Labile carbon (C) is a major source of C loss because of its high vulnerability to environmental change. Yet its potential role in regulating soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics remains unclear. In this study, we tested the effect of physical disturbance on SOC decomposition using soils from two abandoned farmlands free of management practice for more than 28 years. The soil respiration rate was measured in undisturbed and disturbed soil columns and was inversely modeled using the two-compartment model. We found that the C loss was 16.8~74.1% higher in disturbed than in undisturbed soil columns. Physical disturbance increased the total amount of labile C (C1) loss by 136~241%, while had no effect on the kinetic decomposition rate constants of both labile (k1) and stable (k2) SOC decomposition. Physical disturbance fragmented the large macroaggregates into small macroaggregates, microaggregates, and free silt and clay-sized fractions. This indicates that C loss was derived from the initially protected labile C, and there was no change of SOC fraction being decomposed. Our results give insights into the understanding of the extent of labile C loss to physical disruption and demonstrate the potential effect of physical disturbance on SOC dynamics.


The title of this paper is "the change in the role of women in ptpn vii sugar factory in Cinta manis ogan ilir district" The focus of this research is to explain the changes in the function and role of women in the Cinta Manis sugar factory, in line with changes in village conditions that occur due to changes from the agricultural to industrial areas. The focus of this research also wants to see and explain where the function of women is like and about the role of women laborers who perform two roles at once, namely in the domestic and public sectors as well as power relations between men and women in industrial societies in the sweet love sugar factory.
The method used in this study is a qualitative research method. This research source is primary data taken directly from the field through interviews with informants from women felling laborers. Secondary data obtained from documentation, books or journals. The techniques used in data collection are observation, interviews and documentation.
               The results obtained in this study are the first, Ketiau Village before the entry of the Cinta Manis sugar factory, the community's work in this village is a farmer and trader, but more dominant farmers. After the entry of the sugar factory in this village also experienced changes in terms of livelihoods, many people who worked as employees or as factory workers, who worked in the factory and even then not only from the Ketiau area but from outside the area also many who worked at the company. Second, there are many women in this factory who work as sugar cane cutting laborers. What makes women come to work is by economic factors, because if you rely on your husband alone can not meet their needs. The role of the fostering also changed, which usually played the role of a housewife but now works, women workers in the factory must perform two roles at the same time. Third, women only live and obey what has been determined by culture. Culture that distinguishes the roles of men and women. Clearly this culture has assumed a man's position higher than a woman's. The culture referred to here is patriarchal culture, patriarchal culture is defined as a dominant culture that is male, or the ruling is male, as in terms of earning a living a man not a woman. But in PTPN VII Sugar Factory, this culture is no longer valid because at this time everything has changed, the views or thoughts of a person have developed, in terms of earning a living not only a man can but a woman can also make a living, like as well as female slave laborers in the Cinta Manis Sugar Factory.


Method Mice were randomly assigned to the sham, I/R, Oxy, and I/R with Oxy groups. Oxy was injected intraperitoneally 30 min before tourniquet placement. Morphological changes of the gastrocnemius muscle in these mice were assessed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and electron microscopy. Expression levels of TLR4, NF-κB, SIRT1, and PGC-1α in the skeletal muscles were detected by western blot. Blood TNF-α levels, gastrocnemius muscle contractile force, and ATP concentration were examined. Results Compared with the I/R group, Oxy pretreatment attenuated skeletal muscle damage, decreased serum TNF-α levels, and inhibited the expression levels of TLR4/NF-κB in the gastrocnemius muscle. Furthermore, Oxy treatment significantly increased serum ATP levels and the contractility of the skeletal muscles. SIRT1 and PGC-1α levels were significantly reduced in gastrocnemius muscle after I/R. Oxy pretreatment recovered these protein expression levels. Conclusion Tourniquet-induced acute limb I/R results in morphological and functional impairment in skeletal muscle. Pretreatment with Oxy attenuates skeletal muscle from acute I/R injury through inhibition of TLR4/NF-κB-dependent inflammatory response and protects SIRT1/PGC-1α-dependent mitochondrial function.


—The main idea of this work is to review and classify the currently existing fuel cell (FC) hybridization topologies with various energy storage technologies (lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), supercapacitors (SCs), and lithium-ion capacitors (LICs)). There are presented generalized topologies of FC hybridization using LIB/SC or LIC. Also, when analyzing the energy storage technologies presented on the market, a comparison was made of LIB, SC, and LIC characteristics in the form of tables and Ragone plot. As a result, perspectives for the development of hybrid FC technologies using LIC were proposed due to the most advantageous characteristics compared to other energy storage methods.


Cellular-V2X aims at supporting road safety and traffic management applications and introduces sidelink (PC5) as a new interface. These applications primarily rely on periodic broadcast of small-sized periodic messages and event-triggered notification messages. A key requirement of the applications is to facilitate uninterrupted exchange of messages among the vehicles irrespective of whether the vehicles are inside a base station coverage or not. In Cellular-V2Xstandardization, two resource allocation modes have been specified: when a vehicle is located inside the coverage of the cellular network, the corresponding base station manages the transmission resources for the direct message exchange. When a vehicle is outside of cellular coverage, it allocates its resources autonomously. The modes are also referred to as "managed" and "unmanaged" mode, or mode 3 and mode 4, respectively. In situations with imperfect cellular coverage by base stations, a vehicle needs to perform mode switching. The present work aims to understand the different phases of the mode switching procedure and to study the latency involved in each phase for both switching scenarios, mode 3 to 4 and vice versa. Considering a realistic road traffic scenario with a highway tunnel, we assess the impact of mode switch latency on the data transmission for a selected mode switch strategy.


This paper deals with the design of a dual band array antenna for wireless applications such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), WiMAX etc...that resonates at 3.5 GHz and 5 GHz respectively. The substrate used for design is FR4 (∈ =4.6) and the software used for simulation is Agilent ADS Momentum. The concept of dissimilar patch size array antenna has been introduced. So patches of different dimensions have been used in the array and their corresponding results are validated based on various antenna parameters like VSWR, gain, directivity and power radiated.


Abstract Background Entrectinib is a systemic and CNS-active, potent inhibitor of TRKA/B/C and ROS1. Primary data from integrated efficacy and safety analyses (6 months' follow-up) from entrectinib clinical trials have shown that entrectinib is a promising option for patients (pts) with NTRK fusion-positive (NTRK+) solid tumors: blinded independent central review (BICR) objective response rate (ORR) was 57.4% (95% CI 43.2–70.8). We show longer follow-up data from this integrated analysis. Methods Pts with locally advanced/metastatic NTRK+ solid tumors confirmed by nucleic acid-based methods and enrolled in global (>150 sites, 15 countries) phase 1/2 entrectinib trials (ALKA, STARTRK-1, STARTRK-2; EudraCT 2012-000148-88; NCT02097810; NCT02568267) were included. Tumors were assessed after 4 wks (Cycle 1) then every 8 wks. Scans underwent BICR using RECIST v1.1. Primary endpoints were ORR and duration of response (DOR) by BICR. Secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS); ORR and DOR in pts with and without baseline CNS disease; intracranial (IC) ORR and DOR in pts with baseline CNS disease; safety. Results The efficacy-evaluable population comprises 54 adult pts with advanced/metastatic NTRK+ solid tumors, including pts with baseline CNS metastases. As of 30 Oct 2018 (additional 5 months' follow-up), BICR ORR was 59.3% (95% CI 45.0–72.4); complete responses n = 4 (7.4%). Median BICR DOR was 12.9 mo (95% CI 7.9–not estimable [NE]), median OS was 23.9 mo (95% CI 16.8–NE). Per baseline CNS status, BICR ORR was 58.3% (95% CI 27.7–84.8) and 59.5% (95% CI 43.3–74.4) and median DOR was NE (4.2–NE) and 12.9 mo (7.9–NE) for pts with (n = 12) and without (n = 42) CNS disease, respectively. IC ORR was 54.5% (95% CI 23.4–83.3) and median IC DOR by BICR was NE (6.7–NE). Entrectinib was well tolerated with a safety profile consistent with that previously reported; there were no new or unexpected safety findings. Conclusions In line with the primary data, these results at an additional 5 months of follow-up show that entrectinib induced clinically meaningful, durable systemic and intracranial responses in pts with NTRK+ solid tumors. Clinical trial identification ALKA, STARTRK-1, STARTRK-2; EudraCT 2012-000148-88; NCT02097810; NCT02568267. Editorial acknowledgement Medical Writing support was provided by Laura Vergoz and Charlotte Kennerley, PhD of Gardiner-Caldwell Communications and was funded by F. Hoffmann-La Roche. Legal entity responsible for the study F. Hoffman-La Roche. Funding F. Hoffman-La Roche. Disclosure C. Rolfo: Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony: MSD, GuardantHealth, Mylan; Research grant / Funding (institution): Novartis, Sanofi; Non-remunerated activity/ies: Oncompass Steering scientific committee; OncoDNA: Research collaboration no renumerated for Exosomes (2017); GuarantHealth research collaboration (2019); Leadership role: IALSC, Educational Committee Member; ISLB, Vice President; Educational Chair, OLA Oncology Latin American Association; Scientific Committee Member at ESO; Membership Committee Officer, ESMO. R. Dziadziuszko: Advisory / Consultancy, Officer / Board of Directors: Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novartis; Research grant / Funding (institution): Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Clovis; Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Roche, AstraZeneca. R.C. Doebele: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options: Rain Therapeutics; Advisory / Consultancy: Chair of Scientific Advisory Board for Rain Therapeutics; Honoraria (self): Guardant; Advisory / Consultancy: Pfizer, Trovagene, Ariad, Takeda, AstraZeneca, Genentech/Roche, Ignyta, Loxo, Rain.; Research grant / Funding (institution): Ignyta, Loxo, Mirati; Licensing / Royalties: Abbott Molecular, Rain Therapeutics, GVKbio, Chugai, Loxo, Ignyta, Genentech, Ariad, Foundation Medicine, Black Diamond. G. Demetri: Research grant / Funding (institution): Bayer, Novartis, Pfizer, Janssen Oncology, Ignyta (now Roche), Roche/Genentech, Loxo Oncology, AbbVie, Epizyme, Adaptimmune, GlaxoSmithKline; Advisory / Consultancy: Novartis, Pfizer, EMD-Serono, Sanofi Oncology, Janssen Oncology, Ignyta (now Roche), Roche/Genentech, Loxo Oncology, Mirati Therapeutics, Epizyme, PharmaMar, Daiichi-Sankyo, WIRB Copernicus Group/ Arsenal Capital, ZioPharm, Polaris Pharmaceuticals, M.J.; Licensing / Royalties: Novartis; Honoraria (self), Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony, Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: c ICON plc; Advisory / Consultancy, Officer / Board of Directors: Blueprint Medicines; Officer / Board of Directors: Merrimack Pharmaceuticals; Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options: G1 Therapeutics, Caris Life Sciences, Champions Oncology, Bessor Pharmaceuticals, Erasca Pharmaceuticals. B. Simmons: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Roche (Genentech). A. Aziez: Full / Part-time employment: Roche. X. Huang: Shareholder / Stockholder / Stock options, Full / Part-time employment: Genentech. S. Osborne: Full / Part-time employment: Roche. L. Paz-Ares: Advisory / Consultancy, Speaker Bureau / Expert testimony: Lilly, MSD, BMS, Roche, PharmaMar, Merck, Astra-Zeneca, Novartis, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Servier, Sysmex, Celgene, Amgen, Incyte, Pfizer; Officer / Board of Directors: Genomica; Research grant / Funding (institution): Astra-Zeneca, BMS, MSD; Non-remunerated activity/ies: Scientific Chair and Member of the Board of Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer (AECC; Majoir Spanish Anti-Cancer Charity); Spouse / Financial dependant: My wife (Rocio Garcia-Carbonero): - She has been EMA SAG member untill June 2017 - She has received honoraria from July 2017 onwards from Ipsen, Novartis, Pfizer, Servier, Sanofi, Roche, Amgen and Merck.


