PURPOSE
To measure hypoxic chemical fixation processes of radiation damage in both isolated plasmid DNA and in GSH-depleted E. coli cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plasmid pBR322 DNA was irradiated with a single 5 ns pulse of 400 keV electrons under hypoxic conditions. At pre-set times, immediately before or after the electron pulse, the chamber containing the DNA was exposed to a high-pressure shot of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas.

RESULTS
DNA irradiated before contact with the H2S pulse was more sensitive to the production of both single strand breaks (ssb) and double strand breaks (dsb) than DNA irradiated after the addition of H2S. The post-irradiation protection of DNA by H2S was time-dependent, having first-order rate constants of 21 s(-1) for ssb and 10 s(-1) for dsb.

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first direct kinetic evidence for the involvement of a hypoxic fixation reaction in the production of DNA damage by ionizing radiation. It indicates that long-lived radical damage is induced in DNA which, even at times of 20-50ms after irradiation, can be chemically repaired, or rescued, by the addition of a thiol agent. This reaction may partially explain the predicted decrease in oxygen enhancement ratio (OER) with linear energy transfer (LET) on the basis of the increased clustering of radicals produced on the DNA by tracks of ionizing radiation. As radical multiplicity increases with LET there is a greater chance that some of the radicals will become fixed in the absence of oxygen leading to an increased probability of damage under hypoxia and a reduction in the OER.


AIMS
We aimed to determine whether shortening the duration of P2Y 12 inhibitor therapy can reduce the risk of bleeding without increasing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events following coronary stenting in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

METHODS AND RESULTS
The SAFE-A is randomized controlled trial that compared 1-month and 6-month P2Y 12 inhibitor therapy, in combination with aspirin and apixaban for patients with AF who require coronary stenting. The primary endpoint was the incidence of any bleeding events, defined as Thrombosis in Myocardial Infarction with major/minor bleeding, bleeding with various Bleeding Academic Research Consortium grades, or bleeding requiring blood transfusion within 12 months after stenting. The study aimed to enroll 600 patients, but enrollment was slow. Enrollment was terminated prematurely after enrolling 210 patients (72.7±8.2 years; 81% men). The incidence of the primary endpoint did not differ between the 1-month and 6-month groups (11.8% vs 16.0%; hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-1.47; P = 0.35).

CONCLUSIONS
The study evaluated the safety of withdrawing the P2Y 12 inhibitor from triple antithrombotic prescription 1 month after coronary stenting. However, enrollment was prematurely terminated because it was slow. Therefore, statistical power was not sufficient to assess the differences in the primary endpoint.


Greater workplace social capital (WSC) can be related to workers' health and productivity. We sought to clarify the association between horizontal WSC and presenteeism and sickness absence (SA) and to examine the effects of psychological distress on these associations among Japanese workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 at seven large Japanese companies. Logistic regression analysis was performed with presenteeism and SA as the dependent variables, horizontal WSC as an independent variable, and sociodemographic characteristics and psychological distress as covariates. After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, the results showed that greater horizontal WSC was associated with lower presenteeism and SA. The odds ratios for the relationship between horizontal WSC and presenteeism and that between horizontal WSC and SA dropped moderately after adjustment for psychological distress but remained significant. Further exploration of the factors underlying the relationship between WSC and productivity is needed to confirm if WSC enhances workers' health and productivity and to inform the development of effective occupational health initiatives.


Biliary lipid composition and bile flow are altered after orthotopic liver transplantation. Cyclosporine may have additional effects on biliary lipid composition and secretion. We studied the effects of liver transplantation, allograft function, and cyclosporine on biliary lipids in humans. Changes in lipid composition and secretion were correlated with serum cyclosporine levels, clinical events, and allograft function. Bile samples were withdrawn via a T-tube at interval time points in 17 patients during the first 3 months posttransplantation. Total and individual bile acid, cholesterol, and phospholipid were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography. Biliary lipid profiles were then correlated with clinical events, serum cyclosporine levels, and other clinical laboratory values. Biliary lipid concentrations decreased in 3 patients during periods of graft dysfunction (acute cellular rejection, drug-induced hepatitis, and inferior vena caval thrombosis) and increased with resolution of the graft injury. Serum cyclosporine levels were positively correlated with total bile acid, cholesterol, and phospholipid concentrations in bile. There was no relationship between the composition of secreted bile acids and serum cyclosporine levels. Bile acid, cholesterol, and phospholipid secretion were not uncoupled in the presence of cyclosporine. We concluded that (1) a decrease in biliary lipid concentrations may be an indicator of worsened graft function in some allografts; (2) biliary lipid concentrations are correlated with increasing cyclosporine levels; and (3) bile acid composition is unchanged, and uncoupling of secretion of other biliary lipids is not observed in the presence of cyclosporine.


We present ECCE and LOGEN, two partial evaluators for Prolog using the online and offline approach respectively. We briefly present the foundations of these tools and discuss various applications. We also present new implementations of these tools, carried out in Ciao Prolog. In addition to a command-line interface new user-friendly web interfaces were developed. These enable non-expert users to specialise logic programs using a web browser, without the need for a local installation.


Making use of a Lagrangian description, we interpret the kinematics and analyze the mean transport due to numerically generated transient progressive waves, including breaking waves. The waves are packets and are generated with a boundary-forced, air–water, two-phase Navier–Stokes solver. These transient waves produce transient transport, which can sometimes be larger than what would be estimated using estimates developed for translationally invariant progressive waves. We identify the critical assumption that makes our standard notion of the steady Stokes drift inapplicable to the data and explain how and in what sense the transport due to transient waves can be larger than the steady counterpart. A comprehensive analysis of the data in the Lagrangian framework leads us to conclude that much of the transport can be understood using an irrotational approximation of the velocity, even though the simulations use Navier–Stokes fluid simulations with moderately high Reynolds numbers. Armed with this understanding, it is possible to formulate a simple Lagrangian model that captures the mean transport and variance of transport for a large range of wave amplitudes. For large-amplitude waves, the parcel paths in the neighborhood of the free surface exhibit increased dispersion and lingering transport due to the generation of vorticity. We examined the wave-breaking case. For this case, it is possible to characterize the transport very well, away from the wave boundary layer, and approximately using a simple model that captures the unresolved breaking dynamics via a stochastic parameterization.


16 Taking advantage of facilitation mechanisms to counteract harsh environmental 17 conditions may prove to be a successful strategy in the restoration of degraded 18 man-made ecosystems. Seed sowing is often a viable and less expensive 19 technique to restore forest cover in environments subjected to heavy anthropic 20 disturbance. In this context, nurse plants and shield objects can improve microsite 21 conditions, enhancing the emergence and growth of seedlings. However, their 22


Arguably a cultural consequence of the extensive societal transformation that is modernisation, the novel is a literary form that bears witness to, embodies and reveals its extent. Each literary tradition has its own version of the modern novel that seeks to make sense of the complexities of such an immense force. This paper compares two novels, E. M. Forster's Howards End (1910) and Furuzan's 47'liler (1974, Generation of '47), in order to explore some of the similarities and differences between the English and Turkish literary responses to modernisation. The incentive for such an uncommon comparison comes from the uneven temporalities of the modernisation process in varying geographies that accentuate unique probabilities alongside general patterns. By choosing two temporally disparate novels from cultures that have differing experiences with modernity, it aims to challenge conventional approaches and encourage alternative perspectives in both literary traditions.


Objective: To compare performance and mortality of weaned pigs positive for porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) provided either a feed regimen with spray-dried bovine plasma (SDBP) or a feed regimen with a combination of alternative proteins and additives (ALT). Materials and methods: Pigs (n = 960) weaned at 21 days of age were allotted by sex and initial body weight (BW) into four nursery rooms, each with 10 pens and 24 pigs per pen. Pigs were provided either the SDBP or ALT regimen, each with three phases (phase 1, days 1-14; phase 2, days 15-21; phase 3, days 22-48 post weaning). Phase 1 and 2 diets for the SDBP regimen contained 5.0% and 2.5% SDBP, respectively, and phase 1 and 2 diets for the ALT regimen contained combinations of specialty proteins and additives as alternatives to SDBP. All pigs were fed a common phase 3 diet. Results: Pigs fed the SDBP regimen had higher (P < .05) average BW at days 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, and 48 post weaning. Cumulative average daily weight gain and average daily feed intake were higher (P < .05) for pigs fed the SDBP regimen. There was a tendency (P = .07) for pigs fed the SDBP regimen to have lower mortality (21 of 480 pigs) compared to the ALT regimen (35 of 480 pigs). Implications: Under these conditions, PRRSV-positive pigs fed the SDBP regimen have greater final BW and tend to have lower mortality compared to pigs fed the ALT regimen.


OBJECTIVE
We present our experience describing the radiological findings in the treatment of intestinal intussusception.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A retrospective study of the clinical and ultrasound findings and their treatment in 131 intussusceptions diagnosed in 126 patients was performed.

RESULTS
In 102 cases, the pneumatic intussusception reduction under radiological control was possible. Twenty-nine patients underwent surgery and amongst these the pathological changes in the intestinal wall indicated resection in 9.

CONCLUSIONS
The pneumatic intussusception reduction under fluoroscopic monitoring is now more accepted than hydrostatic reduction with barium. With the proper equipment and experienced staff, this is the most promising method in the management of intestinal intussusception during infancy.


Crossbar-based architectures are promising for the future nanoelectronic systems. However, due to the inherent unreliability of nanoscale devices, the implementation of any logic functions relies on aggressive defect-tolerant schemes applied at the post-manufacturing stage. Most of such defect-tolerant approaches explore mapping choices between logic variables/products and crossbar vertical/horizontal wires. In this paper, we develop a new approach, namely fine-grained logic hardening, based on the idea of adding redundancies into a logic function so as to boost the success rate of logic implementation. We propose an analytical framework to evaluate and fine-tune the amount and location of redundancy to be added for a given logic function. Furthermore, we devise a method to optimally harden the logic function so as to maximize the defect tolerance capability. Simulation results show that the proposed logic hardening scheme boosts defect tolerance capability significantly in yield improvement, compared to mapping-only schemes with the same amount of hardware cost.


