The development objective of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Carbon Fund : Emission Reductions Program Project for Vietnam is to support Reduction of Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD ) in Vietnam to have an effective system for REDD implementation that contributes to sustainable forest management, green economic growth and poverty reduction, and helping to mitigate climate change at regional and global levels.Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures are include: (i) restricted access to forest land will be overcome with training courses on how to increase production on remaining forest land; (ii) The longer harvesting cycle will result in deferred income but the costs of deferment can be overcome through micro-financing; (iii) The longer harvesting cycle also impacts negatively on local waged employment and reduced incomes but specific measures to offset these impacts will be introduced with ethnic minority group concurrence; (iv) Ethnic minority households who are not forest owners will not benefit from cash payments made to forest owners but will benefit from demand-driven non-cash benefits to improve livelihoods; (v) possible exclusion and potential for gender exclusion issues; (vi) possible gender and poverty issues related to access to forest; (vii) offsetting of infrastructure in theory could involve some acquisition of land; (viii) potential for reduced access to forest and NTFP resources to forest dependent communities through improvements to forest governance; (ix) collaborative management helps resolve any boundary issues and ensure access to forest; (x) include a social screening report that requires the forest management entity to engage local communities; (xi) reviews the potential impacts on the communities and suggests mitigationsincluding livelihood support to contribute to reducing forest dependency.


Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the breast is very rare, accounting for only 0.1% of all breast carcinomas. Their rarity has made them difficult to study systematically with the most published series consisting of few cases or case reports; although, this existing evidence does suggest a good prognosis. ACC usually affects women, more in the sixth decade of life. However, our case has an exceptionally early onset of cancer at 16 years, the youngest ever reported in literature. Good local control can be obtained with lumpectomy and radiation or simple mastectomy for nearly all tumors. A routine axillary lymph node dissection is not recommended. We gave adjuvant radiotherapy to this patient in view of close margins and presence of lymphovascular emboli. She tolerated well with minimal side effects. Chemotherapy and hormonal therapy have no established benefit. Keywords: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), adjuvant radiotherapy, modified radical mastectomy.


We construct a solution to a 2 × 2 strictly hyperbolic system of conservation laws, showing that the Godunov scheme [12] can produce an arbitrarily large amount of oscillations. This happens when the speed of a shock is close to rational, inducing a resonance with the grid. Differently from the Glimm scheme or the vanishing viscosity method, for systems of conservation laws our counterexample indicates that no a priori BV bounds or L stability estimates can in general be valid for finite difference schemes.


In this paper, we explore how to efficiently combine crowdsourcing and machine intelligence for the problem of document screening, where we need to screen documents with a set of machine-learning filters. Specifically, we focus on building a set of machine learning classifiers that evaluate documents, and then screen them efficiently. It is a challenging task since the budget is limited and there are countless number of ways to spend the given budget on the problem. We propose a multi-label active learning screening specific sampling technique -- objective-aware sampling -- for querying unlabelled documents for annotating. Our algorithm takes a decision on which machine filter need more training data and how to choose unlabeled items to annotate in order to minimize the risk of overall classification errors rather than minimizing a single filter error. We demonstrate that objective-aware sampling significantly outperforms the state of the art active learning sampling strategies.


Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a B-lymphotropic herpesvirus widespread in human populations, is carried by most individuals as an asymptomatic lifelong infection. Much progress has been made in our understanding of virus infection/persistence, and in the role of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte response in control of that infection. This same virus is linked to several malignancies, including endemic Burkitt's lymphoma, post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease and to many cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD). Recent evidence showing that HD, like the other EBV-associated lymphomas, is of B-cell origin suggests that the pathogenesis of these malignancies may share more common ground than previously thought. The biology and cytotoxic T-cell control of primary and persistent EBV infection, and the links between EBV and all three lymphomas are reviewed. The expression of viral antigens in EBV-positive HD raises the possibility of developing tumour immunotherapy, using relevant components of the EBV-specific T-cell response; progress to date, and future prospects for immune control of EBV-positive HD are discussed.


Targeted genome editing in blood and immune cells enable new therapeutic applications, especially for infectious diseases. We present a GMP-compliant protocol to manufacture CCR5-edited CD34+ hematopoietic stem and precursor cells (HSPCs) with the goal to cure patients suffering from chronic infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV1). We hypothesize that genetic disruption of the CCR5 gene, which encodes the major HIV1 co-receptor, in HSPCs will give rise to an HIV-resistant immune system after transplantation. We have developed engineered nucleases based on transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) targeting CCR5. Electroporation of CD4+ T-cells and CD34+ HSPCs with mRNAs encoding TALENs revealed disruption of up to 80% of CCR5 alleles in CD4+ T-cells and over 90% of alleles in HSPCs. The high gene editing frequencies in T-cells and HSPCs were confirmed by deep sequencing, and no cleavage activity above background levels were detected at the top 20 predicted off-target sites. CCR5-edited CD4+ cells preserved their proliferation capacity and their biological function. Importantly, these cells showed significantly reduced CCR5 expression and became resistant to infection with the R5-tropic HIV-1JR-FL virus. The CCR5-edited HSPCs maintained their proliferation potential and their capacity to differentiate into the various blood lineages in vitro and in vivo, and clonal analysis revealed bi-allelic CCR5 disruption in more than 75% of cells. In summary, our developed protocol enables highly efficient and GMP-compliant knockout of the CCR5 locus in clinically relevant cells, so forming the foundation for a planned phase I/II clinical study.

 Gautron: Cellectis SA: Employment. Busser:Cellectis: Employment, Patents & Royalties: Cellectis. Smith:Cellectis. Inc: Employment, Patents & Royalties. Duchateau:Cellectis: Employment, Patents & Royalties: Cellectis. Cathomen:TRACR Hematology: Consultancy; Cellectis: Research Funding; Miltenyi Biotec: Research Funding. Cornu:Cellectis: Research Funding; Miltenyi Biotec: Research Funding.


Epidermoids are cystic tumors that arise from aberrant epidermal cells. Intradiploic epidermoids are relatively rare tumors that occur in all bones of the calvarium, temporal and sphenoid bones, paranasal sinuses, and maxilla. We report the case of an intradiploic epidermoid of the sphenoid wing causing severe proptosis and visual loss. Theories of embryogenesis and pathophysiology are discussed.


Irrigation seawater of different salinity levels (0, 24, 48 and 72 dSm-1) were applied to experimental plants grown in a plastic pots filled with a mixture of sand and peat (9:1). The results were analyzed using SAS and treatment means were compared using LSD Test. The results indicated that Paspalum vaginatum (seashore paspalum) (SP), Zoysia matrella (manilagrass) (MG), Pasplaum vaginatum local (SPL), Cynodon dactylon (common bermuda) (CB), Cynodon dactylon (bermuda greenless park) (GLP), Eremochloa ophiuroides (centipede) (CP), Axonopus compressus (cow grass) (CG) and Axonopus affinis (narrowleaf carpet grass) (NCG) experienced a 50% shoot growth reduction at the EC of 39.8, 36.5, 26.1, 25.9, 21.7, 22.4, 17.0 and 18.3 dSm-1, respectively, and a 50% root growth reduction at the EC of 49.4, 42.1, 29.9, 29.7, 26.0 24.8, 18.8 and 20.0 dSm-1, respectively. The ranking for salinity tolerance of selected grasses was  SP>MG>SPL>CB>GLP>CP>NCG>CG. The results indicate the importance of the selection of turfgrass varieties according to the soil salinity and seawater salinity levels to be used for irrigation.


The West Java Province developments runs more dynamic and full of complexity. One of the more important dimensions has been distinguished is about the financial independence which applied through the the growth of the Original Revenue that still has a flutuant tendency of  achievement for supporting and financing the regional development in accordance with the problems encountered. Thus it is important to improve the implementation of local government financial management in order to realize the development format of West Java Province supported by financial sustainability on an on-going basis.Based on the fundamental thinking about the institutional capacity of Regional Finance Organizations, this research requires some supportive theories that explain various understandings such as the understanding of decentralization and regional autonomy, the idea of the financial relationship between central and local governments, the Thinking on the Functions of Budgets in Regional Development and to Understanding the Citizens Capacity of Operational is used to analyze the Effectiveness of Institutional Management of Regional Keangan. In practice, this research then uses qualitative procedures involving research informants as the main information source whose description is then analyzed in such a way as to generate the discussion and conclusions that answer the previous research question.The results of the study explain that in general the institutional capacity of regional financial managers, especially in the context of the formulation of financial policy in West Java Province has a good picture quitely in supporting the formulating process on regional financial policy. Nevertheless, it is necessary to think about the collectivity of institutional functions, because in the formulation of regional financial management policy is not only related to the interests of regional apparatus organizations but for the interests of other organizations that are related to the formulation of local financial management policies and institutions that play a role in determining policy formulation into decisions such as DPRD. Keywords; Institution Capacity, Policy Formulation, and Regional Financing.


