Wild species of Gossypium ssp. are an important source of traits for improving commercial cotton cultivars. Previous reports show that Gossypium herbaceum L. and Gossypium nelsonii Fryx. have better disease resistance characteristics than commercial cotton varieties. However, chromosome ploidy and biological isolation make it difficult to hybridize diploid species with the tetraploid Gossypium hirsutum L. We developed a new allotetraploid cotton genotype (A1A1G3G3) using a process of distant hybridization within wild cotton species to create new germplasms. First of all, G. herbaceum and G. nelsonii were used for interspecific hybridization to obtain F1 generation. Afterwards, apical meristems of the F1 diploid cotton plants were treated with colchicine to induce chromosome doubling. The new interspecific F1 hybrid and S1 cotton plants originated from chromosome duplication, were tested via morphological and molecular markers and confirmed their tetraploidy through flowrometric and cytological identification. The S1 tetraploid cotton plants was crossed with a TM-1 line and fertile hybrid offspring were obtained. These S2 offsprings were tested for resistance to Verticillium wilt and demonstrated adequate tolerance to this fungi. The results shows that the new S1 cotton line could be used as parental material for hybridization with G. hirsutum to produce pathogen-resistant cotton hybrids. This new S1 allotetraploid genotype will contributes to the enrichment of Gossypium germplasm resources and is expected to be valuable in polyploidy evolutionary studies.


Following the discovery of moderately potent antagonist activity platelet-activating factor (PAF) in 2-methyl-1-phenylimidazo[4,5-c]pyridine (2) (IC50 = 840 nM), 19 derivatives (3-21) were prepared which incorporated various lipophilic groups attached to the phenyl 4-position. Structure-activity relationships were evaluated where PAF antagonist activity was measured in vitro by determining the concentration of compound (IC50) required to inhibit the PAF-induced aggregation of rabbit washed platelets and in vivo by determining the oral dose (ED50) which protected mice from a lethal injection of PAF. [1,5]Benzodiazepines, e.g., 14 (2,3-dihydro-1-methyl-4-[4-(2-methylimidazo[4,5-c] pyrid-1-yl)phenyl]-1H-[1,5]benzodiazepin-2-one) (IC50 = 4.9 nM, Ed50 = 0.03 mg/kg po), were found to possess equivalent or superior potency to the 1,4-dihydropyridine PAF antagonist UK-74,505 (1,4-(2-chlorophenyl)-1,4-dihydro-3-(ethoxycarbonyl)-6-methyl-2- [4-(2-methylimidazo[4,5-c]pyrid-1-yl)phenyl]-5-[N-(2-pyridyl) carbamoyl]pyridine) in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, a potent benzazepine, 21 (7,8-dichloro-1-methyl-4-[4-(methylimidazo[4,5-c]pyrid-1-yl) phenyl]-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-1-benzazepin-2-one) (IC50 = 0.5 nM, ED50 = 0.03 mg/kg po), was discovered. These investigations prompted the synthesis and evaluation of additional diazepine derivatives, which are described in the following paper. The relationship between the key PAF antagonist pharmacophores of 2-methyl-1-phenylimidazo[4,5-c]pyridine, a triazolothienodiazepine (WEB2170), and a pyrrolothiazolidine (RP-52,770) is discussed.


Binuclear complexes with cyclometalated ends of the [Ru(bpy)(2)(ppH)](+) type (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, ppH = 2-phenylpyridine), linked by various spacers, have been prepared. These spacers are made of one or two triple bonds, or bis-ethynyl aryl groups, with aryl = benzene, thiophene, or anthracene. The complexes with bis-ethynyl aryl spacers are obtained by Sonogashira couplings with suitable bis-alkynes, starting from the [Ru(bpy)(2)(ppBr)](+) synthon. Complexes with one or two triple bonds are obtained from the true alkyne [Ru(bpy)(2)(pp-CCH)](+) cyclometalated precursor, using respectively a Sonogashira coupling with the iodo derivative [Ru(bpy)(2)(ppI)](+), or an oxidative homocoupling. Some complexes with tert-butyl-substituted bipyridine ancillary ligands have also been obtained. Oxidation of the binuclear complexes occurs near 0.5 V, i.e., more easily than with [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+)-based complexes. A single anodic wave is observed, with almost no detectable splitting, corresponding to two closely spaced one-electron processes. Differential pulse voltammetry allows the determination of the corresponding comproportionation constants involving the mixed valence Ru(II)[bond]Ru(III) forms. Controlled potential electrolysis yields the mixed valence forms in comproportionation equilibrium with homovalent forms. Analysis of the intervalence transitions allows the calculation of the electronic coupling element V(ab). This series of complexes exhibit relatively large couplings when comparing with complexes of similar metal-metal distances, with a special mention for the anthracene-containing spacer, which appears particularly efficient for mediating the metal-metal interaction. The results can be rationalized by theoretical calculations at the extended Hückel level.


In addition to the production, which is already frequently optimized, improving the distribution logistics also opens up tremendous potential for increasing an enterprise's competitiveness. Here too though, numerous interactions need to be taken into account, enterprises thus need to be able to identify and weigh between different potentials for economically efficient optimizations. In order to be able to assess potentials, enterprises require a suitable method. This paper first briefly presents the need for this research before introducing the procedure that will be used to develop an appropriate method that not only considers interactions but is also quickly and easily implemented. Keywords—Distribution Logistics, Evaluation of Potential, Methods, Model.


The Long Living Chair is a rocking chair with enhanced memory. It knows the day it was produced and can record how many times it is used over the course of 96 years. Its semi-hidden display and the slow pace it changes suggest that the recorded information should not be accessed frequently. Instead, it is meant to be forgotten and then once in a while accessed to provide a moment of wonder and a sense of relatedness to the object. The project was developed to embody important slow technology concepts.


We characterized the role of guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI) in RhoA/Rho-kinase-mediated Ca2+ sensitization of smooth muscle. Endogenous contents (approximately 2-4 microM) of RhoA and RhoGDI were near stoichiometric, whereas a supraphysiological GDI concentration was required to relax Ca2+ sensitization of force by GTP and guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTPgammaS). GDI also inhibited Ca2+ sensitization by GTP. G14V RhoA, by alpha-adrenergic and muscarinic agonists, and extracted RhoA from membranes. GTPgammaS translocated Rho-kinase to a Triton X-114-extractable membrane fraction. GTP. G14V RhoA complexed with GDI also induced Ca2+ sensitization, probably through in vivo dissociation of GTP. RhoA from the complex, because it was reversed by addition of excess GDI. GDI did not inhibit Ca2+ sensitization by phorbol ester. Constitutively active Cdc42 and Rac1 inhibited Ca2+ sensitization by GTP. G14V RhoA. We conclude that 1) the most likely in vivo function of GDI is to prevent perpetual "recycling" of GDP. RhoA to GTP. RhoA; 2) nucleotide exchange (GTP for GDP) on complexed GDP. RhoA/GDI can precede translocation of RhoA to the membrane; 3) activation of Rho-kinase exposes a hydrophobic domain; and 4) Cdc42 and Rac1 can inhibit Ca2+ sensitization by activated GTP. RhoA.


The main objective of this paper is simulation of three phases Nine level inverter fed induction motor drive. Various low quality of power a conventional inverter fed induction machine is due to the presence of harmonics and significant level of energy is loss. The proposed Nine level inverter is used to reduce the harmonics. These inverters are used to generate high quality voltage waveforms. The voltage reference can follow accuracy in nine levels and the befit is to generate voltage can be modulated instead of PWM. In this paper the getting active harmonics are eliminating a specific higher order harmonics of the multilevel converters with unequal DC voltages. This process can be done MATLAB/SIMULATION of three phase nine level inverter fed induction motor.


Social entrepreneurship is a multidimensional and dynamic structure that moves between public and private sectors and volunteering. One of the biggest problems facing all countries of the world today is the reduction of unemployment, primarily youth and socially vulnerable categories. With the same problem - the countries of the Western Balkans face, including Serbia. The high unemployment rate of socially vulnerable and young people results in negative implications because they face difficulties in finding a job. Unemployment is an important indicator that has both social and economic dimensions. From an economic perspective, unemployment can be viewed as exploiting the capacity of the workforce. Social entrepreneurship helps create new jobs, develop new skills, the opportunities of unemployed and vulnerable people to participate in society and the economy. The main goal of this paper is to point out the fact that social entrepreneurship is an opportunity to encourage the development of the local community and the national economy. Particular emphasis is on the development of social entrepreneurship of the young, because an effective strategy for preparing young people implies that they are not only educated, but also highly educated with leadership skills that can be raised at an entrepreneurial level and will thus be active creators of the economy in the future, especially emphasizes the potential and contribution of a new - creative economy in the development of social entrepreneurship.


This study was conducted based on the problem of kyai leadership pattern in Islamic boarding school in the city of Jambi which seems still paternalistic and centralized. In other words, the leadership pattern is still centered on the kyai as the holder of the highest authority. Meanwhile, the development of Islamic boarding schools in Jambi has been decreasing in the last decade because the differences of kyais abilities at recent time with their predecessor, so that only a small number of Islamic boarding schools still exist in the society at present time The study aims is to explore how effective the leadership of kyai in Islamic boarding school in the city of Jambi in which be explored with several research questions which are; 1) What system that is used in the election of Islamic boarding school leader? 2) What kind of leadership model which is used in Islamic boarding school Jambi? 3) How effective the leadership of kyai according to the determination of Islamic boarding school vision, mission, management and policy maker? 4) what is the role of kyai as the leader of Islamic boarding school among the society Qualitative design was used in this study and purposive sampling was employed to determine the respondents. Observation, interview and documentation were used as data collection tools. Interactive model of data analysis was employed to analyze the data in this study which consist of three activities which are data reduction, data display and conclusion. The reliability of result were obtained with the extension of participation technique, intense observation technique and data triangulation. The result of study showed; 1) PP Nurul Iman uses deliberation and consensus system leader in which teachers, board of trustees and coordinator of Pecinan are participating in when electing the leader and the model of leadership in this school is charismatic. PP As'ad leader election is based on family tree system and the model of leader ship in this school is paternalistic. In PKP Al-Hidayah the leader is elected directly by the government of Jambi province as the owner of the school. 2) in general the model of leadership which is used in Islamic boarding school at Jambi use collective-passive model because generally Islamic boarding school at Jambi are under the management of particular foundation.3) The leadership of kyai is not effective because the management system which is applied not optimal. 4) The role of kyai among the society exists in harmony. Based on the research findings, democratic and open election system are recommended in Islamic boarding school leader election to respect individual right to consider leader credibility, quality and acceptability. Islamic boarding schools have to continue to resolve their weaknesses without losing their original character as educational, religion and social institutions as well as applying professional management with collective leadership model in Islamic boarding school system.