Enhancement in technology is the need of the day for all nations in the world. Development in the defense field has been increased tremendously and today's war is utterly dependent on technology. Hence rapid advancement in technology is desirable in order to lead the world. Wars and defense techniques have been changed with the passage of time. In present era survival is only reliant on the most effective, advance and purposeful techniques. Therefore, to meet this prerequisite, development of a new concept which is different from the conventional war techniques has been discussed in the present work.


The design and construction of a balloon-borne instrument for remote-sensing of stratospheric composition is described. Thermal emission from the constituents is detected and the spectral selectivity of the instrument is tailored to a specific gas by the use of a cell of the same gas in the optical path of the radiometer. The pressure of the gas in the cell is cycled and the resultant transmission function is shown to be highly selective to radiation from the same gas in the atmosphere. The first flight of the instrument and the retrieval of a water vapour profile in the range 15-40 km is described.


Advancing technology has made it possible to integrate millions of transistors on a very small die and to clock these transistors at very high speeds. Power consumption has become the limiting factor for portable high-performance wireless applications. In this paper, we propose a system level technique to improve the power efficiency of the wireless receiver design. The proposed clock gating scheme utilizing carrier sensing based on cross-correlation is a very effective power-saving technique to reduce the dynamic power dissipation of the inactive circuit blocks and their local clock buffers.


We present a statistical analysis of the temporal and spectral properties of SASE radiation from an energy-chirped electron beam passing through a long undulator. It is found that the coherence time is independent of the chirp, while the range of spectral coherence is linearly proportional to it. We consider the use of a monochromator to pick out a small temporal slice of the radiation output. For the filtered radiation pulse, we determine the pulse duration, the number of modes and the energy fluctuation. We apply our analysis to schemes proposed to generate short x-ray pulses at the LCLS [Linac Coherent Light Source].


Accurate knowledge of tropospheric ozone is important for understanding its current and future effects on human health, air quality, and climate. However, global chemistry- climate models generally have problems reproducing tropospheric ozone concentrations, seasonal cycles and interannual trends. Successful tropospheric ozone simulations require high quality information on the emissions of ozone precursors, including nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
We analyzed CO and NOx measurements from four megacities (Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Paris). It has been shown that CO and VOC emissions are highly correlated in urban areas. However, CO is more extensively measured than VOCs. Therefore, we compared the long-term evolution of the measured NOx/CO enhancement ratio in each city to the ratio of the emissions of these two pollutants reported by the MACCity global emissions inventory at the inventory grid points nearest the city. The longest available measurement record (~50 years) is from Los Angeles, where the measured NOx/CO ratios are consistently smaller than the emission ratio in the MACCity inventory and the slope of the long-term trend in measured NOx/CO ratios is of significantly larger magnitude than for MACCity. The other three cities do not have as long of a data record, but the evolution of their NOx/CO ratios also implies that the MACCity NOx/CO emissions trends are not steep enough. However, the agreement between the measured and inventory ratios is better for the shorter time period where measurements are available in these three cities.
Comparisons of MACCity with fuel-based emission estimates for Los Angeles (for the 1990s and 2000s) suggest that the CO emissions are underestimated in the inventory, which results in the higher inventory NOx/CO ratios.


The experience of establishing a virtual team and developing a national neurodisability and community online learning platform is discussed. The aim of the article is to advocate for the development of shared practice and communities of learning. Lessons learnt within this specialty forum may have broader relevance that could inform approaches to postgraduate teaching and virtual or online education. Regular access to national expert speakers offers trainees autonomy to meet their needs beyond local provision. Mapping objectives to the subspecialty level 3 curricula has been appreciated by both learners and speakers. Ease of speaker participation and the appeal of a national platform have revealed opportunities to provide a broad educational programme that goes beyond traditional topics. Being part of an educational forum stimulates wider discussion and makes engagement more accessible to a range of learning styles. The feedback responses indicate that the programme is valued by the learning community and provide insight into learners' needs during this time. The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the importance of crucial themes underpinning our roles as healthcare professionals: communication, compassion, teamwork, sharing knowledge, responsiveness and professional development. The Neurodisability Community webinar development has been based on an ethos of coproduction using reciprocity and inclusion, recognising that trainees are well placed to address their educational needs. Allyship was essential to promote advocacy and network growth. The webinar programme was launched in Summer 2020, during a time when training was significantly disrupted. The programme was organised by trainees and supported generously by experts in the field.


Protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) is an important epigenetic regulator in eukaryotic cells. During encystation, an essential process for Acanthamoeba survival, the expression of a lot of genes involved in the encystation process has to be regulated in order to be induced or inhibited. However, the regulation mechanism of these genes is yet unknown. In this study, the full-length 1,059 bp cDNA sequence of Acanthamoeba castellanii PRMT1 (AcPRMT1) was cloned for the first time. The AcPRMT1 protein comprised of 352 amino acids with a SAM-dependent methyltransferase PRMT-type domain. The expression level of AcPRMT1 was highly increased during encystation of A. castellanii. The EGFP-AcPRMT1 fusion protein was distributed over the cytoplasm, but it was mainly localized in the nucleus of Acanthamoeba. Knock down of AcPRMT1 by synthetic siRNA with a complementary sequence failed to form mature cysts. These findings suggested that AcPRMT1 plays a critical role in the regulation of encystation of A. castellanii. The target gene of AcPRMT1 regulation and the detailed mechanisms need to be investigated by further studies.


In this paper we propose the DISC-SeT framework to handle the representation, solution computation and verification of temporal and security requirements in the services composition. The proposed approach provides a flexible event calculus based composition design, that allows for modeling different temporal (response time, time-units and other) and security aspects (access control, confidentiality and others) for Web services with different synchronization modes. The use of a formal approach allows to reason about and verify the security and temporal requirements. Further, as the proposed approach is integrated and builds upon the DISC framework, it allows to learn from run-time security and temporal constraints violations to take recovery actions.


In this article we study the limiting behavior of the Kähler-Ricci flow on complete non-compact Kähler manifolds. We provide sufficient conditions under which a complete non-compact gradient Kähler-Ricci soliton is biholomorphic to C n. We also discuss the uniformization conjecture by Yau [15] for complete non-compact Kähler manifolds with positive holomorphic bisectional curvature.


In modern society, there is much concern about training highly qualified specialists in the field of social work. Both higher education institutions that provide this training and the professional community are interested in it. The effectiveness of the social institution activity depends on how the personnel is prepared, what competencies and the level of professionalism it possesses. Equal partnership between educational and professional communities will enable university to respond quickly to changes in the economy and the needs of the market, to train unique specialists according to professional standards. The article highlights the cooperation experience of the Department of Service, Advertising and Social Work of Sholom-Aleichem Priamursky State University with the professional community of social workers. The authors present forms and methods of the organization of social partnership as a necessary condition for training future social workers and experts in social work. Different methods of training highly qualified personnel are also shown. The authors have identified the main trajectories of interaction between the University and the professional community of social workers which are determined by the content of educational standards. They include the formation of the educational programme, the involvement of social workers in the educational process, the provision of employment, postgraduate training of personnel. The article pays special attention to the problems of profiling educational programs at universities in small regions. The authors believe that the narrow definition of educational program specialization is connected with the potential lack of demand for personnel while a shortage in specialists is maintained. The authors consider volunteering as an additional resource for the development of professional competencies in the field of social work and a channel for effective interaction between the University and the professional community.


A new method is described to enrich genomic libraries for clones containing microsatellite repeats. The method involves selection on completed M13 genomic libraries rather than on genomic DNA before library construction. It uses two reactions, in which microsatellite oligonucleotides prime strand extension. The first reaction uses a biotinylated primer allowing vectors with microsatellite-containing inserts to be selected with streptavidin-coated magnetic beads. This reaction may be dependent on the strand displacement activity of the Klenow fragment of DNA Polymerase I. The second strand extension reaction is included to improve the relative transformation efficiency of microsatellite-containing clones. In control experiments starting with 0.7% microsatellite-containing clones, enrichment averaged 99.5%. The method was tested empirically on antechinus and abalone genomic libraries in which enrichment for (CA)n microsatellites was efficient enough that clones could be sequenced without further screening. This protocol is technically straightforward and permits the isolation of a large number of microsatellite markers in less time than is required to execute traditional protocols involving rounds of filter hybridization.


Abstract Laterality defects include morphological anomalies with impaired left-right asymmetry induction, such as dextrocardia, situs inversus abdominis, situs inversus totalis and situs ambiguus. The different arrangement of major organs is called heterotaxy. We describe for the first time a fetus with situs viscerum inversus and azygos continuation of the inferior vena cava, due to previously unreported variants in compound heterozygosity in the CFAP53 gene, whose product is implied in cilial motility. Prenatal trio exome sequencing was performed with turn-around time during the pregnancy. The fetuses with laterality defects are suitable candidates for prenatal exome sequencing due to the emerging high diagnostic rate of this group of morphological anomalies. A timely molecular diagnosis plays a fundamental role in genetic counseling, regarding couple decisions on the ongoing pregnancy, providing recurrence risks, and in predicting possible respiratory complications due to ciliary dyskinesia.