______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Journal of the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies 7 (2007) Page 39 I f the theological debates of the first half of the fifth century haunt the sixth, then the Council of Chalcedon hangs as a sort of specter over the Justinianic Church. Although Chalcedon was ostensibly a legitimately constituted general council, the legitimacy of its doctrinal decisions were questioned and even excoriated by many in the East. The interpretation (hermenaia) of the faith imposed on the assembled bishops by the imperial representatives spoke in no uncertain terms of Christ's two natures after the incarnation, and the Tome of Leo I (Ep. 28) clearly articulated the independent functioning of each nature in the single person of Christ. The principle charge made against Chalcedon by its opponents was that it revived the heresy of Nestorius, which had been decisively condemned, so it was believed, at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Considerable scholarship has been dedicated to disproving the Nestorian underpinnings of Chalcedon, and to proving that the formula "in two natures" was cyrillian. Suffice it to say that these attempts have had to work around the fact that the bishop of Alexandria never himself used the formula. In fact, after 433 Cyril tended strongly to the formulations "out of two natures" and "one incarnate nature", precisely to exclude the Antiochene "two natures". While the doctrine produced at Chalcedon may differ subtly from Nestorius' own teaching—I refer here to the affirmation of the one prosopon and one hypostasis of Christ—, the core of the council's doctrinal pronouncements fundamentally agreed with the Antiochene tradition. It was within this tradition that the bulk of Nestorius' beliefs lay. Nestorius was in full agreement with Theodore of Mopsuestia on the need for a human and divine nature in Christ in order to avoid the danger of an Apollinarian "mingling" or "mixture" inherent in the "one nature", although some of Nestorius' speculative flights might well not have met with Theodore's approval. Yet Nestorianism was never defined in 431 at First Ephesus in terms of natures; Nestorius was condemned as the "New Judas" with no reference at all to the number of natures of Christ. Nestorius' position was only caricatured for advancing the "two sons" and for rejecting Theotokos as a proper appellation for Mary. The reality, as has been shown in various studies, was quite different: Nestorius accepted Theotokos with only a few quibbles, and he adamantly denied that his talk of the two natures and two THE LAST DAYS OF NESTORIUS IN THE SYRIAC SOURCES


Information theory is a mathematical theory of learning with deep connections with topics as diverse as artificial intelligence, statistical physics, and biological evolution. Many primers on information theory paint a broad picture with relatively little mathematical sophistication, while many others develop specific application areas in detail. In contrast, these informal notes aim to outline some elements of the information-theoretic "way of thinking," by cutting a rapid and interesting path through some of the theory's foundational concepts and results. They are aimed at practicing systems scientists who are interested in exploring potential connections between information theory and their own fields. The main mathematical prerequisite for the notes is comfort with elementary probability, including sample spaces, conditioning, and expectations. We take the Kullback-Leibler divergence as our most basic concept, and then proceed to develop the entropy and mutual information. We discuss some of the main results, including the Chernoff bounds as a characterization of the divergence; Gibbs' Theorem; and the Data Processing Inequality. A recurring theme is that the definitions of information theory support natural theorems that sound ``obvious'' when translated into English. More pithily, ``information theory makes common sense precise.'' Since the focus of the notes is not primarily on technical details, proofs are provided only where the relevant techniques are illustrative of broader themes. Otherwise, proofs and intriguing tangents are referenced in liberally-sprinkled footnotes. The notes close with a highly nonexhaustive list of references to resources and other perspectives on the field.


This paper proposes an innovative electric power supply system for medical devices implanted deeply, using a low-frequency magnetic field. It is composed of a permanent-magnet coupling and a small generator. The system provides sufficient power at deep positions, adopting two kinds of acceleration. A prototype experiment is carried out and it is verified that the system is able to provide power at deep positions in the human body.


An analytical method is developed for the investigation of the nonlinear state resulting from instability saturation by resonant mode-coupling. When parameters are varied, the attractors of motion undergo bifurcations to increasingly complex periodic solutions and the appearance of chaotic solutions. These features are shown to be explainable on the basis of a one dimensional map which is analytically derivable from the original system of differential equations. Moreover, we derive an analytical expression for the solutions in terms of a "random" phase whose evolution is given by the one dimensional map.


In the Netherlands, state and religious schools are equally financed by the government. Parents are free to choose a school that optimally fits their moral values as well as their idea of a good education. As a result, there is a huge variety of schools, which include those orthodox Reformed schools that form part of the so-called Bible Belt culture. We elaborate on the complex relation between this religious culture and liberal, secular society by focusing on education. Occasionally, there is severe criticism of schools based on a strong religious identity (so-called strong religious schools), especially when it comes to their allegedly inadequate contribution to citizenship education. In order to add a historical perspective and a reflection on the arguments to the debate, our central research question is: 'How can the founding and existence of orthodox Reformed schools in the Dutch liberal and secular society be explained and justified?' Starting with a historical explanation of why the orthodox Reformed founded their own schools in the 1920s, we elaborate on philosophical arguments that can justify the existence of orthodox Reformed schools in a liberal, secular society.


The notion of a genre system typically connotes sequences of interrelated communicative genres. This paper suggests that we can find other types of relationships among genres. Data from a field study in a large emergency room illustrate how doctors, nurses, and clerical staff routinely combine document genres not only in sequences but also in various accumulations achieved through proximity and movement. The combinations of genres add flexibility to the emergency room staff's genre use and allow them to employ individual genres for several purposes. The data allow us to explore how organizational members manage the tension between a need for continuity in communicative practices and a need for flexibility in managing a jumble of paper-based and digital information systems. In addition, it demonstrates how end users often tinker with genres' media and form in the process of altering combinations among specific genres.


The hotel is just a 5-minute walk to Jomtien Beach, situated in the prime location in Jomtien close to the entertainment, shopping and dining venues of Pattaya. Guests can enjoy convenient access to local shops, bars and restaurants within a short stroll..


Redox-responsive and magnetic nanomaterials are widely used in tumor treatment separately, and while the application of their combined functionalities is perspective, exactly how such synergistic effects can be implemented is still unclear. This report investigates the internalization dynamics of magnetic redox-responsive nanoparticles (MNP-SS) and their cytotoxicity toward PC-3 and 4T1 cell lines. It is shown that MNP-SS synthesized by covalent grafting of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) surface via SS-bonds lose their colloidal stability and aggregate fully in a solution containing DTT, and partially in conditioned media, whereas the PEGylated MNP (MNP-PEG) without S-S linker control remains stable under the same conditions. Internalized MNP-SS lose the PEG shell more quickly, causing enhanced magnetic core dissolution and thus increased toxicity. This was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy using MNP-SS dual-labeled by Cy3 via labile disulfide, and Cy5 via a rigid linker. The dyes demonstrated a significant difference in fluorescence dynamics and intensity. Additionally, MNP-SS demonstrate quicker cellular uptake compared to MNP-PEG, as confirmed by TEM analysis. The combination of disulfide bonds, leading to faster dissolution of the iron oxide core, and the high-oxidative potential Fe3+ ions can synergically enhance oxidative stress in comparison with more stable coating without SS-bonds in the case of MNP-PEG. It decreases the cancer cell viability, especially for the 4T1, which is known for being sensitive to ferroptosis-triggering factors. In this work, we have shown the effect of redox-responsive grafting of the MNP surface as a key factor affecting MNP-internalization rate and dissolution with the release of iron ions inside cancer cells. This kind of synergistic effect is described for the first time and can be used not only in combination with drug delivery, but also in treatment of tumors responsive to ferroptosis.


Aging has often been viewed as a random process arising from the accumulation of both genetic and epigenetic changes. Increasingly, the notion that aging is a stochastic process is being supplanted by the concept that maximum lifespan of an organism is tightly regulated. This knowledge has led to a growing overlap between classical signal transduction paradigms and the biology of aging. We review certain specific examples where these seemingly disparate disciplines intersect. In particular, we review the concept that intracellular reactive oxygen species function as signalling molecules and that oxidants play a central role as mediators of cellular senescence. IUBMB Life, 57: 277‐281, 2005


In a large malaria endemic area in Panaji city, Goa, India, the weekly application of the biolarvicide Bacillus sphaericus (Strain 101, Serotype H 5a 5b) at the rate of 1 g/m2 in the main Anopheles stephensi larval habitats, viz., curing waters, masonry tanks, and sump tanks (under construction), from April to December 1993 resulted in a sharp decline in the habitat positivity (range 0.13-8.0%) as compared with the rest of the Panaji (range 2.2-30.6%) where temephos (Abate) was used as the larvicide. Bacillus sphaericus spraying also led to a significant decline in anopheline densities in positive habitats (range 0-7.3/10 dips) as compared with control habitats (range 0.9-53.0/10 dips). Concurrently, malaria incidence observed in the experimental area (slide positivity rate [SPR] range 2.3-7.8%; monthly parasite index [MPI] range 0.18-1.44) was lower than in the control area (SPR range 14.3-25.5%; MPI range 1.75-6.12).


Arguably the most formidable obstacle to the wider, even global, appreciation of Christopher Brennan's magnum opus 'Poems 1913' is the obscurity of so many of its 105 individual poems. This is due in some cases to Brennan's espousal of Symbolist principles, which held that the reader should receive no help from adjunct material in addition to the bare symbols and images themselves; in others, to their presentation of sophisticated arguments, the main challenge to the understanding of which lies in the arguments themselves and not the manner of their expression; and in others, to the elision of certain words, and re-engineering of the syntax, in the service of rhythm and concision. However, there is also often a sense that Brennan may have chosen deliberately to conceal content in a way which does not fit into any of these three categories. James McAuley perceptively remarked the intense personal-erotic character of 'Poems 1913'; but this dimension is in fact far wider and deeper than McAuley recognised, and its intimate character might provide a very good reason for Brennan's deliberate occultation of so much of it. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate some important occulta of Brennan's life, as examined in his poetry in a typical artist's journey towards healing and wholeness.


