Quantification of 27 cytokines following cerebral wounding was performed for wound age estimation. The cytokines evaluated included interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 p40, IL-12 p70, IL-15, IL-17, IL-18, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), keratinocyte derived cytokine (KC), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF), monokine inducible by interferon gamma (MIG), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1 alpha, MIP 2, platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF BB), regulated upon activation, normal T-cell expressed, and secreted (Rantes), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The proliferation of glial cells as well as the infiltration of inflammatory cells were also evaluated. Although astroglia proliferated from 72 hours post-injury, inflammatory cell dynamics were generally steady. Among cytokines analyzed in the present study, IL-1beta, IL-5, IL-6, IL-12 p40, G-CSF, IFN-gamma, KC, LIF, MIP2, and PDGF BB increased during the early phase of cerebral wound healing, and M-CSF increased during the middle phase, while IL-15, IL-18, and MIG increased during the late phase. In contrast, IL-1alpha, IL-10, IL-12 p70, and TNF-alpha were suppressed throughout the cerebral wound healing process. Based on our findings, quantitative cytokine analyses at the cerebral wound site may be a useful tool for wound age estimation. Further, this study suggests that multiplex data gained from the same sample using a single methodology demonstrates highly accurate cytokine interactions during the process of cerebral wound healing.


1 We have measured the plasma concentration of acebutolol and a major metabolite in patients on chronic oral therapy with this drug, using a new assay, specific for each species. Our study suggests: 2 The acetyl metabolite was present in concentrations greater than those of acebutolol at all times during the dosing interval in all seven subjects. 3 The ratio of the mean steady-state plasma concentrations of the acetyl metabolite to unchanged acebutolol was 2.7 +/- 1.0. 4 Previous studies using non-specific methods that measure plasma concentrations of the acetyl metabolite and acebutolol as a single species cannot be used to determine pharmacokinetic parameters or to provide reliable correlations of plasma drug concentration with effect. 5 Future studies determining plasma concentration of acebutolol should take this metabolite into account. 6 Further work will be necessary to determine the metabolite's contribution to acebutolol's effects in man.


The studies presented in this thesis focus on the biogeochemistry of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in an intermittent stream in a Mediterranean climate zone, with great emphasis on extreme hydrologic events: floods and the seasonal drought period. The changes in concentration and molecular weight, and the properties, especially those related to its origin, and bioavailability to the microbial community. The samplings were carried out during a wide span of years in order to characterize the concentration – discharge responses (C-Q) initially, and more intensively during the different periods of the hydrologic year (wet, drought and transitional periods) in order to capture the widest possible picture of the dissolved organic matter dynamics and processing. The last chapter is a review of different fluorescence spectroscopy and UV-vis absorbance methods applied in DOM characterization. The main conclusions from these works are: 1. The most probable C-Q response types represent only a 40% of all cases from the data set. Therefore, the majority of DOC and NO3-Q responses fall within some low probability C-Q response types. 2. The dry-wet transition does not present a typical C-Q response. Instead, it promotes the diversity of DOC-Q responses. The 33% of events comprised during this period contribute to the 41% of the total DOC-Q response diversity. On the other hand, it does not enhance NO3-Q responses. 3. The most important driver for the succession of NO3-Q responses is the periodicity of the magnitude of storms (?Q) is, while the effect of the seasonal temperature change (i.e., Tday), appears more perceptible after the removal of the signal of the weaker and more frequent rain episodes. 4. The occurrence of a severe summer dry period favored the mobilization and transport of labile DOC, as shown by the 56% of retention across the stream – riparian interface, during the following hydrological transition period. Furthermore, the DOC retention during this period was preferential from high to low molecular weight fractions. In the case of no apparent hydrological transition all DOC molecular weight fractions were equally conservative. 5. During both drought and rewetting periods DOC and DON bioavailability are not tied to a MW fraction. During the rewetting period, although there is no clear pattern of bioavailability according to any DOC MW fraction, 50% of cases at which DOCMW release is observed (BDOCMW<0) correspond to the LMW fraction. 6. In general, DOCMW dynamics fit within the framework that storm events enhance the input of larger molecular weight DOC fraction (higher than 1 kDa), but DONMW does not. Furthermore, the hydrologic characteristics of the rewetting period evidence an asynchronous mobilization of DOC and DON. 7. DOC bioavailability is heavily influenced by DON content rather than molecular weight. Furthermore, bioavailability seems to be regulated by the DOC:DON ratio presenting a threshold value of 13. The most remarkable case is that of DOCLMW that shifts from refractory to bioavailable when its DOC:DON ratio is lower than 13. 8. Drought causes a gradual hydrological fragmentation of the fluvial network enlarging the variability of DOM properties, and amplifying the biogeochemical variability of a fluvial system. 9. Sampling sites with lotic water bodies in summer show DOM properties similar to those observed in autumn under base flow hydrological conditions and reflect the prevalence of terrestrial inputs. In contrast, in isolated and lentic water bodies, DOM analyses reveal a supplementary contribution of autochthonous organic matter, originated by in situ microbial processes. 10. BDOC estimated during summer indicates an upper threshold of 40% that is also observed during the rewetting period. This allows asserting that the highest bioavailable DOC concentration can be reached during two ecosystem perturbations of opposite sign.


The aim of this paper is to show that functionals similar to
the 'virial' function of classical mechanics can be introduced for several dynamical systems of fluid mechanics provided that those dynamical systems can be described by Hamilton's principle of least action. The main requirement to 'virials' is their increasing by virtue of equations
of motion. Applications of those functionals to hydrodynamic stability theory are reviewed and further perspectives are discussed.


It is pointed out that vertical wave number spectra of gravity waves can be divided into subranges of weak and strong wave interactions and that observed −2.5 to −3 power law spectra may fall within the strong interaction subrange. An elementary criterion is derived to help distinguish between weak and strong waves. It is then shown that the strong wave subrange is predicted by a well-known theory of Lumley. The relation of theory and observation to breaking gravity waves, turbulence dissipation, and length scales is discussed. The validity of Lumley's theory is summarized, and unresolved questions for future investigations of atmospheric wave spectra are raised.


The antimicrobial activity of different concentrations of ethanol and chloroform extracts of the leaves of Pavetta crassipes (Hutch 1963) was tested against 4 bacterial isolates causing human respiratory tract infections using invitro disc-plate method namely Staphylococcus aureus Rosenbach 1884, Klebsiella pneumoniae (Schroeter 1872), Proteus species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Schroeter 1872). The results revealed that both extract fractions have varying levels of activity against the test organisms. It was also found that increase in activity was proportional to increase in concentration of the extract. Keywords : Antimicrobial activity, Staph. aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pavetta crassipes .


ABSTRACT This study examines the association between veterans' physical and mental health symptoms and perceptions of adverse child and relationship functioning. Veteran responses to the PHQ-15, assessing physical health; the PCL-C, assessing PTSD symptoms; and reports of family challenges were drawn from a countywide veterans survey. Findings indicate physical health (OR = 1.048; 95% CI, 1.002, 1.098) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology (OR = 1.019; 95% CI, 1.004, 1.034) independently predicted increased child difficulties. Similarly, physical health (OR = 1.081; 95% CI, 1.012, 1.154) and PTSD symptoms (OR = 1.043; 95% CI, 1.022, 1.065) independently impacted relationship difficulties. Using standardized coefficients to compare, PTSD symptoms were a stronger predictor across both models. Results highlight the dual importance of assessing both veterans' physical and mental health symptoms to understand family functioning. Additionally, these findings underscore the importance of longitudinal research, which can follow families beyond separation from the military.


Several environmental chemicals are classified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Many of them have an impact on reproductive functions and sex hormones because of their estrogenic and/or antiandrogenic properties. Phthalates and bisphe‐ nol A (BPA) are two well-known EDCs. They are abundant in the environment. Phthalates are usually classified as antiandrogens, whereas BPA is considered as estrogen-like EDC and xenoestrogen. Other than their endocrine-disrupting effects, these two chemicals are also known to have genotoxic and epigenetic effects. Besides, they are hepatotoxic and have substantial effects on other organs/systems (thyroid, kidney, neuroendocrine system, immune system, etc.). In this chapter, we will mainly focus on the toxic effects of different phthalate esters and BPA by discussing their availability in the environment, mechanism and mode of actions, their biotransforma‐ tion and reproductive effects, and their effects on other systems (hepatic, renal, etc.). Besides, we discuss epidemiological studies that are conducted to reveal their effects on the reproductive and endocrine systems. This chapter provides the readers a compact piece of knowledge on these abundant substances and helps them to understand the action of these substances at the molecular and cellular levels.


The reduction from N=1, D=10 to N=4, D=4 supergravity with the Yang-Mills matter is considered. For this purpose a set of constraints is imposed in order to exclude six additional abelian matter multiplets and conserve the supersymmetry. We consider both the cases of usual and dual N=1, D=10 supergravity using the superspace approach. Also the effective potential of the deriving theory is written.


We introduce the concept of quasi-intrinsic angular momentum to denote fields for which the mean value of the angular momentum is unaltered by a lateral shift of the rotation axis but the spectrum changes. This property is exemplified by the orbital angular momentum of a beam of light about its propagation direction. We propose an interferometric experiment to measure efficiently the exact angular momentum spectrum and variance for light beams with any arbitrary spatial distribution.


