To determine whether patients given prescriptions for acetaminophen-containing narcotic analgesics receive appropriate discharge instructions to reduce their intake of or stop taking other acetaminophen-containing products, we evaluated discharge instructions given by an urban, tertiary-care emergency department from September 1 to September 18, 2001 to find patients discharged while taking narcotic-analgesic compounds containing acetaminophen. We evaluated these discharge instructions to determine whether they included instructions to reduce or discontinue the use of acetaminophen compounds. Among the 1,505 discharge instructions evaluated, we found that 108 patients were discharged with a narcotic-analgesic combination product containing acetaminophen. Of these 108 patients, none of those given a prescription for such an acetaminophen-containing product was instructed to reduce or discontinue the use of other acetaminophen products. Emergency physicians, during the specified study period, did not explain to their patients the need to reduce the use of other acetaminophen-containing products when prescribing acetaminophen-containing medications. Further inquiry into this potentially dangerous activity is warranted.


This paper presents results of a research on psychological connection between 40 offered colors and 91 terms from everyday life. Similar researches have been conducted and published in a number of instances in domestic and foreign bibliography, but this research has certain particularities that are not often present in other articles. For one thing, colors whose associativity with certain terms is being analyzed are shown in a table, their name and code in the RGB system of color marking are provided. Colors were not merely described, e.g. blue, green, yellow, etc., as it may be confusing or lead to misinterpretation of answers since there are many degrees of blue color, for example. In the second part of the poll, the subjects answered the Ishihara test, in order to check the ability to correctly interpret the colors. The third specific is triple visual interpretation of received results using colored graphs.


Lists of thematically related words were presented to participants with or without a concurrent task. In Experiments 1 and 2, respectively, English or Spanish word lists were either low or high in concreteness (concrete vs abstract words) and were presented, respectively, auditorily or visually for study. The addition of a concurrent visual or auditory task, respectively, substantially reduced correct recall and doubled the frequency of false memory reports (nonstudied critical or theme words). Divided attention was interpreted as having reduced the opportunity for participants to monitor successfully their elicitations of critical associates. Comparisons of concrete and abstract lists revealed significantly more recalls of false memories for abstract than concrete word lists. Comparisons between two levels of attention, two levels of word concreteness, and two presentation modalities failed to support the "more is less" effect by which enhanced correct recall is accompanied by increased frequencies of false memories.


Deacetoxycephalosporin C synthase (DAOCS) is a nonheme iron(II) and 2-oxoglutarate (α-KG)-dependent oxygenase that catalyzes the oxidative ring expansion of penicillin N (penN) to deacetoxycephalosporin C (DAOC). Earlier reported crystal structures of DAOCS indicated that the substrate penicillin binds at the same site of succinate, leading to the proposal of the unusual "ping-pong" mechanism. However, more recent data provided evidence of the formation of ternary DAOCS·α-KG·penN complex, and thus DAOCS should follow the usual consensus mechanism of α-KG-dependent nonheme iron(II) oxygenases. Nevertheless, how DAOCS catalyzes the ring expansion is unknown. In this paper, on the basis of the crystal structure, we constructed two reactant models and performed a series of combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations to illuminate the catalysis of DAOCS. The binding mode of substrate was found to be crucial in determining which hydrogen atom in two methyl groups is first abstracted and whether the second H-abstraction to be abstracted in the final desaturation step locates in a suitable orientation. The highly reactive FeIV-oxo species prefers to abstract a hydrogen atom from one of two methyl groups in penN to trigger the ring arrangement. After the H-abstraction, the generated methylene radical intermediate can easily initiate the ring arrangement. First, the C-S bond cleaves to generate a thiyl radical, which is in concert with the formation of the terminal C═C double bond; the newly generated thiyl radical then rapidly shifts to the more stable tertiary C atom to complete ring expansion. In the final step, the FeIII-OH species abstracts the second hydrogen to give the desaturated DAOC product. During the catalysis, no active site residue is directly involved in the chemistry, which implies that the other pocket residues except the coordinate ones with iron play a role only in anchoring the substrate.


Critical embedded systems - e.g., automotive systems - are now commonly distributed, thus exposing their communication links to attackers. The design of those systems shall therefore handle new security threats whilst maintaining a high level of safety. To address that issue, the paper introduces a SysML-based environment named AVATAR. AVATAR can capture both safety and security related elements in the same SysML model. TTool [1], an open-source UML toolkit, provides AVATAR editing capabilities, and offers a press-button approach for property proof. Indeed, after having modeled an abstract representation of the system and given a description of the safety and security properties, the designer may formally and directly verify those properties with the well established UPPAAL and ProVerif toolkits, respectively. The applicability of our approach is highlighted with a realistic embedded automotive system taken from an ongoing joint project of academia and industry called EVITA [2].


Diets are described containing 5 and 7% of l-leucine which cause severe growth retardation of rats for a period of up to 14 days. These diets are more convenient for a study of the mechanism of the growth depression than the diet containing 3% of l-leucine described previously (i). Appetite was depressed in proportion to leucine concentration of the diet. Growth retardation of rats fed a diet containing 5% of l-leucine was almost completely overcome by the addition of isoleucine and valine, and as little as 0.16% of l-isoleucine + 0.15% of L-valine were as effective as much higher concentrations. The growth-retarding action of an excess of dietary l-leucine has been demonstrated with a diet in which the protein was replaced by an amino acid mixture, suggesting that the site of antagonism is not in some phase of protein digestion. No effect of excess of dietary leucine on the over-all nitrogen absorption, on nitrogen retention, or on the rate of gastric emptying was observed. Injections of insulin counteracted the appetite-depressing effect of excess leucine in some rats. When the food intake of these rats increased, they grew more rapidly indicating that a high intake of leucine per se is not toxic.