Effects of gas admixture and of cathode material on breakdown voltage of argon in DC electric field in cylindrical discharge tube are investigated experimentally. The results demonstrate that the breakdown voltage increases by increasing He and N2 percentage in (Ar-He) and (Ar-N2) gas mixtures, respectively. The lower breakdown voltages are associated with lower work function of the cathode material. Moreover, the breakdown voltage decreases by increasing the effective surface area of the cathode.


We propose a new dark-matter detection strategy that will enable the search of super-light dark matter $m_\chi \simeq 0.1$ keV, representing an improvement of the minimum detectable mass by more than three order of magnitude over the ongoing experiments. This is possible by integrating intimately the target material, $\pi$-bond electrons in graphene, into a Josephson junction to achieve a high sensitivity detector that can resolve a small energy exchange from dark matter as low as $\sim 0.1$ meV. We investigate detection prospects with pg-, ng-, and $\mu$g-scale detectors by calculating the scattering rate between dark matter and free electrons confined in two-dimensional graphene with Pauli-blocking factors included. We find not only that the proposed detector can serve as a complementary probe of super-light dark matter but also achieve higher experimental sensitivities than other proposed experiments, thanks to the extremely low energy threshold of our Josephson junction sensor.


With the recent emphasis on equipping students with 21st century skills, the notion of global competence is receiving greater attention (e.g., Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010; Longview Foundation, 2008; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011). When speaking with teachers, however, we have observed that many are not sure what global competence means much less how to ensure their students are globally competent. Terms like global awareness, global competence, and global citizenship lack clear definitions and are often used interchangeably. In addition, some teachers have indicated that they have trouble figuring out just how to develop global competence in their students, or even evaluating their own knowledge and proficiency in this area. There seems to be much talk about the need for globally competent students but little articulation of how teachers are to facilitate this capacity (Zhao, 2010). At The High School Journal, we have noticed that the discourses around globalization, broadly speaking, tend to focus on economic competitiveness rather than social justice worldwide. One of the four stated aims of Race to the Top, for instance, is "Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy" (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). Competition is highlighted over the aim of fostering students' sense of responsibility to advance peace and equity within and across all nations. As teacher educators who believe the purpose of education is not only to prepare students for college and the workplace but also to nurture their capacity for an informed and participatory citizenship, we are concerned that schools may teach global competence as a means for students to compete with peers in China or India rather than develop "affection, respect, care, curiosity, and concern for the well-being of a]l living beings" (McIntosh, 2005, p. 385). Another, more immediate need for students to be globally competent is the increasing diversity of U.S. classrooms. As globalization allows the freer movement of people across boundaries, almost one-quarter of our students are now immigrants or children of immigrants (Haskins & Tienda, 2011). Part of the aim of education, then, should be to foster an appreciation of multicultural communities and to prepare students for our increasingly interdependent world. The first step, in our view, would be global awareness, or the understanding of how and why globalization is occurring and what these changes will mean for the future, as well as awareness of global world conditions and current events. For example, students should know that differences exist in norms and patterns of communication across cultures and that some are privileged over others. They should continual]y reflect on their own perspectives and biases and understand how these influence their perceptions of world events and cultures. Thus teachers need not only to maintain this awareness themselves but also have the ability to advance it in their students. As students develop global awareness, the next step toward global competence is a sense of global citizenship. Should we not ask students, who associate citizenship with the rights and responsibilities they have as residents of the U.S., to consider the rights of citizens of other nations and responsibilities that cross national boundaries? Ecological challenges are one example of how individuals and corporations are now expected to preserve the well-being of citizens of other nations, in this case through abiding by environmental regulations. Equally important for the next generation is an understanding of the influence U.S. policies have on other nations. For instance, students should not only understand the U.S.'s rationale behind military and humanitarian interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the various interpretations of these actions, including those of Iraqis and Afghans as well as residents of other nations. …


In their interesting case report entitled: "Fetal hydronephrosis and polyhydramnios associated with vesico-ureteral reflux" (JCU 12:585, 1984) Dr. Phillipson and co-workers reported on a case of bilateral hydronephrosis in a fetus with congenital vesico-ureteral reflux. Considering the recent literature, the authors suggested serial ultrasound examinations to assess dilatation of the renal pelvis, the amount of amniotic fluid, the emptying and filling of the bladder, and the appearance of the gastrointestinal tract. We would like to add an ultrasonic observation that may assist in establishing a correct prenatal ultrasonic diagnosis of vesico-ureteral reflux. We refer to dorsiflexion of the big toe, which occurs just prior to micturition.! It is a well-known fact to pediatric radiologists performing voiding cystoureterograms that a pseudo-Babinsky sign heralds micturition in young infants.f This sign is not well understood but probably relates to a nonmature central nervous system. We observed the same phenomenon occurring in utero in almost every case (Figure 1). Whenever dorsiflexion of the big toe is observed by ultrasound, immediate attention should be focused on the fetal urinary bladder; indeed the bladder size diminishes and its image disappears. The importance of this observation is that it enables the sonographer to study fetal micturition. It is quite possible that such diagnoses as primary vesico-uretero reflux and posterior urethral valve could be precisely identified in utero.


We present a numerical study of the structure and stability of laminar isothermal flows formed by two counterflowing jets of an incompressible Newtonian fluid. We demonstrate that symmetric counterflowing jets with identical mass flow rates exhibit multiple steady states and, in certain cases, time-dependent (periodic) steady states. Two geometric configurations were studied based on the inlet jet shapes: planar and axisymmetric. Stagnation flows formed by planar counterflowing jets exhibit both steady-state multiplicity and time-dependent behaviour, while axisymmetric jets exhibit only a steady-state multiplicity. A linearized bifurcation and stability analysis based on the continuity and Navier–Stokes equations revealed transitions between a single (symmetric) steady state and multiple steady states or periodic steady states. The dimensionless quantities forming the parameter space of this system are the inlet Reynolds number (R$e$) and a geometric aspect ratio ($\alpha$), equal to the jet inlet characteristic length (used for calculating R$e$) divided by the jet separation. The boundaries separating different flow regimes have been identified in the (R$e$, $\alpha$) parameter space. The resulting flow maps are useful for the design and operation of counterflow jet reactors.


This paper analyses the different categories of violent death and other injuries occurred in Bahia. In Brazil, traffic accidents, homicides and suicides correspond to the third most common cause of death. Besides, violent acts tend to increase the emergency health services demand. The data were collected from the written press covering all the homicides, grave injuries and notified rapes during 1989. Police violence appeared as responsible for the death of a high proportion (24%) of young males, followed by the disagreement between criminals (18.6%). In relation to females, the quantitative dimension of crimes are lower, more diffused and registered in the family environment. The data point to the importance of male domination in the interpretation of those domestic violent acts. Resisting the ideology of women's inferiority means avoiding both injuries and homicides - a complex task for Brazilian society.


The effects of the current and its waveform on the prevalence of broken bones and breast meat haemorrhages in electrically stunned broiler chickens were examined at two poultry processing plants. Increasing the current over the range from 68 to 115 mA per bird had very little effect on the carcase quality, but increased the incidence of broken furculum and coracoid bones in birds stunned with a sinusoidal alternating current (AC). Clipping a sinusoidal AC with a thyristor had a pronounced effect on the carcase quality, and resulted in more broken bones and breast meat haemorrhages.


One of the outcomes of the inferential framework of communication developed by Sperber and Wilson (1995) is the pursuit of competence-oriented research on translation (CORT), as proposed in Gutt 2000. CORT focuses on the discovery of the mental capabilities involved in the translation task.

One of the key concepts recently being explored in the inferential framework is that of metarepresentation. It involves the capability of people to represent in their minds not only the external world but the thoughts (mental representations) other people entertain about that world. Metarepresentations can involve several levels of embedding: thus persons can metarepresent to themselves the thoughts of others about their own thoughts about a certain subject matter etc.

While metarepresentation is an important mental faculty for successful communication in general, it is of eminent importance in the translation task where the translator may have to metarepresent several different worlds of thoughts (cognitive environments) and their interaction with one another as mutual cognitive environments in cross-cultural communication events.

This paper first briefly outlines the inferential model of translation, including the notions of cognitive environment, context and metarepresentation. The main part of the paper surveys five distinct constellations of mutual cognitive environments found in translation situations. The first – and ideal – constellation is where original author, translator and receptor audience all share essentially the same mutual cognitive environment. More commonly, however, this condition is not fulfilled and the other four constellations can present considerable challenges to the metarepresentational capabilities of the translator. Furthermore, the translator needs to develop strategies that will overcome differences in cognitive environment that would negatively affect the communication process. (This is in addition to the task of overcoming problems caused by language differences.) Suggestions are made about directions in which these problems, which can seriously undermine the success of the translated text, can be sought.

References
Gutt, Ernst-August 2000 Translation and relevance: Cognition and context. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson 1995 Relevance: Communication and cognition. Oxford: Blackwell.


