measures, which assessed mindful attention, emotional regulation, and executive function. Blood pressure and heart rate data were collected before and after sessions to reveal physiological stress outcomes. To assess academic performance, children completed journals. Results indicated limited support in response to the Mindful Me! program across a range of outcomes for children at different developmental stages. The findings suggest that mindfulness can galvanize executive function skills in children in the areas of working memory and cognitive flexibility. The younger children from the Mindful Me! condition significantly increased their working memory scores from preto post-test in the forward portion of the task with higher effect sizes revealed for length of sequence recalled (d = .55) and total number of trials correct (d = .54). In contrast, the younger children from the active control condition had lower effect sizes for length of sequence recalled (d = .25) and for total trials correct (d = .19). INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF MINDFULNESS iii Further, younger children from the Mindful Me! condition significantly increased their scores in cognitive flexibility from preto post-test with a higher effect size (d = .61) reported relative to younger children from the active control condition (d = .08). The results also revealed improved emotional regulation skills through significantly decreased levels of rumination from preto post-test for older children from the Mindful Me! condition, with a higher effect size (d = .42) reported relative to older children from the active control condition (d = .28). Older children from the Mindful Me! program further reported significant decreases on the forward portion of the working memory task and for inhibition, which was not consistent with previous literature. Finally, there were no conclusive evidence for stress and academic outcomes. The results suggest that the mindfulness has potential positive impacts on some aspects of executive function and emotional regulation for children at specific developmental periods. Further research should examine mindfulness in children within a developmental framework that recognizes that personalities, competencies, and behaviours emerge and change across childhood and early adolescence.


– The purpose of this paper is to define employability within the psychological literature with a focus upon perceived employability. , – To achieve the aim, the paper defines five objectives as follows. First, the paper discusses how employability is interpreted in the psychological literature. Second, the paper defines perceived employability within this literature. Third, the paper goes one step further by comparing the perceived employability approach to other approaches in the psychological field, namely, approaches based on competences and dispositions. The paper concludes with an integration of the three approaches into a process model to demonstrate their interrelationships, which the authors see as the fourth objective. With approach, the paper refers to a specific view on employability, including both definitions and measures, which share significant common ground. Finally, the paper highlights some implications. , – The paper concludes that each approach comes with specific advantages and disadvantages. Researchers and practitioners should use an approach according to the general research question one aims to address. , – The authors believe to contribute to the employability literature in the following ways. First, the paper raises awareness that not all psychological notions of employability are equal, though they are often treated as such in the literature. Second, the paper highlights how perceived employability is tied to competences and dispositions. That is, though all notions are clearly different, they are also related.


Converging data indicate the possible existence of a general adaptation syndrome (GAS) in which different types of stress evoke identical coping mechanisms. In Selyean terms, this implies a "co-stress" response whereby one type of stress resistance may impart co-resistance to others. Common coping denominators may be physiological or morphological. The former include oxy-free radical scavenging, osmoregulation, ABA, jasmonates, chaperones, HSPs, and phytochelatins. Morphological GAS adaptations include leaf pubescence, movements and stance, and rooting characteristics. The feasibility, with certain reservations, of the GAS hypothesis is discussed here.


Background: Orthopaedic injuries constitute a major part of polytrauma. Treatment trends are evolving. In order to determine what is best for our environment, there is a need to define the magnitude of the problem. Aims and objectives: To describe the frequency of occurrence and pattern of distribution of orthopaedic injuries those occur in patients with polytrauma as well as carry out a review of relevant literature. Patients and Methods. This is a one-year prospective study of patients with polytrauma from which an analysis of orthopaedic injuries was performed. Patients were recruited at the point of presentation in the accident and emergency department and followed up to the point of discharge. Results : One hundred and twenty eight patients were recruited out of which orthopaedic injuries constituted 84 (64.1%). Lower limb injuries predominated in 63 (77%), with tibial fractures being the most common in 40 (49.6%) patients. Head injuries were the most frequent associated injuries in 57 (67.9%). Only three (3.6%) patients had operative treatment and all were delayed procedures. Eighty one (96.7%) were either managed non-operatively, or refused hospital treatment. Complications rate was 11.9%, mainly wound infection in compound fractures. Mortality rate was 7.1%, all had associated severe head injury. 33% of the patients discharged themselves against medical advice and opted for traditional bone setting. Conclusion : Orthopaedic injuries constitute a major part of polytrauma. Lower limb injuries predominate. Head injuries are the most common associated injuries and account for most of the early mortality. Increased operative management is advocated because of established advantages in literature. Key words: Orthopaedic injuries, polytrauma, trauma.


Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis is characterized by osteoblastic cell and microarchitecture dysfunction, as well as a loss of bone mass. Cell senescence contributes to the pathological process of osteoporosis and sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) regulates the potent protective effects through delaying cell senescence. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether senescence could contribute to dexamethasone (Dex)-induced osteoblast impairment and to examine the effect of NaHS on Dex-induced cell senescence and damage. It was found that the levels of the senescence-associated markers, p53 and p21, were markedly increased in osteoblasts exposed to Dex. A p53 inhibitor reversed Dex-induced osteoblast injury, a process that was mitigated by NaHS administration through alleviating osteoblastic cell senescence. MicroRNA (miR)-22 blocked the impact of NaHS on Dex-induced osteoblast damage and senescence through targeting the regulation of Sirtuin 1 (sirt1) expression, as shown by the decreased cell viability and alkaline phosphatase activity, as well as an increased expression of p53 and p21. It was revealed that the sirt1 gene was the target of miR-22 in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells through combining the results of dual luciferase reporter assays and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR, as well as western blot analyses. Silencing of sirt1 abolished the protective effect of NaHS against Dex-associated osteoblast senescence and injury. Taken together, the present study showed that NaHS prevents Dex-induced cell senescence and damage through targeting the miR-22/sirt1 pathway in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells.


We investigate aqueous multiphase systems for catalytic gas/liquid reactions, namely, the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of the long-chain olefin 1-dodecene. The multiphase system was formulated from 1-dodecene, water, and a nonionic surfactant, which increases the solubility between the two nonmiscible liquid phases. On the basis of these systems, we present in this paper a transfer of lab experiments (semibatch) to a successful operation of a miniplant in continuous mode. Under optimized conditions, the reaction showed turnover frequencies of ∼200 h–1 and high selectivity of 98:2 to the desired linear aldehyde. The miniplant was operated continuously for a total of 130 h. The control of the phase separation and catalyst recycling for product isolation for a long time period appeared to be challenging. Nevertheless, the separation was kept stable for over 24 h. The organic components in the product phase amounted to desired values between 95 and 99 wt %. The desired 99.99% of the catalyst remained in...


Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are the most appropriate type of fuel cells for application in vehicles due to their low operational temperature and high-power density. In this paper, a zero-dimensional, steady state thermodynamic modeling for an automotive 90kW PEMFC system has been built up in order to investigate the effects of operating parameters such as vehicle acceleration and operating pressure on the size of the system elements, heat and water system constitution, fuel consumption, and efficiency. A dynamic model was formed for the fuel cell power system in MATLAB. Power output and power losses of the system were investigated at 3atm operation pressures.


ABSTRACT Human myeloid leukemia cells respond to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and other activators of protein kinase C (PKC) with induction of monocytic differentiation. The present studies demonstrated that treatment of U-937 and HL-60 myeloid leukemia cells with TPA, phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate, or bryostatin 1 was associated with the induction of stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK). In contrast, TPA-resistant TUR and HL-525 cell variants deficient in PKCβ failed to respond to activators of PKC with the induction of SAPK. A direct role for PKCβ in TPA-induced SAPK activity in TUR and HL-525 cells that stably express PKCβ was confirmed. We showed that TPA induced the association of PKCβ with MEK kinase 1 (MEKK-1), an upstream effector of the SAPK/ERK kinase 1 (SEK1)→SAPK cascade. The results also demonstrated that PKCβ phosphorylated and activated MEKK-1 in vitro. The functional role of MEKK-1 in TPA-induced SAPK activity was further supported by the demonstration that the expression of a dominant negative MEKK-1 mutant abrogated this response. These findings indicate that PKCβ activation is necessary for activation of the MEKK-1→SEK1→SAPK cascade in the TPA response of myeloid leukemia cells.


A new class of exact solutions of the bound Dirac and bound Klein Gordon equations in non co propagating plane waves is found. The solutions are based on the physical principle of maintaining local gauge invariance in the Furry picture Lagrangian when N external fields can undergo independent gauge transformations. The solutions can be expressed in terms of the Hamilton Jacobi action and a gauge invariant effective particle momentum in the ensemble of external fields. Rotations of the effective particle momentum, which preserve local gauge invariance, are introduced into the action using matrix calculus. The set of such rotations provides the class of new solutions constituting a family of Volkov like solutions for one external field. When applied to two or more non co propagating external fields, the rotational symmetry provides counter terms which decouple the fields. The bound state equations of motion become solvable for any number of non co propagating external fields. Through angular spectral decomposition, which represents electromagnetic fields of any form as a spatial Fourier series of non co propagating plane waves, the new solutions described here can be applied to strong field physics problems in any external electromagnetic field.


