ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common pathogen infecting the lower respiratory tract of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, where it forms tracheobronchial biofilms. Pseudomonas biofilms are refractory to antibacterials and to phagocytic cells with innate immunity, leading to refractory infection. Little is known about the interaction between antipseudomonal agents and phagocytic cells in eradication of P. aeruginosa biofilms. Herein, we investigated the capacity of three antipseudomonal agents, amikacin (AMK), ceftazidime (CAZ), and ciprofloxacin (CIP), to interact with human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) against biofilms and planktonic cells of P. aeruginosa isolates recovered from sputa of CF patients. Three of the isolates were resistant and three were susceptible to each of these antibiotics. The concentrations studied (2, 8, and 32 mg/liter) were subinhibitory for biofilms of resistant isolates, whereas for biofilms of susceptible isolates, they ranged between sub-MIC and 2 × MIC values. The activity of each antibiotic alone or in combination with human PMNs against 48-h mature biofilms or planktonic cells was determined by XTT [2,3-bis(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide] assay. All combinations of AMK with PMNs resulted in synergistic or additive effects against planktonic cells and biofilms of P. aeruginosa isolates compared to each component alone. More than 75% of CAZ combinations exhibited additive interactions against biofilms of P. aeruginosa isolates, whereas CIP had mostly antagonistic interaction or no interaction with PMNs against biofilms of P. aeruginosa. Our findings demonstrate a greater positive interaction between AMK with PMNs than that observed for CAZ and especially CIP against isolates of P. aeruginosa from the respiratory tract of CF patients.


A self-sensing approach is used to accurately control the large displacements observed in VO2-based microelectromechanical systems actuators. The device is operated electrothermally using integrated resistive heaters. The coupling of the abrupt electrical and mechanical changes in VO2 films across its phase transition allow for the estimation of the device's deflection by monitoring the film's resistance. Furthermore, the typical hysteretic behavior observed in VO2 films is significantly reduced in the present device and the need for optical testing equipment is eliminated. The displacement-resistance relationship is modeled by a memoryless Boltzmann function consisting of four parameters, which are optimized to fit the experimental data with an average error of 1.1 μm throughout the complete actuation range of 95 μm. The estimated deflection is used as feedback to achieve closed-loop micropositioning control of the device, which is designed from the system dynamics obtained experimentally. Closed-loop sinusoidal and step reference response experiments are performed in order to show the effectiveness of the self-sensing feedback technique used. In the closed-loop sinusoidal frequency response, a cutoff frequency of 43 Hz is observed with a maximum actual deflection error of 0.19 dB up to the phase margin frequency of 30 Hz. In the step response, an average actual displacement steady-state error of ±1.15 μm is obtained with response times ranging from 5 to 12 ms.


Abstract. Understanding current and future biodiversity responses to changing climate is pivotal as anthropogenic climate change continues. This understanding is complicated by the multitude of available metrics to quantify dynamics and by biased sampling protocols. Here, we investigate the impact of sampling protocol strategies using a data-rich fossil record to calculate effective diversity using Hill numbers for the first time on Paleogene planktonic foraminifera. We sample 22,830 individual tests, in two different size classes, across a 7 Myr time slice of the middle Eocene featuring a major transient warming event, the middle Eocene climatic optimum (MECO; ∼40 Ma), at study sites in the midlatitude North Atlantic. Using generalized additive models, we investigate community responses to climatic fluctuations. After correcting for any effects of fossil fragmentation, we show a peak in generic diversity in the early and middle stages of the MECO as well as divergent trajectories between the typical size-selected community (>180 µm) and a broader assemblage, including smaller genera (>63 µm). Assemblages featuring smaller genera are more resilient to the climatic fluctuations of the MECO than those assemblages that feature only larger genera, maintaining their community structure at the reference Hill numbers for Shannon's and Simpson's indices. These results raise fundamental questions about how communities respond to climate excursions. In addition, our results emphasize the need to design studies with the aim of collecting the most inclusive data possible to allow detection of community changes and determine which species are likely to dominate future environments.


We present a previously-healthy 12-year old girl from a rural community and who was admitted to a district general hospital in Malaysia with coagulopathy and septic shock. Despite receiving intensive care, she succumbed to her illness. Blood cultures grew Burkholderia pseudomallei. Melioidosis is an unusual cause of paediatric Gram-negative sepsis among children in Malaysia.


This paper aims to investigate the power output of a solar photovoltaic module by various models and to formulate a suitable model for predicting the performance of solar photovoltaic modules. The model was used to correct the configurations of solar photovoltaic systems for sustainable power supply. Different types of models namely the efficiency, power, fill factor and current-voltage characteristic curve models have been reviewed. It was found that the examined models predicted a 40% yield of the rated power in cloudy weather conditions and up to 80% in clear skies. The models performed well in terms of electrical efficiency in cloudy days if the influence of low irradiance were incorporated. Both analytical and numerical methods were employed in the formulation of improved model which gave 2% error when compared with the rated power output of solar photovoltaic module. The proposed model is more practical in terms of number of variables used and acceptable performance in humid atmospheres. Therefore, it could be useful for the estimation of power output of the solar photovoltaic systems in Sarawak region.


A disintegrin-like and metalloprotease domain with thrombospondin type 1 motifs 9 (ADAMTS9) is a highly conserved metalloprotease that has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene and is required for normal mouse development. The secreted ADAMTS9 zymogen undergoes proteolytic excision of its N-terminal propeptide by the proprotein convertase furin. However, in contrast to other metalloproteases, propeptide excision occurs at the cell surface and leads to decreased activity of the zymogen. Here, we investigated the potential cellular mechanisms regulating ADAMTS9 biosynthesis and cell-surface processing by analysis of molecular complexes formed by a construct containing the propeptide and catalytic domain of pro-ADAMTS9 (Pro-Cat) in HEK293F cells. Cross-linking of cellular proteins bound to Pro-Cat followed by mass spectrometric analysis identified UDP-glucose:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase I, heat shock protein gp96 (GRP94), BiP (GRP78), and ERdj3 (Hsp40 homolog) as associated proteins. gp96 and BiP were present at the cell surface in an immunoprecipitable complex with pro-ADAMTS9 and furin. Treatment with geldanamycin, an inhibitor of the HSP90α family (including gp96), led to decreased furin processing of pro-ADAMTS9 and accumulation of the unprocessed pro-ADAMTS9 at the cell surface. gp96 siRNA down-regulated the levels of cell-surface pro-ADAMTS9 and furin, whereas the levels of cell-surface pro-ADAMTS9, but not of cell-surface furin, were decreased upon treatment with BiP siRNA. These data identify for the first time the cellular chaperones associated with secretion of an ADAMTS protease and suggest a role for gp96 in modulating pro-ADAMTS9 processing.


We revisit the topic of polynomial kernels for Vertex Cover relative to structural parameters. Our starting point is a recent paper due to Fomin and Str{\o}mme [WG 2016] who gave a kernel with $\mathcal{O}(|X|^{12})$ vertices when $X$ is a vertex set such that each connected component of $G-X$ contains at most one cycle, i.e., $X$ is a modulator to a pseudoforest. We strongly generalize this result by using modulators to $d$-quasi-forests, i.e., graphs where each connected component has a feedback vertex set of size at most $d$, and obtain kernels with $\mathcal{O}(|X|^{3d+9})$ vertices. Our result relies on proving that minimal blocking sets in a $d$-quasi-forest have size at most $d+2$. This bound is tight and there is a related lower bound of $\mathcal{O}(|X|^{d+2-\epsilon})$ on the bit size of kernels.
In fact, we also get bounds for minimal blocking sets of more general graph classes: For $d$-quasi-bipartite graphs, where each connected component can be made bipartite by deleting at most $d$ vertices, we get the same tight bound of $d+2$ vertices. For graphs whose connected components each have a vertex cover of cost at most $d$ more than the best fractional vertex cover, which we call $d$-quasi-integral, we show that minimal blocking sets have size at most $2d+2$, which is also tight. Combined with existing randomized polynomial kernelizations this leads to randomized polynomial kernelizations for modulators to $d$-quasi-bipartite and $d$-quasi-integral graphs. There are lower bounds of $\mathcal{O}(|X|^{d+2-\epsilon})$ and $\mathcal{O}(|X|^{2d+2-\epsilon})$ for the bit size of such kernels.


Steady and pulsatile flows in two blockage geometries are investigated. The geometries serve as idealised models of arterial stenosis, a common condition whereby a localised constriction grows within an artery, reducing the blood flow and pressure downstream. The aim of the project is to isolate and describe the fundamental characteristics of stenotic flows. An emphasis is placed on the effect on the flow and its stability of changes in blockage ratio. The first part of the thesis presents a numerical investigation of the steady inlet flow through a two-dimensional channel with a semi-circular blockage on one side of the channel. Variations in the wake behaviour and stability with Reynolds number and blockage ratio are reported. The leading instability mode of the flow is described and its underlying mechanism determined to be elliptical. A geometry consisting of a straight tube with an axisymmetric blockage is then investigated. Flows of steady and pulsatile inlet velocity are modeled numerically and experimentally. The changes in wake behaviour with the various flow parameters are described. Different linear modes of absolute instability are identified for different blockage ratios. The action of convective shear layer instability is also found to be important. For steady flow, comparisons are made between the periodic behaviour of the convective instability and the response of stable flows to periodic forcing. For pulsatile flow, some evidence is found of the action of linear instability modes experimentally, although convective shear layer instability dominates. The variation of both forms of instability with Reynolds number and blockage ratio is characterised.