During the last millennium, urbanization has considerably changed natural ecosystems and formed new artificial habitats. Habitat loss and changes in the abiotic environment are seriously affecting urban biodiversity. We investigated the vegetation composition of three urban habitat types, vacant lots, urban parks, and peri-urban grasslands, which are characterised by species typical to semi-natural grasslands and ruderal assemblages in the city of Debrecen (East-Hungary). We used five spatial replicates of each habitat type and five random plots (5 m × 5 m) in every site for our analyses. We tested the following hypotheses: (1) lower species numbers and Shannon diversity, and a higher proportion of weeds and disturbance-tolerant species are present in the city centre (i.e. urban parks) compared to more peripheral habitats (vacant lots and peri-urban grasslands), (2) the proportion of warmand nitrogen-demanding species increases, while the proportion of moisture-demanding species decreases in habitats typical to city centres (3) we also tested the increase in cosmopolitan and alien species and the decrease in species of the natural flora in habitats typical to city centres as predicted by the urban homogenisation hypothesis. We found that species composition of urban habitat types is considerably affected by the specific disturbances and site histories associated with the certain habitats. The most urbanised habitats, the urban parks harboured the lowest number of species and the lowest Shannon diversity. The ratio of weeds and disturbance-tolerants was the highest in the city centre likely due to the high-intensity trampling and soil disturbances. Plant species of city centre were more drought-tolerant compared to periurban grasslands, which is likely due to the increased level of drainage. The ratio of nitrogendemanding species was lower in urban parks and peri-urban grasslands than in vacant lots, likely due to the high level of recent soil disturbance in this habitat type. The proportion of alien species was high both in vacant lots and peri-urban grasslands, even though their disturbance regimes differed considerably. The proportion of cosmopolitan species was significantly higher in urban parks compared to vacant lots and peri-urban grasslands. The large proportion of alien and cosmopolitan species together with the continuous human disturbance put native species at a competitive disadvantage, and accordingly the proportion of these species was lowest in the city centre. Even though the studied urban habitat patches did not contribute considerably to the preservation of rare or endangered plant species, they have an essential role in preserving the last remnants of grasslands in intensively used landscapes, and can be a good basis for urban greening projects. Manuscript received 18 January 2016, accepted 07 May 2016 Co-ordinating Editor: Laura Sutcliffe 380


Fertilizing recommendation for lowland rice field in West Kalimantan is still in national scale and tends to be excessive. It is less relevant due to various factors such as the test method competence, the carrying capacity  of  the  land,  and  the  diverse  condition  of  rice  field  agro-ecosystem.  Site-specific  nutrient management (SSNM) is an approach for rice fertilizing on paddy plot based on science, history of land fertilization,  and  nutrient  sources  surrounding  the  area  which  can  affect  soil  fertility  level  and  soil conservation.This study was aimed to examine fertilizing efficiency of N, P, and K and the increased productivity of rice by utilizing software (website) of the IRRI. The study was conducted in farmers fields in two villages, i.e. Anjongan and Pak Bulu, Pontianak Regency, West Kalimantan. The results showed that the SSNM fertilization on rice increased yields by the average of 0.62 t ha-1 (13.47%) per growing season. The efficiency of SSNM fertilization was on the average of 22.05% N, 48.25% P2O5, and 31.50% K2O. The additional profits obtained from the SSNM recommendation was on the average of IDR 1,886,317 per ha pergrowing season compared to the profits from the FFP (farmer fertilizer practice). Keywords: Fertilizing efficiency, low land, rice, site specific fertilization Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE [ How to Cite : Muhammad H, M Syam and DP Widiastuti. 2014. Efficiency Test of IRRI Fertilizing Recommendations on Rainfed Low Land Rice Field in West Kalimantan. J Trop Soils 19: 25-33. Doi: 10.5400/jts.2014.19.1.25] Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE


A total of 42 patients presenting with recurrent unilateral parotid gland swelling was studied. Plain radiology of 38 patients with proved calculi showed that the lateral view is valueless. The anteroposterior view was positive in 58 per cent, and when coupled with an intrabuccal view 71 per cent of the calculi were radio‐opaque. The overwhelming majority of calculi were visible as filling defects on sialography, while in 4 patients an area of narrowing with dilatation of the parotid duct proximal to it represented the site of the calculus. In the remaining 4 patients with the latter sign, repeat sialography showed normal appearances in 2, suggesting that the calculi had passed.


The author examines the normative framework for the election campaign in the Republic of Croatia, especially considering a number of regulations and the fact that there is no single electoral law. By analyzing numerous laws, other regulations and acts regulating the election campaign for parliamentary, presidential and local elections and for election of members of the European Parliament from the Republic of Croatia, the author tries to answer the question of the coherence of its normative framework. To this end, after a few general remarks about the normative framework, the author outlines a brief overview of election campaign regulation since 1990 and examines the relevant provisions. On this basis, the author concludes that the normative solutions were progressively shaped, although there is still room for their further improvement, and the initial thesis is confirmed by the fact that the normative framework for the election campaign in the Republic of Croatia is not coherent.


Accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is highly sought after by business schools both in the United States and internationally. Business schools devote considerable resources to earn and maintain the accreditation. Despite this effort and expense, surprisingly little literature has examined the extent to which AACSB accredited schools outperform non-accredited schools in market driven situations. This exploratory study is a first effort to fill this gap in the literature. The research here examines CEOs from large U.S. firms. Specifically, compensation earned by CEOs from AACSB accredited schools are compared to compensation earned by CEOs from non-accredited schools. We also examine the extent to which CEOs from accredited and nonaccredited schools manage their firms differently and earn higher profits than other CEOs. The findings indicate that a large proportion of large firm CEOs earned their degree from an AACSB accredited school. The empirical findings are mixed, but the general picture is that graduates from AACSB accredited schools do not outperform other CEOs.


An initial assessment of the gray cast irons production by injecting an inoculant with a conveying gas into a molten iron bath was evaluated at a laboratory scale. A numerical simulation was carried out to determine the hydrodynamic behavior between the inoculant particles injected into the molten iron. It was determined that an optimal interaction between the particles with the molten iron occurred at a lance depth of 7 cm and for the particle sizes fine (211 to 297 ?m) and medium (421 to 590 ?m), and the residence time was of 0.38 and 0.4 s, respectively. The melting time was calculated at 0.0008 and 0.003 s for the particle sizes fine and medium, respectively. After the injection, the FeSi of the inoculant melted quickly, releasing the elements of the inoculant which interacted with the molten iron and formed oxides and sulfides creating nucleating sites during solidification. The injection technique allowed obtaining a type-A graphite distribution for the fine and medium particle sizes. The number of eutectic cells increased when the inoculant particle size decreased despite of the low graphitisers elements and manganese contents used in the gray cast iron manufacturing.


Abstract. The term heterogeneity has been defined in various ways so that the meaning of heterogeneity has become ambiguous. However, heterogeneity can be defined carefully as a distinct response to multiple single types of underlying variation, that is, a secondary level of variation (or "metavariation"). Identification of heterogeneity is affected by multiple factors, including researcher decisions, and ecosystems at a specified scale can contain both heterogeneous and homogenous variables. A formalized definition may also reduce the suggestion that heterogeneity is more beneficial than homogeneity.


The design and optimization of solvent extraction processes for metal separations are challenging tasks due to the large number of adjustable parameters. A quantitative predictive solvent extraction model could help to determine the optimal parameters for solvent extraction flow sheets, but such predictive models are not available yet. The main difficulties for such models are the large deviations from ideal thermodynamic behavior in both the aqueous and organic phases due to high solute concentrations. We constructed a molecular thermodynamic model for the extraction of CoCl2 from different chloride salts by 0.2 mol L–1 trioctylmethylammonium chloride in toluene using the OLI mixed-solvent electrolyte (OLI-MSE) framework. This was accomplished by analyzing the water and hydrochloric acid content of the organic phase, measuring the water activity of the system, and using metal complex speciation and solvent extraction data. The full extractant concentration range cannot be modeled by the OLI-MSE framework as this framework lacks a description for reversed micelle formation. Nevertheless, salting effects and the behavior of hydrochloric acid can be accurately described with the presented extraction model, without determining specific Co(II)–salt cation interaction parameters. The resulting model shows that the salting effects originate from indirect salt cation–solvent interactions that influence the availability of water in the aqueous and organic phases.


An extension of the sign test is proposed for the case where there are paired groups or sets of replicated measurements; the individual measurements are unpaired between groups. A class of methods is investigated where the values of the groups of replicates are replaced by summary statistics (exceedances) whose distribution is independent, under the null hypothesis, of the underlying parametric structure. Possible adjustment for discontinuity of the underlying distribution (ties) is discussed and a normal approximation is presented. The proposed sign text extension, appropriate for small samples and large numbers of replicates, is used to compare the relative strengths of aqueous and lyophilized solutions of ragweed pollen at three dilutions for two types of reactions (erythematous and wheal area). Because correlations for individual reactions at two separate measurement times could not be estimated under the non-parametric procedures the analyses were performed for the cases where the responses at two measurement times were presumed to be (1) perfectly correlated, and (2) uncorrelated. Comparison of exact results with the normal approximation showed good correspondence for both cases, e.g., where n = 4 (n = number of subjects) and r = 8 (r = replicates) and n = 8 and r = 4. The analysis showed that the lyophilized product was superior to the aqueous at all solution strengths and for both measures of reactivity.


For efficient yield, prediction defects are usually modeled by circular disks or squares. A more accurate model is presented. It considers the real outline of physical defects. To utilize this model, only the maximum and the minimum extension of detected defects must be determined. That can be done easily using a checkerboard test structure including a defect localization procedure. The accuracy of the predicted number of defects can be substantially enhanced by modeling real defect outlines with this elliptical model. If the elliptical model of the defect outlines is applied, the defect size distribution implicitly contains information about the physical defect outlines. Hence, for yield prediction the inspection of defect outlines can be omitted.<<ETX>>


Objective: The objective of the following study is to assess the clinical profiles and manifestations of snakebite patients in the rural hilly setting of Shivalik and the Lesser Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A hospital record-based retrospective descriptive study was carried out that included details on demography, clinical profile, treatment and outcome among 200 patients over a period of 2 years. The data was analyzed using Chi-square test for comparison. Results: 142 (71%) patients were young (age group of 16-45 years) and the number of male patients was 118 (59%) and female patients were 82 (41%). All the cases recorded presented in the months of April to November. Not a single case was recorded from December to March. The most frequently bitten sites were the lower limbs particularly the feet. 86 (43%) of the patients presented without any features of envenomation. Neuroparalysis was the commonest presentation in 53 (46%) patients followed by hemotoxicity in 36 (31%) among symptomatic patients. Early morning neuroparalysis syndrome was the presentation in 26.4% patients. Allergic reactions in the form of early anaphylaxis were noted in 7% patients. Conclusion: Snake bite is a neglected tropical disease affecting poor villagers in rural areas. Future research focusing on understanding epidemiological determinants of snake bite is desired.