In [7], Edmonds proved a fundamental theorem on packing arborescences that has become the base of several subsequent extensions. Recently, Japanese researchers found an unexpected further generalization which gave rise to many interesting questions about this subject [29], [20]. Another line of researches focused on covering intersecting families which generalizes Edmonds' theorems in a di erent way. The two approaches was united in [1] by introducing the notion of mixed intersecting bi-set families. The purpose of this paper is to overview recent developments and to present some new results. We give a polyhedral description of arborescence packable subgraphs based on a connection with bi-set families, and by using this description we prove TDI-ness of the corresponding system of inequalities. We also consider the problem of independent trees and arborescences, and give a simple algorithm that decomposes a maximal planar graph into three independent trees.


Abstract:  Ecological research and biodiversity management often raise ethical questions in areas that include responsibilities and duties to the scientific community, public welfare, research animals, species, and ecosystems. Answering these questions is challenging because ecologists and biodiversity managers do not have the equivalent of bioethics, an established field with a support network focused mainly on biomedicine, to guide them in making decisions. Environmental ethics provides some insight into environmental values and the duties these may impose on humans. But for the most part those in the field have not considered many of the common responsibilities and obligations that ecologists and managers have to the scientific profession or to public welfare. There is a need to bring ethicists, scientists, and biodiversity managers together in a collaborative effort to study and inform the methods of ethical analysis and problem solving in ecological research and biodiversity management. We present a series of cases that illustrate the kinds of ethical questions faced by researchers and biodiversity managers in practice. We argue for the creation of an extensive case database and a pluralistic and integrated ethical framework, one that draws from the theoretical (normative), research, animal, and environmental ethics traditions. These tools form the foundations of a new area of inquiry and practical ethical problem solving, that we call "ecological ethics."


Background: The true incidence of contralateral occult inguinal hernia (OIH) is a debate. The repair of contralateral OIH in the treatment context of clinical symptomatic unilateral inguinal hernia (IH) is controversial. This study aimed to assess the effect and clinical benefit of preoperative ultrasound (US) in the diagnosis of contralateral OIH performed before surgery. Methods: The retrospective data of 155 consecutive male patients who underwent IH repair between January 2014 and January 2020 were analyzed. The surgical procedures for IH and the clinical outcomes of the US were evaluated. Results: Of 155 patients, 29 (18.7%) presented with bilateral IH. Preoperative US was performed in 73 cases of clinical unilateral IH (n=126), and 30 (23.8%) patients were found to have a contralateral OIH. The totally extrapreperitoneal (TEP) or Lichtenstein repair was conducted. Bilateral IH repair was proposed for all, but only 28 agreed and underwent bilateral repair. Patients with clinically bilateral hernia had more complications compared with patients diagnosed to have occult contralateral IH after the US (n=3 vs. n=0). In the overall group, the TEP procedure resulted in shorter hospital stay (P=0.001) and less pain (P=0.021). Conclusions: The preoperative US may be recommended to assess the presence of a contralateral OIH as it is a noninvasive, radiation-free, widely available, relatively cheap diagnostic method. The preoperative US may change the surgical approach in up to 1/4 patients with a clinical unilateral IH. Either Lichtenstein repair or TEP repair can be performed with an acceptable complication rate in the case of OIH.


study was conducted to evaluate growth performance and carcass traits in 50 pigs (initial weight 25 kg) fed diets based on sugar cane juice (SCJ) as the major source of energy given ad libitum since the initial weight of 25; 30; 40 or 55 kg. A control diet with no SCJ was also evaluated. During the grower phase there were advantages in growth performance when pigs were given SCJ since 55 kg, but these differences were not evident amongst treatments neither during the finisher phase nor during the entire experiment. Carcass traits did not revealed any difference as a result of the introduction of SCJ in the diet of pigs. The results indicated that SCJ can be given ad libitum to pigs since an early stage or growth, and that protein supply may be reduced.


Purpose S100B protein is widely used as a measure of glial activity or damage in several brain conditions. Central nervous system (CNS) infections can cause neurological sequelae because of parenchyma invasion. It is difficult to predict further neuronal damage in the CNS infection. The present study is aimed to evaluate the role of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) S100B protein as an indicator of neuronal damage in CNS infection. Materials and Methods We measured the concentration of CSF S100B protein in 62 patients with a CNS infection using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. The patients with CNS infections were classified as having no neuronal damage (CNS-N) or as having neuronal damage (CNS+N) according to the presence of neurological change or structural lesions on brain MRI. Results The CSF S100B protein level of the CNS+N group (n=22, 0.235 µg/L, 0.10-2.18) was significantly higher than that of the CNS-N group (n=40, 0.087 µg/L, 0.06-0.12) and control group (n=40, 0.109 µg/L, 0.07-0.14, p<0.01). Using an arbitrary cut off value, S100B-positive CSF was detected in 2.5% of the CNS-N group and in 50% of the CNS+N group (p<0.05). Conclusion These findings suggest that increased S100B protein levels in the CSF may be associated with the neuronal damage following CNS infections.


ABSTRACT This article reflects on a joint journey during which three academics, a community historian, and a family historian collaborated in searching for Moon Chow, who is widely narrated as the first documented Chinese immigrant to Western Australia. This experience demonstrates how researchers from various traditions and backgrounds can work together productively despite different initial motivations and agendas. This article presents various Moon Chow stories and narratives that family historians, community historians, academic historians, public entities, and commercial entities have put forward. Rather than judging the soundness and merits of these stories, this article highlights how working with family and community historians results in researchers developing a richer understanding of Moon Chow, telling his story sincerely and sympathetically and preventing the poor scholarship of replacing one oversimplified narrative with another. This article also reveals that family historians may choose to deal with different parts of their family history in different ways to reach different objectives. As a result, their positions, motivations, and identities can be highly fluid, not confined to scholarly paradigms.


A quartz based cavity for pressure dependent EPR measurements on liquid samples allowing pressures up to 0.6GPa was constructed. First investigations with this setup were done on spin labeled horse hemoglobin derivatives both in ferric and ferrous state of oxidation. The second derivative EPR spectra show changes of the label's mobility, which are not correlated with spin state changes of the Fe-porphyrin complex, but which point out structural fluctuations inside the globin protein matrices.


In this paper, a new DCT block-edge-pattern and high efficient method for compressed image retrieval is proposed. This method directly extracts three edge patterns from compressed image to construct 3D and 4D histogram. Then uses them and the run-length histogram as the feature -based indexing keys to retrieve images. The results of our two-stage experiments show that the superior performances of our method than other exiting method in retrieval precision, processing speed and robust to noise and color change.


Nitric oxide (NO) challenge to human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) ultimately results in apoptosis. Tumor suppressor protein p53 and cell cycle inhibitor p21 accumulate as an early sign of S-nitrosoglutathione-mediated toxicity. Cytochrome c release from mitochondria and caspase 3 activation also occurred. Cells transfected with either wild type (WT) or mutant (G93A) Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD) produced comparable amounts of nitrite/nitrate but showed different degree of apoptosis. G93A cells were the most affected and WT cells the most protected; however, Cu,Zn-SOD content of these two cell lines was 2-fold the SH-SY5Y cells under both resting and treated conditions. We linked decreased susceptibility of the WT cells to higher and more stable Bcl-2 and decreased reactive oxygen species. Conversely, we linked G93A susceptibility to increased reactive oxygen species production since simultaneous administration ofS-nitrosoglutathione and copper chelators protects from apoptosis. Furthermore, G93A cells showed a significant decrease of Bcl-2 expression and, as target of NO-derived radicals, showed lower cytochrome c oxidase activity. These results demonstrate that resistance to NO-mediated apoptosis is strictly related to the level and integrity of Cu,Zn-SOD and that the balance between reactive nitrogen and reactive oxygen species regulates neuroblastoma apoptosis.


The author was set to find out the fundamental reasons for the separatism of the Tuareg community in the Republic of Mali. The article examines the evolution of the political identity of the Tuaregs and the consolidation of scatted nomadic tribes into a community, which aims for sovereignty within their own state. It is known that the desire for state self-determination of nomads within the self-proclaimed state of Azavad is a factor that has a serious impact on the internal political situation in the country throughout its history, starting from the time of gaining independence in the early of 60s years of last century and to the present. The study showed that the confrontation between the black majority of the population of the country and in comparison with small number of "white people of the desert" (Tuaregs, Moors, Arabs) is primarily due to the parallel existence of various "life necessities cultures" in the territory of Sahel. Relatively peaceful farmers, fishermen and hunters coexist here with the warlike nomadic cattle herders. The lands cultivated by some are considered by others to be their original pasture - lands. The author substantiates the conclusion that all acute conflict situations arising in the northern territories of Mali are ultimately conditioned by the influence of this determining factor. This determines the essence of the discriminatory policy against the Tuaregs on the part of the authorities protecting the interests of the majority, Bamako's mistakes associated with attempts to accelerate the modernization of archaic nomadic communities. The author comes to the conclusion that the situation is complicated by the reluctance of the Elysee Palace to abandon political and economic preferences in Mali and withdraw its troops from the territory of this sovereign state, from the territory that the Tuaregs consider their ancestral lands. In his opinion, in the conditions of an acute political crisis in this country, the Tuareg's desire for state self-determination will grow.