In this paper, we propose an estimation algorithm for spatially-variant blur due to camera motion. To estimate the most accurate latent image, we integrated depth sensor (Microsoft Kinect) and IMU sensor with the camera. The joint analysis of the blurry image, IMU data and the depth data provide better recovery of the real camera motion during the course of the exposure. The reconstructed camera trajectory along with the depth map is then used to synthesize a spatially-variant blur kernel to estimate the final latent (non-blurry) image. The results show that our algorithm effectively compensates the motion blur from the original image while taking scene geometry into account.


Lack of financial inclusion seems to have led to many development challenges of poor in Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world. Due to cheaper and reliable methods of transferring money the people in Kenya and other countries of Africa were depending upon the bus/courier companies and friends and family members to transfer money to their family members. The introduction of a mobile phone based money transfer services using SMS in Kenya seems to have revolutionized the way the money is transferred not only in Kenya but also in other African countries. A study was undertaken in Dodoma, the political capital of Tanzania to bring out the usage and utility of mobile money transfer services. It brought out usage and utility of mobile-phone money transfer services and the interface between the agents and the customers.


This paper offers a scalable and robust distributed algorithm for decision‐tree induction in large peer‐to‐peer (P2P) environments. Computing a decision tree in such large distributed systems using standard centralized algorithms can be very communication‐expensive and impractical because of the synchronization requirements. The problem becomes even more challenging in the distributed stream monitoring scenario where the decision tree needs to be updated in response to changes in the data distribution. This paper presents an alternate solution that works in a completely asynchronous manner in distributed environments and offers low communication overhead, a necessity for scalability. It also seamlessly handles changes in data and peer failures. The paper presents extensive experimental results to corroborate the theoretical claims. Copyright © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company Statistical Analy Data Mining 1: 000‐000, 2008


Our objective was to calculate the time in the sun necessary to maintain existing 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration at locations across Australia and New Zealand. We used a microsimulation model to estimate changes in monthly 25(OH)D concentration using data on standard erythemal dose, solar zenith angle, and climatological ozone. We estimated the number of standard vitamin D doses per 10-min interval and used a dose-response equation to determine the average time in the sun to maintain existing 25(OH)D concentration according to month and time of day. Across all locations in summer, 5-10 min outdoors between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on most days of the week, with 35% of the body surface area exposed, is sufficient to maintain existing 25(OH)D concentration. In winter, at mid-to-high latitudes, time outdoors during the middle of the day is required. In winter, with 10% of the body surface area exposed, greater than 45 min in the middle of the day is required in most locations to maintain existing 25(OH)D concentration. These data can be used to inform guidelines regarding maintaining vitamin D via sun exposure and may help health practitioners identify patients who may be vitamin D deficient.


Angiography was performed in 11 patients with ulcerative colitis and prednisolone injected directly into the superior and inferior mesenteric arteries in 10 patients. Hypervascularity of the affected regions was a common finding, but early venous filling was noted in only 5 cases out of 11. Good results were obtained by intra-arterial steroid injections.


Background Evidence for a cross-sectional relationship between income and health is strong but is probably biased by substantial confounding. Longitudinal data with repeated income and health measures on the same individuals can be analysed to control completely for time-invariant confounding, giving a more accurate estimate of the impact of short-term changes in income on health. Methods 4 years of annual data (2002–2005) from the New Zealand longitudinal Survey of Family, Income and Employment were used to investigate the relationship between annual household income and self-rated health (SRH) using a fixed-effects ordinal logistic regression model. Possible effect modification of the income–SRH relationship by poverty and baseline health was tested with interactions. Results An increase in income of $10 000 over the past year increased the odds of reporting better SRH by 1% (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.02). Poor baseline health significantly modified the association between income and SRH. A $10 000 increase in income increased the odds of better SRH by 10% for those with two or more chronic conditions. Poverty or deprivation did not modify the income–health association. Conclusions The overall small, positive, but statistically non-significant, income–health effect size is consistent with similar analyses from other longitudinal studies. Despite the overwhelming consensus that income matters for health over the medium and long-term, evidence free of time-invariant confounding for the short-run association remains elusive. However, measurement error in income and health has probably biased estimates towards the null.


The uses of the various kinds of mineral oils in various industrial situations have made them an indispensable ingredient of the industrialization and development that has characterized the past century. Recent focus on health, safety and the preservation of the environment has turned the searchlight to the effects of mineral oils on the environment when they are accidentally spilled, or intentionally disposed of. Biodegradation, which provides an indication of the persistence of a particular substance in the environment, is the yardstick for assessing the eco friendliness of substances. Due to the poor biodegradation rates observable for mineral oils, various methods of bioremediation are currently being researched, with the isolation of various microbial species with the ability to use up mineral oils as a carbon and energy source. Ultimately, vegetable oil based hydraulic fluids will come to the fore as a suitable and more  nvironmentally friendly solution to the demand for hydraulic fluids.


This project related to develop and implementation of autonomous vision based mobile robot following human based on clothes color. There have two part are involve which is mobile robot platform and classification algorithms by color. The core of the classification of color are comprise into two process; offline and online. An offline process consists of the training of the static image, using deference input sources that depend on the application. An online process consists of the matching process and the result of the clothes color position. Then classification algorithm is applied to find the centroid of the human. This centroid is then compared with the center of the image to get the location of the human with respect to the camera, either at the left or right of the camera. If the human is not in the center of the camera view, then corrective measures is taken so that the human will be in the center of the camera view. Data for the centroid of human is shown through the Graphical User Interface (GUI). One of the unique advantages in this project, the detection of human by color only uses image processing that generated by the algorithms itself without additional sensor like sonar or IF sensor.


The famous Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (KP) equation is a classical equation in soliton theory. A Bäcklund transformation between the KP equation and the Schwarzian KP equation is demonstrated by means of the truncated Painlevé expansion in this paper. One-parameter group transformations and one-parameter subgroup-invariant solutions for the extended KP equation are obtained. The consistent Riccati expansion (CRE) solvability of the KP equation is proved. Some interaction structures between soliton–cnoidal waves are obtained by CRE and several evolution graphs and density graphs are plotted.


The conventional topological observability analysis based on the network representation at the bus-branch level is generalized to include the explicit modeling of circuit breakers and switches. This generalization is motivated by the present trend towards a more detailed representation (at the substation level) of the power network in state estimation studies. After developing the topological representation of switching branches according to their current status, it is shown that existing algorithms for observability and criticality analysis can be adapted to solve the extended problem. Results of the proposed approach for generalized observability and criticality analysis are validated by checking their consistency with numerical state estimation results.


To combat food fraud, accurate quantitative analytical methods are required. Method validation helps qualify a method as fit for purpose through the objective evaluation of performance characteristics, and a measurement uncertainty estimate associated with a result describes a range in which the true value is thought to lie. Through careful choice of DNA target, the robustness of a quantitative estimate can be ensured, even in the presence of mixed sample types and processed food materials. This chapter explores some of the uses and applications of DNA-based methods for accurate quantitation of species in food samples and how these methods can be applied to compliance testing to differentiate between adventitious contamination and deliberate adulteration. It also provides additional guidance supporting polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based approaches through using acceptance criteria and performance requirements already in the public domain to demonstrate a method's fitness for purpose.


Long bone loading histories are commonly evaluated using a beam model by calculating cross-sectional second moments of areas (SMAs). Without in vivo strain data, SMA analyses commonly make two explicit or implicit assumptions. First, while it has long been known that axial compression superimposed on bending shifts neutral axes away from cross-sectional area centroids, most analyses assume that cross-sectional properties calculated through the area centroid approximate cross-sectional strength. Second, the orientation of maximum bending rigidity is often assumed to reflect the orientation of peak or habitual bending forces the bone experiences. These assumptions are tested in sheep in which rosette strain gauges mounted at three locations around the tibia and metatarsal midshafts measured in vivo strains during treadmill running at 1.5 m/sec. Calculated normal strain distributions confirm that the neutral axis of bending does not run through the midshaft centroid. In these animals, orientations of the principal centroidal axes around which maximum SMAs (Imax) are calculated are not in the same planes in which the bones experienced bending. Cross-sectional properties calculated using centroidal axes have substantial differences in magnitude (up to 55%) but high correlations in pattern compared to cross-sectional properties calculated around experimentally determined neutral axes. Thus interindividual comparisons of cross-sectional properties calculated from centroidal axes may be useful in terms of pattern, but are subject to high errors in terms of absolute values. In addition, cross-sectional properties do not necessarily provide reliable data on the orientations of loads to which bones are subjected.


ABSTRACT It has been proposed that sexual grooming behaviors of child molesters are not easily identified prior to the abuse. The present study investigated whether participants could recognize grooming behaviors, and if so, identify which stages of the process were most easily identified. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of six vignettes describing the stages of the grooming process. Results revealed no differences in likelihood ratings that the person in the vignette was a child molester and would commit sexual abuse between any of the conditions, suggesting that people may be unable to identify potentially predatory behaviors of child molesters prospectively.


