In this paper, a design optimization method for a consequent-pole bearingless motor is presented. This produces stable magnetic suspension under motor torque generation. The suspension force reduction and direction error, which can be caused by torque generation, are limited in the proposed designs. In the optimization routine, the number of suspension and torque winding turns and air-gap length are carefully assessed. Three stators are constructed for experimental verification. The amplitude and direction errors for the suspension force are found to be within acceptable ranges and the operation of the magnetic suspension is acceptable


BACKGROUND
Whether myocardial reperfusion obtained with thrombolysis or primary angioplasty is associated with a similar recovery of function and with the same risk of hemorrhagic infarction is unknown. We evaluated the effects of mechanical and pharmacological reperfusion (with or without a plasma lytic state) on infarct size, myocardial hemorrhage, and left ventricular (LV) function in a canine model.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Six groups of six dogs were subjected to balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) followed by 2 hours of reperfusion. The study had a two-by-three factorial design with two occlusion periods (90 and 240 minutes) and three different reperfusion strategies (placebo, 0.4 mg/kg recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, and 40 microg/kg recombinant staphylokinase). In a seventh control group, LAD occlusion was maintained without reperfusion. All dogs received aspirin and heparin. A systemic lytic state was present in staphylokinase-treated dogs. Planimetry of LV slices showed larger infarcts (percent of area at risk) and more hemorrhage (percent of IA) after 240 minutes of occlusion than after 90 minutes of occlusion (54+/-17% versus 37+/-18% and 52+/-27% versus 29+/-27%, respectively; P<.01 for both comparisons), with no significant difference among treatments. Hemorrhage was not observed in the control group without reperfusion. LV angiography showed no differences in global and regional LV function between mechanical and pharmacological reperfusion.

CONCLUSIONS
In this experimental model, hemorrhagic infarctions of similar extent were observed after both pharmacological and mechanical reperfusion. The extent of hemorrhage was increased by the delay in reperfusion but not by the presence of a lytic state.


Ni-rich materials have received widespread attention as one of the mainstream cathodes in high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. However, Ni-rich cathodes suffer from severe surface reconstruction in a high delithiation state, constraining their rate capabilities and life span. Herein, a novel P2-type NaxNi0.33Mn0.67O2 (NNMO) is rationally selected as the surficial modification layer for LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) cathode, which undergoes a spontaneous Na+-Li+ exchange reaction to form an O2-type LixNi0.33Mn0.67O2 (LNMO) layer revealed by combining X-ray diffraction and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. Owing to the specific oxygen stacking sequence, O2-type LNMO significantly prevents the initial layered structure of NCM811 from transforming to the spinel or rock-salt phases during cycling, thus effectively maintaining the integral surficial structure and the Li+ diffusion channels of NCM811. Eventually, the NNMO@NCM811 electrode yields enhanced thermal stability, outstanding rate performance, and long cycling stability with 80% capacity retention after 294 cycles at 200 mA g-1, and its life span is further extended to 531 cycles while enhancing the mechanical stability of the bulk material.


Recent studies have revealed that increased expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 plays a central role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. 7ND is the amino-terminal deletion mutant of human MCP1 and works as a dominant negative inhibitor of MCP1. We devised a new strategy of antiMCP1 gene therapy by transfecting the 7ND gene into skeletal muscles. 7ND gene transfection suppressed arteriosclerotic changes induced by chronic inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis in rats and inhibited the development, progression and destabilization of atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice. This strategy also reduced restenosis after balloon injury in rats, rabbits and monkeys, and reduced neointimal formation after stent implantation in rabbits and monkeys. This new strategy can be a useful and feasible gene therapy against MCP1 related cardiovascular diseases.


Graph data have become ubiquitous and manipulating them based on similarity is essential for many applications. Graph edit distance is one of the most widely accepted measures to determine similarities between graphs and has extensive applications in the fields of pattern recognition, computer vision etc. Unfortunately, the problem of graph edit distance computation is NP-Hard in general. Accordingly, in this paper we introduce three novel methods to compute the upper and lower bounds for the edit distance between two graphs in polynomial time. Applying these methods, two algorithms AppFull and AppSub are introduced to perform different kinds of graph search on graph databases. Comprehensive experimental studies are conducted on both real and synthetic datasets to examine various aspects of the methods for bounding graph edit distance. Result shows that these methods achieve good scalability in terms of both the number of graphs and the size of graphs. The effectiveness of these algorithms also confirms the usefulness of using our bounds in filtering and searching of graphs.


Although negotiation is regarded as one of the most fruitful business activities to address trust and honesty in decision making, studies on this topic are still necessary for the conceptual advancement of the field. This paper aims to analyze the relationships based on trust and honesty among the catireiros based in the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaiba mesoregions of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in their negotiations. To achieve the proposed goal, we performed qualitative research, with an exploratory approach. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 31 catireiros of the Triângulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaiba regions and analyzed according to the postulates of French Discourse Analysis. We concluded that, on the one hand, honesty and trust are paramount for some catireiros and contribute to the strengthening of their prestige and reputation withing the groups in which they are inserted. In other words, these values operate as a way of legitimizing who those catireiros are and how they negotiate. On the other hand, the catira is also characterized as a potentially opportunistic practice, which may involve mistrust, lies, manipulation, and dishonesty as elements inherent to its process and conditions for traders to obtain advantages in their catiras .


Transforming growth factor-§ (TGF-§) is a potent, multifunctional growth factor affecting virtually all cell types, regulating critical physiological processes like immune response, wound healing, angiogenesis, and tumor development. A large number of studies in vitro have also implicated a critical role of TGF-§ in regulating hematopoiesis by inhibiting proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). However, how TGF-§ regulates hematopoiesis and HSCs in vivo has been poorly understood. In order to address this, Cre/loxP gene targeting in mice was used to generate knockout mice with either ubiquitous or inducible disruption of the TGF-§ receptors type I and type II (T§RI and T§RII). Mice lacking T§RI in all cells die at midgestation exhibiting defective yolk sac vessels and an absence of circulating red blood cells. The hematopoietic potential is, however, intact in these embryos as demonstrated by efficient in vitro colony formation by hematopoietic progenitors from the yolk sacs. Endothelial cells isolated from T§RI null embryos had several abnormal functions associated with the defective vasculature, including increased proliferation, deficient fibronectin synthesis and impaired migration. Adult mice with an induced disruption of either T§RI or T§RII, develop a rapidly progressing lethal inflammatory disorder. The inflammatory phenotype can be transferred by transplantation of bone marrow (BM) from induced knockout mice into lethally irradiated normal recipient mice. These mice die 8-9 weeks following BM transfer and exhibit multiple inflammatory lesions in various organs. Analysis of hematopoiesis in induced T§RI knockout mice, before onset of disease, showed normal blood cell counts and BM cellularity as well as normal numbers and cell cycle activity of progenitors and HSCs. Furthermore, the repopulation kinetics of HSCs following BM transplantation were normal, as measured by competitive repoulation in both primary and secondary recipients. Together, these findings demonstrate that TGF-§ signaling through T§RI is essential for endothelial cell function and vessel development in vivo. Moreover, and that lack of TGF-§ signalling in cells of hematopoietic origin is both necessary and sufficient to cause a lethal inflammatory disorder. In contrast to previous studies, these in vivo models show that TGF-§ signaling is dispensable for normal development of hematopietic precursors during embryogenesis as well as for normal hematopoiesis and HSC function in adult mice. (Less)


Ga2O3/ITO alternating multilayer films were deposited on quartz glass substrates by magnetron sputtering. The effect of the multi-period on the structural, optical and electrical properties of Ga2O3/ITO alternating multilayer films was investigated by an X-ray diffractometer, a double beam spectrophotometer and the Hall system, respectively. A low sheet resistance of 225.5 Ω/□ and a high transmittance of more than 62.9% at a 300 nm wavelength were obtained for the two-period alternating multilayer film with a thickness of 72 nm.


Conjugation to cationic cell penetrating peptides (such as Tat, Penetratin, or oligo arginines) efficiently improves the cellular uptake of large hydrophilic molecules such as oligonucleotides and peptide nucleic acids, but the cellular uptake is predominantly via an unproductive endosomal pathway and therefore mechanisms that promote endosomal escape (or avoid the endosomal route) are required for improving bioavailability. A variety of auxiliary agents (chloroquine, calcium ions, or lipophilic photosensitizers) has this effect, but improved, unaided delivery would be highly advantageous in particular for future in vivo applications. We find that simply conjugating a lipid domain (fatty acid) to the cationic peptide (a CatLip conjugate) increases the biological effect of the corresponding PNA (CatLip) conjugates in a luciferase cellular antisense assay up to 2 orders of magnitude. The effect increases with increasing length of the fatty acid (C8-C16) but in parallel also results in increased cellular toxicity, with decanoic acid being optimal. Furthermore, the relative enhancement is significantly higher for Tat peptide compared to oligoarginine. Confocal microscopy and chloroquine enhancement indicates that the lipophilic domain increases the endosomal uptake as well as promoting significantly endosomal escape. These results provide a novel route for improving the (cellular) bioavailability of larger hydrophilic molecules.