In social psychology, Social Value Orientation (SVO) describes an individual's propensity to allocate resources between themself and others. In reinforcement learning, SVO has been instantiated as an intrinsic motivation that remaps an agent's rewards based on particular target distributions of group reward. Prior studies show that groups of agents endowed with heterogeneous SVO learn diverse policies in settings that resemble the incentive structure of Prisoner's dilemma. Our work extends this body of results and demonstrates that (1) heterogeneous SVO leads to meaningfully diverse policies across a range of incentive structures in sequential social dilemmas, as measured by task-specific diversity metrics; and (2) learning a best response to such policy diversity leads to better zero-shot generalization in some situations. We show that these best-response agents learn policies that are conditioned on their co-players, which we posit is the reason for improved zero-shot generalization results.


This study was designed to investigate whether the left ventricular filling profile during preceding control beats significantly affects the pulse deficit caused by ventricular premature contractions (VPCs). The study group consisted of 18 patients (10 men, eight women, 15-85 years old) who underwent electrophysiological catheterization because of sinus bradycardia. Using a temporary pacing lead inserted in the right ventricular apex, isolated VPCs with various coupling intervals were produced by electrical stimulation of the right ventricle. During the production of the VPCs, the mitral filling flow velocity using pulsed wave Doppler echocardiography, the femoral arterial pressure curve and the electrocardiogram were simultaneously recorded. The right ventricle was stimulated 800, 750, 700, 650, 600, 550, 500, 450 and 400 ms after the triggered control beat QRS complex. Pulse pressures during VPCs gradually decreased in relation to the shortening of the extrasystolic beat coupling interval. The longest coupling interval for each subject, which caused complete abolition of the pressure pulse during the VPC, was defined as the pulse deficit coupling interval. The early to late diastolic velocity-time integral ratio (Ei/Ai ratio) of the mitral filling flow velocity during the control beats which precede the VPC was obtained as an index expressing the left ventricular filling profile. The Ei/Ai ratio of the mitral filling flow velocity ranged from 0.7 to 4.5 (1.8 +/- 1.0). The pulse deficit coupling interval ranged from 440 to 640 ms (510 +/- 60 ms).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Solid phase microextraction‐gas chromatography‐mass spectroscopy technology was used to extract and analyze three kinds of accelerant soot including diesel soot, gasoline soot, and diesel–gasoline mixture soot. A total of 60 spectrograms have been obtained, analyzed, and compared. It was found that these kinds of soot were quite different with each other in the difference of major target compounds and retention time span, and could be visually identified by the profile of the corresponding spectrogram. A data matrix of 60 * 41 was reached by the characteristic substances corresponding with the retention time in all these 60 spectrograms. With principal component analysis method, two major component variables were obtained to classify the attribution of soot, with perfect classification efficiency of 100%. Hierarchical cluster analysis was further applied for the dendrogram analysis. In spite of the absence of the training set, the classification of 100% accuracy of these kinds of soot could be achieved. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Wind turbine drivetrain bearing failures continue to lead to high costs resulting from turbine downtime and maintenance. As the standardised tool to best avoid downtime is online vibration condition monitoring, a lot of research into improving the signal analysis tools of the vibration
 measurements is currently being performed. However, failures in the main bearing and planetary gears are still going undetected in large numbers. The available field data is limited when it comes to the properties of the stored measurements. Generally, the measurement time and the covered
 frequency range of the stored measurements are limited compared to the data used in real-time monitoring. Therefore, it is not possible to either reproduce the monitoring or to evaluate new tools developed through research for signal analysis and diagnosis using the readily available field
 data. This study utilises 12 bearing failures from wind turbine condition monitoring systems to evaluate and make recommendations concerning the optimal properties in terms of measurement time and frequency range the stored measurements should have. The results show that the regularly stored
 vibration measurements that are available today are, throughout most of the drivetrain, not optimal for research-driven postfailure investigations. Therefore, the storage of longer measurements covering a wider frequency range needs to begin, while researchers need to demand this kind of data.


Software process improvement (SPI) is motivated by the need to increase the quality and productivity of software work. It is a widely accepted fact that the quality of the software product is largely determined by the quality of the process used to develop and maintain it. SPI requires knowledge of what is needed, awareness of what is feasible, and a long-term commitment to its investment. Software process assessment helps software organizations improve themselves by identifying their critical problems and establishing improvement priorities. The assessment takes place by comparing the state of the organization's software process against the model and the improvement scale. An assessment is usually based on a software process model and an improvement roadmap. The interest in software process improvement has created dozens of international software process models and standards. CMMI and SPICE are two most widely used process assessment models in the SPI work today. In order to help software companies, a SPI support tool is currently being developed. The SPI support tool guides the users through software process improvement, diminishing the need for continuous external consultations and assessors. Software process models form the central part of this support tool. In order to implement various process models into the support tool, the structure of the models should be analyzed and integrated into one common meta model. We have previously conducted conceptual analyses of SPICE and CMMI where the structure of both models has been studied. In this paper we describe the result of the conceptual synthesis of these process models-integration of SPICE and CMMI through a meta model. The integrated meta model contributes to a more complete process assessment, since it includes elements of various process models.


How do patient and provider incentives affect the mode and cost of long-term care? In this paper, we develop a unified empirical and theoretical framework to separate the effects of patient and provider incentives on the timing of nursing home to community discharges. To estimate the model, we compile a unique database of half a million nursing home stays using administrative and survey data. Our analysis yields three main insights. First, Medicaid-covered residents reduce their efforts to transfer to the community due to limited cost-sharing. Second, nursing homes increase their efforts to discharge Medicaid beneficiaries when capacity binds to admit more profitable out-of-pocket payers. Third, providers react more elastically to financial incentives than patients. We find that targeting provider incentives through alternative payment models, such as episode-based reimbursement, is more effective than increasing patient cost-sharing in reducing the length of nursing home stays and in generating long-term care savings.


Input saturation or "limit riding situation" is the operating condition that is well recognized by the control community for its "side effects" to the baseline system performance. It affects both conventional and adaptive controllers. This paper presents an effective adaptive control treatment to input saturation using direct adaptive control coupled with a baseline PID controller implemented in a control augmentation fashion. The proposed adaptive controller can also perform two simultaneous roles: basic stabilization and input saturation treatment without the need of the PID controller remaining in the loop. Its treatment solution is first characterized using the Lyapunov function approach, and its stability is then interpreted and confirmed by the point-wise simulation based approach. The treatment effectiveness is then demonstrated via a nonlinear spacecraft control environment subject to two types of input saturation violations: (1) actuator authority limits and (2) attitude and rate error limits. Validation of the direct adaptive treatment is substantiated by a high fidelity simulation demonstration.


Pathogenic hemizygous or heterozygous mutations in the IQSEC2 gene cause X-linked intellectual developmental disorder-1 (XLID1), characterized by a variable phenotype including developmental delay, intellectual disability, epilepsy, hypotonia, autism, microcephaly and stereotypies. It affects both males and females typically through loss of function in males and haploinsufficiency in heterozygous females. Females are generally less affected than males. Two novel unrelated cases, one male and one female, with de novo IQSEC2 variants were detected by trio-based whole exome sequencing. The female case had a previously undescribed frameshift mutation (NM_001111125:c.3300dup; p.Met1101Tyrfs*5), and the male showed an intronic variant in intron 6, with a previously unknown effect (NM_001111125:c.2459+21C>T). IQSEC2 gene expression study revealed that this intronic variant created an alternative donor splicing site and an aberrant product, with the inclusion of 19bp, confirming the pathogenic effect of the intron variant. Moreover, a strong reduction in the expression of the long, but also the short IQSEC2 isoforms, was detected in the male correlating with a more severe phenotype, while the female case showed no decreased expression of the short isoform, and milder effects of the disease. This suggests that the abnormal expression levels of the different IQSEC2 transcripts could be implicated in the severity of disease manifestations.


