To date, available information on the herbal industry in Malaysia is less streamlined and coordinated. There is a need for a database containing comprehensive information on the herbal industry in Malaysia. To meet this aspiration, studies on herbal industry value chain is important. This book is written based on a study conducted from 2014 to 2016 with four main objectives: (1) To develop a database on the herbal chain players, (2) To identify the demand and supply of raw materials and products of herbal products, (3) To identify the gaps in the landscape of the herbal industry, and (4) To identify the issues and challenges in the herbal industry. This study used two approaches, namely qualitative and quantitative, involving primary and secondary data collection. Secondary data on the list of registered herbal chain players was obtained from Department of Agriculture (DOA), Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia (MOSTI), SME Corp Malaysia, Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), Farmers' Organization Authority (Lembaga Pertubuhan Peladang, LPP), Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) and FRIM. Based on the baseline information, an extensive survey using questionnaire was conducted from 2 September 2014 to 15 January 2015 to gather information on the distribution and status of the chain players in the herbal industry in Peninsular Malaysia. This extensive survey identified, and marked using GPS, a total of 6545 herbal industry players ranging 6200 to 6900 at 95% confidence. It includes five categories of player, namely planting material supplier (PMS), cultivator, producer, wholesaler and retailer in Peninsular Malaysia. A detailed survey was subsequently conducted from 10 March till 31 July, 2015 using stratified sampling method to obtain detailed information from herbal chain players. Based on Michael Porter's value chain model (1985), three sets of questionnaire were used during the survey. In this detailed survey, a total of 679 players (10% sampling rate and stratified sampling) were interviewed. The detailed survey showed the following important findings and implications. (a) Even though the herbal industry has been developed for long time, it is still in infancy. This study showed that 83% of the herbal chain players operated after the new millennium. About 69% of the chain players had only 1–3 herbal staff while another 22% had 4–6 herbal staff. Besides, 95% of PMS and 71% of cultivators operated less than 1 ha. Most of the players were still using manual system/equipment indicating the need to enhance technological adoption to bring the industry to a higher level. Furthermore, 60% of chain players did not have proper storage. As high as 91% of product buyers were locals. There is lack of proper marketing strategies. The industry is highly dependent on marketing through existing network relationship. This limits the products to reach a wider range of customers. (b) The number of herbal industry established increased by 219% during the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006–2010) and Tenth Malaysia Plan (2011–2015) compared to the previous same period. It is parallel to the focus given by the government to increase the value added products of the herbal industry through the generation of new economic resources under the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) which was introduced in 2010. This shows that the government plays the most important role in developing the industry. (c) Sustainability of the raw materials for the industry is an issue needs to be properly handled by the policy makers. Tongkat ali and kacip fatimah were two key species in Malaysian herbal industry whose supply was still heavily dependent on the natural forest where the resources are depleting. Domestication of these species is important. (d) Authentication of raw materials is crucial for future development as majority of planting material suppliers and cultivators did not know the origin of their planting materials and did not verify the species. Authentication and verification are basic requirements in producing high quality raw materials and products. (e) Most of the chain players were Malays accounted for 88% of all players. The herbal industry needs to be further developed as this could help to narrow the economic gap between the Malays and non–Malays in the country. (f) Of the total 672 chain players, 54% attained diploma or degree. The potential to further develop the industry will be facilitated as players were generally educated. (g) Majority (93%) of workers in the herbal industry were locals, indicating that Malaysian workers are willing to get involved in the herbal industry and there is less need to depend on foreign workers.


HISTORY AND INTRODUCTION................................................ 162 EPIDEMIOLOGY AND SEROLOGY.............................................. 163 IMMUNITY TO MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE .................................... 165 OROPHARYNGEAL CARRIAGE................................................. 166 MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE ................................................... 167 PATHOGENESIS OF HEMORRHAGIC PURPURIC SKIN LESIONS IN MENINGOCOCCEMIA...................................................... 168 PATHOGENESIS OF SYSTEMIC HEMORRHAGIC LESIONS....................... 170 PATHOGENESIS OF MENINGOCOCCAL MENINGITIS ....... .................... 171 ANIMAL MODELS FOR MENINGOCOCCAL INFECTION ...... ................... 172 MENINGOCOCCAL PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOGENESIS OF DISEASE ..... ....... 174 IRON AND VIRULENCE ........................................................ 175 RESPIRATORY CHAIN ......................................................... 177 SULFUR METABOLISM ........................................................ 178 CARBON DIOXIDE REQUIREMENT ............................................. 179 CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM ............................................... 179 MENINGOCOCCAL SURFACE CAPSULES ........... ............................ 179 LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE (ENDOTOXIN) ............ ............................. 180 PILI.......................................................... 181 SUMMARY .......................................................... 182 LITERATURE CITED .......................................................... 183


Patients with extended skin field cancerisation ESFC can have poor oncological outcomes and poor quality of life The durability of traditional non surgical skin field treatments is disappointing Our national radiation oncology teams developed a technique using volumetric modulated arc therapy VMAT to treat ESFC which has been published This technique was influenced by what we learned from unique patient cases some of which are described herein Several issues have been uncovered through our experience in treating ESFC to date the difficulty in measuring acute skin toxicity with the current grading systems the cause and treatment of pain during the treatment course optimal total dose and fractionation schedules with VMAT including the need for a treatment break radio sensitivity of ESFC the apparent lack of accelerated repopulation in ESFC the impact of pre existing immune suppression and radiation sensitizing medications and the need for the ldquo spare strip rdquo ndash the provision of spare strips of skin on limbs especially legs to preserve lymphatic drainage Monitoring of the success of the technique is ongoing The technique also continues to be influenced by unique learning cases as they arise nbsp


The authors investigated whether coping styles moderated the relationship between (a) impulsivity and stress and (b) stress and gambling behavior and tested whether impulsive persons who use avoidant or emotion-focused coping under high-stress conditions are most likely to gamble. Among 202 university student volunteers, 33% of men but only 3% of women reported problem or pathological gambling, and neither stress, impulsiveness, nor coping predicted gambling among women. Among men, impulsiveness, task coping, and emotion coping accounted for significant and unique variance in gambling. For higher task coping and lower emotion-focused coping, impulsiveness had a weaker relationship to gambling. Additionally, among nonimpulsive men, emotion-focused coping in high stress conditions was most likely to result in gambling.


Agriculture is the largest sector in most sub-Saharan economies in terms of employment, and it plays an important role in supplying food and export earnings. Rural poverty rates remain high, and labor productivity is strikingly low. This article asks how these factors shape the role of agriculture in African development strategies. Is agricultural growth a prerequisite for growth in other sectors? Or will urbanization and nonagricultural export markets ultimately be the forces that pull the rural economy into higher productivity? We argue that agricultural development strategies will vary widely because of heterogeneity across and within countries.


The conventional quasi-one junction SQUID (QOS) as a comparator must have a loop inductance less than a threshold. Such a small loop inductance cannot be realized in high temperature superconductor (HTS) having larger sheet inductance. We suggest novel comparators based on QOS for HTS material, in which a few circuits are added to the QOS. The comparator operation is shown in analog simulation. It results in high accuracy below the sampling rate of 50 GS/s by use of typical YBCO junction parameters. The comparator operation at extremely high sampling rate over 100 GS/s is also feasible.


Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common chronic inflammatory disease affecting the oral mucosa. The pathogenesis of OLP is incompletely understood but is thought to be related to the immune system. As the oral cavity is a major reservoir and transmission gateway for bacteria, viruses, and fungi, the microbial composition of the oral cavity could play a role in the pathogenesis of OLP. However, limited by analytic technology and knowledge of the microbial community in the oral cavity, it is not yet clear which pathogens are associated with OLP. Next generation sequencing (NGS) is a powerful tool to identify pathogens for many infectious diseases. In this study, we compared the host cell gene expression profiles and the microbial profiles between OLP patients and matched healthy individuals. We identified the activation of the hepatocyte nuclear factor alpha (HNF4A) network in OLP patients and potential pathogens, including Corynebacterium matruchotii, Fusobacterium periodonticum, Streptococcus intermedius, Streptococcus oralis, and Prevotella denticola. Prevotella denticola is capable of activating the HNF4A gene network. Our findings shed light on the previously elusive association of OLP with various diseases like hepatitis, and indicate that OLP is a T-helper type 17 (Th17) mediated mucosal inflammatory process. The identified molecular pathways and microbes could be used to inform future investigations into OLP pathogenesis and to develop novel therapeutics for OLP treatment.


This study investigates the variety of ethical decisions of project managers and their impact from corporate governance and project governance structures. The roles of personal trust and system trust as a mechanism to steer ethical decision making in different governance settings is explored. Nine qualitative case studies in Europe, Asia, and Australia show that ethical decision making is contingent on trust, which in turn is contingent on the fulfillment of personal expectations within a given governance structure. The findings show the prerequisites for ethical decision making and the consequences of lack of trust. Further managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.


This paper presents results of the study on preferences of inhabitants of the Częstochowa Region in Poland in the field of groundwater protection. The choice experiment (CE) method was applied, and willingness to pay (WTP) for improving groundwater quality through the development of sewerage systems was assessed. The results indicate that there is substantial WTP for water quality improvements. Households are willing to pay 18.25 PLN (4.43 EUR) per month to remain pollution at the maximum safe level according to EU regulations (reducing nitrate concentration in groundwater to 50 mg∙L-1). Our results add to the expanding literature on the valuation of water resources and can be useful in analysis of investment effectiveness, in the valuation of environmental costs and benefits related to improvement or deterioration of groundwater condition, and in the pricing policy debate in terms of fees and prices for water and water services.