Background One hundred percent of people die, yet not everyone has a good death. Research and policy shows we understand what facilitates a good death. For example, specialist care will be available, symptoms will be managed and people will die in a place of their choosing. However, not everyone gets to die in their preferred place or even have access to adequate pain relief. Aims (i) To assess, from a medico-legal and bioethical perspective the provision of palliative care funding in England. (ii) To assess the legal obligation of palliative care provision. (iii) To evaluate the role of new law in palliative care provision. Methods January-March 2017: Assessment of literature, policy, law and practice. April-September: Evaluation of data to form and write an article on the topic of palliative care provision and the need for change in law. Results There is an exponentially increasing demand for palliative care, (NHS England, 2014) but palliative care is not yet available to all of the current population. Trusts spend anywhere between £186/death to £6213/death, (Hughes-Hallett, Craft, Davies et al., 2011) resulting in an extreme postcode lottery. Moreover, unlike many other parts of care, palliative care is largely provided by charities. As such, palliative care appears not to be a public funding priority and there appears to be a discrepancy in how palliative care is provided and valued. Conclusion It is argued that the best way to ensure that everyone has equitable access to dying well and that good deaths are supported is to create a legal obligation. This is assessed by application of Human Rights Law and by enacting the Palliative Care Bill.


We extend dominating-set-based routing to networks with unidirectional links. Specifically, an efficient localized algorithm for determining a dominating and absorbant set of vertices (mobile hosts) is given and this set can be easily updated when the network topology changes dynamically. A host /spl nu/ is called a dominating neighbor (absorbant neighbor) of another host u if there is a directed edge from /spl nu/ to u (from u to /spl nu/). A subset of vertices is dominating and absorbant if every vertex not in the subset has one dominating neighbor and one absorbant neighbor in the subset. The derived dominating and absorbant set exhibits good locality properties; that is, the change of a node status (dominating/dominated) affects only the status of nodes in the neighborhood. The notion of dominating and absorbant set can also be applied iteratively on the dominating and absorbant set itself, forming a hierarchy of dominating and absorbant sets. The effectiveness of our approach is confirmed and the locality of node status update is verified through simulation.


BACKGROUND: Coating of the cecum with sticky bile causes a problem with inspection of the mucosa during colonoscopy. PURPOSE: This study aimed to see whether 4 mg of loperamide taken after colonoscopy preparation would delay the passage of bile and improve the quality of cecal preparation. PATIENTS: Patients undergoing office colonoscopy were included. Patients with incomplete colonoscopies or right colectomy were excluded. STUDY DESIGN: This study was a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trial. INTERVENTION: Either 2 placebo capsules or 2 loperamide capsules were taken after gut lavage, as soon as the passage of liquid stool ceased. Cecal photographs were scored in a blinded fashion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes measured were the quality of cecal preparation on a scale of 1 to 5 and overall preparation on a scale of 1 to 4. RESULTS: Ninety-eight patients took loperamide (50 men, 48 women) and 102 took placebo (57 men, 45 women). Mean ages of the loperamide group were: men, 61.9 ± 11.9 years, and women, 61.8 ± 10.0 years; and mean ages of the placebo group were: men, 62.5 ± 12.1 years, and women, 58.6 ± 9.8 years. Over 90% of patients used a polyethylene glycol-based preparation. Thirteen of 102 (12.7%) placebo cases had a dirty or coated cecum (score 4 or 5). In the loperamide group, this number was 2 of 98 (2.0%; p = 0.0041). Nineteen placebo cases (18.6%) had an overall fair/poor preparation in comparison with 9 of the loperamide group (9.2%; p = 0.0543). Days to first bowel movement were 2.4 ± 1.1 for loperamide and 2.5 ± 1.7 for placebo (p = 0.7224). Fifty-eight percent of loperamide patients had polyps, and 74% of these patients had multiple polyps; 67% of placebo patients had polyps, but only 54% of these patients had multiple polyps (vs loperamide, p = 0.0183). CONCLUSION: Judicious use of loperamide can significantly improve the quality of cecal preparation and may increase polyp yield.


In the ISO9000"input-output"process model,the concept of process quality is difficult to get the correct interpretation. From the point of view of the process' s"white box" theory,this paper puts forward the scientific meaning of the concept of process quality and the process quality model by taking the basic operating unit of 6M1E in the railway construction project for example. The basic operating unit system consists of the technological natural process,operation process and management process;the process quality of the basic operating unit system depends on the interrelation and interaction among those three sub-processes,and also subject to the impact of the external disturbance input factors. Finally,the cast-in-situ prestressed concrete continuous box girder construction process is utilized to elaborate the specific application of this theory in the quality management of the railway construction project.


Worldwide research is ongoing, to develop and build the tokamak ITER to generate energy based on controlled nuclear fusion. The principle design concept of ITER is a donut-shaped vessel wherein the fusion fuel, a hot plasma of hydrogen isotopes, is contained by high magnetic fields. The fusion power can be produced at a plasma temperature of ~100 million degrees C and density of ~1020 m-3. In order to realize turn key fusion energy plants, a number of issues need to be addressed. Firstly, the control of the bulk plasma to prevent outflow of heat and particles due to instabilities, needs to be improved. Subject of research on many present-day tokamaks is the formation of magnetic islands (so-called tearing modes) due to instabilities in the magnetic field that confines the plasma. Tools to monitor and prevent growth of magnetic islands are therefore very important. Additionally, the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of confinement-friendly internal transport barriers have to be studied. This research can lead to improved plasma performance. The second issue that has to be addressed, is the erosion due to the high power load (10 MW/m2 (continuous) and > 1 GW/m2 (transient) due to Edge Localized Modes (ELMs )) on plasma facing components of the ITER divertor. The linear plasma generators Pilot-PSI and Magnum-PSI have been built to study plasma-wall interaction during these power loads. This research includes the third issue; tritium retention build-up in wall material. This thesis describes the development of Thomson scattering systems to study fast plasma phenomena in tokamaks as well as to study the quasi-continuous plasma of linear plasma generators. Thomson scattering is the most accurate method for measuring the electron temperature (Te) and density (ne) of a plasma: the accuracies of the systems described in this thesis are better than 3 - 4% and 4 - 8% for ne and Te, respectively. Basically, Thomson scattering is the process of acceleration of electrons due to an electromagnetic wave and as a consequence emission of radiation with the same frequency as that of the incoming wave, i.e. the wave is scattered elastically. The re-radiated light is Doppler shifted due to the velocity of the electron. Scattering on an ensemble of electrons results in a spectrum that resembles the electron velocity distribution, from which Te and ne can be retrieved. If the size of the incident wave is larger than the Debye length, then the light is collectively scattered by the electrons bunched in the Debye cloud of an ion. This so-called collective Thomson scattering can be utilized to measure the ion temperature (Ti). The first research challenge was the development of a high repetition rate Thomson scattering system for the TEXTOR tokamak (Julich, Germany). A so-called double-pass intracavity laser was developed that generates a burst of 30 laser pulses of ~15 J each (with a repetition rate of 5 kHz). The system operates like a laser oscillator with the plasma as part of an 18 m long cavity. A fast detector equipped with CMOS cameras coupled to an image intensifier stage was developed. At a repetition rate of 5 kHz and a density of ne = 2.5×1019 m-3, density and temperature (range: 50 eV – 5 keV) profiles could be measured along the full plasma diameter of 900 mm long, with a spatial resolution of 7.5 mm. Coping with the plasma light background turned out to be the biggest issue: due to the long cavity and the laser pulse is relatively long (~1 ?s) and a large detector gate window is required, resulting in a much higher plasma light contribution compared to single-pulse Thomson scattering systems. Nevertheless, a combination of high laser pulse energies (~12 J/pulse), careful plasma light monitoring and effective detector gating proved to be the solution to realize a reliable high repetition rate Thomson scattering system. The main step in laser development was the replacement of a high dope ruby rod by one with a low dope (0.03% Cr+), leading to a homogenous absorption of the pumping light from the flash lamps over the ruby rod cross section. The pumping-to-probing efficiency was improved by a factor of 1.5 and a significant minimization of the laser beam divergence, resulting in a better imaging efficiency of the viewing system. The diagnostic system enabled to record rotating magnetic islands during 2.2 ms with a repetition rate of 5 kHz, revealing the detailed density profile evolution inside the islands. Confinement properties of transport barriers were studied by measuring the time evolution of the ne and Te profiles. A second challenge was to develop a Thomson scattering system for the Pilot-PSI linear plasma generator, based on a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser. The stray light contribution of the system already existing at Pilot-PSI could be significantly reduced by application of a special carbon aperture system in the vacuum laser beam line, which enabled Thomson scattering measurements at a distance of 17 mm from a target surface exposed to a high power plasma beam. The sensitivity of the detector system was improved by more than a factor of 5 by application of a Generation III image intensifier at the front of the existing ICCD detector. The lower density and temperature limit of the system is 4×1019 m-3 and 0.2 eV, respectively. To achieve these values, the signal from 30 laser pulses (0.35 J/pulse, 10 Hz) needs to be accumulated. Instead of multiple Pilot-PSI discharges, now only one discharge is required to obtain accurate ne and Te profiles. This diagnostic has become a working horse for Pilot-PSI research and revealed different properties of the hydrogen plasma jet such as plasma confinement and indications for ion viscous heating. During ELM simulation experiments, single pulse TS measurements were successfully performed; using only 0.35 J scattering energy the time evolution of the plasma could be measured on shot to shot base. Subsequently, an advanced Thomson scattering system was designed and constructed for Magnum-PSI. This system features a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser, equipped with a 35 m long remotely-controllable laser beam line and a high etendue spectrometer based on a transmission grating. The system is designed to measure electron density and temperature profiles of a plasma column of 100 mm in diameter with a spatial resolution of 1.5 mm and features a lower density limit of 9×1018 m-3 (using 30 laser pulses of 0.55 J each, 10 Hz). First measurements at Magnum-PSI show that the design specifications are met and that on virtue of the high light collection power of the detection system even ne and Te profiles of the argon plasma expansion could be measured accurately at densities of 5×1018 m-3 and temperatures below 0.15 eV. In recent years the need arose for an accurate method to determine the ion properties in the plasma jet of the linear plasma generators. Therefore, the author initiated a feasibility study to find out whether CTS can be performed on Magnum-PSI to measure Ti, and moreover the macroscopic velocity of the plasma. It was demonstrated that Ti and the macroscopic velocity can be measured with an accuracy of 10% at ne = 5.0x1020 m-3 (test case: Ti = 2.5 eV, resolution 2.4 mm) and 15%, respectively. This can be achieved by accumulating 10 laser pulses of 1.2 J each, using the fundamental wavelength of a Nd:YAG laser. The proposed system may be used to prove that viscous heating of the ions in the plasma is the main cause for the ion temperature being much higher than the electron temperature in the magnetized plasma jet of Pilot-PSI and Magnum-PSI. Moreover, CTS experiments on Magnum-PSI can possibly prove that this technique is a viable ion temperature determination method for the ITER divertor; presently there are no good candidate techniques for ITER available.