Trehalose is a naturally occurring disaccharide which is associated with extraordinary stress-tolerance capacity in certain species of unicellular and multicellular organisms. In mammalian cells, presence of intra- and extracellular trehalose has been shown to confer improved tolerance against freezing and desiccation. Since mammalian cells do not synthesize nor import trehalose, the development of novel methods for efficient intracellular delivery of trehalose has been an ongoing investigation. Herein, we studied the membrane permeability of engineered lipophilic derivatives of trehalose. Trehalose conjugated with 6 acetyl groups (trehalose hexaacetate or 6-O-Ac-Tre) demonstrated superior permeability in rat hepatocytes compared with regular trehalose, trehalose diacetate (2-O-Ac-Tre) and trehalose tetraacetate (4-O-Ac-Tre). Once in the cell, intracellular esterases hydrolyzed the 6-O-Ac-Tre molecules, releasing free trehalose into the cytoplasm. The total concentration of intracellular trehalose (plus acetylated variants) reached as high as 10 fold the extracellular concentration of 6-O-Ac-Tre, attaining concentrations suitable for applications in biopreservation. To describe this accumulation phenomenon, a diffusion-reaction model was proposed and the permeability and reaction kinetics of 6-O-Ac-Tre were determined by fitting to experimental data. Further studies suggested that the impact of the loading and the presence of intracellular trehalose on cellular viability and function were negligible. Engineering of trehalose chemical structure rather than manipulating the cell, is an innocuous, cell-friendly method for trehalose delivery, with demonstrated potential for trehalose loading in different types of cells and cell lines, and can facilitate the wide-spread application of trehalose as an intracellular protective agent in biopreservation studies.


Simulation is an application area for which high speed computation is critical. Massively parallel computers have appeared so that it is now possible to execute very large-scale and complicated simulation without sacrificing accuracy and simplifying problems. For the kind of problems in which the computation in each element depends on the data of all the other elements, a completely-connected network is required in order to simulate with high efficiency. However in massively parallel computers, efficient simulation of these problems is difficult to realize. Its cause is due to their network structure. In this paper, a new network topology which solves these problems with high efficiency and a computation method based on the topology are described.


Decreasing organ acquisition costs (OAC) reduces the cost of transplantation. The purpose of this article (Part II) is to build on the platform of definitions and concepts developed in Part I to achieve cost‐savings in OAC. We propose several concrete strategies to decrease OAC. We will highlight the value of proactive waitlist management. We will develop the notion that waiting lists share significant similarities with product inventory and that inventory control and management can also decrease OAC. Finally, we will postulate that the value of the waiting list is determined by the number of recipients likely to be transplanted. We have coined the term 'transplantability index' of a recipient waiting list. This index can be applied retrospectively to any waiting list in order to evaluate how actively the waiting list is being managed. This novel metric can also be used indirectly to assess and monitor waitlist inventory.


A promising source of radiation in the important terahertz (THz) region of the spectrum is the Smith-Purcell free-electron laser (SPFEL). This dissertation presents a new theory of the SPFEL, taking into account dispersion of evanescent surface waves on the grating. From the dispersion relation for these waves, it is found that the device can operate as an amplifier or as an oscillator. The gain length is calculated in the amplifier regime, as well as the growth rate and start current in the oscillator regime. The theory is supported by published computer simulations, but in conflict with previous experiment.

These devices require a high-quality electron beam, and this dissertation also presents developments in needle photocathodes designed to drive an SPFEL. Data on emission current are presented as a function of voltage for various drive laser wavelengths. A simplified model is used to interpret the data as variation in the emitting area with voltage for photon energies below the cathode workfunction. Data and a new scaling law for the divergence of the beam at high current are also presented.


The decrease of the number of personnel employed in the western defence sector since 1990 can truly be called spectacular. But even before that year there was an unmistakably downward trend. Cooperation, therefore, is the buzz word for the military. This cooperation in the defence sector happens jointly between the services (e.g. the land and air forces), but to an increasing extent also combined, between units of several countries. The cooperation sometimes assumes very far-going structural forms, as is demonstrated by the formation of the German-Netherlands Corps. Usually, however, international units meet ona more incidental basis in exercises, and increasingly also in actual missions. The closing decade of the last century showed that military operations from peace enforcing to peacesupport operations cannot be conducted by an individual country anymore. In an international context military personnel are dependent on each other in the realization of their targets, usually because there is a lack of adequate (personnel) resources to conductindependent action, and sometimes, as in the case of the United States, to strengthen thelegitimacy of an operation.The result is that the military has thoroughly internationalized, making know-how regarding international management from the business sector also applicable to the armed forces. One of those knowledge domains concerns the influence of national cultures on the structure and functioning of international alliances. Research based on insights into cultural differences indifferences. These differences concern the loyalty of the personnel to the organization, the structure and functioning of the organization, the relation and social distance between the leadership and rank and file, as well as the extent of formalization and rule orientation. In this respect the cultural heterogeneity between national armed forces is at least s great as that in the profit sector. In all likelihood the impact of this cultural heterogeneity is greater in military operations than in structural cooperation in the business sector. This is related to the fact that in military operations the missions and targets are not always so concrete and measurable. Besides, military units always have to keep up a national line of responsibility ,the time frames of the operation tend to be rather tight and the sense of urgency is very high,whereas the personnel is constantly rotated. At the same time, however, there is also, quite emphatically, something like a supranational military culture. In comparison with profit businesses, military culture in all countries is ratherbureaucratic, hierarchic and institutional (i.e. relatively less inclined towards income, careerand private life). This means that even before entering a specific multinational force, officersmay have undergone vicarious anticipatory and actual socialization to work in such frameworks. The consequence of this is that military personnel of different origin can often function with each other without too many problems. The present article intends to show how cultural differences, in this case between British and Dutch army personnel, could give rise to such friction that interference by the Dutch Army Staff was deemed necessary. This interference was occasioned by an investigation of the Bureau Lessons Learned, directed at providing cultural information on the British Army. The intention was to give direct culture guidelines to Dutch personnel on how to improve their contacts with the British. It so happens that the location of this Anglo-Dutch cooperation is Cyprus, and the international frameworkthat of the UNFICYP mission; indeed, the same mission about which Moskos had expressedso much optimism with regard to the effects of an international military professionalism,some 25 years ago.The build-up of the article is as follows. We begin by describing the nature of the conflict in Cyprus as well as the task and composition of the UN mission there. Subsequently, the authors will address the Anglo-Dutch cooperation in this mission based on some fragmented research material. In doing so, they will make use of data obtained from interviews with ten Dutch servicemen conducted shortly after their return from deployment on the first rotation. In addition, the authors have made use of the experiences of two Dutch lieutenants during the second and third rotation respectively, described in a study paper. Moreover, they have had the disposal of material from a survey held among the Dutch contingent during the first rotation. Taken together, these data yield a fairly good impression of the dynamics of the Anglo-Dutch cooperation in Cyprus. A subsequent section gives a description of the intervention by the Bureau Lessons Learned with regard to this cooperation. Finally, there is an observation on the use and necessity of cultural information in multinational military operations.


In the present work an attempt is made to develop a Clinical Decision support system (CDSS) using the pathological attributes to predict the fetal delivery to be done normal or by surgical procedure. The pathological tests like Blood Sugar (BR), Blood pressure (BP), Resistivity Index (RI) and systolic / Diastolic (S/P) ratio will be recorded at the time of delivery. All attributes lie within a specific range for normal patient. The database consists of the attributes for cases i.e. normal and surgical delivery. Soft computing technique namely Artificial Neural Networks are used for simulator. The attributes from dataset are used for training & testing of ANN models. Three models of ANN are trained using Back-Propagation Algorithm (BPA), Radial Basis F unction network (RBF N) and Learning Vector Quantization Network (LVQN). The designing factors have been changed to get the optimized model, which gives highest recognition score. The optimized models of BPA, RBF N, and LVQN gave accuracies of 93.75, 99.00, and 87.5 % respectively. Thus RBF N is the best network for mentioned problem. This system will assist doctor to take decision at the critical time of fetal delivery.


The structures and ligand binding modes of polychalcogenide anions are reviewed in this article. Participation in hypervalent 3c-4e bonds and/or weaker secondary np2 nσ* bonds leads to a strikingly more diverse homopolytaomic anion chemistry for selenium and tellurium in comparison to sulfur, for which only unbranched chain anions Sn2– with n = 2–9 have been reported. Trapped S2·– and S3·– radicals are responsible for the characteristic colours of the ultramarine pigments and S3·– is the dominant sulfur species at the high temperatures and pressures of deep metamorphic settings. Hypervalent linear TeTe24–, T-shaped TeTe34– and square-planar TeTe46– units generate a remarkable variety of structural motifs and connectivity patterns for 1 to 3D polytelluride anions. Electron-deficient polytelluride sheets are, however, prone to periodic spatial modifications of their charge density (CDWs) with a lower total free energy, whose formation is driven by nesting effects in the electronic band structure causing Fermi surface instabilities. Polychalcogenide ligands augment the typical terminal and bridging coordination modes of monoatomic chalcogenide anions through their ability to participate in chelation, side-on and combination binding modes. In addition to the electrical conductivity and thermoelectric energy conversion properties of the polytellurides, potential applications of the polychalcogenides range from the manufacture of synthetic zeolite pigments and ion-exchangeable polysulfide aerogels to NIR-emissive lanthanide polyselenides with high quantum efficiency.


First and second generation robots have been used cost effectively in high-volume 'fixed' or 'hard' automated manufacturing/assembly systems. They are 'limited-ability' devices using simple logic elements or primitive sensory feedback. However, in the unstructured environment of most manufacturing plants it is often necessary to locate, identify, orientate and position randomly presented components. Visual systems have been researched and developed to provide a coarse resolution outline of objects. More detailed and precise definition of parts is usually obtained by high resolution tactile sensing arrays. This paper reviews and discusses the current state of the art in tactile sensing.