The susceptibility of laboratory mice to intranasal and contact infection with mouse hepatitis virus (MHV)-related coronaviruses was tested in infant CD1 mice. One day old mouse pups were inoculated intranasally with respiratory MHV-S, enteric MHV-Y, rat sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV), human coronavirus OC43 (HCV-OC43) or bovine coronavirus (BCV). Twenty-four hours later, they were placed in direct contact with age matched sham inoculated pups. Indices of infection in virus inoculated mice included lesions by histopathology and viral antigen by immunoperoxidase histochemistry in brain, lung, liver and intestine at 3 days after inoculation. Indices of infection in contact mice included mortality or seroconversion by 21 days after exposure. Infant mice were susceptible to infection with all five viruses. Transmission by direct contact exposure occurred with MHV and SDAV, but not HCV or BCV. Furthermore, adult mice were not susceptible to infection with HCV. Tissue distribution of lesions and antigen varied markedly among viruses, indicating that they do not induce the same disease as MHV. This study demonstrates that although these coronaviruses are antigenically closely related, they are biologically different viruses and disease patterns in susceptible infant mice can be used to differentiate viruses.


Many papers have been published over the last decade on nanodielectrics. The results have sometimes proven to be inconsistent, and this is thought to be due to nonuniform dispersion of the nanophase. However, an increasing number of high-quality scientific contributions look specifically at how these novel materials should be assembled and processed, and at the various phenomena in the interphase region. Clive W. Reed published several interesting contributions on these topics [1]. Also, at a colloquium in January 2012, Alun S. Vaughan mentioned that many of the tools needed for the preparation of consistent and controlled nanodielectrics had already been considered in various areas, including polymer physics and colloids science [2].


The Santo Nino vein is a classic example of silver-base metal epithermal mineralization and is one of the principal orebodies in the Fresnillo district. The extensive vein structure once represented a major conduit for fluids in the shallow upflow region of a magma-generated hydrothermal system. Continuous fracturing and vein opening permitted recurring passage of fluids which resulted in four stages of mineralization; the first three contain quartz, sulfides, and sulfosalts, whereas the final stage is dominated by calcite.Fluid inclusion studies on the quartz, calcite, and sphalerite indicate that mineralizing solutions ranged between 170 degrees to 260 degrees C and 9 to 60 bars pressure and were close to or at boiling conditions throughout the mineralizing period. The best estimate of the paleosurface elevation is approximately 100 m above the present-day surface. However, considerable vertical fluctuation of the piezometric surface of boiling solutions apparently occurred during regional hydrothermal activity; for the period in which the Santo Nino vein was mineralized, the piezometric boiling surface was situated well below the paleosurface, possibly by as much as 150 to 200 m.Three distinct fluids were identified on the basis of freezing data and oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions. Quartz-saturated solutions were dilute, averaging 2 equiv wt percent NaCl and less than 4 wt percent CO 2 . These solutions evolved from extensive exchange reactions between country rock and deep circulating meteoric waters (delta 18 O water = 3.9 to 7.7ppm, delta D = -43 to -74ppm), but may additionally include some magmatic waters. Stage IV calcite-saturated solutions were also dilute, probably CO 2 -bearing, and were derived from an isotopically distinct source region, possibly one undergoing contact metamorphism (delta 18 O water = 14.8 to 17.0ppm, delta D = -48 to -60ppm). Sphalerite-saturated solutions, in contrast, were brines (8.5 to 12.0 equiv wt % NaCl max, delta D = -30 to -61ppm), which were introduced repeatedly in the early parts of the first three stages of mineralization and were present in the vein structure only briefly. These intermittent brines were the mineralizing fluids responsible for silver and base metal deposition.Helium isotope compositions ( 3 He/ 4 He) measured for inclusion fluids from quartz, calcite, and sulfides (stages I, II, III, and IV) range from 1.1 to 2.1 times the atmospheric ratio (R a ). These values suggest the presence of a dilute component of mantle helium, derived from a subjacent magmatic region at the time of hydrothermal activity. However, helium isotope signatures appear to be completely separated from the other hydrologic factors which governed the chemistry and stable isotope compositions of the distinct hydrothermal fluids.A model for ore genesis is proposed in which metalliferous brine solutions, of magmatic origin, were injected repeatedly and episodically into a hydrothermal system dominated by dilute, quartz-saturated solutions. Metal sulfides and sulfosalts precipitated rapidly under the influence of boiling conditions. Stage IV calcite precipitation marks the end of ore deposition and the influx of fluids from a distinctly different source region.


Reliable estimates of the sustainable yield of supply boreholes are critical to ensure that groundwater resources are managed sustainably. Sustainable yields are dependent on the pumped groundwater level in a borehole, how this relates to vertical aquifer heterogeneity, and features of the borehole itself. This paper presents a 3D radial flow model (SPIDERR), based on the Darcy-Forchheimer equation, for simulating the groundwater level response in supply boreholes in unconfined, heterogeneous aquifers. The model provides a tool for investigating the causes of non-linear behaviour in abstraction boreholes, which can have a significant impact on sustainable yields. This is demonstrated by simulating a variable-rate pumping test in a Chalk abstraction borehole. The application suggests the non-linear response to pumping is due to a combination of factors: a reduction in well storage with depth due to changes in the borehole diameter, a reduction in hydraulic conductivity with depth, and non-Darcian flow.


Types of admissible support vector kernel called scaling kernels are presented in this paper. In fact, scaling kernels are the multi-dimensional scaling function with translation vectors and they are a set of complete bases in the subspace of the square and integrable space. Hence, the goal of support vector machines (SVM) based on scaling kernels is to find the optimal scaling coefficients in a scaling space. In terms of theory, SVM based on scaling kernels can approximate any objective function in some space by any precision. The results obtained by our simulations show the feasibility and validity of scaling kernels.


A 7-month-old, 4.3-kg, spayed female bichon frise was referred for evaluation of chronic urinary incontinence. Abdominal radiographs revealed calculi within the right kidney and ureter. An ultrasound revealed a small right kidney. An abdominal computed tomography scan with contrast revealed that the left ureter was extramurally ectopic, inserting into the proximal urethra. A right intramural ectopic ureter was identified during cystotomy. Ureteronephrectomy was performed on the right, and ureteroneocystostomy was performed on the left. A telephone conversation with the owner 4 months after surgery revealed that the dog exhibited no evidence of urine dribbling, and urinary continence was maintained well on phenyl-propanolamine (1.75 mg/kg orally q 12 hours). This is the first report of successful surgical management of bilateral ureteral ectopia with concurrent, unilateral, renal dysplasia and urolithiasis.


Philosophers and behavioral scientists refer to wisdom as unbiased reasoning that guides one toward a balance of interests and promotes a good life. However, major instruments developed to test wisdom appear biased, and it is unclear whether they capture balance-related tendencies. We examined whether shifting from global, de-contextualized reports to state-level reports about concrete situations provides a less biased method to assess wise reasoning (e.g., intellectual humility, recognition of uncertainty and change, consideration of the broader context at hand and perspectives of others, integration of these perspectives or compromise), which may be aligned with the notion of balancing interests. Results of a large-scale psychometric investigation (N = 4,463) revealed that the novel Situated WIse Reasoning Scale (SWIS) is reliable and appears independent of psychological biases (attribution bias, bias blind spot, self-deception, and impression management), whereas global wisdom reports are subject to such biases. Moreover, SWIS scores were positively related to indices of living well (e.g., adaptive emotion regulation, mindfulness), and balancing of cooperative and self-protective interests, goals (influence-vs.-adjustment), and causal inferences about conflict (attribution to the self-vs.-other party). In contrast, global wisdom reports were unrelated or negatively related to balance-related measures. Notably, people showed modest within-person consistency in wise reasoning across situations or over time, suggesting that a single-shot measurement may be insufficient for whole understanding of trait-level wisdom. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for research on wisdom, judgment and decision making, well-being, and prosociality.


Nitrogen is the main nutrient limiting irrigated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production in the southwestern United States. Canopy spectral reflectance may assess the need for in-season N in irrigated cotton and guide N fertilizer applications. However, calibration of remote sensing indices such as normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) to the crop's need for N fertilizer is difficult. Well-fertilized reference strips or plots reference NDVI data in the crop area of interest but can result in rank growth and reduced lint yields. Recently, Oklahoma State University developed a calibration procedure of using multiple, sequential, N rate calibration plots, or a ramp approach for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and corn (Zea mays L.). We tested this approach in irrigated cotton fields in Lubbock County, Texas, in 2008 and 2009. The main objective of this research was to test a calibration ramp approach to determining optimum in-season N fertilizer rates in irrigated cotton in West Texas. Near infrared, red, and amber reflectance was measured with active spectroradiometers at 1 m above the canopy. Wide ranges in soil type and irrigation amounts influenced NDVI much more than N fertilizer rate. Normalized difference vegetative index at mid-bloom and at peak bloom were positively related to N fertilizer rate in only one ramp in each year. These two ramp-years also had significant N fertilizer rate response in lint yield. Ramps that did not have mid- or peak bloom NDVI responses to N rate, likewise had no lint yield response to N rate. In both low irrigation- low N input and in high irrigation-high N input farms, in-season NDVI correctly predicted lint yield response to N fertilizer rate.