The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate and find out the benefits of online advertising on social networking sites such as Facebook in Bangladesh. The mode of advertising and the perspective of Marketing have been changing to reach quick and easily near to customer door. From 1999 to 2012, IAB reports show that the internet advertising revenues hit historically at nearly $9.3 billion. Digital Marketing is a highly effective medium for interacting and engaging to the consumers, through social media consumers play no longer as passive but are more active participants in contemporary online media. The online advertising is an increasingly important component of public relations, organisations use social network sites to build relationships with key publics, provide a variety of organisational information.The proposed study aims to discuss a brief overview of the market of social network advertising and to determine the effectiveness of advertisements on social networking to attract customers. The online business in Bangladesh has just been moving positively where 5 per cent of total population are active internet user and 1.9 per cent of total population are using Facebook (By IWS, September 2012).A qualitative research with case study design has been used to find out the total effectiveness of online advertising on Bangladesh marketing system using of social networking site Facebook. The data have collected from several media, from own website and from Facebook advert page before data been organised by the help of SPSS.The outcomes from this research are not enough to justify the whole scenario of Bangladesh online marketing facilities. A single marketing organisation like bikroy.com has just launch no more than two years.In the recommendations section Bangladesh would be a great area to make any organisation profitable by using of social networking sites like Facebook. Online advertising are getting benefited as the internet user are increasing rapidly in Bangladesh.


The paper contains a detailed description of the clinical case of a rare ophthalmic congenital disease congenital microphthalmos with cyst. Obtained information may facilitate a correct diagnosis and treatment of this condition and may be useful for practicing ophthalmologists.


Skin cancer nurses play a vital role in the management and education of their patients. Many nurses also assess skin lesions at follow up visits but have not progressed to a primary screening role. Having completed a structured training package a nurse practitioner successfully took this step. The safety of the transition was assessed by studying her assessment of 100 unselected patients seen in the skin cancer clinic. The assessment was compared to that of a consultant dermatologist. The main question asked for each patient was whether their lesion was definitely benign or whether there was an element of doubt. In every case the nurse's assessment accorded with that of the consultant. We believe this indicates an adequate level of safety to allow the nurse to see and discharge patients with lesions she deems to be benign.


This monograph on the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park summarizes results and implications of a 12-year study of the species in a park renowned as protected wolf habitat. In 1958, Algonquin Provincial Park became the 3rd area in North America where wolf populations were legally protected from harvest by humans (preceded by Denali [Alaska] and Isle Royale [Michigan] national parks in the United States). In this volume Theberge and Theberge present much original data from a field study conducted in 1987–1999, supplemented by inclusion of major portions of student theses that dealt with aspects of wolf ecology as well as previously published papers from peer-reviewed journals. This unusual format provides a comprehensive review of information gained by the authors during 12 years of fieldwork, as well as a comparison with data gathered by Douglas Pimlott and colleagues during a pioneering study in 1959–1963 (Pimlott et al. 1969), a study that laid the foundation for research that senior author John Theberge conducted with Pimlott in the 1960s on wolf vocalizations (Theberge and Falls 1967) and behavior in summer (Theberge and Pimlott 1969). This monograph was published by the University of Waterloo, not necessarily known as an outlet for major publications on mammals. However, there are good reasons why the authors may have chosen this nontraditional outlet for this significant publication on wolves. Probably most important is simply a desire to provide a single source for research findings that cover a wide range of topics in wolf ecology, including anecdotal information of the type that is rarely found in peer-reviewed journal papers. An additional reason is that the fieldwork was severely challenged because the work generated much politically charged policy discussion, elevating emotion and attention, both positive and negative. Among the acknowledgements of important contributions of field assistants, graduate students, pilots, funding sources, and the like, a university attorney also is mentioned, providing an indication of the level of controversy that surrounded this research. I suspect the authors wanted to present their comprehensive data and interpretation in 1 place without further delay. The significance of the study reported here is 2-fold. First, the study area contains a form of wolf that has helped launch a major resurgence of scientific interest in the ecological and genetic implications of hybridization among species of Canis. A new species, the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon), has been proposed (Wilson et al. 2000) that includes the Algonquin wolf, thought to be the original form of gray wolf that spawned dispersing populations to Eurasia in the Pliocene and itself survived in North America south of the Pleistocene ice sheets. This small form of wolf shows many ecological and genetic similarities to the endangered red wolf (Canis rufus), which historically occupied the southeastern Gulf Plain and much of the east coast of the present United States. The red wolf was endangered by hybridization with coyotes (Canis latrans); indeed, the species was declared extinct in the wild in the 1970s and rescued by a captive-breeding effort. Similarly, the putative eastern wolf is compromised by genetic hybridization with coyotes, especially to the south of Algonquin Park where intact forest gives way to mixed farm–forest habitats with high road density and greater human-induced mortality. Algonquin Provincial Park thus provides a critical area where an evolutionarily unique form of wolf survives in a reasonably secure wild habitat. The greater human impacts to the south of the park provide context for the 2nd significant aspect of this study. The research reported here provided much detail on the migratory behavior of wolves that developed in recent decades (after the study by Pimlott and colleagues), as wolves began to follow whitetailed deer out of the park to 2 deeryards adjacent to the park's southern edge. These changes coincided with a significant decline in deer in the park as forested habitats grew older. However, what resulted was a significant increase in humancaused mortality of wolves that were shot, trapped, and especially snared as they entered deeryards outside the park. The refugium that should characterize wildlife habitat in Algonquin Park turned out to be inadequate. Responding to the challenge stimulated by this research, as delivered by conservation organizations, high-level provincial politicians acted over a period of many years to provide a buffer outside of the park boundaries where wolves would be protected. The final political solution was a 6-mile-wide buffer strip surrounding the park where wolves were permanently protected, probably a 1st for parks or preserves around the world. The brief summary of these actions provided at the end of the monograph does not attempt to convey the acrimony and controversy that were part of the story, but the authors provide some of this in another book published earlier (Theberge and Theberge 1998). The most important data in this monograph are annual survival rates and causes of mortality recorded for 137 wolves that were radiocollared inside the park. In 10 of 11 years, mortality exceeded 25%, and ranged as high as 48%. About two-thirds of all wolf mortality was human-caused, especially in the townships south of the park. Fifty-eight percent of wolves killed by humans died in 2 deeryards outside the park. Wolf population density, which declined during the study, was maintained primarily by immigration. Chronic population decline continued at a slow rate, and a workshop conducted in 2000 by the Captive Breeding Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission, International Union for the 2008 American Society of Mammalogists www.mammalogy.org


OBJECTIVE
To compare binding activity of different zinc finger domain of human Kaiso with methylated CpG.

METHODS
pGEX constructs with different human Kaiso domain were generated and then corresponding fusion proteins were induced and purified. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays were applied to evaluate the binding activity of fusion proteins with methylated CpG.

RESULTS
The purified GST-KaisoZF fusion protein (without the POZ protein binding domain) could bind with methylated CpG probe specifically, but not for three or two zinc fingers without flanking domains.

CONCLUSION
Human zinc finger protein Kaiso could bind with methylated CpG specifically, only in the assistance of the neighboring flank sequence of the zinc finger domain.


ABSTRACT
Heart failure readmission rates continue to rise and cause economic burden in the US. Advancements in hemodynamic monitoring offer the ability to monitor intracardiac pressures at home and provide data that are used to optimize outpatient management of heart failure, resulting in reduced hospitalization and mortality associated with heart failure.


This work provides up-to-date information on over 30 locations where paranormal activites have occurred, including such places as Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire - the scene of UFO encounters and alien abductions; Borley Rectory in Essex - possibly the most haunted place in Britain; Pendle in Lancashire - infamous for witchcraft; Dover Castle in Kent - home to an apparition; Glastonbury in Somerset - associated with magical powers; and Loch Ness in Scotland - home to the well-known monster. Peter Hough includes both historical and contemporary cases and includes some lesser-known phenomena that have occurred around the country. For each entry he also gives information on how to reach the place, and on events or festivals held there during the year.


Banach's fixed point theorem for contraction operators on Banach spaces is generalized to inductive limits of Banach spaces. Within the framework of white noise analysis such spaces and (generalized) contraction operators arise naturally in the context of non-linear stochastic integral equations. In order to apply the fixed point theorem we establish topological isomorphisms between spaces of continuous mappings with values in generalized random variables, and those with values in U-functionals. As an application we prove that the Cauchy problem for a dass of non-linear stochastic heat equations is well-posed. The same method also applies to stochastic Volterra equations, stochastic reaction-diffusion equations and anticipating stochastic differential equations.


Information on the business side of demographics including consumers in groups such as African-Americans, Asian-American, Hispanic-Americans, LGBTQ populations, affluents and women and men.


In many European Union countries, the beekeeping sector is in decline due to the decrease of the agricultural land areas, pesticides and bee diseases. However, there are countries where honey production is augmenting. Romania is among the countries where honey production has considerably increased over the last decade. The scope of this paper is to show the honey production evolution in Romania between 2000 and 2011 and is based on the statistics provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development.The data has been produced with the help of following metrics and indicators: the number of beekeepers, the number of bee families, honey consumption, honey price and honey production. During the mentioned period, the total number of bees has grown continuously with a maximum for 2011 at 1.2 million of bee families. Honey production also increased from 11.746 tons for the year 2000 to 24.700 tons for 2011. Therefore we can conclude that Romania is among the countries with a welldeveloped beekeeping industry, due to several factors: the high number of bee families available for farming, the quantity and quality of honey production, the diversity of bee farming and the results of scientific research and human resources'level of work qualification.