The interactions between a series of poly(ethylene oxide)s covalently labeled at both ends with pyrene pendants (PEO(X)-Py2, where X represents the number-average molecular weight of the PEO chains and equals 2K, 5K, 10K, and 16.5K) and an ionic surfactant, namely, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), in water were investigated at a fixed pyrene concentration of 2.5 μM corresponding to polymer concentrations smaller than 21 mg/L and with an SDS concentration range between 5 × 10(-6) and 0.02 M, thus encompassing the 8 mM critical micelle concentration (CMC) of SDS in water. The steady-state fluorescence spectra showed that the I1/I3 ratio decreased from 1.73 ± 0.06 for SDS concentration smaller than 2 mM where pyrene was exposed to water to 1.43 ± 0.03 for SDS concentration greater than 6 mM where pyrene was incorporated inside SDS micelles. The ratio of excimer-to-monomer emission intensities (the IE/IM ratio) of all PEO(X)-Py2 samples remained constant at low SDS concentrations, then increased, passed through a maximum at the same SDS concentration of 4 mM before decreasing to a plateau value that is close to zero for PEO(10K)-Py2 and PEO(16.5K)-Py2 but nonzero for PEO(2K)-Py2 and PEO(5K)-Py2. The pyrene end groups of these two latter samples could not bridge two different micelles due to the short PEO chain, and excimer was formed by intramolecular diffusion inside the same SDS micelle. Time-resolved fluorescence decays of the pyrene monomer and excimer of the PEO(X)-Py2 samples were acquired at various SDS concentrations and globally fitted according to the "Model Free" analysis over the entire range of SDS concentration. The molar fractions of various excited pyrene species and the rate constant of pyrene excimer formation retrieved from the analysis of fluorescence decays were obtained as a function of SDS concentration. Interactions between SDS and PEO could not be detected by isothermal titration calorimetry, potentiometry with a surfactant selective electrode, and conductance measurements.


One of the ways to reduce cost and dimensions of mechanical devices, while improving their reliability, is to manufacture them in the same way as integrated circuits. This gives rise to the concept of micromachining. As this technology has been developed by people from microelectronics fields, most of the reported devices are made of silicon. This article deals with another material suitable for micromachining: monocrystalline quartz. The crystal and its technologies are described and practical considerations and realizations are given.


Using E. E. Schattschneider's (1975) model of conflict socialization, this study conceptualizes rumor communities, instead of the more typical rumor chains, engaged in a form of social and political activism similar to that of interest groups. It examines online user-generated commentary from the "vaccines cause autism" rumor community, a grassroots group that resists government-mandated vaccine requirements. Community members limit the scope of conflict by asserting authority to speak publicly and rejecting contributors with countering opinions as irrelevant. They sustain their threatened community by denying scientific evidence and demanding unattainable levels of scientific proof, and they socialize conflict by recruiting bystanders to enter the fray using appeals to wider social values. Understanding rumors as persuasive appeals that are socially constructed and maintained helps explain the survival of rumors and has implications for official debunking efforts. Schattschneider's theory effectively models the behaviors of non-institutionalized groups but requires adaptation to the modern political communication environment and post-Reagan beliefs about government. Asserting the authority to speak publicly and maintaining group viability are necessary precursors to socializing conflict for grassroots interest groups. When citizens have been taught government is the problem rather than the solution, socializing political conflict may not be synonymous with federalizing it.


Experimental research revealed that the concentration of oil products in surface wastewater, formed in winter and summer on the objects of automobile and road complex - gas stations, car parks and roads, greatly exceeds the MPC for discharge into water bodies. In stormwater runoffs at gas stations and car parks, the concentration of oil products has higher values than in surface wastewater, formed on the roads, despite the low traffic level. In surface wastewater, formed at gas stations and car parks, conditionally heavy fractions of oil products, more efficiently removable during settling prevail. The effect of surface wastewater treatment from oil products (maximum 80 %) depends on several parameters, the most significant of which is the concentration of suspended solids.


Novel synthesis methods are urgently expected for visible‐light‐driven photocatalysts. Hereby we report a series of TiO2‐based photocatalysts (T‐x) by using a simple pot‐in‐pot reaction approach. In this approach, two reaction media are isolated from each other by the crucible reactor. The obtained T‐x sample shows nanosheet‐aggregate structure and wide visible‐light absorption property with an optimal bandgap of 2.35 eV. Factors that influence the bandgap modulation, including nitrogen, fluorine, carbon and oxygen vacancy etc., are discussed in detail. Characterization results demonstrate a substantial increase of oxygen vacancies and carbon atoms in T‐x sample, which were proven to the main reason for the extended visible‐light absorption and enhanced photocatalytic performance. Under visible‐light irradiation, T‐x sample shows excellent photocatalytic degradation activity for RhB with a k value of 0.027 min−1 and good photoelectrochemical performance. Trapping experiments reveal that ⋅OH are the main active species to oxidize the RhB dye. This new pot‐in‐pot reaction approach enables synthesis of novel photocatalytic materials with wide visible‐light‐response.


We investigate the achievable rate of receive antenna selection MIMO systems in the presence of mutual coupling and spatial correlation. For that, we assume the antenna array to consist of dipole antennas placed side-by-side in a linear pattern and in a very limited physical space. In a first step, we will assume perfect channel state information at the receiver side only and a negligible training overhead compared with the payload. We will demonstrate that in contrast to what might be expected based on results for cases without mutual coupling, MIMO receive antenna selection can achieve higher data rates than the system using all antennas provided that the total number of receive antennas is larger than a critical value that we will further discuss. We then propose an optimal antenna selection processing that ensures rate maximization regardless of the number of antennas used. In a later step, we will address the impact of training overhead on the system achievable rate when the training overhead is considerable. We will show that such a rate is reduced dramatically due to the large amount of training overhead arising from the presence of mutual coupling. To overcome this problem, we will thus propose a novel channel estimation method, which reduces the training overhead greatly and improves the system achievable rate performance.


Estimating such multipath parameters as path angles and times of arrival (AOA and TOA) using subspace-based superresolution algorithms has been receiving major interest in mobile propagation research. The main limitation of these algorithms is that they perform poorly in the presence of highly correlated and coherent signals. Popular smoothing preprocessing techniques enable us to remove the signal coherence and to improve the performance of the superresolutionn method in coherent environments. Although the number of subarrays (called the smoothing factor) is a free parameter in smoothing preprocessing, a useful strategy to determine it has not been yet established. In this paper, we investigate thoroughly the smoothing factor and also proposed a new scheme to determine and evaluate it.


Summary Mildronate (3-(2,2,2-trimethylhydrazine)propionate; THP; MET-88; meldonium, quaterine) is an anti-ischemic drug developed in the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis. Mildronate was designed as a promising inhibitor of carnitine biosynthesis aimed to prevent accumulation of cytotoxic intermediate products of fatty acid beta- oxidation in ischemic tissues and to block this highly oxygenconsuming process. Actually Mildronate is used in several countries in cardiology (treatment of chronic heart ischemic disease, stable angina pectoris, chronic heart failure, functional disorders of heart and vessels, cardiomyopathy, heart infarction), neurology (acute and chronic ischemic brain circulation disorders, decreased work capabilities, physical and emotional overload, recovery period after various diseases), pulmonology (bronchial asthma and obstructive bronchitis), narcology (abstinence syndrome in chronic alcoholism), ophthalmology (hemophthalm and retina haemorrhages of different aetiology, thrombosis of central vein and its branches in retina, diabetic and hypertonic retinopathies). The main mechanism of action of Mildronate is based on carnitine biosynthesis inhibition aimed to prevent accumulation of cytotoxic intermediate products of fatty acid beta- oxidation in ischemic tissues and to block this highly oxygen-consuming process. Alternatively the drug acts via stimulation of the nitric oxide production in the vascular endothelium through a modification of the γ-butyrobetaine and γ-butyrobetaine ester pools. The present review will summarize data on the Mildronate on different indications of the drug and its mechanisms of action.


Comparing the Roles of Regulatory Oversight Bodies in Central and Eastern European Countries. Currently, there is ongoing discussion about the role of regulatory oversight bodies in relation to the implementation of regulatory impact assessments (RIAs). In fact, one can witness a diffusion of regulatory oversight systems, including in CEE countries, where introduction of an RIA oversight body became part of the modernization of the overall RIA process to become more effective. In fact, the regulatory oversight mechanism is seen as a tool for the instrumental role of regulation governance. However, this approach does not adequately explain the rationale behind setting up such a body ; strategic and symbolic roles may be significant as well. This article first compares the manner in which oversight mechanisms have been institutionalized in five Central and East European countries : the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia. Second, it explores how differences in institutionalization and operation shed light on understanding what stakeholders expect and understand in relation to control of RIA quality. The paper concludes that there are marked differences in regulatory oversight set-up and roles across Central and East Europe, notably as a consequence of the presence or absence of internal learning. © 2018 IDMP/ Lavoisier SAS. Tous droits réservés


continued from page 192 the intradermal inoculation of intermediate strength (5 TU/PPD), in accordance with the current CDC recommendations. The subcutaneous inoculation of PPD, which results in no retention of the antigen in the skin site, is one of the causes of negative skin test reactions in persons who are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Drs. Ponce de Leon and Molina correctly noted that the methodology for skin testing described in our article was incorrect, and we apologize for not having recognized this error in the manuscript.