The inhabitants of the earth are bound to each other by the ties and obligations of a common kinship. Man is simply one of a series of sentients, differing in degree, but not in kind, from the beings below, above, and around him. The Great Law—ACT TOWARD OTHERS AS YOU WOULD ACT TOWARD A PART OF YOUR OWN SELF—is a law not applicable to Aryans only, but to all men; and not to men only, but to all beings. There is the same obligation to act toward a German, a Japanese, or a Filipino, as one acts toward a part of his own organism, as there is to act in this way toward Americans or Englishmen; and, furthermore, there is the same reason for acting in this manner toward horses, cats, dogs, birds, fishes, and insects, as there is in acting so toward men. Restricting the application of this all-inclusive injunction to the human species, is a practice dictated solely by human selfishness and provincialism. The restriction is made, not because we are logical, but because we are diminutive.


Common group-contribution and corresponding-state models for the estimation of normal boiling points, vapor pressures, liquid densities, and dynamic viscosities are reviewed in view of their application to fatty acid methyl esters, related fatty acids and triglycerides. Because of the limited representation of measured data for triglycerides, three previously published group-contribution models for normal boiling points, vapor pressures, and dynamic viscosities are extended through the introduction of a new group, representing the backbone structure common to all triglycerides and improving the performance of these models significantly. Conclusions are drawn in view of further refinement of the group-contribution approach for application to complex branched molecules.


ABSTRACT Research aimed to determine effect of genotype x environment interactions (GEI) on agronomic characters and yield stability of soybean genotypes were conducted at eight locations, namely Ngawi, Probolinggo, Banyuwangi, Jember, Malang, Sleman-Yogyakarta, Rembiga and Sesela-West Lombok. Materials used in the study were nine soybean genotypes consisting of six promising lines and three improved cultivars (Malabar, Wilis, and Ringgit). A randomized complete block design was used in each location, repeated four times. Observations were made on flowering days, maturity days, plant height, number of filled pods, seed weight per plant, 100 seed weight and seed yield. Results showed that the effect of GEI was significant on all of the observed agronomic characters. Maturity days, filled pods number, seed weight per plant, and seed yield were predominantly influenced by environmental factors, plant height and 100 seed weight were predominantly influenced by genetic factors, whereas flowering days was influenced by GEI. Genotype I/M-824-19 was stable with yield average lower compared to that of all genotypes and Agl/I-1114-8 was stable with yield average higher than the yield average of all genotypes. Wilis and M/IB-895-2 were classified as unstable, but gave yield average higher than the yield average of all genotypes. Keywords: adaptation, promising lines, soybean, stable


Due to substantial use of gas turbines and their highly dynamic behavior, they have a profound impact on electrical grid. Although the control philosophies of various turbines are almost the same, there are some nuances in governor systems. As long as these details affect system response in extremely dynamic phenomena such as load rejection, they should be included in models. In this paper, the governor system is subjected to careful scrutiny; tasks of controllers are classified schematically and some special features such as back-tracing and feed-forward are discussed. The turbine is also modeled and a function is developed to calculate turbine exhaust gas temperature. The proposed governor-turbine model is validated by test results and a comparative analysis shows that the back-tracing method prevents wind-up phenomenon and the feed-forward method improves stability and response time.


E. E. SPICER : Aristotle's Conception of the Soul. Pp. xi + 236. London: University of London Press, 1934Cloth, 8s. 6d. THE authoress of this book shrouds herself in a certain mystery, but I infer from the bibliography and from other hints that she is a student of psychology who wished to expound Aristotle's doctrine of the soul and to show how it 1 culminates and gains new power in his ethical theory,' and to this end has analysed the treatises and untiringly noted all the divergences of the commentators. But amidst all these cares she has forgotten to write the book itself, and merely presents us with the unformed v\i) out of which a book might have been composed. Nor has the authoress used her knowledge of psychology in considering who her readers are, or what sort of impression she is likely to make on them. The book is, no doubt, designed for psychologists who have not time to study Aristotle for themselves. There are then certain rules which need to be observed: if quotations are given, they should be striking and easily intelligible: if commentators are mentioned by name, it should be rarely and on points of evident importance: there should be comparison, illustration, generalization. A glance at this book shows that it defies all these rules; the main part of it is a string of quotations, mostly unintelligible to people who have not read the treatises themselves ; the ding-dong argument between commentators becomes very wearisome; there is no attempt to sum up ; and the main task of connecting the de Anima and the Ethics is not even begun. On the other hand, to those who know Aristotle there is nothing here that is of much use; they do not want a summary of his treatment of Courage, Temperance, Magnificence and so forth, even if it were a summary which really summarized instead of quoting. Further, the authoress should have attempted to discover something about Aristotle's development; a subject like this cannot now be treated entirely without reference to it. D. J. ALLAN.


Thanks to their lower losses and sharper resonances compared to their metallic counterparts, all-dielectric metasurfaces are attracting a quickly growing research interest. The application of such metasurfaces in the field of refractive index sensing is extremely attractive, especially due to the expected high performance and the simplicity of the sensing element excitation and readout. Herein, we report on an all-dielectric silicon metasurface based on complementary split-ring resonators (CSRRs) optimized for refractive index sensing. A quasi-bound state in the continuum (quasi-BIC) with an ultra-high quality factor can be excited in the near-infrared (NIR) window by violating the structure symmetry. By using the three-dimensional finite element method (3D-FEM), a refractive index sensor for biomedical applications with an ultra-high figure of merit (FoM > 100,000 RIU−1) has been designed, exploiting the quasi-BIC resonance. The proposed design strategy opens new avenues for developing flat biochemical sensors that are accurate and responsive in real time.


This slender volume, published under the auspices of the Ukrainian Historical Society, attempts the difficult task of assessing in a small space the impact of the famous Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky on the Shevchenko Scientific Society in L'viv. It is clear that without Hrushevsky's leadership the society would not have attained the high level it reached. From 1897 to 1913, during the presidency of Hrushevsky, the society became a remarkable scholarly enterprise, performing unofficially the role of a Ukrainian academy of sciences. Researches, publications, and a library were developed under the direct initiative of the president, who thus successfully bridged the division between the Russian and Austrian Ukraine. Vynar's account is factual and objective. It does not conceal the quarrels between Hrushevsky and some Galician scholars, and it dwells briefly on Hrushevsky's complex and authoritarian personality. The author, perhaps, leans a little too far toward Hrushevsky's side in devoting the whole final section to the rather tenuous relations between Hrushevsky and the Shevchenko Society after 1913.


Struggle songs are a fundamental part of South Africa's political past, present and future. Being such significant entities in South African politics, much research has been done into tracing the history and significance of liberation songs. However, to date, not enough scholarly work exists which has discussed struggle songs as musical texts, and which looks at the fundamental argument that permeates each of them as such. The consequence of this is that very few political actors have been able to harness the persuasive power inherent in struggle songs in South Africa's post-apartheid dispensation. Currently it is only the governing African National Congress and its alliance partners, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist party, that appear to have the monopoly on the use of struggle songs. There have been attempts by the opposing Democratic Alliance to use these songs in campaigning, however because the party does not yet fully understand how these songs function as tools of persuasion, and because the party has not yet managed to effectively utilise the historical memory imbedded in these songs to their advantage, these efforts have not yielded the desired outcome. Thus, a research paper such as this provides a model of how one can begin to analyse the elements that make struggle songs 'work', and then in turn utilise this knowledge to better persuade would-be supporters and voters in future.


A study has been done to perceive the uptake and impact of Big Data in the exploration and production of oil and gas in Indonesia compared to Norway. Interviews were conducted to officials in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MoEMR) and the state regulator, SKK Migas. In both industries, more data is being generated more than ever in exploration, production, drilling, and operations, indicating potential application of Big Data. However, approach towards data has remained classical with physical models in opposed to common Big Data approach, which is data-driven analytics. Several impacts of Big Data in both industries are highlighted, including new demand for data analysts, the need for regulations surrounding cyber-security, improvement of safety and environment (which hasn't been considered in Indonesia), and growing need for more trust and regulations towards open data. Open data in the two industries has seen two different trajectories with Indonesia only implementing it very recently, while the NCS has seen open data drives competition since 1999. This study produced recommendations for the government of Indonesia on open data and how uptake and application of Big Data analytics in EOR could potentially increase national petroleum production to desired levels.
Keywords: Big Data, open data, oil and gas in Indonesia, Norway Continental Shelf, data analytics, EOR


—The need to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data generated in industrial systems and applications has been increasingly highlighted over the years, due to the clear as well as urgent requirements of not disclosing sensible proprietary information, and ensuring that data is kept immutable since it is generated. Based on these background requirements, this paper discusses a system that promotes data privacy and immutability in industrial weighing systems. In this sense, the proposed solution includes a protocol definition for a secure IoT (Internet of Things) communication and an architecture for a blockchain-based platform that: i) automates the process of complying with standardized weighing guidelines; and ii) increases data traceability, promoting both its confidentiality and immutability. Additionally, to demonstrate the proposed system's compliance with the established goals, a proof of concept was assembled, and functional tests conducted. The main conclusions withdrawn from the results obtained show that: i) the process of registering and verifying weighing guidelines is properly automated by means of Machine-to-Machine secure transactions; ii) the solution is able to ensure that the data registered is authentic and iii) that it has been transmitted without any eavesdropping, can not be erased and is kept private.