In this study X-ray microtomography (muCT) was used for analysis of the microstructure of 6 different types of Italian biscuits and 3 types of Italian breadsticks. Appropriate quantitative 3-D parameters describing the microstructure were calculated, such as the structure thickness (ST), the object structure volume ratio (OSVR), the degree of anisotropy (DA), and the percentage object volume (POV). Sensory analysis was also performed to discriminate samples on the basis of texture characteristics. A correlation between microstructural data (OSVR for biscuits and OSVR, POV, and DA for breadsticks) and sample crunchiness was also found. Results obtained from the current study showed that analysis at a microscopic level could be useful to the food industry, as the accurate calculation of number, dimension, and distribution of pores in the products could be used to improve the sensorial properties of food. Further study by muCT could be carried out to correlate microstructure to specific ingredients and process conditions to allow obtaining more tailored food.


The authors examined modulation of the simple act of word naming induced by the conflict arising when that task competes with color naming in a task-switching paradigm. Subjects alternated between naming a word printed in black and naming the color of a stimulus in 2 conditions. In the incongruent condition, the colored stimulus was an irrelevant word generating conflict, and in the neutral condition, color was carried by a row of asterisks. Subjects took substantially longer to name a word printed in black in the incongruent condition, implying a form of suppression. This modulation of the word-naming response was adaptive in that it led to more efficient color naming. The modulation effect was replicated using phoneme detection instead of word naming but not with lexical decision or visual comparison, implicating a phonological encoding process.


Papers and observatory reports presented at the second workshop of the Max '91 program are compiled along with discussion group summaries and invited reviews. The four discussion groups addressed the following subjects: high-energy flare physics; coordinated magnetograph observations; flare theory and modeling; and Max '91 communications and coordination. A special session also took place on observations of Active Region 5395 and the associated flares of March 1989. Other topics covered during the workshop include the scientific objectives of solar gamma ray observations, the solar capabilities of each of the four instruments on the Gamma Ray Observatory, and access to Max '91 information.


This paper presents results from an outdoor measurement campaign for ultra-wideband channels at gas stations. The results are particularly relevant for "infostations" where large amounts of data are downloaded to a user within a short period of time. We describe the measurement setup and present a novel high-resolution algorithm that allows the identification of the scatterers that give rise to multipath components. As input, the algorithm uses measurements of the transfer function between a single-antenna transmitter and a long uniform linear virtual array as receiver. The size of the array ensures that the incoming waves are spherical, which improves the estimation accuracy of scatterer locations. Insight is given on how these components can be tracked in the impulse response of a spatially varying terminal. We then group the detected scatterers into clusters, and investigate the angular power variations of waves arriving at the receiver from the clusters. This defines the cluster's "radiation pattern." Using sample measurements we show how obstacles obstruct the line-of-sight component -- a phenomenon commonly referred to as "shadowing." We compare the measurement data in the shadowing regions (locations of the receiver experiencing shadowing) with the theoretical results predicted by diffraction theory and find a good match between the two.


Phenol and p-nitrophenol (PNP) are priority pollutants widely present in wastewater. Developing superior or low-cost sorbents for their removal would be of great benefit. Here, corncob residues (CCR) were converted to hydrochars via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and further upgraded to carbon materials by thermal activation in an N2 atmosphere. The influence of HTC conditions including the temperature, residence time, and CCR/water weight ratio on the material properties and their performance for removing phenol and PNP from water were investigated and compared with those that were obtained from pyrochar (directly pyrolyzed CCR). Hydrochars showed lower adsorption capacities for phenols than pyrochar. The initial hydrothermal treatment at 220 °C and 2 h resulted in an improved porosity and 4- to 5-fold higher adsorption capacities for phenol and PNP compared with the pyrochar. However, hydrochars prepared at 250 °C or with a prolonged residence time (4 and 6 h) could not be upgraded to high performance carbon materials by thermal activation. The adsorption isotherms of both phenols on the best performance material were well correlated by the Sips model.


The knowledge crisis in the global eruption, urges the people to think about the introspection from each aspect, found by the time explains or avoids the effective prescription. But we must pay attention to the knowledge management system. It should be the important link of information chain, because 80% enterprises output knowledge information by FIS This paper through the questionnaire survey get some data about FIS and research some large software companies. The research conclusion tell us that, the knowledge control information credibility the various factor influence, technical factor and the personnel factor is most important, we should construct, enhance the staff occupational ethics, in order to raising the credible level of KMS.


The equation of state based on the mean spherical approximation (MSA) can describe electrolyte solutions as a primitive model, where the ions are charged hard-sphere particles and the solvent is a continuum medium. In recent years, many propositions of the classical density functional theory (cDFT) for electrolyte solutions have been presented. One of these is the functionalized MSA (fMSA) which has proven to be a great functional approach of MSA to calculate the electric double layer structures. This work demonstrates how the fMSA theory can describe real electrolyte solutions (e.g., NaCl, KI, and LiBr) where hydration and solvent concentration effects are present. Experimental data of the mean activity coefficients of different simple salts were successfully reproduced. When the hydrated diameter and the electrolyte solution electric permittivity are used, the fMSA predicts a charge inversion on the electrostatic potential near a charged surface at high salt concentrations.


Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common severe autosomal recessive disease affecting Caucasian population. Genetic linkage studies using DNA markers have allow to map the disease to chromosome 7q31-32. Several of these markers are closely enough to the CF gene, that they can be used for prenatal diagnosis of CF with a high level of confidence. We have studied 100 families with at least one affected individual. Fifteen DNA markers have been used in the present study. 96% of families were fully informatives, and 15 families requested prenatal diagnosis. A total of 17 prenatal diagnosis have been performed in these families between the 8th and the 14th week. Six fetus were diagnosed as affected and eleven as non affected of CF, with a reliability higher than 99% in all cases.


Lane D. J. W. & Rowe F. W. E. 2009. — A new species of Asterodiscides (Echinodermata, Asteroidea, Asterodiscididae) from the tropical southwest Pacific, and the biogeography of the genus revisited. Zoosystema 31 (3): 419-429. ABSTRACT A new species of Asterodiscides, A. bicornutus n. sp., is reported from Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, in the tropical southwest Pacific, a region which may qualify as a southeastern extension of the zone of maximum marine biodiversity known as the coral triangle. The biogeography of the genus, in particular its apparent absence from the equatorial Indo-Malay and west Pacific region and the occurrence of disjunct distributions, is re-examined. An earlier contention that this anomalous distribution pattern could result from shelf extinctions during glacial maxima, with subsequent failure to re-invade the core diversity region during high sea level stands, is rejected. Tropical Asterodiscides species generally occur at depths corresponding to the ocean thermocline, an undersampled zone that is deeper in the west Pacific. Further intensive surveys for these comparatively rare asteroids in the core biodiversity region, sampling deeper shelf areas and targeting upwelling zones, together with supportive molecular analyses and investigation of biology (particularly reproductive strategies), are considered essential for a more complete understanding of the biogeography and speciation of this genus.


The paper analyses the influence of acute respiratory infections on pregnancy course. Special attention is paid to the impact of endogenous intoxication syndrome and substantiation of a choice for a study of its presence. We have analyzed and described the role of nitric oxide in pathogenesis of inflammatory and immune processes in pregnancy complicated by acute respiratory viral infection. Attention is paid to the special requirements in the treatment of these patients. The method for treatment of acute viral rhinitis in pregnant women through the use of a combination of drugs and engystol and sinupret has been offered. It is found that conducting a comprehensive treatment of pregnant women with acute respiratory viral infection, acute rhinitis using engystol in combination with herbal drug sinupret has pathogenetic orientation due to antiinflammatory, detoxification, antiviral, antihistaminic, secretolytic and immunomodulatory effects of these drugs. We found that, among other treatments for acute respiratory viral infections in pregnant women, proposed therapy is highly effective, has no side effects and is well tolerated by pregnant women. Method is available, not harm, helps to optimize the treatment of pregnant women, providing its desirability and feasibility of mass use.


The prognostic impact of new histological and molecular parameters was tested retrospectively in a series of 149 patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who underwent potentially curative resection therapy (no distant metastases, no residual tumor, no radio- or chemotherapy). This analysis was performed in order to identify patients with increased risk for tumor-related death in spite of being treated by standard therapy and thus being candidates that most likely profit from postoperative adjuvant therapy. Additionally, the prognostic value of various molecular markers was investigated in a group of 38 patients with locally advanced esophageal SCC that have been treated with combined therapy modalities (radiochemotherapy and optionally surgery). Among surgically treated carcinomas, the following morphological parameters proved to be prognostically significant in univariate survival analysis and multivariate survival analysis: pattern of invasion, inflammatory response and lymphatic-vessel invasion. In contrast, the tumor grading according to the criteria of WHO and tumor cell proliferation did not show significant prognostic impact. Concerning the prognostic influence of molecular parameters strong expression of the proliferation-regulating molecule p21WAF1 and weak expression of the apoptosis-regulating molecule Bcl-XL were predictors of poor survival in univariate and multivariate survival analysis. No prognostic impact could be shown in relation to the expression of the proliferation-regulating molecule p53 and the apoptosis regulating-molecules Bcl-2 and Bax. Among multimodally treated esophageal cancer patients, again strong expression of p21WAF1 as well as accumulation of p53 were predictors of poor survival, whereas expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Bcl-XL did not show any prognostic influence. In conclusion, morphological and molecular parameters may provide important prognostic information for esophageal cancer patients.