We describe two patients with stapes fixation, in both of whom Rosen mobilization seemed to be the most prudent surgical choice. In both cases, a useful hearing gain was achieved initially. In the patient with otosclerosis, the conductive hearing loss recurred and a stapedectomy was subsequently carried out. In the patient with congenital stapes fixation, the hearing gain was maintained for two years eight months. We believe that this technique still has a place in stapes surgery in rare instances.


The accuracy of timing across a seismic network is important for locating earthquakes as well as studies that use phase-arrival information (e.g., tomography). The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) was designed with the goal of having reported timing be better than 10 ms. In this work, we provide a brief overview of how timing is kept across the GSN and discuss how clock-quality metrics are embedded in Standard for Exchange of Earthquake Data records. Specifically, blockette 1001 contains the timing-quality field, which can be used to identify time periods when poor clock quality could compromise timing accuracy. To verify the timing across the GSN, we compare cross-correlation lags between collocated sensors from 1 January 2000 to 1 January 2020. We find that the mean error is less than 10 ms, with much of the difference likely coming from the method or uncertainty in the phase response of the instruments. This indicates that timing across the GSN is potentially better than 10 ms. We conclude that unless clock quality is compromised (as indicated in blockette 1001), GSN data's timing accuracy should be suitable for most current seismological applications that require 10 ms accuracy. To assist users, the GSN network operators have implemented a "gsn_timing" metric available via the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Data Management Center that helps users identify data with substandard timing accuracy (the 10 ms design goal of the GSN).


Objectives The assessment of situation awareness (SA), team performance and task performance in a simulation training session requires reliable and feasible measurement techniques. The objectives of this study were to test the Airways–Breathing–Circulation–Disability–Exposure (ABCDE) checklist and the Team Emergency Assessment Measure (TEAM) for inter-rater reliability, as well as the application of Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) for feasibility and internal consistency. Design Methodological approach. Setting Data collection during team training using full-scale simulation at a university clinical training centre. The video-recorded scenarios were rated independently by four raters. Participants 55 medical students aged 22–40 years in their fourth year of medical studies, during the clerkship in anaesthesiology and critical care medicine, formed 23 different teams. All students answered the SAGAT questionnaires, and of these students, 24 answered the follow-up postsimulation questionnaire (PSQ). TEAM and ABCDE were scored by four professionals. Measures The ABCDE and TEAM were tested for inter-rater reliability. The feasibility of SAGAT was tested using PSQ. SAGAT was tested for internal consistency both at an individual level (SAGAT) and a team level (Team Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (TSAGAT)). Results The intraclass correlation was 0.54/0.83 (single/average measurements) for TEAM and 0.55/0.83 for ABCDE. According to the PSQ, the items in SAGAT were rated as relevant to the scenario by 96% of the participants. Cronbach's alpha for SAGAT/TSAGAT for the two scenarios was 0.80/0.83 vs 0.62/0.76, and normed χ² was 1.72 vs 1.62. Conclusion Task performance, team performance and SA could be purposefully measured, and the reliability of the measurements was good.


Airborne Molecular Contamination (AMC) can cause serious impact on semiconductor manufacturing process. AMC source must be found and removed immediately once AMC level is detected high. Due to the complicated airflow circulation and contamination dispersion, the current methodology to detect the leak source for AMC removal is not effective. In the new approach, the inverse modeling methodology developed by adjoint equation is utilized through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. It makes the quick identification of leak source possible, and thus quick responses can be made to remove the contamination. We verify the methodology successfully on a 2D cleanroom model.


Invasive infections due to Group A Streptococcus (GAS) advance rapidly causing tissue degradation and unregulated inflammation. Neutrophils are the primary immune cells that respond to GAS. The neutrophil response to GAS was characterised in response to two M1T1 isolates; 5448 and animal passaged variant 5448AP. Neutrophil co-incubation with 5448AP allowed proliferation of GAS while it also lowered the production of reactive oxygen species by neutrophils when compared with 5448. Infection with both strains invoked neutrophil death, however apoptosis was reduced in response to 5448AP. Both strains induced neutrophil caspase-1 activation and caspase-4 expression in vitro, with caspase-1 activation detected in vivo. Thus, GAS infection of neutrophils corresponds to increased caspase-1 activity and caspase-4 expression, consistent with inflammasome activation and pyroptosis. GAS infections that promote an inflammatory neutrophil phenotype may contribute to increased inflammation yet ineffective bacterial eradication, contributing to the speed and severity of invasive GAS infections.


A cellular automata model is proposed to simulate the pedestrian evacuation behavior in a room with multiple exits by considering the surrounding pedestrian density related to current cell based on the direction. The numerical results show that the pedestrian density and the radius of visual area are two important factors in an evacuation which can affect the evacuation times apparently. It is found that blindly constant choosing the direction with smaller pedestrian density may lead to an increase of evacuation time.


The disappearance of the mushy region in a multidimensional one-phase Stefan problem is discussed. In the case of a piecewise-smooth boundary of the domain and bounded initial-boundary data, sufficient conditions for the disappearance of the mushy zone in a finite time are presented. For a C -smooth boundary and appropriately smooth boundary data both necessary and sufficient conditions for the mush to vanish are obtained. Possible behaviors of the transient phase for a twodimensional solution near a corner point of the domain are also investigated.