Amyloid-β oligomers (AβO) have been proposed as neurotoxins in the synaptic dysfunction that precedes Alzheimer's disease symptoms. Human and animal model studies report that senile plaques contain a halo of AβO molecules surrounding these plaques. A far smaller number of oligomers are distributed widely in plaque-free regions. It has been suggested that oligomers migrate from halos to nearby synapses and are incorporated into both pre- and postsynaptic terminals. These two types of oligomers have two different toxicities when extracted and injected in animal models. This paper proposes a shear-energy based explanation for the data in these studies. Shear hypotheses in the preceding three papers in this series are applied to suggest how the hydrodynamics and resulting shear patterns explain the spatial distribution of both AβO types, the apparent synapse loss in the vicinity of plaque particles, and possible reasons for the differing toxicities. A shear-based mechanism is proposed for the preferential migration of locally shear-excited Aβ molecules into the synaptic cleft. It is proposed that high energy laminar shear generated by the forced diversion of interstitial fluid around the flow-impeding plaque particle is responsible for the formation of AβOs around the plaque. It is suggested that in plaque-free regions, a different type of AβO with different toxicity is generated by lower energy shear flow around synapses, depositing AβO within the synapse from either the neuron membrane surface or by prion-like seeding within the synaptic cleft by locally-sheared Aβ molecules near the synapse entry.


Abstract : This technical note focuses on software acquisition and development practices related to the evaluation of products before, during, and after implementation. From engagements with numerous DoD acquisition programs, it has been observed that a number of recurring issues reduce the effectiveness of how software-reliant products are evaluated. An acquisition effort consists of identifying the customer's needs, selecting or developing a product that is responsive to those needs, and then evaluating the product to determine if it properly addresses the identified needs. This technical note describes the Product Evaluation (verification, validation, and certification) process including test, reviews, and formal methods. It also makes the argument that Product Evaluation should not be deferred until after a product has been built, but should begin as soon as the customer's needs have been identified and should continue throughout the acquisition effort.


Immusante® (IM-133N) a proven polyherbal immunomodulator was evaluated for its immunomodulatory activity in zebrafish models. In the present study, Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila) is used to develop the experimental model for studying immunomodulatory activity in zebrafish. To determine the A. hydrophila dose for the study, either sex of 30 zebrafish were taken and divided into 5 groups followed by intra-peritoneal injected with 10 µl of 6.0 × 106 , 6.0 × 205 , 6.0 × 105, 6.0 × 104 , and 6.0 × 103 cells/ml of live A. hydrophila suspension, respectively and continuously cultured. Acute toxicity study of Immusante® was done as per the procedures described in OECD 203 guideline. To examine the protective role of Immusante® and to check the survival rate, two zebrafish survival assays were performed. Immusante® was evaluated on A. hydrophila infection in zebrafish to study the effect and differential WBC count was also measured in the zebrafish infected with A. hydrophila. Gene expression analysis was done to check the expression levels of pro-inflammation cytokines. Immusante® at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/L enhanced the survival rate of infected zebrafish and at 400 mg/L, decreased the number of colony forming units (CFUs) of A. hydrophila in the blood and kidney of infected fishes. A significant increase in lymphocyte and decrease in neutrophils was observed in the treatment groups, which are the signs of improvement in non-specific immune response. Immusante® at a dose of 400 mg/L suppressed the pro-inflammatory cytokine's expression such as IL-1β, IFN-γ, and TNF-α in the kidney of infected zebrafish and prevented the detrimental effects on zebrafish caused due to excessive inflammatory response.


Abstract We examined differences in response latencies obtained during a validated video-based hazard perception driving test between three healthy, community-dwelling groups: 22 mid-aged (35–55 years), 34 young–old (65–74 years), and 23 old-old (75–84 years) current drivers, matched for gender, education level, and vocabulary. We found no significant difference in performance between mid-aged and young-old groups, but the old-old group was significantly slower than the other two groups. The differences between the old-old group and the other groups combined were independently mediated by useful field of view (UFOV), contrast sensitivity, and simple reaction time measures. Given that hazard perception latency has been linked with increased crash risk, these results are consistent with the idea that increased crash risk in older adults could be a function of poorer hazard perception, though this decline does not appear to manifest until age 75+ in healthy drivers. (JINS, 2009, 15, 799–802.)


When, in addition to the constant Doppler frequency shift induced by the bulk motion of a radar target, the target or any structure on the target undergoes micro-motion dynamics, such as mechanical vibrations or rotations, the micro-motion dynamics induce Doppler modulations on the returned signal, referred to as the micro-Doppler effect. We introduce the micro-Doppler phenomenon in radar, develop a model of Doppler modulations, derive formulas of micro-Doppler induced by targets with vibration, rotation, tumbling and coning motions, and verify them by simulation studies, analyze time-varying micro-Doppler features using high-resolution time-frequency transforms, and demonstrate the micro-Doppler effect observed in real radar data.


A possible variant of occupational asthma is induced by acute exposure to high concentrations of nonsensitizing respiratory irritants. This entity is referred to as reactive airways dysfunction syndrome. A case is presented in which the patient developed this syndrome secondary to exposure to a floor sealant. A portable peak expiratory flow meter was used to assess and document work-related airway reactivity changes.


Aims: 104 samples were collected from the west region and the coastal plain of Cameroon during two coffee campaigns, 2009 and 2010. Two coffee processes were evaluated (wet and dry processes) at different stages from harvesting to storage. Study Design: Food contaminants. Place and Duration of Study: Food Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Nutrition (ENSAI) University of Ngaoundere; UMR 95 Qualisud, CIRAD of Montpellier, between May 2009 and September 2012. Methodology: Fungi profile was evaluated by direct plating techniques and identified using morphological and molecular tools. OTA levels were analyzed using HPLC technique after extraction and filtration using an immunoaffinity column. Results: Results obtained revealed an overall percentage of fungal contamination between 60-92% in 2009 and 70-90% in 2010. There was no ecological difference in the composition of ochratoxigenic species present in five sites. Coffee beans sampled in 2009 had a colonization incidence of 18-40% A. carbonarius, 12-22% A. niger, 3-15% A. ochraceus while those of 2010 had a colonization incidence of 15-30% A. carbonarius, 35-40% A. niger, and 2-7% A. ochraceus. Fungal diversity was not correlated with the geographical origin, coffee cultivar and processing method. There was no difference between the processes studied in terms of occurrence of ochratoxigenic fungi. OTA levels were mostly below the recommended standards although some isolated cases of extreme contamination were observed in 2009. A higher level of OTA was detected in the presence of A. niger, A. carbonarius and A. ochraceus than when only A. niger was present. Conclusion: The important fungi with the potential to produce OTA in Cameroonian coffee beans are A. carbonarius and A. niger. These two species were predominant on each type of coffee beans. It was also observed that once a toxigenic strain was isolated from a coffee sample, the sample contained OTA. (Resume d'auteur)


The paper investigates determinants of civic participation in local budget processes in rural areas in the Kyrgyz Republic by using data from the Life in Kyrgyzstan survey, conducted in 2012. The analysis of the data suggests that although civic awareness and interest in local budget processes is relatively high, the participation rate in local budgeting processes is low. The paper also shows that interest, awareness, and participation are positively associated with the age, education, employment, risk-taking attitudes, trust, and social capital of respondents. The paper documents that unawareness and lack of participation are largely related to being female, of non-Kyrgyz ethnic origin, inactive in the labor market, recent internal migrants, and residents of communities with poor infrastructure.


Diatoms are photosynthetic algae; having a siliceous cell wall known as 'frustule'. They are abundantly found in every aquatic and terrestrial environment including both fresh and marine water. They are cosmopolitan in nature as these microalgal species are also capable of growing on moist substrates like soil and bark of a plant. The growth of diatoms is very specific to the environmental conditions of a place due to which they are regarded as principal indicators of ecological status of the ecosystem. In forensics also, they play a crucial role in determining the mode and manner of death in cases of drowning. These small entities act as supportive evidence to detect the type of drowning; whether the death of a victim was due to antemortem or postmortem drowning. The diatomological mapping (D-mapping) of water bodies is an essential feature to generate a systematic record of diatom diversity present at a particular site of an aquatic body. The aim of our study is to conduct D-mapping of several regions of Delhi in order to generate a systematic record of diatoms present therein. The results of our study showed about 20 diatom species, some of them were commonly present at all sites, whereas few among them were site specific. The diatom database generated from D-mapping of water bodies can be used as a reference by the forensic pathologists while solving drowning cases, if any, from these aquatic bodies.


This paper highlights the history, typology and implementation of Islamic law in Indonesia as well as proves that the law is a translation of both sharia and fiqh, rather than a historical evolution, as claimed by Ignaz Goldziher (1850 1921 AD) and some of his Muslim followers; nor does the law separate elements of ritual, muamalah, and politics as argued by Christian Snouck Hurgronje (1857–1936 AD), a stance that has deformalized Islamic law in Indonesia considering it an inferior legal institution. Focusing on Islamic civil law which is extracted from relevant literature sources, this paper shows that, to some extent, the influence of orientalists' views is manifested, for example, in the books of Interfaith Jurisprudence and the Counter Legal Draft of Islamic Law Compilation (CLD KHI) which have ample of "historical evolution" claims. In fact, the history, typology and implementation of Islamic law in Indonesia have so far not only been for the benefits in the world, but also in the hereafter. Thus, reforming Islamic civil law in line with the West's human rights values, as done by CLD-KHI initiators, whom are greatly influenced by Ignaz Goldziher's and Muhammad Anna'im's "evolution of history", is like considering Islamic law limited to law for the world only, without any ukhrawi values.