Yall, Irving (University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.). Biosynthesis of S-adenosylmethionine by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Adenine and methionine requirements. J. Bacteriol. 83:1336–1340. 1962.—Both a parent strain (SC-10) and an adenineless mutant strain (SC-10-80-3-5) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae accumulated S-adenosylmethionine (AM) in the presence of "excess" l-methionine (400 μmoles/100 ml of medium). Relatively small amounts of AM were found when the organisms were grown in the absence of methionine, in the presence of "normal" amounts of l-methionine (3.35 μmoles/100 ml of medium), or in the presence of 400 μmoles of d-methionine. Adenine and hypoxanthine were equally effective in promoting cell growth and AM production in the mutant. S-adenosylmethionine permitted some cell growth. Other purines (guanine and xanthine) and nucleosides such as adenosine and methylthioadenosine did not serve as growth factors. The cell permeability to adenosine was tested by growing the parent strain in the presence of adenosine-8-C14 and the mutant in adenine and the labeled nucleoside. Both of these experiments were performed in the absence and presence of "excess" l-methionine. Under all conditions, more than 25% of the radioactivity introduced as adenosine-8-C14 was found in the cells. About 40% of the radioactivity taken up by the mutant cells in the prescene of "excess" l-methionine was fixed in AM. Adenine-8-C14 was readily taken up by cells of both strains when grown in the absence and presence of "excess" l-methionine. About 17% of the radioactivity taken up by the mutant cells in the presence of "excess" l-methionine was found in the AM fraction.


A collection of essays on Pakistani Cinema, edited by the organisers of the Harvard-Brown Pakistani film festival.

Has there been a 'revival' of Pakistani cinema? Or can the very question be put to scrutiny? Can we think beyond a national cinema, and instead simply think with films to explore the fraught politics and aspirations of our times? Love, War & Other Longings brings together historians, anthropologists, artists, and film-makers to offer new lines of enquiry that probe the tensions between cinema's past and present, absences and the archive, seduction and respectability, class and consumption, as well as genre and censorship. At times experimental in form, the essays seek to draw readers into conversations that engage political theory and postcolonial history, and become part of ongoing writing, thinking, and the making of films in Pakistan and the global south more broadly.


In now Big Data era, rapidly growing data size and limited computing capability of current computer system have brought sharp contradiction between these two issues. So it is urgent to improve the data storage and processing ability for current computer system. Emerging byte-addressable, nonvolatile memory (NVM) technology, can work like DRAM but with non-volatility, is expected to bring new opportunity of computing capability improvement in the near future. According to the hardware changes, it is necessary to reconsider the changes of system software and data storage methodology, especially the role of the data in the system. In this paper, we add the NVM to the computer architecture, and base on the hardware changes, we reconsider the design method of system software, among this we propose the concept of Data System, design a software defined interface, reconfig the system architecture without any real hardware changes. Finally, we present HMDS, a flexible hybrid memory data system architecture. Data system consider data as the center of a whole system, data storage is the foundation, data accessing and processing is the superstructure and all system parts as a service for the data. We think our architecture is novel and can bring data storage and processing a new perspective. Keywords—Big Data; NVM; Data System


Sialidase releases sialic acid residues from the ends of sugar chains. The sialidases are involved in many physiological processes including cell differentiation and proliferation and immune function as well as pathophysiological conditions such as various human cancers and infections. Therefore visualization of sialidase activities with high sensitivity could provide valuable insights into these isozyme's activity. We developed novel fluorescent sialidase substrates, 2-benzothiazol-2-yl-phenol derivatives-based N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) (BTP-Neu5Ac) substrates, for highly sensitive and specific visualization of sialidase activity in living mammalian tissues and virus-infected cells. We found that BTP-Neu5Ac can visualize sialidase activities sensitively and selectively in rat tissues including brain slices. BTP-Neu5Ac can also clearly detect cancer cells implanted orthotopically in mouse colons and human colon cancers. In this review, I describe imaging of sialidase activity with BTP-Neu5Ac in animal tissues, detection of colon cancer, memory formation, detection of virus-infected cells, and application to drug-resistant influenza virus detection and separation.


In this study, we measured the dynamic characteristics of pressure sensors using a pressure square-like wave generator (PSWG). With high excitation energy, the PSWG can measure dynamic pressure and work more effectively in a high frequency range. Under the same experimental parameters (10 bar, 600 Hz), the performance of six pressure sensors of dissimilar design and structure was evaluated. The experimental results indicate that they all exhibited extremely different dynamic characteristics. The dynamic pressure sensors based on quartz plates and crystals possess larger overshoot, greater gain margin and shorter rise time in comparison with other sensors based on strain gauge and piezoresistive materials. Compared with other traditional methods, such as the hydraulic control method, the PSWG proves to be superior in that it can be employed to evaluate the dynamic performances of pressure sensors at high frequency of above 10 kHz.


Aim: A study was undertaken to analyse trends in mortality from major external causes of death, and to detect urban/rural differences by cut points over the period of socioeconomic transition. Methods: Information on deaths from major external causes (traffic accidents, suicides, and homicides) for the 1990 - 2000 period was obtained from Lithuanian Department of Statistics. Mortality rates were age standardized, using the European standard, and analysed, according to (urban/rural) residence and sex. The Jointpoint analysis was used to identify the best-fitting points, wherever a statistically significant change in mortality occurred. Results: The most critical point for external causes of mortality during the period of transition was the year 1994, when an increasing mortality trend reversed to a decreasing one. Mortality from suicides primarily caused these positive changes. Changes in mortality from traffic accidents were not significantly associated with the period under analysis. Numerous less favourable trends in rural areas, including suicide rates, traffic accidents, and homicides, are likely to stratify urban/rural health outcomes in the future. Conclusion: Despite a recent decline, mortality from external causes remains at an extremely high level in Lithuania. Future progress requires sustained improvements in prevention, and serious attention to external causes of death in health policy development.


universities and colleges and ends with views of some Filipinos on a philosophy of education. There is a useful bibliography. Dr. Carson states seven basic problems facing Philippine higher education: ( i ) ensuring adequate pre-college preparation; (2) devising an acceptable student selection system; (3) handling a complex language question; (4) persuading students to enter vital fields of study; (5) achieving appropriate supervision of private institutions (lest they become "diploma mills"); (6) providing adequate libraries, books, and other equipment; and (7) securing sufficient financial support. Improvement of higher education, however, depends heavily on the organization of a more effective public school system. In i960, for example, nationwide Government examinations showed, "Of 100,000 seniors who took the tests, 90 percent would not have graduated if passing these examinations had been a requirement for a diploma." The recent Swanson Survey indicated that students were less adequately trained today in such subjects as reading and arithmetic than those studied by a similar survey in 1925.


This paper presents our latest work on building a system called MAGIC (Metadata Automated Generation for Instructional Content) that will automatically identify segments and generate critical metadata conforming with the SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standard for instructional content. Various content analytics engines are utilized to automatically generate key metadata, which include audiovisual analysis modules that recognize semantic sound categories and identify narrators and informative text segments; text analysis modules that extract title, keywords and summary from text documents; and a text categorizer that classifies a document according to a pre-generated taxonomy. With MAGIC, instructional content developers can generate and edit SCORM metadata to richly describe their content asset for use in distributed learning applications. Experimental results obtained from collections of real data from targeted user communities will be presented.


The present paper reports on examinations of temporal visual field perimetry with the Octopus computer-controlled automatic perimeter (Program 51). Nine subjects were tested under normal conditions and after consumption of alcohol. The Octopus represents a static examination method employing the grid perimetry principle. Under the influence of alcohol 7 subjects with blood alcohol concentrations of over 1 0/00 had visual fields which were concentrically restricted to various degrees, with relative scotomata centrally to the concentric restriction. In paired comparisons, reductions in sensitivity to light were found which were statistically highly significant. Previous investigations, conducted exclusively with kinetic perimeters, were unable to demonstrate the subjectively perceived concentric restriction of the visual field ("tunnel vision") following consumption of alcohol.


The article analyzes the concepts of "success" and "professional success", "success of sports activities", "student's success" which are studied in the framework of various theories: psychology, philosophy, theory of activity, pedagogy. In addition, the authors identified the fundamental approaches of organization of the training process of the student during his sports preparation for the formation of his success: self-centered, self-activity, anthropological, and also made their analysis and provided a description of each approach separately. In addition, based on studies of the concept of "success" from the point of view of various theories, the authors put forward the assumption that this concept is multifaceted. Furthermore, in this paper suggests that the problem of student's success and ways of its formation in the sport training process is a very important social and psycho-pedagogical task in the field of amateur and professional sports. In addition, this article highlights the main components, revealing the concept of "success of the student in the process of sports training" in order to further build the model of formation of the success of students in sports activities: physiological, psychological, moral, technical and tactical, cognitive. At first the necessary condition here is the conceptual refinement of the concept of "success of the student in the process of sports training", which the author of the article suggests, based on an analysis of the above theories and empirical experience obtained during coaching and competitive activities. Due to the specification of the concept of "student's success in the process of sports training", later on, based on this concept, the author plans to develop a number of pedagogical means of shaping the success of a student in the process of sport's training.