The terms mole, molality, molarity, osmole, osmolality, osmolarity, osmolar gap and anion gap are defined and their clinical usefulness indicated. The following body fluid compartments are described: total body water (TBW), extracellular fluid (ECF), intracellular fluid (ICF), transcellular fluid (TCF), plasma volume, red cell volume and interstitial fluid volume. Isotope-dilution techniques are briefly discussed and representative normal values for the various compartments according to sex and age are indicated. The physiological mechanisms that maintain the distinctive ionic compositions of the various fluid spaces are briefly outlined. New concepts of the function of the gel matrix and of the lymph drainage of the interstitium are presented. Opposing models to the sodium-potassium membrane pump are briefly described.


In contemporary Indian society, the terms 'women empowerment' and 'self-help group' have been used synonymously. Undoubtedly, self-help groups (SHGs) have played a significant role to provide women their rightful place in the society and have propelled their inclusion in to the larger economic and political systems in India. Over the last decades numerous research papers have already been published to showcase the benefits of SHGs and their limitations as well. However, there is hardly any evidence to claim that SHGs have been successful in bringing 'self-reliance' among its women members beyond their identity as 'beneficiaries' of those groups. It is evident from the available literature that SHGs as a phenomenon has instilled hope and confidence among the women members by creating positive synergies. There is insufficient evidence on the extent of transformation on their mental and economic independence outside their activity groups. Without such transformation SHGs will not be able to make the women realize their full potential. The present paper though limited in its scope attempts to draw insights on the various factors influencing women empowerment. Key Words: Self Help Group, Women empowerment, economic empowerment, educational empowerment, self-reliance, interdependence, micro-finance.


This work consists of two separate parts. The first part deals with the problem of multiple message broadcasting, and the topic of the second part is line broadcasting. Broadcasting is a process in which one vertex in a graph knows one or more messages. The goal is to inform all remaining vertices as fast as possible. In this work we consider a special kind of graphs, grids.
In 1980 A. M. Farley showed that the minimum time required to broadcast a set of M messages in any connected graph with diameter d is d + 2(M − 1). This work presents an approach to broadcasting multiple messages from the corner vertex of a 2-dimensional grid. This approach gives us a broadcasting scheme that differs only by 2 (and in the case of an even x even grid by only 1) from the above lower bound.
Line broadcasting describes a different variant of the broadcasting process. A. M. Farley showed that line broadcasting can always be completed in [log n] time units in any connected graph on n vertices. He defined three different cost measures for line broadcasting. This work presents strategies for minimizing those costs for various grid sizes.


Recently, a new layered material, Mn3Si2Te6, was identified to be a semiconductor with nodal-line topological property and ferrimagnetic (FRM) ground state. In this work, we propose a series of structures, M3Si2Te6(M = alkaline earth and transition metals), and systematically investigate their mechanical, magnetic and electronic properties, and the strain effect to enrich the family of the layered materials for practical applications. We find 13 stable structures, including 5 semiconductors (M = Ca, Sr, Fe, Ru and Os) and 8 metals (M = Sc, Ti, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W and Tc). Two structures (M = Ti and Cr) are antiferromagnetic (AFM), while other structures are non-magnetic (NM). Similar to Mn3Si2Te6, the AFM structures exhibit magnetic anisotropy energies (MAE) and semiconductors have anisotropic electron effective masses. We further show that compressions along the z-axis can effectively tune the electronic and magnetic properties, such as the semiconductor-metal and NM-AFM transition in Fe3Si2Te6, the two-fold degeneracy of the valence band maximums (VBMs) in Sr3Si2Te6, as well as the reduced MAE for all magnetic structures. These results demonstrate the diverse properties of the layered M3Si2Te6family and provide promising theoretical predictions for the future design of new layered materials.


Posterior sagittal anorectoplasty was used for the first time in 1980 to treat anorectal malformations. This approach includes a wide exposure, through a midline posterior incision, to determine the limits of the sphincteric mechanism and to place the rectum within its limits. This approach has been used to treat children with anorectal malformations, who underwent conventional procedures that failed. The management of anorectal malformations with this approach rendered significantly better results in terms of bowel control. However, there is still a large number of patients suffering from fecal incontinence and for them a bowel management program was designed to improve their quality of life. The posterior sagittal approach was also used for the treatment of acquired conditions including tumors, post-trauma and postradiation fistulas, and other postoperative complications. A historic review of the posterior approach disclosed that Cripps, a British surgeon, published his experience with a posterior transsphincteric approach to the rectum nine years before Kraske, a German surgeon, whose name has been traditionally associated with the leadership in this approach. Kraske actually approached the rectum through a paramedian incision and never performed a real transsphincteric incision. An experimental study done in dogs by the author demonstrated that it is not harmful to divide the sphincteric mechanism. The posterior sagittal approach represents a useful alternative to treat many pelvic conditions and, therefore, it must be a part of the armamentarium of colorectal surgeons. Fi-


Field and flume experiments with modern Nautilus pompilius establish two prerequisites to recognize in situ preservation of fossil cephalopod shells (soft parts were within body chamber in situ at the time of fossilization): occurrence of the upper jaw within the body chamber and the position of jaws within the body chamber. Morphology of shells and jaws in modern and fossil nautiloids is so similar that these prerequisites can be applied for fossil nautiloids and provide implications for ammonoids. The upper jaws of Nautilus start to move at a water velocity of > 0.2 m/s, when the shells are reoriented with the aperture downstream; jaws are therefore unlikely to be secondarily deposited near the shell aperture by bottom currents. The lower jaws, moved at the velocity of > 0.1 m/s, can be deposited around the shell aperture by weak current (0.1–0.2 m/s in velocity), but never enter the inside of body chamber. Neither jaw is likely to be separately and selectively displaced from the inside of the body chamber through scavenging of the soft parts by burrowing infaunal animals. An upper jaw preserved inside the body chamber, together with a lower jaw, is thus a reliable indicator of in situ preservation; a sole lower jaw preserved around the shell aperture is likely to be secondarily deposited. Sedimentary structures inferring rapid burial events and jaw size are useful as additional evidence. Smaller jaws were more likely to be displaced from the body chamber by scavenging by infaunal animals after in situ burial, so that smaller jaws preserved within the body chamber suggest less scavenging. These findings are crucial to interpreting the taphonomic history and palaeo-ecology of fossil cephalopods.


Abstract The article is the first in a series of articles on the research and implementation of saturation diving technology in our country which presents the specific Polish conditions and achievements against the background of economic and historical circumstances. In view of the fact that research and implementation has a history of more than half a century, selected key figures of this period are recalled, some of whom have disappeared in the fogs of history. In the specialized literature of the world, the Polish underwater habitats of Meduza are among top 6 countries that researched and implemented, this high technology of saturation diving. Regarded as the inspirer, pioneer and creator of the first saturation diving, he designed and developed the technique and decompression with the cooperation of a team of enthusiasts from clubs and professional divers, as well as engineering staff from the Tri-City enterprises. In the first part of the article the author characterizes the saturation dives in comparison with short dives with particular emphasis on decompression, which is the key to safe diving. The article also takes into account the technical conditions for the implementation of the first saturation dives. The author discusses the general methodology of validation and verification of the assumed decompression, referring to the Polish conditions. He describes how the medical, technical, and organizational problems of implementation of saturation diving were solved in the pioneering period against the background of world achievements. Furthermore, the author describes Polish habitat constructions of Meduza and Geonur types and their application to underwater work on the Polish shelf and coastal areas. Despite the great progress in the field of medicine and technology, as well as organization, the problems of saturation diving, despite the passage of time, remain relevant, as these are the most difficult dives from the point of view of organization, underwater physiology and safety technology.


Waiting times for appointments for urological out-patients in Ireland and the U.K. can be excessively long. Nurse-led Lower Urinary Tract symptom (LUTs) pre-assessment clinics have been introduced to streamline patient care pathways. We examined whether a nurse-led pre-assessment LUTS clinic could result in the rapid assessment and discharge of patients following their first out-patient visit. A pilot study was undertaken whereby patients referred with LUTS were sent for pre-assessment prior to their out-patients appointment. 214 consecutive patients underwent pre-assessment. Of these, 39 (18%) patients were discharged following their first out-patient visit and 27 (13%) patients were discharged after a second attendance. A further 35 (16%) patients continued to attend but underwent no further investigations or treatment, and possibly should have been discharged earlier. Overall 46% of pre-assessed patients could have been discharged early from the urology clinic. In conclusion a nurse-led pre-assessment LUTS clinic could result in the rapid assessment and discharge of patients following their first out-patient visit.


Background: Due to its supposed clinical efficacy, relative safety, and low cost, ascorbic acid represents an appealing option for clinicians to utilize in the context of a global health pandemic of COVID-19 patients.Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using ascorbic acid as adjunctive therapy in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Methods: This was a multi-center, non-interventional, retrospective cohort study. All critically ill adult patients admitted to ICU with a confirmed COVID-19 between March 1st to December 31st, 2020 were included in the final analysis. The study was conducted at two large governmental tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The purpose was to investigate the association between clinical outcomes with ascorbic acid use as an adjunctive therapy in COVID-19 after propensity score matching using baseline severity scores, systemic use of corticosteroids and study centers. Results: A 739 patients were included in this study; 296 patients were included after propensity score matching. There was no association between the administration of ascorbic acid and in-hospital mortality nor 30-day ICU mortality (OR (95%CI): 0.77 (0.476, 1.234), p-value=0.2738 and OR (95%CI): 0.73 (0.438 ,1.204), p-value=0.215 respectively). Using ascorbic acid was associated with lower incidence of thrombosis compared with the non-ascorbic acid group (6.1% vs. 13% respectively); OR (95%CI): 0.42 (0.184, 0.937), p-value=0.0342).Conclusion: Ascorbic acid use as an adjunctive therapy in COVID19 critically ill patients was not associated with mortality benefits; but associated with lower incidence of thrombosis. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.