Abstract Three models that empirically predict crop yield from crop and weed density were evaluated for their fit to 30 data sets from multistate, multiyear winter wheat–jointed goatgrass interference experiments. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify which model would generally perform best for the prediction of yield (damage function) in a bioeconomic model and which model would best fulfill criteria for hypothesis testing with limited amounts of data. Seven criteria were used to assess the fit of the models to the data. Overall, Model 2, provided the best statistical description of the data. Model 2, regressions were most often statistically significant, as indicated by approximate F tests, explained the largest proportion of total variation about the mean, gave the smallest residual sum of squares, and returned residuals with random distribution more often than Models 1, and 3,. Model 2, performed less well based on the remaining criteria. Model 3, outperformed Models 1, and 2, in the number of parameters estimated that were statistically significant. Model 1, outperformed Models 2, and 3, in the proportion of regressions that converged on a solution and more readily exhibited an asymptotic relationship between winter wheat yield and both winter wheat and jointed goatgrass density under the constraint of limited data. In contrast, Model 2, exhibited a relatively linear relationship between yield and crop density and little effect of increasing jointed goatgrass density on yield, thus overpredicting yield at high weed densities when data were scarce. Model 2, had statistical properties that made it superior for hypothesis testing; however, Model 1's properties were determined superior for the damage function in the winter wheat–jointed goatgrass bioeconomic model because it was less likely to cause bias in yield predictions based on data sets of minimum size. Nomenclature:Jointed goatgrass, Aegilops cylindrica Host. AEGCY; winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


Morphogenesis is a key phenomenon occurring in multicellular organisms. It involves many mechanisms at the cellular level like differentiation, migration, division or communication between cells. The study of such complex living systems is difficult despite the improvement of confocal microscopes including those working with four dimensions (space and time). Observation has been much enhanced but comprehension of the organization is yet to come. In virtuo simulation allows focus on the study of the organization mechanisms (in virtuo is an extension of the in silico paradigm where the user is a central actor of the simulation). Hence, the use of a computer program reproducing some parts of the morphogenesis phenomenon is complementary to real experimentation. Moreover, modelling using a programming language facilitates exchange of knowledge between biologists by reducing the ambiguity compared with text or diagrams. To help the comprehension of morphogenesis, we have developed software based on a multiagent system that reproduces the following mechanisms: cell migration, cell division, cell apoptosis, cell signalling, cell differentiation and cell polarization. In our software, an agent is called a MorphoBlock, which means a block of morphogenesis. By using these simple MorphoBlocks, the simulations show different kinds of dynamics and generate structures that can be compared, from an abstract point of view, to the formation of multicellular organisms. In this paper, we focus on two main parts of our software: first the shape, behaviour and parameters of a MorphoBlock; and second the observation of morphogenesis from simulations with many MorphoBlocks.


The recent outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection associated with contaminated spinach led to an investigation of the role of insects, which frequent fields of leafy greens and neighboring rangeland habitats, in produce contamination. Four leafy greens fields adjacent to cattle-occupied rangeland habitats were sampled using sweep nets and sticky traps. Agromyzid flies, anthomyiid flies, and leafhoppers were caught consistently in both rangeland and leafy greens production fields at all sites. An unexpected number of flies (n = 34) in the Muscidae and Calliphoridae families (known as filth flies because of their development in animal feces) were caught in one leafy greens field. A subset of these filth flies were positive (11 of 18 flies) for E. coli O157:H7 by PCR amplification using primers for the E. coli O157:H7-specific eae gene. Under laboratory conditions, house flies were confined on manure or agar medium containing E. coli O157:H7 tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and then tested for their capacity to transfer the microbes to spinach plants. GFP-tagged bacteria were detected on surfaces of 50 to 100% of leaves examined by fluorescence microscopy and in 100% of samples tested by PCR. These results indicate that flies are capable of contaminating leafy greens under experimental conditions and confirm the importance of further investigation of the role of insects in contamination of fresh produce.


Background Recombination enables reciprocal exchange of genomic information between parental chromosomes and successful segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis. Errors in this process lead to negative health outcomes, while variability in recombination rate affects genome evolution. In mammals, most crossovers occur in hotspots defined by PRDM9 motifs, though PRDM9 binding sites are not all equally hot. We hypothesize that dynamic patterns of meiotic genome folding are linked to recombination activity. Results We apply an integrative bioinformatics approach to analyze how three-dimensional (3D) chromosomal organization during meiosis relates to rates of double-strandbreak (DSB) and crossover formation at PRDM9 hotspots. We show that active, spatially accessible genomic regions during meiotic prophase are associated with DSB-favoured hotspots, which further adopt a transient locally active configuration in early prophase. Conversely, crossover formation is depleted among DSBs in spatially accessible regions during meiotic prophase, particularly within gene bodies. We also find evidence that active chromatin regions have smaller average loop sizes in mammalian meiosis. Collectively, these findings establish that differences in chromatin architecture along chromosomal axes are associated with variable recombination activity. Conclusions We propose an updated framework describing how 3D organization of brush-loop chromosomes during meiosis may modulate recombination.


Unlike static documents, version controlled documents are continuously edited by one or more authors. Such collaborative revision process makes traditional modeling and visualization techniques inappropriate. In this paper we propose a new representation based on local space-time smoothing that captures important revision patterns. We demonstrate the applicability of our framework using experiments on synthetic and real-world data.


In a former presentation, we reported the failure of commanding officers after a 320-km-long chain march. In this study, 64 commanding officers of a tank battalion were questioned regarding subjective health disturbances similar to the disturbances we have seen before. The soldiers indicated subjective troubles and frequency in dependence of the load duration. After 36 hours, one-half of the soldiers indicated feeling some pain, which consisted primarily of knee and back troubles. In addition to the marked disturbances after 24 hours, 50% of the soldiers indicated suffering from at least one health disturbance, and after 36 hours, 80% of the soldiers suffered at least one health disturbance. The disturbances appear faster and more frequently the longer the soldiers are on the battle tank as commanding officer. There is also a subjective increase in troubles with the years of service. Our results show that the vibration load on the battle tank can cause health disturbances. These disturbances seem to be a relevant problem of the commanding officers with no single case report.


Internal audit is a very important process that helps companies to have better control. All companies works in accordance with this process so that they can protect their property and know that employees are in compliance with the rules and regulations. For a management shipping company compared to other companies, internal audit is more important procedure as ships have crew, which means human lives, fuels that can pollute the environment and of course the cargo they carry, which together with the ship itself is an asset. As in the past there have been many accidents at sea caused by human error, an International Safety Management Code was created by the International Maritime Organization. This code refers to the safety of the crew, the cargo and the pollution prevention, and this code is mandatory to be followed by all management shipping companies operating vessels. A key process that this code requires is Internal Audit both at the Management Shipping Company's (ashore) and on board ships. This assignment will describe the necessity of Internal Audit, the types of the Internal Audit, the requirements which an auditor must have to perform the audit, and the areas which should be audited. In addition to internal audit, this assignment also refers to external audit since it usually the internal audit process performed before external audit. Finally in this assignment the reader can understand how the procedure is performed in real time, since the last chapter will describe the process exactly as it is done in the management shipping company, once the employees are informed that the internal audit of their department is to be carried out and on board the ship as soon as the auditor arrives at the port before even boarding the vessel. Of course, throughout the process the preparation of members (inspector and inspector) will be described.


Lack of molecular targets in estrogen receptor-negative (ER-negative) breast cancer is a major therapeutic hurdle. We studied NF-kappa B activation in human breast tumors and in carcinoma cell lines. Activated NF-kappa B was detected predominantly in ER-negative vs. ER-positive breast tumors and mostly in ER-negative and ErbB2-positive tumors (86%). These in vivo results demonstrate association of activated NF-kappa B with a subgroup of human breast tumors and are consistent with previously reported in vitro observations using similar classes of human breast cancer cell lines. Finding such an association suggested functional and biological significance. Immunofluorescence demonstrated increased nuclear p65, a component of the active NF-kappa B complex, in cytokeratin 19 (CK19)-positive epithelial cells of ER-negative/ErbB2-positive tumor samples. In contrast, nuclear NF-kappa B was detected mostly in stroma of ER-negative and ErbB2-negative tumors, suggesting a role of activated NF-kappa B in intercellular signaling between epithelial and stromal cells in this type of breast cancers. To elucidate roles of activated NF-kappa B, we used an ER-negative and ErbB2-positive human breast tumor cell line (SKBr3). The polypeptide heregulin beta1 stimulated, and herceptin, the anti-ErbB2 antibody, inhibited, NF-kappa B activation in SKBr3 cells. The NF-kappa B essential modulator (NEMO)-binding domain (NBD) peptide, an established selective inhibitor of I kappa B-kinase (IKK), blocked heregulin-mediated activation of NF-kappa B and cell proliferation, and simultaneously induced apoptosis only in proliferating and not resting cells. These results substantiate the hypothesis that certain breast cancer cells rely on NF-kappa B for aberrant cell proliferation and simultaneously avoid apoptosis, thus implicating activated NF-kappa B as a therapeutic target for distinctive subclasses of ER-negative breast cancers.