Abstract In a pebble bed reactor (PBR) core, nuclear fuel in the form of pebbles moves slowly under the influence of gravity. Due to the dynamic nature of the core, a thorough understanding about slow and dense granular flow of pebbles is required from both a reactor safety point of view and a performance evaluation point of view. In the current study, validation of discrete element method (DEM)–based simulation for the pebble flow in a PBR was carried out. Validation of DEM-based simulations necessitates validation of the employed numerical method of simulating packed structure. Hence, a parametric sensitivity study of packing interaction properties was initially conducted and also validation of the numerical method simulating packed structure at first. The parametric sensitivity analysis suggests that static friction characteristics play an important role from a packed/pebble bed structural characterization point of view. In addition, the simulated packed structure approach has shown a good agreement with the available benchmark data. Afterward, the effect of two different half-cone angles of 30 deg and 60 deg on pebble flow field in a PBR was studied by EDEMTM-based simulations. Results of streamlines, velocity radial profiles, and direct observation of discharge indicated a plug-type flow in the upper cylindrical region, whereas results indicated converging-type flow near the bottom conical region. EDEMTM results of granular flow were validated against experimental benchmark data and show a fair agreement in terms of Lagrangian trajectories and velocity profile. Therefore, this validated EDEMTM-based simulation can be used to obtain reliable results of pebble dynamics in a PBR and to enhance understanding of this phenomenon in a PBR. However, additional experimental investigations are recommended to be carried out for different sizes of test reactors, different bottom cone angles, and different sizes of pebbles to further assess DEM simulation results before using them for full-scale reactor simulations.


Abstract We consider community detection in degree-corrected stochastic block models. We propose a spectral clustering algorithm based on a suitably normalized adjacency matrix. We show that this algorithm consistently recovers the block membership of all but a vanishing fraction of nodes, in the regime where the lowest degree is of order log(n) or higher. Recovery succeeds even for very heterogeneous degree distributions. The algorithm does not rely on parameters as input. In particular, it does not need to know the number of communities.


Prior research has found that intercollegiate athletes consume more alcohol and experience more negative alcohol-related consequences than nonathletes, but no measure of sport-related reasons for alcohol use currently exists. The purpose of this study was to develop such a measure, which the authors termed the Athlete Drinking Scale (ADS). An exploratory factor analysis supported the existence of 3 subscales: Positive Reinforcement, Team/Group, and Sport-Related Stress. Additional analyses supported the internal consistency and construct validity of the subscales, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that the ADS accounted for a significant amount of variance in both alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems among intercollegiate athletes. The ADS appears to be a promising tool for measuring sport-related reasons for intercollegiate athlete alcohol use.


BACKGROUND
 Learning theory is an essential component for designing an effective educational curriculum. Reviews of existing literature consistently lack sufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of digital interventions for health professions' education, which may reflect disconnections among learning theories, curriculum design, use of technology, and outcome evaluation.

 OBJECTIVE
 The aim of this review was to identify, map, and evaluate the use of learning theories in designing and implementing intervention trials of health professions' digital education, as well as highlight areas for future research on technology-enhanced education via the establishment of a development framework for practice and research.

 METHODS
 We performed a systematic search of Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, Excerpta Medica database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Cochrane Library), PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Education Resources Information Center, and Web of Science for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published between 2007 and 2016.

 RESULTS
 A total of 874 RCTs on digital health education were identified and categorized into online-offline, mobile digital education, and simulation-based modalities for pre and postregistration health professions' education. Of these, 242 studies were randomly selected for methodological review and thematic analysis. Data were extracted by one author using a standardized form, with a (48/242, 20%) random sample extracted by a second author, in duplicate. One-third (81/242, 33.4%) of the studies reported single or multiple learning theories in design, assessment, conceptualization, or interpretation of outcomes of the digital education interventions. Commonly reported learning theories were problem-based learning (16/81, 20%), social learning theory (11/81, 14%), and cognitive theory of multimedia learning (10/81, 12%). Most of these studies assessed knowledge (118/242, 48.8%), skills (62/242, 25.6%), and performance (59/242, 24.3%) as primary outcomes with nonvalidated assessment tools (151/242, 62.4%). Studies with reported learning theories (χ21=8.2; P=.002) and validated instruments (χ21=12.6; P=.006) have shown effective acquisition of learning outcomes.

 CONCLUSIONS
 We proposed a Theory-Technology Alignment Framework to safeguard the robustness and integrity of the design and implementation of future digital education programs for the training of health professionals.


Preparation of nickel (Ni) nanoparticles in the silica gel matrix for various concentrations has been achieved at low temperature. The presence of metallic Ni has been confirmed by x-ray diffraction and further supported by the presence of bright filed transmission electron microscope image, which shows presence of 5 to 8 nm diameter nanoparticles. The dielectric property was studied using complex impedance analysis technique. We have observed a significant enhancement of three orders in magnitude compare to bulk silica in dielectric permittivity of silica gel matrix due to incorporation of metallic Ni. Effect of annealing is also studied.

 Key words: Low temperature, nickel silica nanocomposite, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), complex impedance analysis.


Obesity has reached an epedimic levels in Malaysia, where the prevalence of overweight and obese adult increased from 29.1% and 14.0% in 2006 to 29.40% and 15.10% in 2011
 respectively. This study aims to investigate the beneficial effects of Cyphomandra betacea on body weight, biochemistry, antioxidant enzyme, inflammatory biomarkers,and liver and kidney in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats fed with high fat diet. Rats were
 fed on either normal chow or high fat diet for 10 weeks for obesity induction and subsequently received tamarillo at low dose (150 mg kg-1) (TLDG), medium dose (200
 mg kg-1) (TMDG), high dose (300 mg kg-1) (THDG) or distilled water via oral gavages for another 7 weeks for treatment phase. In this present study, C. betacea treated group showed lower bodyweight and BMI as compared to control positive group.THDG showed lowest bodyweight and BMI followed by TMDG and TLDG. Interestingly,
 treatment of obese rats with C. betacea led to significant decrement of cholesterol (p<0.05) and significant increment of HDL-c (p<0.05). Positive reduction also can be seen in the triglyceride, LDL-C and also blood glucose. Additionally, there was a positive improvement of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity along with a significant increase (P<0.05) of total antioxidant status (TAS) in C.
 betacea treated rats. Further, rats treated with C. betacea show significantly lower in TNF- α and IL-6 (p<0.05). As the liver section of C. betacea treated group were observed, the liver appeared normal with radiating hepatocytes and displayed less fat vacuoles as the dosage increase accordingly. Meanwhile, the kidney histology section of C. betacea treated group showed normal glomerulus, proximal convoluted tubule and
 distal convoluted tubule. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential use of Cyphomandra betacea for weight maintenance and complimentary therapy to supress
 some obesity complication sign.


Non-equilibrium thermodynamics with internal variables introduces a natural hierarchical arrangement of evolution equations. Three examples are shown: a hierarchy of linear constitutive equations in thermodynamic rhelogy with a single internal variable, a hierarchy of wave equations in the theory of generalized continua with dual internal variables, and a hierarchical arrangement of the Fourier equation in the theory of heat conduction with current multipliers.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the agreement between 2 measures (adult vs adolescent) of current cigarette smoking among young adults.

METHODS
We examined data from 1007 young adults from the New Jersey Adult Tobacco Survey. The adult measure incorporates lifetime and present use, whereas the adolescent measure assesses past 30-day use. The kappa coefficient was used to determine agreement between the 2 current cigarette smoking measures.

RESULTS
Agreement between the measures was high, but not ideal. The percent reporting smoking in the past 30 days but not 100 cigarettes in their lifetime was notably higher, and therefore agreement was lower, for black females, Hispanic males, and college students living on campus.

CONCLUSIONS
Sole use of the adult or adolescent measure of current cigarette smoking is insufficient to document progression to regular smoking in young adults.


This article demonstrates that a company's industry diversification has a detrimental effect on financial analysts' ability to forecast earnings. The results also show that a company's unrelated and related industry diversification have differential impacts on analysts' earnings forecast difficulty. These results have implications for investors in the stocks of highly diversified firms (e.g., General Electric). They should be wary of using analysts' earnings forecasts in their investment decisions, because the forecasts for diversified firms tend to be less accurate and there tends to be greater disagreement among the analysts who follow these firms.


The emergence of parasitic protozoa as etiological agents of waterborne disease has prompted renewed interest in evaluating the efficacy of water treatment processes. Increasingly stringent regulations for drinking water quality will require effective removal of pathogenic protozoa and enteric viruses. Disinfection alternatives may be constrained by current operating conditions or by regulations. Therefore, a multi-barrier approach to pathogen removal will become increasingly reliant on granular media filtration.


Cerebral vascular disease in children with sickle cell disease is characterized by progressive stenosis of large arteries of the skull base, which can be detected sensitively, specifically and unexpensively by transcranial Doppler. Because sickle cell disease is responsible for basal high velocities, criteria used for diagnosis of stenosis are different than those used in non sickled children and moreover in adults. Mean velocity higher than 2 meters per second is predictive of a 40% risk for stroke in the three following years, but transfusion program maintaining hemoglobin S under 30%, reduces the risk to 2%. It is important to test each child with sickle cell disease by the age of one or two years, in order to detect cerebral vasculopathy before overt stroke and its residual deficits and to initiate appropriate treatment


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

(Background) Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most prevalent cancer, and chemotherapy has dramatically improved prognostic outcome of CRC patients over the past several decades. Nonetheless, CRC remains the fourth leading cause of cancer death world-wide, and stage III patients have a high potential for recurrence even after curative surgery. Homeodomain only protein X (HOPX) is a recently identified homeobox gene whose loss of expression has been reported for several types of cancer by promoter DNA CpG islands methylation, but there is no information in CRC.