Lindqvist, C. 2010. T Regulatory Cells – Friends or Foes? Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 576. 63 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-554-7843-8. T regulatory cells (Tregs) have been extensively studied in patients with cancer or autoimmunity. These cells hamper the immune system's ability to clear tumor cells in cancer patients. In autoimmune diseases, on the other hand, they are not able to restrain autoreactive immune responses. If we manage to understand Tregs and their role in health and diseases we may be able to develop better immunomodulatory therapies. Early studies demonstrated that tolerance was maintained by a subset of CD25 T-cells. CD25 was the earliest marker for Tregs and is still often used to define these cells. Several Tregassociated markers have been suggested throughout the years. However, these markers can be upregulated by activated T-cells as well. The most specific marker for Tregs is currently the transcription factor forkhead box P3 (FoxP3). In this thesis, we investigated the presence of CD25 Tregs in patients with B-cell malignancies and in patients with autoimmunity. These cells were identified in both patient groups. Further, patients with B-cell malignancies often have high levels of soluble CD25 (sCD25) in the periphery. In our patient cohorts, the level of peripheral Tregs correlated with the level of sCD25 in patients with lymphoma. Tregs were shown to release sCD25 in vitro and sCD25 had a suppressive effect on T-cell proliferation. These data show that Tregs may release CD25 to hamper T-cell proliferation and that this may be an immune escape mechanism in cancer patients. Previous studies have demonstrated that an increased infiltration of FoxP3 cells into lymphoma-affected lymph nodes is associated with a better patient outcome. This is in contrast to studies from non-hematological cancers where an increased presence of Tregs is associated with a poor prognosis. Since previous studies have shown that Tregs are able to kill B-cells, we wanted to investigate if Tregs are cytotoxic in patients with B-cell tumors. In the subsequent studies, Tregs from patients with B-cell lymphoma and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were phenotyped to investigate the presence of cytotoxic markers on these cells. FoxP3expressing T-cells from both patients with CLL and B-cell lymphoma displayed signs of cytotoxicity by upregulation of FasL and the degranulation marker CD107a. Tregs from CLL patients could further kill their autologous B-cells in in vitro cultures. Taken together the studies in this thesis have demonstrated two possible new functions of Tregs in patients with B-cell malignancies and the presence of CD25 Tregs in both cancer and autoimmunity.


Abstract. Sediment transport in mountain rivers and torrents is a substantial process within the assessment of flood related hazard potential and vulnerability in alpine catchments. Focusing on fluvial transport processes, river bed erosion and deposition considerably affects the extent of inundation. The present work deals with scenario-specific bed-load transport modelling in a large alpine valley in the Austrian Alps. A routing scheme founding on empirical equations for the calculation of transport capacities, incipient motion conditions and drag forces is set up and applied to the case study area for two historic flood events. The required hydraulic data result from a distributed hydrological-1-D-hydraulic model. Hydraulics and bed-load transport are simulated sequentially providing a technically well-founded and feasible methodology for the estimation of bed-load transport rates during flood events.


Contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) was first characterised over 60 years ago and defined as the behaviour of a cell to cease its continued migration in the same direction upon a collision with another cell. It has been implicated in multiple developmental processes including the precise dispersion of haemocytes and the directional migration of the cranial neural crest. In addition its absence has been linked to metastasis in cancer. Although many molecular mechanisms have recently been implicated in CIL, the role of cell-matrix adhesions (CMAs) during this process remains unknown. It has been hypothesised that cellular forces play an important role in CIL; however the role of traction forces generated via CMAs and intercellular tension during CIL is unclear. In this present study neural crest cells are used to elucidate the role and regulation of CMAs during CIL. The findings presented here demonstrate a rapid disassembly of CMAs near the cell-cell contact between colliding cells. This disassembly is shown to be dependent upon the formation of N-cadherin based cellcell adhesions and driven by Src and FAK kinase activity. Furthermore this rapid disassembly of CMAs during CIL leads to a redistribution of intercellular forces from the substrate to the cell-cell contact and is essential to drive cell-cell separation after a collision.


This article aims to analyze the treatment that Brazilian researchers have given to the theme: internationalization of higher education. The research used articles available on the Portal de Periódicos of the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES). The study sought to link the analysis of the context of the planetary era to the inequalities between Western Europe and underdeveloped countries. The research undertaken here showed, among other things, that the internationalization between non-hegemonic countries and developed countries has been seen as a unilateral transference, rather than as solidary cooperation, and it points to the need for an international curricular project and critical and dialogic propositions, within a context in which diversity is delineated as a universal project.


Bestrophin (BEST1–4 in humans) channels are ligand gated chloride (Cl−) channels that are activated by calcium (Ca2+). Mutations in BEST1 cause retinal degenerative diseases. Partly because these channels have no sequence or structural similarity to other ion channels, the molecular mechanisms underlying gating are unknown. Here, we present a series of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of chicken BEST1, determined at 3.1 Å resolution or better, that represent the principal gating states of the channel. Unlike other channels, opening of the pore is due to the repositioning of tethered pore-lining helices within a surrounding protein shell that dramatically widens a "neck" of the pore through a concertina of amino acid rearrangements within the protein core. The neck serves as both the activation and the inactivation gate. The binding of Ca2+ to a cytosolic domain instigates pore opening and the structures reveal that, unlike voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels, similar molecular rearrangements are responsible for inactivation and deactivation. A single aperture within the 95 Å-long opened pore separates the cytosol from the extracellular milieu and controls anion permeability. The studies define the basis for Ca2+-activated Cl− channel function and reveal a new molecular paradigm for gating in ligand-gated ion channels.