Background Despite public health messaging that antiretroviral therapy (ART) has improved health outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH) and is effective in preventing HIV transmission, many PLWH continue to experience HIV-related stigma. It is critical to assess HIV-related stigma experienced by PLWH accessing ART in the modern HIV treatment era. Methods The STOP HIV/AIDS Program Evaluation (SHAPE) study is a longitudinal cohort of PLWH ≥19 years of age in British Columbia, Canada. This cross-sectional analysis uses SHAPE baseline survey data (collected January 2016-August 2018) and linked clinical registry data to examine factors associated with HIV-related stigma among individuals accessing ART. HIV-related stigma was self-reported using the ten-item Berger HIV stigma scale. Multivariable linear regression quantified the relationship between key explanatory variables and stigma. Results Among 627 participants, 136(22%) identified as women, 326(52%) were aged ≥50 at enrolment, 374(60%) identified as men who have sex with men, and 133(21%) self-reported Indigenous ethnicity. The median stigma score was 47.5 (Q1-Q3: 32.5-62.5; range: 0-100). In the multivariable model, reporting injection drug use (IDU) in the past year (β=4.54, 95%CI= 0.23,8.86) or selecting prefer not to answer when asked about IDU history (β=9.52, 95%CI= 4.77,14.28); experiences of lifetime violence (β=7.62, 95%CI= 3.67,11.56); and having a mental health disorder diagnosis (β=5.30, 95%CI= 1.88, 8.73) were associated with higher stigma scores. Higher stigma scores were also associated with being 40-49 years old (β= 6.21, 95%CI= 1.58,10.85) compared to <40; age ≥50 had no significant association. Living in a city with a population ≥100,000 (β=-4.66, 95%CI= -8.53,-0.78) was associated with lower stigma scores. Conclusion Age, city size, IDU experience, violence, and mental illness were independently associated with HIV-related stigma. These findings provide support for an intersectional investigation into how these factors propagate stigma and how this experience impacts the health and wellbeing of PLWH in this setting. Disclosure No significant relationships.


A new computer model of viscous fingering (VF) in a porous medium is presented. The simulation results show that the VF pattern is in agreement with the experimental results. The simulation on the sweep efficiency also agrees with experiment results. The surface fractal dimension as a function of viscous ratio is found.


An assumption in nursing education is that clinical experience equals competent practice. Knowing the extent of learning acquired during these experiences is important, and in graduate education, this is not always known. This study examined the nature of clinical hours that nurse practitioner students complete during practicum courses and explored activities of students when not engaged in direct patient care.


Bone healing is regulated by multiple microenvironmental signals provided by the extracellular matrix (ECM). This study aimed to mimic the native osteoinductive microenvironment by developing an ECM using gene-transduced cells. The LIM mineralization protein-1 (LMP-1) gene was transferred to murine pre-osteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1) using lentiviral vectors. Western blotting assay indicated that the MC3T3-E1 cells expressed an increased level of bone morphologic protein-2, -4 and -7 (BMP-2, -4 and -7) after LMP-1 gene transduction. The transduced cells were then seeded into calcined bovine bone scaffolds and cultured for 7, 14, and 21 days to construct ECMs on the scaffolds. The ECM–scaffold composites were then decellularized using the freeze-drying method. Scaffolds without ECM deposition were used as controls. The composites and controls were implanted into critical-sized bone defects created in the distal femurs of New Zealand rabbits. Twelve weeks after the surgery, both microcomputed tomography and histologic results indicated that the 7-day-cell-modified ECM–scaffold composites induced bone regeneration with significantly larger volume, trabecular thickness and connectivity than the controls. However, the 14- and 21-day-cell-modified ECM–scaffold composites triggered sustained inflammation response even at 12 weeks after the surgery and showed less bone ingrowth and integration than their 7-day-cell-modified counterparts. In conclusion, these results highlight the viable gene transfer techniques for manipulating cells in a constructed microenvironment of ECM for bone regeneration. However, the unresolved inflammation relating to the duration of ECM modification needs to be considered.


Introduction: Patients with metastatic prostate cancer are treated with androgen ablation therapy which is initially effective, but most patients on this therapy ultimately become refractory to this treatment. Studies show that androgen withdrawal does not result in cell death, but simply cell growth arrest, whereas the development of androgen independence allows them to come out of the growth arrest and undergo cell cycle progression. Hence, induction of apoptosis during androgen ablation will prevent progression to androgen independence. The goal of the present project is to determine whether dual inhibition of EGFR and ErbB2 in prostate cancer cells during androgen withdrawal prevent their progression to androgen independence. EGFR, ErbB2, ErbB3 and ErbB4 constitute a family of receptor tyrosine kinases that require dimerization for complete activation. Experimental Procedures: Androgen dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells and its androgen‐independent subline LNCaP‐AI were treated with combinations of the EGFR inhibitors AG1478 or Erlotinib (Tarceva), and the ErbB2 inhibitors AG879 or Trastuzumab (Herceptin), either in the presence of androgens, or together with androgen withdrawal. These experiments were also conducteds in androgen receptor (AR)‐null pRNS‐1‐1 cells transfected with vector only, wild type AR or mutant AR(T877A). Results: Dual inhibition of EGFR and ErbB2 was more effective in inhibiting cell growth compared to single inhibition of either kinase. This effect was more pronounced in the absence of androgens compared to its presence, and was also more effective in androgen‐dependent than in androgen‐independent cells. Investigation of the mechanism of this effect demonstrated that dual inhibition of EGFR and ErbB2 also inhibited ErbB3 phosphorylation, likely by preventing its dimerization. Androgen withdrawal results in increased Akt phosphorylation, and we show here that dual EGFR/ErbB2 inhibition, but not single inhibition, prevented this effect and induced apoptosis. This effect is most pronounced in androgen sensitive cells undergoing androgen ablation, whereas in androgen‐independent cells where Akt phosphorylation is already increased, the effect of the dual inhibition was less pronounced. Conclusions: Our results indicate that cell survival during androgen withdrawal caused by an increase in Akt phosphorylation may be prevented by dual use of EGFR and ErbB2 inhibitors. If the cells can be killed during androgen ablation, then no cells will remain to progress to androgen independence. Hence, the effect of the dual inhibition prevents the development of androgen‐independence in prostate cancer cells. The significance of these results is that they suggest that the use of dual EGFR/ErbB2 inhibitors during androgen ablation may prevent the development of androgen independence in patients undergoing androgen ablation therapy. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):A75.


Within a continuing program on high tensile graphite/epoxy composite, stress-strain, axial fatigue, and compliance behavior of unnotched, notched (3-mm diameter hole), and jointed specimens made of [O 2 /′45/O 2 /′45/90] s T300/914C laminates (177°C curing temperature) have been studied. In addition, the behavior of unnotched specimens cut from (1) the same laminate but with the longitudinal specimen axis now perpendicular to the zero-degree fiber direction, and (2) the high modulus fiber laminate with the same build-up was investigated. Stress-strain curves, S-N curves, and increase-in-compliance versus percentage-of-total life curves were determined for all specimen types for stress ratios, R, ranging from R = +5.0 (compression-compression cycling, C-C) to R = +0.1 (tension-tension cycling, T-T). An overall comparison of results from specimens with different stress raisers shows that the stress raisers diminish fatigue strength in the low-cycle range, but in the high-cycle range their influence has vanished. Effective stress concentrations were found to be different for compression and tension. During T-C cycling, increase of compliance was lowest for the fastener-filled no-load transfer joint and largest for the single-shear load transfer joint. The large compliance changes of the load-transfer specimens were attributed to increased bearing damage. In general, the scatter in static and fatigue strength was found to be comparable with that for similar features in metals. When the plain material was loaded transversely instead of longitudinally, static and fatigue strength were lower by a factor of about 3.


Closure rates (CR) of counselors with a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling (MRC) and master's degrees in related disciplines (RM) were compared. High-quality closure rates (HQCR) were also compared, defined as CR for full-time jobs that paid a living wage. Analyses examined all counselors and, separately, only those with 6 or fewer years of experience. Last, analyses examined if disability severity predicts HQCR. Eighty-nine counselors completed a survey assessing their educational background. These data were linked to outcomes of 13,460 clients. CR of MRC and RM counselors did not differ. However, MRC counselors had higher HQCR (p = .034), higher living-wage closure rate (LWCR; p = .025), and almost higher full-time job closure rate (FTCR; p = .066). MRC-RM comparisons using only counselors with 6 or fewer years of experience were also significant (all ps < .05) and, importantly, showed even stronger effects. Also, although clients with most-severe disabilities had lower CR (p = .029), they had much lower HQCR, LWCR, and FTCR (all ps < .001). Although CR does not differ between MRC and RM counselors, MRC counselors are more likely to secure high-quality jobs for clients. Also, clients with most-severe disabilities are more likely to be placed in lower quality jobs. Implications for hiring rehabilitation counselors are discussed.


In chronic experiments on cats, after elaboration of eyelid reflex to clicks, EPs were simultaneously recorded in the auditory, sensorimotor and visual neocortical areas in response to heteromodal paired stimulations with changing interstimuli intervals (click+electro-cutaneous stimulation of m. orbicularia oculi, CS and US). With short interstimuli intervals (up to 50 ms), a stage of sharp EP suppression in the sensorimotor cortex in response to the test electro-cutaneous stimulus was observed. After extinction of the conditioned reflex initial relations were restored: with the same short interstimuli intervals, the EPs to the test electro-cutaneous stimuli were commensurable with those to the isolated application of the current. The data obtained are considered as electrographic sign of the synthetic nature of the conditioned reflex formation.


A new maximally flat approximation criterion is proposed to realise lowpass RC active filters with a reduced number of amplifiers with respect to the classical Butterworth polynomials. This improvement is obtained by adding a multiple real pole and reducing the number of the complex pole pairs. The cascade connection of 3rd-order blocks allows the realisation of filters with fewer sections (fewer o.a.s) with respect to the commonly used cascade connections of 2nd-order blocks.


Introduction/Background Aims: To establish a collaborative to deliver and provide training in research and clinical audit in gynaecological oncology. Background: Trainee-led research collaboratives in general surgery have demonstrated the ability of such groups to rapidly recruit large numbers of patients and deliver high quality multi-centre research. Trainees are ideally placed to deliver research at point of care given the rotational nature of their placements, their established communication networks and the motivation to provide evidence for participation research and audit during their training. In Gynaecological Oncology, where care is centralised to tertiary level units, there is the opportunity to collect nationally impactful data. Methodology Members were recruited through the British Gynaecological Cancer Society, National Cancer Research Institute, Royal College of Surgeons and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. A core committee was established to deliver group aims. Webinars and educational events were used to engage with members nationwide. A competitive call for multicentre projects allowed for the selection of our national project. Results Between August and November 2018, 52 members, comprising trainees from all fourteen deaneries in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, were recruited. A core committee of six trainees was elected. Two online events and one face to face event have been held. Seven multi-centre project proposals were received. A masked expert panel short-listed four proposals for a ´dragon´s den´ presentation and refinement. Subsequently, the membership selected a project which will establish how frailty in older patients affects outcomes after gynaecological oncology surgery. Conclusion There is a desire amongst trainees to engage in research to deliver patient benefit. A collaborative model facilitates efficient implementation of a project and yields nationally actionable information. Our next study will aid clinical decision-making in some of our most vulnerable patients. Disclosure Nothing to disclose.