Markovian outgoing wave boundary conditions are introduced as an approximate method to reduce the size of the computational grid for time integration of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. The ratio and polynomial methods developed as open boundary conditions are applied to the wave function at the boundaries of the computational grid. This computational method is used to study the wave packet dynamics for a metastable well, a double well, and strong-field ionization of a model atom. Accurate results demonstrate that this method can significantly reduce the number of grid points required in a dynamical calculation for quantum dynamical problems. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Background: Statins may be effective in reducing the risk of cerebral ischemia. This study aimed to examine the effect of Statins on the short-term prognosis of cerebral ischemia. Materials and Methods: This cohort study was performed on 230 patients, whose cerebral ischemia had been confirmed by the neurologist. Eighty patients were treated with Statins at least three months before the onset of disease, and 150 patients had no history of Statin treatment. Demographic and background data and motor ability of the patients were evaluated based on the modified ranking scale (MRS). The patient's motor status on admission was compared to that of the discharge time. A case was considered as poor prognosis if the motor condition would not change or become worse and as better, if it would become better on discharge. Results: Among 230 patients (mean age, 71.59 years), 103 cases were women (44.8%) and 127 men (55.2%). On admission, fifty-five (68.8%) patients in the Statin group and 26 (17.3%) in non-Statin group and on discharge, 70 patients (87.5%) in the Statin group and 43 (28.7%) in non-Statin group had better motor status (MRS Conclusion: Short-term prognosis in the Statin group before the onset of disease is better than that in the non-Statin group.


ABSTRACT Tuition rates for higher education continue to rise at the same time a growing number of young adults are deciding that they need college training to attain their career goals. One common method to cope with the financial strain is for students to remain in the home of their parents while they complete college. Freshmen attending community colleges and their parents were interviewed to identify what they perceived to be the challenges and benefits of living together for a longer time than was the custom in the past. Recommendations for reciprocal learning and revising generational expectations are explored.


Skin ageing has many manifestations such as wrinkles, dryness, hyperpigmentation, and uneven skin tone. Extrinsic and intrinsic factors, especially solar ultraviolet light (UVB), contribute to skin ageing; its main features are brown spots, alterations in melanin pigmentation, and a decrease in collagen and hyaluronic acid linked to oxidative stress. Several studies showed that topical products containing ingredients with antioxidant activity can reduce oxidative damage; to provide a maximum anti-ageing effect to the skin, topical products can combine various ingredients. C-SHOT SERUM contains a combination of two molecules with a proven anti-ageing activity: a high percentage (30%) of a more stable vitamin C derivative, 3-O-ethyl-l-ascorbic acid, and lactic acid (1%). The product showed a high biocompatibility, assessed through an MTT assay on keratinocytes and on Reconstructed Human Epidermis (RHE, SkinEthic); the anti-ageing activity was demonstrated on human dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytes by a statistically significant increase in collagen production and a reduction of a UVB-induced DNA damage marker (γ-H2AX histone), indicating DNA protection. Moreover, a depigmenting activity, shown by a highly significant decrease in melanin content on treated Reconstructed Human Pigmented Epidermis (RHPE), was assessed. According to the data of our study, the tested product contrasts the effect of skin ageing and irregular pigmentation due to the physiological decline of the skin.


The flavonoidal fraction collected from column chromatography from ethanolic extract of fruits of Momordica dioica Roxb was evaluated for hepatoprotective activity in wistar strain of albino rats of either sex against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatic damage. The fraction caused decrease in serum level of enzymes serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphate and total bilirubin in treated rats as compared to control. This study showed that this fraction from Momordica dioica fruits could afford a good protection against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatocellular damage. Keywords : hepatoprotective, Momordica dioica , cucurbitaceae, serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, alkaline phosphate, total bilirubin Nigerian Journal of Natural Products and Medicine Vol. 9 2005: 29-31


This research collected work drilling report of TBM method site developed by WRlTH company to TBM equipment company in Germany and analyzed work operating productivity. Based Oil the data analyzed TBM operating productivity, This research derived and presented excavation speed (m/day) by TBM diameter (3.0m, 3.5m, 3.8m) and rock. Also, based on the excavation speed (rn/day) by TBM diameter, This research estimated a day direct construction cost and total direct construction costs by applying a direct construction cost which spent on per 1m. When we perform a similar geological construction in the future, excavation speed and direct construction cost which were derived by TBM diameter and rock is thinking the effective utilization data to estimate construction cost and plan schedule management before the start of construction.


ABSTRACT
Along with population rise and living needs rise so that it would produce a huge disposal material, therefore the building of Rubbish Final Disposal Site (TPA) was needed to rubbish management in an area, however the development also had a negative effect to the nearby site. The effect emerged due to the TPA was soil water quality effect around TPA location. This research was conducted in Final Rubbish Disposal of Banyuroto in Banyuroto village, Nanggulan District, Kulon Progo Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region. The purpose of this research was to know how big waste water effect to oil water quality around TPA of Banyuroto was and to know waste water-free contaminated soil water spread pattern so that it could give information or description on soil water quality condition in the research area.
The research used a survey and analytical method. Survey method was conducted by a field direct observation for analysis method namely by analyzing laboratory sample test laboratory and then compared the laboratory test result by quality standard determined.
For soil water quality test, it was conducted soil water sample taking as much as 10 points based on soil water flow direction by a parameter tested namely TDS, pH, BOD, COD, and heavy metal (lead and chrome). Out of laboratory test result, nature value of BOD, COD, and TDS there were some points exceeded quality standard to the maximum value was in point S2 (outlet) with each value of BOD=200.1 mg/l; COD=750 mg/l; and TDS=2,640 mg/l. Quality standard still tended to neutral ranged between 6.8–8.2 was still under quality standard. Heavy metal parameter itself was still far under quality standard that was for lead value <0.0093 mg/l and for chrome value <0.0014 mg/l.
Keywords: Evaluation, Waste water, Banyuroto


The prolactin (PRL) family consists of a collection of proteins expressed in the uterus, placenta, and anterior pituitary. These cytokines/hormones are hypothesized to control maternal-fetal adaptations to pregnancy. Establishment of mouse models for members of the PRL family expands the experimental repertoire available for investigations on their biological activities. In this report, we establish the presence of mouse homologues for two rat members, PRL-like protein-A (PLP-A) and PLP-B. We present data on their cDNAs and describe aspects of their expression in uteroplacental tissues. A mouse genomic DNA fragment was found to hybridize with a rat PLP-A cDNA. Perusal of the National Center for Biotechnology Information dbEST database resulted in the identification of several putative mouse PLP-A cDNAs and a single putative mouse PLP-B cDNA. The cDNAs were obtained from the IMAGE consortium and Research Genetics and sequenced, and their corresponding mRNAs and proteins were characterized. Overall, mouse PLP-A and PLP-B showed considerable similarities with rat PLP-A and PLP-B in both structure and expression. PLP-A was expressed in both trophoblast giant cells and spongiotrophoblast cells, whereas PLP-B was expressed in decidual and spongiotrophoblast cells. However, some notable exceptions were evident. Mouse PLP-A contained a single putative N-linked glycosylation site and consisted of a single 29-kDa protein species, whereas rat PLP-A contained two putative N-linked glycosylation sites and consisted of two protein species, of 29 and 33 kDa. Subtle differences in the expression patterns in the mouse and rat are also apparent. In summary, we have established the presence of PLP-A and PLP-B in the mouse. The findings expand our knowledge of these two cytokines/hormones and provide additional strategies for studying their function.


This paper examines the interdisciplinary research question of how to integrate Computational Argumentation, as studied in AI, with Cognition, as can be found in Cognitive Science, Linguistics, and Philosophy. It stems from the work of the 1st Workshop on Computational Argumentation and Cognition (COGNITAR), which was organized as part of the 24th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI), and took place virtually on September 8th, 2020. The paper begins with a brief presentation of the scientific motivation for the integration of Computational Argumentation and Cognition, arguing that within the context of Human-Centric AI the use of theory and methods from Computational Argumentation for the study of Cognition can be a promising avenue to pursue. A short summary of each of the workshop presentations is given showing the wide spectrum of problems where the synthesis of the theory and methods of Computational Argumentation with other approaches that study Cognition can be applied. The paper presents the main problems and challenges in the area that would need to be addressed, both at the scientific level but also at the epistemological level, particularly in relation to the synthesis of ideas and approaches from the various disciplines involved.


This paper presents a study on human detection using the multi-scale covariance descriptor (MSCOV) proposed in a previous work [1] in which we showed the performance of this descriptor for human re-identification. In this work, we evaluate its performance in human detection. We propose a fast tree based method for multi-scale features covariance computation. This method considerably speed up the image scan process for fast object detection. Furthermore, we experimentally evaluate the human detection performance using region covariance descriptor (COV), multi-scale covariance descriptor (MSCOV) and histogram of oriented gradients (HOG). In term of classifier, we consider the popular Support Vector Machines (SVM). The experiments are performed on both benchmarking datasets INRIA and MIT CBCL. Experiments on both datasets show the high detection performance of the MSCOV based detector.


OBJECTIVE
The p53 tumor suppressor protein plays an important role in cell apoptosis. The wild type p53 protein presents a common polymorphism at position 72 resulting in either a proline or an arginine residue at this position, leading to differences between the two variants in the induction of apoptosis. We examined the possible associations of this polymorphism with the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its severity in a series of RA patients of Italian origin.

METHODS
170 consecutive RA patients fulfilling the 1997 ACR criteria and seen over a 4-month period in our rheumatology centre were studied. The medical records of the patients were reviewed for demographic and clinical parameters. Radiographs of the hands and feet taken at disease onset and after 5 years were available for 122 of the patients and were used to determine the presence and number of erosions, which were scored according to the modified Sharp/van der Heijde method (S/vdH). All of the RA patients and controls were genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction and allele-specific oligonucleotide techniques for p53 gene polymorphism Arg/Pro at codon 72.