M. Cazenave, V. Audard and J.P. Bertocchio, and P Bartolucci and M. Courbebaisse equally contributed to this work
 Introduction: Metabolic acidosis is encountered in 42% of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) (Maurel S, Clin J Am Soc Nephrol, 2014) but the pathophysiological processes remain largely unknown.
 Patients and methods: We conducted a monocentric observational study including SCD patients, at steady state (>1 month of a vaso occlusive crisis and >3 months of a transfusion), with and without overt metabolic acidosis [HCO3-]<22 mmol/l and glomerular filtration rate estimated by CKD-EPI (eGFR)>60 ml/min/1.73 m2 The urinary acidification test was achieved by oral administration of furosemide and fludrocortisone, increasing distal tubular Na+ delivery, Na+ reabsorption via principal cells and H+ secretion via α-intercalated cells (Walsh SB, Kidney Int, 2007). An abnormal test was identified by a failure to lower urinary pH <5.3 and/or to increase urinary NH4+ excretion rate ≥33 µEq/min at least once within 6 hours.
 Results: We evaluated 13 SCD patients with metabolic acidosis (4 males, 40.0 years [33.0-44.0], eGFR=114.0 ml/min/1,73m2 [95.0-126.0]) and 12 SCD patients without overt metabolic acidosis (4 males, 29.5 years [24,0.0-37.3], eGFR=128.5 ml/min/1,73m2 [124.8-140.0]).
 During the test, among overt metabolic acidosis patients, urinary pH remained ≥5.3 in 7 patients and urinary NH4+ excretion remained <33 µEq/min in 9 patients. Only one patient had a normal test. In the control group, all of patients except one had a normal test. Maximum urinary NH4+ excretion was positively associated with fasting urine osmolality (r2 = 0.34, p=0.002).
 Regarding hemolysis parameters, patients with overt metabolic acidosis had lower hemoglobin (7.7 [6.8-8.7] vs 9.2 [8.9-9.4] g/dl, p=0.02), higher lactate dehydrogenase (492 [455-636] vs 327 [256-458] IU/l, p=0.01) and a higher average red blood cell density (1.097 [1.096-1.097] vs 1.092 [1.091-1.094], p<0.01).
 Discussion: Our study shows that SCD patients with overt metabolic acidosis have a defect in renal acidification process. The positive association between NH4+ excretion and fasting urine osmolality suggests that this metabolic acidosis is likely due to an impaired NH4+availability, probably secondary to the medullary ischemia seen in some SCD patients. This is supported by the fact that SCD patients with metabolic acidosis have a haematological phenotype of hyperhemolysis. Contrary to previous reports (Goossens JP, Clin Chim Act, 1972; Oster JR, Arch Intern Med, 1976), our results highlight that SCD patients with plasma bicarbonate within the normal range are not likely to exert incomplete tubular metabolic acidosis. Conclusion: In SCD patients, metabolic acidosis is related to a renal acidification defect, itself linked to the severity of hemolysis.

 Bartolucci: Addmedica: Research Funding; Novartis US: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; GBT: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Fondation Fabre: Research Funding.


This paper examines the roles and significance of the viva in the doctoral examination process. More specifically, it addresses the following question-what purposes does the viva serve in the PhD assessment process? Discussion focuses upon (1) the roles of the viva as delineated within university policy; and (2) the purposes of the viva from the perspectives of examiners, supervisors and doctoral candidates. The findings suggest that, whether viewed in terms of institutional statements, or in terms of the perspectives of academics or candidates, there is no consensus regarding the roles of the viva in the PhD examination process. Moreover, our research reveals that there are inconsistencies and contradictions concerning the purposes of the viva, both at the levels of policy and practice.


In this paper, we propose an innovative channel coding scheme called accumulate-repeat-accumulate (ARA) codes. This class of codes can be viewed as serial turbo-like codes or as a subclass of low-density parity check (LDPC) codes, and they have a projected graph or protograph representation; this allows for high-speed iterative decoding implementation using belief propagation. An ARA code can be viewed as precoded repeat accumulate (RA) code with puncturing or as precoded irregular repeat accumulate (IRA) code, where simply an accumulator is chosen as the precoder. The amount of performance improvement due to the precoder will be called precoding gain. Using density evolution on their associated protographs, we find some rate-1/2 ARA codes, with a maximum variable node degree of 5 for which a minimum bit SNR as low as 0.08 dB from channel capacity threshold is achieved as the block size goes to infinity. Such a low threshold cannot be achieved by RA, IRA, or unstructured irregular LDPC codes with the same constraint on the maximum variable node degree. Furthermore, by puncturing the inner accumulator, we can construct families of higher rate ARA codes with thresholds that stay close to their respective channel capacity thresholds uniformly. Iterative decoding simulation results are provided and compared with turbo codes. In addition to iterative decoding analysis, we analyzed the performance of ARA codes with maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding. By obtaining the weight distribution of these codes and through existing tightest bounds we have shown that the ML SNR threshold of ARA codes also approaches very closely to that of random codes. These codes have better interleaving gain than turbo codes


Methyl chloride (MeCl) and methyl bromide (MeBr) have similar target organ specificities in the male F-344 rat, and MeCl is a known reproductive toxicant in that species. Recently, both acute and subchronic inhalation exposures to MeBr were found to produce varying degrees of testicular alteration (S.L. Eustis, S.B. Haber, R.T. Drew, and R.S.H. Yang, 1986, Toxicologist, 6, 54; N. Kato, S. Morinobu, and S. Ishizu, 1986, Ind. Health, 24, 87-103; M.E. Hurtt, K.T. Morgan, and P.K. Working, 1987, Fundam. Appl. Toxicol., 9, 352-365). The present study examined the reproductive effects of MeBr in the male F-344 rat. Adult males (11-13 weeks) were exposed by inhalation to 0 or 200 ppm MeBr 6 hr/day for 5 days (first day of exposure = Day 1). Ten animals from each group were anesthetized with pentobarbital and terminated on Days 1, 3, 5, and 8. Additionally, five males from each group were killed on Days 6, 10, 17, 24, 38, 52, and 73. Plasma testosterone concentration was reduced during and immediately following exposure (Days 1, 3, 5, and 6), but returned to control levels by Day 8. Nonprotein sulfhydryl (NPSH) content of the liver and testis was reduced during exposure but returned to control levels by Day 8 (3 days postexposure). No other reproductive indices, including testis weight, daily sperm production, cauda epididymal sperm count, sperm morphology, percentage motile sperm, linear sperm velocity, and epididymal and testicular histology, were affected by MeBr exposure at any time point examined. Thus, although MeBr causes a transient decrease in plasma testosterone and testicular NPSH concentrations during acute exposure, it has no lasting effect on sperm quality or spermatogenesis in the F-344 rat.