Vietnamese-American women who regularly see Vietnamese-American physicians are less likely to obtain Pap tests, perhaps because of the physicians' limited training in preventive medicine and the women's discomfort receiving Pap tests from male physicians. To address this problem, during 2001-2003, the University of California, San Francisco's (USCF) Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project collaborated with the Vietnamese Physician Association of Northern California to organize 3 continuing medical education (CME) seminars on cervical cancer for association members. Experts gave lectures and answered questions about screening, diagnosis, and treatment to train physicians to identify risk factors, recommend Pap tests, and evaluate and conduct follow up of abnormal tests. To evaluate the seminars, we administered pre- and post-CME pencil-and-paper questionnaires. Data analysis employing the McNemar chi-squared test demonstrated significant changes in knowledge and understandingfrom pre- to post-CME in multiple areas. Results suggest that CME seminars can significantly increase Vietnamese physicians' knowledge about cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment.


Broad stopband filters are proposed, based on multilayer electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) metamaterial structures. The single EIT metamaterial consists of a U-shaped resonator and a strip on a polyimide substrate. The EIT-like spectral feature is firstly utilized to achieve stopband filters by properly coupling two layers of EIT structure. Influences of different rotation angles on the transmission properties of the two-layer EIT structure are investigated. It is found the wider low-transmission band can be obtained for the Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization when the two EIT metal structures are vertical to each other. Furthermore, the bandwidth of the stopband can be controlled by increasing layers of the EIT structures with the proper architectural design. The design using a coupling effect of multi EIT-like resonances in the metamaterial would provide a new method for broad stopband filters in highly integrated optical circuits.


Questionnaires have been validated as screening tool in adult populations at risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Portable monitors (PM) have gained acceptance for the confirmation of OSA in patients (pts) with a high pretest probability of the disorder. We evaluated the diagnostic utility of validated questionnaires and a Level III PM in the diagnosis and severity of OSA. The aim was to evaluate if pts with a high pretest probability of OSA according to pre-determined questionnaires would have high prevalence and severity of OSA. Consecutive pts referred to the sleep clinic completed 3 questionnaires (Standford Sleepiness Scale (SSS), Berlin Questionnaire (BQ) and STOP-Bang) and were then submitted to a Level III PM test. In 2013, 353 pts were evaluated at our sleep clinic, 64% males. All were submitted to Level III testing and presented the following severity of obstructive apnea (IAH 5 mild, IAH>15 moderate, IAH>30 severe); negative 25%, mild 26%, moderate 17% and severe 32%. In the SSS, 12 pts (4%) scored more than 3. Eight patients (66,7%) scored positive (IAH > 5). Three had severe, 4 moderate and 1 mild results in the poligraphy. One hundred and twenty six pts (35,7%) scored positive in all three categories of BQ. 99(79%) scored positive (IAH > 5). 29% mild, 17% moderate and 33% severe. In the Stop-Bang, out of a total of 219 answers, 103 pts (47%) scored more than 4. Out of these 103 pts, 89% scored positive (IAH>5); 27% mild, 20% moderate and 43% severe. None of the questionnaires evaluated were able to predict the severity of OSA, however, STOP-Bang, when positive, was highly suggestive of the presence of OSA.


This study evaluated the characteristics of rice cookies with varying amounts (0, 250, 500, and 750 mg) of dandelion complex powder. Dandelion powder is considered a functional food with skin-moisturizing and atopic skin improvement effects by KFDA. Quality characteristics of AF343 and rice cookies were measured by determining antimicrobial activities, physical characteristics, sensory evaluation values, and antioxidant activities. An antibiotic susceptibility test of the powder showed positive activities in Escherichia coli (O157:H7), Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Listeria monocytogenes. Rice cookie containing 250-500 mg powder showed significantly increased antioxidant activities compared to controls (p<0.05). However, sensory intensities between the two sample groups were not significantly different. Thus, rice cookies containing 250-500 mg dandelion complex powder were successfully developed to improve antioxidant and antimicrobial qualities. These products may attract the attention of health-conscious consumers in the highly competitive cookie industry.


Excessive corticosterone (CORT), resulting from a dysregulated hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, is associated with cognitive impairment and behavioral changes, including depression. In Eastern medicine, Pedicularis resupinata var. oppositifolia (Scrophulariaceae) is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, malignant abscesses (tumors), uroliths, and diuretics. However, the antidepressant properties of P. resupinata have not been well characterized. Here, the antidepressant-like effects of P. resupinata extract (PRE) were evaluated in in vivo and in vitro CORT-induced depression models. HPLC confirmed that acteoside, a phenylethanoid glycoside, was a major PRE compound from. Male ICR mice (8 weeks old) were injected with CORT (40 mg/kg) and orally administered PRE daily (30, 100, and 300 mg/kg) for 21 consecutive days. Depressive-like behaviors were evaluated using the open field test, sucrose preference test, passive avoidance test, tail suspension test, and forced swim test. Treatment with a high dose of PRE significantly alleviated CORT-induced depression-like behaviors in mice and reduced neurotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner in SH-SY5Y cells. Additionally, repeated CORT injection markedly reduced brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, whereas total glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and GR phosphorylation at serine 211 were significantly increased in the mice hippocampus, but improved by PRE treatment. Thus, our findings suggest that PRE have potential antidepressant-like effects by modulating GR-mediated BDNF expression in the CORT-induced depressive mice model.


It is second nature to almost every insolvency practitioner that parties cannot by agreement subvert the fundamental principle of pari passu distribution of an insolvent's assets. It thus follows that, for example, there cannot be a valid contract that a man's property shall remain his until his bankruptcy, and on the happening of that event go over to someone else, and be taken away from his creditors. Similarly, contractual set-off provisions resulting in a distribution of an insolvent's property in a manner contrary to the pari passu principle are invalid. It has been said that the above propositions are limited to liquidation or bankruptcy because the pari passu principle is concerned to ensure an equitable distribution of the insolvent's estate among its creditors and liquidation or bankruptcy is the only collective insolvency process which involves the distribution of assets among the general body of creditors. Put simply, it is second nature to almost every insolvency practitioner to lump the principle against divestiture and the principle of pari passu distribution into one interchangeable mass. However, the recent decision in Fraser v. Oystertec has conclusively proved that almost every insolvency practitioner's second nature is wrong. The principle established in ex p. Mackay and British Eagle has nothing whatsoever to do with the so-called fundamental principle of pari passu distribution, and hence its operation is not limited to formal insolvency proceedings. This decision may also have cast some doubt on the operation of contractual set-off and netting even prior to any formal insolvency proceedings.


This study is aiming at analyzing correlation between flashover's time and maximum smoke production rate's time on sandwich panel specimens. For this analysis, KS F ISO 137481-1 has been performed for 23 kinds of sandwich panels which mainly consist of EPS, PIR, PUR, Glass wool and so on. KS F ISO 13784-1 represents real scale reaction-to-fire test and focuses on measuring flashover phenomenon rather than other tests as like ISO 5660-1 and SBI.


Let X be a 2-connected p-local finite H-space with a single cell in dimension three. We give a simple cohomological criterion which distinguishes when the inclusion i: S 3 i ? X has the property that the loop of its three-connected cover is null homotopic. In particular, such a null homotopy implies that ? m (i)=0 for m?4 . Applications are made to Harper's rank 2 finite H -space and simple, simply-connected, compact Lie groups.


We report on the performance of a fabricated organic light-emitting device employing the electrophosphorescent material, fac tris(2-phenylpyridine) iridium (Ir(ppy)3), doped into the new polyimide type of polymer, aromatic polyimide host. The luminance and the external quantum efficiency of the host emitter can be improved to ~50000 cd m−2 and ~7%, respectively, by doping the host with Ir(ppy)3. The photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) have been investigated. The EL spectra shift with the changes of the concentration of Ir(ppy)3. Bright green emission was observed from the EL devices. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics suggest that, when the voltage is higher than the turn-on voltage, the current of the doped cell is higher than that of the undoped cell at the same voltage, indicating that the doping has an effect on the I–V characteristics.


This paper presents the basics of the original method of topographic space analysis and its reconstruction, in a world context. The method is derived from the discovery of astrognosical primordial geometrical matrix of the Pleiades cluster with effects on the real geographic space, regarding urban and religious organization and impostation of the cities, sanctuaries and temples. For the first time so far, this method introduces the concept of Trojan eponymy. When the method is applied outside the Mediterranean, through Arab, African and Asian world, it gives compatible spatial and temporal coordinates, which points to the Pleiadean primordial pattern as a postulate of the overall spatial and geometric arrangement of the world. The method was applied in several separate projects: Milesian colonization of the Black Sea, epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, Hannibal's march on Rome – First Punic War, the legend of Loreto, the position and architecture of Pre-Romanesque Rotonda in Ošlje etc. The matrix is autonomous in finding the lost prehistoric cities, which was verified in some obvious examples, such as archaeological site Kasta Tomb, Amphipolis. It opens and discusses the crucial question: who would nowadays be able to construct such a properly arranged matrix in which cardinal geographic objects and prehistoric cities throughout Mediterranean and Europe function perfectly, if they have not originated through the matrix itself? The matrix projection is based on elementary geometry and mathematically confirms astronomical and terrestrial coherence through all the layers of history starting from the oldest known civilizations. Its nature is fractal and in itself precisely reflects the metaphysical principle "On Earth as it is in Heaven". Interdisciplinary, natural science, philosophical and theosophical approach is proposed, in order to provide a critical review of this work, which, in terms of scientific research, introduces the necessary novelty and freshness, while in ATINER CONFERENCE PRESENTATION SERIES No: GEO2019-0139 3 technological sense, enlivens the neglected dimension of the human as a depoliticized being.