In a hungry world with an ever-increasing population, efforts are made at reducing crop loss due to pathogen infestation. In recent time, the application of synthetic fungicide proved effective in inhibiting growth of plant-pathogenic fungi and this increases the use tremendously, thereby causing a lot of harmful effects such as health and environmental problems. In the attempt to combat this, many countries have made rules and regulations in the use of fungicides. The uses of phytochemicals in the treatment of plant microbes have been found to be the better alternative. Therefore, there is need to isolate and identify the pathogenic fungi associated with the deterioration of watermelon fruits (post-harvest) and the of use different plant leaves extraction in the treatment of the phytopathogens is inevitable. The highest activity of the plant extracts was found mostly in extracts of high concentrations; showing the effects of concentration on the susceptible organisms. Thus, C. odorata and A. indica could serve as a natural fungicide in inhibiting the growth of plant-pathogenic fungi due to the presence of phytochemicals in the plants. Therefore, could serve as potential raw materials in chemical industry for producing fungicides.


In their book "Women of the Wall, Navigating Religion in Sacred Sites", Y. Johan and N. Perez aim to present and analyse the feminist movement of "Nashot HaKotel" highliting their key role in struggle for religious equality in Israel and the Jewish World.


Background Very recently, a novel type 2 diabetes risk gene, i.e., MTNR1B, was identified and reported to affect fasting glycemia. Using our thoroughly phenotyped cohort of subjects at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, we assessed the association of common genetic variation within the MTNR1B locus with obesity and prediabetes traits, namely impaired insulin secretion and insulin resistance. Methodology/Principal Findings We genotyped 1,578 non-diabetic subjects, metabolically characterized by oral glucose tolerance test, for five tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering 100% of common genetic variation (minor allele frequency >0.05) within the MTNR1B locus (rs10830962, rs4753426, rs12804291, rs10830963, rs3781638). In a subgroup (N = 513), insulin sensitivity was assessed by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp, and in a further subgroup (N = 301), glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was determined by intravenous glucose tolerance test. After appropriate adjustment for confounding variables and Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, none of the tagging SNPs was reliably associated with measures of adiposity. SNPs rs10830962, rs4753426, and rs10830963 were significantly associated with higher fasting plasma glucose concentrations (p<0.0001) and reduced OGTT- and IVGTT-induced insulin release (p≤0.0007 and p≤0.01, respectively). By contrast, SNP rs3781638 displayed significant association with lower fasting plasma glucose levels and increased OGTT-induced insulin release (p<0.0001 and p≤0.0002, respectively). Moreover, SNP rs3781638 revealed significant association with elevated fasting- and OGTT-derived insulin sensitivity (p≤0.0021). None of the MTNR1B tagging SNPs altered proinsulin-to-insulin conversion. Conclusions/Significance In conclusion, common genetic variation within MTNR1B determines glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and plasma glucose concentrations. Their impact on β-cell function might represent the prevailing pathomechanism how MTNR1B variants increase the type 2 diabetes risk.


In this presented paper on the topic of conversion of passenger aircrafts to cargo versions, the use of this transformation in the modern history of aviation is analyzed and the current situation is analyzed. For a better introduction to the issue, the introductory part defines the fundamental terms and explains the conversion itself and its various stages. The paper also discusses the companies that provide services for the actual conversion of passenger aircraft and the location where this process takes place. The paper is further supplemented by individual types of aircraft, which are divided according to global manufacturers such as the American Boeing and its European competitor Airbus. The main goal of this paper is to bring closer and clarify this process, which has gained momentum in recent years and has great potential for the future. This paper is very significant in case of COVID-19 pandemic and its huge influence on general aviation when there is enormous demand of conversion passenger aircrafts to cargo versions. The most common causes of conversion, advantages and disadvantages are also included. The conversion process itself is described in more detail and the paper focuses on the various technical phases of the aircraft conversion itself.


The complete blood count (CBC) is one of the most important clinical steps in clinical diagnosis. The instruments used for CBC are usually expensive and bulky and require well-trained operators. Therefore, it is difficult for medical institutions below the tertiary level to provide these instruments, especially in underprivileged countries. Several reported on-chip blood cell tests are still in their infancy and do not deviate from conventional microscopic or impedance measurement methods. In this study, we (i) combined magnetically activated cell sorting and the differential density method to develop a method to selectively isolate three types of leukocytes from blood and obtain samples with high purity and concentration for portable leukocyte classification using the lens-free shadow imaging technique (LSIT), and (ii) established several shadow parameters to identify the type of leukocytes in a complete leukocyte shadow image by shadow image analysis. The purity of the separated leukocytes was confirmed by flow cytometry. Several shadow parameters such as the "order ratio" and "minimum ratio" were developed to classify the three types of leukocytes. A shadow image library corresponding to each type of leukocyte was created from the tested samples. Compared with clinical reference data, a correlation index of 0.98 was obtained with an average error of 6% and a confidence level of 95%. This technique offers great potential for biological, pharmaceutical, environmental, and clinical applications, especially where point-of-care detection of rare cells is required.


Lysozyme level in body fluids is a significant indicator of various diseases.
Cheap and simple colorimetric detection of lysozyme, in biological sample, by gold and silver
nanoparticles is a field of interest of nanoparticle research for more than a decade.

We report here an attempt to improve the sensitivity part of the colorimetric lysozyme
detection process by using citrate capped gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles without any functionalization.

Performance of gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles in determining of lysozyme concentration
in water is done using colorimetric/spectroscopic technique. Gold nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles
and mixed colloidal suspension of gold and silver nanoparticles, for comparison have
also been studied. Selectivity study has been performed through spectroscopic analysis, red-greenblue
colour component analysis and fractal dimension analysis of the nanoparticles interacted with
several low and high isoelectric point proteins.

Gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles showed higher sensitivity for a wider range of lysozyme
concentration compared to gold and silver nanoparticles prepared by us or reported in literature.
Gold nanoparticles showed higher sensitivity compared to the core-shell nanoparticles, but
for a narrow concentration range of lysozyme. For silver nanoparticles and the mixed nanoparticle
system, both sensitivity and range of determination of lysozyme concentration were much smaller
compared to the core-shell nanoparticles. Core-shell nanoparticles showed better selectivity compared
to gold nanoparticles in identifying aquatic solution of lysozyme from that of other proteins.

Gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles have higher sensitivity in determining wide range
of lysozyme concentration in water compared to gold and silver nanoparticles reported in literature.


The past decade the packing approach was developed at the TU Delft. This tool automatically generates tens of thousands of ship designs in order to fully explore the design space. This is opposed to the traditional way of ship design, where just a limited number of designs can be elaborated. The result is a set of ship designs that can be used both to obtain initial sizing parameters of the ship, and to relate the impact of design decisions on performance characteristics. It is questioned whether resulting sets of designs really contain tens of thousands of different ships, or just a couple of really different ships that have only minor variations. It is thus questioned whether such a set of ship designs can be divided into families. This is investigated in this thesis. In order to attack this problem in a generic fashion, the ship designs were approached from a numerical perspective. It was found that in the field of data science, clustering algorithms exist which are devoted to find clustering structures in data. Therefore these techniques, such as PCA and k-means, were applied to data at hand. In a test case this method is applied to divide the set of designs from a mine countermeasures vessel into families. First it was questioned whether families could be used in order to assess the survivability of machine systems of these ships. The resulting families matched the families regarding the position of the gun, which were already known upfront. Although these families are not sufficient to fully assess the survivability of these ships, this analysis showed that most probably no other structure is present, stimulating more straightforward definitions of families. In a second test case the same MCMV was divided into families regarding the layout of the designs. It then appeared that the dataset at hand was built by ten distinct runs of the packing approach which were combined to this one total set. The method showed that it could be pointed out, just by looking at the designs, which design was generated in which run. This showed that the dataset might not be as diverse as it seems. Since it is the core idea for the packing approach to explore a big part of the design space, thus generating a diverse set of ship designs, this motivates new research to tackle this issue.


The movie Lucy explores the idea that we use only 10% of our brains which, according to an editorial in Nature Neuroscience, is wrong. However, we may reframe the myth to reveal the underlying meaning: it is not about using just 10% of the brain, but about perceiving only a very small fraction of what the brain is doing. If we will, we can stop our usual, daily routine activities, or our usual day dreaming, and immediately we start noticing more. The alternative interpretation to Lucy is that the movie is not about the brain, but about consciousness. Change the metaphor and you get a totally different meaning.