The implementation of closed loop control systems is an important field for the exploitation of embedded real-time computer systems. One can find a particularly interesting class of closed loop control applications within vehicle dynamics control. For example, within automotive electronics engineering we refer to drive-by-wire control systems as an automotive class of applications where there are no mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic physical connections between the steering wheel, pedals, wheels and engine control. We commonly refer to such solutions as control-by-wire applications. Control objects in ground vehicles such as passenger cars and railway cars are in most cases physically distributed. A distributed computer system solution therefore becomes an intuitive choice for the computer control. When inherent redundancy is then present due to the distribution of the control system, the objective becomes to take full advantage from it. This avoids introducing excessive redundancy for fault-tolerance, thus giving a cost-efficient implementation.
In this thesis, we present a fault-tolerant computer architecture suitable for critical distributed control. Based on the architecture, we further propose a computer-based brake-by-wire control system where the design alternatives are heavily restricted by cost-efficiency requirements. The thesis gives a novel approach to the implementation of cost efficient dependable electronic systems. The basic ideas of taking advantage of application inherennt redundancy are adopted in a non-complex hardware device. Simulation of the device has shown suitability for intended purposes. The resulting overhead of complexity introduced by this device has been analysed; cost and performance has been estimated.
The demands put upon the real-time communication system are significant for emerging distributed control applications. The paradigm of distributed information processing adopted within distributed control has an important impact on the underlying communication system. We start with identifying requirements on the communication network from a control system point of view. Then, we outline a research platform for evaluation of communication protocols.
Recent real-time communication protocols support both event-triggered and time-triggered communication. Thus, we may anticipate hybrid scheduling methods for future engineering needs. Therefore, we discuss valid criteria for practical usefulness of contemporary real-time communication protocols. We identify methods for timing analysis and scheduling of communication between nodes in critical systems.


Objectives: This study aims to characterize at the molecular level the genes encoding resistance in Salmonella and explain the molecular mechanisms underlying resistance to ceftriaxone, cefepime, amoxicillin-clavulanate, tetracycline, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, colistin and azithromycin in Salmonella. It aims as well to characterize the 16S rRNA gene region by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) to investigate if this region constitutes an appropriate 'coincidental' marker to distinguish important pathogenic Salmonella species. Finally, determine the lineages of Salmonella species and evolutionary relationships among bacteria classified within the same genus. Methodology: 246 Salmonella isolates were collected from children under 16 years old during Jan. 2018 - Dec 2019, presented with gastroenteritis at Hamad Medical Corporation. Isolates were tested for antibiotic susceptibility against nineteen relevant antibiotics using E-test. Isolates that harbor antibiotic resistance were confirmed using PCR specific primers for 38 genes. In addition, the variable region of class 1 and 2 integrons were identified by PCR among amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMC) resistant samples. RFLP targeting16S rRNAwas performed using seven restriction enzymes including AluI, Bgl I, Bgl II, EcoR I, SmaI, Hinf I & Hae III. Results: Resistance was detected against 15 antibiotics and (38.2%) of isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Overall, high resistance was reported to tetracycline (23.9%), ampicillin (21.1%), AMC (18.7%) and sulfamethoxazoletrimethoprim (13%). Further, 22.4% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR), with 4.1% being ESBL producers. 90 % of ESBL producers had one of bla CTX-M-Group. Class (1) AMC resistant samples showed the highest resistance to different antibiotics. 16S rRNA-RFLP analysis divided Salmonella isolates into two main groups. Conclusion: Our results indicate a high antimicrobial resistance pattern of Salmonella, which necessities the development of regulatory programs to combats antimicrobial resistance. In particular, our results showed high resistance to Class (1) AMC cassette that involves the transmission and expression of the resistance. This might lead to a concern of increased multidrug resistance in the future. This study provides evidence guidance to activate and implement the pillars of an antimicrobial stewardship program in animal and human health to reduce MDR salmonellosis.


This paper deals with using Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) as a powerful tool in estimate of parameters and states of six-phase induction motor (6PIM). The speed-sensorless field-oriented control of 6PIM supplying by SVPWM is used to estimate of parameters in parameter variations. The EKF algorithm estimate stator flux, stator current, and stator resistance by measurement of stator currents of inverter. The estimation algorithms based on the stator fluxes is tested under load variations in the high velocity. The simulation results presented in this paper explain the performance of proposed method in the six-phase induction machine drive.