In this paper, not only the nature but also the strength of the causal relationshiip among real exports, imports, and economic growth in Turkey over the period of 1987-2006 is investigated. Particularly the role of import variable in the investigating of economic growth-export causality is emphasized. The Granger causality tests results confirm that there is unidirectional causality between variables considered, mainly running from export to economic growth and import and import to economic growth. Moreover, IRFs and VDCs support this result therefore allows to conclude that export led growth hypothesis is supported by the Turkish data over the period.


Source and sink interactions play a critical but mechanistically poorly understood role in the regulation of senescence. To disentangle the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying source-sink regulated senescence (SSRS), we performed a phenotypic, transcriptomic, and systems genetics analysis of senescence induced by the lack of a strong sink in maize (Zea mays). Comparative analysis of genotypes with contrasting SSRS phenotypes revealed that feedback inhibition of photosynthesis, a surge in reactive oxygen species, and the resulting endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress were the earliest outcomes of weakened sink demand. Multi-environmental evaluation of a biparental population and a diversity panel identified 12 quantitative trait loci and 24 candidate genes, respectively, underlying SSRS. Combining the natural diversity and coexpression networks analyses identified seven high-confidence candidate genes involved in proteolysis, photosynthesis, stress response, and protein folding. The role of a cathepsin B like protease 4 (ccp4), a candidate gene supported by systems genetic analysis, was validated by analysis of natural alleles in maize and heterologous analyses in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Analysis of natural alleles suggested that a 700-bp polymorphic promoter region harboring multiple ABA-responsive elements is responsible for differential transcriptional regulation of ccp4 by ABA and the resulting variation in SSRS phenotype. We propose a model for SSRS wherein feedback inhibition of photosynthesis, ABA signaling, and oxidative stress converge to induce ER stress manifested as programmed cell death and senescence. These findings provide a deeper understanding of signals emerging from loss of sink strength and offer opportunities to modify these signals to alter senescence program and enhance crop productivity.


Under the appropriate environmental conditions, the gram-negative bacterium Proteus mirabilis undergoes a remarkable differentiation to form a distinct cell type called a swarmer cell. The swarmer cell is characterized by a 20- to 40-fold increase in both cell length and the number of flagella per cell. Environmental conditions required for swarmer cell differentiation include: surface contact, inhibition of flagellar rotation, a sufficient cell density and cell-to-cell signalling. The differentiated swarmer cell is then able to carry out a highly ordered population migration termed swarming. Genetic analysis of the swarming process has revealed that a large variety of distinct loci are required for this differentiation including: genes involved in regulation, lipopolysaccharide and peptidoglycan synthesis, cell division, ATP production, putrescine biosynthesis, proteolysis and cell shape determination. The process of swarming is important medically because the expression of virulence genes and the ability to invade cells are coupled to the differentiated swarmer cell. In this review, the genetic and environmental requirements for swarmer cell differentiation will be outlined. In addition, the role of the differentiated swarmer cell in virulence and its possible role in biofilm formation will be discussed.


The medicinal plant Delphenium brunonianum collected from Manang district, Nepal has been selected for its study on ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemical investigation and bioactivity evaluation. This plant is found to be used extensively by the community for the treatment of fever, headache, stomachache and poison removal. From phytochemical investigation, four known compounds namely ?-amyrin ( 1 ), ?-sitosterol ( 2 ), ?-sitosterol glucoside ( 3 ) and anthriscifoldine ( 4 ) have been isolated from methanol extract of D. brunonianum . Compound 1 is triterpene, 2 and 3 are sterols, whereas, 4 is a diterpenoid alkaloid. The structures of all compounds were determined with modern spectroscopic techniques including 1D- and 2D- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance techniques and comparison with literature data. The extract and all compounds exhibited antibacterial properties with respect to the zone of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentration against Bacillus subtilis , staphylococcus aureus , Pseudomonas aureginous , Escherchia coli and Salmonella flexinarie . Compound 4 was found to be more active than other compounds, and even than the standards ampicillin and gentamicin in most of the tested bacteria. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v12i0.6488 Nepal Journal of Science and Technology 12 (2011) 111-118


The anatomy of female reproductive tracts collected from 28 Acrobates pygmaeus (Shaw) is described. The tract differs from that of other small possums of the families Burramyidae and Tarsipedidae by having a prominent septum that divides the left and right sides of the vaginal system for most of its length. A median birth canal occurs at parturition but closes within 3–4 days of birth.

In south-eastern Australia, most female A. pygmaeus produce two litters within the breeding season (July to February). A post-partum oestrus follows the birth of the first litter and the resulting embryos undergo a period of embryonic diapause. The embryos grow slowly during diapause, until the unilaminar blastocysts become approximately 2.0 mm in diameter, and contain about 2,000 cells. The factors influencing reactivation after diapause remain unclear, since no embryos past the blastocyst stage were found. Post-partum oestrus may follow the birth of the second litter, but if it occurs, the ova either remain unfertilized or degenerate after fertilization. Females are anoestrus during the non-breeding season.

Corpora lutea in the ovaries seldom outnumber blastocysts in the uteri or teats in the pouch. During diapause they undergo a pattern of growth similar to that of the blastocysts and enter a quiescent phase. Corpora lutea disappear within nine days of birth.

The pattern of female reproduction in this species is similar to that of other small possums of the families Burramyidae and Tarsipedidae, but is distinct from those of other marsupials.


The treatment of cancer is an important issue in both developing and developed countries. Clinical use of ultrasound in cancer is not only for the diagnosis but also for the treatment. Focused ultrasound surgery (FUS) is a noninvasive technique. By using the combination of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and imaging method, FUS has the potential to ablate tumor lesions precisely. The main mechanisms of HIFU ablation involve mechanical and thermal effects. Recent advances in HIFU have increased its popularity. Some promising results were achieved in managing various malignancies, including pancreas, prostate, liver, kidney, breast and bone. Other applications include brain tumor ablation and disruption of the blood-brain barrier. We aim at briefly outlining the clinical utility of FUS as a noninvasive technique for a variety of types of cancer treatment.


We develop a method for estimating the host galaxy dust extinction for type Ia supernovae based on an observational coincidence first noted by Lira, who found that the B-V evolution during the period from 30 to 90 days after V maximum is remarkably similar for all events, regardless of light-curve shape. This fact is used to calibrate the dependence of the Bmax-Vmax and Vmax-Imax colors on the light-curve decline rate parameter Δm15(B), which can, in turn, be used to separately estimate the host galaxy extinction. Using these methods to eliminate the effects of reddening, we reexamine the functional form of the decline rate versus luminosity relationship and provide an updated estimate of the Hubble constant of H0 = 63.3 ± 2.2(internal) ± 3.5(external) km s-1 Mpc-1.


In view of the pharmacological interest in flavonoids, the superoxide radical scavenging capacity of pet-ether, chloroform, and methanol extracts and flavonoids of Blumea balsamifera DC leaves on nonenzymatically (phenazine methosulfate/NADH) generated superoxide radicals were evaluated. The methanol extract (93.91 ± 1.37%) exhibited higher radical scavenging activity than the chloroform extract (84.58 ± 1.51%). The pet-ether extract was inactive toward nonenzymatically generated superoxide radicals. The superoxide radical scavenging capacity of flavonoids (100 µM) as determined was decreased in the order quercetin > luteolin > 5,7,3′,5′-tetrahydroxyflavanone > blumeatin > rhamnetin > tamarixetin > luteolin-7-methyl ether > dihydroquercetin-4′-methyl ether > dihydroquercetin-4′,7-dimethyl ether. It was concluded that flavonoids with a free hydroxyl group were more active than methylated compounds, and the flavonoid content of extracts contributed to their superoxide radical scavenging activity.


Background: Although meniscal injury is common after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, the underlying process in different meniscal regions remains unclear. Purpose: To investigate macroscopic and histological alterations in different meniscal regions in an ACL transection (ACLT) rabbit model. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: ACLT was performed on New Zealand White rabbits. Both the medial meniscus (MM) and the lateral meniscus (LM) of the ACLT knees were obtained at 8 (n = 6) and 26 (n = 6) weeks postoperatively. MM and LM collected from nonoperated knees were considered 0 weeks (n = 6) postoperatively. Menisci were then divided into posterior, central, and anterior regions for macroscopic (width) and histological (hematoxylin and eosin, safranin O/fast green, collagen type 2 [COL2]) analysis. Results: The macroscopic widths of MM and LM increased and then decreased over 26 weeks postoperatively, with all 3 MM widths at 8 weeks significantly wider than at 0 weeks (posterior: P < .01; central: P < .05; anterior: P < .05). In the MM, chondrocyte-like cell density increased and then decreased postoperatively, whereas in the LM, it decreased and then remained almost unchanged. Cell density was significantly higher in the central MM region at 8 weeks than at 0 weeks (P < .05). Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and COL2 percentages of MM and LM decreased from 0 to 8 weeks and then returned to nearly normal levels at 26 weeks postoperatively. In the MM, the GAG percentage in the posterior (P < .05) and central (P < .01) regions and the COL2 percentage in the posterior region (P < .05) was significantly lower at 8 weeks than at 0 weeks. Conclusion: After ACLT in rabbit meniscus, the extracellular matrix (ECM) initially decreased and then increased to almost normal. Additionally, there were significant differences in the ECM percentage in the posterior and central regions of the MM in comparison with other meniscal regions between 0 and 8 weeks postoperatively. Clinical Relevance: The results indicate that the time for meniscal injury after ACL injury is important, and attention should be paid to the posterior and central regions of the MM after ACLT.