A key step towards the understanding of the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is their mass composition. Primary photons and neutrinos produce markedly different showers from nuclei, while showers of different nuclear species are not easy to distinguish. To maximise the discrimination with the Pierre Auger Observatory ideally all mass-sensitive observables should be combined, but the 10% duty cycle of the fluorescence detector limits the use of direct measurements of shower maximum at the highest energies. Therefore, we investigate mass-sensitive observables accessible with the surface detectors alone. These are the signal risetime in the Cherenkov stations, the curvature of the shower front, the muon-to-electromagnetic ratio, and the azimuthal signal asymmetry. Risetime and curvature depend mainly on the depth of the shower development in the atmosphere, and thus on primary energy and mass. The muon content of a shower depends on the primary energy and the number of nucleons, while asymmetry about the shower core is due to geometric effects and attenuation, which are dependent on the primary mass. The mass sensitivity of these variables is demonstrated and their application for composition studies is discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effectiveness of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay and microscopic examinations for detection of Schistosoma japonicum infections in Oncomelania hupensis in transmission-interrupted regions, so as to provide insights into the optimization of snail surveillance tools in these regions.

METHODS
Four hilly schistosomiasis-endemic villages where transmission interruption was achieved were selected in Heqing County of Yunnan Province as the study villages, including Xinzhuang and Gule villages in hilly regions and Lianyi and Yitou villages in dam regions. Snail survey was performed by means of systematic sampling combined with environmental sampling in July 2018. All captured snails were identified for S. japonicum infections using microscopy. In addition, 10 to 20 snails were randomly sampled from each snail habitat following microscopy, numbered according to environments and subjected to LAMP assay. The positive rate of settings with S. japonicum-infected snails was compared among villages.

RESULTS
A total of 7 949 living snails were captured from 83 snail habitats in 4 villages, and no S. japonicum infection was detected in snails. There were 226 mixed samples containing 1 786 snails subjected to LAMP assay, and positive LAMP assay was found in 3 mixed samples from 3 snail habitats in 2 dam villages. The positive rates of settings with S. japonicum-infected snails were comparable between Lianyi Village (one setting) and Yitou Village (2 set tings) (5.89% vs. 14.29%, P = 0.344). However, the overall positive rate of settings with S. japonicum-infected snails was significantly higher in dam villages (9.67%, 3/31) than in hilly villages (0) (P = 0.048).

CONCLUSIONS
LAMP assay is more sensitive to detect S. japonicum infections in O. hupensis than conventional microcopy method, which may serve as a supplementary method for detection of S. japonicum infections in O. hupensis in high-risk snail habitats in hilly transmission-interrupted regions.


When regression analysis is carried out with a prediction purpose, an evolution in the modeled phenomenon between the training and the prediction stages forces the statistician to start a new analysis. Similarly, when regression aims to explain the modeled phenomenon, a new regression model must be estimated whenever the phenomenon or its study conditions change. In this paper we show how the previous regression analysis can be used for the estimation of the regression model in the new situation, saving a new expensive data collection effort. Two case studies are considered: first a regression model of house prices versus house and household features is adapted from a city in the Southern United States (Birmingham, AL) to another city of the United States west coast (San Jose, CA). In the second case the link between CO2 emissions and gross national product in 1999 is analyzed by using a previous analysis dating from 1980.


The investigation was conducted taking 200 mango orchard growers of saurashtra region of Gujarat state, India. They were contacted personally to collect data.It was observed that managerial ability of mango orchard growers under study was found predominately medium (60.00 per cent). The independent variable adoption index, education, annual income, experience as a mango growers, farm mechanization index, mango yield index, training received, attitude towards modern agriculture, mass media exposure and risk orientation were found positive and significantly correlated with managerial ability of mango growers. All the twenty three independent variable put together explained 63.70 per cent total variation in managerial ability. The highest positive direct and indirect effects on managerial ability were exerted by education followed by adoption index. The first substantial indirect effect was exerted by most of the variables through the variable, education. The major constraints faced by respondents in adoption of scientific mango cultivation practices were irregular electric power supply, lack of modern spraying equipment, lack of awareness, high price of fertilizer.


INTRODUCTION
In teleradiology services and in hospitals, the extensive use of visualization displays requires affordable devices. The purpose of this study was to compare three differently priced displays (a medical-grade grayscale display and two consumer-grade color displays) for image visualization of digitized chest X-rays.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The evaluated conditions were interstitial opacities, pneumothorax, and nodules using computed tomography as the gold standard. The comparison was accomplished in terms of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the diagnostic power measured as the area under ROC curves, accuracy in conditions classification, and main factors affecting accuracy, in a factorial study with 76 cases and six radiologists.

RESULTS
The ROC curves for all of the displays and pathologies had similar shapes and no differences in diagnostic power. The proportion of cases correctly classified for each display was greater than 71.9%. The correctness proportions of the three displays were different (p<0.05) only for interstitial opacities. The evaluation of the main factors affecting these proportions revealed that the display factor was not significant for either nodule size or pneumothorax size (p>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Although the image quality variables showed differences in the radiologists' perceptions of the image quality of the three displays, significant differences in the accuracy did not occur. The main effect on the variability of the proportions of correctly classified cases did not come from the display factor. This study confirms previous findings that medical-grade displays could be replaced by consumer-grade color displays with the same image quality.


Background: Community Acquired Intra-Abdominal Infections (IAI's) secondary to hollow viscous perforations are not uncommon reasons for ICU admission in our country. It is unclear if high rates of Multidrug Resistant Organisms (MRO) are associated with adverse ICU outcomes in these infections. aim: To verify the impact of MRO in peritoneal isolates of patients with hollow viscous perforation on ICU outcomes Methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to the SICU during a two-year period (Jan 2014 to Dec 2015) with community acquired IAI. Primary outcomes were ICU free stay differences between MRO positive and negative patients. Secondary outcomes were adverse outcomes (death or terminal discharge), hospital-free stay and complications. Results: Among 2,581 patients admitted to the ICU over the study period (January 2014 to December 2015), 117 patients were admitted with community acquired hollow viscus perforation peritonitis. The most common cause was gastro-duodenal perforation (43.5%). The most common empirical antibiotics were β-Lactam/β- Lactam inhibitor (BLBLIs) in 64.1% of the patients, while carbapenems were the most common post-op antibiotics (55.6%). Sixty-five percent of patients had source control performed with 24 hours of admission. Patients with MRO positive isolates as the causative pathogens presented relatively later (median of 3 days since symptom onset); MRO positivity did not impact on ICU length of stay. A univariate analysis revealed APACHE score and prolonged ICU and hospital stay were associated with adverse outcomes (death or terminal discharge). A multivariate analysis failed to show MRO as a risk factor for adverse ICU outcomes. Conclusion: In a population with moderately high ESBL prevalence, community acquired perforation peritonitis with multidrug resistance pattern of organisms in isolates does not lead to adverse ICU outcomes, when the predominant empirical antibiotics were BLBLIs. Larger prospective and perhaps controlled studies may be needed to substantiate our findings.


This article presents a machine learning approach in a heterogeneous group of algorithms in a transport type model for the optimal distribution of tasks in safety-critical systems (SCS). Applied systems in the working area identify the determination of their parameters. Accordingly, in this article, machine learning models are implemented on various subsets of our transformed data and repeatedly calculated the bounds for 90 percent tolerance intervals, each time noting whether or not they contained the actual value of X. This approach considers the features of algorithms for solving such important classes of problem management as the allocation of limited resources in multi-agent SCS and their most important properties. Modeling for the error was normally distributed. The results are obtained, including the situation requiring solutions, recorded and a sample is made out of the observations. This paper summarizes the literature review on the machine learning approach into new implication research. The empirical research shows the effect of the optimal algorithm for transport safety-critical systems.


Thin films of 0.65PMN-0.35PT PMN=Pb (Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 and PT=PbTiO3 with a thickness about 250 nm were prepared on LaNiO3/SiO2/Si substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The films were annealed using high pressure annealing (HPA) technique in oxygen atmosphere. Effect of HPA on the crystal structure, morphology and electrical properties of the films was studied. XRD patterns of the films indicated that PMN-PT films treated by HPA in oxygen atmosphere (annealing temperature 400℃) showed a pure perovskite phase, with highly (100) preferred orientation. The strong and sharp diffraction peak showed the better crystallization of PMN-PT thin films after HPA. SEM observations showed that a rod or bubble morphology was present on the films surface. Ferroelectric properties tests showed that the PMN-PT film annealed in oxygen atmosphere at a pressure of 4 MPa, and annealing time of 4 h had good ferroelectric properties, in which the remanent polarization (Pr) could reach 10.544 uC/cm2. The shape of electric hysteresis was better, but the leakage current was too large, which may be due to the microstructure of the films. Meanwhile, the dielectric tests indicated that PMN-PT thin films could show very good dielectric properties, and the dielectric constant (r) could reach 913, and dielectric loss (tg) was very small, only 0.065.


Energy is a necessity for economic development. Energy is used extensively in transportation and power generation. Human civilization would not have advanced to modern living standards without the transportation of millions of personalized and mass transport vehicles and the availability of 24x7 power. The global economy and society are heavily reliant on energy availability because it touches every aspect of human life and activity. Because of the rising population and urbanization, energy demand has skyrocketed. Thus, growing energy consumption has resulted in the world becoming increasingly reliant on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. Therefore, a sustainable energy path must be developed. Fossil fuels provide more than 80% of global consumption and more than 95% of global transportation energy. While global fossil fuel reserves are depleting, global energy demand is rising due to the evolution of energy-intensive lifestyles. To improve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is critical to investigate alternative fuels for the transportation sector. This paper summarizes the information on current transportation fuels and the potential use case of alternative transportation fuels.