Introduction: A modern technique for elemental analysis of biological samples is laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). This technique is based on emission of excited atoms, ions, and molecules in plasma produced by focusing a high power laser pulses on sample surface. Because of several advantages of LIBS including little or no sample preparation; minimally invasive; fast analysis time and very easy to use, in this study, this method was used for investigating the mineral content of fingernails. As the trace element of nail can be changed by several pathological, physiological, and environmental factors, we analyze the human fingernails to evaluate the possibility of thyroidism diagnosis. Method: A Q-switched Neodymium-Doped Yttrium Aluminium Garnet (Nd:YAG) laser operating at wavelength of 1064 nm, pulse energy of 50 mJ/pulse, repetition rate of 10 Hz and pulse duration of 6 ns was used in this analysis. Measurements were done on 28 fingernails belonging to 5 hypothyroid, 2 hyperthyroid and 21 normal subjects. For classification of samples into different groups based on thyroid status, a discriminant function analysis (DFA) was used to discriminate among normal and thyroidism groups. Results: The elements detected in fingernails with the present system were: Al, C, Ca, Fe, H, K, Mg, N, Na, O, Si, Sr, Ti as well as CN molecule. Classification in two groups of normal and patient subjects and also in three groups of normal, hyperthyroid and hypothyroid subjects shows that 100% of original grouped cases were correctly classified. So, efficient discrimination among these groups is demonstrated. Conclusion: It is shown that laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) could be a possible technique for the analysis of nail and therefore identification of health problems.


Parkinson's disease is marked by altered and increased firing characteristics of pathological oscillations in the brain. In other words, it causes abnormal synchronous oscillations and suppression during neurological processing. In order to examine and regulate the synchronization and pathological oscillations in motor circuits, deep brain stimulators (DBS) are used. Although machine learning methods have been applied for the investigation of oscillations in DBS, these models require large amounts of training data and computational power, both of which pose challenges to resource-constrained DBS. This research proposes a novel reinforcement learning (RL) framework for suppressing the synchronization in neuronal activity during episodes of neurological disorders with less power consumption. The proposed RL algorithm comprises an ensemble of a temporal representation of stimuli and a twin-delayed deep deterministic (TD3) policy gradient algorithm. We quantify the stability of the proposed framework to noise and reduced synchrony using RL for three pathological signaling regimes: regular, chaotic, and bursting, and further eliminate the undesirable oscillations. Furthermore, performance metrics such as evaluation rewards, energy supplied to the ensemble, and the mean point of convergence were used and compared to other RL algorithms, namely the Advantage Actor Critic (A2C), the Actor Critic with Kronecker-Featured Trust Region (ACKTR), and the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO).


The ichnogenus Protovirgudaria McCoy, 1850 is reported from nonmarine strata of the Cretaceous Jinju Formation of the Sacheon area, Korea. There, the Jinju Formation is composed mainly of fme-grained sandstone, grey to brownish grey mudstone, and shale which were deposited in a freshwater lacustrine environment. This occurrence represents the first formal recording of the ichnotaxon from Korea and the first, on a global basis, from a nonmarine depositional environment.


Future mobile communication systems will benefit from a significant degree of self-organization. Self-Organization (SON) methods have become one of the hot topics in wireless networks; these methods are a promising concept to automate the planning, deployment and optimization of radio access networks. In Self-Organizing Networks (SON), load balancing has been recognized as an effective means to increase network performance. In this paper, we present a framework for self-optimizing next generation mobile networks, such as 3G LTE. A load balancing algorithm based on automatic adjustment of handover thresholds in an LTE network is discussed.


The direct oxidative cleavage of activated alkynes via hydroamination has been described using organic photocatalyst under visible-light irradiation at room temperature. In this reaction, the single electron oxidation of an in situ formed enamine followed by radical coupling with an oxidant finally delivers the oxamate. The key features of this photocatalytic reaction are the mild reaction conditions, metal-free organic dye as a photocatalyst, and TBHP playing a dual role as "O" source and for the regeneration of the photocatalyst.


ABSTRACT Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although immunotherapy is used as first-line treatment for advanced HCC, the impact of NASH on anticancer immunity is only partially characterized. We assessed the tumor-specific T cell immune response in the context of NASH. In a mouse model of NASH, we observed an expansion of the CD44+CXCR6+PD-1+CD8+ T cells in the liver. After intra-hepatic injection of RIL-175-LV-OVA-GFP HCC cells, NASH mice had a higher percentage of peripheral OVA-specific CD8+ T cells than control mice, but these cells did not prevent HCC growth. In the tumor, the expression of PD-1 on OVA-specific CD44+CXCR6+CD8+ cells was higher in NASH mice suggesting lowered immune activity. Treating mice with an anti-CD122 antibody, which reduced the number of CXCR6+PD-1+ cells, we restored OVA-specific CD8 activity, and reduced HCC growth compared to untreated NASH mice. Human dataset confirmed that NASH-affected livers, NASH tissues adjacent to HCC and HCC in patients with NASH exhibited gene expression patterns supporting mouse observations. Our findings demonstrate the immune system fails to prevent HCC growth in NASH, primarily linked to a higher representation of CD44+CXCR6+PD-1+CD8+ T cells. Treatment with an anti-CD122 antibody reduces the number of these cells and prevents HCC growth.


The existence and movement of diasporas across the world significantly challenge the existing legal norms on citizenship and migration. The responses from law-makers from the origin countries vary. Most European, Latin America and African countries adopt dual citizenship laws. However, most countries in Asia-Pacific region, including Indonesia, do not favour dual citizenship. This is mostly because of the ideological perception of citizenship. In this sense, many countries grant special status or schemes to their diaspora (neither citizens nor residents of the country) in the form of an external quasi-citizenship based on ethnic descent, called "ethnizenship" by Bauböck.This article, drawing on on-going research, compares the Indonesian experience with that of two other countries that have adopted quasi-citizenship schemes. India and South Korea have been chosen for comparison since both countries have particular statutes that recognise and regulate diaspora status. India created the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card scheme in 1998 and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card scheme in 2003. These two schemes merged in 2015 into the Overseas Citizens of India Card Holder (OCC) scheme through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2015. While India adopts a regulatory model of diaspora through a citizenship law regime, the South Korean experience showsa different attitude towards their diaspora. The Korean Government has refused the Korean diaspora's proposal for dual citizenship and created a semi-citizenship called "Overseas Korean" status through immigration law. This article discusses the Indian and South Korean experiences dealing with their diaspora in order to propose a regulatory model for Indonesia's diaspora.