RESULTS
The distribution of the polymorphism of Arg/Pro 72 did not differ significantly between patients and healthy controls (Arg/Arg 47.1 vs 48.5%, Arg/Pro 43.5% vs 42%, Pro/Pro 9.8 vs 9.5% respectively, p=ns). Patients carrying the Pro/Pro genotype had a significantly higher percentage of erosive disease at year 5 compared with patients carrying the Arg/Arg genotype (Pro/Pro 93%, Arg/Arg 52%, p=0.0001). The mean number of eroded joints per patient at 5 years was higher in the Pro/Pro subgroup and significantly lower in the Arg/Arg subgroup (Pro/Pro 13.2, Arg/Arg 3.6, p=0.0001). The mean S/vdH erosive score, joint space narrowing score and total damage score were significantly higher in the Pro/Pro subgroup compared with the Arg/Arg and Arg/Pro subgroups.

CONCLUSION
In the Italian population there is no association between codon 72-p53 gene polymorphism and the occurrence of RA. However, this polymorphism is associated with the structural damage of the disease.


Histopathology is the process of examining tissue that includes all the changes, when a diseased tissue shows compared to a healthy group with a result of a histological observation. Histopathology has become an essential process in medical experimental research and medical experimental models. Scientists have developed medical experimental animal models for these reasons and have pioneered new drug research for many years. One of these experimental researches is experimental ulcer models. This model, which was initially a single method, has led to the emergence of new models with the discovery of physiological processes on ulcers by scientists. Nowadays, researchers have performed many new peptic ulcer models on experimental animals over the years. The main point in the creation of the ulcer model is the increase in the stomach acid level and the removal or corruption of the gastric mucus. When the experimental models were examined histopathologically, it was seen that the most severe models were those induced by pyloric ligation, acetic acid application, and indomethacin. In these models, ulcer foci that progressed to the submucosa were common, while the superficial damage spreading to the entire surface was striking in the ethanol model. While epithelial losses are shown on the surface of the mucosa, foci of necrotic apoptotic cell clusters extending to the submucosa are shown according to the weight of the model. In addition, evidence of inflammation has been shared in almost all studies. All these results show that ulcer models can be created by many different mechanisms. However, similar findings were observed in almost all experiments. Whether the experimental model caused severe or mild ulceration changed the histological findings.


Three-valued models, in which properties of a system are either true, false or unknown, have recently been advocated as a better representation for reactive program abstractions generated by automatic techniques such as predicate abstraction. Indeed, for the same cost, model checking three-valued abstractions can be used to both prove and disprove any temporal-logic property, whereas traditional conservative abstractions can only prove universal properties. Also, verification results can be more precise with generalized model checking, which checks whether there exists a concretization of an abstraction satisfying a temporal-logic formula. Since generalized model checking includes satisfiability as a special case (when everything in the model is unknown), it is in general more expensive than traditional model checking. In this paper, we study how to reduce generalized model checking to model checking by a temporal-logic formula transformation, which generalizes a transformation for propositional logic known as semantic minimization in the literature. We show that many temporal-logic formulas of practical interest are self-minimizing, i.e., are their own semantic minimizations, and hence that model checking for these formulas has the same precision as generalized model checking.


ABSTRACT The Murotomisaki Gabbroic Intrusion is a sill-like layered gabbro emplaced in sedimentary strata of Tertiary age in southwest Japan. The zoning (including resorption structures) and the compositional variations of plagioclase from throughout the intrusion were studied, and it was found that the zoning pattern may be classified into four types, which may well correlated with the hosting rock types, the mode of occurrences and their stratigraphic positions in the intrusion. The plagioclase zoning was successfully decoded, and the sequence of events that took place during the magmatic differentiation was deduced and further interpreted in the context of a stratified basal boundary layer slowly ascending in a solidifying magma body. It was shown that various layered structures – modal layering, podiform gabbroic pegmatites and anorthositic layers – observed in the Murotomisaki Gabbro were formed within the moving basal boundary layer by flushing of H2O-rich fluid and fractionated silicate melts from below. By the fluxing of hydrous fluids, plagioclase crystals preferentially dissolved and then melt fraction increased in the basal boundary layer. Under these circumstances, plagioclase-rich fractionated melts diapirically segregated from the crystal pile. Calcic plagioclases, which are out of equilibrium in the central part of the intrusion, may have originated from the basal boundary layer in this manner.


The traditional method of slicing okra with kitchen knife is labourious, time-consuming and also prone to finger injury. Both traditional method and existing mechanized okra slicer result in damaged and unequal slices of okra which may hinder proper drying of the okra for preservation. An okra slicer was designed, constructed and evaluated. The main parts of the machine were cutting discs, guided removable tray, loading hopper, the transmission system and the supporting frame. In the evaluation of the machine with okra, the performance indices investigated were slicing efficiency, throughput capacity, mechanical damage index and slicing uniformity. The highest slicing efficiency and throughput capacity for okra were 99.88 % and 194.11 kg/h respectively. The least mechanical damage index value of 0.30 % was obtained at a cutting speed of 1200 rpm. The mean slicing uniformity was 93.87 %. The machine developed in this study was able to produce uniform slices of okra of about 3.4 mm thickness. Hence, Industrial production and shelf life of dried okra could be enhanced.


The recommendation algorithm based on knowledge graphs and deep learning is at a relatively mature stage. However, there are still some problems in the recommendation of specific areas. For example, in the tourism field, selecting suitable tourist attraction attributes process is complicated as the recommendation basis for tourist attractions. In this paper, Based on Knowledge Graph Convolution Network as a deep learning model, we propose the improved Attention Knowledge Graph Convolution Network model, named (Att) - KGCN), which automatically discovers the neighboring entities of the target scenic spot semantically. The attention layer aggregates relatively similar locations and represents them with an adjacent vector. Then, according to the tourist's preferred choices, the model predicts the probability of similar spots as a recommen-dation system. A knowledge graph dataset of tourist attractions used based on tourism data on Socotra Island-Yemen. Through experiments, it is verified that the Attention Knowledge Graph Convolution Network has a good effect on the recommendation of tourist attractions and can make more recommendations for tourists' choices.


Using an unbalanced panel dataset of bilateral trade flows, we study the determinants of bilateral trade of ASEAN 10 countries, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, from 1989 to 2009. We find that bilateral trade flow is positively related to the overall bilateral country size and similarity in country size and inversely related to the relative factor endowment differences, transportation costs, and import tariffs. Our simulation results show that establishing the free trade area in ASEAN+6 is important for promoting intraregional trade by about 39.3% ($66.6 billion), and that a new economic community of the "6" countries together with ASEAN promotes mutual trade.


In A Mercy, Morrison frames the psychic damage inflicted by slavery as a series of failed messages between slave mother and slave daughter. Florens's misreading of her mother's message, as she arranged for Florens's sale, becomes the distorting lens through which she perceives the world; and as a consequence of her separation from her mother, her capacity to read the meanings of others' messages is disabled. Jean Laplanche's theory of the enigmatic signifier, which also examines the effects of a parental message that cannot be understood, enables me to clarify some baffling aspects of Florens's actions and of her style as narrator. The narrative structure formally reproduces the thematics of mother-daughter separation.


The Worldwide Web (W3 or WWW), the multimedia part of the Internet, has recently gained the attention of academic and practising marketers. As firms of all sizes scramble to establish Web sites, there is much speculation as to the Web's role in marketing communication specifically and in marketing generally, and how it will affect buyer (surfer) behaviour. What research has been done so far has been mainly descriptive, perhaps in the absence of a more formal agenda. This study briefly describes the Web in non‐technical terms, and then attempts to integrate it into well‐established models of buyer behaviour and marketing communication. From this basis, areas for further re‐surfing (i.e. researching) are identified from three perspectives: the buyer's, the seller's and the theorist's.


Background:
Because the current techniques for the analysis of knee kinematics are either invasive or radiative, the demand
for new, non-invasive and non-radiative techniques has originated. A system that relies on ultrasound
is one of the explored alternatives. The goal of this bachelor report is to develop a holder that is the interface
between the ultrasound system and the patient. The holders must enable the dynamic reconstruction of
the knee joint kinematics. Theretofore 30 ultrasound transducers must be divided in correct manner over the
upper and lower leg of the patient. This enables the localisation of the femur and tibia bone of this patient
and as a result the reconstruction of the knee kinematics.
Analysis Phase:
The first step was to map the current situation regarding the development of the ultrasound system. By
attending a cadaver testing, an attempt was made to provide insights in the operation and shortcomings of
the required materials. Furthermore the knowledge regarding ultrasound has been broadened by looking
into the theory behind it. Besides the Visualeyez motion capture system has been analysed and it is specified
that the prototypes will be fabricated using 3D-prinitng techniques. The use of A-mode ultrasound and
the Visualeyez motion capture system incorporates several requirements and limitations to the design of the
holders. These, together with the requirements and wishes of the client, are translated into a statement of
requirements.
Concept phase:
After the analysis phase the exploration of possible solutions for the design of the holders started, complexity
and versatile were varied here. The three most promising ideas are further elaborated into basic concepts,
where it is tried to establish a basic principle behind the ideas. Eventually the most promising concept
is chosen and a simplified prototype has been tested. The goal was to determine the feasibility of the
basic idea. By determining if it is even possible to keep seeing the bone during a dynamic measurements
using ultrasound, an estimation could be made whether the principle is viable. The results of this test were
positive, but it was decided that structured testing was necessary to reveal where on the leg the chosen
basic principle works. The reason was the uncertainty regarding the performance of the chosen principle
on the characteristic locations, who are required for the reconstruction of the kinematics. The locations that
would be tested were determined using a theoretical approach and then tested using an especially designed
testing holder. This resulted in the 30 most appropriate locations to reconstruct the kinematics using the
basic principle.
Final concept phase:
Using the observations done during the location testing, a morphological analysis could be prepared. It was
used to be able to make choices regarding a few key components. Based on the information obtained in the
location testing and the morphological analysis, concepts could be made of the six separate holder parts.
For each of them a parametrisation has been prepared to enable the fabrication of versions tailored specially
for a subject. The concepts are then translated to Solidworks models, using the parametrisation as base
for the models. Prototypes of the models were printed and analysed, leading to several improvements to the
design, these were implemented in the final design of the concepts. Furthermore a special documentation
has been written explaining how a subject must be measured and how these values can be translated into
subject specific Solidworks models.
Conclusion:
Eventually a concept is developed that enables the analysis of the knee kinematics in a dynamic fashion.
While no conclusions can be drawn regarding the working of the system of holders, they aren't tested yet,
it can be said that it is proven that, while using the chosen basic principle, it is possible to keep seeing the
bone in the characteristic locations required to reconstruct the knee kinematics.