3770 The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is an important target for anti-cancer therapy. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of EGFR and EGFR gene copy number have been demonstrated to identify patients who most likely benefit from treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). EGFR gene copy number has been mainly assessed by Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH), a method that requires the use of a fluorescence microscope, and is limited by the rapid fading of the fluorescent signal. These shortcomings of FISH can be overcome by using Chromogenic In situ Hybridization (CISH), a method that makes use of a chromogenic rather than a fluorescent signal. In order to test the applicability of CISH for assessing EGFR gene copy number in NSCLC samples, we performed a side-to-side comparison of CISH and FISH with both formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimens (n=27) and frozen tumor samples (n=31). Scoring was done by two independent observers, by counting the hybridization signals (dots) in 200 tumor cells in at least three representative microscopic fields. Samples were considered positive when ≥4 dots per nucleus were present in ≥40% of tumour cells, or when tight EGFR gene clusters were present in ≥10% of cells. All the frozen samples analyzed by CISH and FISH could successfully be scored, although the number of samples difficult to assess was higher with CISH (14 samples compared to 8 with FISH), due to high background signal. Importantly, when analysing FFPE tissues, all samples could be scored with CISH, but 45% (14 out of 31) could not subsequently be analyzed by FISH due to excessive autofluorescence (4 cases), detachment of tissue (5 cases), unrecognizable morphology (4 cases) or low signal (1 case). Using FISH analysis the concordance between the two observers in the scoring of the samples was 100% (Kappa coefficient = 1). Using CISH, a 93% concordance (Kappa coefficient = 0.74) was found. In 3 out of 4 discordant cases, discrepancy was caused by borderline positivity, and in 1 case by high sample heterogeneity. The concordance between the CISH and FISH results was 93% for the first observer (Kappa coefficient = 0.64) and 95% for the second observer (Kappa coefficient = 0.76). In 3 cases both observers found a discrepancy between the scoring of CISH and FISH. This was due to the strict cut-off value, the samples scoring negative with one of the techniques and borderline positive with the other. In conclusion, CISH is a suitable alternative to FISH as technique to determine EGFR gene copy number in patients with NSCLC, especially in FFPE samples.


Xanthinuria, described in 1954 by Dent and Philpot, is a rare metabolic disorder, characterised by a deficiency in xanthine-oxidase, a key enzyme in the synthesis of uric acid. It results in hypouricaemia and hypouricuria, the urinary excretion of products of purine synthesis taking place in the form of uric acid precursors: hypoxanthine and xanthine. By virtue of the very slight solubility of xanthine, this xanthinuria may cause urinary lithiasis, in general occurring early. More often, however, the disease is asymptomatic and diagnosed following the chance discovery of hypouricaemia. We report 6 recent cases.


Deforestation in developing and middle income countries is an urgent global problem, affecting climate change, soil erosion, major river basins, and livelihoods of poor households living near the forests. Public discussions of the problem are frequently dominated by widely held beliefs concerning the extent of deforestation (that it is large and growing over time), and its impacts on local livelihoods (that these are adverse and large). Views concerning determinants of deforestation include economic growth, local poverty, and inequality, all of which are generally believed to accelerate the process. Of possible remedies, the most widely discussed one involves property rights over forests: that local communities should be granted ownership and management autonomy in order to arrest deforestation.


In this paper, we propose two novel methods for downlink preamble detection and initial coarse time synchronization for mobile WiMAX systems and other OFDM Systems that adopt similar preamble structures. The two methods are based on frequency domain processing. The two methods are compared to the conventional time domain method for frame detection in WiMAX and to another frequency domain algorithm in the literature. The proposed methods are less complex while providing similar or superior performance in the SNR range of interest. The performance measures are the detection and false alarm probabilities, in addition to the Mean Acquisition Time which is evaluated for all the considered methods. Since in the initial state the mobile station is in the state of searching for the downlink preamble, we take into account the interfering effect from other nearby Mobile Stations transmission in the uplink subframe with power larger than the received power from the Base Station in the downlink subframe. Simulation results show the robustness of the new proposed methods in different channel conditions and interference environments.


The thermal environment is an important factor in the design of optical systems. This study investigated the thermal analysis technology of optical systems for navigation guidance and control in supersonic aircraft by developing empirical equations for the front temperature gradient and rear thermal diffusion distance, and for basic factors such as flying parameters and the structure of the optical system. Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to study the relationship between flying and front dome parameters and the system temperature field. Systematic deduction was then conducted based on the effects of the temperature field on the physical geometry and ray tracing performance of the front dome and rear optical lenses, by deriving the relational expressions between the system temperature field and the spot size and positioning precision of the rear optical lens. The optical systems used for navigation guidance and control in supersonic aircraft when the flight speed is in the range of 1–5 Ma were analysed using the derived equations. Using this new method it was possible to control the precision within 10% when considering the light spot received by the four-quadrant detector, and computation time was reduced compared with the traditional method of separately analysing the temperature field of the front dome and rear optical lens using FEA. Thus, the method can effectively increase the efficiency of parameter analysis and computation in an airborne optical system, facilitating the systematic, effective and integrated thermal analysis of airborne optical systems for navigation guidance and control.


Lauraniite, Cu6Cd2(SO4)2(OH)12·5H2O, is a new mineral from the Laurani Mine, Aroma Province, La Paz Department, Bolivia, where it is found as a secondary mineral associated with serpierite and brochantite, on a matrix consisting of tennantite and chalcocite. Lauraniite occurs as bladed crystals up to 110 μm in length. Crystals are pale blue and transparent, with a vitreous luster and a white streak. Fracture is uneven. Cleavage is perfect on {100}. The calculated density is 3.40 g/cm3 based on the empirical formula. Optically, lauraniite is uniaxial (+) with α = 1.637(3), β = 1.638(3), γ = 1.638(3) (white light), 2V = 20(2)°, and orientation Z ≈ a. The empirical formula, based on data obtained from electron microprobe analysis, is Cu6.13(Cd1.62Zn0.24)(SO4)1.96(OH12.03Cl0.05)12.08·5.08H2O. Lauraniite is monoclinic, P21/c, a = 7.3200(15), b = 25.424(5), c = 11.283(2) Å, β = 91.62(3)°, V = 2099.0(7) Å3, and Z = 4. The crystal structure, determined using single-crystal data obtained using synchrotron radiation, refined to R1 = 0.0468% for 5999 observed reflections with Fo > 4σ(Fo). It is characterized by undulating, brucite-like sheets consisting of seven Cuϕ6 (ϕ: O2–, OH–, H2O) octahedra and two Cd(OH)6(H2O) polyhedra. Sheets are decorated on one side by corner-sharing SO4 tetrahedra. Linkages between adjacent sheets are provided by H-bonds.


A calculation of the thermal neutron self-absorption for cylindrical or spherical neutron sources has been made. The calculations are confirmed by the experimentally-measured difference in manganous sulfate bath activity for bare and cadmium-covered Pu-Be and Am-Be neutron sources. The calculation is done in single interaction approximation and assumes that the incident thermal neutron flux is isotropic. The source material may be fissionable and be covered by up to three cladding materials. A computer program has been written for the numerical calculations.


Throughput maximization is one of the major challenges in cognitive radio (CR) network. In this paper, two scenarios of throughput maximization are analyzed, which are: consideration of primary user (PU) protection and consideration of packet collision. In case of PU protection, throughput can be maximized by selecting either appropriate number of secondary users (SUs), or appropriate sensing time or appropriate fusion rule at the fusion center. In case of packet collision, optimum frame length is selected to maximize the throughput. Energy detection (ED) based cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) is used as spectrum sensing method in all these techniques and time division combining (TDC) CSS is used as the appropriate fusion rule. To show the relationship of throughput with above parameters, a simulation is set up considering voice over internet protocol (VOIP) activity as PU activity. The simulation results verify that throughput can be enhanced by selecting proper sensing time, proper number of SUs, proper fusion rule and proper frame duration. For example: with decreasing the required detection threshold from 0.9 to 0.5, the throughput is increased by 19%. Also, decrease in reporting delay from 0.6 to 0 ms causes the increase in throughput by 20%. For a fixed reporting time, the throughput decreases by almost 18% with the increase of every 5 number of SUs. For every 20 ms increase in frame duration, the collision probability increases by 39% and throughput decreases accordingly. Using TDC-CSS, the throughput increases by about 31%.


North Gresik is a dry land area. The primary water source is lake water. The analysis result showed that lake water contained the contamination of ammonia, iron, manganese, organic matter, and a coliform total exceeding standard quality. This condition could endanger local societies. A water process was needed to remove water contamination and improve water aesthetics. In this study, the researchers were choosing a water filter as Water treatment tool. This tool used three media; manganese greensand, zeolite, and active carbon. This tool had an excellent performance to reduce lake water contamination, practical to use and affordable price. This research built Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify the factors and variables which were influencing water filter adoption by societies. Data collection was conducted by distributing questioners to 248 respondents. The finding showed that the behavior of tool accepting was the most take positive effect to tool adoption (path coefficient = 0.320), following governments' role path coefficient = 0.276) and infrastructure (path coefficient = 0.157). Behavior acceptance was a tool as mediate the relationship of society's perception to tool adoption and to mediate the relationship between institutional and tool adoption. The resulting model was included moderate because it was able to explain about 36.7% from variable variants in tool adoption. The variables, finding which influenced tool adoption in positive and significant effect, both directly and indirectly, were input, for the decision-maker (government) and local lake water process in making policies and developing work programs for sustainable water supply. Keywords— water filter adoption; active carbon; manganese greensand; structural equation modeling; zeolite.


We consider the following multi-level opinion spreading model on networks. Initially, each node gets a weight, from the set {0,. . .,k – 1}, which measures the individual conviction of a new idea or product. Then, by proceeding in rounds, each node updates its weight according to those of its neighbours. We study k-dynamos that are initial assignments of weights leading each node to get the value k – 1 – e.g. unanimous maximum level of acceptance – within a given number of rounds; the goal is to minimize the sum of the initial weights of the nodes. We determine lower bounds on the sum of the initial weights under the irreversible simple majority rules, where a node increases its weight if and only if the majority of its neighbours have a weight that is higher than its own. We study the relations among 2-dynamos and k-dynamos, with and without a bound on the number of rounds needed to reach the desired all-(k – 1) configuration. Moreover, we provide constructive tight upper bounds for some classes of regular topologies: rings, tori and cliques.