The study determined the abundance and distribution of phytoplankton flora of an impoundment in the Agricultural Teaching and Research Farm of ObafemiAwolowo University (O.A.U), Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The study was carried out over an annual cycle from September 2006- August 2007, Phytoplankton and water samples were collected monthly from three sampling stations by filtering 50 litres of water through a phytoplankton net of 45μm mesh size to a concentrate volume of about 30ml preserved in 5% formalin solution. The phytoplankton were viewed under a compound light microscope at both scanning power (x40) and low power (x100), measured with an ocular micrometer drawn to scale, counted and later identified using various phytoplankton identification keys on Nigerian freshwaters. The results showed that one hundred and fifteen species of phytoplankton belonging to five divisions, seven classes, nineteen orders, forty seven families and eighty three genera were recorded. The predominant genera in terms of occurrence and abundance were members of the green algae (Division Chlorophyta) and included Tetradesmus, Ulotrix, Tetraspora, Protosiphon, Chlorella, Closteriopsis and Pediastrum . Phytoplankton occurrence and abundance were slightly higher in the rainy season (600±350) than in the dry season (533±186) (f= 0.918, p= 0.05). The highest values were recorded at the surface stations of the lake. It was concluded that the water body was comparatively rich in phytoplankton flora. Also the occurrence of some species in the water body such as scenedesmus , stauraastum , Tetradesmus , Ulotrix , Tetraspora and Pediastrum species suggested a high level of primary productivity and a non-polluted lake that was oligotrophic to moderately eutrophic. Keywords: Phytoplankton, composition, distribution, abundance


The paper deals with design and simulation analysis of the switched-mode power supply suited for high-end audio systems within automotive applications. As the focus is given on specific requirements, which are needed within the automotive segment, low voltage input must be considered. The presented approach describes design of the main circuit topology and its parameters. Key operational characteristics are very high-efficiency demand and very high-power density. The performance of proposed design is condition by high-current operation, thus thermal management is key indicator related to requirements on high-efficiency operation. Secondary features of proposed converter must consider high-end demands on audio systems, which are fast dynamics to load change and low noise of output voltage. Almost switched-mode power supplies are defined by high noise of the output voltage, presented approach proposes also solution how to overcome these negative issues.


Amylocystis lapponica (Romell) Singer is a widely distributed wood-decaying polypore fungus found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Despite its huge distribution range it occurs rather patchily and seems narrowly associated with old-growth forest stands. Notably, it has been used as an 'indicator species', believed to reflect the long-term presence of dead wood, naturalness of forest stands, and indirectly, species richness and possibly composition. In this study we focused on the last issue – whether or not there is a link between the occurrence of A. lapponica and the species richness and composition of other wood-decaying fungi. Selecting log characteristics and microclimate as similar as possible, we compared 12 logs with and 12 logs without visible fruit bodies of A. lapponica to examine: 1) if visible fruit bodies corresponded with molecular identification of the mycelia, 2) if fungal species richness and composition of the substrate were related to A. lapponica occurrence, and 3) if A. lapponica was restricted to certain parts of the log. Fungal species were recorded by inspecting visible fruit bodies and by culture isolation and ITS sequencing from wood disc samples. Laboratory and field identification of A. lapponica had 71% correspondence, and mycelia were identified in two logs without visible fruit bodies. Twice as many fungal species were detected using ITS sequencing compared to fruit body identification. Total species richness was similar between the two log categories, but number of species per log was slightly higher in A. lapponica logs. Antrodia serialis (Fr.) Donk, and possibly also Fomitopsis pinicola (Sw.:Fr.) P. Karst. and Phellinus nigrolimitatus (Romell) Bourdot & Galzin, occurred more frequently in A. lapponica logs. Mycelia of A. lapponica were restricted to less decayed parts of the wood in the centre of the middle part of the logs.


Larix sibirica Ledeb is a frost-hardy tree species (50-70 cm tall) which belong to genus of Larix, and family of Pinaceae Lindl. Our objective was to generate plantlets from zygote embryos of larch tree (Larix sibirica Ledeb) in in vitro condition. Convenient in vitro culture for Larix sibirica.Ldb for shoot formation was MSGm with 2 mg/L BAP, 1 mg/L 2.4-D g/L activated carbon. Root was formatted on MSGm with 1 mg/L BAP, 2 mg/L 2.4-D g/L activated carbon.