Several of Earth's intra-plate volcanic provinces cannot be explained solely through the classical mantle plume hypothesis. Instead, they are believed to be generated by shallower processes that involve the interplay between uppermost mantle flow and the base of Earth's heterogeneous lithosphere. The mechanisms most commonly invoked are edge-driven convection (EDC) and shear-driven upwelling (SDU), both of which act to focus upwelling flow, and the associated decompression melting, adjacent to steps in lithospheric thickness.

In this study, we first undertake a systematic numerical investigation, in both 2-D and 3-D, to quantify the sensitivity of EDC, SDU and their associated melting to several key controlling parameters, in the absence of mantle plumes. Our simulations demonstrate that the spatial and temporal characteristics of EDC are sensitive to the geometry and material properties of the lithospheric step, in addition to the depth-dependence of upper mantle viscosity. These simulations also indicate that asthenospheric shear can either enhance or reduce upwelling velocities and predicted melt volumes, depending upon the magnitude and orientation of flow relative to the lithospheric step. When combined, such sensitivities explain why step changes in lithospheric thickness, which are common along cratonic edges and passive margins, only produce volcanism at isolated points in space and time. Our predicted trends of melt production suggest that, in the absence of potential interactions with mantle plumes, EDC and SDU are viable mechanisms only for Earth's shorter-lived, low-volume intra-plate volcanic provinces.

To complement the results from our first numerical investigation, we subsequently explore how the upwelling of a mantle plume within our 3-D domain modifies the occurrence of melting, both in terms of spatio-temporal distribution and intensity. Preliminary results indicate that edges close to the location of plume impingement have their melting shut off as a result of the intense flow generated through sub-lithospheric spreading. Additionally, the heterogeneous distribution of continental lithosphere thickness constrains plume material spreading and results in melting patterns that do not directly reflect the path of the plume relative to the lithosphere, as described by classical mantle plume theory.


Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites naturally present in different food and feed with toxic effects to humans and animals that consume those contaminated products. Among them, ergot alkaloids (EAs), produced mainly by fungi of the Claviceps genus, as Claviceps purpurea, are present in cereals such as rye, triticale, wheat and barley. Improvements in agricultural practices have significantly reduce the risk of severe epidemic outbreaks of ergotism, however, EAs can be found in cereal-based food and feed, partially due to new cereal hybrids susceptible to C. purpurea and climate changes. The European Commission has established a maximum content of 0.5 g/kg of ergot sclerotia in unprocessed cereals (with the exception of corn and rice), but the maximum content for EAs is still under study. Moreover, other countries (as Algeria) has no legislation regarding mycotoxin contamination.
In this study, the major EAs [ergometrine (Em), ergosine (Es), ergotamine (Et), ergocornine (Eco), ergokryptine (Ekr), ergocristine (Ecr)], and their corresponding epimers [ergometrinine (Emn), ergosinine (Esn), ergotaminine (Etn), ergocorninine (Econ), ergokryptinine (Ekrn) and ergocristinine (Ecrn)] have been determined by a QuEChERS-UHPLC-MS/MS method in cereal samples from Algeria (30 samples of wheat and 30 samples of barley). Procedural calibration curves were stablished for both matrices and limits of quantification were below 3.3 μg/kg (wheat) and 3.9 μg/kg (barley). The recoveries ranged between 85 and 109%, with a matrix effect lower than 20% in most cases and precision (RSD), lower than 11%. Four barley samples were contaminated with Em and Emn, and 3 of them showed also contamination by Et, with total EAs contents ranging from 18.0 to 54.0 μg/kg. Wheat samples showed a higher contamination, with 8 positive samples: one sample was contaminated only with Em, while the rest were contaminated with 5 up to 11 EAs, with total EAs contents ranging from 6.5 to 77.4 μg/kg.


A celebrated result of Mantel shows that every graph on $n$ vertices with $\lfloor n^2/4 \rfloor + 1$ edges must contain a triangle. A robust version of this result, due to Rademacher, says that there must in fact be at least $\lfloor n/2 \rfloor$ triangles in any such graph. Another strengthening, due to the combined efforts of many authors starting with Erdős, says that any such graph must have an edge which is contained in at least $n/6$ triangles. Following Mubayi, we study the interplay between these two results, that is, between the number of triangles in such graphs and their book number, the largest number of triangles sharing an edge. Among other results, Mubayi showed that for any $1/6 \leq \beta 0$ such that any graph on $n$ vertices with at least $\lfloor n^2/4\rfloor + 1$ edges and book number at most $\beta n$ contains at least $(\gamma -o(1))n^3$ triangles. He also asked for a more precise estimate for $\gamma$ in terms of $\beta$. We make a conjecture about this dependency and prove this conjecture for $\beta = 1/6$ and for $0.2495 \leq \beta < 1/4$, thereby answering Mubayi's question in these ranges.


Patients who undergo surgery almost entirely feel pain. Pain experienced by patients after surgery could affect the stability of hemodynamic and decreases the body's immunity which can interrupt the healing process. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the application of nursing theory Comfort Kolcaba and Family Centered Care approach in dealing with post-surgical pain in children laparotomy. The application of the comfort theory in performing nursing care to patients after surgery can improve family satisfaction and effectively reduce pain in patients which influenced by anxiety. Recently, the application of comfort theory has not been implementing of an evaluation using a checklist comfort because the treatment is focused on the problem so that the evaluation of selected pain using the VAS pain scale and FLACC. Comfort theory can be applied, especially in patients with mild pain and increase pain scale which influenced by anxiety.


The Secretary of Health and Human services proposes to amend the regulations governing the program for family planning services funded under Title X of the Public Health Service Act in order to implement a recent amendment of that Act. The statutory amendment requires family planning projects to encourage family participation in the provision of services by the projects, to the extent practical. The Secretary proposes to implement this amendment by requiring projects to notify the parents of unemancipated minors seeking family planning services when prescription drugs or devices are provided. In addition, where state law requires family planning providers to provide Title X services to unemancipated minors only with notification to or the consent of their parents, projects would be required to comply with that law.


The Perceptual Hypothesis is that we sometimes see, and thereby have non-inferential knowledge of, others' mental features. The Perceptual Hypothesis opposes Inferentialism, which is the view that our knowledge of others' mental features is always inferential. The claim that some mental features are embodied is the claim that some mental features are realised by states or processes that extend beyond the brain. The view I discuss here is that the Perceptual Hypothesis is plausible if, but only if, the mental features it claims we see are suitably embodied. Call this Embodied Perception Theory. I argue that Embodied Perception Theory is false. It doesn't follow that the Perceptual Hypothesis is implausible. The considerations which serve to undermine Embodied Perception Theory serve equally to undermine the motivations for assuming that others' mental lives are always imperceptible.


(The booming of Halal market, which is due to the growmg numbers of Muslims' population, has made the Halal marketplace too lucrative that the foods and beverages service providers cannot ignore. Specifically, we can see the booming market of modem Halal Kopitiams, which are owned by diverse ethnics of Malaysian and Non-Malaysian, to target on Non-Muslims and Muslims in Malaysia. As a result, eating and hangout at modem Halal Kopitiams has become a life culture in today's society. Unfortunately, there were some troublesome incidents happened recently like the misuse ofHalal Certificate and logo from the Kopitiams' owners to give the signal to the Muslim's customers that the operated Kopitiam is a modem Halal Kopitiam. Indeed, some of the owners even did not comply the Halal food standard, reducing the trust from Muslims toward the modem Halal Kopitiany Consequently, in this study, the researcher uses the theory of planned behaviour, TPB (Ajzen, 1991) as the landscape in understanding the influence of subjective norm, customers' attitude towards modem Halal Kopitiam and perceived behavioural control toward patronage intention at modem Halal Kopitiam. Besides, this study also developed a structural model by constructing halal awareness and religion towards the patronage intention at modem Halal Kopitiam to identify whether Halal awareness and religion have significant relationship with patronage intention at Kopitiam. Consequently, a total of 340 respondents from South of Kuching participated and answered questionnaires in a cross-sectional study. Then, the data was analysed by using Factor analysis, one way anova, ANOV A, Pearson correlation and so on. Results showed that subjective norm and respondents' attitude towards Kopitiam and perceived behavioural control have positive relationship with patronage intention at Kopitiam. However, the researcher found that religion and halal awareness did 'not have significant relationship with patronage intention at Kopitiam. However, the researcher found that religion has significant relationship with Halal awareness. Absolutely, the finding of this study could provide useful insights to the future researchers andKopitiams' owners and marketers. Customers also will receive the benefits if the Kopitiams' owner take action that will satisfy the clients' needs and wants.