Keratinocytes represent the main constituents of the epidermis and have been found to play a regulatory role in a variety of inflammatory skin diseases. The functional activity of keratinocytes is highly heterogeneous, and depends on the cell localization in the epidermal architecture, and the maturation or differentiation state of the cells. Spontaneously proliferating HaCaT cells, showing several similarities to basal epidermal keratinocytes, were found to respond to external chemoattractants, including the chemokines RANTES (regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted) and interleukin-8 and the mu-opioid agonist DAMGO ([d-ala2, N-Me-Phe4, Gly-ol5]enkephalin) in migration assays. The chemotactic responsiveness was highly dependent on the cell density of the monolayer, with greatest chemotactic activity at the highest cell density. Whereas RANTES was found to be the most potent chemoattractant, constitutive RANTES production was also detected in the HaCaT cultures. We found an inverse correlation between constitutive RANTES production and chemotactic responsiveness toward external RANTES, suggesting a possible functional down-modulation of the RANTES receptors, CC chemokine receptor 1 and CC chemokine receptor 5, during culture. Results from confocal laser scanning microscopy showed reduced CC chemokine receptor 1, but not CC chemokine receptor 5, expression by HaCaT cells at low cell densities, which was abolished in the presence of neutralizing antibodies against RANTES. The total CC chemokine receptor 1 pool (surface and intracellular receptors), however, showed no significant change during in vitro culture. Chemotactic responsiveness toward RANTES was directly correlated with the level of CC chemokine receptor 1 surface expression. Taken together these results show that with keratinocyte proliferation and the progressive increase in cell density there are dramatic alterations in keratinocyte function.


The goal of this paper is to review the literature on private speech, which is an important reflection of Vygostky\'s Cultural Historical Theory commonly observed in preschool children, and to clarify practical areas in which related theories can be applied in educational as well as daily settings. The paper starts by defining the concepts of language and speech, followed by their interpretation according to Vygotsky\'s views. Subsequently, private speech behaviors are described, followed by their classification, development and reasons as well as related views from Piaget and Vygotsky. Finally, examples are presented on how private speech is reflected in everyday life in order to promote private speech in preschool children.


In this video, Jason Rasgon discusses population replacement strategies to control vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue. "Population replacement" is the replacement of wild vector populations (that are competent to transmit pathogens) with those that are not competent to transmit pathogens. There are several theoretical strategies to accomplish this. One is to exploit the maternally-inherited symbiotic bacteria Wolbachia pipientis. Wolbachia is a widespread reproductive parasite that spreads in a selfish manner at the extent of its host's fitness. Jason Rasgon discusses, in detail, the basic biology of this bacterial symbiont and various ways to use it for control of vector-borne diseases.


In this paper the internal electric fields of nearly lattice matched InAlN/GaN heterostructures were determined. Pin-diodes containing InAlN/GaN heterostructures grown on sapphire substrates by metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy were fabricated by standard lithography and metallization techniques. To determine the polarization fields in the InAlN quantum wells capacitance-voltage-measurements were performed on the pin-diodes. To reduce the measurement error, the heterostructure thicknesses were accurately determined by transmission electron microscopy. Large polarization fields, which correspond mainly to the spontaneous polarizations, for In0.15Al0.85N ( MV cm−1), In0.18Al0.82N ( MV cm−1) and In0.21Al0.79N ( MV cm−1) quantum wells were observed. The results of the internal field strength and field direction are in excellent agreement with values predicted by theory and a CVM-based coupled Poisson/carrier transport simulation approach.


Solutions of stroma free human hemoglobin and of polymerized hemoglobin were used for perfusion of isolated organs of the experimental animal (Wistar rats). Both preparations proved to be suited for maintainance of sufficient oxygen transport. Following intravenous infusion of greater amounts of hemoglobin or polymerized hemoglobin in the experimental animals (3.0 g/kg body weight), the renal losses amounted 30% and less than 10% respectively. Half live was only two hours in the case of hemoglobin and 13 hours with the polymerized hemoglobin, despite molecular weight was only doubled in the latter preparation. Since the minor amount of the different hemoglobin preparation was excreted by the kidneys, the greater amount was stored in the organism or metabolized respectively. The intravenous infusion did not cause chemically demonstrable signs of liver toxicity. Neither bilirubin concentration nor enzyme activity showed significant alterations. Additionally, all animals survived the high dosed intravenous infusions. However, histological evaluations showed distinct alterations caused by the hemoglobin preparations. Hemoglobin was found inside the liver parenchymal cells. The liver cells and kidney cells showed signs of toxic effects. The polymerized hemoglobin was not found in liver parenchymal cells. In contrast to hemoglobin this preparation was stored inside the Kupffer's cells. In contrast to hemoglobin the polymerized form behaves like erythrocytes. The rapid elimination of hemoglobin (half live only two hours) renders this substance unsuited for blood substitution. However, half life of polymerized hemoglobin is 13 hours, and from this point of view the polymerized form is suited for blood substitution. Considering the histologically demonstrable alterations additional experiments are required before hemoglobin solutions are used in human subjects.


The reaction of 1,5-dibenzyl-3-propargyl-1,5-benzodiazepine-2,4-dione with 1-azido-n-octane in the presence of catalysts leads to the formation of the title compound, C34H39N5O2, which features a phenylene ring fused with a seven-membered diazepinyl ring. The latter ring adopts a boat conformation with the octyltriazolylmethyl-bearing C atom as the prow and the fused-ring C atoms as the stern. The octyltriazolylmethyl substituent occupies an axial position.


zyme A inhibitors (statins). Statins, as the most popular cholesterollowering agents, are widely used in the MS and display in vitro antiHCV properties.6 However, results from an in vivo pilot study with atorvastatin have been disappointing.7 Moreover, statins are familiar to the diabetologist but perhaps may still raise concern among those caring for (HCV) liver patients.8 In conclusion, we feel the combined efforts of the basic scientist together with clinical judgement will result in the generation of new ideas eventually conducive to the altered natural course of HCV infection, not only from a virological, but also from a metabolic point of view.


Adaptive networks consist of a collection of nodes that interact with each other on a local level and diffuse information across the network to solve estimation and inference tasks in a distributed manner. In this work, we compare the performance of two distributed estimation strategies: diffusion and consensus. Diffusion strategies allow information to diffuse more thoroughly through the network. The analysis in the paper confirms that this property has a favorable effect on the evolution of the network: diffusion networks reach lower mean-square deviation than consensus networks, and their mean-square stability is insensitive to the choice of the combination weights. In contrast, consensus networks can become unstable even if all the individual nodes are mean-square stable; this does not occur for diffusion networks: stability of the individual nodes ensures stability of the diffusion network irrespective of the topology.


Work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE) have been shown to be important predictors of employees' domain-specific satisfaction and well-being. In this meta-analysis, we consider how the effects of WFC/WFE on various outcomes differ across different national cultures and economic settings. We hypothesized that WFC would have stronger effects on employees' domain-specific satisfaction and well-being in high individualistic nations and economies with higher levels of economic development, whereas WFE would have stronger effects on employees' domain-specific satisfaction and well-being in low individualistic nations and economies with lower levels of economic development. Results generally supported these hypotheses, suggesting that employees in more individualistic and more developed countries are more sensitive to how work interferes with family life, whereas employees in less individualistic and less developed countries are more sensitive to how work provides material, social, and cognitive resources that help in the fulfillment of family roles. Further research is needed exploring more detailed explanations for these differences and their implications for spillover theory and work-family practices in organizations.


Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a complex and multifactorial autoimmune disease characterized by various cellular and molecular aberration resulting in different phenotypes in each individual. SLE occurs worldwide, with the incidence and prevalence varies by country and geographically. Many components of the immune system contribute to the pathomechanism of SLE, where autoimmune plays a significant part. Corticosteroids have been prescribed universally as the mainstay treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders for decades. Corticosteroids have been given in different preparations for treating SLE because of their anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities. While providing clinical benefits to patients significantly, the use of corticosteroid treatment is not without complications and its side effects related to both short and long-term administration. In this context, this review focuses on the molecular mechanism of corticosteroid treatment in SLE patients and its adverse effects.


The latitudinal motion of the Tibetan Himalaya—the northernmost continental unit of the Indian plate—is a key component in testing paleogeographic reconstructions of the Indian plate before the India‐Asia collision. Paleomagnetic studies of sedimentary rocks (mostly carbonate rocks) from the Tibetan Himalaya are complicated by potentially pervasive yet cryptic remagnetization. Although traditional paleomagnetic field tests reveal some of this remagnetization, secondary remanence acquired prior to folding or tilting easily escapes detection. Here we describe comprehensive rock magnetic and petrographic investigations of Jurassic to Paleocene carbonate and volcaniclastic rocks from Tibetan Himalayan strata (Tingri and Gamba areas). These units have been the focus of several key paleomagnetic studies for Greater Indian paleogeography. Our results reveal that while the dominant magnetic carrier in both carbonate and volcaniclastic rocks is magnetite, their magnetic and petrographic characteristics are distinctly different. Carbonate rocks have "wasp‐waisted" hysteresis loops, suppressed Verwey transitions, extremely fine grain sizes (superparamagnetic), and strong frequency‐dependent magnetic susceptibility. Volcaniclastic rocks exhibit "pot‐bellied" hysteresis loops and distinct Verwey transitions. Electron microscopy reveals that magnetite grains in carbonate rocks are pseudomorphs of early diagenetic pyrite, whereas detrital magnetite is abundant and pyrite is rarely oxidized in the volcaniclastic rocks. We suggest that the volcaniclastic rocks retain a primary remanence, but oxidation of early diagenetic iron sulfide to fine‐grained magnetite has likely caused widespread chemical remagnetization of the carbonate units. We recommend that thorough rock magnetic and petrographic investigations are prerequisites for paleomagnetic studies throughout southern Tibet and everywhere in general.