(Materials and Methods) HOPX is encoding 3 spliced transcript variants, among which the promoter of the isoform b alone (promoter B) harbors CpG islands. We evaluated the impact of its methylation status of promoter B of HOPX gene in CRC. We evaluated 9 CRC cell lines and primary tumor tissue of 245 CRC patients. The methylation status was evaluated by bisulfate sequencing and quantitative methylation specific TaqMan real-time PCR (quantitative-MSP).

(Result) HOPX b mRNA was silenced or remarkably reduced in expression in 8 of 9 CRC cell lines tested. And the expression was robustly restored by treatment with demethylating agents such as 5-aza-2′-deoxycitidine and/or trichostatin A. On quantitative-MSP, HOPX promoter B hypermethylation was found in 56.6% (56/99) of primary tumor tissues and 0% (0/98) of corresponding normal tissues, if cut-off value was set to 2.89) (specificity reached 100.0%). Such cancer-specific methylation was not associated with prognostic factors representing TNM stage factors in the 100 initial leaning sets. However, patients with HOPX promoter B hypermethylation showed significantly worse prognosis than hypomethylated patients (P=0.03), only in 170 stage III patients which have a high potential for recurrence even after curative surgery. And this tendency was also observed even in dissociative analysis of UICC N factor (P=0.01 in N1, P=0.08 in N2). (Conclusion) Our study indicates that transcriptional silencing of HOPX predominantly results from HOPX promoter B methylation, which is a highly specific marker for CRC and also have a potential as a biomarker for tumor malignancy.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4947.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence of enamel defects in infants from a socially and economically poor population and the possible association of these defects with disturbances occurring in the pre-, peri- and postnatal periods of human development.

PARTICIPANTS
117 infants aged between 16 and 18 months old were included in four groups based on gestational age and whether part or full term pregnancy.

METHOD
The data were collected in two stages: hospital-based, where gestational and birth records were examined, and home-based, where dental examinations and nutrition were evaluated. The teeth were cleaned and dried with gauze and examined in the open air, avoding direct sunlight in the knee-to-knee position. The enamel defects were coded according to the modified Developmental Defects of Enamel Index. Besides this, body weight and height were considered as anthropometric measures for the evaluation of nutritional status by the National Center for Health Statistics standards.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The data were analyzed using the chi-square and Fisher Exact tests. Besides these tests, logistic regression models were used.

RESULTS
The prevalence of enamel defects was 49.6%, higher in the group of male infants (p<0.001). The most frequent type of defect and the most affected surface were, respectively, diffuse opacity (9.5%) and the buccal surface (83.3%), located in the gingival half (6.7%). The logistic regression model showed that educational level, gestational age and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), besides a lack of breastfeeding, increased the probability of enamel defects up to level of 5%.

CONCLUSIONS
The association between enamel defects and the etiologic factors shown in this study suggest the existence of social influences regarding oral health and teeth development.


This paper addresses image enhancement using image segmentation using dynamic region merging algorithm. Image segmentation is typically used to locate objects and boundaries in images. For correct interpretation, image must be partitioned into regions that correspond to objects or parts of an object. We may need image segmentation to separate objects and analyze each object individually to check what it is. Image segmentation usually serves as the pre-processing before image pattern recognition, The purpose of image segmentation is to partition an image into meaningful regions with respect to a particular application The segmentation is based on measurements taken from the image like grey level, colour, texture, depth. Image segmentation is performed by iteratively merging the regions according to a statistical test using dynamic region merging algorithm. Starting from a segmented image, neighboring regions are progressively merged if there is an evidence for merging according to this predicate. The consistency of predicate is decided by sequential probability ratio test. Merging of the region follow this consistency and dynamic region merging algorithm. An accelerated algorithm is developed to accelerate the region-merging process, which maintains a nearest neighbor graph in each iteration.


0 d 0 eceived November 19, 003; revised and ccepted February 17, 004. eprint requests: Ashok garwal, Ph.D., H.C.L.D., enter for Advanced esearch in Human eproduction, Infertility, nd Sexual Function, lickman Urological nstitute and Department of bstetrics-Gynecology, he Cleveland Clinic oundation, 9500 Euclid venue, Desk A19.1, leveland, Ohio 44195 FAX: 216-445-6049; Eail: firstname.lastname@example.com). Center for Advanced esearch in Human eproduction, Infertility and exual Function, Glickman rological Institute and epartment of Obstetricsynecology, The Cleveland linic Foundation, leveland, Ohio. Liverpool Women's ospital, Liverpool, United


Based on the novel Melati Sarawak, this article aims to trace the thoughts of Muhammad Rakawi Yusuf, the author, and his contribution to the development of the Malay community.


Abstract:Papyrus Amherst 63 is a fascinating extrabiblical source shedding light on the religion of the Israelites. This collection of Aramaic texts written in demotic characters contains three Israelite psalms, only one of which is known through the Hebrew Bible. The three songs have a common focus on the rites of the New Year. They corroborate and supplement the biblical data on this festival as it was celebrated in Israel. The conjunction of such themes as the harvest, the new wine, a meal of plenty in the presence of God, and the celebration of YHWH's kingship leave no doubt about the original ritual context of these psalms.


Results on hadronic final states in deeply inelastic scattering are reviewed. They comprise jet production and its interpretation in perturbative QCD, signatures to distinguish conventional QCD dynamics from possible new features of QCD at small $x$, and measurements of inclusive charged particle production. Theoretical developments such as color dipole emission and instanton induced final states are reported on.


In this paper we proposed an advance technique for control of DC motor speed by using fractional order proportional-integral-derivative (FOPID) controller. DC motor is used in almost every field of control so it's speed control is very important. FOPID controller parameters are composed of the proportionality constant, integral constant, derivative constant, derivative order and integral order, and its design is more complex than that of traditional integer- order proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers. Here the controller synthesis is formulated as a single objective optimization problem and based on Integral Time Weighted Absolute Error (ITAE) criterion. Genetic algorithm is been used to tune the FOPID controller parameter.


The Heterogeneous Tool Set (HETS) is the main analysis tool for the specification language heterogeneous CASL. Heterogeneous CASL (HETCASL) combines the specification language CASL [6, 28] with CASL extensions and sublanguages, as well as completely different logics and even programming languages such as Haskell. HETCASL (see Fig. 1 for a simple subset) extends the structuring mechanisms of CASL: Basic specifications are unstructured specifications or modules written in a specific logic. The graph of currently supported logics and logic translations (the latter are also called comorphisms) is shown in Fig. 2, and the degree of support by HETS in Fig. 3. With heterogeneous structured specifications, it is possible to combine and rename specifications, hide parts thereof, and also translate them to other logics. Architectural specifications prescribe the structure of implementations. Specification libraries are collections of named structured and architectural specifications. HETS consists of logic-specific tools for the parsing and static analysis of the different involved logics, as well as a logic-independent parsing and static analysis tool for structured and architectural specifications and libraries. The latter of course needs to call the logic-specific tools whenever a basic specification is encountered. HETS is based on the theory of institutions [11], which formalize the notion of a logic. The theory behind HETS is laid out in [20]. A short overview of HETS is given in [25, 26].


Vascular dementia (VAD) is cognitive impairment caused by changes in the blood circulation of the brain. It is not synonymous with multi-infarct dementia. The latter is a subgroup of VAD. Neurochemical investigations of noninfarcted brain tissue from patients with VAD show general changes in VAD brains. The serotonin metabolism is severely reduced and so is the activity of choline acetyltransferase. Monamine oxidase B is significantly increased in the white matter. A severe decrease in myelin components indicates white matter disturbances of such a degree that they must be considered to be of pathogenetic importance. The levels of some neuropeptides in the hypothalamus are increased. This is a finding which is in agreement with clinical findings of a high activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in patients with VAD. This high activity is possibly due to a loss of serotonergic inhibitory tone on the hypothalamus in VAD brains.


This study was designed to investigate possible trigger events for depression. The specificity hypothesis states that certain personality types make a person vulnerable to depression when trigger events that match their personality are present. Two personality vulnerabilities related to depression have been described: Sociotropic people are concerned with pleasing others while autonomous persons are concerned about failure. It was hypothesized that sociotropic individuals would report more depressed affect following social loss scenarios and autonomous individuals would report more depressed affect following achievement failure scenarios. Persons scoring high on both dimensions would report more depressed affect following both types of negative events. Eighty female undergraduate college students served as research participants, based on their Sociotropy and Autonomy scores as determined by the Personal Style Inventory, Version II (PSI; Robins, Ladd, & Luten, 1990). Four groups were formed: High Sociotropy/Low Autonomy, Low Sociotropy/High Autonomy, High Sociotropy/High Autonomy, Low Sociotropy/Low Autonomy. Each participant observed two sets of videotaped scenes, one depicting social loss and one depicting achievement failure, and rated their mood on the Depressive Adjective Check Lists (DACL; Lubin, 1981) following each set of videotapes.