Background There is a growing interest in reporting satisfaction levels of transgender women undergoing vaginoplasty surgery. The lack of information regarding satisfaction during the initial experience of the vaginoplasty technique, and the moderate morbidity related to the surgery, could discourage the immersion of new groups in initiating a program of this kind. Therefore, we aim to report patients' level of satisfaction during our initial experience in the penile inversion vaginoplasty technique. Methods Retrospective study of patients who underwent penile inversion vaginoplasty in our center between September 2019 and August 2021. Surgery technique, demographic data, preoperative clinical variables, and short and long-term follow-up are described. Six months after surgery, a survey elaborated by the research team was conducted by phone. The score goes from 1 to 5, and it evaluates satisfaction on esthetics, functional, psychosocial, and global aspects. Results Twenty patients underwent penile inversion vaginoplasty in our center during the described period. The average age was 35.6 years old, the mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.7 kg/m2, and they presented low comorbidity. Half of the patients presented at least one complication, most of which were minor. One patient was urgently reoperated due to bleeding, and three patients were reoperated on a scheduled basis from minor surgeries. 90% of the patients answered the questionnaire. The most common answers to all four areas covered (esthetics, functional, psychosocial, and global) were satisfied or very satisfied, resulting in a mean over four points in each one of the sections. Lastly, 94.4% of the patients reported being satisfied with their choice of having undergone surgery. Conclusions Our initial experience in penile inversion vaginoplasty reveals good satisfaction results at short follow up.


\textgreater A knowledge of the historic and philosophical background gives that kind of independence from prejudices of his generation from which most scientists are suffering. This independence created by philosophical insight is—in my opinion—the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth. \textgreater \textgreater Albert Einstein, Letter to Robert Thornton, 1944 Despite the tight historical links between science and philosophy, present-day scientists often perceive philosophy as completely different from, and even antagonistic to, science. We argue here that, to the contrary, philosophy can have an important and productive impact on science. Despite the tight historical links between science and philosophy, hearkening back to Plato, Aristotle, and others (here evoked with Raphael's famous School of Athens), present-day scientists often perceive philosophy as completely different from, and even antagonistic to, science. To the contrary, we believe philosophy can have an important and productive impact on science. Image credit: Shutterstock.com/Isogood_patrick. We illustrate our point with three examples taken from various fields of the contemporary life sciences. Each bears on cutting-edge scientific research, and each has been explicitly acknowledged by practicing researchers as a useful contribution to science. These and other examples show that philosophy's contribution can take at least four forms: the clarification of scientific concepts, the critical assessment of scientific assumptions or methods, the formulation of new concepts and theories, and the fostering of dialogue between different sciences, as well as between science and society. ### Conceptual Clarification and Stem Cells. First, philosophy offers conceptual clarification. Conceptual clarifications not only improve the precision and utility of scientific terms but also lead to novel experimental investigations because the choice of a given conceptual framework strongly constrains how experiments are conceived. The definition of stem cells is a prime example. Philosophy has a long tradition of investigating properties, and the tools in use in this tradition …


ABSTRACT
Gains in inpatient survival over the last five decades have shifted the burden of major injuries and surgical emergencies from the acute phase to their long-term sequalae. More attention has been placed on evaluation and optimization of long-term physical and mental health; however, the impact of major injuries and surgical emergencies on long-term financial wellbeing remains a critical blind spot for clinicians and researchers. The concept of financial toxicity encompasses both the objective financial consequences of illness and medical care as well as patients' subjective financial concerns. In this review, representatives of the Healthcare Economics Committee from the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (i) provide a conceptual overview of financial toxicity after trauma or emergency surgery, (ii) outline what is known regarding long-term economic outcomes among trauma and emergency surgery patients, (iii) explore the bidirectional relationship between financial toxicity and long-term physical and mental health outcomes, (iv) highlight policies and programs that may mitigate financial toxicity, and (v) identify the current knowledge gaps and critical next steps for clinicians and researchers engaged in this work.


Background Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by systemic bone loss with an increased risk to bone fractures, associated with high morbidity and mortality1. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) from bone marrow (BM) are ideal candidates for the treatment of osteoporosis because they are able to differentiate to osteoblasts although its osteotropism is low2. Ex vivo fucosylation (adding a fucose residue) in α1–3 position of the CD44 antigen by use of the enzyme fucosyltransferase VI (FTVI) yields Hematopoietic cell E and L-selectin ligand (HCELL) in MSC increasing the affinity for E-selectin and osteotropism. Objectives To describe the safety and efficacy of human fucosylated MSC infused in an immunocompromised mice model (NOD/SCID). Methods 31 NOD/SCID mice were randomized to by tail vein injection: 1x106 fucosylated MSC (n=13), 1x106 MSC (n=14) or saline (n=4). Toxicities were evaluated by a clinical score, weight and histological assessment (heart, lung, liver, spleen, kidney, gonads, brain, bone and BM). RT-PCR array-based evaluation of the expression of human β-actin and β2-microglobulin genes was performed to study biodistribution of MSC. The maintenance of genetic integrity was evaluated during in vitro culture by karyotype. Additional samples of tibia and calota were to immunostained with a polyclonal Rabbit anti-human osteocalcina to demonstrate efficacy. Osteocalcin-positive cells were identified by a dark-brown cytoplasmic precipitate. Results There was no unexpected death and none of the mices had any acute toxicity. The histology of heart, liver, kidney, spleen, gonads, brain, bone and bone marrow was normal in all mice. There were localized areas of lung inflammation in 15%, 42% and 25% of mice infused with fucosylated MSC, MSC, and saline, respectively without significance differences (p=0.28). Biodistribution was normal with except one mice (infused with MSC non-fucosylated) showed an expression of human RNA β-actin and β2-microglobulin in the lung sample taken after 12 weeks of intravenous infusion. Osteoblasts were seen in 100% of mices infused with fucosylated MSC, in 62.5%% of animals infused with MSC alone, and none in saline group (p=0.01). NOD/SCID mice infused with fucosylated MSC presented a higher number of osteoblasts positive for osteocalcin in 10 high-power fields (400x) of tibia and calvarium sections that non-fucosylated (32 vs 5.5) (p=0.0082). Human osteoblasts were detected inside the bone from the fifth to the twelfth week after infusion. Conclusions Intravenous infusion of human fucosylated MSC is safe and effective in guiding the cells to bone with a higher potential to ossification in NOD/SCID mices that non-fucosylated MSC. These results are allowing to start a human clinical trial with intravenous fucosylated MSC as treatment in patients with osteoporosis. References Johnell O, Kanis JA. An estímate of the worldwide prevalence and disability associated with osteoporotic fractures.Osteoporos Int 2006 Dec;17(12):1726–33. Connolly JF. Injectable bone marrow preparations to stimulate osteogenic repair. Clin Orthop Relat Res 1995 Apr;(313):8–18. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Twenty-seven independent pyridoxineless mutants belonging to genetic linkage group I were assayed for glycolaldehyde dehydrogenase. Some mutants lacked enzyme activity entirely, and others showed activity ranging from very low to wild-type levels. Reversion to pyridoxine independence usually had no effect upon this activity. Transfer of the pyridoxine genes to a common host that had wild-type levels of enzyme activity made the recipient pyridoxineless without affecting the activity. These results negate the idea of an obligatory role for glycolaldehyde dehydrogenase in pyridoxine biosynthesis.


Applying a variational approach and numerical analysis to the system of Gross-Pitaevskii equations, we find three-dimensional (3D) stable solitons in binary atomic Bose-Einstein condensates with spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and out-of-phase linear and nonlinear Bessel optical lattices. We discuss the stability of 3D solitons by utilizing their norm and energy. The introduction of Bessel potentials makes the evolution and collisions of solitons more stable and improves their resistance to collapse. Depending on the strength of the intra- and intercomponent spatial modulation of the nonlinearity and SOC, we find stable solitons of the semivortex and mixed-mode structures. Furthermore, we show that the solitons are stable against small perturbations in propagation and collisions.


Introduction

The mechanism controlling the color changes which take place in a large variety of cold-blooded animals has been a subject of investigation for years, but only recently has the dominance of the pituitary in regulating these changes been recognized.

Smith (1) in 1916 and Allen (2) in 1917 showed that the removal of the pituitaries of tadpoles resulted in a permanent state of contraction of the melanophores so that "albino" animals were produced. The dark coloration of these animals could be restored by the implantation of pituitary glands. Swingle (3) in 1921 found that similar darkening could be produced by implanting only the intermediate lobe of the pituitary. Hogben and Winton (4) observed marked melanophore expansion following the injection of posterior pituitary extracts in frogs and claimed that this was a specific response to a pituitary substance. They showed that the active substance was not identical with the pressor factor but that it resembled the oxytocic principle. Subsequent work by Fenn (5), Dreyer and Clark (6), Hogben and Gordon (7), Rowe (8), and Stehle (9) has shown that the melanophore-expanding substance is a specific one differing from both oxytocic and pressor factors.