The purpose of present study is to elucidate the influence of hypotension on hepatic and renal tissue circulations in cirrhosis. The changes of hepatic and renal tissue blood flows (TBF) were studied in hemorrhagic shock using cirrhotic rats. The hepatic and renal energy charges (EC) were measured in normal and cirrhotic rats. Hepatic TBFs of the cirrhotic rats decreased to 74% of the normal, portal pressure increased to 140%, but renal TBF was not changed significantly. In hemorrhagic shock induced by blood exsanguination, hepatic and renal TBFs of normal rats were restored to the preshock levels by transfusion of shed blood, but those of cirrhotic rats were not restored. Furthermore, the hepatic and renal ECs of normal-shocked rats were not different from those of control rats, but the ECs of cirrhotic-shocked rats were decreased significantly. These findings suggest that hypotension under cirrhosis disturbs hepatic and renal tissue circulations and energy metabolisms also in a period of after-shock phase.


INTRODUCTIONSeed germination requires breaking the dormancy that is maintained by abscisic acid (ABA) and involves the activation of gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis and signaling. Mutants with low germination rates may be defective in GA biosynthesis and/or signaling and often require exogenous GAs for efficient germination. Conversely, mutants with either increased GA signaling or reduced signaling by the GA antagonist ABA are resistant to GA-biosynthesis inhibitors or ABA, respectively. Mutants with enhanced GA signaling or decreased ABA content are also more resistant to inhibition of germination by Paclobutrazol (PAC), a GA biosynthesis inhibitor. This protocol describes the measurement of the germination rate of Arabidopsis seeds in the presence of GA, ABA, or PAC.


A new POLSAR speckle filtering approach is proposed to overcome the disadvantages of SMBF on polarimetric TSX data. Instead of Freeman-Durden decomposition, the new approach applies dichotomy decompositions (Barnes-Holm) to label each pixel by dominant scattering mechanism as single point target scattering or distributed target scattering. Then the unsupervised Wishart classification is applied to determine the adaptive neighborhood. Finally, only the "N-target" component is involved in the filtering step, while the pure single target component is preserved. By experiment on San Francisco multi-look TSX data, it is illustrated that the new method performs better than SMBF in pixel dominant scattering mechanism labeling and preservation of point target polarimetric properties.


p190RhoGAP (p190) is a negative regulator of RhoGTPases and a putative tumor suppressor, whose mechanism of tumor suppression is poorly defined. Ectopic expression of p190 induces various morphological phenotypes, including multinucleation, dendrite-like formation, and chromatin condensation, suggesting an involvement in apoptosis. We examined the possibility that p190 can function as a tumor suppressor by regulating induction of apoptosis. We show that the predominant phenotype of p190 overexpression in a variety of cell lines is apoptosis, which is mediated through p190's regulation of Rho and caspases. The secondary phenotypes, multinucleation and dendrite-like formation, are determined by transformation status, not cell lineage, and appear to be intermediate phenotypes in the p190-induced apoptotic pathway. Finally, we show that p190 levels can regulate the apoptotic response of breast cancer cell lines to docetaxel through its regulation of Rho. Together, these findings suggest that one mechanism by which p190 can mediate its tumor-suppressive function is through regulation of Rho-activated cell death pathways and that this function can be exploited to optimize the action of cytoskeletal-based chemotherapeutics, such as the taxanes.


Although, the purpose of this work is to explore the idea of 'self' in Shiga Naoya's writing, "Wakai" from a psychological perspective, the notion of 'self' has been looked into in detail. Starting from the universal concept of 'self', narrowing down to the 'self' and their perspectives in modern Japanese literature by taking account of Tayama Katai as the founder of I-novel, Shimazaki Tōson as one of the leading writers of 'self-portrait', and Mushanokōji Saneatsu as a staunch believer of 'self-portrait' through art and one of the key writers of the Shirakaba group. In a group oriented society like Japan where group consciousness is deeply rooted, talking about 'self' as a main theme of a literature was the motivating factor of pursuing this research. The findings reveal very interesting aspects that could be impetus to further research. It is expected that this piece of work would on one hand provide substantial guidance to the young foreign researchers of Japanese Literature, while on the other hand it would amply convince the native Japanese readers as to how their literature could be analyzed from different perspectives by a foreign researcher.


In the context of the discussion about the validity of the mirroring hypothesis (product architecture as a predictor of organisational design), this research mainly deals with the aspect of knowledge in terms of component and architectural knowledge as additional predictor of firm integration. The unique approach to apply the Design Structure Matrix on a complete product architecture is used as a tool to depict the component interdependencies of a tractor. Further, a large supplier survey provides extensive data of the variables knowledge in terms of component knowledge, and the variable buyer-supplier integration in terms of black- and grey-box development. The combined methods of qualitative and quantitative data show results that clearly reject the mirroring hypothesis as suggested by Sanchez and Mahoney. The original approach can be considered as too simplistic, since the relationship is contingent upon multiple factors of which supplier knowledge and buyer-supplier integration are significantly influencing aspects. More in depth and extensive research is required to capture the complexity of these relationships.

Keywords: Design Structure Matrix, product architecture, supplier component and architectural knowledge, buyer-supplier integration, grey- and black-box development


PurposeDrawing from the workplace flexibility and coping literatures, the purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualize the workplace flexibility construct as a coping resource that may help prevent work-interferes-with-family (WIF) from arising and/or assist employees manage such interference when it has occurred. A measure capturing this re-conceptualized view of flexibility is developed and tested using two samples of dual-income employees with dependent care demands.Design/methodology/approachIn Study 1, the authors use LISERL to develop and test a new multi-dimensional measure of workplace flexibility (n1=6,659). In Study 2 (n2=947), the authors use partial least squares, a component-based structural equation modeling technique, to test a model that posits workplace flexibility that helps employees cope with WIF.FindingsThis research provides support for the idea that workplace flexibility helps employees cope with WIF by: preventing interference (i.e. negatively moderating the relationship between work hours and WIF), and managing interference that has occurred (i.e. negatively moderating relationship between WIF and perceived stress).Originality/valueThis study highlights the complexity of the relationship between workplace flexibility and work-to-family interference and offers guidelines on how employers and employees can use the workplace flexibility measure developed in this study.


The more and more exact and simple determination of insulin provides an opportunity for exploration of the states of insulin resistance. It turned out hereby that the so-called type 1 diabetes is merely a consequence of insulin deficiency and it occurs mainly in the young. In contrary, the so-called type 2 diabetes is a multifactorial, often hyperinsulinaemic condition of insulin resistance and it occurs mainly in the adults. Furthermore, the epidemiological observations of the last decades elucidated that insulin resistance and compensating hyperinsulinaemia are common not only in type 2 diabetes but in other conditions as in ischaemic vascular diseases, hypertension, obesity, lipid alterations, coagulation disturbances, too. It became evident that the so-called late vascular complications of diabetes mellitus may develop before or without the existance of any disturbances in carbohydrate metabolism. These facts encouraged the recognition of metabolic syndrome-X. According to this hypothesis, insulin resistance and compensatorial hyperinsulinaemia are the causes of atherosclerosis, hypertension, upper body obesity, dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes and disturbances of coagulation. Following the last years, it became evident that hyperuricaemia, microalbuminuria and even type A personality are common in this syndrome of insulin resistance.


The crystallization time of various phase change materials including Ge15Sb85, Agand In-doped Sb2Te (AIST), Ge3Sb6Te5 and Ge2Sb2Te5 was studied using static laser testers. It was found that there is a large difference in crystallization time between these materials. In addition, for some materials there is a large difference (up to almost three orders of magnitude) between the crystallization time of as-deposited, amorphous, and melt-quenched, amorphous material. The crystallization time of as-deposited materials ranges from about 150 ns for Ge2Sb2Te5 to tens of s for AIST, while the crystallization time for melt-quenched, amorphous materials varies between 20 ns for Ge15Sb85 and about 1s for Ge3Sb6Te5.


Although there has been numerous studies of immigration from AustriaHungary, there is hardly any work on Austria proper. In this good book (originally published in German), Goldner gives us an in-depth analysis of the nationalistically minded Austrians who fled into exile in Western Europe, the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, Soviet Union, and Latin America. A highlight of Goldner's account is the formation of an Austrian battalion in the U.S., the possible nucleus for an army of liberation; but the battalion was dissolved before it could become effective. Four chapters focus on the attempts of the Austrian nationalists to exert their influence in Washington, and the opposition against them exerted by the representatives of the Czechoslovak, Polish, Yugoslav, and Romanian governments in exile. The role here played by Hungarian spokesmen is a story which is seldom known by American specialists in this field. This is a first-rate piece of academic work.


The common view of brand choice in consumer marketing is that brands compete against each other within a specified product category. For example, different coffee brands are compared and evaluated by consumers and the most preferred brand is selected. Is this the only adequate way of demonstrating how consumers make brand choices?This thesis challenges the common view on brand choice and brand choice determinants in consumer markets on several accounts. First, brand choice is made in goal-derived categories (e.g., "foods to eat while on a diet"), and research on goal-derived categories and consumption goals suggests that consumers often choose between brands from different product categories. For example, a consumer may choose between brands of coffee, tea, and soft drinks to fulfill a consumption goal. Second, there is the question of complementarity. Are brands always chosen one by one? We argue in this thesis that consumers often choose brand constellations from complementary product categories in goal-derived categories (e.g., hamburgers and soft drinks when on a short lunch break). The thesis consists of four articles based on empirical studies. The articles cover single-brand choice and brand constellation choice in goal-derived categories, and the use of goal-derived categories by marketing practitioners. The general conclusion is that consumers evaluate more aspects than just brand-related ones when they choose brands in goal-derived categories. Product category associations (i.e., how typical a product category is perceived in a goal-derived category) are a more important determinant of brand (constellation) choice than brand associations. Also, in brand constellation choice, complementarity (i.e., perceived fit between brands) is more strongly related to brand choice than attitude towards individual brands.