We report on local magnetization, tunnel diode oscillators, and specific-heat measurements in a series of Ba(NixFe1-x)(2)As-2 single crystals (0.26 Tc]) decreases with T-c in overdoped samples but increases with decreasing T-c in underdoped samples. The remarkable variation of lambda(0) with T-c and the nonexponential temperature dependence of Delta lambda clearly indicates that pair-breaking effects are important in this system. We show that the observed scalings strongly suggest that those pair-breaking effects could be associated with quantum fluctuations near three-dimensional superconducting critical points.


Accurate mediastinal nodal staging is important for patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer. EUS-FNA is an alternative to mediastinoscopy, but EUS training requirements are under discussion. The purpose of this study was to explore the amount of training needed to establish basic competency in EUS-FNA. Five experienced respiratory physicians from Denmark and the Netherlands were included in the study (3 men, 2 women). They had no prior experience in EUS. Each participant completed between 20 and 30 supervised EUS-FNA procedures. All procedures were video-recorded and blindly and independently assessed by three experts using a validated assessment tool. Data will be presented as individual and averaged learning curves. Currently the first participant has finished training and her learning curve is presented in the figure below. Differences in the acquisition of skills between trainees will be presented. Preliminary data suggest that performance of approximately 25 procedures secures basic competence in EUS-FNA for mediastinal staging.


Several variants in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) at the SP140 locus have been associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), Crohn's disease (CD) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). To determine the causal polymorphism, we have integrated high-density data sets of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL), using GEUVADIS RNA sequences and 1000 Genomes genotypes, with MS-risk variants of the high-density Immunochip array performed by the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetic Consortium (IMSGC). The variants most associated with MS were also correlated with a decreased expression of the full-length RNA isoform of SP140 and an increase of an isoform lacking exon 7. By exon splicing assay, we have demonstrated that the rs28445040 variant was the causal factor for skipping of exon 7. Western blots of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from MS patients showed a significant allele-dependent reduction of the SP140 protein expression. To confirm the association of this functional variant with MS and to compare it with the best-associated variant previously reported by GWAS (rs10201872), a case-control study including 4384 MS patients and 3197 controls was performed. Both variants, in strong LD (r(2) = 0.93), were found similarly associated with MS [P-values, odds ratios: 1.9E-9, OR = 1.35 (1.22-1.49) and 4.9E-10, OR = 1.37 (1.24-1.51), respectively]. In conclusion, our data uncover the causal variant for the SP140 locus and the molecular mechanism associated with MS risk. In addition, this study and others previously reported strongly suggest that this functional variant may be shared with other immune-mediated diseases as CD and CLL.


The orally bioavailable rapamycin derivative RAD001 (everolimus) targets the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway and possesses potent immunosuppressive and anticancer activities. Here, the antitumor activity of RAD001 was evaluated in the CA20948 syngeneic rat pancreatic tumor model. RAD001 demonstrated dose-dependent antitumor activity with daily and weekly administration schedules; statistically significant antitumor effects were observed with 2.5 and 0.5 mg/kg RAD001 administered daily [treated tumor versus control tumor size (T/C), 23% and 23–30%, respectively], with 3–5 mg/kg RAD001 administered once weekly (T/C, 14–36%), or with 5 mg/kg RAD001 administered twice weekly (T/C, 36%). These schedules were well tolerated and exhibited antitumor potency similar to that of the cytotoxic agent 5-fluorouracil (T/C, 23%). Moreover, the efficacy of intermittent treatment schedules suggests a therapeutic window allowing differentiation of antitumor activity from the immunosuppressive properties of this agent. Detailed biochemical profiling of mammalian target of rapamycin signaling in tumors, skin, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), after a single administration of 5 mg/kg RAD001, indicated that RAD001 treatment blocked phosphorylation of the translational repressor eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 and inactivated the translational activator ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1). The efficacy of intermittent treatment schedules was associated with prolonged inactivation of S6K1 in tumors and surrogate tissues (≥72 h). Furthermore, detailed analysis of the dose dependency of weekly treatment schedules demonstrated a correlation between antitumor efficacy and prolonged effects (≥7 days) on PBMC-derived S6K1 activity. Analysis of human PBMCs revealed that S6K1 also underwent a concentration-dependent inactivation after RAD001 treatment ex vivo (>95% inactivation with 20 nm RAD001). In contrast, human PBMC-derived eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 was present predominantly in the hypophosphorylated form and was unaffected by RAD001 treatment. Taken together, these results demonstrate a correlation between the antitumor efficacy of intermittent RAD001 treatment schedules and prolonged S6K1 inactivation in PBMCs and suggest that long-term monitoring of PBMC-derived S6K1 activity levels could be used for assessing RAD001 treatment schedules in cancer patients.


Plasmonic excitation of Au nanoparticles attached to the surface of ZnO catalysts using low power 532 nm laser illumination leads to significant heating of the catalyst and the conversion of CO2 and H2 reactants to CH4 and CO products. Temperature-calibrated Raman spectra of ZnO phonons show that intensity-dependent plasmonic excitation can controllably heat Au-ZnO from 30 to ~600 °C and simultaneously tune the CH4 : CO product ratio. The laser induced heating and resulting CH4 : CO product distribution agrees well with predictions from thermodynamic models and temperature-programmed reaction experiments indicating that the reaction is a thermally driven process resulting from the plasmonic heating of the Au-ZnO. The apparent quantum yield for CO2 conversion under continuous wave (cw) 532 nm laser illumination is 0.030%. The Au-ZnO catalysts are robust and remain active after repeated laser exposure and cycling. The light intensity required to initiate CO2 reduction is low (~2.5 × 10(5) W m(-2)) and achievable with solar concentrators. Our results illustrate the viability of plasmonic heating approaches for CO2 utilization and other practical thermal catalytic applications.


The aim of the present investigation was to elucidate whether the Golgi apparatus undergoes photodamage following administration of the fluorogenic substrates Rose Bengal acetate (RBAc) and irradiation at the appropriate wavelength. Human HeLa cells were treated in culture and the changes in the organization of the Golgi apparatus were studied using fluorescence confocal microscopy and electron microscopy, after immunocytochemical labeling. To see whether the cytoskeletal components primarily involved in vesicle traffic (i.e., microtubules) might also be affected, experiments of tubulin immunolabeling were performed. After treatment with RBAc and irradiation, cells were allowed to grow in drug-free medium for different times. 24 hr after irradiation, the cisternae of the Golgi apparatus became packed, and after 48-72 hr they appeared more fragmented and scattered throughout the cytoplasm; these changes in the organization of the Golgi cisternae were confirmed at electron microscopy. Interestingly enough, apoptosis was found to occur especially 48-72 h after irradiation, and apoptotic cells exhibited a dramatic fragmentation of the Golgi membranes. The immunolabeling with anti-tubulin antibody showed that microtubules were also affected by irradiation in RBAc-treated cells.


Today is the era of multimedia applications such as audio or video transmission. Multimedia traffic can be classified according to bandwidth, latency and Quality of Service. For multimedia applications, there is strong need of higher transmission capacity and higher bandwidth, which leads the need of high speed network based architecture at the forefront of several current technology based networks. Due to the unpredictable fluctuations and burstiness of traffic flows within high speed network congestion can occur frequently and TCP will perform poorly in future high speed network. In this paper, we purposed the solution for the problem of frequent congestion occurrence in high speed network and it's model that has learning capability on the basis of round trip time, node's outlink capacity and average queue size and passes a signal to the sender to change its sending rate accordingly. Therefore, congestion occurrence in high speed network can be resolved.


Developing organic chromophores with large two-photon absorption (TPA) in both organic solvents and aqueous media is crucial owing to their applications in solid-state photonic devices and biological imaging. Herein, a series of novel terpyridine-based quadrupolar derivatives have been synthesized. The influences of electron-donating group, type of conjugated bridge, as well as solvent polarity on the molecular TPA properties have been investigated in detail. In contrast to the case in organic solvents, bis(thienyl)-benzothiadiazole as a rigid conjugated bridge will completely quench molecular two-photon emission in aqueous media. However, the combination of alkylcarbazole as the donor and bis(styryl)benzene as a conjugation bridge can enlarge molecular TPA cross-sections in both organic solvent and aqueous media. The reasonable two-photon emission brightness for the organic nanoparticles of chromophores 3-5 in the aqueous media, prepared by the reprecipitation method, enables them to be used as probes for in vivo biological imaging.


The study of natural convection in a differentially heated cavity is of practical significance in nature and industry. It is of scientific value to review the studies of natural convection flows, their flow properties, dynamical mechanisms, dimensional controlling parameter dependencies and heat transfer driven by the horizontal temperature gradient in the cavity. As shown by previous studies, the development of natural convection suddenly enforced by the horizontal temperature gradient between the sidewalls of the cavity includes an initial stage, a transitional stage and a steady or a quasi-steady stage. The transient flows in the different stages are determined by the Rayleigh number, the Prandtl number and the aspect ratio. The flow in the steady or quasi-steady stage could be a steady laminar, a periodic or a turbulent flow. In addition, the studies of instability and turbulence of natural convection in the cavity are reviewed, and the prospects for the study of natural convection in the cavity are presented.