BACKGROUND: The binding of the homeostatic chemokine SDF-1 to the G -protein-coupled receptor C-X-C Chemokine Receptor 4 (CXCR4) induces cell migration via heterotrimeric G-proteins of the Gi family. Additionally, activated CXCR4 can stimulate the small GTPase RhoA through Gα13 which is required for directional cell migration, contributing to the metastatic potential of cancer cells. Recently, GPCR hetero-oligomerization has emerged as a means by which new signaling entities can be created, yet how receptor heteromers affect receptor pharmacology remains largely unknown. Here we report that agonist-bound CXCR4 is able to form a heteromer with agonist-bound cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) at the cell membrane of prostate cancer (PCa) cells and that receptor interaction inhibits the activation of the cytoskeleton regulator RhoA. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS: To confirm CXCR4-CB2 interactions on the cell membrane, we utilized an in situ proximity ligation assay to detect heterodimer formation on the surface PC-3 cells treated with SDF-1 alone or, simultaneous treatment with SDF-1 and the CB2 agonist AM1241. In order to establish that RhoA activity decreased upon heterodimerization of CXCR4 and CB2, we performed RhoA-GTP pulldown assays in PC-3 cells. We then tested the effects of CXCR4/CB2 heterodimerization on actin cytoskeletal reorganization by performing immunocytochemistry using an anti-Phalloidin antibody to detect F-actin. The ROCK kinase inhibitor Y-27632 was used as positive control of RhoA inhibition in these studies. Next, we assessed the effects of receptor heterodimerization on cellular adhesion to extracellular matrix components as the ability of cancer cells to adhere to the endothelium is critical of transendothelial migration during tumor cell intravasation and extravasation. Intuitively, alterations in adhesion capabilities should affect the ability of PCa cells to migrate through an endothelial cell monolayer. Thus we performed transendothelial migration assays. RESULTS: The proximity ligation assay revealed that CXCR4 and CB2 physically interacted on the cell surface of prostate cancer cells. Furthermore, receptor heterodimerization diminished SDF-1 induced actin cytoskeleton reorganization as characterized by membrane ruffling in a similar manner to the ROCK kinase inhibitor Y-27632. Heterodimer formation, stimulated by simultaneous treatment of cells with SDF-1 and AM1241 also attenuated PCa adhesion and transendothelial migration. CONCLUSION The attenuation of RhoA has multiple functional consequences leading to a less metastatic phenotype. Thus induction of CXCR4-CB2 heterodimerization is a viable pharmacological approach to targeting the CXCR4-RhoA axis as a means of preventing the metastatic dissemination of PCa cells. Citation Format: Kisha A. Scarlett, Christopher J. Coke, Imani Fennell, Cimona V. Hinton. Simultaneous activation of C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 and cannabinoid receptor 2 leads to decreased Rho-induced prostate cancer metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4572.


The best-attested and most important endowments of Orthodox Christians in the medieval world were created by means of foundation charters ( ktetorika typika ). Via a typikon , a founder or ktetor was able to regulate the present and future functioning of his (invariably monastic) endowment, often in minute and voluminous detail. Of particular interest for the topic of this special issue of ENDS are some post-Byzantine monastic foundation charters, which hitherto have received almost no scholarly scrutiny. Among these charters is the testament of the patriarch Jeremiah I for the Stauroniketa Monastery on Mount Athos. His monastic charter demonstrates the continuity of Byzantine endowment practices in the first centuries of Ottoman rule, yet also underlines new difficulties for monastic founders attempting to adapt the quintessentially medieval Christian practice of composing typika to the strictures of an Islamic legal regime.


Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) techniques have become increasingly popular in remote sensing. GEOBIA has been claimed to represent a paradigm shift in remote sensing interpretation. Still, GEOBIA—similar to other emerging paradigms—lacks formal expressions and objective modelling structures and in particular semantic classification methods using ontologies. This study has put forward an object-based semantic classification method for high resolution satellite imagery using an ontology that aims to fully exploit the advantages of ontology to GEOBIA. A three-step workflow has been introduced: ontology modelling, initial classification based on a data-driven machine learning method, and semantic classification based on knowledge-driven semantic rules. The classification part is based on data-driven machine learning, segmentation, feature selection, sample collection and an initial classification. Then, image objects are re-classified based on the ontological model whereby the semantic relations are expressed in the formal languages OWL and SWRL. The results show that the method with ontology—as compared to the decision tree classification without using the ontology—yielded minor statistical improvements in terms of accuracy for this particular image. However, this framework enhances existing GEOBIA methodologies: ontologies express and organize the whole structure of GEOBIA and allow establishing relations, particularly spatially explicit relations between objects as well as multi-scale/hierarchical relations.


Objective: Determine IFN-γ responses for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) diagnosis in chronic inflammatory disease patients.

Material and methods: 89 chronic inflammatory disease patients were classified in 3 groups. Group 1: 53 patients with rheumatic diseases scheduled for anti-TNF-α treatment. Group 2: 23 psoriasis patients, 39.1% were receiving biologic treatments, and 43.5% classic systemic treatments. Group 3: 13 patients with Crohn disease, treated with immunosuppressors. TST was done in all cases. We determined IFN-γ production with Quantiferon-TB Gold In Tube (QFN) and T-SPOT.TB (TS.TB).

Results: Group 1: TS.TB, QFN and TST were positive in 20.8%, 17% and 13.2% respectively. We obtained 4 QFN indeterminate results (7.5%) and 2 for TS.TB (3.8%), in all cases TST was negative and corresponded with patients receiving corticoids. Concordance (κ) between TS.TB and QFN was 0.562. Group 2: TS.TB and QFN were positive in 17.14% of the cases. In contrast, TST was positive in 21.74%. Five patients were documented with a previous positive TST. Therefore, when we analyzed patients with IFN-γ assays and TST performed simultaneously, TS.TB and QFN were positive in 5.6% and TST negative in all cases. Concordance between TS.TB and QFN was 100% Group 3: The three assays were negative in all cases. We observed one TS.TB indeterminate result (7.7%) and 2 for QFN (15.4%), corresponding with patients receiving azathioprine.

Conclusions: Concordance between both IFN-γ assays was good.

Indeterminate results were higher in those patients with Crohn disease.

IFN-γ assays, in combination with TST, are useful for the diagnosis of LTBI in patients with inflammatory diseases.


Model-based methods have recently shown great potential for off-policy evaluation (OPE); offline trajectories induced by behavioral policies are fitted to transitions of Markov decision processes (MDPs), which are used to rollout simulated trajectories and estimate the performance of policies. Model-based OPE methods face two key challenges. First, as offline trajectories are usually fixed, they tend to cover limited state and action space. Second, the performance of model-based methods can be sensitive to the initialization of their parameters. In this work, we propose the variational latent branching model (VLBM) to learn the transition function of MDPs by formulating the environmental dynamics as a compact latent space, from which the next states and rewards are then sampled. Specifically, VLBM leverages and extends the variational inference framework with the recurrent state alignment (RSA), which is designed to capture as much information underlying the limited training data, by smoothing out the information flow between the variational (encoding) and generative (decoding) part of VLBM. Moreover, we also introduce the branching architecture to improve the model's robustness against randomly initialized model weights. The effectiveness of the VLBM is evaluated on the deep OPE (DOPE) benchmark, from which the training trajectories are designed to result in varied coverage of the state-action space. We show that the VLBM outperforms existing state-of-the-art OPE methods in general.


■ ABSTRACT: This paper examines international and European norms concerning the principle of the rule of law and its implications for the Republic of Serbia's legal order. There is no universally accepted definition of the rule of law, but some common elements can be found in international legislative acts and jurisprudence. The European Union and Council of Europe have substantial legislation on this issue; with their courts' jurisprudence, they have a significant influence on their Member States' comprehension of the rule of law principle. The Republic of Serbia has embraced the principle in its Constitution and developed it in its legislation. It will also accept and include European interpretations of the rule of law in its legislation and judicial and administrative practice by joining the European Union.


This article explores changes in the ageing gastrointestinal tract, including: » Diminished sense of taste and smell. » Shrinking of the maxillary and mandibular bones in the jaw. » Slowing of oesophageal peristalsis giving a feeling that something is 'stuck in the throat'. » Relaxation of the lower sphincter leading to gastro-oesophageal reflux. » Reduction in gastric bicarbonate and prostaglandin in mucus increasing susceptibility to stomach ulcers. » Changes in villi in the small intestine reducing the area for absorption. » Overpopulation of bacteria in the small intestine leading to decreased absorption of folic acid and minerals.


Methyl-green (MG) has been used for histochemical and cytochemical demonstration of DNA; however, it has been reported that this staining reaction requires the presence of highly polymeric DNA. The following results of our study show that the polymerization of DNA is not always necessary for the reaction.1) MG staining solution is easily influenced by the pH, and is very stable at around pH 4.0. Intensity of the reaction of MG goes with the ascent of pH when the starting solution is fresh.2) In the DNase-enzymatic digestion test, MG stain has thesame effect as the Feulgen reaction. MG staining also stains not only pure DNA but RNA.3) The cytoplasm of well preserved cells is stained with MG, and this result suggests that the MG staining reaction is not influenced by the degree of polymerization of DNA.4) MG stain is available for measuring the DNA content of the nuclei under some conditions.