A highly efficient and straightforward three-component cascade reaction was developed to synthesize benzo[g]imidazo[1,2-a]quinolinedione derivatives from heterocyclic ketene aminals (HKAs), aldehydes, and 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (HNQ) via Et(3)N-catalyzed tandem [3 + 2 + 1] annulation under solvent-free conditions. The reactions were very mild, convenient and highly regioselective to form new fused tetracyclic target molecules.


introduce a novel algorithm for automatically generating rhythms in real time in a certain meter. The generated rhythms are "generic" in the sense that they are characteristic of each time signature without belonging to a specific musical style. The algorithm is based on a stochastic model in which various aspects and qualities of the generated rhythm can be controlled intuitively and in real time. Such qualities are the density of the generated events per bar, the amount of variation in generation, the amount of syncopation, the metrical strength, and of course the meter itself. The kin.rhythmicator software application was developed to implement this algorithm. During a performance with the kin.rhythmicator the user can control all aspects of the performance through descriptive and intuitive graphic controls.


Analytical models accurately describing transducer gain and gain compression of degenerate parametric amplifiers are presented. To validate the models, a prototype broadband double-balanced phase-coherent degenerate parametric amplifier was constructed that provides an average gain of 26 dB over 1 GHz of usable bandwidth centered at 650 MHz. The analytical models agree with measured data over a wide range of operating conditions.


An incident of a fractured ossified stylohyoid ligament is reported. The symptoms and the method of diagnosis are described. Treatment was surgical resection of 1 cm of the ossified ligament.


We studied leaf anatomy, mitotic chromosomes and pollen grains of nine species of Euphorbia (E. chamaesyce, E. granulata, E. indica, E. humifusa, E. maculata, E. petiolata, E. prostrata, E. serpens and E. nutans) out of the 15 species of Euphorbia subg. Chamaesyce present in Iran. We compared our results with two species of subg. Esula sections Tythymalus and Helioscopia (E. peplus and E. helioscopia). Our anatomical survey identified the Kranz bundle sheath as a distinct anatomical character for subgenus Chamaesyce sect. Anisophyllum, differentiating this from E. petiolata of subg. Chamaesyce sect. Cheirolepidium. Based on type of abaxial epidermis cell walls, species were classified into three groups including species with zigzagged, sinuous and intermediate (zigzagged-sinuous) walls. Chromosome numbers for four species were reported for the first time from Iran, and 2n=32 is the first report for E. indica. Three shapes of pollen grains were determined: oblate spheroidal, prolate spheroidal and subprolate. A tectate perforate exine ornamentation was detected in almost all of the species.


Three groups of children and adolescents aged between 11 and 16 were recruited for this study, dancers and musicians attending specialist schools for the performing arts and a third group of students from "non performing arts" schools. It was hypothesised that the dancers would have higher rates of eating disorder and eating disorder symptomatology than non dancers. It was also hypothesised that all of the dancers with a diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa would be classified as "neurotic perfectionists" as assessed by the Setting Conditions for Anorexia Nervosa Scale (SCANS: Slade and Dewey 1986) and that significantly more dancers would be classified as "neurotic perfectionists" than non dancers. It was further hypothesised that the musicians would have higher rates of non eating disorder diagnoses and symptoms than controls. Finally, it was predicted that the specialist students whose perceived performance expectations exceeded their perceived performance in the specialist subject would have a greater number of symptoms than individuals without this discrepancy. Two cases of Anorexia Nervosa were found in the dance group and no such cases were found in the non dancers. Similar rates of Bulimia Nervosa were found in both the dancers and non dancers. Chi-square analysis revealed that there was no association between group membership (dancer/non dancer) and an eating disorder diagnosis. There were also no significant differences between the dancers and non dancers in terms of eating disorder symptomatology. One of the two dancers with Anorexia Nervosa was classified as a "neurotic perfectionist". There were also more "neurotic perfectionists" in the dance group in comparison to the non dancers, although this was not statistically significant. The musicians did not have a greater number of non eating disorder diagnoses or symptoms than controls. Finally, the specialist subjects whose perceived performance expectations exceeded their perceived performance had significantly more symptoms than individuals without this discrepancy. However, perceived performance alone appeared to be the most important variable in terms of psychopathology. The implications of these and other findings are discussed.


Theories of high leverage based on the argument that debt repayment forces management to disgorge free cash flow ignore the fact that firms´ investment decisions often affect the investment decisions of competitors. This paper shows that when firms interact through their investment decisions, free cash flow in the hands of an investment-prone manager can serve as a strategic weapon. Endowing management with free cash flow precommits the firm to large, predatory investments, which keep rivals away from common investment opportunities. The focus on the precommitment value of free cash flow leads to a number of implications on cross-firm effects that are broadly consistent with existing evidence.


A large number of drugs are associated with sleep disorders. This article starts with a classification of various druginduced sleep disorders and lists drugs associated with each. Some sleep disorders, such as sleepwalking, have been associated with the use of hypnotics for insomnia. Pathomechanism is described when known. This knowledge may help in the modification of drug therapy or alternative medications.


Achim Borchardt-Hume, Magnus af Petersens and Richard Tuttle (eds), Richard Tuttle: I Don't Know . The Weave of Textile LanguageLondon, Tate Publishing and the Whitechapel Gallery, 2014, 204pp., 250 colour illustrations, £24.99. ISBN 978-1-84976-319-6Richard Tuttle's retrospective exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in 2014 featured works that, as its curator Magnus af Petersens writes in the accompanying catalogue, teetered 'on the verge of disappearing while at the same time having distinct visual qualities' (p. 75). 3rd Rope Piece (1974), which consists of a seemingly unassuming white cord offcut measuring just over 7 centimetres long, was pinned to the wall with a nail like a lepidopterist's trophy, while the equally ergonomic Fiction Fish 7 (1992), with its multi-coloured ribbons, evoked a child's abandoned plaything. Carefully displayed at the Whitechapel for I Don't Know . The Weave of Textile Language, the proximity of these works to rubbish, lint and dust paradoxically endowed them with power. Their survival spoke of an endurance that belied their apparent contingency.The same could hardly be said of the single installation Tuttle created for Tate Modern's cavernous Turbine Hall, which coincided with the Whitechapel exhibition. Here, Tuttle covered a large wooden armature hanging from the ceiling with swathes of material dyed deep red, burnt orange and inky blue. Elements of this gigantic structure had abstracted affinities with looms, shuttles and hydraulic machinery, but the emphasis was on obfuscation rather than exposition. Tuttle seems to have relished the opportunity provided by the two London exhibitions not simply to work at diametrically opposed scales, but moreover to confound easy distinctions between the microcosmic and the macrocosmic. Tuttle made this clear in an interview for the January 2015 issue of Art Monthly: 'even though I do a thumbnail-sized work on a 40ft wall, people who experience the work experience the full 40ft wall. It's my way of making large work I guess' (p. 2).The catalogue, produced collaboratively between the Whitechapel and Tate, acts as a mediator between Tuttle's contrasting interventions at each venue. Tuttle is no stranger to deploying publication as part of an interdisciplinary practice: he has created artists' books featuring his own poetry, and co-authored a 2004 academic study on Indonesian textiles. The idiosyncratic title of both the joint show and catalogue, with its reference to weaving, implies the interlacing of ideas across the venture's tripartite structure (underscored by the further subdivision of the catalogue itself into three sections). Its ambiguous 'I' voice, which could be that of the artist but also offers a position that the viewer might adopt, asserts an agency that is then rapidly undone by the refutation of knowledge. The unconventional punctuation, which isolates the full stop separating the title's two phrases with a space either side, acts as both a placeholder for thought and also causes the reader's eye and mind to stumble. What emerges from this is less a conventional catalogue, and rather a space where Tuttle's shifts in scale can be continued through the ability of photographic reproduction to collapse different sizes, and for the continuation rather than explication of his practice.This is particularly apparent in the first section, subtitled 'reveal', which features lavish close-up reproductions of textiles from Tuttle's personal archive. It's a catholic selection: a swatch of faded Italian brocade rubs shoulders with a brightly coloured twenty-firstcentury sari from India. The images are interspersed with quotes from books on various aspects of textile history chosen by Tuttle, delivering on the play between textile and text set up by the overarching project title (both words share a Latin root), and which several of the catalogue contributors subsequently invoke. …


Twenty-eight isolates of Sclerotinia homoeocarpa, causal agent of dollar spot disease in turf, were assessed for fungicide hormesis at sublethal concentrations of thiophanate-methyl (T-methyl). Each isolate was grown in corn meal agar amended with 11 concentrations of T-methyl (30,500 to 0.047 µg/liter), and the area of mycelial growth was determined relative to the control. Three replicates were used per concentration, and the experiment was repeated three to five times for each isolate. Reference isolates (EC50 > 20 µg/liter), with no prior history of T-methyl exposure, were highly sensitive and not stimulated by low doses. Likewise, no stimulation was observed in two highly sensitive isolates (EC50 > 30 µg/liter) that had been preconditioned by exposure to T-methyl, or in four T-methyl-tolerant isolates. Seventeen (81%) preconditioned T-methyl-tolerant isolates (EC50 = 294 to1,550 µg/liter) had statistically significant growth stimulation, in the range of 2.8 to 19.7% relative to the control. These results support that hormesis (low-dose stimulation, high-dose inhibition) is a common dose response in preconditioned S. homoeocarpa, particularly in response to subtoxic doses of T-methyl.