We study the properties of rings satisfying Auslander-type conditions. If an artin algebra Λ satisfies the Auslander condition (that is, Λ is an ∞-Gorenstein artin algebra), then we construct two kinds of subcategories which form functorially finite cotorsion theories. Noetherian rings satisfying 'Auslander-type conditions' on self-injective resolutions can be regarded as certain non-commutative analogs of commutative Gorenstein rings. Such conditions, especially dominant dimension and the n-Gorenstein condition, play a crucial role in representation theory and non-commutative algebraic geometry (e.g. [A], [AR2,3], [B], [C], [EHIS], [FGR], [FI], [HN], [IS], [I3,4], [M], [R], [S], [T], [W]). They are also interesting from the viewpoint of some mysterious homological conjectures, e.g. the finitistic dimension conjecture, Nakayama conjecture, and so on. It is therefore important to understand non-commutative 'regular' or 'Gorenstein' rings though it is still far from realized even for the case of finite dimensional algebras. Recently, several authors (e.g. [Hu1,2,3], [I1,2,4]) study some Auslander-type conditions, e.g. the quasi n-Gorenstein condition, the (l, n)-condition, and so on. This paper is devoted to enlarge our knowledge of the homological behavior of non-commutative rings. Especially we introduce Auslander-type conditions Gn(k) and gn(k) and study their properties. Throughout this paper, let Λ be a noetherian ring (unless stated otherwise) and mod Λ the category of finitely generated left Λ-modules. We denote by modΛ the stable category of Λ [AB]. Put ( ) := HomΛ( , Λ) and En := Ext n Λ( , Λ) : modΛ→ mod Λ op for n ≥ 0, Tn := Tr ◦Ω n−1 : modΛ→ modΛ for n > 0, where Ω : modΛ → modΛ is the syzygy functor and Tr : modΛ → modΛ is the transpose functor [AB]. Let grade X := inf{i ≥ 0 | EiX 6= 0} the grade, The first author was partially supported by Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (Grant No. 20060284002) and NSF of Jiangsu Province of China (Grant No. BK2005207).


Single-crystalline hexagonal prism Zn2GeO4 nanorods and hierarchical Zn2GeO4 microspheres have been successfully synthesized via a facile microwave-assisted solution-phase approach. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, HRTEM and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The hierarchical Zn2GeO4 microspheres were found to be constructed of randomly aggregated nanorods which have dimensions of about 50 nm in length and 20 nm in width. Such rhombohedral phase Zn2GeO4 nanorods were found to be 10–20 nm in diameter and ∼200 nm in length. Some influencing factors such as the reaction time, temperature, and the urea were revealed to play crucial roles in the formation of Zn2GeO4 photocatalysts. A possible growth mechanism was proposed based on the experimental results. The rhombohedral phase Zn2GeO4 nanorods exhibited superior photocatalytic activities for the photocatalytic decomposition of water–methanol solution to hydrogen under UV irradiation.


This work analyzes the research productivity of agricultural and life science faculty in U.S. Land Grant research universities from 1975 to 2005. Production function estimations that control for inputs and demographic characteristics reveal significant improvements after 1980 in faculty research productivity per unit time, especially in the non-top ten universities. Because, however, time available to faculty for research has decreased substantially in the past three decades, overall journal article output per faculty did not increase after the 1980s. Our findings demonstrate large productivity increases but raise concerns about the optimal allocation of faculty time.


Capital works procurement and its regulatory policy environment within a country can be complex entities. For example, by virtue of Australia's governmental division between the Commonwealth, states and local jurisdictions and the associated procurement networks and responsibilities at each level, the tendering process is often convoluted. There are four inter-related key themes identified in the literature in relation to procurement disharmony, including decentralisation, risk & risk mitigation, free trade & competition, and tendering costs. This paper defines and discusses these key areas of conflict that adversely impact upon the business environments of industry through a literature review, policy analysis and consultation with capital works procurement stakeholders. The aim of this national study is to identify policy differences between jurisdictions in Australia, and ascertain whether those differences are a barrier to productivity and innovation. This research forms an element of a broader investigation with an aim of developing efficient, effective and nationally harmonised procurement systems. Keywords: capital works, procurement policy reform Acknowledgement: The research described in this paper carried out by the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation.


S‐nitrosothiols have many biological activities and may act as nitric oxide (NO) carriers and donors, prolonging NO half‐life in vivo. In spite of their great potential as therapeutic agents, most S‐nitrosothiols are too unstable to isolate. We have shown that the S‐nitroso adduct of N‐acetylcysteine (SNAC) can be synthesized directly in aqueous and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 matrix by using a reactive gaseous (NO/O2) mixture. Spectral monitoring of the S–N bond cleavage showed that SNAC, synthesized by this method, is relatively stable in nonbuf‐fered aqueous solution at 25°C in the dark and that its stability is greatly increased in PEG matrix, resulting in a 28‐fold decrease in its initial rate of thermal decomposition. Irradiation with UV light (λ= 333 nm) accelerated the rate of decomposition of SNAC to NO in both matrices, indicating that SNAC may find use for the photogeneration of NO. The quantum yield for SNAC decomposition decreased from 0.65 ± 0.15 in aqueous solution to 0.047 ± 0.005 in PEG 400 matrix. This increased stability in PEG matrix was assigned to a cage effect promoted by the PEG microenvironment that increases the rate of geminated radical pair recombination in the homolytic S–N bond cleavage process. This effect allowed for the storage of SNAC in PEG at −20°C in the dark for more than 10 weeks with negligible decomposition. Such stabilization may represent a viable option for the synthesis, storage and handling of S‐nitrosothiol solutions for biomedical applications.


The present study proposed a new instrument for the assessment of the current faculty development programs at Iranian medical universities. Although the literature concerning the subject of faculty development activities has already identified strengths and weakness of such programs, it is still questionable whether these activities can be assessed using a pedagogical and managerial comprehensive approach. Therefore, it was determined to develop an instrument to examine faculty development activities that address all components of programs from planning and implementing to evaluating phases, with the possibility of utilizing this instrument as a tool to assess faculty development activities.


The horrific tragedies of Central Africa in the 1990s riveted the attention of the world. But these crises did not occur in a historical vacuum. By peering through the mists of the past, the case studies presented in The Land Beyond the Mists illustrate the significant advances to have taken place since decolonization in our understanding of the pre-colonial histories of Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern Congo. Based on both oral and written sources, these essays are important both for their methods-viewing history from the perspective of local actors-and for their conclusions, which seriously challenge colonial myths about the area.


Most electrical engineering programs have a capstone design course, but lack a suitable design experience in the junior year. This makes the capstone course very difficult for students and compromises its pedagogical aims. A good design experience offers opportunities for learning to identify key operational concepts, to identify and remedy procedural and factual knowledge deficits, and to exercise judgment. The design problem should be open-ended, moderately difficult, and common to all groups. We use a design contest as a vehicle for teaching design in the junior-year analog electronics course, in lieu of conventional laboratories. Students design and build analog circuitry to autonomously control a small robotic vehicle. The contest culminates in a competitive tournament. Students' questionnaire responses indicate that the contest is a useful learning tool, increasing interest in electrical engineering and well worth the time spent. They indicate that contests are preferable to conventional labs for learning and understanding course material, for motivating them, and for providing an engineering experience.


Twenty edible salts marketed in Spain were studied for content of inorganic constituents in order to identify one or more indicators of the origins of salts. In Spain the principal source of salt is seawater, either from the Mediterranean coast or from the Atlantic coast. In addition, some manufactured salts in the dietary category were also considered. Five "Atlantic," 12 "Mediterranean," and 3 dietary salts were analyzed for potassium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, manganese, zinc, and sulfate contents and for alkalinity. Salt samples were first dried for moisture determination. Metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, sulfate was determined by turbidimetry, and alkalinity was determined by titration with hydrochloric acid. All the results were expressed as the means for triplicate experiments, as mg of analyte per kg of salt on a dry basis. From these results and by application of chemometric strategies (principal component analysis, variable-variable plots, and cluster analysis) it was found that the potassium content distinguishes sea salts from dietary salts very well, and the contents of strontium and manganese discriminate salts of Atlantic origin versus salts of Mediterranean origin. Dietary salts showed levels of potassium higher than the sea salts, and salts of Atlantic origin had greater strontium and manganese content values than salts of Mediterranean origin.


Abstract Background and aims Capsule endoscopy (CE) has revolutionized small-bowel (SB) investigation. Computational methods can enhance diagnostic yield (DY); however, incorporating machine learning algorithms (MLAs) into CE reading is difficult as large amounts of image annotations are required for training. Current databases lack graphic annotations of pathologies and cannot be used. A novel database, KID, aims to provide a reference for research and development of medical decision support systems (MDSS) for CE. Methods Open-source software was used for the KID database. Clinicians contribute anonymized, annotated CE images and videos. Graphic annotations are supported by an open-access annotation tool (Ratsnake). We detail an experiment based on the KID database, examining differences in SB lesion measurement between human readers and a MLA. The Jaccard Index (JI) was used to evaluate similarity between annotations by the MLA and human readers. Results The MLA performed best in measuring lymphangiectasias with a JI of 81 ± 6 %. The other lesion types were: angioectasias (JI 64 ± 11 %), aphthae (JI 64 ± 8 %), chylous cysts (JI 70 ± 14 %), polypoid lesions (JI 75 ± 21 %), and ulcers (JI 56 ± 9 %). Conclusion MLA can perform as well as human readers in the measurement of SB angioectasias in white light (WL). Automated lesion measurement is therefore feasible. KID is currently the only open-source CE database developed specifically to aid development of MDSS. Our experiment demonstrates this potential.