To explore the feasibility of drug delivery to the liver by the use of adenovirus-mediated human oligopeptide transporter (hPEPT1) gene transfer, we examined the accumulation of L-[(3)H]carnosine in the hepatoma cell line (HepG2 and WIFB9) and mouse liver. We constructed a recombinant adenovirus encoding hPEPT1-enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) fusion gene (AdhPEPT1-EYFP). In vitro uptake of L-[(3)H]carnosine was determined in HepG2 and WIFB9 cells transduced with AdhPEPT1-EYFP. In vivo, the accumulation of L-[(3)H]carnosine in mouse liver was evaluated after transduction of AdhPEPT1-EYFP. At pH 6.0, the uptake of L-[(3)H]carnosine by HepG2 and WIFB9 cells transduced with AdhPEPT1-EYFP was increased 15- and 2-fold, respectively, compared with the cells without transduction. At pH 7.4, uptake of L-[(3)H]carnosine in AdhPEPT1-EYFP transduced HepG2 cells was 3 times greater than that of nontransduced cells. In the presence of carnosine or glycylsarcosine as an inhibitor at 20 mM, the uptake of L-[(3)H]carnosine was reduced to a level comparable to that of nontransduced cells. At 30 min after intravenous administration of L-[(3)H]carnosine to mice transduced with AdhPEPT1-EYFP at 1 x 10(10) plaque-forming units/mouse, the tissue-to-plasma concentration ratio (K(p)) of L-[(3)H]carnosine in the liver was significantly increased to 7 times that of nontransduced mice. In contrast, the K(p) value of [(14)C]inulin, a marker for extracellular fluid space, remained unchanged after adenoviral transduction suggesting minimal pathological damage of tissues. hPEPT1-EYFP was localized at both the basolateral and apical membranes in HepG2 cells, WIFB9 cells, and mouse liver. In conclusion, our results suggest that delivery of oligopeptide to the liver by adenovirus-mediated heterologous expression of hPEPT1 in vivo is feasible.


This work focuses on an experimental investigation of the thermodynamic properties of natural organic matter (NOM), and whether fractions of NOM possess the same thermodynamic characteristics as the whole NOM from which they are derived. Advanced thermal characterization techniques were employed to quantify thermal expansion coefficients (alpha), constant-pressure specific heat capacities (C(p)), and thermal transition temperatures (T(t)) of several aquatic- and terrestrial-derived NOM. For the first time, glass transition behavior is reported for a series of NOM fractions derived from the same whole aquatic or terrestrial source, including humic acid-, fulvic acid-, and carbohydrate-based NOM, and a terrestrial humin. Thermal mechanical analysis (TMA), standard differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) measurements revealed T(t) ranging from -87 degrees C for a terrestrial carbohydrate fraction to 62 degrees C for the humin fraction. The NOM generally followed a trend of increasing T(t) from carbohydrate to fulvic acid to humic acid to humin, and greater T(t) associated with terrestrial fractions relative to aquatic fractions, similar to that expected for macromolecules possessing greater rigidity and larger molecular weight. Many of the NOM samples also possessed evidence of multiple transitions, similar to beta and alpha transitions of synthetic macromolecules. The presence of multiple transitions in fractionated NOM, however, is not necessarily reflected in whole NOM, suggesting other potential influences in the thermal behavior of the whole NOM relative to fractionated NOM. Temperature-scanning X-ray diffraction studies of each NOM fraction confirmed the amorphous character of each sample through T(t).


Existing metric learning losses can be categorized into two classes: pair-based and proxy-based losses. The former class can leverage fine-grained semantic relations between data points, but slows convergence in general due to its high training complexity. In contrast, the latter class enables fast and reliable convergence, but cannot consider the rich data-to-data relations. This paper presents a new proxy-based loss that takes advantages of both pair- and proxy-based methods and overcomes their limitations. Thanks to the use of proxies, our loss boosts the speed of convergence and is robust against noisy labels and outliers. At the same time, it allows embedding vectors of data to interact with each other in its gradients to exploit data-to-data relations. Our method is evaluated on four public benchmarks, where a standard network trained with our loss achieves state-of-the-art performance and most quickly converges.


We evaluated six children with anaphylactoid purpura for ultrasonographic changes in the small intestine. Of 16 ultrasonographic scans, eight showed abnormal findings, consisting of circumscribed hypo-echoic enlargement, reduced peristalsis, equivocal structure of the small intestinal wall and ascites in patients with abdominal pain. Follow-up ultrasonography after steroid therapy demonstrated the small intestine to be normal in four of six patients. We believe that ultrasonography is an useful diagnostic modality to detect changes in the small intestinal wall in anaphylactoid purpura and plays an important role in its differentiation from other causes of abdominal pain.


Abstract Objectives Systemic autoimmune diseases (SAIDs) have chronic trajectories and share characteristics of self-directed inflammation, as well as aspects of clinical expression. Nonetheless, burden-of-disease studies rarely investigate them as a distinct category. This study aims to assess the mortality rate of SAIDs as a group and to evaluate co-occurring causes of death. Methods We used death certificate data in the Netherlands, 2013–2017 (N = 711 247), and constructed a SAIDs list at the fourth-position ICD-10 level. The mortality rate of SAIDs as underlying cause of death (CoD), non-underlying CoD, and any-mention CoD was calculated. We estimated age-sex-standardized observed/expected (O/E) ratios to assess comorbidities in deaths with SAID relative to the general deceased population. Results We observed 3335 deaths with SAID on their death certificate (0.47% of all deaths). The mortality rate of SAID was 14.6 per million population as underlying CoD, 28.0 as non-underlying CoD, and 39.7 as any-mention CoD. The mortality rate was higher for females and increased exponentially with age. SAID-related deaths were positively associated with all comorbidities except for solid neoplasms and mental conditions. Particularly strong was the association with diseases of the musculoskeletal system (O/E = 3.38; 95% CI: 2.98, 3.82), other diseases of the genitourinary system (O/E = 2.73; 95% CI: 2.18, 3.38), influenza (O/E = 2.71; 95% CI: 1.74, 4.03), blood diseases (O/E = 2.02; 95% CI: 1.70, 2.39), skin and subcutaneous tissue diseases (O/E = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.54, 2.45), and infectious diseases (O/E = 1.85; 95% CI: 1.70, 2.01). Conclusion Systemic autoimmune diseases constitute a rare group of causes of death, but contribute to mortality through multiple comorbidities. Classification systems could be adapted to better encompass these diseases as a category.


This study was conducted to investigate the effects of konjac flour (KF) inclusion in gestation diets of sows on nutrients digestibility, lactation feed intake, reproductive performance of sows and preweaning performance of piglets. Two isoenergetic and isonitrogenous gestation diets were formulated: a control diet and a 2.1% KF-supplemented diet (KF diet). Both diets had the same NDF and insoluble fiber (ISF) levels, but the KF diet had higher soluble fiber (SF) level. The day after breeding, 96 multiparous sows were assigned to the two dietary treatments. Restrict-fed during gestation, in contrast, all sows were offered the same lactation diet ad libitum. Response criteria included sow BW, backfat depth, lactation feed intake, weaning-to-estrus interval, litter size and piglet's weight at parturition and day 21 of lactation. On day 60 of gestation, 20 sows were used to measure nutrient digestibility. Results showed that the digestibility of dry matter, gross energy, crude fiber and ADF were not affected by the dietary treatments. The inclusion of KF in gestation diets increased NDF digestibility (P<0.05) and tended to increase the digestibility of CP (P=0.05) compared with the control diet group. In addition, dietary treatment during gestation did not affect litter size, BW and backfat gain during gestation, lactation weight, backfat loss or weaning-to-estrus interval of sows. However, sows fed the KF diet consumed more (P<0.05) lactation diet per day than sows in the control group. Accordingly, sows fed the KF diet showed greater average piglet weights on day 21 of lactation (P=0.09), and the litter weight of sows fed the KF diet on day 21 of lactation increased by 3.95 kg compared with sows fed the control diet (not significant). In conclusion, the inclusion of KF in gestation diets increased lactation feed intake of sows and tended to improve litter performance.


In a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Court declared an arbitration clause invalid in the light of the European Court of Justice's Ingmar decision since it was to be expected that the arbitral tribunal would not apply articles 17 and 18 of the Commercial Agents Directive. According to the Supreme Court's reasoning, that is the case wherever the parties have chosen a lex causae for their main contract which does not contain provisions similar to articles 17 and 18 Commercial Agents Directive. In the view of the authors, such understanding of the commercial agents directive is neither required by the principle of effectiveness of EU law, nor is it justifiable under the regime of the New York Convention.


OBJECTIVE
To study the mechanism of vestibular compensation and to observe the changes of c-Fos and NADPH-d expressions in the brainstem of the vestibular deafferentation rats in static status or following angular acceleration stimulation.

METHODS
Totally 60 SD rats were randomly divided into control group (labyrinthine intact), complete unilateral vestibular deafferentation (UVD) group, simultaneous complete bilateral vestibular deafferentation (BVD) group (n = 20 in each group). Subgroups (n = 10 in each subgroup) were set for static status or following angular acceleration stimulation in each group. Double labeling with histochemistry-immunohistochemistry was performed to observe c-Fos/NADPH-d neurons.