Background Immune and non-immune cells contribute to the pathology of chronic arthritis and they can contribute to tissue remodeling and repair as well as disease pathogenesis. An important role for their products such as TGF-beta 1, IL17 or BMPs has been suggested in homeostatic and remodeling mechanisms in arthritis. BMP signaling could have an anti-inflammatory role in the control and maintenance of low levels of pro-inflammatory factors in healthy joints or the early stage of RA. Objectives to analyze and compare serum levels, gene expression and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in synovial membrane of inflammation and bone destruction/regeneration biomarkers in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), undetermined seronegative arthritis (USA), Osteoarthritis of the knee (kOA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Methods We recruited 45 consecutive patients with chronic knee arthritis referred for undergoing arthroscopies (17 PsA, 12 USA, 12 kOA, 4 AS). Synovial membrane was processed for IHC analysis and quantification of mRNA expression ratio by qRT-PCR. Serum levels of TGF-beta 1, IL6, IL17 and IL22, DKK1, Sclerostin, BMP2, BMP4, Wnt1 and Wnt5a were measured (ELISA). We analyzed and compared these data with the demographic, clinical, analytical and radiological characteristics of the patients. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 17.0 software and statistical significance was defined as P<0.05. Results We obtained valid synovial membrane samples from 41 patients for IHC, RNA extraction and purification from 29 patients for analyze mRNA expression and serum from 38 patients for protein levels measurement. IL17 gene expression was higher in PsA patients (p=0.027) and correlated positively with DKK1 (r=0.424, p=0.022) and negatively with BMP2 (r=-0.396, p=0.033) and BMP4 (r=-0.472, p=0.010). IHC reactivity for TGF-beta 1 in synovial tissue was higher in patients with psoriatic arthritis (p 0.010) and correlated positively with IL17 (r=0.389, p=0.012) and DKK1 (r=0.388, p=0.012). Moreover, serum levels of TGF-beta 1 were significantly increased in PsA with erosions (p=0.044). Conclusions IL17 gene expression in synovial membrane from patients with psoriatic arthritis was higher than in seronegative undetermined arthritis, osteoarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis patients, correlating positively with DKK1 and negatively with bone morphogenetic proteins 2 and 4. In addition, TGF-beta in synovial tissue, necessary for the activation of Th17 cells, was higher in patients with psoriatic arthritis, in relation to IL17 and DKK1 increased. Serum TGF beta 1 levels were also higher in patients with erosive disease. References Varas A, Valencia J, Lavocat F, Martínez VG, Thiam NN, Hidalgo L, et al. Blockade of bone morphogenetic protein signaling potentiates the pro-inflammatory phenotype induced by interleukin-17 and tumor necrosis factor-α combination in rheumatoid synoviocytes. Arthritis Res Ther. 2015;17:192. doi: 10.1186/s13075–015–0710–6. Acknowledgements This work has been supported by grant PI11/00390 from Plan Nacional de Investigaciόn Científica, Desarrollo e Innovaciόn Tecnolόgica 2008–2011 y cofinanciado por el ISCIII-Subdirecciόn General de Evaluaciόn y Fomento de la Investigaciόn - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). Disclosure of Interest None declared


While coronary thrombolytic therapy in clinical practice is well established for acute myocardial infarction, the injury associated with reperfusion ("reperfusion injury") is still under intense investigation regarding its nature and the strategy for its prevention. Reperfusion injury has been defined as cell injury caused by reperfusion itself, in contradistinction to cell injury caused by the preceding ischemia. It refers to cell necrosis or is used in a broader way to include mechanical dysfunction (myocardial stunning), arrhythmia (reperfusion arrhythmia) and vascular damage (no-reflow phenomenon).1 In contrast to myocardial stunning, reperfusion arrhythmia and no-reflow phenomenon, the existence of reperfusion-induced lethal myocardial injury is still highly controversial.


A cysteine residue has been substituted for the active-site serine of the class-C beta-lactamase produced by Enterobacter cloacae 908R by site-directed mutagenesis. The modified protein exhibited drastically reduced kcat./Km values on all tested substrates. However, this decrease was due to increased Km values with some substrates and to decreased kcat. values with others. These apparently contradictory results could be explained by a selective influence of the mutation on the first-order rate constant characteristic of the acylation step, a hypothesis which was confirmed by the absence of detectable acylenzyme accumulation with all the tested substrates, with the sole exception of cefoxitin.


This chapter stages a broad introduction to the overarching dearth of Asian literary and cultural texts in the field of memory and trauma studies in the contemporary framing of the COVID-19 pandemic. The essay first situates this lacunae of Asian texts in the historical context of colonialism's legacy of white supremacy and draws a thread from that history to the anti-Asian racism that exploded around the globe in the wake of the so-called "Asian pandemic" of the Corona virus pandemic of 2020. The next section engages a literature review critique of trauma studies that elucidates the ways in which Asian pain and affect is absent from the wide swathe of current scholarship, which unwittingly then facilitates a denial of both hurt and pain in a dehumanizing discourse of scholarly production. Following this, we move into a discussion of suffering in the civil strife that has punctuated the independence of India and Sri Lanka from the British Empire, discussing in particular the genocide of the civil war in Sri Lanka that pitted the Tamil Tigers against the nation's pro-Sinhala government and the 1947 partition that created Pakistan and India. Following a cogent discussion of both major sections of the volume, "Activating Memory as Personal Testimony" and "Traumascapes of Body and State, " the chapter concludes with a summative coda that links anti-racist Asian solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement. © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Rahul K. Gairola and Sharanya Jayawickrama.


Introduction: Using anti-inflammatory medicine injection such as dexamethasone acetate (DXA) is a common treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Iontophoresis and phonophoresis of DXA are two other ways which may help to introduce DXA locally to inflammated tissues. This study has been deigned to compare the effect of iontophoresis and phonophoresis of DXA on the CTS treatment.
Materials and Methods : 35 mild or moderate CTS patients (51 affected hands) were randomly assigned in one of the two experimental: iontophoresis (25 affected hands) and phonophoresis (26 affected hands) groups. Subjects in iontophoresis group received 10 sessions of iontophoresis of %0.4 DXA solution (DC, 0.2 mA/cm2, 20 min) over the wrist of the affected hands while the other group received 10 sessions of phonophoresis of %0.4 DXA jell with pulsed ultrasound (1 MHz, 1 W.cm-2, 5 min). The strength of hand and thumb grips, paresthesia, pain, motor and sensory distal latency and evoked potential of median nerve were measured before and after intervention and after 4 weeks follow-up.
Results: Comparisons of the mean changes showed more increase in hand grip (P=0.006) and thumb grip (P=0.0002), less pain perception (P=0.001), shorter sensory (P=0.0001) and motor (P=0.0008) distal latency and higher sensory and motor (P=0.0001) action potential in the phonophoresis in compared with the iontophoresis group.
Conclusion: Our results show that using phonophoresis of DXA is more effective for CTS treatment, than the iontophoresis method. More studies are needed to investigate the role of different parameters used during phonophoresis of DXA in the CTS treatment.
Keywords: Carpal tunnel syndrome, Dexamethasone, Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Iontophoresis, Phonophoresis


Most mobile devices provide limited input interfaces in order to maximize the mobility and the portability. In this paper, the author proposes a small cubic-shaped tangible input interface which tracks the location, the direction, and the velocity using MEMS sensor technology to overcome the physical limitations of the poor input devices in mobile computing environments. As the preliminary phase for implementing the proposed tangible input interface, the prototype design and implementation methods are described in this paper. Various experiments such as menu manipulation, 3-dimensional contents control, and sensor data visualization have been performed in order to verify the validity of the proposed interface. The proposed tangible device enables direct and intuitive manipulation. It is obvious that the mobile computing will be more widespread and various kinds of new contents will emerge in near future. The proposed interface can be successfully employed for the new contents services that cannot be easily implemented because of the limitation of current input devices. It is also obvious that this kind of interface will be a critical component for future mobile communication environments. The proposed tangible interface will be further improved to be applied to various contents manipulation including 2D/3D games.


BACKGROUND
Glucocorticoids impair wound healing and cause surgical morbidity. Heat shock proteins are essential to cellular stress tolerance and are associated with glucocorticoids. The adrenal heat shock protein response is under hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal-axis control, whereas the vascular response is associated with alpha-1 receptors. Because heat shock proteins affect cellular stress responses and are under hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal-axis control in other tissues, we postulated an association between heat shock proteins and glucocorticoids in healing wounds.

METHODS
Modified Hunt-Schilling wound chambers were implanted subcutaneously in rats. They received subcutaneous time-release dexamethasone (25 mg) or placebo pellets. Wound chamber heat shock protein 25 and heat shock protein 72/73 were serially assayed for 21 days with western analysis and immunocytochemistry.

RESULTS
Dexamethasone caused Cushing's syndrome with approximately 10% weekly weight-loss and adrenal atrophy. Total wound tissue decreased 90% with profound differences in molecular wound responses manifested by decreased heat shock protein 25, 72, and 73 in animals treated with dexamethasone despite equal protein loads. Furthermore, dexamethasone caused heat shock protein 72 redistribution by immunocytochemistry.

CONCLUSIONS
This study represents the first description of heat shock proteins in a wound healing model and demonstrates tissue-specific decrease of heat shock proteins with glucocorticoid therapy. Thus the heat shock protein response is intimately associated with normal wound healing and is profoundly altered in subjects with Cushing's syndrome. Manipulation of this response may have clinical importance in wound healing.