Based on XML Web service and combined the advantages of C/S and B/S frames, a new method of constructing application system is put forward. The process of constructing the application supported by Web service is elaborated. Finally the paper also gives the solution of some difficult problems such as maintain the state of Web Service and the transaction of Web Service.


The economic consequences of demographic aging in developed countries are assessed. "They include falls in savings ratios, rising inequalities, as well as consequences for productivity and the financing of pension schemes. The impact on long term growth is subsequently analysed. This is done by forecasting potential output, given reductions in the working populations of these countries.... Assuming that technology continues to advance as it has done since 1973, these demographic changes will lead to a clear fall in growth for both the United States and Japan. In Europe adapting to this new demographic context should be easier, as growth in recent decades has been based more on productivity gains." (SUMMARY IN ENG)


Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to 0, 26, or 2600 ppm lead as lead acetate in drinking water for 76 weeks. At 28 weeks of lead exposure, a portion of each group was exposed simultaneously to 6.36 g/kg ethyl urea (EU) and 2.0 g/kg sodium nitrite (NaNO2) for a duration of 20 weeks, and then continued an additional 28 weeks on standard diet free of EU and NaNO2. The animals were observed for incidence, latency, and distribution of tumors. Rats exposed to 2600 ppm lead alone had 81% renal tumors, while rats given 2600 ppm lead in combination with EU/NaNO2 had a 50% incidence. Renal tumors did not occur in the EU/NaNO2 only or EU/NaNO2-26 ppm lead groups. The major tumor type found in EU/NaNO2-exposed rats was lymphosarcoma. ***Lead did not appear to be syncarcinogenic to the activity of ethylnitrosourea, the carcinogen formed by oral exposure to EU and NaNO2. The lead-induced renal neoplasms were histologically similar to those which occur spontaneously in man and, therefore, may serve as an animal model to study human disease.


Abstract : Maintaining economic viability in the rapidly developing global marketplace is a major priority of ports nationwide It is imperative that commercial ports, such as those in New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ), evolve to remain competitive with developing global infrastructure. As a consequence, the U.S. Army Engineer District, New York, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey are going forward with plans to deepen existing channels for use by the newest generation of container ships. This will include the deepening of several waterways, most prominently the Kill van Kull (KVK), Arthur Kill (AK), and Port Jersey Channel, to a depth of 50 ft. A significant by-product of each deepening project will be large amounts of dredged material. In the case of the KVK and AK, the material will be composed predominantly of bedrock. As a result, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has commissioned a series of investigations into the viability of beneficially using dredged bedrock in the NY/NJ Harbor. This report outlines how numerous beneficial use opportunities can become feasible based on bedrock characteristics, case-specific constraints, and applicable regulatory concerns. Beneficial uses of bedrock are promoted by legislative acts. A few uses have been practiced routinely in this region. This report seeks to highlight considerations toward broader uses of bedrock commensurate with projected dredging volumes. This report does not seek to compare the relative merit or cost differential between viable beneficial use opportunities. Information regarding the method for determining the feasibility assessments is detailed.


PURPOSE
The current clinical Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) optimization is formulated as a non-convex problem and various greedy heuristics have been employed for an empirical solution, jeopardizing plan consistency and quality. We introduce a novel global direct aperture optimization method for VMAT to overcome these limitations.

METHODS
The global VMAT (gVMAT) planning was formulated as an optimization problem with an L2-norm fidelity term and an anisotropic total variation term. A level set function was used to describe the aperture shapes and adjacent aperture shapes were penalized to control MLC motion range. An alternating optimization strategy was implemented to solve the fluence intensity and aperture shapes simultaneously. Single arc gVMAT plans, utilizing 180 beams with 2° angular resolution, were generated for a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), lung (LNG), and 2 head and neck cases-one with 3 PTVs (H&N3PTV) and one with 4 PTVs (H&N4PTV). The plans were compared against the clinical VMAT (cVMAT) plans utilizing two overlapping coplanar arcs.

RESULTS
The optimization of the gVMAT plans had converged within 600 iterations. gVMAT reduced the average max and mean OAR dose by 6.59% and 7.45% of the prescription dose. Reductions in max dose and mean dose were as high as 14.5 Gy in the LNG case and 15.3 Gy in the H&N3PTV case. PTV coverages (D95, D98, D99) were within 0.25% of the prescription dose. By globally considering all beams, the gVMAT optimizer allowed some beams to deliver higher intensities, yielding a dose distribution that resembles a static beam IMRT plan with beam orientation optimization.

CONCLUSIONS
The novel VMAT approach allows for the search of an optimal plan in the global solution space and generates deliverable apertures directly. The single arc VMAT approach fully utilizes the digital linacs' capability in dose rate and gantry rotation speed modulation. Varian Medical Systems, NIH grant R01CA188300, NIH grant R43CA183390.


Abstract Balloon-borne radiation sonde measurements during 1964 and 1965 are used to form composite, three-dimensional radiative cooling models for the following midlatitude synoptic features: stationary front; nascent cyclone; warm sector cyclone; occluded cyclone; and anticyclone. Composite water vapor distributions for the same synoptic features are used to model the pattern of atmospheric warming by solar radiation. Thickness tendency analyses of the 1000-500-mb layer for four synoptic features show that radiative cooling and warming may account for 10–30 percent of the observed maximum thickness tendency. The radiative thickness change components are of the same order of magnitude as the latent and the sensible heating terms. The nascent cyclone case shows a radiatively induced vorticity tendency of 6 × 10−10 sec−2. This compares with a total expected vorticity tendency between 10−9 and 10−10 sec−2. The nascent cyclone, warm sector cyclone, and anticyclone cases show positive cyclonic development fro...


There has been a growing interest in recent years in developing real-time voice and fax communication software for use over the Internet. This paper discusses the design of an Internet Telephony Gateway (ITG) that is used to support the delivery of fax and/or voice services through the Internet to conventional telephones and fax machines on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The interface board can offer multiple ports of voice and fax services in a single slot using the EISA bus. The hardware system comprises two microprocessors and one digital signal processor (DSP). One of the microprocessors is used for the telephone trunk line interface management and system control while the other one is used solely for the fax modem control. The DSP is used to compress and decompress the voice signal for real-time voice communication. Two algorithms to compress the digitized voice signal, namely, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) and Code Excited Linear Prediction (CELP), are used in the design. GSM is used to compress primary voice data packets while CELP is used to compress redundancy voice data packets to cater for potential lost data packets during network transmission. The software on the server gateway provides the functionality between two communicating gateways and manages the exchange of fax and voice between senders and recipients by using Internet as the transport medium.


Background It has been shown that children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) have high incidence of heart failure even in the absence of ischemic, hypertensive, or valvular heart disease. Most of these children have normal or even hyper-dynamic left ventricular (LV) systolic function at rest, whereas the diastolic function, particularly relaxation, is impaired. Tissue Doppler echocardiography measures myocardial motion and velocity, which provide a useful tool for defining subtle systolic and diastolic dysfunction. Objective To assess the LV systolic and diastolic functions in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus attending the Alexandria University Children's Hospital and its relation to the glycemic control and duration of the disease. Patients and methods The study was conducted on 40 patients with T1DM who were followed up at the diabetes clinic of the Alexandria University Children's Hospital and 20 apparently healthy control children of matched age and sex. Cardiac functions were assessed by conventional Doppler echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI). Results The results showed early cardiomyopathic changes in the form of diastolic dysfunction and impaired relaxation by studying the E/A ratio using conventional Doppler mitral flow in 7.5% of the diabetic children, whereas by using pulsed TDI, we found diastolic dysfunction of the septal or medial segment of the LV in 52.5%, and of the lateral segment in 42.2% of the diabetic patients. Moreover, the mean peak pulsed Doppler Am velocity was significantly higher in diabetic patients than in controls. There was a significant negative correlation between the duration of diabetes and E/A ratio. A significant negative correlation was found also between the LV diastolic dysfunction and the duration of the diabetes, whereas no significant correlation was found with the glycated hemoglobin% or age of the patients. The systolic function was normal in our diabetic patients. Conclusion Our diabetic patients are in need of better glycemic control and periodic echocardiographic assessments, particularly by TDI to monitor the progression of subclinical ventricular dysfunction and to guard against the development of congestive heart failure.


Abstract During the winter of 2004, 48 fecal samples were collected from live-trapped fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) from central Wyoming (Natrona County) and examined for species of Eimeria. Two species, Eimeria lancasterensis (prevalence, 65%) and Eimeria ontarioensis (prevalence, 27%), were identified. Genomic DNA sequences ITS1 and ITS2 were amplified, cloned, and sequenced. Additional sequences from E. lancasterensis isolated from a Delmarva fox squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus) collected on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, were also identified. Comparison of pairwise distances suggests that E. lancasterensis from Wyoming and Virginia are conspecific. Maximum Parsimony tree construction identified 2 lineages, one E. ontarioensis and one E. lancasterensis; and both lineages had a strong bootstrap support (100%). The Maximum Parsimony analysis was unable to resolve the Wyoming and Virginia strains.


Changes in carboxyhemoglobin concentrations are studied in 18 specimens of cadaveric blood 1-2 h and 3 days after heating to 50, 65, 70, 75, 80, and 90 degrees C for 5, 10, and 20 min. The concentration of carboxyhemoglobin decreased to 15% after heating at 70-75 degrees C for 10 and 20 min. Heating to 80-90 degrees makes the measurements impossible. Five-min heating at 50-65 degrees C did not change the concentration of carboxyhemoglobin in the blood.