The effects of Er3+ concentration in ZrO2 on the red (680 nm) and green (545 nm) upconversion emission from Er3+ under near infrared radiation (NIR) excitation (at both 1438 and 962 nm) are presented. For the highest Er3+ concentration used, the red band is almost quenched under VIS (489 nm) excitation, whereas it is enhanced under NIR excitation. Such a difference between photoluminescence and upconversion is explained taking into account the concentration dependent cross-relaxation process (2H11/2 + 4I15/2) → (4I9/2 + 4I13/2). Experimental results suggest that two- and three-photon upconversion processes are taking place under 962 nm and 1438 nm excitation, respectively.


Mechanical low back pain is brought on by associated factors, such as muscular imbalances, excess muscular stress, and improper posture. Proper posture is vital for treating low back pain because of its unloading effects on the spine. Thus, the purpose of this critiqued article is to explore which is an effective and functional exercise that can be done at any time for posture. Thirty adults (20-30 years old, 14 males and 16 females) with chronic as opposed to acute or surgery, mechanical low back pain were splitted into Dynamic Sitting Exercise (DSE) and Spinal Extension Exercise (SEE). DSE subject is unloading the spine using the arms while sitting in an upright position. SEE subject is laying prone in elbow position doing a press up with straight arms. Testing was conducted 3 days per week for 6 weeks. Back pain was measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), lumbar mobility by Modified-Modified Schober Test (MMST), and quality of life through subject self-reporting using the (SF-36) health survey before and after the examination. Data were analyzed using paired t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test. A greater improvement has been shown in pain (VAS; z = 3.81, p < .05) with DSE in comparison to SEE. Greater lumbar mobility (MMST; z = 1.99, p < 0.05) increase with DSE in comparison to SEE. A higher quality of life (SF-36; z = 4.16, p < 0.05) with DSE in comparison to SEE was reported. Overall, the DSE proved more effective (see Table 1). DSE works better because of its decompressing action unloading the disc in the spine without straining the lumbar muscles through excess abdominal activation compared to SEE. 6 weeks of DSE training is more efficient for adults with mechanical low back pain compared to SEE. DSE relieves more pressure off the mechanoreceptors leading to greater reduction in pain while also increasing blood flow to the lumbar muscles. The study demonstrates the efficiency advantage of DSE in comparison to SEE with their improvements in pain, lumbar mobility, and quality of life. Defining comparisons were made between the two methods allowing us to understand DSE's decompression effect on intervertebral disc as opposed to SEE's strain on lumbar muscles. The results can be interpreted and used by anyone with mechanical low back pain so they may implement the DSE routine into their daily life. The only limitations include self-reporting quality of life with SF-36 survey and sample size. Adding a different means of measuring quality of life and larger sample size (100+) would improve experiment for a follow up study.


Hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) critically contributes to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the mechanisms by which HBx promotes HCC remain unclear. In the present study, using a combination of gene expression profiling and immunohistochemistry, we found higher levels of SH2 domain–containing 5 (SH2D5) in liver tissue from HBV-associated HCC (HBV-HCC) patients than in adjacent nontumor tissues. Moreover, HBV infection elevated SH2D5 levels, and we observed that HBx plays an important role in SH2D5 induction. We also found that HBx triggers SH2D5 expression through the NF-κB and c-Jun kinase pathways. Employing SH2D5 overexpression or knockdown, we further demonstrate that SH2D5 promotes HCC cell proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. While investigating the mechanism of SH2D5-mediated stimulation of HCC cell proliferation, we noted that HBV induces SH2D5 binding to transketolase (TKT), a pentose phosphate pathway enzyme, thereby promoting an interaction between and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). Furthermore, HBx stimulated STAT3 phosphorylation at Tyr-705 and promoted the activity and downstream signaling pathway of STAT3 via the SH2D5–TKT interaction. Taken together, our results suggest that SH2D5 is an HBV-induced protein capable of binding to TKT, leading to induction of HCC cell proliferation.


This article is dedicated to specific humanitarian paradigm in the study of professional ideology of expert in physical culture and sports. The forming of professional ideology of expert in physical culture and sports supposes the formation of a functional system based on values of physical activities: health, body, movement, which will be shown in all spheres of life.


Cook S.S., Jones R.C., Vaillancourt R.E. and Hallegraeff G.M. 2013. Genetic differentiation among Australian and Southern Ocean populations of the ubiquitous coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi (Haptophyta). Phycologia 52: 368–374. DOI: 10.2216/12–111.1 Phytoplankton species with a cosmopolitan distribution are traditionally expected to show little genetic differentiation given the lack of geographical barriers in the ocean. To gain an understanding of the genetic variability within southern hemisphere populations of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi, we used eight microsatellite markers to conduct a population genetic analysis on 273 clonal cultures collected from 11 sites in five ocean current systems south of Australia (Leeuwin, Zeehan, East Australian Currents) and in the Southern Ocean, including within the Antarctic Polar Front. Two of the five currently recognised morphotypes were represented, E. huxleyi var. huxleyi and E. huxleyi var. aurorae. Clonality was absent within sampled populations, suggesting the importance of sexual reproduction in the life cycle of this coccolithophore. Significant genetic differentiation (pairwise population FST range = 0.01–0.09) was apparent among E. huxleyi var. huxleyi populations, much higher than for other cosmopolitan plankton species; thus, gene flow between populations must be low. There was evidence of marked differentiation between Southern Ocean populations of E. huxleyi var. aurorae and E. huxleyi var. huxleyi (pairwise FST range = 0.12–0.16), suggesting the existence of a reproductive, environmental and/or biogeographical barrier between these two varieties.


The results of the study showed that 39.33 per cent respondents had work related problems and 59.33 per cent respondents had work related worries. Only 43.33 per cent housewives plan the order of events taking into account their own preference and 13.33 per cent plan according to urgency for completion of tasks. Unexpected guests were reported as most important reason for non completion of activities and postponement of work.


We conducted a population-based case-control study to evaluate the relationship between cases of breast cancer and exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE) from public drinking water ( n = 258 cases and 686 controls). Women were exposed to PCE when it leached from the vinyl lining of water distribution pipes. The relative delivered dose was estimated using an algorithm that accounted for residential history, water flow, and pipe characteristics. Only small increases in breast cancer risk were seen among ever-exposed women either when latency was ignored or when 5 to 15 years of latency was considered. No or small increases were seen among highly exposed women either when latency was ignored or when 5 years of latency was considered. However, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were more increased for highly exposed women when 7 and 9 years of latency, respectively, were considered (OR 1.5 95% CI 0.5-4.7 and OR 2.3, 95% CI 0.6-8.8 for the 75th percentile, and OR 2.7, 95% CI 0.4-15.8 and OR 7.6, 95% CI 0.9-161.3 for the 90th percentile). The number of highly exposed women was too small for meaningful analysis when more years of latency were considered. Because firm conclusions from these data are limited, we recently undertook a new study with a large number of more recently diagnosed cases.


A clock synchronization scheme that strikes a balance between hardware and software solutions is proposed. The proposed scheme is a software algorithm that uses minimal additional hardware to achieve reasonably tight synchronization. Unlike other software solutions, the guaranteed worst-cast skews can be made insensitive to the maximum variation of message transit delay in the system. The scheme is particularly suitable for large partially connected distributed systems with topologies that support simple point-to-point broadcast algorithms. Examples of such topologies include the hypercube and the mesh interconnection structures. >


We present a modular neural network architecture Main that learns algorithms given a set of input-output examples. Main consists of a neural controller that interacts with a variable-length input tape and learns to compose modules together with their corresponding argument choices. Unlike previous approaches, Main uses a general domain-agnostic mechanism for selection of modules and their arguments. It uses a general input tape layout together with a parallel history tape to indicate most recently used locations. Finally, it uses a memoryless controller with a length-invariant self-attention based input tape encoding to allow for random access to tape locations. The Main architecture is trained end-to-end using reinforcement learning from a set of input-output examples. We evaluate Main on five algorithmic tasks and show that it can learn policies that generalizes perfectly to inputs of much longer lengths than the ones used for training.


textabstractIn one of the oldest civilizations we know, that of ancient Egypt, thoughts
about the heart reflected a certain duality. On the one hand, the heart was
associated with concepts like virtue, or soul. A central passage in the Book
of the Dead of the ancient Egyptians is the description and illustration of the
weighing of the soul (Fig. 1). The heart of the diseased was put on a pair of
scales and balanced against the hieroglyphic symbol of virtue, the feather
maat. If the ibis god of scribes, Thot, could register a favourable verdict, the
dead man or woman was presented to the god of the dead, Osiris, and was
allowed entrance into the world of the dead. If not, the heart was devoured
by a horrifying beast, which event was described as the Death of the Soul,
and meant total elimination of the individual [Rossiter, 1979J. On the other
hand, the Egyptians probably were aware of the physiological function of
the heart as a blood·pump and recognized a variety of heart conditior)s
[Ghalioungui, 1973J. People suffering from them would wear a small amulet
representing a heart [Howes, 1976J.