The level of knowledge and practices on periodontal health of 388 adults in Misungwi District, Tanzania, was assessed. Analysis included frequency distributions and the chi-square test at a p value of 0.05. Many more participants were males (n=197; 50.8%) and of younger age group (n=215; 55.4%) and having seven years of education (n=257; 66.2%). Higher number of participants reported owning a mobile phone (n=289; 74.5%) and a radio (n=298; 76.8%), while few (n=45; 11.6%) had their houses connected to electricity. Study participants who were males (n=101; 51.3%), had more than seven years of schooling (n=67; 72.3%), who owned a mobile phone (n=143; 49%), owned a radio (n=144; 48.3%), and resided in houses having electricity (n=37; 82.2%) were statistically significantly more knowledgeable on periodontal health when compared to their counterparts. A statistical significant difference was seen in oral health practices conducive to periodontal health among those who were males (n=133; 67.0%), having more than seven years of education (n=78; 83.0%), owning a mobile phone (n=189; 65.4%), owning a radio (n=195; 65.4%), and residing in house having electricity (n=35; 77.8%). This study observed that participants who were males, owned a mobile phone, owned a radio, resided in houses having electricity, and having more than seven years of education were more knowledgeable and had more conducive oral health practices on periodontal health.


The amine precursor uptake and decarboxylase (APUD) cells and neuroepithelial bodies (NEBs) in airways of adult rats have been studied by immunocytochemical methods for the presence of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone (hGH), calcitonin, and bombesin in control animals and following exposure to nitrosodiethylamine and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Calcitonin-like immunoreactivity (CLIR) is present in APUD cells of the trachea and bronchioles and in NEBs in the lung. Rats treated with nitrosodiethylamine and NO2 exhibit increased numbers of argyrophilic cells but no increase in cells containing specific intracytoplasmic CLIR. The presence of ACTH, hGH, and bombesin in respiratory tract APUD cells was not observed. These studies indicate that APUD cells in the trachea and bronchioles of adult rats harbor endocrine cells with immunohistochemical characteristics similar to C cells of the thyroid, and that these cell do not appear to be altered in number when rats are treated with agents known to produce an increase in APUD cells.


The principal aim of this work was to compare Caciotta cheeses obtained from cow milk previously subjected to high pressure homogenisation (HPH) at 100 MPa with those produced from raw (R) or heat-treated (P) cow milk. HPH had both direct and indirect effects on cheese characteristics and their evolution during ripening. In particular, HPH treatment of milk induced a significant increase of the cheese yield; moreover, it affected the microbial ecology of both curd and cheese. Compared with the thermal treatment, the HPH treatment resulted in a decrease of about one log cfu/g of yeast and lactobacilli cell loads of the curd. The initial milk treatment also affected the evolution over time and the levels attained at the end of ripening of all the microbial groups studied. In fact, lactobacilli, microstaphylococci and yeast cell loads remained at lower levels in the cheeses obtained from HPH milk with respect to the other cheese types over the whole ripening period. Moreover, HPH of milk induced marked and extensive lipolysis. Cheeses from HPH milk showed the presence of high amounts of free fatty acids immediately after brining. The electrophoretic patterns of the different cheese types showed that Caciotta made from HPH-treated milk was characterized by a more extensive and faster proteolysis as well as a significant modification of its volatile molecule profile. The results obtained and the sensory analysis indicated that HPH treatment of milk was able to differentiate Caciotta cheese or to modify its ripening patterns.


The deleterious effects of different X-chromosome dosage in males and females are buffered by a process called dosage compensation, which in Drosophila is achieved through a doubling of X-linked transcription in males. The male-specific lethal complex mediates this process, but is known to act only after gastrulation. Recent work has shown that the transcription of X-linked genes is also upregulated in males prior to gastrulation; whether it results in functional dosage compensation is not known. Absent or partial early dosage compensation raises the possibility of sex-biased expression of key developmental genes, such as the segmentation genes controlling anteroposterior patterning. We assess the functional output of early dosage compensation by measuring the expression of even-skipped (eve) with high spatiotemporal resolution in male and female embryos. We show that eve has a sexually dimorphic pattern, suggesting an interaction with either X-chromosome dose or the sex determination system. By manipulating the gene copy number of an X-linked transcription factor, giant (gt), we traced sex-biased eve patterning to gt dose, indicating that early dosage compensation is functionally incomplete. Despite sex-biased eve expression, the gene networks downstream of eve are able to produce sex-independent segmentation, a point that we establish by measuring the proportions of segments in elongated germ-band embryos. Finally, we use a whole-locus eve transgene with modified cis regulation to demonstrate that segment proportions have a sex-dependent sensitivity to subtle changes in Eve expression. The sex independence of downstream segmentation despite this sensitivity to Eve expression implies that additional autosomal gene- or pathway-specific mechanisms are required to ameliorate the effects of partial early dosage compensation.


A non-contact heart rate detection method based on the dual-wavelength technique is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The heart rate is obtained based on the PhotoPlethysmoGraphy (PPG). Each detection module uses the reflection detection probe which is composed of the LED and the photodiode. It is a well-known fact that the differences in the circuits of two detection modules result in different responses of two modules for motion artifacts. It will cause a time delay between the two signals. This poses a great challenge to compensate the motion artifacts during measurements. In order to solve this problem, we have firstly used the time registration and translated the signals to ensure that the two signals are consistent in time domain. Then the adaptive filter is used to compensate the motion artifacts. Moreover, the data obtained by using this non-contact detection system is compared with those of the conventional finger blood volume pulse (BVP) sensor by simultaneously measuring the heart rate of the subject. During the experiment, the left hand remains stationary and is detected by a conventional finger BVP sensor. Meanwhile, the moving palm of right hand is detected by the proposed system. The data obtained from the proposed non-contact system are consistent and comparable with that of the BVP sensor. This method can effectively suppress the interference caused by the two circuit differences and successfully compensate the motion artifacts. This technology can be used in medical and daily heart rate measurement.


PURPOSE
Because maximal strength varies with body mass, the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) has adopted a method of adjusting powerlifting events (bench press, BP; squat, SQ; deadlift, DL, and total lift (the sum of BP, DL, and SQ), TOT) by body mass. This method, the Wilks formula, multiplies one's lift by an index based on body mass so that lifters of different size can be compared on the same event. The Wilks formula is not, however, based on published data and has yet to be critically evaluated. The purpose of this investigation, then, was to validate the Wilks formula.

METHODS
This was performed by 1) examining residuals bias to verify that the adjusted score does, in fact, lead to no systematic bias based on body mass and 2) by applying a more theoretically supportable allometric model to the same data and comparing the fit with the Wilks approach. Subjects were the current men's and women's world record holders as well as the top two performers for each event in the IPF's 1996 and 1997 World Championships (a total of 30 men and 27 women for each lift).

RESULTS
Results of data analysis regarding the Wilks formula indicate that: 1) there is no bias for men's or women's BP and TOT; 2) there is a favorable bias toward intermediate weight class lifters in the women's SQ with no bias for men's SQ; and 3) there is a linear unfavorable bias toward heavier men and women in the DL. Furthermore, the allometric approach indicated a bias against light and heavy men and women which may be considered acceptable given that half as many lifters are found in the lightest and heaviest weight classes as in the intermediate weight classes.

CONCLUSION
As used currently (BP and TOT only), the Wilks formula appears to be a valid method to adjust powerlifting scores by body mass.


SUMMARY: Aggregations involving mixtures of wild-type and 'aggregateless' mutant organisms of Dictyostelium discoideum were examined. The proportions of wild-type individuals which could initiate the formation of aggregative centres by their neighbours was found to depend markedly upon the particular mutant in the mixture. The mutants appear to have supplied some of the cells responding to the initiative stimulus where these were needed and also to have produced diffusible material enabling many more wild-type organisms to act as initiators than would ordinarily do so. The results also indicate the existence of a variety of cellular interactions which may underlie the normal morphogenetic sequence.


Optimal sedation strategy in the critically ill should achieve effective analgesia, targeted sedation and reduced risk of delirium and agitation. Whilst there is no single agent that can achieve these goals for all patients, a multimodal approach may optimise the use of different agents through multiple modes of action and reduce possible adverse events. This practice review provides an evidence based and expert opinion on the practical aspects of dexmedetomidine use as part of multimodal ICU sedation. Dexmedetomidine, when compared to conventional sedatives and opiates, has been demonstrated to be associated with both sedative and analgesic sparing effects, reduced delirium and agitation, minimal respiratory depression and predictable and desirable cardiovascular effects. In the intensive care setting, dexmedetomidine has been effectively used in post operative analgesia and sedation of high risk and complex surgical patients, and during transition from other conventional sedatives. Critically ill patients requiring ventilation for more than 24 hours and patients who experienced emergent agitation and or delirium have also been successfully managed with a dexmedetomidine regimen. Supplementary sedation and analgesia in addition to dexmedetomidine may be required to optimise comfort and safety in critically ill patients. Dexmedetomidine cannot be used to achieve deep sedation or to control acutely agitated or combative patients; therefore additional and rescue conventional sedatives may be required in some patients. A loading dose is unnecessary in most patients and if given, may increase the risk of hypotension and bradycardia. Although the current licensed dose is 1 µg/kg/hr, the maximum dose of dexmedetomidine used in ICU sedation clinical trials is 1.5 µg/kg/hr. Dexmedetomidine must not be given as a bolus at any time to avoid exaggerated cardiac depression. Dexmedetomidine infusion has dose dependent central nervous system and cardiovascular system effects with bradycardia and hypotension as the commonest side effects. It produces a state of sympatholysis, central sedation with significant synergy with other sedatives and analgesics. A starting dose in most patients is 0.4 µg/ kg/hr with hourly titration to achieve desired sedation. Withdrawal or addition of conventional sedatives and analgesics can be used to fine tune the desired sedation target and achieve optimal analgesia. There is no need to stop dexmedetomidine infusion prior to extubation. Withdrawal of dexmedetomidine was not associated with any nervous or cardiac manifestations of withdrawal.