The in vitro cytotoxic and antioxidant properties of the aqueous, chloroform and methanol extracts of the Dicranopteris linearis leaves were investigated in the present study. The cytotoxic effect was determined against the normal (3T3) and cancer cells' lines (MCF-7, HeLa, HT-29, HL-60, K-562 and MDA-MB-231) using the 3,(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay, while the antioxidant activity was assessed using the DPPH radical and superoxide scavenging assays. Based on the results obtained, the aqueous extract was not effective against any of the types of cancer cells studied; the chloroform extract was effective only against MCF-7 and HeLa; and the methanol extract was effective against all the cancer cells used. Interestingly, all extracts failed to produce cytotoxic effect against the 3T3 cells (normal cell) indicating their safety. All extracts (20, 100 and 500 μg/ml) were found to exert antioxidant activity when tested using the DPPH radical and superoxide scavenging assays; with the methanol, followed by the aqueous and chloroform extracts exhibiting the highest antioxidant activity in both assays. The total phenolic content for the aqueous, methanol and chloroform extracts were 3112.1 ± 6.7, 3417.3 ± 4.7 and 1012.7 ± 5.3 mg/100 g gallic acid, respectively. In conclusion, the leaves of D. linearis possess potential cytotoxic activity against various types of cancer cell lines depending on the types of extracts used and antioxidant activity, which need to be further explored. Keywords: Dicranopteris linearis , in vitro anticancer activity, MTT assay, aqueous extract, chloroform extract, methanol extract


The history of the private sector apartment building spans over two decades now. For the improvement of current design practice and the guidelines for future design, this history-changes and consistencies in apartment design- should be systematically reviewed and examined. This study presents this chronological analysis. The study sampled more than 1,000 designs that have been built in the private sector in the Seoul metropolitan area, from 1973 till 1990.Focusing on spatial composition and architectural design of apartment housing units constructed by private sector, the purpose of this research is to analyze characteristics and to clarify their trends of the plans by construction year and unit net area.Analyzing built year of unit plans and locational characteristics of spatial composition, we were able to group them into seven. Among trends found from the groups, the first trend we can indicate is that spatial composition seems to be determined by access type. The second is that little variations of current spatial composition is likely to lead to the monotonous living life since there are a few of basic and diverse unit plans of each group.Finally, increase in the area of units tends to increase the number of rooms or to enlarge each room, failing to create unique unit plans for the area.


Recurrent neural network (RNN) are being extensively used over feed-forward neural networks (FFNN) because of their inherent capability to capture temporal relationships that exist in the sequential data such as speech. This aspect of RNN is advantageous especially when there is no a priori knowledge about the temporal correlations within the data. However, RNNs require large amount of data to learn these temporal correlations, limiting their advantage in low resource scenarios. It is not immediately clear (a) how a priori temporal knowledge can be used in a FFNN architecture (b) how a FFNN performs when provided with this knowledge about temporal correlations (assuming available) during training. The objective of this paper is to explore k-FFNN, namely a FFNN architecture that can incorporate the a priori knowledge of the temporal relationships within the data sequence during training and compare k-FFNN performance with RNN in a low resource scenario. We evaluate the performance of k-FFNN and RNN by extensive experimentation on MediaEval 2016 audio data ("Emotional Impact of Movies" task). Experimental results show that the performance of k-FFNN is comparable to RNN, and in some scenarios k-FFNN performs better than RNN when temporal knowledge is injected into FFNN architecture. The main contributions of this paper are (a) fusing a priori knowledge into FFNN architecture to construct a k-FFNN and (b) analyzing the performance of k-FFNN with respect to RNN for different size of training data.


For complex large scale networks, like social networks, it is usually impossible to observe complete information about their topology structure or link weight directly. A recent proposal, the network resonance method, can estimate the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the Laplacian matrix for representing network structure, by using the resonance phenomena of oscillation dynamics on networks. However, it is generally not possible to observe all the eigenvalues and eigenvectors. This paper uses compressed sensing to create a new method of reconstructing the original Laplacian matrix from a partial set of its eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Since very few node pairs in social networks have links, we can expect that compressed sensing will be effective. The estimated Laplacian matrix of a social network enables to us to determine its structure and link weights.


OBJECTIVE
To assess factors that might influence the success rate, safety and reliability of chorionic villus sampling (CVS).

DESIGN
Analysis of the outcome of 350 cases of CVS (215 transabdominal and 135 transvaginal).

SETTING
The outpatient prenatal diagnosis and therapy laboratory of a university tertiary care centre.

SUBJECTS
350 pregnant women that underwent CVS for prenatal genetic diagnosis between nine and 32 gestational weeks.

RESULTS
Fetal genotype was the most common indication for CVS 45% (158/350). The overall sampling success rate was 98% (343/350). The majority of cases, 92% (322/350), required one or two aspirations. Out of 331 cases in which CVS was successful 305 continued with the pregnancy. Thirty-five had therapeutic termination of their pregnancies and ten resulted in spontaneous abortions. There was an overall fetal loss rate of 1.7% (6/350). Early bleeding complications occurred in 11.4% (40/350). PROM 0.86% (3/350), preterm 5.1% (18/350), and placenta disorders 1.1% (4/350) did not exceed the expected values.

CONCLUSION
CVS is a relatively safe and reliable method of prenatal genetic diagnosis. It needs be done by experienced personnel.


This essay proposes an analysis of the concept of landscape in contemporary Quebec visual arts and poetry. A brief archaeology of the landscape shows the pictorial origins of this genre, as well as the anthropocentrism from which it proceeds. Indeed, when the landscape becomes an autonomous form during the Renaissance, it is assumed that the subject necessarily pre-exists the landscape. The landscape is thus considered one representation among others of reality. The importance of this human-centred landscape in contemporary arts will be studied in Isabelle Hayeur's photographs and videos, as well as in the poetry of Pierre Nepveu, Louis-Jean Thibault, Robert Melançon, and Claude Paradis. If the subject remains central to their representations, these artists also offer other critical approaches. More than a mere aesthetic motif or a touristic cliché, the landscape is becoming an ethical and aesthetic meeting place, implying new relationships between the landscape and the subject, yet to be explored.


Sang Moo Lee*School of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Kyung-pook National University, Sangju 742-711, KoreaABSTRACTThis study was carried out to investigate the effects of the level of cracked whole barley on daily feed intake, daily body weight gain, carcass characteristics and meat composition of finishing Hanwoo steers(feeding from 24 months to 30 months of age). The dietary treatments were consisted of five types(C;normal concentrate as a basal diet, T1;10% addition of cracked whole barley, T2;20% addition of cracked whole barley, T3;30% addition of cracked whole barley, T4;40% addition of cracked whole barley). A total 30 Hanwoo steers(588.6±11.8kg) were allocated to 5 feeding groups. The daily feed intake and daily body weight gain were high in the order of T2 > T3 >T4 > T1 > C. The back fat thickness and longissmus muscle area were highest in C and T1, respectively(P<0.05) than other treatments. The meat yield index decreased with increased back fat thickness. The marbling score and meat quality were highest in T1(P<0.01, 0.05, respectively), but maturity, fat color and meat color were not significantly different among treatments. The crude fat was highest in T1(17.59%), while in T4(7.47%) it was lowest(P<0.05). The crude protein and crude ash were not significantly different among treatments. The energy value of cracked whole barley treatments(T1, T2, T3, T4) was higher than C(P<0.05). The contents of Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Mo, Na and Zn were higher in C than the other treatments(P<0.01), but Co was higher in T2(P<0.01). The CIE L* value of whole cracked barley treatments(T1, T2, T3, T4) was higher than C, however there were not differences among the treatments. The CIE a* value was highest in T1(P<0.05) than others. The CIE b* value was highest in C and it was decreased with increased feeding of cracked whole barley. Based on the above results, T1 treatment compared to other treatments improved the carcass quality parameters like loin muscle area, marbling score, meat quality, and CIE L* value.(Key words : Hanwoo, Cracked whole barley, Meat quality grade, Meat color)


Aims and method: The aim of this study was to describe the early treatment phase in first-episode psychosis in an area with well-established crisis resolution teams. Socio-demographic characteristics and patterns of initial treatment were investigated for all individuals with first-episode psychosis identified prospectively over a 1-year period in two London boroughs. Results: Over a year, 111 people presented with first-episode psychosis. Fifty-one people (46%) were initially managed in the community, with the remaining 60 (54%) admitted to in-patient units immediately. By 3 months after presentation, a total of 80 people (72%) had been admitted and 54 (49%) had been compulsorily detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. Thirty-three people were initially managed by the crisis resolution teams and 15 of these were eventually admitted. Clinical implications: In a catchment area in which alternatives to admission are well developed, the admission rate for first-episode psychosis was still high.


Two studies focused on the reliability and validity of T.M. Singelis's 24-item Self-Construal Scale (SCS) (1994). In the first study, Cronbach alphas were calculated to assess the internal consistency of the reliability of the two subscales that were supposed to measure individuals' independent and interdependent self construals. The sample was composed of 421 students drawn from a Midwestern university. Results indicated that the scale had moderate internal consistency. In the second study, three types of validity were assessed. Construct validity was tested by using the above sample. Results of factor analysis suggest that about half of the items need to be revised, at least for this specific sample. A second sample of 184 students who had participated in Study 1 was drawn to assess the criterion-related validity. Concurrent validity and predictive validity failed to be established by correlating SCS with Triandis and Singelis's (1998) subjective individualism collectivism scale, and Kim, Sharkey, and Singelis's (1994) conversational constraints. Possible reasons, limitations, and implications are discussed. Future research should be directed at reexamining the items that have composed SCS. (Contains 4 tables of data and 26 references.) (Author/NKA) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 1 Running head: RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY TESTS OF SELF-CONSTRUAL SCALE Reliability and Validity Tests of Singelis's Self-Construal Scale (1994)


:- One hundred and sixty fingerlings with mean body weight 2.4g were fed 4 diets with crude protein (CP 40%) in which plantain peel meal (PPM) replaced maize meal at different treatment levels - 0%(T1), 10%(T2), 20%(T3) and 30%(T4) respectively in a Completely Randomize Design. The fish were fed 5% body weight daily for 56 days. Mean weight gained and length increase ranged between 2.31±0.08- 2.48±0.08 and 3.95cm and 4.41cm respectively. Highest and least survival rates were 995% (T1) and 87.5%(T4) while the fish fed diet T3 recorded better condition factor (1.12) in comparison to the others.There was no significant difference (P>0.05) between treatments with respect to all growth parameters. The relative feed cost recorded for respective treatment where, N180/kg (T1), N175.00/kg (T2), N160.00/kg T3 and N155.00/kg (T4). Thus the study has proven that plantain peel meal could serve as dietary supplement in Clariasgarieoinus feeding essentially at 20 % replacement level for maize meal.