The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) was introduced in a pilot phase for coding of diagnoses in a sample of cases encountered in the Swiss Disability Insurance (SDI), as a substitute for the SDI codes, judged unsuitable for the description of disability. The goal of this study is to evaluate the reliability of use of these codes, by studying the coding reproductibility between the Medical Observation Centers (MOC) and the Evaluation and Coordination Center. A second goal was to evaluate the feasibility of coding by non-physicians. Reliability of diagnoses was examined by level of precision: chapters, groups, categories and subcategories. The agreement between the two coding Centers varies from 78%, at the chapter level, to 29% at the most detailed level. This agreement is improved if taking into account the three main diagnoses for the comparison, reaching 91%. The results of the physician coder, concerning the precision and reliability of coding, are significantly superior to those of an economist coder and a medical secretary coder. To improve coding agreement, it is proposed to train coding professionals, provide coding tools, clarify which diagnosis is the main one, and seek a consensus for cases of systematic disagreement. The ideal level of precision should not be so high as to produce diagnostic codes with low reliability. It should, however, be precise enough to give a satisfactory description of the problems encountered.


Real-time and efficient path planning is critical for all robotic systems. In particular, it is of greater importance for industrial robots since the overall planning and execution time directly impact the cycle time and automation economics in production lines. While the problem may not be complex in static environments, classical approaches are inefficient in high-dimensional environments in terms of planning time and optimality. Collision checking poses another challenge in obtaining a real-time solution for path planning in complex environments. To address these issues, we propose an end-to-end learning-based framework viz., Path Planning and Collision checking Network (PPCNet). The PPCNet generates the path by computing waypoints sequentially using two networks: the first network generates a waypoint, and the second one determines whether the waypoint is on a collision-free segment of the path. The end-to-end training process is based on imitation learning that uses data aggregation from the experience of an expert planner to train the two networks, simultaneously. We utilize two approaches for training a network that efficiently approximates the exact geometrical collision checking function. Finally, the PPCNet is evaluated in two different simulation environments and a practical implementation on a robotic arm for a bin-picking application. Compared to the state-of-the-art path planning methods, our results show significant improvement in performance by greatly reducing the planning time with comparable success rates and path lengths.


Aims: To determine the effect of hypoglycaemia on ischaemic retinal injury. Methods: Rat retinal cultures were incubated in varying concentrations of glucose while placed under standardised anoxic conditions, and the number of surviving GABA immunoreactive neurons was assessed using immunocytochemistry. Hypoglycaemia was induced in age and sex matched Wistar rats by an injection of rapid acting insulin. The blood, vitreous, and retinal glucose concentrations were measured using a hexokinase assay kit. Electroretinography, semiquantitative RT-PCR, and histology were used to compare the functional and structural retinal injury in these rats with the injury in appropriate controls after a period of pressure induced retinal ischaemia. Results: Retinal cultures maintained in low glucose concentrations (<1 mM) had fewer surviving GABA immunoreactive neurons after an anoxic insult compared with retinal cultures maintained in 5 mM glucose. Hypoglycaemic rats had significantly lower vitreous glucose concentrations (0.57 (SEM 0.04) mM) than the control rats (3.1 (0.70) mM; p<0.001). The a-wave and b-wave amplitudes of the hypoglycaemic rats after 3 and 7 days of reperfusion were significantly lower than the amplitudes of the control rats. Furthermore, the level of Thy-1 mRNA (a retinal ganglion cell marker) was significantly lower in the hypoglycaemic group (p<0.001) and there was a corresponding exacerbation of structural injury compared with the controls. Conclusion: Hypoglycaemia causes a significant reduction in vitreous glucose levels and exacerbates ischaemic retinal injury.


The distributed point polarizable water model (DPP2) [Ref 1] which was recently developed in our group, has explicit terms for induction, charge penetration, and charge transfer. It is a refinement of the DPP model [Ref 2] which was also developed in our group. The DPP2 model has been found to accurately describe the interaction energy in water clusters. In this work, we aim to further improve the accuracy of DPP2 in calculating the induction energy. There are two ways to model higher-order polarization effects, one is through distributed atomic dipole polarizabilities, the other is through single-center expansion with higher multipoles. We developed a fitting method which can map the distributed dipole polarizabilities into the dipole-dipole (α), dipole-quadrupole (A) and quadrupole-quadruple (C) polarizabilities. DPP2 uses three distributed atomic polarizabilities〖 α〗_O,α_H1,α_H2 which are located on oxygen and hydrogen atoms to describe induction effects. We show that the A and C values associated with the DPP2 model differ appreciably from the results of high level ab-inito methods [Ref 3, 4, 5, 25]. We have explored several strategies for improving on the DPP2 results. We describe a 4-site polarizable model, in which we split the polarizability of oxygen onto its two lone-pair sites, and which gives results in good agreement with the ab-initio calculations.


The study of Taylor-Couette vortex flow with small aspect ratio is great interesting. Additionally, the importance of magnetic fluids has been increasing in the engineering applications of various fields, and this leads to increase the interests to investigate the flow of magnetic fluids, which have the reactivity to magnetic field. Then Taylor-Couette vortex flow with magnetic fluids is expected to control the flow pattern and the mode bifurcation by using magnetic field. Recently, the velocity information of various flow fields is available by using Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler (UVP). Hence, the method for investigating the flow fields in the magnetic fluids has also been available. In this study, the flow structure of a magnetic fluid in a concentric annular geometry with an aspect ratio of 3 and a radius ratio of 0.6 was investigated for an inner cylinder rotation. Axial velocity distributions of the flow field were measured using the UVP measuring technique. In the UVP measurement, an ultrasonic with basic frequency of 8 MHz and beam diameter of 3 mm was used. A non-uniform magnetic field was applied to the flow field using a permanent magnet located on the outside of the vessel, and the transitions of flow field with a magnet were investigated by using UVP.


The ocean resources development is becoming increasingly urgent as the depletion of land reserves combine to enhance demand. In some of the deep-water areas, terrigenous deposits are found near landmasses, which are formed from material eroded from the land surface. They are constituted of clay, silt, sand, and granular soil. More and more gravity installed anchors (GIA) are employed as a part of the offshore foundation systems in these deep-water areas. A kind of newly developed GIA, called OMNI-Max anchor, with a mooring arm located near the anchor tip that is free to rotate about the anchor length, are an effective approach for mooring marine devices to the ocean floor. While providing the reaction force, these anchors can maintain the stability of offshore facilities. The ability of the anchor to achieve these duties relies on its keying and diving behaviors after penetration. Both shallow and deep penetrations, including offshore foundations and anchors penetrations, in granular media are what long interests geotechnical and geophysical fields. The final penetration depth of GIA in the granular seabed is also influenced by quite a few factors, such as impact velocity, particle size distribution (PSD) and anchor surface friction. However, this kind of large-strain problem is not agreeable to typical continuum numerical methods. In the current work, we propose that the coupled discrete element method (DEM) and finite difference method (FDM) is a more proper and efficient tool to investigate the penetration of OMNI-Max anchors in granular soil. The effects of the factors mentioned above are considered in the coupled DEM-FDM simulations. The relative ultimate penetration depths for different penetration conditions are presented and quantified. The response of granular material during penetration is applied to provide insight into system response at the microscale. Energy dissipation in the assembly by both friction and collision at the particle scale is considered. Results show that anchor penetration depth grows with rising impact velocity, while it decreases with an increase of anchor surface friction. When the ratio of fluke width and median diameter of granular size is smaller than 5.6, even under a relatively loose state, the application of OMNI-Max anchor is not recommended because of difficulty in assuring the required penetration depth (about 1.3 anchor lengths, 11.90 m). Although, at the similar impact velocity, the GIA tip embedment in sand is quite shallower than that in clay, alternative GIA designs may realize higher penetrations in the sand, and prove to be viable anchoring solution for granular seabed sediments. Finally, the fabric characters after penetrations are presented to analyze and reveal the state of soil experienced drastic disturbance. The characteristics of these distributions tend to particular states depending on the relative position to the anchor, which have a significant influence on subsequent behaviors of OMNI-Max anchor during the keying process.


We present a new free-space all-optical switch architecture based on digital MEMS instead of the commonly used analog MEMS. The design is based on digital MEMS and an optical White cell. We present the design and experimental evaluation of the system in terms of loss, number of ports and cross-talk.


In this research, teachers' opinions are determined based on human resources management functions in a private school. The research determined study groups with a purposive sampling method which is conducted with a qualitative research design, in the academic year, 2016 to 2017. Six teachers who work in a private school in Famagusta in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) participated in the study. The research data were collected by using a structure interview form and analyzed by content analysis and qualitative descriptive model. Two different researchers looked at the data and found out similar key words, and then themes were formed. The similarity index for inter-rater reliability was found as 90%. This is acceptable for qualitative research between five-seven categories. According to the research, Human Resources Management Functions include employee (personal selection/staffing, training and development, planning, evaluation, rewarding) and functions for the organization. All these functions are valid in educational institutions. Human research functions are successfully applied at this school where teachers reflect positive feeling towards their works and behaviors. Besides, research scope can be expanded with principals, students and parents in the scope of the subject.

 Key words: Human resources management, human resources management functions, teachers and private school.


An analytical method is reported for the preparation of K(+) -imprinted nanoparticles using cryptand 222 as the complexing agent, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the crosslinker and 2,2'-azobisisobutyronitrile as the radical initiator. The prepared particles have a diameter of 200-250 nm. The maximum adsorption capacity of potassium ion-imprinted polymer particles was 120 μmol/g. The optimum pH for quantitative extraction was 9.0. The nature of the eluent, eluent concentration, adsorption and desorption times, weight of the polymer material, aqueous phase, and desorption volumes were also studied. The relative selectivity coefficients of K(+) /Li(+) , K(+) /Na(+) , K(+) /Rb(+) and K(+) /Cs(+) were 48.10, 4.80, 29.70, and 43.4, respectively. The relative standard deviation and limit of detection of the method were obtained 1.61% and 4.62 ng/L, respectively. Finally, the method was applied for the determination of potassium ions from different samples using flame photometry.