Abstract We give an overview of the science case for spectroscopy of resolved stellar populations beyond the Local Group with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). In particular, we present science simulations undertaken as part of the EAGLE Phase A design study for a multi–integral-field-unit, near-infrared spectrograph. EAGLE will exploit the unprecedented primary aperture of the E-ELT to deliver AO-corrected spectroscopy across a large (38.5 arcmin2) field, truly revolutionising our view of stellar populations in the Local Volume.


The video segmentation problem can be regarded as a problem of detecting the fundamental video units (shots). Due to different ways of linking two consecutive shots this task turns out to be difficult. In this work, we propose a method to detect both cuts and gradual transitions by image segmentation tools instead of using dissimilarity measures or mathematical models. Firstly, the video is transformed into a 2D image, called visual rhythm by sub-sampling. Afterwards, we apply image processing tools to detect all vertical aligned transitions in this image. The main operator applied here is the morphological multiscale gradient. We also present some experimental results.


We report the results of an experimental study of the magnetoresistance ρxx and ρxy in two samples of p‐Si/SiGe with low carrier concentrations p = 8.2 × 1010 cm‐2 and p = 2 × 1011 cm‐2. The research was performed in the temperature range of 0.3–2 K and in the magnetic fields of up to 18 T, parallel or tilted with respect to the two‐dimensional (2D) channel plane. The large in‐plane magnetoresistance can be explained by the influence of the in‐plane magnetic field on the orbital motion of the charge carriers in the quasi‐2D system. The measurements of ρxx and ρxy in the tilted magnetic field showed that the anomaly in ρxx, observed at filling factor ν = 3/2 is practically nonexistent in the conductivity σxx. The anomaly in σxx at ν = 2 might be explained by overlapping of the levels with different spins 0 ↑ and 1 ↓ when the tilt angle of the applied magnetic field is changed. The dependence of g‐factor g*(Θ)/g*(00) on the tilt angle Θ was determined.


What does it mean to be a wake? Does being a wake ensure
staying a wake? These questions have kept scientists and
engineers awake as they tackle the broader issue of whether it is
possible to study structure-function relationships in swimming and
flying animals based solely on the identification and analysis of the
generated fluid wakes. This talk will describe the development and
application of new analytical methods that attempt to put the
question of being a wake to sleep. The results suggest that many
issues of structure and function in animal swimming and flying can
be addressed from a perspective that focuses entirely on the
interaction between a well-defined vortex wake created by the
animal and the fluid surrounding that wake. Since the animal body
and appendages are embedded within the wake, it is shown that
locomotor performance is more closely related to wake morphology
than to body or appendage morphology. This implies that animal
morphology may have only an indirect functional (and hence
behavioral and evolutionary) importance for locomotion, whereas
wake morphology and kinematics are the prime movers.
Consequently, studies of morphological diversity in animal wakes
might be of greater use in integrative and comparative studies than
traditional investigations of animal body and appendage shape.
This is especially true where a single wake morphology can be
generated by many different combinations of animal morphology
and kinematics. Examples demonstrating the importance of being a
wake are given from recent studies of swimming by the sea jelly
Aurelia aurita and the bluegill sunfish Lepomis macrochirus.


Dental vinyl polysiloxane (VPS) impression materials are widely used for the replication of intraoral tissue where hydrophilicity is important as the oral tissues are surrounded by wet saliva. Recent attempts to improve the wettability of VPS using a 'surfactant', however, have resulted in a high level of cytotoxicity. Hence, in this study, application of a non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (NTAPPJ) on VPS and its effects in terms of both hydrophilicity and cytotoxicity were investigated. The results showed that the application of the plasma jet resulted in significant improvement of hydrophilicity of VPS that had no surfactant, whereby the results were similar to commercially available products with the surfactant. The surface chemical analysis results indicated that this was due to the oxidation and decreased amount of hydrocarbon on the surface following NTAPPJ exposure. Meanwhile, an NTAPPJ-treated sample was shown to be non-cytotoxic. Therefore, the use of dental VPS impression materials without any surfactant, in conjunction with an NTAPPJ treatment, is a promising method for ultra-hydrophilic but yet non-cytotoxic materials.


This paper provides an overview on the self-adaptation considered as a human skill that we can train and develop in order to balance our organizations. We try here to explain what kind of organizational structures and behaviours can be used to facilitate and accelerate transformations and changes in our economic and social contexts. We are facing fast changes and new problems in economy and society. this current complexity requires new perspectives in designing and managing organizations. We strive to create organizational models and techniques that are as robust and versatile as biological organisms are and evolve in nature. Self-adaptation is an attribute of several systems in nature: it allows the reliability and scalability of recursive processes based on adjustment of collective behaviour of elements and without a central control of structure. Observing adaptive organisms biology focuses on processes at the sub-organism level. Using the latest molecular and physiological tools the adaptations of organisms to environmental stresses are studied and developed. The regulatory mechanisms are understood, including the genetic constraints, the physiological plasticity and the evolutionary history of the responses of organisms. Leafing through a biology book you will be fascinated by the multitude of self-adaptation solutions implemented by natural organisms: plants, animals and micro-organisms convey crucial information for an understanding of the effects of an environmental change on the organisms and the effects of organisms on the environment change. We suggest an approach able to catalyse transformation in people and organisations exposing behaviours and structures able to optimise themselves. These catalysers sometimes are people (change agents), sometimes are things (digital technologies) and sometimes are pieces of culture (knowledge and experience) and more often are combinations of these three factors. This approach has been used in this research for collecting and analysing results achieved in more than 5 years of projects evolution in the change management field.


Many mutations of the murine genome are recessive embryonic lethals precluding phenotype analysis at subsequent stages of development. This is true for embryos genetically lacking either N-cadherin or N- and P-cadherin. To circumvent this, we have generated pluripotent embryonal stem (ES) cells of the same genotype in vitro and differentiated them in vivo in the form of teratomas. All of the ES cells isolated in this study had a normal ES cell morphology in vitro and were able to generate teratomas. Histological analysis revealed that some differentiation and histogenesis had occurred within the teratomas. Epithelial formation was, for example, unaffected in all cadherin null cells. Surprisingly, however, the differentiation of cells lacking both N- and P-cadherin was, in general, even more pronounced both quantitatively and qualitatively. Tumours lacking either N- cadherin or N- and P-cadherin contained more striated muscle (apparently cardiac muscle) than heterozygote controls, and this was most strikingly conspicuous in teratomas from N- and P-cadherin null cells. This more pronounced differentiation was not seen for all tissues, however, as structures with a simple neural tube-like morphology were never found in teratomas lacking both N- and P-cadherin and organoid-like structures were rare in Ncad-/-tissue.


Two species of Galapagos land iguanas were compared with respect to population densities and energetics. The energetic expenditures of the populations were calculated from data on body masses of the iguanas, daily patterns of body temperature and activity, and population size. The estimated energetic expenditure per individual was higher for Conolophus pallidus from Isla Santa Fe because of their larger body size, but the high population density of Conolophus suberistatus on Isla Plaza Sur resulted in an energetic expenditure approximately six times greater than that of iguanas on Santa Fe when expressed per unit land area.


Online condition monitoring and diagnosis are being utilized more and more for increasing the reliability and availability of technical systems and to reduce their maintenance costs. Today's model-based diagnosis (MBD) tools are able to detect and identify incipient and sudden faults very reliably. For application to cost-sensitive equipment, such as high-voltage circuit breakers (HVCBs), however, the presently available MBD systems are not feasible for economic reasons. In this paper, a novel combination of the model-based with the case-based approach to condition diagnosis is presented, which can be implemented on a low-cost computer and which offers satisfactory performance. The technique is divided into two parts: (1) preparation and (2) diagnosis. The diagnosis part can be executed on an inexpensive low-performance computer. Successful tests on real HVCBs confirm the usefulness of this new approach to condition diagnosis.


Ideally, cancer therapy would eliminate tumor growth at multiple sites in the body without damaging normal cells. In this regard, antiangiogenesis and immunotherapy may represent two potential approaches for control of cancers. Inhibition of tumor-specific angiogenesis restrains neoplastic growth by sequestering cancerous cells from an adequate blood supply, while activation of cancer-specific T cell-mediated immune responses can initiate attacks on tumors associated with a specific antigen. A novel approach that combines both strategies may potentially generate a better antitumor effect. In this review, we will outline the fields of cancer antiangiogenesis and cancer immunotherapy, including their advantages and limitations. In addition, we will discuss the feasibility of combining both mechanisms to generate a more powerful strategy for cancer therapy.


This is a case of a 47-year-old German lorry driver with very limited English who presented with sudden onset of a neck pain followed by an occipital headache while he was on the motorway. The pain forced him to stop his vehicle and call a friend who brought him to accident and emergency department. On examination, he had unsteady gait, slight dysarthria and subtle horizontal nystagmus on extreme left gauze. There was slight incoordination and dysdiadokinesis in his left upper limb. Lumbar puncture showed high CSF protein with normal cells and glucose. MRI scan showed a left cerebellar infarction (Fig. 1). On angiogram (Fig. 2), there was evidence of some irregularity of the superior vertebral arteries bilaterally, particularly on the left side. There was some high signal in the vessel wall on the left side. These findings are consistent with vertebral arteries dissection predominantly on the left side. (Published: 11 January 2010) Citation: Libyan J Med 2010, 5: 4633 - DOI: 10.4176/090706


in English) In this study, the bioconversion of cattle manure and silage to biogas by an anaerobic digestion process in batch reactors was studied. Biogas is a valuable alternative energy source, mainly in rural areas. The main aim for the environment is to use biogas as a fuel instead of crude oil or natural gas. In this study, two different parameters were studied to observe the changes in methane productivity. The first three reactors were shaken once per week and the following three reactors were shaken 5 times per week. The results showed that mixing has no major effect on the methane production yield. In the second six reactors a mixture of 1% and 3% silage was added and the results were recorded. When the data from the reactors with just manure was compared to the reactors with 1% and 3% silage, it was seen that the silage increased the production rate and total gas produced. The process stabilization took a long time for digestion with the 3% silage possibly caused by release of too much fatty acids.