Despite substantial advancements in development of cancer treatments, lack of standardized and physiologically-relevant in vitro testing platforms limit the rapid and early screening of anti-cancer agents. A major barrier in this endeavor, is the complex interplay between the tumor microenvironment and host immune response and lack of predictive biomarkers for clinical benefit. To tackle this challenge, we have developed a dynamic-flow based three-dimensionally (3D) bioprinted vascularized breast tumor model, responding to chemo and immunotherapeutic treatments. Heterotypic tumor spheroids, comprising metastatic breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231), human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs), precisely bioprinted at pre-defined distances from a perfused vasculature, exhibited tumor angiogenesis and cancer invasion. Proximally bioprinted tumors (∼100 μm) exhibited enhanced capillary sprouting, anastomosis to perfused vasculature and increased cancer cell migration as compared to distally bioprinted spheroids (∼500 μm). Proximally bioprinted tumors treated with varying dosages of doxorubicin for 72 h enabled functional analysis of drug response, wherein, tumors portrayed a dose-dependent drug response behavior with ∼70% decrease in tumor volume for 1 μM dose. Additionally, a cell based immune therapy approach was explored by perfusing HER2-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified CD8+ T cells for 24 or 72 h through the central vasculature. Extensive CAR-T cell recruitment to the endothelium and substantial T cell activation and infiltration in the tumor site, resulted in ∼70% reduction in tumor growth for high CAR treatment densities, after 72 h of treatment. The presented 3D model paves the way for a robust, precisely fabricated and physiologically-relevant 3D tumor microenvironment platform for future translation of anti-cancer therapies to personalized medicine for cancer patients. One Sentence Summary A physiologically-relevant 3D bioprinted perfusable vascularized tumor model capable of dynamic screening of chemo and immunotherapeutics.


Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with a hydroxy-functionalized semiconductor incorporated into a receptor layer were fabricated and shown to respond strongly to the analyte dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) that simulates phosphonate nerve agents. Large and reproducible source-drain current changes were observed upon exposure to DMMP vapor. Compared to single component transistors, OFETs with a mixed hydroxylated and nonhydroxylated semiconductor upper layer exhibited higher sensitivity. We further investigated the selectivity of the heterostructured OFETs by comparing responses upon exposure to different interference vapors with response to DMMP exposure. Much higher response was observed in the case of DMMP, even when the concentration of DMMP vapor was much lower than other analytes. Microstructures of OSC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), revealing that the organic mixture has similar crystal structure and surface morphology to those of single component OSC films, indicating that the enhanced performance of the mixture is due to its chemical properties, rather than microstructural effects.


The use of computer-aided learning (CAL) in medical education has grown considerably in recent years. CAL has a number of attractive educational features, and computer simulations have been shown to improve learning in health professions education. This paper describes the formative evaluation of a multimedia CAL simulation used in a third year ophthalmology clerkship. The CAL program combines the use of a Macintosh computer with a mannequin head, housing two motor driven camera diaphragms which simulate pupil response. This allows students to practice the "swinging flashlight test", an important clinical exam commonly used to detect visual dysfunction. Five questions are addressed in this study and the formative evaluation process is described. The highly positive results are then presented, with suggestions given for improvement followed by implications for future development.


The aim of this research was to discover the stances of individual elements as antecedents of mobile payment usage. Data was gathered by distributing a questionnaire, which in latter steps was analyzed quantitatively. This research collected 90 samples, of whom represented users of a mobile payment service in Indonesia. The collected dataset was statistically analyzed, by employing partial least square structural equational modelling (PLS-SEM), aided with SmartPLS3.0. The results showed that two types of individual factors, namely individual difference and behavioral belief played significant roles in shaping users' intention to use mobile payments. Individual differences, consisting of mobile payment knowledge and compatibility significantly influenced perceived ease of use. Behavioral belief, such as trust, was shown to significantly influenced perceived usefulness. Finally, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness concertedly affected mobile payment users' intention to use.


Intensification of inter-continental trade exchanges have favored the migration of plant pathogens over global scales on quiet short time frames. Implementation of efficient and durable strategies for management of plant bacterial diseases require to deep investigate pathways and circuits of dissemination, as well as evolutionary mechanisms involved in bacterial adaptation to a new host specie s or to a new resistant host. Whereas research has mostly focused on molecular plant-bacteria interactions, there is a huge need to fill the gap regarding bacterial ecology, pathogen evolutionary potential, and population dynamics allowing adaptation to host. To this aspect, Ralstonia soltmacearum, causing bacterial wilts on a huge range of species (more than 54 botanical families) over the tropical and subtropical belt, is a fascinating model. This species complex (RSSC) is composed of four phylotypes of different geographical origins (phylotype I from Asia, phylotype II from America, phylotype III from Africa, phylotype IV from Indonesia), within which have regularly appeared emerging Iineages of virulence variants. Notably, breeding for Solanaceae resistance to R.solanacearum has been hindered for decades by the scarcity of high level resistance sources, strong genotype x environment interactions, and the huge gellomic and phenotypic plasticity of the pathogen. Recently, the R.solanacearum x Solanaceae interactions were formalized into six virulence types, named pathoprofiles. The evolutionary dynamics within the R.solanacearum species complex (RSSC) was investigated using multi-locus sequence analysis (MLSA) on a worldwide collection. Recombination was found ubiquitous within the RSSC, but with contrasting recombination rates and demographic histories across phylotypes. Phylotype I (and, to a lesser extent, phylotype III) is highly recombinogenic, and carries molecular signatures of a recent and rapid demograhic expansion. Taken together, these findings strongly suggest that phylotypes display contrasting evolutionary potentials: highest within phylotype I, lowest within IIB. Given its worldwide prevalence, high virulence variability, and evolutionary potential, phylotype I thus may constitute the priority group to control. The ecological dynamics of phylotype I was thus further investigated using fast-evolving minisatellite (VNTR) markers, developed thank to genomic resources available at GENOSCOPE. Using the 26 VNTR loci identified, four phylotype-specific MLVA schemes were deigned. The phylotype I- specific 13 loci-MLVA scheme identified 11 clonal complexes (CC) within the global collection, among which seven were specific to Africa and five to Cote d'Ivoire. The CC06, prevalent in South-Africa, Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire, gathered highly virulent and aggressive strains, bypassing the main tomato and eggplant resistance sources, and whose putative avirulence type III effector repertoire was specifie. The promising prospects offered by MLV A typing for source tracing and monitoring population evolution to host resistance will be discussed. (Resume d'auteur)


Hydroclave is a recently introduced technique in the methods of sterilisation. It is a simple method that is affordable by most. This system uses steam to indirectly heat the vessel and dehydrate the waste that is fed into it. It has a variety of features. It has a higher and better degree of sterilisation. The holding time of this vessel is 15 minutes for a cycle. The advantages of using this Hydroclave is that it reduces waste by volume and size. The waste is reduced easily and hence it facilitates easy disposal. A systematic search strategy was employed and articles were found using keywords. Literature was taken from databases like PubMed and Google Scholar. Articles that discussed the newer techniques of sterilisation were included. Other articles which had data regarding Hydroclave, its benefits, structure and its applications were also included.  A total of about 70 articles were collected initially. Multiple articles were added later from other sources. After eliminating articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria, more than 30 studies were finally obtained to carry out the research.  This review summarized the use of Hydroclave for sterilisation. Other techniques, uses of Hydroclave, Process of sterilisation were also discussed in detail in this review article.


To explore the Fas and mdr-1 expression and their correlation in multidrug resistance (MDR), Fas and mdr-1 expressions of bone marrow from 59 patients with newly diagnosed AL before therapy and after complete remission were detected by direct immunofluorescence with flow cytometry and semi-quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. The results showed that in newly diagnosed AL patients, Fas expression in AML was higher than in ALL (P < 0.05), mdr-1 expression in AML and ALL had no difference (P > 0.05), the expressions of Fas and mdr-1 had correlation (r = -0.282, P < 0.05) in AL; the results of simple-variable and multivariable COX survival factor model analysis suggested that Fas and mdr-1 expressions were prognostic factors for the effect of therapy and survival. Log rank test, comparing the groups of Fas(+) with Fas(-), mdr-1(+) with mdr-1(-), demonstrated that the CR rates and median remission time of every two groups had significant difference. It is concluded that in AL, Fas and mdr-1 expressions have high correlation with the effect of treatment, Fas expression probably is one of the favorable prognostic factors, mdr-1 is an unfavorable prognostic and less effective factor.


Nowadays, cloud computing is growing daily and has been developed as an effective and flexible paradigm in solving large-scale problems. It has been known as an Internet-based computing model in which computing and virtual resources, such as services, applications, storage, servers, and networks, are shared among numerous cloud users. Since the number of cloud users and their requests are increasing rapidly, the loads on the cloud systems may be underloaded or overloaded. These situations cause different problems, such as high response time and power consumption. To handle the mentioned problems and improve the performance of cloud servers, load balancing methods have a significant impact. Generally, a load balancing method aims to detect under-loaded and overloaded nodes and balance the load among them. In the recent decade, this problem has attracted a lot of interest among researchers, and several solutions have been proposed. Considering the important role of fault-tolerant in load balancing algorithms, there is a lack of an organized and in-depth study in this field yet. This gap prompted us to provide the current study aimed to collect and review the available papers in the field of fault tolerance load balancing methods in cloud computing. The existing algorithms are divided into two categories, namely, centralized and distributed, and reviewed based on vital qualitative parameters, such as scalability, response time, reliability, availability, throughput, and overhead. In this regard, other criteria such as the type of detected faults and adopted simulation tools are taken into account.