Headache following spinal anesthesia is a perplexing problem to the anesthesiologist. Sometimes it presents itself even in patients in whom no spinal anesthetic has been employed. Recently a patient who had received only a local anesthetic for the removal of a superficial tumor was glibly informed by a forgetful physician that his headache was the result of the spinal tap. It is so easy and convenient to use spinal anesthesia as the scapegoat for all postoperative headaches, that we find the nursing staff, the floor attendants, and even the patient in the next bed making authoritative diagnoses. ETIOLOGY Headache of this type has been of clinical interest since the technique of lumbar puncture was introduced. A survey of the literature over a period of 30 years discloses that the theories of its causation are practically legion and frequently contradictory. Such a multiplicity of theories points up the lack of knowledge


Surface salinity variability on O(1–10) km lateral scales (the submesoscale) generates density variability and thus has implications for submesoscale dynamics. Satellite salinity measurements represent a spatial average over horizontal scales of approximately 40–100 km but are compared to point measurements for validation, so submesoscale salinity variability also complicates validation of satellite salinities. Here, we combine several databases of historical thermosalinograph (TSG) measurements made from ships to globally characterize surface submesoscale salinity, temperature, and density variability. In river plumes; regions affected by ice melt or upwelling; and the Gulf Stream, South Atlantic, and Agulhas Currents, submesoscale surface salinity variability is large. In these regions, horizontal salinity variability appears to explain some of the differences between surface salinities from the Aquarius and SMOS satellites and salinities measured with Argo floats. In other words, apparent satellite errors in highly variable regions in fact arise because Argo point measurements do not represent spatially averaged satellite data. Salinity dominates over temperature in generating submesoscale surface density variability throughout the tropical rainbands, in river plumes, and in polar regions. Horizontal density fronts on 10-km scales tend to be compensated (salinity and temperature have opposing effects on density) throughout most of the global oceans, with the exception of the south Indian and southwest Pacific Oceans between 20° and 30°S, where fronts tend to be anticompensated.


Free normal students as the main force of the future teachers, the IT capability are an important factor to affect the process of education information. Basis for the different needs of free normal students in professional background, professional characteristics and self-improvement aspects, combined with computer-based course requirements, to divide and describe the content of curriculum knowledge. According to the characteristics of the intellectual content, selected the different teaching methods and evaluation strategies, obtained a more comprehensive curriculum and teaching model for the free normal students. Provide a reference for the IT capability of free normal students.


This Study aims to examine and to analisys the influencing factors on economic growth in Indonesia, which the variables are e-commerce, inflation and exchange rate. This study is associative descriptive research, which using secondary data from 2011Q1-2018Q4 that obtained from relevant institutions and agencies. Analisys using Error Correction Model (ECM) method. This study using Ordinary Lest Square (OLS) method to know the long term effect and ECM to know the short term effect at one blow.The study found that in the long term, e-commerce and exchange rate have a significant effect and inflation have not a significant effect. And in the short term, e-commerce have a positive and significant effect, while inflation and exchange rate have a negative and not significant.


Considering both the stochastic demand rate and norm-bounded unknown demand uncertainty,this paper deals with the inventory-production control problem where the stocked products may deteriorate with a rate that depends on the stochastic demand rate. By using robust H∞ control technique, the existing conditions of state feedback control strategies is given and proved, and the robust optimal policy that solves this problem is obtained in terms of a set of linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, an example illustrates the usefulness of the proposed methods and shows that robust H∞ control inventory-production strategy could attenuate the influence of demand uncertainty more efficiently than linear quadratic optimal policy.


The liberalization of wireless spectrum markets has been envisioned as a method for improving mobile communication services and accommodating the increasing traffic volumes of wireless users. It has been assumed that competition among operators will foster optimal utilization of wireless spectrum and ensure the provision of cost-efficient wireless services to users. However, spectrum markets often function inefficiently due to collusion of the operators. Although it is illegal and detrimental to users, such phenomena are often observed in real life as, for example, in the form of implicit price fixing. This results in a de-facto monopoly in the spectrum market to the detriment of the users. In this paper, we consider a general wireless spectrum market where a set of operators sell bandwidth to a large population of users. We use an evolutionary game model to capture the user dynamics in the presence of limited market information and analyze the interaction of the operators using coalitional game theory. We define a partition formation game in order to rigorously study the conditions that render the grand coalition (emergence of monopoly) stable under various stability notions. The results obtained provide a foundation for effective measures against operator collusion by altering the underlying motivations rather than fighting against the symptoms through law enforcement.


This study reinvestigates polarization switching (PS) from the mode with higher to the mode with lower optical frequency in experiments and simulations within the framework of the model developed previously. This work investigate small-area devices emitting around 850 nm. The emission is in the fundamental transverse mode up to twice the threshold current. Experimental observation of PS is reported with an abrupt decrease of output power at the point of the PS, i.e. the mode that lases after the PS emits less power in comparison to the other mode. The linear interpolation of the power of the mode with lower optical frequency indicates a higher threshold current of this mode.


Abstract In August 2005, the U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org) announced the introduction of a new pilot-phase LEED for Homes rating system. The new system sets a national standard for environmentally responsible building in the residential sector. While there are some exceptions, most "residential green building" programs around the country have been regional in nature. LEED for Homes's goal is a national standard and certification process that encourages and regulates the green building process. Builders and consumers adopting the LEED standards will find themselves at the cutting edge of high-performance homes, as well as promoting and implementing environmentally conscious building processes. This article discusses the implementation of the LEED for Homes pilot phase rating system in a new residence that is nearing completion in a rural setting near Charlottesville, Virginia. Specifically, this paper explores the various "decision points" as we encountered them in the actual project.


Abstract Petrofabric analyses of quartz c-axes have been made at four locations round a fold in a calc-silicate rock. The movement direction during the folding is deduced from the deformation of an older lineation. Two fabrics are present: the earlier, associated with the deformed lineation, is being replaced by a fabric associated with the formation of the fold. It is shown how the symmetry of the later fabric is related not to the axis of the fold but to the direction of the movement that produced the fold; and how the quartz c-axes lie on a conical surface, giving a small circle on a stereogram plot.


The efficacy of valdoxan (agomelatine) used to prevent and treat post-stroke depression was analyzed. The study enrolled 49 patients (21 men and 28 women; mean age 61+5.5years) in the acute period of ischemic stroke in different vascular basins (a study group). A control group included 50 patients (24 men and 26 women; mean age 64+4.8 years) who were comparable with the study group of patients and who did not receive valdoxan. The duration of a follow-up was 6 months. During valdoxan therapy, there were better changes in recovery with a rapider regression of neurological disorders in patients with moderate stroke as compared with the control group (according to the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). The administration of valdoxan prevents depression, sleep disorders, pain syndromes, and cognitive impairments in the acute and early rehabilitation period of stroke.


Abstract Accounting for carbon emissions and energy consumption for the production of materials, transportation to and from site and construction plant operation provides an indicator of infrastructure's environmental impact and could assist in engineering option selection. A comprehensive review of the embodied energy/embodied carbon calculation was carried out for the Highways Agency, producing a simple spreadsheet calculator for geotechnical structures. With a bill of quantities format, the calculator aims to present embodied energy/embodied carbon in concert with cost information and serves as a decision support tool for option selection. Information on this research work can be found on the Highways Agency's Research Compendium website. Most of the emissions/energy consumption are locked in the construction materials used (production of concrete, steel, asphalt etc from raw materials) with small contributions from the transportation to and from site and all the associated construction work on site. The carbon emissions related to the construction of a new highway in the UK are discussed, with particular emphasis on the contribution of the associated earthworks and how they compare with the overall construction and operational emissions. Earthworks emissions are calculated to be less than these from the structures and pavement construction. Capitalizing on use of earthworks could help in the effort to reduce the carbon footprint of infrastructure.


The purpose of this study was to compared the early growth pattern, stem, leaf and root weight, DM yield, flowering characteristics and preference for selection of turf type grasses and wild flower species in mixtures combination for wildflower pasture. The experimental design included five species of turf grasses and 11 species of wildflower : turf type grass species{Kentucky bluegrass(Midnight), tall fescue(Millennium), perennial ryegrass(Palmer Ⅲ), redtop(Barricuda) and creeping bentgrass(Crenshaw)}, wildflower species {Chrysanthemum leucanthemum L. Coreopsis lanceolata L., Rudbeckia bicolor Nutt.., Dianthus chinensis L., Chrysanthemum lindicum L., Lotus corniculatus var. Japonicus Regel, Veronica linariaefolia Pallas, Aster koraiensis Nakai., Chrysanthemum zanadskii var. latilobum (Maxim.) Kitamura, Lythrum anceps Makino and Iris pallassi var. chinensis Lodd}. The field trials were carried out on the experimental pasture plots of Chungnam National University from January 2005 to December 2006. The appropriate species of turf grass which have a mixture possibility with wildflower are thought to be Kentucky bluegrass. Compared with Kentucky bluegrass, on the other hand, species such as Chrysanthemum leucanthemum L., Lotus corniculatus var. Japonicus Regel, Chrysanthemum zanadskii var. latilobum Maxim.) Kitamura and Lythrum anceps Makino have shown advantageous aspects of fast early growth pattern and highly weights of stem, leaf and root. Futhermore, these wild flowers were in harmony and no overlap on flower color, flowering periods and flowering longevity, and highly preference by Korean native goats. For the establishment of wildflower pasture in Korea, therefore, it is important to select the appropriate species of turf glasses, which have a weak competition against wild flowers, and then to make mixture combination of those turf glasses with the various wild flowers which have a strong competition against turf glasses but have a different anthesis characteristics among themselves.


Background: Low utilization of care resources in China continues to be a challenging problem even though the rapid development of pension services. However, few studies have explored the utilization of care services with either the production of nursing homes at a national and longitudinal level. Methods: The present study analyzes the spatio-temporal distribution of TE and productivity of nursing homes by using the data from China Civil Affairs statistical yearbook (2012-2016). Analysis was conducted based on the Data Envelopment Analysis and Tobit model, which have been widely applied to integrate several quality measures as a comprehensive benchmark. Results: The average TE, PTE and SE of nursing homes were 0.909. 0.928 and 0.979 from 2012 to 2016, respectively. The TE and SE decreased from 2012 to 2014, but improved after 2014. TE is 0.98 in the Eastern region, 0.93 of that in the Central region and 0.91 of that in the Western region, with a decrease range of 2%, 7% and 9%, respectively. The average improvement range of the five input indexes of the non-DEA effective nursing homes was 27.26%, 20.62%, 19.77%, 22.04%, and 38.84%, respectively. The influencing factors of efficiency value of nursing homes indicated that if there are more social workers, more patients in the nursing homes, and more employees who are aged 56 and above, the TE and productivity of nursing homes will be higher.Conclusion: We find that TE of nursing homes in Western regions are all at the lowest, as the current facilities can neither provide equitable nor optimal access and utilization. The decline of the efficiency and productivity before the healthcare reform implementation in 2014 was significant, where the influencing factors could be age and gender of employees, the number of social workers, and older people. Finally, suggestions are put forward for improving the efficiency of allocation and utilization of care services.