A crucial challenge in subunit vaccine development is to minimize adjuvant-associated toxicity and balance immunogenicity with safety. Due to the chemical heterogeneity and toxicity associated with most plant- or pathogen-derived adjuvants, those clinically approved in the U.S. are limited to alum and AS04 (alum combined with MPLA). Therefore, there is a compelling clinical need for new adjuvant strategies that potentiate strong immune responses and are chemically defined and minimally toxic. We have previously demonstrated that supramolecular peptide nanofibers are potent adjuvants that elicit protective antibody and cellular immune responses in animal models of infectious diseases, cancer, and addiction. Critically, the adjuvant potential was non-inflammatory and the exact mechanism of action was unknown. Here, we report that self-assembling peptide nanofibers bearing CD4+ or CD8+T cell epitopes are processed through mechanisms of autophagy in antigen presenting cells (APCs). Using in vitro antigen presentation assays, we confirmed loss and gain of adjuvant function using pharmacological modulators of autophagy and APCs deficient in multiple autophagy proteins. Incorporation of microtubule associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3-II) into the autophagosomal membrane, a key biological marker for autophagy, was confirmed using microscopy. Our findings indicate that autophagy plays an essential role in the mechanism of adjuvant action of supramolecular peptide nanofibers.


Applied social science projects that involve many interviews produce a vast amount of data or text that is difficult to structure and analyze systematically. Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software is too advanced and sophisticated when all we want is to sort and structure the text. A new method, using Microsoft Word and Excel, has been developed. The method produces a flexible Word document of interview data separated into logical chapters and subchapters. All text is coded, and the codes correspond with headings in the final document. Systematic manual coding ensures that all the content is coded, not just words or terms that are extracted from the text. After several years of using and refining the method, both in projects with relatively few interviews and in those with more than 100, I believe that the method is efficient when there are four or more interviews. The method is also suitable for coding and structuring answers to open-ended questions in Web-based surveys. The coding may be performed by a supervised research assistant or a multidisciplinary analytical team, depending on the complexity of the problem. The purpose of the method is not to quantify qualitative data but only to sort and structure large amounts of unstructured data. The method consists of 10 steps, screenshots of which are included in the paper.


Objectives. The cardiac-related component in chest electrical impedance tomography (EIT) measurement is of potential value to pulmonary perfusion monitoring and cardiac function measurement. In a spontaneous breathing case, cardiac-related signals experience serious interference from ventilation-related signals. Traditional cardiac-related signal-separation methods are usually based on certain features of signals. To further improve the separation accuracy, more comprehensive features of the signals should be exploited. Approach. We propose an unsupervised deep-learning method called deep feature-domain matching (DFDM), which exploits the feature-domain similarity of the desired signals and the breath-holding signals. This method is characterized by two sub-steps. In the first step, a novel Siamese network is designed and trained to learn common features of breath-holding signals; in the second step, the Siamese network is used as a feature-matching constraint between the separated signals and the breath-holding signals. Main results. The method is first tested using synthetic data, and the results show satisfactory separation accuracy. The method is then tested using the data of three patients with pulmonary embolism, and the consistency between the separated images and the radionuclide perfusion scanning images is checked qualitatively. Significance. The method uses a lightweight convolutional neural network for fast network training and inference. It is a potential method for dynamic cardiac-related signal separation in clinical settings.


To the memory of my friend, the distinguished ophthalmologist, Dr. John Martin Wheeler . It has long been debated whether the cause of hypertension associated with acute or subacute congestive glaucoma is exclusively a mechanical one, produced by the application of the root of the iris against the corneal limbus, or whether, on the contrary, the anterior peripheral synechia is the result of preexisting hypertension. Historically, the first position was substantiated by Knies and Weber, 1 who in glaucomatous eyes examined with the microscope always observed an adhesion of the root of the iris to the cornea. However, several observers, including myself, 2 objected that the microscopic sections were made in old glaucomatous eyes enucleated after the process had run its course. On the other hand, microscopic examination of eyes with acute or subacute glaucoma which were removed shortly after the attack, when the patient died of an intercurrent disease (Birnbacher


This study investigated the use of Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models for time series prediction. The models are evaluated using two statistical performance evaluation measures, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R 2 ). Four different multilayer perceptron were developed and compared. The best MLP was then compared with ARIMA model. The experimental result shows that a 3-layer MLP architecture using tanh activation function in each of the hidden layer and linear function in the output layer has the lowest prediction error and the highest coefficient of determination among the configured multilayer perceptron neural network. Comparative analysis of performance result reveals that multilayer perceptron neural network MLP has a lower prediction error than ARIMA model. Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, ARIMA, Multilayer Perceptron, Time Series, Data Preprocessing


In this paper, a novel multiple motion object segmentation scheme based on homogenous region merging is presented. This scheme is based on utilization of a robust multiresolution motion estimator that can provide good motion estimates from irregularly-shaped regions. In addition, a novel region-merging criterion and an iterative region-merging process have been proposed. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


In July 2018, a sample of lavender var. Grosso (Lavandula × intermedia 'Grosso') from Miami County, OH was received by The Ohio State University Vegetable Pathology Laboratory in Wooster. Lavender plants were field-grown in sandy clay soil with plastic mulch under drip irrigation. Disease incidence ranged from 0 to 32% depending on variety. Leaves and stems showed dark necrotic lesions that varied from roughly circular (ca. 0.3 to 0.5 mm diameter) to large coalesced necrotic areas surrounded by a water-soaked halo. Bacterial streaming from lesions was observed microscopically. Leaf tissue pieces (~0.5 cm2) were surface sterilized in 70% ethanol for 30 seconds and rinsed in sterile deionized water. The tissue was sliced aseptically into smaller sections in 100 μl sterile water and the bacterial suspension was streaked on yeast dextrose calcium carbonate agar medium. Ten yellow Xanthomonas-like colonies were selected after 72 hours of incubation at 28ºC in the dark. Strains were gram negative, oxidase negative and caused hypersensitive reactions on Nicotiana benthamiana (L.). All strains were genotyped after whole-cell DNA extraction by BOX-PCR (Louws et al. 1999) and had the same banding profile. Four 8-wk-old lavender plants (Lavandula dentata and Lavandula × ginginsii 'Goodwin Creek Gray') were spray-inoculated with a 106 CFU/ml suspension of strain SM175-2018 in sterile water. Control plants were sprayed with sterile water. Plants were kept in plastic bags for the first 48 h at 28°C with a 14-h photoperiod. Water-soaked necrotic lesions appeared 14 days after inoculation with SM175-2018, whereas mock-inoculated plants did not show symptoms. Bacterial isolation from symptomatic leaf tissue was carried out as described above. The BOX-PCR profile of the re-isolated strain was identical to that of SM175-2018. Multilocus sequence analysis of the housekeeping genes fuyA, gyrB, and rpoD was performed (Accession numbers: MT764834 - MT764836). The resulting concatenated data set was used to perform a phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood criteria to evaluate relationships with closely related Xanthomonas spp. using published reference sequences (Young et al. 2008). SM175-2018 was assigned to the X. hortorum clade (Moriniere et al. 2020) with strong bootstrap support. The strain was subjected to whole genome analysis. Genomic DNA was extracted using a QIAGEN Genomic DNA buffer set with genomic-tip 100/G following manufacturer's protocol and sequenced using the iSeq-100 Illumina platform with the Nextera DNA Flex Library Prep protocol kit and Nextera DNA CD indexes. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) analysis was performed with the ANI-Matrix software Enveomics tool (Rodriguez-R and Konstantinidis 2016) using the sequenced genome (NCBI GenBank Biosample no. SAMN11831455) and those of other X. hortorum (Vauterin et al. 1995) bacteria (pvs. hederae, carotae, vitians). SM175-2018 shared a 96% ANI with other X. hortorum strains. X. hortorum is associated with bacterial leaf spot of carrot (Scott and Dung, 2020) and also reported on ornamental plants (Mirik et al. 2010, Oliver et al. 2012, Roberts and Parkinson 2014, Klass et al. 2019), however additional research is needed to establish the host specificity of lavender strains. To our knowledge this is the first report of X. hortorum causing bacterial leaf spot of lavender in Ohio. The disease may negatively impact the yield and quality of flowers used in production of lavender oils and essences.


The microwave limiter described in this correspondence is ideally reflectionless at all power Ievels. The matched limiter is achieved by simply adding a miniature 50-ohm rod resistor to a conventional dual-diode limiter. Although the resulting match is unilateral, it can be made bilateral by adding another diode-resistor combination. Response data of an S-band prototype unit illustrate its capabilities.


A routing protocol specifies how routers communicate with each other, disseminating information that enables them to select routes between any two nodes on a computer network. There are three main types of routing. In present days it has become extremely important to ensure quality of service for these three protocols. Upon imposing different scenarios and conditions, same set of protocols show different performances. To compare the performance of the three protocols, a small virtual topology was created. TCP and UDP packets were sent through the network. During the packet routing process; at a predefined time, some links go down while sudden bottlenecks were also created on different links. Thus the behavior of the three protocols is observed on a case by case basis. Using statistical data, graphs were formulated to compare the performances. A generalized view of performance measurement can be drawn from this type of comparative analysis.