This textbook provides graduate students with a thorough and up-to-date introduction to inflationary cosmology. Enormous progress has been made in this area in the last few years and this book is the first to provide a modern and unified overview. It covers all aspects of inflationary cosmology and carefully compares predictions with the latest observations, including those of the cosmic microwave background, the clustering and velocities of galaxies and the epoch of structure formation. Problems are included throughout to help the student to develop a thorough understanding. With the host of international experiments currently being performed and planned for the near future (including NASA's MAP satellite, and the European Space Agency's Planck mission), inflationary cosmology promises to be one of the most exciting and fruitful topics of research in science in the next decade. This book provides graduate students with the ideal introduction.


Introduction Use of the colonoscope magnetic imaging device (ScopeGuide®, Olympus) is currently contraindicated by the manufacturer for patients with implantable cardiac devices. This group of patients is increasing every year, as is the number of colonoscopies being performed. This is the first study which examines the safety of ScopeGuide® in patients with permanent pacemakers (PPMs), implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT). Methods Before any patient experiments, ex-vivo proof of concept studies were performed. Non-implanted devices were exposed to the electromagnetic field (EMF) of ScopeGuide® and monitoring demonstrated no evidence of interference or change in settings. Following this, ethical approval was obtained and consecutive patients attending device cheque clinics were prospectively recruited and exposed to ScopeGuide® EMF. After an initial device cheque, patients were attached to a device programmer and underwent continuous external cardiac monitoring. A colonoscope was placed curled on the abdomen over their clothing with patients lying supine to simulate the EMF generated during colonoscopy. The colonoscope was connected to ScopeGuide®. After 2 minutes of observation to assess for any interference, ScopeGuide® was disconnected and devices were checked for any change in settings. Results 143 patients were invited to participate and of these 70 were recruited to take part in the study (46 male, 24 females, mean age 68.5 years SD 10.3). Device type, indication and manufacturer are summarised in Table 1. No evidence of interference was seen on device leads nor was any change in programming detected following exposure to ScopeGuide® EMF in any patient. Abstract PTU-048 Table 1 Summary of baseline characteristics of recruited patients Sample Size M:F (total)Mean age (range, SD) 46:24 (70)68.5 (30–80, 10.3) Indications Complete heart block1o, 2o or trifasicular blockTachybradyarrythmiaSick sinus syndromeSinus bradycardiaDilated cardiomyopathyOthers (IHD, VT/VF, AF, Syncope) 12129541018 Device Type PPMICDCRT (Pace only : Defibrillator) 451411 (6:5) Manufacturer Boston ScientificMeditronicOther 31372 Conclusion The ScopeGuide® does not cause any interference or change in settings and appears to be safe to use in patients with implantable cardiac devices. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


As the exploitation of an open pit mine is evolving, the depth and therefore the distance traveled by the mine haul trucks increases. As a result, the operational cost of mining operation increases due to the higher consumption of fuel and tires. This work presents the evaluation of the performance of a truck fleet when using a trolley assistance system. A model of the trolley system is developed using an AFE converter, which in combination with the integrated electric-mechanical model of a mining truck, allows quantifying the production increase, fuel savings and net energy consumption during an up-down cycle of the truck. A set of evaluations are presented, first on idealized uphill and downhill routes, and then using the coordinates of a route of a copper mine located to the north of Chile. Results show a 44% increase in the upgrade speed, a 16% reduction of the travel time, and a fuel saving of over 85% on each up-down cycle. The tool developed allows evaluating the performance of a truck fleet in any mine facility, just knowing the coordinates of the mine routes and the models of the trucks.


Assisted by detailed bathymetric and bottom photographic coverage, a series of closely spaced samples of rock were taken by dredging along a traverse from the center of the Median Valley to the adjacent crest mountains on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The specimens show a gradation from tholeiitic to alkali basalts. Chemical variations, and the alkali content in particular, can be correlated with the depth of extrusion and with the topographic relationship of the volcanoes to the axis of the Median Valley.Although the basalts show considerable evidence of gravity-controlled crystal fractionation, the trends so established are evidently not responsible for alkali enrichment, but appear to be superimposed onto the more fundamental, continuous trend from tholeiitic to alkali basalts.


Privacy -- the protection of information from unauthorized disclosure -- is increasingly scarce on the Internet. The lack of privacy is particularly true for popular peer-to-peer data sharing applications such as BitTorrent where user behavior is easily monitored by third parties. Anonymizing overlays such as Tor and Freenet can improve user privacy, but only at a cost of substantially reduced performance. Most users are caught in the middle, unwilling to sacrifice either privacy or performance.
 In this paper, we explore a new design point in this tradeoff between privacy and performance. We describe the design and implementation of a new P2P data sharing protocol, called OneSwarm, that provides users much better privacy than BitTorrent and much better performance than Tor or Freenet. A key aspect of the OneSwarm design is that users have explicit configurable control over the amount of trust they place in peers and in the sharing model for their data: the same data can be shared publicly, anonymously, or with access control, with both trusted and untrusted peers. OneSwarm's novel lookup and transfer techniques yield a median factor of 3.4 improvement in download times relative to Tor and a factor of 6.9 improvement relative to Freenet. OneSwarm is publicly available and has been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of users since its release.


It has previously been suggested that pancreatic polypeptide (PP) might serve as an indicator of abdominal vagal tone in duodenal ulcer (DU) patients. In this investigation we have attempted to study the vagal tone on the PP cells by correcting the basal PP concentrations to the insulin-stimulated (maximal) and atropine-suppressed (minimal) PP responses, to correct for the PP cell mass. There was no statistically significant difference between either the directly measured basal PP concentrations or the basal PP concentrations correlated to maximal and minimal secretory capacity in 10 DU patients and 10 sex- and age-matched controls. The observations indicate that the vagal branches to the PP cells of DU patients do not have higher tone than those of normal subjects.


Sydney, June 23, 1951. I assume that Dr. Whlshaw did not have 'at his disposal a prothrombin activity assessment that took Into consideration the newly recognized accelerator substance, variously termed, according to methodology or terminology, Owren factor V, Quick's component A, accelerator globulin (Fantl and others), serum prothrombin conversion accelerator et cetera. The discovery of this fifth clotting factor In recent years "has offered a possible solution to some of the erratic results following dlcoumarol administration", and has rendered the derisive observation that there are more theories of blood coagulation than Investigators less pertinent and colourful. One gathers the Impression, as a result of a visit to Professor Owren. at Oslo, and subsequently through America, that anticoagulant therapy will not be on a secure basis without reference to the known amount of accelerator globulin; a patient with a low pro. thrombin and high accelerator globulin activity wlll be very suscepttble to dicoumarol, as shown by Olwin, Ware and Seegers In the two-stage method, which provides safer control of prothrombin 'during dicoumarol therapy. Ware now has adopted the prothrombin-free plasma method as practised by Owren and finds this control adequate. Marple and Irving Wright, of Cornell University, New York, use the Link-Shapiro method, a modification of Ql.1ick and it will be interesting to see if this renowned group revise their methods as time goes on. To quote again from Dr. Whishaw's paper : "A study of the prothrombin indices confirmed the fact that in some persons the action of dicoumarol was prolonged for a week or more after it had been discontinued," It has been noted by Olwin that accelerator globulin values fell during the early days of dicoumarol treatment and did not return to normal for some twenty-one days after, thus again pointing to the necessity of adding a measured amount of accelerator globulin in the assessment of prothrombin activity. It is therefore likely that the seemingly prolonged action of dicoumarol that Dr. Whishaw found was due to this factor. The occasion seems an appropriate one to ventilate this vexed question of the anticoagulant drugs in the treatment of coronary heart disease, and one is further prompted to do so after reading Dr. C. G. McDonald's Listerian Oration in the last issue of THE MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA, wherein he carries the torch so effectively for the doctor and his art. In these days of beneficent governments ever ready to open our purae-strmgs for pharmaceutical benefits, it is little short of a horror to refiect that expensive and dangerous drugs, such as heparin and dicoumarol, are available for general use. If, on the one hand they are used by the uninitiated in a dosage to be effe~tive it is comparable to handing the controls of an aeroplane i~ midair to a person who has never fiown before with an injunction to "Go ahead, it's all yours"; if, on the other hand, these drugs are used as a harmless gesture to placate and impress the patient and his friends, it is both craven and dishonest. Finally, given suitable laboratory control, the weight of evidence overseas is such as to suggest that the coronary ath~rosclerot~c with past or impending coronary occlusion is, m many Instances, benefited by the anticoagulant drugs.


Nine Pseudomonas strains, able to degrade polycycle aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), were isolated from enriched cultures with naphthalene, as carbon source, and soil samples from a land farming process applied on oil sludge, as inocula. Degradative tests showed that all the strains were capable to catabolize naphthalene (Nah) and phenanthrene (Phn). U2 strain transferred the selected function (Nah) to P. aeruginosa T1 (Hgr Oct+), however some of the transconjugants lost the Oct character, suggesting that it is of plasmidic nature. T1 derivatives as well the wild strains U28 and U31 transferred Nah function to P. putida AC165. All of the examined transconjugants also catabolized phenanthrene, suggesting that Nah and Phn functions in U2, U28, and U31 strains are linked and probably encoded by transferable plasmids.