Abstract The Green Corridor concept represents a cornerstone in the development and implementation of integrated and sustainable transport solutions based on trans-nationality, multi-modality and a high involvement of public and private stakeholders, including the political level. Despite the fact that the Green Transport Corridor (GTC) concept is founded on the three dimensions of sustainability with a strong emphasis on environmental aspects, the corridor hubs as well as the whole transport corridors have to find ways to handle and transport dangerous goods by keeping the high sustainability standards. The paper addresses the research questions what kind of economical, ecological and social risks might occur in the context of handling and transportation of dangerous goods in a Green Transport Corridor in the Baltic Sea Region, what consequences they might have on the GTC design and how and with which measures they can be managed. Based on this analysis the development of a comprehensive risk management concept for the handling and transportation of dangerous goods in Green Transport Corridors in the Baltic Sea Region based on Schröder and Prause (2015) will be started. The concept will include practical implications and best practices.


Mutation in KRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA are commonly present in colorectal cancer (CRC). KRAS and BRAF form part of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway and KRAS lies immediately upstream of BRAF. Consequently, KRAS and BRAF mutations are mutually exclusive with mutation in either one causing activation of MAPK signalling.1 PIK3CA forms part of the phosphatidylinositide‐3‐kinase PI3K signalling pathway, and several studies have shown a significant association of KRAS and PIK3CA mutation in several cancer types including CRC.1–3 At face value, there would appear to be positive co-selection of MAPK and PI3K signalling activation implying synergy between these two pathways. If this were true, then a similar positive association would be expected between mutation of BRAF and PIK3CA. To date, less consistent or no association of BRAF and PIK3CA mutation has been reported.1 3 4 However, it is well established that BRAF mutation is strongly associated with microsatellite instability (MSI) in CRC. We therefore sought to test the association between mutation of BRAF and PIK3CA …


ABSTRACT Antigen 43 (Ag43) is a self-recognizing surface adhesin found in most Escherichiacoli strains. Due to its excellent cell-to-cell aggregation characteristics, Ag43 expression confers clumping and fluffing of cells and promotes biofilm formation. Ag43 expression is repressed by the cellular redox sensor OxyR. Here we used mutant versions of OxyR that are locked in either the reduced or the oxidized form as well as the addition of a simple redox-changing chemical to show that the redox state of OxyR influences Ag43 expression. Furthermore, the redox state of OxyR influences the biofilm-forming potential of E. coli. Finally, we demonstrated that Ag43-mediated cell aggregation confers significant protection against hydrogen peroxide killing.


Structured light range sensors (SLRS) like the Microsoft Kinect have electronic rolling shutters (ERS). The output of such a sensor while in motion is subject to significant motion blur (MB) and rolling shutter (RS) distortion. Most robotic literature still does not explicitly model this distortion, resulting in inaccurate camera motion estimation. In RGBD cameras, we show via experimentation that the distortion undergone by depth images is different from that of color images and provide a mathematical model for it. We propose an algorithm that rectifies for these RS and MB distortions. To assess the performance of the algorithm we conduct an extensive set of experiments for each step of the pipeline. We assess the performance of our algorithm by comparing the performance of the rectified images on scene-flow and camera pose estimation, and show that with our proposed rectification, the performance improvement is significant.


Lily Braun, born to a prominent aristocratic family in 1865, became one of the leading German feminists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a very successful writer, both of feminist political tracts and of novelistic works. She played a leadership role in German feminism with such groups as the Verein Frauenwohl (Association for Women's Well-Being) and the Social Democratic Party; her efforts included lobbying for the establishment of maternity insurance and better education and housing for women. Despite her energetic activism, she came into increasing conflict with other leading socialist women - most notably Clara Zetkin - who were suspicious of her aristocratic origins and her relatively bourgeois brand of socialism. This led her to retreat from politics and pursue a longtime interest in writing with works such as the fictionalized account of her grandmother's life in Goethe's Weimar, Im Schatten der Titanen (In the Shadow of the Titans) and the later, thinly fictionalized Memoiren einer Sozialistin (Memoirs of a Socialist), based on her own life. Startlingly, by 1914 Braun was espousing nationalistic ideas that would later be taken up by the National Socialists, and had repudiated many of her long-held feminist stances. She was no longer a pacifist, and her 'feminism' now encompassed racial hygiene. Lischke provides a view of both the political and the literary sides of this enigmatic figure, as well as views of the German feminism and literary trends of the period.Ute Lischke is professor of German and co-ordinator of International Studies Programs at the University of Toronto.


Background: Prevention, monitoring and reporting of adverse drug reactions is still a challenge among Nurses. Objective: to assess predictors of Nurses' practice related to adverse drug reaction reporting at Felegehiwot Referral Hospital and University of Gondar Teaching Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Method: Hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at Felegehiwot Referral Hospital and University of Gondar Teaching Hospital from March 11, 2013 to April 12, 2013. A total number of 214 Nurses involved in this study. Self-administered pre-tested questionnaire was used. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Bivariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed for identifying not reporting practice regarding adverse drug reaction. Results: Mean age of the respondents 21.8 years (SD = 7.01). One hundred twenty two (57.0%) of the respondents were females, 152(71.7%) participants' level of education were bachelor of Nurse. The participants mean of experience were 1.64 (SD = 4.7) years. Participants who took training/seminar on Pharmacovigilance had 0.29 times more likely to have adequate knowledge (AOR = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.226– 0.004, P=0.001) Conclusions and recommendation: Even though most Nurses had encountered adverse drug reaction, most of them were not reporting regarding adverse drug reaction. So Food, Medicine, Health Care Administration and Control Authority of Ethiopia should prepare training and continual education related to adverse drug reaction reporting for Nurses.


The resolution of the seismic signal can be remarkably enhanced by nonstationary deconvolution because it considers the attenuation of the source signature travelling in the strata. But traditional nonstationary deconvolution extracts wavelet by smoothing the Gabor spectrum dependant of supposing the reflectivity is white.In practice, the reflectivity is nonwhite. This paper deduced the relationship of the wavelet and reflectivity series with the seismic signal in the logarithmic time-frequency spectrum whether reflectivity is white or not. And this relationship is used to obtain the wavelet from the seismic signal in the logarithmic time-frequency spectrum in the nonstationary deconvolution. After testing on the model data and practical data, the method has been proved that it can obtain the wavelet from seismic signal better than the traditional nonstationary deconvolution. Then the new method is applied to the 3-dimension seismic data and obtained more information about the reservoir predictions.


Abstract Field experiments were conducted from 2004 through 2006 at Pendleton and Clemson, SC, to determine the influence of seasonal emergence of wild radish on phenological development, survival, and seed and biomass production in a noncompetitive environment. The duration of four developmental phases, emergence to bolting, bolting to flowering, flowering to silique production, and silique production to maturity, were recorded following wild radish sowing at monthly intervals from October 2004 through September 2006. Seedling emergence occurred 2 to 4 wk after sowing. Mortality of seedlings that emerged from December through March was greater than that of seedlings that emerged in all other months. Wild radish that emerged from April through August completed its life cycle by summer or early autumn. Wild radish that emerged from September through November was able to survive the winter and complete its life cycle the following spring. The developmental phases most affected by time of emergence were emergence to bolting and bolting to flowering. The duration of emergence to bolting ranged from 249 to 479 growing degree days (GDD), and bolting to flowering from 270 to 373 GDD, depending on the month of emergence. The total life cycle of wild radish varied from a low of 1,267 GDD following June emergence to 1,503 GDD following November emergence. Multiple regression analysis revealed that emergence to bolting and silique production to maturity phases were dependent on accumulated heat units and photoperiod. Seed and biomass production were influenced by month of emergence. An average of 1,470 seeds plant−1 was produced when emergence occurred in July and 10,170 seeds plant−1 when emergence occurred in November. Plants that emerged in autumn exhibited minimal growth during the winter months, but conditions were conducive for growth in mid-March and April, with biomass production of 809 g plant−1 at silique production. Nomenclature: Wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum L. RAPRA.


Chemisorption properties of thin films of Pd evaporated onto Nb recrystallized-foil surface have been studied by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) and by measurement of the work function changes (WFC) at room temperature. TPD results indicate two states of CO adsorbed in dependence on the thickness of the palladium layer. The low temperature state (330 K) occurs at low Pd coverages (about one monolayer). Second state, occurring at slightly higher temperature (370 K), is attributed to bulk Pd. WFC data show negligible change of the work function after deposition of small amounts of Pd onto a clean Nb surface. With increasing amount of Pd, ∆ϕ rises and reaches a saturation value. Adsorption of CO onto Pd/Nb surface caused the work function increase at all coverages of Pd deposited.


: In 15 patients with multiple sclerosis about half of the patients showed decreased gonadotropin and estrogen values in the urine. A control examination of these findings in 19 additional patients showed normal plasma FSH and LH values. Except for one slightly elevated value the prolactin levels were normal in this group.