Monkeys are able to increase and decrease the activity of single neurons involved in vision. Suppose that you were given feedback about the activity of one of your brain cells, so that you could listen to its activity and monitor the electrical impulses it uses to communicate with other neurons. Would you be able to control its activity by changing your thoughts? How would you do it? These are the questions that Schafer and Moore (1) begin to answer on page 1568 of this issue. They show that trained monkeys can increase or decrease the activity of single neurons in the frontal eye field, an area of the cortex involved in generating eye movements (2) and controlling spatial attention. If a monkey shifts attention to a particular location in space, the frontal eye field neurons linked to that location increase their firing rate (3). The study demonstrates a promising technique for elucidating the role of other neurons during cognitive tasks and suggests that "mind control" might be useful in treating brain disorders.


ABSTRACT This study examines L2 Portuguese speech produced by eight native Cantonese speakers from Macao, China. The aims of this study are to investigate (1) whether the speech rhythm in L2 Portuguese is more source-like (more similar to Cantonese) or more target-like (more similar to Portuguese), and (2) whether L2 speech rhythm differs across three different tasks: a reading task, a retelling task, and an interpreting task. Seven rhythm metrics, i.e., %V, ΔC, ΔV, VarcoC, VarcoV, rPVI_C, and nPVI_V, were adopted for comparison and investigation. The results showed that L2 Portuguese rhythm produced by Cantonese speakers differed from L1 Portuguese speakers' rhythm. R-deletion and vowel epenthesis were the reasons for the variabilities and instabilities of L2 Portuguese production by Cantonese learners, as they affect the duration and the number of vowel intervals and consonantal intervals. Moreover, in Cantonese learners' L2 Portuguese production, the semi-spontaneous tasks (retelling and interpreting) presented a significant difference from the reading task. The driving force for such a difference was the cognitive load behind the tasks.


The affective turn in International Relations (IR) has been engaged in the critical project of returning the emotional to the international for a while now. Following these efforts to reinvest humanity in politics, this article seeks to investigate if an engagement with emotional humans can provide refuge from, grapple with and ultimately transform a disenchanted world of IR and spell new worlds into existence that place the emotional-relational at the centre of its practice. Drawing on feminist, aesthetic and decolonial scholarship on emotional-relational humans, I argue that such imaginations can open routes to recovery for emotional worlds in the discipline. I introduce magical realist fiction as a genre of literary writing which embraces the magical ability of humans who resist and transform unbearably rational worlds through their emotional relations with each other. Gleaning moments of emotional incantations by humans–in Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera–which work to transform a world that becomes too difficult to bear for its inhabitants, I contend that IR stands to gain invaluable lessons by immersing itself in the kind of emotional magic that such literature and its resident humans spell into being.


We present a theoretical framework that accounts for the new ${D}_{J}$ and ${D}_{sJ}$ mesons measured in the open-charm sector. These resonances are properly described if considered as a mixture of conventional $P$-wave quark-antiquark states and four-quark components. The narrowest states are basically $P$-wave quark-antiquark mesons, while the dominantly four-quark states are shifted above the corresponding two-meson threshold, being broad resonances. We study the electromagnetic decay widths as basic tools to scrutiny their nature. The proposed explanation incorporates in a natural way the most recently discovered mesons in charmonium spectroscopy.


Patients affected with Refsum disease (RD) have elevated levels of phytanic acid due to a deficiency of the peroxisomal enzyme phytanoyl-CoA hydroxylase (PhyH). In most patients with RD, disease-causing mutations in the PHYH gene have been identified, but, in a subset, no mutations could be found, indicating that the condition is genetically heterogeneous. Linkage analysis of a few patients diagnosed with RD, but without mutations in PHYH, suggested a second locus on chromosome 6q22-24. This region includes the PEX7 gene, which codes for the peroxin 7 receptor protein required for peroxisomal import of proteins containing a peroxisomal targeting signal type 2. Mutations in PEX7 normally cause rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata type 1, a severe peroxisomal disorder. Biochemical analyses of the patients with RD revealed defects not only in phytanic acid alpha-oxidation but also in plasmalogen synthesis and peroxisomal thiolase. Furthermore, we identified mutations in the PEX7 gene. Our data show that mutations in the PEX7 gene may result in a broad clinical spectrum ranging from severe rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata to relatively mild RD and that clinical diagnosis of conditions involving retinitis pigmentosa, ataxia, and polyneuropathy may require a full screen of peroxisomal functions.


ABSTRACT Since the global economic recession, public services in the UK have been badly affected by austerity measures. However, whilst public services, including health, defence and the police faced significant cuts to their budgets, Primary Physical Education in England has actually received additional ring-fenced funding through the Physical Education and Sport Premium since 2013. This funding is provided directly to schools, and though the Department for Education provides guidance on how the Premium might be spent, schools effectively have autonomy to spend it in ways that they believe will best meet the needs of their learners and wider stakeholders. Utilising a mixed method approach involving analysing published material on school websites and semi-structured interviews with primary school and local authority staff, the aim of this article is to critically analyse how primary schools across a borough in the North West of England are spending the Premium. Our analysis is underpinned by principles of social justice, which we interpret as a marker for concerns to do with fairness, equality, exclusion, discrimination, power differentials and privilege. We argue that, in large part due to the autonomy of implementation, the Physical Education and Sport Premium has failed to realise its inherent social justice agenda in that investment in PE and school sport is unjust and too heavily dependent on the value placed upon it by individual schools. It is our contention therefore, that equal opportunities will remain unobtainable if the central tenets of the reproduction of privilege are allowed to remain uncontested.


A continuous multi-component fuel flame propagation and chemical kinetics model has been developed. In the multicomponent fuel model, the theory of continuous thermodynamics was used to model the properties and composition of fuels such as gasoline. The difference between the current continuous multi-component fuel model and previous similar models in the literature is that the source terms contributed by chemistry in the mean and the second moment transport equations have been considered. This new model was validated using results from a discrete multi-component fuel model. In the flame propagation and chemical kinetics model, five improved combustion sub-models were also integrated with the new continuous multi-component fuel model. To consider the change of local fuel vapor mixture composition, a "PRF adaptive" method is proposed that formulates a relationship between the fuel vapor mixture PRF number (or octane number) and the fuel vapor mixture composition based on the mean molecular weight and/or variance of the fuel vapor mixture composition in each cell. Simulations of single droplet vaporization with a single-component fuel (iso-octane) were compared with multi-component fuel cases.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Fibroids are a common finding among women in their reproductive years. In pregnancy, many are incidentally diagnosed and if they are large, they often require careful monitoring concerning their size, number, and location. This case presents a 27-year-old pregnant female with a 15 cm fibroid occupying the lower segment, who had delivered by a cesarean section. This was a complicated delivery conducted at the Bahrain Defence Force Royal Medical Services, requiring a high transverse incision, followed by an extended inverted T-incision. The baby was successfully delivered as breech after prior presenting in a transverse lie. In conclusion, in pregnant cases where large fibroids are obstructing the lower segment, performing a lower segment cesarean section (LSCS) followed by an inverted T-incision is the safest option. Deliveries by inverted T-incisions have increased throughout the years, and this could be explained by the recent favoring of performing cesarean myomectomies, in large obstructing fibroids. Nowadays, with advanced preparations, myomectomies during cesarean section are safely and frequently performed when the benefits outweigh the risks.


Because of a thirty three years personal experience, the author first analyses all the mentally handicapped persons helping structures. Then he points out the preponderance of the C.A.T. (social integration, specially french structure) because of their lighting up atmosphere, and the fact they put up with every cases. Those almost original para industrial structures are interested in productivity and wage earning, however, they partially keep their psychopedagogical aim with the guarantee of the psychiatrists. These specialists have also a formative role with the managers, and a mediator between one all the involved persons in C.A.T. With the mentally handicapped persons they are listening quietly and helping them to express their feelings. So those places are also an help for a normal life and a prevent against most of the psychiatric problems.


The present study attempted to control infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) with iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite as an antiviral compound. The iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite was prepared using the co-precipitation method and characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and cytotoxicity assay on Vero cells. To evaluate the effectiveness of iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite against IBDV, eighty 21-day-old Baladi broiler chicks were divided into four groups (G1-G4). Chicks kept in G1 served as a negative control, while chicks kept in G2 (challenged-non-treated) were challenged orally with IBDV 103EID\50/bird). Chicks kept in G3 (challenged-treated) were challenged orally with 1103EID\50 IBDV/bird and received 1 mL of iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite (1 mg dissolved in 100 mL water) for three days post-inoculation (PI) while chicks kept in G4 (non-challenged-treated) received the same dose of iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite for three successive days. The effectiveness of iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite was assessed based on clinical signs, mortalities, postmortem lesions, and viral RNA load in the bursa of Fabricius samples at the 3rd, 6th, and 9th days PI by isolation onto specific pathogen-free embryonated chicken eggs (SPF-ECE) and histopathology. Results revealed that the average particle size of iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite size was found to be 35.1±5 nm. The selected particles exhibited zeta potentials of 16.8±10.9 mV, polydispersity index of 0.91, and iron concentration of 2,625 mg/L. Chicks kept in G2 showed severe clinical signs, including anorexia, ruffled feathers with droopy wings, prostration, and whitish mucoid diarrhea with a mortality rate of 30%. Other groups showed no specific mortalities. The IBDV bursal load was significantly lower (P<0.05) in the challenged-treated chicks (0.5-1 log10) compared to the challenged-non-treated group (3-6.4 log10). Histopathological lesions of the bursa, spleen, thymus, and kidney in the challenged-treated group showed hyperactivity of the lymphoid population compared to necrosis and depletion of lymphoid elements in the challenged control group at the 6th days PI. Based on the current study, iron oxide chitosan nanocomposite showed a promising antiviral activity that could significantly reduce IBDV load in the bursa and decrease pathological changes in lymphoid organs.