We present a dual adaptive garment slice adjustment technique for automatic resizing of apparel products with variant body shapes, and this technique can quickly generate clothed characters. Our first contribution is to propose a novel fit evaluation method. When a 2D garment pattern and a 3D draped garment have the same triangle topology connection, we calculate the shape variable of each triangle and output heat map simultaneously. For sewing a pattern to a newly targeted human body, we propose a fully automatic adjustment method that conforms to the body structure and is composed of two stages. In the coarse auto adjustment (CAA) stage, we propose a method of controlling the size of a garment by the length of a bounding box in five parts of the human body. Then, the garment pattern is automatically adjusted using the measured dimension, by stretching or shrinking. In the fine auto adjustment (FAA) stage, boundary vertices control the shape in the adjustment process. For better matching with the body, the vertices of the garment pattern boundary are relocated with the calculated moving distance and moving direction. As demonstrated in the results, our method enables fully automatic adjustment, preserving the original pattern style of garments between characters with vastly body shapes. Compared with the state-of-art 2D editing method, our proposed approach leads to time saving, and it achieves realistic garment effect compared to auto fitting methods.


Assessing cognitive load on web search is useful for characterizing search system features and search tasks with respect to their demands on the searcher's mental effort. It is also helpful for examining how individual differences among searchers (e.g. cognitive abilities) affect the search process. We examined cognitive load from the perspective of primary and secondary task performance. A controlled web search study was conducted with 48 participants. The primary task performance components were found to be significantly related to both the objective and the subjective task difficulty. However, the relationship between objective and subjective task difficulty and the secondary task performance measures was weaker than expected. The results indicate that the dual-task approach needs to be used with caution.


Outdoor field storage of round-baled rice straw to suppress the cost of producing bio-ethanol from rice straw was investigated. Harvested rice straw was dried, collected, compressed and packed into round bales (rolls) by a round baler. Usually, the rolls are stored in a warehouse, or outdoors wrapped in a film coat. However, these storage costs push up the price of the bio-ethanol produced and reduce energy efficiency. To avoid this, outdoor field storage of rice straw rolls with or without film wrapping (wrapped rolls or non-wrapped rolls) was investigated in this study. The rolls were stored for about 9 months, from 19 December 2008 to 9 September 2009, taking into consideration the supply of rice straw for demonstrating a bio-ethanol pilot plant throughout the year. No significant increase of temperature in each roll was observed during the storage term, even though an increase was reported in previous studies. However, the straw should be stocked for other seasons, and it is important to grasp any problems during the storage period. In this study, no significant change was observed in the non-wrapped rolls throughout the term, suggesting that non-film wrapping round-baled rice straw can be stored in fields outdoors.


The study of fungal antibiotics in their competitive interactions with arthropods may lead to the development of novel biorational insecticides. Extracts of Alternaria tenuissima MFP253011 obtained using various methods showed a wide range of biological activities, including entomotoxic properties. Analysis of their composition and bioactivity allowed us to reveal several known mycotoxins and unidentified compounds that may be involved in the entomotoxic activity of the extracts. Among them, tenuazonic acid (TeA), which was the major component of the A. tenuissima extracts, was found the most likely to have larvicidal activity against Galleria mellonella. In the intrahaemocoel injection bioassay, TeA was toxic to G. mellonella and of Zophobas morio with an LT50 of 6 and 2 days, respectively, at the level of 50 µg/larva. Administered orally, TeA inhibited the growth of G. mellonella larvae and caused mortality of Acheta domesticus adults (LT50 7 days) at a concentration of 250 µg/g of feed. TeA showed weak contact intestinal activity against the two phytophages, Tetranychus urticae and Schizaphis graminum, causing 15% and 27% mortality at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, respectively. TeA was cytotoxic to the Sf9 cell line (IC50 25 µg/mL). Thus, model insects such as G. mellonella could be used for further toxicological characterization of TeA.


The forest sector is undergoing profound changes. The new perceptions of forests and forestry as complex soft systems; the changing roles of public, private sector and of civil society; the changing perceptions of the social, economic and environmental values of different types of forests; and the globalisation and commoditisation of many forest products and services. Society increasingly sees forests as  producers of public goods and not private commodities. These changes present both strategic and practical challenges, constraints and opportunities for forestry education. Forestry education will, both by necessity and design, continue to adapt to the changing technologies and practices relevant to society. Therefore, forestry graduates need to become more flexible, adaptable, and need to be proficient in communicative processes including interpersonal skills, experienced in procedures of integration, and committed to continuous learning. The important changes in forestry  education include the shift from teacher-to student-centred learning and rapid technological developments. If forestry education is to meet its new challenges, it needs to undergo deep transformation. This paper discusses the changing social perceptions and demands onto the forest sector and their implications to forestry education. It reflect on the current status of forestry education, and describes the drivers for change in the delivery of forest education in Uganda.


We inherently link miscarriages of justice with innocence. Yet the language of the term is not so restrictive, and implies that a broader definition can be contemplated, one encompassing all cases in which justice has not been done or carried. This article will begin by considering why the definition and application of the term is so problematic, followed by a conceptual and theoretical discussion of the term 'miscarriage of justice'. It will then look at why the change in Irish law occurred in 1993 with the passing of the Criminal Procedure Act, with a short overview of the new law. The focus will then turn to a substantive discussion of the case law on the issue, charting the evolution of the definition and difficulties that faced the judiciary. The article will conclude with a discussion supporting the approach of the Irish judiciary, arguing that it presents an important challenge to legal systems internationally.


The Spanish canned fruit and vegetable industry has had a strong export orientation since its beginnings at the end of the nineteenth century. A growing foreign demand, the constraints of the domestic market and the need to find outlets for large quantities of fruit and vegetables resulting from the modernisation of farming were behind this intense move towards an international focus. In this paper we seek to show what constituted the bases of the competitive advantage of the Spanish canning industry. Three main conclusions can be drawn from applying the theory of industrial clusters: the absolute advantage of costs (in salaries and in raw materials) obtained from the geographical concentration of the sector, which allowed businesses to offer highly competitive prices; knowledge sharing throughout the history of the industry; and the importance of state help.


SUMMARY: The characteristic dry powdery appearance of the aerial mycelium of actinomycetes and the difficulty of wetting the constituent spores appear to be due to lipid substances in their outer walls. These substances are removed by fat solvents, and wetting agents, destroyed by alkali and are probably glyceride in nature. A staining with Sudan IV in ethanol clearly distinguishes the lipid-containing aerial mycelium from the vegetative mycelium.


Subclinical depressive symptoms constitute a primary risk factor for major depression as well as for cardiovascular conditions, which may be mediated by endocrine or immune alterations. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the extent of subclinical depressive symptoms and neuroendocrine and immune cell responses to acute psychosocial stress in healthy females. In N = 33 healthy premenopausal women, state anxiety, plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone and serum cortisol, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration responses to public speaking stress were assessed. Beck depression inventory (BDI) scores were entered as a covariate in the analyses. The IL-6 response was significantly associated with BDI scores (p < 0.05). Secondary analyses revealed that women with more subclinical depressive symptoms demonstrated a reduced stress-induced increase in circulating IL-6 level (p < 0.05). By contrast, stress-induced neuroendocrine activation was not associated with depressive symptoms. Hence, subclinical depressive symptoms were associated with IL-6 responses to stress in young, healthy women. Unexpectedly, there was a reduced increase of serum IL-6 level in response to stress. Effects of depressive symptoms on the IL-6 response to stress may differ between subclinical and major depression.


ABSTRACT Starvation causes reductions in plasma leptin concentrations, but the physiologic impact of this observation had not been documented in the starved state. Here we discuss our recent work demonstrating that hypoleptinemia activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increasing white adipose tissue (WAT) lipolysis and mediating a shift from glucose to fat metabolism to maintain euglycemia in fasted rats.


Abstract. Geodiversity is recognized as one of the most important drivers of ecosystems characteristics and biodiversity globally. However, in the northern Neotropics, the contribution of highly diverse landscapes and geological history in structuring large-scale patterns of limnology and aquatic species associations remain poorly understood. We evaluate the interaction between geodiversity, limnology and freshwater ostracode assemblages to explore drivers of aquatic ecosystem structure from southern Mexico to Nicaragua. Cluster analysis based on geological, limnological, sedimentological and mineralogical characteristics of 76 aquatic ecosystems (karst, volcanic, tectonic) reveal two main limnological regions: (1) Karst terraces from the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Guatemala, and (2) volcanic terrains of the Guatemalan highlands, El Salvador and Honduras mid-elevations, and Nicaraguan lowlands. In addition, seven limnological subregions were recognized, attesting high limnological heterogeneity. Principal Component Analysis identifies water ionic and sediment composition as most influential for aquatic ecosystem classification and given their source of formation, we recognized geology as the fundamental determinant for large-scale limnological patterns. Multiparametric analyses based on biological data revealed that species association represent disjunct faunas. For instance, five species associations are closely related to limnological regions. Structural equation modelling reveals a strong influence of limnology and elevation on the biological composition, but geodiversity resulted in the most important driver. The confinement of species associations is attributed to regional lake geochemistry. We deduce a linear, continuous and primary influence of geodiversity for limnological structure, geochemical properties and aquatic biological composition in Lakes of the northern Neotropical region.


The HMIC Thematic Inspection "Leading from the front line" (2008) conducted a survey of over four thousand Police Sergeants and found that 59% did not feel prepared for the role.

This study develops their research. It surveys the existing literature on first line police leadership alongside primary research conducted with officers of Greater Manchester Police (GMP). The primary data is generated through an online questionnaire and a series of interviews with officers, both aspiring to and already performing the role of Sergeant.

The literature review identified a number of implications of the role from the differentials between transactional and transformational leadership, performance management, effective employee development, and the importance of selecting and promoting the right officers.

The primary research found a lack of understanding concerning the expectations of the Sergeant role, a lack of self development amongst Constables seeking promotion, and a lack of institutional support for individuals' career progression. Questions were also raised over the effectiveness of the Technical Skills course, currently taken by temporary Acting Sergeants.