RESULTS
No positive c-Fos/NADPH-d expression was observed in the both sides of medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) and prepositus hypoglossi (PrH) of normal rats in static status and BVD rats whether following canal rotation or not. c-Fos/ NADPH-d expression was observed in the ipsilesional MVN and the contralesional PrH of UVD rats. However, c-Fos/NADPH-d were detected in both sides of MVN and PrH in UVD rats and normal rats following angular acceleration stimulation.

CONCLUSION
In the ipsilesional MVN and the contralesional PrH, c-Fos plays an important role in vestibular compensation, in which nitric oxide acts as a key neurotransmitter.


Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter distinguishes between legal and equitable interests in land. The intervention of equity in land law can be seen in two key areas: the development of new equitable interests in land, and the availability of equitable remedies to enforce interests in land. To be legal, the interest must be listed under s 1(2) Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA 1925) and certain formalities must be met in its creation, notably being granted by deed (s 52 LPA 1925). Where these formalities are not met, the interest may have equitable status instead, but only where equity can find a specifically enforceable valid contract to create the interest. All other interests in land can only ever be equitable (s 1(3) LPA 1925). The status of an interest in land as either legal or equitable traditionally determined the rules of enforcement of that interest against third parties: legal interests bound all third parties, whereas equitable interests would only bind third parties who were not bona fide purchasers for value of a legal estate without notice.


The relative capacity of malted cereals and their optimum conditions of temperature and pH in the hydrolysis of starch were studied. Malted cereals prepared from rice, maize, sorghum and millet were used to degrade cassava starch to produce sugar syrup. Effect of pH and temperature on the level of dextrose equivalent produced indicated that the combination of malted maize, rice and sorghum with cassava starch at pH 5 in 0.015M citrate buffer and pH 5.5 for malted millet produced relatively high amounts of sugar at temperatures of 60oC for malted maize, millet and sorghum and 55oC for malted rice. The combination of malted rice and cassava starch produced the highest amount of sugar syrup among the various cereals studied. JOURNAL OF THE GHANA SCIENCE ASSOCIATION Volume 2 No. 1 (2000) pp. 87-92


Background/Aims Esophageal variceal bleeding (EVB) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in liver cirrhosis. In this study, we aimed to predict the possibility of EVB in patients with cirrhosis using a non-invasive score. Methods A total of 359 patients with cirrhosis were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of EVB. ChildTurcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, a model for end-stage liver disease, aspartate aminotransferase to alanine aminotransferase ratio, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4-index (FIB-4), aspartate aminotransferase to alanine aminotransferase ratio/platelet ratio index (AARPRI), and S-index were measured for all participants. Receiver operating characteristic curves were obtained for all parameters, and the optimal cut-off value was determined in predicting EVB. Results In patients with EVB, the number of platelets (PLT) were low (p<0.001) and APRI, AARPRI, FIB-4, and S-index were significantly higher than those in patients without EBV. APRI, AARPRI, FIB-4, PLT, and S-index were statistically significant predictors of EVB (p<0.05). Conclusions FIB-4 and AARPRI, which are non-invasive markers of fibrosis, can be used to predict EVB. In addition, the 66.5 109/L cut-off value for PLT is important for EVB.


Processing censorship cards of the 20/sup th/ century in order to support annotation and retrieval processes, leads to a number of challenges for many DIA systems. Problems due to the low layout quality and standard of such a material can be reduced by exploiting information conveyed by color. In this paper, taking into account lessons learned in the context of the 1ST project Collate, we propose a new method for image segmentation and layout analysis that takes full advantage of color information. The method has been implemented in the DIA system WISDOM++ and tested on a corpus of multi-format documents concerning historic film censorships.


The response of oscillating hcp solid 4He samples was studied with a unique compound torsional oscillator a dummy mass and a sample (cylindrical or annular) container connected by two torsion rods. Identical solid sample could be probed within the same apparatus at two different frequencies (∼ 0.5 and 1.2 kHz) separately or simultaneously. The apparent onset of the non-classical rotational inertia (NCRI) occurred at a higher temperature in the higher frequency mode. The peak in dissipation of the higher mode also occurred at higher temperature. Surprisingly, the mechanical dissipation was significantly greater in the lower mode. When the lower mode was driven at high levels to induce "critical state" in the sample and the higher mode was simultaneously driven at a low level for probing, the critical state seen in the lower mode did not entirely appear. Conversely, if a critical state was induced by the higher mode, it also did not appear in the lower mode. These preliminary results are contrary to the simple expectation from identifying the critical state as indication of suppressed superfluid density.


Abstract Data clustering is one of the most popular methods of data mining and cluster analysis. The goal of clustering algorithms is to partition a data set into a specific number of clusters for compressing or summarizing original values. There are a variety of clustering algorithms available in the related literature. However, the research on the clustering of data parametrized by unit quaternions, which are commonly used to represent 3D rotations, is limited. In this paper we present a quaternion clustering methodology including an algorithm proposal for quaternion based k-means along with quaternion clustering quality measures provided by an enhancement of known indices and an automated procedure of optimal cluster number selection. The validity of the proposed framework has been tested in experiments performed on generated and real data, including human gait sequences recorded using a motion capture technique.


In this paper we address some central problems of combination of logics through the study of a very simple but highly informative case, the combination of the logics of disjunction and conjunction. At first it seems that it would be very easy to combine such logics, but the following problem arises: if we combine these logics in a straightforward way, distributivity holds. On the other hand, distributivity does not arise if we use the usual notion of extension between consequence relations. A detailed discussion about this phenomenon, as well as some elucidation for it, is given.


Many researches have been done with the aim of overcoming AMPs challenges. Different modification strategies as well as different delivery development ideas were offered by these researches. However, peptide modifications and formulation of peptide delivery systems are challenging tasks and hide several risks. Understanding and evaluating the cause - effect relations within the initial Risk Assessment (RA) step in case of all attributes is novelty since it gives the basis for the experimental design as the next step, and aids the formulation development in order to get the final product in the targeted quality range. It also helps to focus on the resources (human, financial, time) related to the final product quality aimed at. By means of RA method within QbD approach of early pharmaceutical development we monitored the factors with highly risk potential in the PEGylation process and risks such as loosing antimicrobial activity of peptide are prevented. The selection of CQAs, CQAs, QTPPs, CQAs and CPPs/CMAs of a PEGylated PGLa formula was performed and interdependence rating among the QTPP elements and CQAs, as well as among the CPPs and CQAs was performed. This careful theoretical study led to the selection of the right methodologies and materials in the synthesis of PEGylated AMPs and their formulation and consequently resulted in obtaining optimized formulation. In our second work, LYZ encapsulated in a novel polyelectrolyte core-shell nanoparticles through the LBL technique utilized as a carrier system to control the release of protein. The preparation of LYZ NPs was made according to 23 full factorial design with QbD approach. Our aim was to understand the effect of process parameters through the determination of mathematical equations, based on which the optimization parameters can be predicted under different process parameters. The optimization parameters were encapsulation efficiency, particle size, enzyme activity, and the amount of α-helix structure. The nanoparticles were analyzed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Based on our results, we found that pH was the most important factor and pH 10 was recommended during the formulation. Enzyme activity and α-helix content correlated with each other very well, and particle size and encapsulation efficiency also showed a very good correlation with each other. The results of the α-helix content of FTIR and CD measurements were very similar for the precipitated lysozyme due to the solid-state of lysozyme.


The authors describe the case of a 13-year-old girl with choroidal neovascular membrane and a history of benign intracranial hypertension who was successfully treated with a single intravitreal bevacizumab injection administered into the left eye. The visual acuity in the left eye improved to 20/25 at 2 weeks following treatment. The visual acuity was stable (20/20) in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye with no signs of recurrence over 2 years of follow-up. The current case represents the only one in the literature whereby a teenage girl presented with choroidal neovascular membrane and benign intracranial hypertension. Although this occurrence in males has been previously published, the authors believe that it is important to document the response to treatment because the literature evidence is limited to date. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol. 2020;57:e86-e87.].


In order to evaluate the land quality geochemical survey achievement in the service of the accurate management of urban land resources, the initial area of the Xiong'an New District as urbanization pathfinder in China is chosen as the research subject. The sample points were set by differential classification, and the spatial interpolation accuracy of the soil elements at a plot scale and a quantitative assessment of the consistency of the land plot (pattern spot) prediction evaluation were studied under the conditions of different sampling densities. The regional geochemical variation values randomly distributed on the plane can be reflected quantitatively by differential classification sampling, which can meet the basic demand of the quality attribute of a single plot (map spot) by the accurate management of urban land resources. The spatial variability of soil elements is mostly middle to moderate, and Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, Se, N, P, and other elements of high spatial variability are affected by human industrial and agricultural production activities. Under the same sampling density, the larger the element variation coefficient, the worse the spatial interpolation accuracy. Although the interpolation accuracy of the same element index is affected by the sampling density, the increase in the sampling density could not identify the continuous component on the structure of the soil element content. The soil environment is clean, and the heavy metal content is lower than the GB15618-2018 standard. The interpolation results are basically consistent with the grading results of the measured values, while the contents of N, P, and K of the nutrient indices vary greatly, and the predicted and measured geochemical grades of the plots (map spot) differ substantially under the influence of factors such as human disturbance and spatial variability. The quantitative evaluation of the six different sampling densities indicates that the 16 points·km-2 sampling density adopted in the geochemical survey and evaluation of urban land quality can satisfy the needs of an accurate control of urban land resources in the study area and similar areas. The research can provide key technologies to support and serve the accurate management of urban land resources for geochemical surveys and the evaluation of land quality in land parcel scale cities.