Abstract Tissue engineering is a multidisciplinary field that focuses on creating functional tissue through the combination of biomimetic scaffolds, a cell source, and biochemical/physiochemical cues. Stem cells are often used as the cell source due to their multipotent properties and autologous sourcing; however, the combination of physical and chemical cues that regulate their behavior creates challenges in reproducibly directing them to a specific fate. Hydrogel biomaterials are widely explored as tissue scaffolds due to their innate biomimetic properties and tailorability. For these constructs to be successful, properties such as surface chemistry and spatial configuration, stiffness, and degradability of the biomaterial used for the scaffold framework should be analogous to the natural environment of the tissue they are repairing/replacing. This is imperative, as cues from the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) influence stem cell behavior and direct cell differentiation to a specific lineage. Hydrogels offer great promise as tools to control stem cell fate, as researchers can modulate the degradation rates, mechanical properties, swelling behavior, and chemical properties of the biomaterial scaffold to mimic the instructive cues of the native ECM. Discussion of the advantages and challenges of utilizing hydrogel biomaterials as the basis of tissue scaffolds is reviewed herein, as well as specific examples of hydrogels in tissue engineering and advances in hydrogel research to achieve desired cell phenotypes.


At temperatures below 15 000 K, the major pathway for the electron impact dissociation of H2 is through excitation to the b 3Σu+ excited electronic state. Total cross sections and energy differential cross sections for threshold energies as a function of vibrational states (v) for H2 v = 0–4, D2 v = 0–6 and T2 v = 0–7 are calculated. The rates of dissociation as a function of electron temperature for each state are parametrized. Near-threshold rates are shown to be so critically dependent on the vibrational level that dissociation from very high-lying vibrational levels must be included in calculations of the rate at local thermal equilibrium (LTE) even at low temperature. An adapted version of the extrapolation procedure of Stibbe and Tennyson (1999 Astrophys. J. 513 L147) is used to approximate the rates for all of the higher vibrational levels, which are then used to calculate the LTE rate. The LTE rate is an order of magnitude greater than the v = 0 rate. Calculations of energy differential cross sections suggest that impact dissociation of vibrationally excited molecules could be the source of low energy H atoms observed in tokamak plasmas.


abstract:Milton's anthropomorphic representation of the Father and the Son in book 3 of Paradise Lost has always courted controversy. Early readers were divided, some faulting it for blasphemy, others praising it for the accuracy of its characterization. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the dialogue in heaven became, and continues to be, embroiled in the debate concerning Milton's anti-Trinitarian beliefs, and the question of the Father's goodness, prompted by the discovery of De Doctrina Christiana. This article adopts a new perspective by situating the celestial scene in the context of the varied iconography of the Trinity that flourished in the Middle Ages in England and on the Continent, an iconography that would be subject to reform during the Reformation and considered anathema by Milton's more iconoclastic contemporaries. Focusing on this pictorial tradition allows us to revisit Milton's critique of the doctrine of the Trinity, to take note of his scripturally licensed iconophilia, and to see and hear the passion at the heart of the dialogue.


Vasectomy is the most common urological procedure in the United States with 18% of men having a vasectomy before age 45. A significant proportion of vasectomized men ultimately request vasectomy reversal, usually due to divorce and/or remarriage. Vasectomy reversal is a commonly practiced but technically demanding microsurgical procedure that restores patency of the male excurrent ductal system in 80–99.5% of cases and enables unassisted pregnancy in 40–80% of couples. The discrepancy between the anastomotic patency rates and clinical pregnancy rates following vasectomy reversal suggests that some of the biological consequences of vasectomy may not be entirely reversible in all men. Herein we review what is known about the biological sequelae of vasectomy and vasectomy reversal in humans, and provide a succinct overview of the evaluation and surgical management of men desiring vasectomy reversal.


Planktonic copepods have sexual dimorphism that can lead to differences in starvation tolerance between genders. Additionally, mating may be energetically costly and thus reduce starvation tolerance. We investigated the influence of sexual dimorphism and mating on starvation tolerance of copepods with different feeding behaviours: Oithona nana (ambusher), Temora longicornis (feeding-current feeder) and Centropages typicus (cruiser). Males of C. typicus and O. nana had a starvation tolerance lower than females, whereas T. longicornis had a similar starvation tolerance between genders. Only O. nana males and females had reduced starvation tolerance when both genders were incubated together, which suggests that mating activities in ambushers have an energetic cost higher than in active feeding copepods. C:N ratios showed a non-significant difference between genders, which indicates that gender differences in starvation tolerance are not due to dissimilarities in lipid reserves. Gender differences in starvation tolerance can be partially explained by body size differences between sexes. This indicates a minor influence of mate-seeking behaviour on male starvation tolerance, likely due to reduced mate-searching behaviour under prolonged starvation. Our results demonstrate that sexual dimorphism can result in different starvation tolerance between copepod genders and that a negative effect of mating on starvation tolerance depends on the foraging strategy.


A number of serious studies have been conducted to decipher relationships between geological environment, potable/drinking water, and diseases as they were considered to have triggered suffering due to diseases among people. Chronic anemia can be caused by prolonged exposure to drinking water contaminated with cadmium (Cd). Under such circumstances, accumulation of Cd is manifested in the kidney, resulting in cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study is to present the impact of Cd-contaminated drinking water on human health among the residents of villages in Winder. Collection of about 48 groundwater samples at an average distance of 1 to 2 km between the sampling sites has enabled a sufficient geological representation of distribution of minerals and elements in the samples. Concentration and comparison of Cd in the study area sample sites reveal highest values (24.2-30.0 ppb) in the northeastern and southeastern sectors, covering parts of all three geological areas of Bela Ophiolite of Cretaceous age. Conducted questionnaire surveys provided relevance between cause and effect nature of Cd bearing diseases among which kidney, joint, and night blindness are more prominent. Due to this phenomena, toxic risk of Cd in drinking water was high as per calculated health hazard indices. The use of this water by the villagers may cause health problems and disorders among the inhabitants of the area.


Anatolia hosts 14 of the 22 taxa of genus Galanthus L. The phylogenetic relationships of Galanthus species were explored using DNA sequence data from both nuclear and chloroplast DNA of 70 specimens covering all subdivisions of Galanthus present in Turkey. Our data showed that species of the same geography clustered together phylogenetically, in contrast to the presently recognized taxonomy based on morphological characters. The 5.8S rRNA sequence data by itself is sufficiently informative for constructing phylogenetic trees. Our data confirm the identity of Galanthus koenenianus as a new taxon, well separated from G. alpinus; both are clustered within subseries Viridifolii, rather than within subseries Glaucaefolii in contrast to previous suggestions, but in accordance with their geographical occurrence. G. trojanus also forms a distinct branch within subseries Glaucaefolii. G. krasnovii diverged out of all other Galanthus taxa as a separate branch in all phylogenetic trees. Samples collected based on morphological characters as G. nivalis were clearly different from G. nivalis based on the sequence data in GenBank. Sequencing data also revealed that the G. xvalentinei from locus classicus (ISTF; SYZB 3008) significantly differed from all other Galanthus specimens distributed in Thrace known as G. xvalentinei.


Defence has become a central issue of strategic discourse among NATO's Central European member states after 2014, following the Russian aggression against Ukraine. Reinforcing capabilities and readiness within the framework of collective defence requires much from these countries in terms of strategic thinking, capability planning, defence procurement and modernisation – and as a central element to realising their aims, in terms of funds for defence. U.S. President Donald Trump's sustained criticism calling for 'more fair' burden sharing among member states, resulting in the adoption of the Wales Declaration on the Transatlantic Bond1 (Defence Pledge), further incentivised member states' willingness to dynamise their efforts. Since then, many European countries – some significantly – have increased their defence budgets and other forms of contribution. This paper offers an overview and analysis of Hungarian defence spending trends since the country's accession to the European Union in 2004,2 as this can highlight what has been achieved in this specific 'enabling' field in the past couple of years to counterbalance the trend of underfinancing prevalent for a decade. The author argues that the increased attention and resources dedicated to defence and the significant modernisation drive are part of an overarching normalisation process taking place in Hungary. Four indicative scenarios are developed in the paper based on the GDP growth trends and planned continuous increase of the defence budget, showing that independent of the (forecasted) GDP growth rate, the 2% target in terms of GDP would only be met in case of a more intensive, 0.2% annual increase scenario.


Tritiated alpha-bungarotoxin was used to determine the number and distribution of acetylcholine receptors in innervated, denervated and botulinum toxin-treated muscles. Innervated hemidiaphragms bound approximately 2.3 x 10(11) molecules of alpha-bungarotoxin; binding sites were restricted to the end-plate region. Neither acute denervation nor acute poisoning with botulinum toxin altered the number or distribution of alpha-bungarotoxin binding sites. In chronically denervated hemidiaphragms, there was an increase in alpha-bungarotoxin binding sites (maximum about 5.7 x 10(12); these sites were distributed across the muscle surface. In chronically poisoned hemidiaphragms, there was also an increase in the number (maximum about 4.7 x 10(12)) and distribution of binding sites. Chronic denervation and chronic botulinum toxin treatment both produced supersensitivity to acetylcholine. At maximal sensitivity, the respective ED50 values were: denervated muscle, 1.1 x 10(-6) M; botulinum toxin-treated muscle, 5.0 x 10(-6) M. The combination of denervation plus botulinum toxin treatment did not have additive or synergistic effects on alpha-bungarotoxin binding (4.9 x 10(12) molecules/hemidiaphragm) or on tissue sensitivity to acetylcholine (ED50 = 2.1 x 10(-6) M). It is concluded that denervation and botulinum toxin have rather similar effects on the number and distribution of acetylcholine receptors in rat hemidiaphragm.


Abstract The complete mitochondrial DNA sequence of Schizothorax curilabiatus was determined and analyzed. This mitochondrial genome was 16,578bp in length and showed significant AT bias (55.5% AT content, 44.5% GC content). Phylogenetic analysis showed that S. curilabiatus is more closely related to S. oconnori than to other species. The complete mitochondrial genome sequence provides an important dataset for the exploration of mitochondrial inheritance mechanism.