With the widespread deployment of data centers, Internet service providers are expecting more efficient design strategies to build long-haul data center interconnect (DCI) networks. In this paper, we propose a heuristic-based optimization framework to design these networks. Through this framework, network designers can obtain a site-type design scheme that arranges customized site types such as in-line amplifiers, dynamic gain equalizers, optical terminal multiplexers, and electrical regenerators, and three strategies are provided for reference. Taking the quality of transmission as the main metric, and the overall cost of the network as the ancillary measurement, we compare the schemes obtained by the proposed framework against the baseline scheme obtained by a traditional periodic design strategy. Simulations are conducted on a topology of the Tencent DCI network. Under the condition that all schemes ensure that the minimum general signal-to-noise ratio (GSNR) remains above the given GSNR threshold, the schemes designed by our framework can achieve overall cost savings up to 25.73%.


The intestinal epithelium is critical for nutrient absorption, immune function, and hormone release. The mature cell types that are responsible for these functions are produced by crypt base columnar (CBC) stem cells located within the intestinal crypts. These stem cells constitutively divide to produce complete turnover of the entire intestinal epithelial layer every few days. The division of the CBC stem cells can be influenced by a variety of factors, including nutrient availability. There is research that suggests the sympathetic nervous system can contribute to changes in stem cell proliferation. However, it is not known whether this effect is direct via the CBC stem cells, or instead through an indirect mechanism. Thus, we tested whether CBC stem cells express alpha 2A adrenoreceptors (α 2A -ARs), a receptor subtype utilized by norepinephrine (NE; the primary neurotransmitter of the SNS) and whether NE induces proliferation of intestinal epithelial organoids in vitro . Results showed that α 2A -ARs mRNA is expressed in CBC stem cells and that there is a trend towards higher expression of α 2A -AR mRNA in CBC stem cells compared with other cells of the crypt. We also found a significant decrease in proliferation after application of NE to organoids in vitro (p<.05). These data support a role for the SNS in regulation of CBC stem cells proliferation, which may influence intestinal epithelial size and function as a whole.


We analyse internal migration triggered by natural disasters in Bangladesh. We conducted a survey in nine coastal districts and two major cities in Bangladesh to investigate whether floods and cyclones, which can be considered as transient shocks, affect interregional migration differently compared to riverbank erosion that causes loss of lands and thus generates shocks that are permanent in nature. Our findings suggest that transient shocks induce households to move to nearby cities while permanent shocks push people to big cities with more opportunities. Comparing income and expenditure of migrants and non-migrant households, we find that the former group is better-off relative to their counterpart, indicating that welfare can be improved by facilitating migration. Rising exposure to climate change induced natural disasters around the world imply that our findings will be increasingly relevant for designing policies to address vulnerability, particularly for disaster prone countries with weak social safety nets.


We address the problem of human-in-the-loop control for generating highly-structured data. This task is challenging because existing generative models lack an efficient interface through which users can modify the output. Users have the option to either manually explore a non-interpretable latent space, or to laboriously annotate the data with conditioning labels. To solve this, we introduce a novel framework whereby an encoder maps a sparse, human interpretable control space onto the latent space of a generative model. We apply this framework to the task of controlling prosody in text-to-speech synthesis. We propose a model, called Multiple-Instance CVAE (MICVAE), that is specifically designed to encode sparse prosodic features and output complete waveforms. We show empirically that MICVAE displays desirable qualities of a sparse human-in-the-loop control mechanism: efficiency, robustness, and faithfulness. With even a very small number of input values (~4), MICVAE enables users to improve the quality of the output significantly, in terms of listener preference (4:1).


Milk production among the smallholder dairy farmers in Zambia is reported to be low despite improvements in milk collection infrastructure and unmet demand by the populace. This study was conducted to characterize cattle breeds and the breeding strategies of the smallholder dairy production system in the Southern province of Zambia. The study was conducted using questionnaires to obtain responses from identified respondents in six districts considered the main dairy cattle producing areas. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were administered and available for descriptive statistical analysis. The cattle genetic groups included local (Tonga and Angoni) breeds and their crosses (40.0%); beef (Boran and Brahman) breeds and their crosses (23.3%); Friesian breed and its crosses (28.8%); Jersey breed and its crosses (4.9%); and Fleckvieh breed (3.0%). Calving rate was found to be to be between 36% and 50% for the dairy herds. Compared to the other genetic groups, it was noted that Friesian and its crosses had higher milk production (3.55 L vs. 1.4 L). The low milk yield reported could be attributed to the period of study, which coincided with the long dry season between April and October. The Friesian and its crosses recorded earlier age at first calving (2.65 vs. 2.8 years), shorter longevity (10.5 vs. 12.25 years), and shorter lactation length (7.5 vs. 9.25 months). Jersey and its crosses, on the other hand, had an above average performance for all indices of economic importance such as milk production, lactation length, age at first calving, longevity, and number of calves produced. The results indicated natural mating was practised by 85% of the farmers. Farmer-preferred traits include size and conformation (23%); performance and colour (16% and 15%, respectively) in the choice of a bull. Selection by farmers were thus based on simple observation without pedigree or performance-based genetic evaluation. It was apparent that the smallholder dairy production system is in a shifting trend to transform the mainly local and beef breed animals into dairy herds through crossing with exotic dairy breeds. The production system is, however, faced with the challenges of water and feed supply to meet nutritional requirements, and high disease burden. Jersey breed was found to be a logical choice for the resource poor smallholder dairy farmers. The development and management of the smallholder dairy breeding schemes should be all-inclusive and directed at the prevalent production systems with the aim of also improving the feeding and management practices.


The effect of leads in Arctic sea ice on clouds is a potentially important climate feedback. We use observations of clouds and leads from the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) to study the effects of leads on clouds. Newly open leads increase cloudiness while newly frozen leads decrease cloudiness. The latter dominates but the magnitude of the net effect depends on the life cycle of leads. The cloud dissipating effect decrease the Arctic cloudiness by 4-6% in cold months. The cloud increasing effect of open leads is evident in areas with strong sea ice deformation and frequent lead formation. Lead effects can reach beyond the boundary layer to 6 km. The lack of proper representation of lead effect on clouds in current climate models and reanalyses contributes to the overestimation of cloudiness over Arctic sea ice in cold months.


Studying the denaturation of oxidative hemoglobin of blood preserved at room temperature, it is helpful to overall understand erythrocyte injurious during blood preserved at room temperature. Using electron spin resonance technique, we have researched the denaturation of oxidative hemoglobin of blood preserved at 35 degrees C. We discovered that blood preserved at 35 degrees C, appears ESR absorption of high spin methemoglobin (g = 6) after preservation time is 36 hours. The high spin methemoglobin ESF absorption will increase when preservation time increases. When blood is preserved at 4 degrees C, it dose not emerge ESR absorption during 60 hours preservation. SOD activity will gradually decline in erythrocyte of blood preserved at 35 degrees C when preservation time increases. Oxidative denaturation of hemoglobin is probably caused with gradual declining of antioxidation system effect in erythrocyte.


M ICALs (for A/blecule /nteracting with CasL) form a recently discovered family of evolutionary conserved signal transduction proteins. They contain multiple well-conserved domains known for interactions with the cytoskeleton, cytoskeletal adaptor proteins, and other signaling proteins. In addition to their ability to bind other proteins, MICALs contain a large NADPH-dependent flavoprotein monooxygenase enzymatic domain. Although MICALs have already been implicated in a variety of cellular processes, their function during axonal pathfinding in the Drosophila neuromuscular system has been best characterized. During the establishment of neuromuscular connectivity in the fruit fly, MICAL binds the axon guidance receptor Plexin A and transduces semaphorin-la-mediated repiJsive axon guidance. Intriguingly, mutagenesis and pharmacological inhibitor studies suggest a role for MICAL flavoenzyme redox functions in semaphorin/plexin-mediated axonal pathfinding events. This review summarizes our current understanding of MICALs, with an emphasis on their role in semaphorin signaling.


Objectives
The objective of this study was to establish and validate an in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVC). To investigate the safety of a fixed-dose combination (FDC) versus the reference formulations (Januvia® 100 mg Filmtabletten co-administered with Glucophage® SR 1000 mg prolonged-release tablets), a bioequivalence study was conducted in the fasted and fed states, and the data generated were used to establish the correlation.

Materials and Methods
The formulations used in the bioequivalence study were a FDC (sitagliptin hydrochloride equivalent to 100 mg of sitagliptin and metformin hydrochloride 1000 mg prolonged release) and Januvia® 100 mg co-administered with Glucophage® SR 1000 mg. The plasma profiles from the bioequivalence study and respective dissolution data were then utilized to establish "level A" IVIVC. The procedure comprises pharmacokinetic modeling to derive the empirical constants for further use in deconvolution and convolution procedures. Levy plots were constructed to understand the relationship between in vitro and in vivo properties. The internal and external predictabilities were evaluated by comparing the predicted pharmacokinetics with the observed values from the bioequivalence study.

Results
The formulations showed approximately 91%-95% and 89%-91% dissolution, respectively in fasted and fed-state dissolution media for sitagliptin. The dissolution of metformin was 96%-98% and 89%-95%, respectively, in fasted and fed-state media. The regression coefficients of all the Levy plots were more than 0.900, indicating a linear correlation between in vitro release and in vivo parameters. The prediction error value of internal and external predictabilities was below 10 and met the US Food and Drug Administration criteria. Therefore, it can be stated that the correlation models are validated and can be used for predictions and to setting the dissolution specifications. The safety and tolerability of the FDC was found to be superior to those of the reference formulations, as fewer adverse events occurred following administration of the FDC.

Conclusion
Correlation models can be useful for the prediction of FDCs during the management life cycle of the product. The models can also serve as a surrogate for in vivo studies. The FDC was tolerable, and the adverse events were mild and similar to those observed with the reference products. Therefore, the FDC is safe for use in human subjects.