High-quality perovskite films are critical to realize efficient photovoltaic performances of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). An unprocessed perovskite film contains a high density of defects, which results in low film quality. In order to reduce the trap density and passivate non-radiative recombination centers of perovskite films, scandium trifluoromethanesulfonate (Sc(OTF)3) is introduced into the perovskite precursor solution as a multifunctional additive. The sulfonic group could coordinate with lead ions, thus reducing the perovskite crystallization process, and a high quality perovskite film with large grain size, high crystallinity and few defects is obtained. Meanwhile, the doping of the rare earth ion Sc3+ in the perovskite precursor solution could lead to the interaction of Sc3+ with the perovskite, thereby improving film morphology and prolonging the charge carrier lifetime. In addition, the strong hydrogen bonding interaction between Sc(OTF)3 and MA+ could immobilize methylamine ions (MA+), contributing to the improved stability of the perovskite film. As a result, inverted PSCs with Sc(OTF)3 at a low doping amount of 0.1 mg ml−1 show a remarkable efficiency of 20.63% along with an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 1134 mV, a short circuit current density (Jsc) of 21.71 mA cm−2, and a high fill factor (FF) of 83.80%. So far, the FF of this system represents one of the highest results for inverted PSCs.


Jatropha curcas is a native Mexican plant, distributed in the forests of coastal regions; it has shown potential for the production of biofuel, and its raw protein can be used as animal feed. Nevertheless, its current varieties have low yield and production variability, as it is in domestication period. The knowledge of the pollen grains is fundamental for studies of Jatropha reproductive biology and breeding for genetic improvement to generate new hybrids and improve fruit and seed yield. This study compared pollen morphology of four Jatropha species, which include two varieties of J. curcas (one toxic from India and one non-toxic from Mexico), and two varieties of wild J. cinerea (Sinaloa and Baja California Sur); additionally, pollen was collected from wild J. platyphylla (Sinaloa) and J. vernicosa (Baja California Sur) to characterize them palynologically. We used a scanning electron microscope to describe the size and shape of pollen grains. Pollen grains were observed spheroidal. The diameter of the varieties of toxic and non-toxic J. curcas and that of J. platyphylla were 58 ± 2.3, 54 ± 1.7, and 51 ± 2.4 µm, respectively; the number of clavae was 84 ± 10, 108 ± 15, and 180 ± 15.5, respectively. Pollen grains of J. cinerea (Sinaloa) had a diameter of 50 ± 1.7 µm and 220 ± 14 clavae by area; J. cinerea (Baja California Sur) had a diameter of 45 ± 1.9 µm and 195 ± 14.7 clavae. Pollen grains of J. vernicosa had a diameter of 46 ± 2.1 µm and 231 ± 25.6 clavae. The ornamentation of the exine showed clava with capita gemma shaped for varieties of J. curcas species and clavum shaped for J. platyphylla , J. cinerea and J. vernicosa species . The studied varieties have a cross-linked endexine and ectexine intectate. Luminal bacules were observed in the reticular space of J . curcas varieties while none were present in the varieties of J. cinerea, J. platyphylla , and J. vernicosa .


Introduction: Applying foreign standards for accreditation of Master of Science in nursing and midwifery in Iran seems anomalous. Taking advantage of these foreign standards as well as the views of experts in nursing and midwifery, the researcher in this study tried to develop the accreditation standards according to educational circumstances in Iran. Methods: This study was performed in the years of 2005-2006 during multiple stages. In the first stage, international standards were gathered through the internet, and in the second stage, using these standards and the views of expert faculty members, proper standards for the context of Iran were set. During the third stage, Delphi technique was employed for taking votes. Whereas 50 persons having the criteria for entering the study were selected through purposeful sampling method and their viewpoints toward appropriateness of suggested standards for the educational circumstances of the country was obtained using the questionnaire designed in the second stage. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: After applying experts' views about applicability of these standards to circumstances in the country, 28 standards and 224 indices for nursing and midwifery education were proposed as final standards. Conclusion: Most standards had almost 90% desirability. Issues such as presenting evidences indicating the ability of speaking in English or qualification for education in Master of Science courses had less desirability. It seems that the main cause of their undesirability is the educational status in Iran.


Abstract Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the world. Despite the importance of combating cancer in healthcare systems and research centers, toxicity in normal tissues and the low efficiency of anticancer drugs are major problems in chemotherapy. Nowadays the aim of many medical research projects is to discover new safer and more effective anticancer agents. 1,3,4-Thiadiazole compounds are important fragments in medicinal chemistry because of their wide range of biological activities, including anticancer activities. The aim of this study was to determine the capacity of newly synthesized 1,3,4-thiadiazole compounds as chemotherapeutic agents. The structures of the obtained compounds were elucidated using 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and mass spectrometry. Although the thiadiazole derivatives did not prove to be significantly cytotoxic to the tumour tissue cultures, compound 4i showed activity against the C6 rat brain cancer cell line (IC50 0.097 mM) at the tested concentrations.


This paper presents large-scale computations and theoretical or computational aspects of the spectral element methods for solving Maxwell's equations that have potential applications in nanoscience for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and solar cell devices. We study the surface-enhanced electromagnetic fields near the surface of metallic nanoparticles using spectral element discontinuous Galerkin method. We solve Maxwell's equations in time-domain and provide accuracy and efficiency of our method compared to the conventional finite difference method. We demonstrate light transmission properties for nanoslab and nanoslits, and time-averaged electric fields over the cross sections of nanoholes in a hexagonal array.


We consider applying multi-armed bandits to model-assisted designs for dose-finding clinical trials. Multi-armed bandits are very simple and powerful methods to determine actions to maximize a reward in a limited number of trials. Among the multi-armed bandits, we first consider the use of Thompson sampling which determines actions based on random samples from a posterior distribution. In the small sample size, as shown in dose-finding trials, because the tails of posterior distribution are heavier and random samples are too much variability, we also consider an application of regularized Thompson sampling and greedy algorithm. The greedy algorithm determines a dose based on a posterior mean. In addition, we also propose a method to determine a dose based on a posterior median. We evaluate the performance of our proposed designs for six scenarios via simulation studies. ∗Address: Biometrics Department, R&D Division, Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. Otemachi Financial City Grand Cube, 1-9-2 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-004, Japan. Tel: +81-3-5205-7200 E-Mail: email@example.com 1 ar X iv :2 20 1. 05 26 8v 1 [ st at .M E ] 1 4 Ja n 20 22


The aim of the current study was to identify the Rugby game-related statistics that discriminated between winning and losing teams in International Rugby Board (IRB) competitions (World Cup and Six Nations) and Super Twelve Tournament (S12) in close and balanced games. A cluster analysis was conducted to establish, according to game final score differences, three different match groups. Only the close and balanced games group was selected for further analysis. An analysis of the structure coefficients (SC) obtained through a discriminant analysis allowed the identification of the most powerful game-related statistics in discriminating between winning and losing teams. The results showed that when compared, IRB and S12 close and balanced games were evident, although significant between-games differences were found for all of the analysed group clusters. This suggests that for close and balanced games a general profile may be created, which is probably specific to each team, and may indicate the strengths and weaknesses of that specific competition groups.


International perspectives on small firms in tourism: a synthesis (R. Thomas). Tourism, small firm development and empowerment in post-apartheid South Africa (C.M. Rogerson). Factors affecting small firms in tourism: a Ghanaian perspective (W.C. Gartner). Government assistance for tourism SMEs from theory to practice (S. Wanhill). Short-run output and employment effects arising from assistance to tourism SMEs: evidence from Israel (A. Fleischer, D. Felsenstein). Risky lifestyles? Entrepreneurial characteristics of the New Zealand bed and breakfast sector (C.M. Hall, K. Rusher). From lifestyle consumption to lifestyle production: changing patterns of tourism entrepreneurship (G. Shaw, A.M. Williams). Success and growth in rural tourism micro-businesses in Finland: financial or life-style objectives? (R. Komppula). The interaction of community and small tourism businesses in rural New Zealand (D. Keen). Whale watching: the roles of small firms in the evolution of a new Australian niche market (N. Scott, E. Laws). Small firms and wine and food tourism in New Zealand: issues of collaboration, clusters and lifestyles (C.M Hall). Quality homes, quality people: the challenge of quality grading and assurance in small accommodation enterprises (P.A. Lynch, H. Tucker). Overcoming the green gap: improving the environmental performance of small tourism firms in Western Australia (M. Schaper, J. Carlsen). Small firms and the principles of sustainable tourism: the case of cycle tourism (N.D. Morpeth). Accommodating the spiritual tourist the case of religious retreat houses (M. Shackley). Small firm performance in the context of agent and structure: a cross-cultural comparison in the tourist accommodation sector (A. Morrison, R.M. Teixeira). Coping with resource scarcity: the experience of UK tourism SMEs (M.M. Augustyn). Strategic and structural variables in internationalisation: the case of Swiss tourism SMEs (A. Mungall, C. Johnson) Small tourism firms in e-Europe: definitional, conceptual and contextual considerations (H. Matlay).


Superabsorbent polymers derived from petroleum have been widely used as the primary component of high-water-absorption disposable sanitary products. However, environmental concerns as well as unstable market prices influence the quality of disposable hygiene products. The development of superabsorbent polymers from natural, non-petroleum-derived materials has become more predominant. In the present study, two borax-cross-linked carboxymethyl guar-based superabsorbents with bentonite (CMG-Bt) and fumed silica particle reinforcement (CMG-Bt-Si) were synthesized. The materials have been fully characterized by various techniques. The swelling behavior was studied through free swelling capacity (FSC) and centrifuge retention capacity (CRC). The swelling kinetics and urea absorption capacity were further analyzed. The effects of the cross-linking ratio, mineral clay, silica particles, and pH of the liquids on the swelling properties of the superabsorbents have been studied. The incorporation of silica particles demonstrated a positive effect on water uptake reaching 78.63 and 41.09 g/g of FSC and CRC, respectively, at an optimum pH of 6.8. The optimum swelling kinetics were attributed to CMG-Bt-Si of 5 wt % silica particle content, indicating a velocity parameter (ζ) of 41 s in saline solution. Finally, the highest swelling values were obtained at 10, 10, and 5 wt % for the cross-linking ratio, bentonite content, and silica particle content, respectively; in addition, the absorption of urea by the CMG-Bt-Si material was also confirmed.


Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods were grown on the substrate by sonication. Transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence, and X-ray diffraction were performed for nanorods synthesized by sonication, which leads to formation of ZnO crystals. For field emission measurements, ZnO nanorods were used as cathode and a green phosphor coated ITO glass was used as anode, where cathode and anode plates were separated by a spacer of 270 mum. Therefore, due to the easy fabrication process and good field emission characteristics, these sonochemically synthesized ZnO nanorods can be regarded as one of key potential field emitters.


This book addresses the opportunity to cultivate a non food bioenergy crop, Jatropha Curcas L. in Bangladesh. As a renewable resource and a sustainable substitute for fossil fuel, Jatropha curcas produces seeds containing inedible oil, which can supply fuel and meet the national energy demands of Bangladesh. The plant does not need arable lands and does not compete with food. This book also highlights the land use patterns and possible cultivation areas of Bangladesh. It is based on research of the cultivation technology, ecological and agronomical aspects, crop yield and harvesting. It also highlights the uses and socioeconomic benefits of the plant, production costs and briefly describes the procedure for the production of biodiesel and other useful byproducts. The comparison of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas with conventional fossil fuel is also discussed as well as its ability to sequester carbon from the environment.


Currently, there are many different interpretations in the literature of what a circular economy is and how it functions. As cities are still facing challenges to become fully sustainable, the need for a comprehensive analysis of how the circular economy can be implemented in urban areas is increasing. This article aims at outlining circular cities by their key characteristics and to further explore and provide a framework for fostering circularity at the city level. In order to achieve this goal, we performed a systematic review and analyzed key papers published in the field of circular economy to determine how circular economy practices form circular cities. We discovered that cities play a focal role in facilitating the transition towards circularity through the closing of the loops, recirculation, technical innovation, policy elaboration and citizens' support. However, city policymakers are still uncertain about how a circular city looks like and what its purpose is, as views are ranging from a strategic ambition to a niche concept of a smart city. Such uncertainty brings challenges, especially in the transition phase that many cities are in at the moment. This further implies that circular economy applied at the urban level still needs effort and innovation to successfully pass the transition phase from the linear economy. Therefore, lastly, we developed a framework model that can be adapted in other cities to facilitate their transition to circular cities.


Resilience in women older than age 85 is defined as the response of rebound and improvement in function after devastating illness. Using a snowball recruitment method, 7 women from a midwestern U.S. city participated (mean age = 88.625 years), representing various ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Responses from these women related to resilience after illness late in life included their experiences with frailty, determination to overcome adversity, previous experience with hardship, ability to access care, cultural influences, family support, caring for self, caring for others, and descriptions of functioning similar to an efficient machine. Further research is needed to explore resilience in older women; however, specific nursing interventions are suggested related to these themes.


Short-course handbooks are invariably written in a hurry, and printed from typescript. This results in a high concentration oferrors (nearly four pages of errata), and a certain lack of co-ordination (I read the chapters in the order I to 4, 9, 7, 5, 8, 6, and Io to 15). These disadvantages are offset by a freshness of approach unusual in conventional books, by the low price, and by the opportunity to see how leading workers in the field were thinking as recently as April I977 . Within the limitations of the form of publication, this is a good book. It is readable (which cannot be said of many books on thermodynamics), and it should provoke the interest of many of those who have been indifferent to thermodynamics and the enthusiasm of some who profess an interest in that subject. It ought to play a useful part in raising the general standard of work towards that which exists in the best laboratories. It should be bought by all libraries serving mineralogists and petrologists, and by many individuals. R . G . J . STRENS


An ad hoc network is a collection of wireless mobile nodes dynamically forming a temporary network without the use of any existing network infrastructure or centralized administration. This paper evaluates some of the existing routing protocols such as dynamic source routing (DSR), ad hoc on-demand distance vector routing (AODV), destination-sequenced distance-vector (DSDV) and proposed a new protocol. An attempt has been made to compare the performance of two prominent on-demand reactive routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks: DSR and AODV, along with the traditional proactive DSDV protocol. These protocols involve communication overheads of route maintenance and route discovery and use single route. The nodes which do not possess enough power to carry out the data delivery process should not be used in route selection. Taking into account all these parameters, a new routing protocol has been proposed. This protocol uses the concept of virtual node and the power feature of a mobile node. The scheme establishes the multiple paths without transmitting any extra control message. A simulation model with MAC and physical layer models is used to study interlayer interactions and their performance implications. The performance differentials for the existing ones are analyzed using varying network load, mobility, throughput in data delivery and network size. These simulations are carried out based on the Rice Monarch Project that has made substantial extensions to the NS-2 network simulator to run ad hoc simulations


In the Mediterranean region, fish is a common cause of food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES) in children. No laboratory tests specific to FPIES are available, and oral food challenge (OFC) is the gold standard for its diagnosis and testing for achievement of tolerance. Children with FPIES to fish are usually advised to avoid all fish, regardless of the species. Fish are typically classified into bony and cartilaginous, which are phylogenetically distant species and therefore contain less cross-reacting allergens. The protein β-parvalbumin, considered a pan-allergenic, is found in bony fish, while the non-allergenic α-parvalbumin is commonly found in cartilaginous fish. Based on this difference, as a first step in the therapeutic process of children with FPIES caused by a certain fish in the bony fish category (i.e., hake, cod, perch, sardine, gilthead sea bream, red mullet, sole, megrim, sea bass, anchovy, tuna, swordfish, trout, etc.), an OFC to an alternative from the category of cartilaginous fish is suggested (i.e., blue shark, tope shark, dogfish, monkfish, skate, and ray) and vice versa. Regarding the increased mercury content in some sharks and other large species, the maximum limit imposed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for weekly mercury intake must be considered. An algorithm for the management of fish-FPIES, including alternative fish species, is proposed.


The syntheses, structural investigations, magnetic and photophysical properties of a series of 10 lanthanide mononuclear complexes, containing the heteroditopic ligand cyanomethylene-bis(5,5-dimethyl-2-oxo-1,3,2λ(5)-dioxa-phosphorinane) (L), are described. The crystallographic analyses indicate two structural types: in the first one, [Ln(III)(L)3(H2O)2]·H2O (Ln = La, Pr, Nd), the metal ions are eight-coordinated within a square antiprism geometry, while the second one, [Ln(III)(L)3(H2O)]·8H2O (Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er), contains seven-coordinated Ln(III) ions within distorted monocapped trigonal prisms. Intermolecular hydrogen bonding between nitrogen atoms of the cyano groups, crystallization, and coordination water molecules leads to the formation of extended supramolecular networks. Solid-state photophysical investigations demonstrate that Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes possess intense luminescence with relatively long excited-state lifetimes of 530 and 1370 μs, respectively, while Pr(III), Dy(III), and Ho(III) complexes have weak intensity luminescence characterized by short lifetimes ranging between a few nanoseconds to microseconds. The magnetic properties for Pr(III), Gd(III), Tb(III), Dy(III), and Ho(III) complexes are in agreement with isolated Ln(III) ions in the solid state, as suggested by the single-crystal X-ray analyses. Alternating current (ac) susceptibility measurements up to 10 kHz reveal that only the Ho(III) complex shows a frequency-dependent ac response, with a relaxation mode clearly observed at 1.85 K around 4500 Hz.


Abstract The aim of this study was to demonstrate the histochemical and histopathological alterations in the livers of cows with a tendency to become emaciated (body condition score - BCS1 and 2) and a tendency to become fattened (BCS4 and 5) in comparison to the cows of average body condition (BCS3) presented as a control. The histochemical analysis (PAS reaction) showed that the influence of emaciation and fattening in our study was manifested by a decreased occurrence of glycogen and a decreased level of the PAS-positive matter in the hepatocytes of dairy cows with BCS1, 2, 4 and 5. An abundant accumulation of lipids in the form of large lipid droplets, liposomes and lipoproteins observed in the hepatocytes of emaciated and fattened (BCS1 and 5) cows may be related to moderate-severe steatosis. These observations suggest a relationship between liver steatosis and the occurrence of lipoproteins in cows with a tendency toward emaciation and fattening.


Communication is the most important thing in human life. It was given to construct the best interaction between people. From the initial observation, most students have difficulties in understanding what they have listened to. The purpose of this research is to find out the most difficulties faced by students at second-semester unit B English department STAIN Gajah Putih Takengon academic year of 2017/2018. The methodology is  descriptive method with qualitative approach. The techniques of collecting data are observation, test, interview, and documentation.   Eventually, in finding describe some difficulties faced by the students in understanding the speech. The students do not gain satisfactory scores, low motivation in listening, lacked vocabularies and grammar obstacles. Most of all, the most difficulties is the speed. Students felt easier when listen to the slower speech rather than normal or faster speed. It is due to pronunciation style and intonation.


Management of Cancer Pain About 50-80% of all cancer patients experience pain which is due to different reasons, originated at different locations, and showed different levels of intensity. Sometimes the pain is not provoked by the tumor itself but is due to other causes, e.g. disk prolaps. However, normally the pain is caused by the tumor or the metastases. Specialized methods of cancer treatment such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy provide the most efficient and direct approaches to relieve the patients from their pain. However, this approach normally needs more time than symptomatic pain management. Adequate symptomatic therapy of cancer pain given as transient or permanent treatment leads to rapid pain relief. Based on the type and location of pain, the underlying cause of pain is diagnosed and the most suitable treatment regime is chosen. Basic rules of medical pain therapy according to the WHO pain relief ladder, the regular intake of medicines and a pain survey with individual dose adjustment should be observed. Co-medication with antiemetics and laxatives should also be initiated to prevent side effects such as nausea and constipation. Co-analgetics such as anticonvulsants to relief neuropathic pain should be given early. Pain is always a multidimensional problem, and an interdisciplinary approach should be an integral part of care in cancer patients including not only adequate pain medication but also physical therapy as well as psychological and social support.