Several lines of argument support the existence of a link between activity at the nuclei of galaxies, in the form of an accreting supermassive black hole, and star-formation activity in these galaxies. The exact nature of this link is still under debate. Radio jets have long been argued to be an ideal mechanism that allows AGN to interact with their host galaxy, either by depositing energy in the inter-stellar medium (ISM) and effectively suppressing or even quenching star-formation, or by driving shocks through the ISM, compressing molecular gas, and setting the stage for triggering starformation. In this context, we are using a sample of radio sources in the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) field to study the nature of the putative link between AGN activity and star-formation. This is done by means of spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. We use the excellent spectral coverage of the AKARI infrared space telescope together with the rich ancillary data available in the NEP to build SEDs extending from UV to far-IR wavelengths. Through SED fitting we constrain both the AGN and host galaxy components. We find a significant AGN component in our sample of relatively faint radio-sources (<mJy), that increases in power with increasing radio-luminosity. At the highest radioar X iv :1 30 9. 73 53 v2 [ as tr oph .C O ] 1 O ct 2 01 3


The general theory of the spin dynamics of the spin 1–spin 1/2 system is described. The normal mode equations for the spin lattice relaxation is established. The elements in the relaxation matrix are evaluated under the assumption that only intramolecular dipole–dipole interaction, quadrupole interaction, and intermolecular proton dipole–dipole interaction are important. The contributions from the interference term between the intramolecular dipole–dipole and the quadrupole relaxation has also been included. 1H and 2H spin lattice relaxation measurements have been performed on methylenechloride‐d1 (CHDCl2) in two different nematic phases, Mercks phase V and ZLI 1167. Evidence for the existence of the interference effect between the dipole–dipole and the quadrupole relaxation has been found in both phases. The relaxation behavior is different in the two phases. The differences have been explained in terms of the ''director fluctuation'' theory.


Web services have attracted much attention from distributed application designers and developers because of their roles in abstraction and interoperability among heterogeneous software systems, and a growing number of distributed software applications have been published as Web services on the Internet. Faced with the increasing numbers of Web services and service users, researchers in the services computing field have attempted to address a challenging issue, i.e., how to quickly find the suitable ones according to user queries. Many previous studies have been reported towards this direction. In this paper, a novel Web service discovery approach based on topic models is presented. The proposed approach mines common topic groups from the service-topic distribution matrix generated by topic modeling, and the extracted common topic groups can then be leveraged to match user queries to relevant Web services, so as to make a better trade-off between the accuracy of service discovery and the number of candidate Web services. Experiment results conducted on two publicly-available data sets demonstrate that, compared with several widely used approaches, the proposed approach can maintain the performance of service discovery at an elevated level by greatly decreasing the number of candidate Web services, thus leading to faster response time.


We study the mass flow rate through a disc resulting from a varying mass-supply rate. Variable mass-supply rate occurs, for example, during disc state transitions, and in interacting eccentric binaries. It is, however, damped by the viscosity of the disc. Here, we calculate this damping in detail. We derive an analytical description of the propagation of the flow rate using the solution of Lynden-Bell & Pringle, in which the disc is assumed to extend to infinity. In particular, we derive the accretion-rate Green's function, and its Fourier transform, which gives the fractional damping at a given variability frequency. We then compare this model to that of a finite disc with the mass supply at its outer edge. We find significant differences with respect to the infinite disc solution, which we find to overestimate the viscous damping. In particular, the asymptotic form of the Green's function is power law for the infinite disc and exponential for the finite one. We then find a simple fitting form for the latter, and also calculate its Fourier transform. In general, the damping becomes very strong when the viscous time at the outer edge of the disc becomes longer than the modulation time-scale. We apply our results to a number of astrophysical systems. We find the effect is much stronger in low-mass X-ray binaries, where the disc size is comparable to that of the Roche lobe, than in high-mass binaries, where the wind-fed disc can have a much smaller size.


The discovery of negatively charged exclusion zone formed in water bounded by gel phase has led Pollack to propose the notion of gel like fourth phase of water. In this article this notion is discussed in TGD framework. The proposal is that the fourth phase corresponds to negatively charged regions - exclusion zones - with size up to 100-200 microns generated when energy is fed into the water - say as radiation, in particular solar radiation. The stoichiometry of the exclusion zone is H 1.5 O and can be understood if every fourth proton is dark proton residing at the flux tubes of the magnetic body assignable to the exclusion zone and outside it. This leads to a model for prebiotic cell as exclusion zone. Dark protons are proposed to form dark nuclei whose states can be grouped to groups corresponding to DNA, RNA, amino-acids, and tRNA and for which vertebrate genetic code is realized in a natural manner. The voltage associated with the system defines the analog of membrane potential, and serves as a source of metabolic energy as in the case of ordinary metabolism. The energy is liberated in a reverse phase transition in which dark protons transform to ordinary ones. Dark proton strings serve as analogs of basic biopolymers and one can imagine analog of bio-catalysis with enzymes replaced with their dark analogs. The recent discovery that metabolic cycles emerge spontaneously in the absence of cell supports this view.


Penoscrotal transposition (PST) is a rare anomaly of the external genitalia that can be complete or incomplete while incomplete type is more common. Various surgical methods are described for correction of incomplete PST. Modified Glenn Anderson's method is commonly used. This method is known to cause major penile lymphoedema following surgery. Various modifications have been described to preserve the dorsal penile skin to reduce this lymphoedema. We present here our experience with M-Plasty, where the dorsal penile skin is cut in the form of V so that it breaks the constricting effect of circumferential incision and prevents lymphoedema.


Patients with neurologic disease commonly develop overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms of urgency, frequency, and/or urge incontinence. Although treatment for idiopathic OAB has been extensively studied, therapy for those individuals with neurogenic-mediated OAB has not been thoroughly evaluated. Included in the present article is a description of micturition neurophysiology and a neurourologic evaluation scheme. The pharmacologic treatment options for neurogenic OAB, mainly antimuscarinics and chemical denervation, are reviewed and important studies are discussed. Management of OAB in the neurogenic population is a complex issue with no uniform treatment strategy, and individualized treatment with first-line pharmacologic therapy is often recommended.


Background Impaired wound healing represents a high cost for health care systems. Endothelial dysfunction characterizes dermal microangiopathy and contributes to delayed wound healing and chronic ulcers. Endothelial dysfunction impairs cutaneous microvascular blood flow by inducing an imbalance between vasorelaxation and vasoconstriction as a consequence of reduced nitric oxide (NO) production and the increase of oxidative stress and inflammation. Propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC) is a natural derivative of carnitine that has been reported to ameliorate post-ischemic blood flow recovery. Methods and Results We investigated the effects of PLC in rat skin flap and cutaneous wound healing. A daily oral PLC treatment improved skin flap viability and associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) reduction, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and NO up-regulation, accelerated wound healing and increased capillary density, likely favoring dermal angiogenesis by up-regulation for iNOS, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), placental growth factor (PlGF) and reduction of NADPH-oxidase 4 (Nox4) expression. In serum-deprived human dermal microvascular endothelial cell cultures, PLC ameliorated endothelial dysfunction by increasing iNOS, PlGF, VEGF receptors 1 and 2 expression and NO level. In addition, PLC counteracted serum deprivation-induced impairment of mitochondrial β-oxidation, Nox4 and cellular adhesion molecule (CAM) expression, ROS generation and leukocyte adhesion. Moreover, dermal microvascular endothelial cell dysfunction was prevented by Nox4 inhibition. Interestingly, inhibition of β-oxidation counteracted the beneficial effects of PLC on oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction. Conclusion PLC treatment improved rat skin flap viability, accelerated wound healing and dermal angiogenesis. The beneficial effects of PLC likely derived from improvement of mitochondrial β-oxidation and reduction of Nox4-mediated oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction. Antioxidant therapy and pharmacological targeting of endothelial dysfunction may represent a promising tool for the treatment of delayed wound healing or chronic ulcers.


Self-fertilization is widespread among simultaneously hermaphroditic animals and plants, but is often only facultatively deployed under circumstances that constrain outcrossing. A central prediction of sex allocation (SA) theory is that because exclusive selfing reduces sperm or pollen competition to zero, this should favour extreme economy in resources channelled to the male sex function. We can therefore expect that organisms switching from outcrossing to selfing should reduce their male allocation. However, to date this prediction has received relatively little support in animal taxa, especially compared to plants. Here we show that isolated individuals (under enforced selfing conditions) have a less male-biased SA than do grouped conspecifics (under outcrossing conditions) in the preferentially outcrossing flatworm Macrostomum hystrix. This shift arises from a reduced male allocation (testis area) in isolated individuals, although we did not find any evidence for a re-allocation of these resources to the female sex function (i.e. ovary area was unaffected by selfing/outcrossing conditions). Our results provide some of the clearest experimental evidence to date for reduced male allocation under selfing in simultaneously hermaphroditic animals, extending previous findings comparing SA between populations differing in selfing rates to the level of individual plasticity in gametogenesis.