Different tissues from salmon treated with the quinolones oxolinic acid, flumequine, enrofloxacin and sarafloxacin were analysed in search of possible reservoirs of the drugs. Residues of oxolinic acid and flumequine seem to be especially bound to bone, enrofloxacin to skin, and sarafloxacin to both skin and bone. The results showed that residues of these drugs were present in the fish for prolonged periods after the end of treatment.


Once acromegaly has been clinically suspected, the diagnosis is based on hormone studies demonstrating increased and autonomous growth hormone (GH) secretion. Baseline GH determination is of little use, because pulsatile GH secretion prevents differentiation between healthy individuals and patients with acromegaly. In contrast, serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 quantification is the main marker of disease activity and its determination in isolation is the most useful parameter in the diagnosis of acromegaly. However, IGF-1 production is influenced by several factors such as age, sexual hormones and intercurrent diseases. Moreover, methodological problems affect its quantification so that age- and sex-adjusted reference concentrations are required in each laboratory for correct interpretation of serum concentrations. Serum GH determination after an oral glucose load is the test used to confirm the diagnosis of acromegaly and complement IGF-1 determination. Coinciding with increasingly sensitive GH assays, in the last few years the GH nadir value for a diagnosis of acromegaly has been increasingly reduced, but a serum GH value of < 1 ng/mL practically rules out this diagnosis. Lastly, once a biochemical diagnosis of acromegaly has been established, morphological diagnosis should be made through magnetic resonance imaging of the hypothalamus-pituitary region. This procedure detects pituitary tumors in more than 95% of cases.


Phytobilins, linear tetrapyrrole pigments utilized for light-harvesting and light-sensing in photosynthetic organisms, are synthesized from biliverdin by ferredoxin-dependent bilin reductases (FDBRs) . We have determined the crystal structures of substrate-free and substrate-bound forms of PcyA, one such FDBR. These structures revealed the first tertiary structures of an FDBR family member. Based on these structures, we discuss the binding mechanisms of ferredoxin and substrate to PcyA. Moreover, we propose the reaction mechanism how PcyA controls the two-step reductions of biliverdin. Homology modeling of other FDBRs using PcyA structure may provide structural bases for the reaction mechanisms of other FDBRs.


This paper presents a new measurement technique of relative permittivity (/spl epsi//sub r/) for cable insulators. The travelling wave and reflection wave theory are applied to generate low voltage pulse signal feeding cable lines that need to know /spl epsi//sub r/ of insulators. By measuring the interval of travelling wave, /spl epsi//sub r/ can be estimated for any types of cable lines. A prototype consists of pulse generator circuit, wave detection circuit, counter circuit and microcontroller unit for processing and display via LCD. This model is portable, compact, comfortable and capable of displaying /spl epsi//sub r/ value immediately. From the test results, this model has accuracy within acceptable values.


Positive social relationships are vital for mental health. There is an ever-increasing understanding of the cognitive and computational mechanisms that underlie how we process others' behaviours during social interactions. Yet fundamentally many conversations, partnerships and relationships have to end. However, little is known about how people decide when to leave. Theories of decision-making posit that people stop a behaviour in favour of another based on evidence accumulation processes, shaped by the value of alternative behaviours (opportunity costs). Do people compute evidence to leave social interactions based on the opportunity costs of connecting to others? Here, in a novel economic game, participants made decisions of when to leave partners in social environments with different opportunity costs for moving on. Across four studies we find that people leave partners more quickly when the opportunity costs are high, both in terms of the average generosity in the environment and the effort required to connect to the next partner. People's leaving times could be accounted for by a fairness-adapted evidence accumulation model, with a lower threshold for leaving in high opportunity cost social environments. Moreover, decisions to leave were modulated by depression and loneliness scores, which were linked to an interaction between the fairness of a partner and the opportunity cost of the social environment. These findings demonstrate the cognitive and computational processes underlying decisions to leave social interactions, and highlight that loneliness and depression may be linked to an atypical dynamic allocation of time to social interactions.


This paper analyzes the relationship between capital, risk and efficiency for a sample of 10 Cameroonian banks between 2014 and 2020. To reach the authors' target, they specify a system of equations and estimate it using the two stage least squares panel data estimator technique. The empirical analysis shows that increases of bank capital do not reduce risk taking in Cameroonian commercial banks. Moreover, cost efficiency does not explain risk taking in the Cameroonian commercial banks. There is however a negative impact of change in risk taking on the bank cost efficiency. Finally, changes in bank capital contribute positively to the yearly change in bank efficiency. Hence, policies aiming at ensuring that bankers are not tempted to play by the rules or inducing commercial banks behavior towards injection of more capital might help to improve bank efficiency and stability in this country.


Transportation problems are turning into more critical due to the complication of traffic structure and increase of vehicles on roads. Intelligent vehicle communication provides a free space to the vehicles to communicate among them to avoid collision. The vehicles share information about its speed and position to avoid collision. The main application of this paper is to provide safe and secure journey to the people on the road. ARM controller controls the whole working of the system and through Zigbee the information are transferred between the vehicles. The decision is taken automatically by the controller regarding the movement of the vehicle. The goal is to avoid collision thereby providing efficiency, safety and security to the vehicles and passengers. A warning is given as alert to the driver to prevent collision.


The quantization and separation of bioactive phytochemicals by chromatographic methods is one of the procedures for drug testing and formulation.The aqueous saponin extract of Heinsia crinata was derivatized and used to screen for the presence and identification of bioactive fractions present in the aqueous medium with the view to ascertaining its antidiabetic property. The chromatogram revealed the presence of eighteen types of saponin fractions present in the extract. The quantitative data shows that Sapogenin (93.60mg/100g) was the highest, followed by Saponine (28.65mg/100g), Neochlorogenin (11.72mg/100g), Diosgenin (9.86mg/100g) and the least been saponoside A (1.20mg/100g) amount of the extract. The fractions with the higher values are known to possess antidiabetic properties. This finding therefore supports the use of saponin extract of Heinsia crinata in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and so is a potential source for the development of such hypoglycaemic agents. Keywords- Heinsia crinata, Saponine, Sapogenin, Diosgenin, Gas Chromatograpy, Quantization.


Accumulating evidence has shown a significant correlation between periodontal diseases and systemic diseases. In this study, we investigated the association between the frequency of tooth scaling and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Here, a group of 7164 participants who underwent tooth scaling was compared with another group of 7164 participants without tooth scaling through propensity score matching to assess AMI risk by Cox's proportional hazard regression. The results show that the hazard ratio of AMI from the tooth scaling group was 0.543 (0.441, 0.670) and the average expenses of AMI in the follow up period was USD 265.76, while the average expenses of AMI in follow up period for control group was USD 292.47. The tooth scaling group was further divided into two subgroups, namely A and B, to check the influence of tooth scaling frequency on AMI risk. We observed that (1) the incidence rate of AMI in the group without any tooth scaling was 3.5%, which is significantly higher than the incidence of 1.9% in the group with tooth scaling; (2) the tooth scaling group had lower total medical expenditures than those of the other group because of the high medical expenditure associated with AMI; and (3) participants who underwent tooth scaling had a lower AMI risk than those who never underwent tooth scaling had. Therefore, the results of this study demonstrate the importance of preventive medicine.


Among the basic objectives of the Islamic SharE'ah is to protect the human life and human intellect ‒ as such, the consumption of mind-altering and intoxicative substances is prohibited in Islam. Furthermore, Islam imposes criminal penalties on those who consume intoxicative substances such as wine. Muslim jurists (fuqahā) have provided descriptive accounts on the foundations of the Islamic antidrug abuse teachings, categories of mind-altering substances, and preventive laws. They a so identified three categories of mind-altering substances: al-muskirāt, al-mukhaddirāt, and al-muftiraāt. This paper aims to explore the rationale and jurisprudential foundations of Islamic antidrug abuse education. While highlighting the philosophical background of the Islamic antidrug teachings, the paper presents the jurisprudential foundations of the legal penalties for drug abusers. The Qur'ānic terms and the Prophetic statements related to the subject will be referred to, while the opinions of Muslim jurists and theologians on the subject will be unveiled.


In adopting the concept of "evolving standards of decency," the Supreme Court has eschewed traditional methods of constitutional interpretation in favor of a methodology that, at best, eviscerates any independent normative principle inherent in the Eighth Amendment, and, at worst, reduces the Court's capital punishment jurisprudence to an expression of "the feelings and intuition of a majority of the Justices . . . . 'the perceptions of decency, or of penology, or of mercy, entertained . . . by a majority of the small and unrepresentative segment of our society that sits on th[e] Court.'"This article first explains how the adoption of a purposive approach to the Eighth Amendment, consistent with traditional methods of constitutional interpretation, may have resulted in the abolition of the death penalty in the aftermath of Furman v. Georgia, and nonetheless, would presently serve as a legitimate method for applying the Eighth Amendment to capital cases. Then, this article exposes the inherent flaws in the evolving standards of decency approach, the tool by which the Court has "assumed power" and "invented" standards unique to death penalty jurisprudence. Finally, this article argues that following the "wizards" on the Court down the "yellow brick road" of the evolving standards of decency has ironic jurisprudential and sociological outcomes, including crippling the ability of the Eighth Amendment to serve as a non-majoritarian constitutional basis for the abolition of capital punishment.