Web sites rely on pictures and animation to convey subtle messages that are more effectively communicated nonverbally. We argue that such messages could have strong cultural content, which should be understood in developing Web sites. Hence, this paper explores the cultural content of Web site images and develops a theory for Web-image signifiers. This is done in two phases. Phase I has an interpretive qualitative approach that uses Grounded Theory to identify signifiers and to develop the Web-image signifiers (WIS) theory. Phase II quantitatively tests the WIS theory. Together, these two phases identify and validate signifiers of cultural dimensions in Web site images. More interestingly, the results uncover that cultural dimensions are signified in five categories, of which two, humans and buildings categories, are the most prominent. The contribution of this paper is in developing a comprehensive theory for the cultural content of Web images, identifying 48 signifiers in Web images, discovering new categories of signifiers, and providing insights into the nature of cultural signification by testing the theory. Such knowledge could heighten our sensitivity and awareness of hidden cultural messages in Web site images. The WIS theory could provide a novel approach to the cultural studies of Web images and other artifacts with cultural content. The results of this work have immediate application in the design of Web sites for a multicultural audience.


Statement of purpose Crash report data is generally limited to events that occurred just prior to the crash, the crash event itself, and the conditions of people involved immediately after the crash. Linking crash data to other relevant sources of existing data would allow us to better place crash events both in the context of the drivers' histories and their short- and long-term outcomes, thus gaining a more comprehensive picture of the causes and implications of crashes. Methods/approach Since 2011, we have been developing the New Jersey Traffic Safety Outcomes Program (NJ-TSO) data warehouse, a unique source of individual-level data that can be used to answer a host of important research questions in traffic safety. In all, 8 statewide data sources from 2004–2014 will be linked: (1) driver licensing (n=10 million); (2) traffic-related citations; (3) police-reported crashes (n=6 million drivers); (4) Census; (5) electronic health record data for NJ residents who were patients of the CHOP healthcare network (n=150,000); (6) birth certificate; (7) death certificate; and (8) hospital discharge. Databases were/will be linked using a combination of hierarchical deterministic and probabilistic methods. Results We will describe in detail: collaborations established in order to successfully conduct this project; the processes by which databases were linked and how validity was assessed; identifiable and analytic data elements available in the NJ-TSO; and exemplar novel research questions that have and will be addressed via the NJ-TSO. Conclusions Though not typically created for research purposes, administrative databases can provide a wealth of data useful for and important to traffic safety research. The value of each of these data sources to traffic safety increases exponentially when linked, thus catalysing further advancements in knowledge. Significance and Contribution This innovative project involves development of one of the most comprehensive traffic safety data warehouses to date.


Model for the calculation of the quantity of water evaporated during drying of Olokoro clay has been derived. The model; E = e 2.9206) shows that the quantity of evaporated water during the drying process is dependent on the drying time, the evaporating surface being constant. The validity of the model is rooted in the expression (Logβ + lnE) = lnt, since both sides of the expression are correspondingly almost equal. The respective deviation of the model-predicted quantity of evaporated water from the corresponding experimental value is less than 21% which is quite within the acceptable deviation range of experimental results, hence depicting the usefulness of the model. Evaporation rates evaluated from experimental and model-predicted results are 0.0575gmin and 0.0539gmin respectively, indicating proximate agreement.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the most used approach to treat traumatic diaphragmatic ruptures, and in which one the requirement to assess the second cavity is more frequent.

METHODS
Systematic review, observational studies. Outcomes: moment of approach, most commonly via addressed and the requirement to open the other cavity. Bases searched: Lilacs, Pubmed, Embase, Clinicaltrials.gov and Web of Science. Statistical analysis: StatsDirect 3.0.121 software.

RESULTS
Sixty eight studies (2023 participants) were included. Approach in acute phase was performed four times more than in chronic phase. Approach: abdominal 65% (IC 95% 63-67%), thoracic 23% (IC 95% 21-24%), abdominal in the acute phase 75% (IC 95% 71-78%), and chronic 24% (IC 95% 19-29%), thoracic in the acute phase 12% (IC 95% 10-14%) and chronic 69% (IC 95% 63-74%). Thorax opening in the abdominal approach: 10% (95% CI 8-14%). Abdomen opening in the thoracic approach: 15% (95% CI 7-24%).

CONCLUSIONS
The most common approach was the abdominal. The approach in the acute phase was more common. In the acute phase the abdominal approach is more frequent than the thoracic approach. In the chronic phase the thoracic approach is more frequent than the abdominal one. The requirement to open the second cavity was similar in both approaches.


Prototheca zopfii causes bovine mastitis, resulting in reduced milk production and the secretion of thin watery milk with white flakes. Prototheca zopfii has been biochemically and serologically divided into at least 2 genotypes, P. zopfii genotype 1 and P. zopfii genotype 2. The latter is known to be the main causative agent of bovine protothecal mastitis. Prototheca zopfii was later reclassified into 5 varieties: var. zopfii (genotypes 1 and 2), var. 1 (formerly Prototheca blaschkeae), var. 3 (formerly P. moriformis), and var. portoricensis. In this study, the 18S ribosomal DNA sequences of diverse clinical specimens from different areas in Japan were studied to clarify the pathogenicity of P. zopfii var. zopfii. The phylogenetic tree revealed that all genotype 2 isolates were grouped in a cluster of P. zopfii var. zopfii SAG 2021(T) (type strain genotype 2), and were independent from the cluster of the genotype 1 isolates. Thus, all isolates from bovine mastitis in Japan were identified as P. zopfii genotype 2. Therefore, P. zopfii var. zopfii genotype 2 is associated with bovine mastitis.


This paper presents a job recommendation algorithm designed and validated in the context of the French Public Employment Service. The challenges, owing to the confidential data policy, are related with the extreme sparsity of the interaction matrix and the mandatory scalability of the algorithm, aimed to deliver recommendations to millions of job seekers in quasi real-time, considering hundreds of thousands of job ads. The experimental validation of the approach shows similar or better performances than the state of the art in terms of recall, with a gain in inference time of 2 orders of magnitude. The study includes some fairness analysis of the recommendation algorithm. The gender-related gap is shown to be statistically similar in the true data and in the counter-factual data built from the recommendations.


Hypoxia is a significant condition causing oxygen deficiency in the fetal blood and accounts for more than 23% of perinatal and infant mortality worldwide in a calendar year. Therefore, these circumstances require more efficient methods for prompt detection of hypoxic condition. Cardiotocography (CTG) is the most common technique used to assess fetal well-being and hypoxic complica-tions. Newly, signal processing techniques bring out an innovative horizon for processing the CTG signals. Herein, we are exploring the usefulness of CTG signals by converting them to Recurrence Plots (RP) and classifying using deep learning models for the more accurate detection of hypoxia. A comparative study of VGG16, ResNet and CNN models is done on the RP data. VGG16 achieved better result with an accuracy of 82.02%.


In 2019, Brazil had approximately 53.4 million entrepreneurs, of which 60.2% were start-ups. The contingent of nascent entrepreneurs was 11.1 million people and in just one year it grew 390%, a fact that can be explained, on the one hand, by the beginning of the economic recovery of the country which, although timid, began arousing with the gross domestic product closing the year 2019 with growth of 1.1%, and on the other hand, by the slow cooling of the national unemployment rate that reached 11.0% in the last quarter of 2019 (IBGE, 2019). Women have been occupying an important space in the country's entrepreneurial activities, with an initial specific rate of entrepreneurship (total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA)) of 23.1%, similar to that of men, and established specific rates of entrepreneurship (total establishing entrepreneurial activity (TEE)) of 13.9% (GEM, 2019). Despite the enthusiasm brought by the numbers, it is necessary to pay attention to what are the entrepreneurial activities performed by these women, since in a country like Brazil, transformations brought by innovative thoughts, technological development, and expansion of education are not privileges of the entire population. Besides the differences between genders, even among women, the impact of changes in society occurs in different ways, and the "pure" concept of entrepreneurship, associated with innovation and the creation of new products and services, is valid for only a portion of them, leaving to others the broader concept related to creativity, risk, use of available resources, and economic sustainability in a context where individual characteristics and unfavorable structural conditions are intertwined (Haas, 2013). In this sense, the objective of this work is to present the national reality of female entrepreneurship, contributing with the understanding of who are the Brazilian women entrepreneurs that correspond to these "pure" and broad concepts and, therefore, shed light on new studies and research that can contribute with more accurate diagnoses about these women.


Researchers from social work, education, and communications worked with practicing teachers to create and implement a curriculum around four culturally grounded prevention strategies in urban southwestern schools. The project proposed to test the effectiveness of various degrees of ethnic sensitivity in school-based drug prevention curricula developed around three different models, including a Latino, a non-Latino (Euro-American), and a multicultural (Latino, Euro-American, and African American) model, based on the cultural norms of these dominant populations. Collaboration with schools to implement the curriculum and to administer pretest and posttest surveys to students was accomplished by developing a strong partnership with teachers. Significant trends in urban drug prevention education and at least four essential conclusions about conducting effective school-based research surfaced from the implementation of this study.


One way to examine legislative behaviour when roll-call votes are unavailable is participation in debates. Deputies can publicise problems and modify bills, making the Congress a 'policy refinery'. Studying the Honduran Congress, we find that the deputy who is most likely to be a frequent participant in debates is a lawyer from a prosperous department of large district magnitude, from the governing party and has served at least one previous term in the Congress. This indicates limitations to who can use the legislature for input to policy-making. Given the design of electoral and party institutions in Honduras it is understandable that a small number of deputies dominate Congress debates.