Objective: Lunasin peptide, with its chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic abilities, is known to affect carcinogenesis via epigenetic regulation involving histone acetylation. This study investigated lunasin, which can be found in soy, and its effects towards histone deacetylase (HDAC] expression in a mouse model of carcinogenesis.
Methods: Thirty Swiss Webster mice were grouped into normal, positive control, negative control, and experimental groups. Except for the normal group, mice underwent carcinogenesis induction through azoxymethane (AOM] and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS] injection. Experimental mice received lunasin-enriched soy extract at a dosage of 250 mg/kg BW (kilogram body weight), 300 mg/kg BW, and 350 mg/kg BW for 4 w. Distal colon samples were stained by using immunohistochemistry (IHC]. HDAC expression was measured by IHC optical density score.
Results: Average HDAC expression was 202.4% in the normal group, 239.3% in the negative control, 175.25% in the positive control, 202.03% at 250 mg/kg BW dose, 219.53% at 300 mg/kg, and 166.68% at 350 mg/kg BW. There was no significant difference between HDAC expression at 250 mg/kg BW and 300 mg/kg BW soy extract. However, at 350 mg/kg BW soy extract there were significant changes in HDAC expression.
Conclusion: lunasin in soy extract at a 350 mg/kg BW dose can decrease HDAC expression in a colorectal cancer carcinogenesis model.


Haemangiomata are relatively frequently observed in various tissues and locations in the body. The mediastinum, however, is an extremely rare site. When in this location, the growth, according to the literature, is frequently malignant, and surgical procedures are not always possible. The case here reported is of interest chiefly for the reason that recovery was good following the surgical removal of a malignant mediastinal haemangioma.


Abstract The growth-retarded (grt) mouse, originally isolated from a closed colony of Snell's dwarf mouse (DW/J strain), shows growth retardation that is inherited in a recessive manner. We have already reported that this strain exhibits severe primary hypothyroidism with significantly reduced plasma levels of thyroxine (T4), dramatically elevated plasma titers of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and an increase in the number of immunoreactive TSH cells in the pituitary gland. The thyroid gland of the grt mouse exhibits characteristically numerous smaller follicles with poor colloid accumulation. In order to elucidate the possible site of the defect in the grt mouse, and in particular to clarify the discrepancy between elevated plasma TSH titers and reduced T4 levels, we examined the bioactivity of TSH recovered from the plasma sample of the grt animal and the responses of the grt thyroid gland to exogenous TSH and other thyroid hormone secretagogues. Plasma samples from the grt mice invariably exhibited significant levels of TSH bioactivity following injection into normal test mice. Thus, the reduced responsiveness to TSH exhibited by the grt mice is not due to the reduced bioactivity of TSH. Administration of exogenous TSH to the grt mice failed to elevate the plasma T4 and triiodothyronine (T3) levels in vivo or to stimulate free T4 and free T3 releases from the grt thyroid gland in vitro. The thyroid gland of the grt mouse exhibited a markedly diminished response of adenylate cyclase to exogenous TSH as compared to the gland of euthyroid littermates. Production of cAMP in the grt mouse was significantly increased following stimulation of the thyroid glands with forskolin, cholera toxin, prostaglandin (PG) E1 and isoproterenol. These results strongly suggest a defect in TSH responsiveness, particularly in TSH-TSH receptor-Gs protein-adenylate cyclase signalling system including the expression and the function of TSH receptor and the TSH receptor-Gs protein coupling, in the thyroid gland of the grt mice.


Due to their attractive combination of properties (high resistance to oxidation and wear, high melting point, and lower density) iron and nickel aluminides show promise for the development of advanced materials and coatings However, poor room temperature ductility and susceptibility to intergranular cracking restrict their commercial application. To provide the structure required composite materials produced by the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) are promising. In this paper, the potential of thermally sprayed NiAl/aluminum oxide and FeAl/aluminum oxide composite powders produced using the SHS method is evaluated. The results of the structure and property investigations for the synthesized powders as well as for the resulting plasma coatings are presented. Paper includes a German-language abstract.


This paper presents an adaptive control strategy, for realizing the maximum power point tracking (MPPT), applicable to the wind energy generation system with direct-driven permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG). Disturbance, caused by the generator torque loss and the uncertainty of one-mass shaft model parameters, exists in the system. To obtain an optimal electromagnetic torque overcoming the disturbance, an adaptive control law is proposed based on Lyapunov stability. Simulations prove the proposed strategy coordinates the contradiction between overshoot and quick response of tracking. The rotor speed tracks the optimal rotor speed accurately, even though the system loss is changing and the wind speed profile is varying.


Agent-based modeling has recently gained much attention in innovation and technology diffusion research. It enriches traditional approaches (like the well-known Bass model, based on differential equations) by modeling the diffusion process from a micro-level perspective. This allows, for instance, for considering the heterogeneity of consumers, who differ in their preferences, are distributed across geographical regions, are connected to each other in various ways within a social network, and act as well as react based on limited information. Although multiple successive technology generations got some attention in innovation and technology diffusion research using traditional approaches (since the Norton-Bass model in 1987), agent-based models have hardly focused on this important aspect of the diffusion process. Therefore, the presented agent-based simulation aims at investigating the diffusion of new products from multiple successive technology generations. The model accounts for novel product features in each generation, normative influences, and a social network that reflects both, spatial and social proximity between consumers. A historical validation is conducted by replicating the diffusion of computers (desktops, notebooks, tablets) on the German market from 1994 to 2013.


The conventional method of calculating atmospheric temperature profiles using Rayleigh-scattering lidar measurements has limitations that necessitate abandoning temperatures retrieved at the greatest heights, due to the assumption of a pressure value required to initialize the integration at the highest altitude. An inversion approach is used to develop an alternative way of retrieving nightly atmospheric temperature profiles from the lidar measurements. Measurements obtained by the Purple Crow lidar facility located near The University of Western Ontario are used to develop and test this new technique. Our results show temperatures can be reliably retrieved at all heights where measurements with adequate signal-to-noise ratio exist. A Monte Carlo technique was developed to provide accurate estimates of both the systematic and random uncertainties for the retrieved nightly average temperature profile. An advantage of this new method is the ability to seed the temperature integration from the lowest rather than the greatest height, where the variability of the pressure is smaller than in the mesosphere or lower thermosphere and may in practice be routinely measured by a radiosonde, rather than requiring a rocket or satellite-borne measurement. Thus, this new technique extends the altitude range of existing Rayleigh-scatter lidars 10-15 km, producing the equivalent of four times the power-aperture product.


African swine fever (ASF) virus was grown either in swine macrophages or in VERO cells and purified free of cell DNA. Virus DNA was isolated from virions as a molecule with a sedimentation coefficient of 60S and a contour of 58 +/- 3 mum. .these two values give a mol. wt. of 102 +/- 5 X 10(6) and 107 +/- 5 X 10(6), respectively, for the genome of ASF virus. Denatured DNA fragments from ASF virus reassociate with a C0t1/2 value of 0-60 +/- 0-05 MS, which compared with the corresponding value for T4 DNA gives for the molecular mass of ASF virus DNA a value of 102 +/- 8 X 10(6) daltons. Only virus DNA is synthesized ASF virus-infected swine macrophages.


Data center networks are required to have high energy efficiency as well as high communication performance. One approach to achieving these requirements is to use a hybrid optoelectronic router, which has optical packet switching functionality and packet buffering in an electronic domain. These hybrid optoelectronic routers can cut the power of electronic buffers while maintaining optical packet switching functionality. This enables energy consumption to be reduced while maintaining the required communication performance. The routers whose buffers can be shut down depend on the traffic routes; more buffers can be shut down by setting the traffic routes so as to avoid packet collision. However, the routes that avoid packet collision may increase the number of powered-on routers. Therefore, we should select the traffic routes considering the energy consumptions of the routers themselves and their buffers. In this paper, we propose a heuristic route selection method to reduce energy consumption while maintaining the required communication performance. For high energy efficiency, our method efficiently re-uses routers and buffers without degrading the required communication performance. Through simulation, we demonstrate that our method reduces the energy consumption significantly compared to methods that do not consider buffer energy consumption or that calculate the shortest traffic routes through the network.


Winged infusion sets are useful for short term venous infusion in a variety of applications and may be used without problem during CT scanning, ultrasound, or most other medical imaging applications. Drawbacks of using these standard winged infusion sets during MR scanning are torque and imaging artifacts. We describe a new MR compatible infusion set that overcomes these problems.


Common tests for measuring the threshold for shock initiation are the NOL large scale gap test (LSGT) with a 50.8-mm diameter donor/gap and the expanded large scale gap test (ELSGT) with a 95.3-mm diameter donor/gap. Despite the same specifications for the explosive donor and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) gap in both tests, calibration of shock pressure in the gap versus distance from the donor scales by a factor of 1.75, not the 1.875 difference in their sizes. Recently reported model calculations suggest that the scaling discrepancy results from the viscoelastic properties of PMMA in combination with different methods for obtaining shock pressure. This is supported by the consistent scaling of these donors when calibrated in water-filled aquariums. Calibrations and their scaling are compared for other donors with PMMA gaps and for various donors in water.


Abstract The ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has radically affected medical practice and healthcare delivery in the United States and beyond. Its impact on vulnerable populations especially older adults battling cancer is striking. Older adults with baseline immunosenescence compounded with multimorbidity and reduced physiological reserves are at even higher risk of succumbing to infection. When it comes to older adults with cancer mortality, it often multifactorial with modifiable risk factors. A specific approach with attention to advance care planning and how cancer care is delivered coupled with a comprehensive geriatric assessment may ultimately be the key to improve overall survival.