Traditionally, 802.11-based networks that relied on wired equivalent protocol (WEP) were especially vulnerable to packet sniffing. Today, wireless networks are more prolific, and the monitoring devices used to find them are mobile and easy to access. Securing wireless networks can be difficult because these networks consist of radio transmitters and receivers, and anybody can listen, capture data and attempt to compromise it. In recent years, a range of technologies and mechanisms have helped make networking more secure. This paper holistically evaluated various enhanced protocols proposed to solve WEP related authentication, confidentiality and integrity problems. It discovered that strength of each solution depends on how well the encryption, authentication and integrity techniques work. The work suggested using a Defence-in-Depth Strategy and integration of biometric solution in 802.11i. Comprehensive in-depth comparative analysis of each of the security mechanisms is driven by review of related work in WLAN security solutions.


The incidence of HIV disease in adolescents is increasing. Studies indicate this population is not receiving adequate information or support to bring about healthy behavior choices that prevent infection, reinfection, or infection of a partner. Physicians themselves, according to a study, are providing services well below the current established guidelines. The current study provides direct evaluation of services provided to youths by adolescents trained to address critical issues using fictional (undercover) stories at actual sites advertising HIV/AIDS counseling and testing to teenagers. Thirty-three health-care sites were identified within the Washington, DC, area; eight were eliminated during the process, leaving 25 sites for appraisal. Less than 40% of the participating clinics that advertised HIV testing qualified for recommendation. In addition, many female youth evaluators reported they received unsolicited advice regarding abstinence or reduction of sexual activity; male evaluators did not report similar findings. Results of the study were translated into recommendations in the form of reports to those sites that chose to receive them. The authors recommend implementing a similar study on an annual basis of similar sites with publication of results in order to improve staff training and maintain standards that will encourage adolescent and young adult clients to be tested and follow through for test results and appropriate education and counseling.


Diagnostic efficacy of x-ray examination was evaluated in 41 women with suspected expulsion of the IUD. Duration of IUD use ranged from less than 3 years in 14 women to 3-6 years in 13 6-9 years in 6 and over 9 years in 8. Indication for x-ray examination was an absence of IUD threads. On panoramic x-ray film a contrast IUD was seen in 10 patients: in 4 women the IUD was located in the middle of uterine cavity while in 6 the IUD had incorrect (transverse) position. The patients with noncontrast IUD which could not be detected on panoramic x-ray film were subjected to hysterographic examination. The contrast medium (verographin or urographin) was instilled in an amount of 1-1.5 ml. The noncontrast IUD was seen in the uterine cavity as a filling defect in the shape of the spiral (IUD). Through hysterography IUD was detected in 26 women: 15 had correct position of the IUD and 11 had incorrect (retroverted or transverse) position. In 5 women the IUD could not be detected. It was concluded that the patients with suspected expulsion of the IUD should undergo hysterography rather than the panoramic x-ray examination.


The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) being constructed in Southern Arizona consists of an array of four Atmospheric Cherenkov 12m Telescopes designed to observe astrophysical gamma rays in the energy range from 100 GeV to tens of TeV. A first telescope has been in operation on a temporary site since the end of 2004 and meets all specifications. The second is being installed on the same site, 85m from the first, in order to test stereoscopic capabilities. The full system of four telescopes is expected to be installed on the definitive site by the end of 2006.


Structural and elastic properties of InN nanowires (NWs) have been investigated. It was observed that the NWs bend spontaneously or upon meeting an obstacle in their growth path at angles that are multiples of 30°. Lithographically patterned trenches and barriers were found to influence the growth direction of the NWs, which depending on the angle of incidence, grew along the barrier or got deflected from it. Young's modulus of InN NWs, measured by three point bending method using a NW suspended across a trench, was found to be 266 GPa, which is in between the moduli of bulk and thin film InN. Overall, the InN NW properties were found to be very suitable for applications in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and sensors.


BACKGROUND
The FAMIS (Fosinopril in Acute Myocardial Infarction Study) was a multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial designed to evaluate the safety and the efficacy of fosinopril in reducing left ventricular enlargement after acute anterior myocardial infarction. We evaluated the echocardiographic examinations performed during the trial in order to assess the trend of the remodeling process over time and to evaluate the role of infarct size in identifying patients at risk of progressive left ventricular dilation.

METHODS
A complete echocardiographic examination was performed on admission, before discharge and three months later. Patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery or PTCA had a further examination prior to the procedure. The echocardiograms were analyzed at a central laboratory, and the end-diastolic and end-systolic left ventricular volumes were computed by using a modified Simpson's rule technique. Regional wall motion was evaluated using the centerline method, analyzing the left ventricular boundary along 100 chords perpendicular to the centerline constructed midway between the end-diastolic and the end-systolic contours. A quantitative infarct-size index was then computed according to the number of chords with a fractional shortening equal to or less than 5%.

RESULTS
Left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume index significantly increased over time (p < 0.0001); as a result, the stroke volume increased (p < 0.0001) but the ejection fraction did not change. Patients were then divided according to the three-month infarct-size index. For both end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, not only did larger infarcts had higher volumes, but there was also a greater increase from baseline to 3 months. Moreover, larger infarcts had a lower ejection fraction, with a further reduction over the three months, while smaller infarcts had higher values and an increase over time. An infarct-size index of 25 or larger allowed prospective identification at the baseline examination of patients at risk of subsequent left ventricular dilation.

CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, patients at greatest risk of left ventricular dilation, namely those with larger infarct size, constitute a group that is worth considering for any therapeutic effort for reducing the remodeling process. These patients could in fact benefit from therapeutic strategies aimed at the reduction of left ventricular remodeling and should be studied in clinical trials.


Introduction: Immune modulation has long been established as a risk factor for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) has been shown to affect immune function in both animal and human studies. However, the evidence for an association between MHT and NHL remains unclear. Cohort studies have suggested either no association or increased risk between MHT use and NHL, particularly for the follicular lymphoma subtype. A recent pooled analysis of case-control studies from the United States, Europe, and Australia reported a decreased risk for NHL among women who used MHT, but this analysis was limited by the lack of information on MHT formulation, dose, and duration. Methods: The Los Angeles County NHL Case-Control Study comprises 1010 B-cell NHL patients diagnosed 2004-2008 from the Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program, matched 1:1 by age and race to female neighborhood controls. Extensive information on MHT use was ascertained, along with information on demographic and known NHL risk factors. Among 685 post-menopausal women diagnosed with NHL and 685 matched controls, we conducted conditional logistic regression, adjusting for age, race and socioeconomic status, to evaluate the association between MHT use, formulation, dose and duration, and risk for B-cell NHL. Results: B-cell NHL risk was reduced among women who reported having ever used MHT (HR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.52-0.85) compared to never users. This risk reduction was similar for women who reported using unopposed estrogen only (HR = 0.75, 95% CI =0.56-1.01), estrogen plus progestin only (HR=0.62, 95% CI =0.45-0.85), sequential use of unopposed estrogen followed by estrogen plus progestin (HR=0.36, 95% CI=0.18-0.70), and sequential use of unopposed estrogen plus progestin followed by unopposed estrogen (HR=0.57, 95% CI=0.32-1.00). Among women who reported using unopposed estrogen or estrogen plus progestin by pill or patch (prescription only), reduced B-cell NHL risk was most pronounced among those who started MHT use early, at age 45 years or younger (HR=0.60, 95% CI=0.42-0.85) and generally among women with longer duration of use. The protective associations associated with MHT use were consistent among major B-cell NHL subtypes, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma. Conclusions: These data provide evidence for an association between MHT use - either unopposed estrogen or estrogen plus progestin use - and decreased risk of B-cell NHL, supporting a role for postmenopausal hormones in B-cell NHL etiology. Citation Format: Sophia S. Wang, Jianning Luo, Jane Sullivan-Halley, Yani Lu, James V. Lacey, Jr., Wendy Cozen, Leslie Bernstein. Menopausal hormone therapy and B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk in the Los Angeles County NHL Case-Control Study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2918. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2918


Localized heating in the rotating layer of fluid leads to the formation of intense cyclonic vortex. Cyclonic vortex becomes unstable at low values of viscosity and fast rotation of the experimental model. The instability of the vortex is tightly connected with a structure of the radial inflow. For moderate values of rotational Reynolds number Re the radial flows consist of several branches which transport angular momentum to the center of the model. When Re exceeds critical value (about 23) radial inflow changes its structure and appears as one wide branch which does not reach the center. As a result of strong anisotropy of radial inflow the cyclonic vortex is formed at some distance from the center. Further increase of Re leads to chaotic state with several vortices which appear at different locations near the periphery of the heating area. The map of regimes with stable and unstable vortices is presented.