This substance produces darkening in reptiles and amphibia by expansion of the melanophores. In fish this is not the case. Spaeth (10) has shown that in the fish studied by him the action was one of melanophore contraction.

The response of melanophores in frogs has been shown to be non-specific since substances other than pituitary extracts will cause melanophore expansion. Spaeth found, in the study of isolated fish scales, that changes in the pH of the medium and alterations in the concentrations of certain ions have a decided influence on the melanophores. It has been found, also, that such drugs as quinine, yohimbin, curare, and choline are very active in causing melanophore expansion. In view of the limitations of the melanophore response, Zondek and Krohn (11) proposed employing the nuptial coloration of the minnow Phoxinus laevis as a test for the pituitary substance. This species of minnow presents a very distinct seasonal variation in color. During the spawning season (May and June) there develops a striking color change, the so-called "wedding dress"; the dorsal surface of the fish, usually a dark green marked with black bands, becomes perceptibly paler, while the abdomen changes from a pearly white into a crimson red. This red coloration begins at the bases of the ventral and pectoral fins and spreads so as to cover the whole abdomen, extending into the fins themselves and to parts of the head. Zondek and Krohn (11) showed that this red coloration could be promptly produced by pituitary extracts, and they named the active pituitary substance intermedin. They stated that it could be found in the pituitary gland and the wall of the third ventricle but nowhere else in the body, and that it was present in highest concentration in the intermediate lobe of the pituitary. No other susbtance was found which would give this reaction.


A compact low-noise quadrature receiver for 24 GHz ISM applications in 0.13 µm CMOS technology is presented. The chip offers a conversion gain of 18 dB and a noise figure of 5 dB. The differential circuit consumes only 24 mW from a single 1.5 V supply. The low-noise amplifier, two mixers and on-chip quadrature generation are integrated on a minimal chip area of 0.48 mm2 including pads.


The increasing ability to track and collect large amounts of data with the use of current hardware technology has lead to an interest in the development of data mining algorithms which preserve user privacy. A recently proposed technique addresses the issue of privacy preservation by perturbing the data and reconstructing distributions at an aggregate level in order to perform the mining. This method is able to retain privacy while accessing the information implicit in the original attributes. The distribution reconstruction process naturally leads to some loss of information which is acceptable in many practical situations. This paper discusses an Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm for distribution reconstruction which is more effective than the currently available method in terms of the level of information loss. Specifically, we prove that the EM algorithm converges to the maximum likelihood estimate of the original distribution based on the perturbed data. We show that when a large amount of data is available, the EM algorithm provides robust estimates of the original distribution. We propose metrics for quantification and measurement of privacy-preserving data mining algorithms. Thus, this paper provides the foundations for measurement of the effectiveness of privacy preserving data mining algorithms. Our privacy metrics illustrate some interesting results on the relative effectiveness of different perturbing distributions.


The typology of the logical vocabulary in natural language is highly skewed. In the domain of logical connectives, AND and OR are often lexicalized, lexicalizations of NOR are less common and tend to be structurally complex, and no other logical connective is ever lexicalized. Existing accounts fail to fully derive this major crosslinguistic pattern, and moreover resort to otherwise unwarranted assumptions. The goal of this paper is to provide an account which is less stipulative and has wider empirical coverage than previous accounts, based on a novel notion of communicative stability. Using a model of a rational speaker we observe that attested languages are stable languages, i.e., languages in which the optimal message for a speaker to choose when they want to convey a particular state they are in is not affected by which states they take to be more likely and which ones less. We argue that Stability can account both for why AND and OR are the only simple connectives lexicalized and for why NOR is the only complex connective lexicalized.


The NADH dehydrogenase complex isolated from Paracoccus denitrificans is composed of approximately 10 unlike polypeptides [Yagi, T. (1986) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 250, 302-311]. Structural genes encoding the subunits of this enzyme complex constitute at least one gene cluster [Xu, X., Matsuno-Yagi, A., & Yagi, T. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 6422-6428]. The 25-kDa subunit (NQO2), which has been isolated from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, is a polypeptide of this enzyme complex. The partial N-terminal amino acid sequence and amino acid composition of the NQO2 subunit have been determined. On the basis of the amino acid sequence, the NQO2 gene was found to be located 1.7 kilobase pairs upstream of the gene for NADH-binding subunit (NQO1). The complete nucleotide sequence of the NQO2 gene was determined. It is composed of 717 base pairs and codes for 239 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular weight of 26,122. The NQO2 subunit is homologous to the Mr 24,000 subunit of the mammalian mitochondrial NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase which bears an electron paramagnetic resonance-visible binuclear iron-sulfur cluster (probably cluster N1b). Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequence of the Paracoccus NQO2 subunit with those of its mammalian counterparts suggests putative binding sites for the iron-sulfur cluster. In addition, nucleotide sequencing shows the presence of two unidentified reading frames between the NQO1 and NQO2 genes. These are designated URF1 and URF2 and are composed of 261 and 642 base pairs, respectively. The possible function of the protein coded for the URF2 is discussed.


Abstract. Fundamentally, the time derivative of the electric field is given by the displacement-current term in Maxwell's generalization of Ampere's law, and the time derivative of the electric current density is given by the generalized Ohm's law. The latter is derived by summing the accelerations of all the plasma particles and can be written exactly, with no approximations, in a (relatively simple) primitive form containing no other time derivatives. When one is dealing with time scales long compared to the inverse of the electron plasma frequency and spatial scales large compared to the electron inertial length, however, the time derivative of the current density becomes negligible in comparison to the other terms in the generalized Ohm's law, which then becomes the equation that determines the electric field itself. Thus, on all scales larger than those of electron plasma oscillations, neither the time evolution of J nor that of E can be calculated directly. Instead, J is determined by B through Ampere's law and E by plasma dynamics through the generalized Ohm's law. The displacement current may still be non-negligible if the Alfven speed is comparable to or larger than the speed of light, but it no longer determines the time evolution of E , acting instead to modify J . For theories of substorms, this implies that, on time scales appropriate to substorm expansion, there is no equation from which the time evolution of the current could be calculated, independently of ∇x B . Statements about change (disruption, diversion, wedge formation, etc.) of the electric current are merely descriptions of change in the magnetic field and are not explanations.


The global decline of many vulture populations due to anthropogenic activities is increasing and is largely connected to cases of poisoning. The objectives of this study were to access local perceptions and knowledge of vulture declines, and to determine the ethno-cultural uses of vulture body parts across southwest Nigeria. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered through interviews with randomly selected respondents (n = 144) between August 2018 and July 2019. Results showed that 82.5% (n = 119) of respondents confirmed the sharp decline in vulture populations. 79.8% (n = 115) of respondents considered poisoning to be the cause of vulture deaths in the study area and 79.8% (n = 117) confirmed the need to conserve the remaining vultures. 80.5% (n = 116) of respondents reported that vultures play a key role in Yoruba traditional settings. Vulture parts (organs) were reported as being important in ethno-cultural traditional benefits ranging from curing ailments, to making financial fortune to enhancing dreams, having visions about the future, healing and magic use. Conservation education and public awareness to shift the public mindset away from the use of vultures for rituals and healing purposes and the resultant negative effect of extirpation and extinction is the only way forward.


Wireless reprogramming is a crucial technique for software deployment in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Code dissemination is a basic building block to enable wireless repro-gramming. We present ECD, an Efficient Code Dissemination protocol leveraging 1-hop link quality information. Compared to prior works, ECD has three salient features. First, it supports dynamically configurable packet sizes. By increasing the packet size for high PHY rate radios, it significantly improves the transmission efficiency. Second, it employs an accurate sender selection algorithm to mitigate transmission collisions and transmissions over poor links. Third, it employs a simple impact-based backoff timer design to shorten the time spent in coordinating multiple eligible senders so that the largest impact sender is most likely to transmit. We implement ECD based on TinyOS and evaluate its performance extensively. Testbed experiments show that ECD outperforms state-of-the-art protocols, Deluge and MNP, in terms of completion time and data traffic. (e.g., about 20% less traffic and 20–30% shorter completion time compared to Deluge).


Recent efforts by both academic and pharmaceutical researchers have focused on the HIV-1 capsid (CA) protein as a new therapeutic target. An interprotomer pocket within the hexamer configuration of the CA, which is also a binding site for key host dependency factors, is the target of the most widely studied CA inhibitor compound PF-3450074 (PF-74). Despite its popularity, PF-74 suffers from properties that limit its usefulness as a lead, most notably it's extremely poor metabolic stability. To minimize unfavorable qualities, we investigated bioisosteric modification of the PF-74 scaffold as a first step in redeveloping this compound. Using a field-based bioisostere identification method, coupled with biochemical and biological assessment, we have created four new compounds that inhibit HIV-1 infection and that bind to the assembled CA hexamer. Detailed mechanism of action studies indicates that the modifications alter the manner in which these new compounds affect HIV-1 capsid core stability, as compared to the parental compound. Further investigations are underway to redevelop these compounds to optimize potency and drug-like characteristics and to deeply define the mechanism of action.


A publication presenting a collection of essays from the Reykjavik School of Visual Arts, the Technical College of Reykjavik, the University of Cumbria, Herot Watt University, Edinburgh and Bergen National Academy of the Arts, Norway.
The essays, written by subject specialists in the curricuum areas of drawing and textile studies, explore the relationships between subject, industry and education in Northern Europe and Scandinavia.