The research findings were presented to the Chief Constable of GMP, Peter Fahy along with recommendations made on how Greater Manchester Police could ensure that the 808 Constables who are currently qualified for promotion are actually "ready for the next rank."


BACKGROUND Patients infected with the HIV may experience HIV-associated lipodystrophy, a symptom of which is facial lipoatrophy, a dramatic loss of subcutaneous facial tissue. This visible manifestation of HIV infection causes significant psychosocial pain for patients and has been associated with impaired compliance with medical regimens. OBJECTIVE To improve the appearance of facial lipoatrophy in a safe, long-lasting, expeditious, and relatively economical manner. METHODS An HIV-associated lipodystrophy patient with facial lipoatrophy underwent multiple sessions of soft-tissue augmentation therapy with liquid injectable silicone (LIS) using the microdroplet serial puncture technique. RESULTS Administration of LIS by the microdroplet serial puncture technique produced satisfactory improvement of areas of facial atrophy. The treatment time is limited, the patient discomfort and morbidity are minimal, and results are long lasting. Patients report significant satisfaction with treatment. CONCLUSION LIS administered by the microdroplet serial puncture technique is a safe and effective method for treating HIV-associated facial lipoatrophy and compares favorably with other methods of tissue augmentation.


Introduction: Oral candidiasis is the most common opportunistic infection of the oral cancer patients. Identification of Candida isolates and its susceptibility to antifungal agents will be helpful in the therapeutic management. Aim and Objective: To study the Genetic relatedness and antifungal susceptibility pattern of Candida isolates recovered from the oral cancer patients. Material and Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology at Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, U.P. & VarunArjun Medical College & Rohilkhand Hospital, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. A total of 377 oropharyngeal cancer patients were selected for the study. The study was conducted from 2019 to 2021. Oropharyngeal swab was cultured by semi-quantitative method on Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) and Hi-Chrome agar and followed by identification and Antifungal susceptibility test. The Molecular characterization of Candida albicans and non albicans Candida isolates was performed by DNA extraction and PCR. Results: Out of the 377 oropharyngeal cancer cases, 292 (78.8%) were males and 85 (21.2%) females. The male: female ratio was 3.4:1. Of the 377 oral cancer cases, 152 (40.3%) cases were culture positive for Candida species. 191 isolates were recovered from oral cavity of the cancer patients with oral candidiasis. Isolates included Candida albicans (n = 42, 22.0%), Candida tropicalis (n = 36, 18.8%), Candida parapsilosis (n = 34, 17.9%), Candida dubliniensis (n= 30, 15.7%), Candida krusei (n= 30, 15.7%), Candida glabrata (n = 19, 9. 9%). 142 (74.3%) isolates were susceptible to miconazole followed by Ketoconazole 112 (58.6%), and of and Itraconazole 111 (58.1 %). Conclusion: The decreased effectiveness of antifungal drugs is a serious issue, especially in cancer patients. Hence, addition to emphasis on topical use of Miconazole application in the first stage of oral candidiasis in patients, using alternative systemic drugs such as Ketoconazole and Itraconazole may prove fruitful.


Metasynthesis is an emergent technique to synthesize qualitative research findings. Besides conceptual and methodological controversies, methasynthesis has the potential to contribute for evidence-based practice. In the last decade, several publications addressed the relevance of this and other techniques to synthesize qualitative research findings. This paper presents a brief discussion of methasynthesis, including a description of each one of its steps.


OBJECTIVE
To demonstrate whether considerable valuable cellular material remains on the sampling device after a conventional cervical cytologic smear and to investigate whether evidence of cervical disease may be present on the sampling device but missed because it is not represented on the first slide.

STUDY DESIGN
Routine cervical cytologic smear material was taken from 60 women who were attending the colposcopy or gynecologic oncology clinic at New England Medical Center. At the time of the colposcopic examination, a cervical scrape was made using a Cytobrush followed by a Cervex brush. After the smear was made from each device, the sampling devices were also used to make four additional slides. Both the Cytobrush and Cervex brush were applied to each slide.

RESULTS
Cytologically, all five slides were satisfactory for screening in the 60 cases. In all diagnostic cases but one, disease was well represented across all five slides.

CONCLUSION
Cellular material collected in a cervical scrape is sufficient to prepare at least five satisfactory smears. The one case where an abnormality was detected only on the third slide suggests the possibility of nonrandom subsampling and of discarding the majority of the cellular material from the patient.


Musical performances are frequently used in peacebuilding initiatives. Can performing music together indeed change interpersonal and intergroup perceptions of the other as the enemy? Using contact theory for our theoretical framework, we hypothesize that the specific mechanism of listening during active music making helps to establish the positive effects of intergroup contact. Additionally, we explore to what extent participants become peace facilitators when returning to their home environments. In two small-scale studies we find preliminary support for active listening as a mechanism of trust-enhancing contact. However, this effect mainly surfaces in unstructured encounters within the larger organized structure, like late-night chamber music jam sessions. Repeated participation builds the necessary trust for a new common ingroup. Because participation is mostly driven by career and performance motivations, we argue that peacebuilding through musical performances may help overcome the common selection bias in research on contact theory.


A wideband, wide-scan prototype phased array of connected dipoles has been manufactured and tested from 3 to 5 GHz. The array comprises 7 × 7 elements, each fed by a loop-shaped transformer to avoid common-mode resonances. Such resonances typically affect this type of arrays, with consequent degradation of the polarization performance. The common-mode rejection implemented by the loop transformers allows to maintain the cross-polarization levels to values lower than -10 dBs over a 30% relative bandwidth, for elevation angle up to 45° in all azimuth planes. The array exhibits a measured voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR) lower than 2.5 from 3 to 5 GHz for broadside radiation.


The study of loanwords, and of language contact more generally, is a useful tool in tracing encounters and exchanges between different communities in the past. Loanwords often come in sets related to specific semantic fields, illustrating the nature of exchanged goods and ideas, as well as the nature of contacts between those communities, for instance, economic exchanges or political dominance. Examples include the adoption of new crops and subsistence techniques, in both ancient and recent periods, and the strong Arabic influence in multiple domains on the Swahili language. Loanwords are but one outcome of language contact. More intense contacts can lead to structural borrowing; to convergence between nonaffiliated languages, resulting in linguistic areas; and to language shift. The languages of so-called pygmy hunter-gatherers are a notorious example of people abandoning their own language in favor of a new one.
 To identify loanwords and to distinguish them from inherited vocabulary, it is necessary to apply the comparative linguistic method. Irregular sound correspondences and morphological traits, and a continuous distribution across linguistic boundaries are indicative of borrowing. The possibility of semantic analysis and the presence of cognates in related languages may confirm the identity of the donor language. The identification of loanwords suffers from a few drawbacks, however. Some sounds have not changed for centuries or even millennia, preventing the distinction between loans and inherited words. Or loanwords may have become integrated in the phoneme inventory of the recipient language, giving the impression of regular sound correspondences. But even if loans can be recognized as such, the donor language cannot always be traced. Finally, it must be said that the study of loanwords attains the best results when it is based on well-annotated data, with detailed semantic description and a list of regular sound correspondences and adequate classification at hand.


The public–private initiative Data Observatory Foundation was created to make large databases, such as those of astronomical observatories, available to expand and transfer of so-called "data-centric tasks" to various domains and thereby boost the development of the digital economy, data science and artificial intelligence in the country. However, in this article, we argue that data-centric initiatives like the Data Observatory Foundation may prove to be defuturing or enacting exhausted futures that reproduce the historical extractivism and coloniality of power in Latin America. Through a qualitative case study, we analyze the narrative and economic technologies of justification deployed by the Data Observatory Foundation to justify the value of its data and the organization itself. We discuss how the narratives and economic relationships developed by the Data Observatory Foundation manifest national wounds and technological dependency that enact a data-centric coloniality. Whether by attempting to define data as the copper of the future or establishing cloud computing credits as new salary tokens in the development of artificial intelligence, the Data Observatory Foundation reproduces past mentalities within innovation circuits. Rather than replicating futures based on modern colonial extractivist logics, we propose expanding possible engagements with data and speculating alternative designs.


The multifunctionality and the advantages of thermal plasma for the fast inactivation of viable
cells and degradation of organic compounds dissolved in waste water are presented. A complete
bacterial inactivation process was observed and studied using a thermal plasma treatment source
with very short application times, in particular for Staphylococcus aureus bundle spore survival.
The survival curves and analyses of the experimental data of the initial and final densities of S.
aureus bacteria show a dramatic inhibitory effect of the plasma discharge on the residual bacteria
survival ratio. As the exposure time increased, the inactivation process rate increased for direct
exposure more than it did for indirect exposure. The evaluation of direct and indirect exposure
was based on the analysis of the ultraviolet spectrum from the absorbance spectra of the organic
compound dye called benzene sulfonate (C16H11N2NaO4S) and of viable cells called S. aureus.
Organic compounds were degraded and viable cells were killed in a short time by thermal
plasma. Moreover, analyses of total carbon, total organic carbon, and total inorganic carbon
showed a fast decrease in organically bound carbon, however, this was not as fast as the
absorbance spectra revealed by the exposure time increasing more for direct exposure than
indirect exposure. After 100 s of exposure to the organic compound dye the removal had a
maximun of 40% for samples with indirect exposure to the plasma and a maximum of 90% for
samples with the direct exposure. For both samples, where some organic contaminants still
remained in treated water, four electrolytes (KCl, NaCl, Na2SO4, and CH3COONa) were added
to be effective for complete sterilization, reaching a purity of 100%. A proposal is made for an
optimized thermal plasma water purification system (TPWPS) to improve fast inactivation of
microbes and the degradation of organic compounds dissolved in water (especially for direct
exposure rather than indirect exposure) using a hybrid plasma torch with an electrical power of
125 kW (500 V–250 A) producing a high-temperature (10 000 K–19 000 K) plasma jet with a
maximum gas consumption of 28 mg s−1.