Background Treat-to-target strategies with achievement of clinical remission within 6 months minimize radiographic progression and physical impairment in RA.(1) The preferred target, ACR/EULAR Boolean remission criteria, was developed to optimize a combination of radiographic and functional outcome.(2) However, clinical remission does not exclude subclinical inflammation, associated with progression of radiographic damage.(3) Objectives Our aim was to assess the association between definitions of remission at six months, including absence of ultrasound inflammation, and future absence of joint damage and physical disability. Methods DMARD-naïve RA patients with <2 years since first swollen joint and indication for DMARD treatment were included in the treat-to-target ARCTIC trial.(4) Patients followed with ultrasound (treatment target DAS <1.6 + SJC44=0 + no PD signal in 32 joints) were analyzed. We assessed remission at 6 months according to the following criteria: DAS-ESR, DAS28-ESR, SDAI, CDAI, ACR/EULAR Boolean remission (based on 44 joints), no swollen joints (SJC44), no ultrasound PD signal in any joint (0–96), and minimal greyscale (GS) score (GS ≤2, 0–96). Radiographs were scored by two readers using van der Heijde-Sharp score, with no radiographic progression defined as <1 unit change between 12–24 months based on the average score of the readers. We defined good outcome as a combination of no radiographic progression and physical function (PROMIS) ≥ median of the general population.(2) Odds ratios of reaching both outcomes were calculated according to various remission states at 6 months. Results Of the 103 patients included, 74% were female, mean [SD] age 51.4 [12.9], disease duration 6.7 [5.3] months, DAS 3.5 [1.1] and PROMIS 39 [8]. Median [25th, 75th percentile] radiographic progression 12–24 months was 0.49 [0.0, 1.03], and 71% had no progression. DAS remission was achieved by 59% at the 6-month visit, while 42% were in ACR/EULAR Boolean remission. Patients in ACR/EULAR Boolean remission had significantly higher odds ratio of no radiographic progression from 12–24 month than patients not in Boolean remission, as had patients with no PD signal or minimal GS findings (fig). Being in remission at six months according to each composite score separately or ACR/EULAR Boolean remission (OR 7.52, CI 3.06 –18.49) predicted a good outcome, while criteria based on ultrasound or no swollen joints did not (fig). No statistically significant association was found between remission according to composite scores and radiographic progression (Fig). Conclusions Our data show that being in ACR/EULAR Boolean remission after six months of treat-to-target therapy increases both the odds of no radiographic progression and good physical function, supporting current recommendations stating that ACR/EULAR remission should be the preferred treatment target in early RA.(1) Additionally, our analyses support that absence of ultrasound inflammation is associated with no future radiographic progression. References Smolen JS, et al. ARD. 2016;75:3–15. Felson DT, et al. ARD. 2011;70:404–13. D'Agostino M, et al. ARD. 2016;75:1902–1908. Haavardsholm E, et al. BMJ. 2016;354:i4205. Disclosure of Interest N. Sundlisater: None declared, A.-B. Aga: None declared, I. Olsen: None declared, H. Hammer Consultant for: AbbVie, Pfizer, BMS, Roche, UCB, T. Uhlig: None declared, D. van der Heijde: None declared, T. Kvien: None declared, S. Lillegraven: None declared, E. Haavardsholm Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Pfizer, MSD, Roche, UCB


We investigated the biological effects of the magnetic field produced in the superconducting Maglev system environment, such as the extremely low frequency intermittent pulsed magnetic field (LFIP-MF) that is generated along the guideway when a Maglev train passes. We observed no evidence of any biological effects from exposure to the Maglev system's LFIP-MF in "in vivo" long-term exposure experiments using AKR/JSea mice, in " in vitro" short-term exposure experiments as bacterial mutation assay, a yeast mutation assay or an analysis of global gene expression profiles in yeast. These results suggest that the Maglev system's environmental LFIP-MF does not have any health/biological effects that would need to be considered as part of an environmental assessment.


Introduction. With the growing number of females employed as factory workers, it is important to look into the phenomenon of burnout and related organizational climate affecting these workers.
Objectives. The study's objectives were: 1) to come up with the indices of burnout among Filipino female factory workers and; 2) to come up with indices of organizational climate components of job autonomy, the content of the job, and nature of management through exploratory factor analysis.
Methods. The secondary data used for this study were from a cross-sectional study involving 344 female factory workers. The indicators of the organizational climate were derived through exploratory factor analysis of items in the dataset. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to reduce the variables into a fewer set of "Component Variables." The technique explored the relationship of each indicator and then grouped them according to which component they were highly correlated. Using the factor loadings as weights, the index score was generated. The organizational climate indices were derived from the factor loading scores. Burnout Score was derived from respondents' answers on nine items relating to burnout. The organizational climate indexes were also generated using factor analysis with these components- job autonomy, content of the job, and nature of management. Cronbach alpha was generated for all the items under each index to show the internal consistency and scale reliability.
Results. There were 344 female respondents with a mean age of 26 (SD=5.02), and the majority were single (69.21%). Nine items were measured with the lowest average response "work is boring" (0.259 ± .560) for burnout indices. The highest mean answer for the item "work requires new skills or upskilling regularly" at 1.619 ± .762, suggesting that most respondents were required to upskill regularly. "Salary is not enough to meet worker's needs" also has a high average response, suggesting that most respondents felt that their salary was insufficient to sustain their daily needs. The total burnout score indicates that workers experienced moderate burnout. The indices for burnout have good internal consistency and scale reliability (Cronbach alpha= 0.712). The organizational climate was grouped into Indexes through factor analysis, namely, Autonomy on Quality Index, Autonomy on Rest Index, Skilled work content Index, Physical work content Index, Hazardous work content Index, Health, Safety, and Compensation Index, and Training Index. Autonomy on Quality Index has a mean of 66.877 ± 31.934, suggesting that the autonomy on quality for respondents was moderately high, while Autonomy on Rest Index was 24.159 ± 30.788, suggesting that respondents have low autonomy on rest. The skilled work content index was high at an average of 70.801 ± 22.87, while physical work content and hazardous work content index were low at 29.398 and 25.377, respectively. Health, Safety, and Compensation index average was very low at 8.891 ± 8.524.
Conclusion. This study came up with indices of burnout unique to female factory workers. The indexes were boredom/boring work, repetitious tasks, fast-paced work, work pressure, not sufficient compensation, work-home conflicts, upskilling, physically tiring, mentally tiring, and salary is not sufficient to meet basic needs. This study also came up with the indexes of organizational climate relating to job autonomy, content of job, and nature of management. The several items under each of these components were subjected to Factor Analysis to come up with indexes of organizational climate. Thus, the contribution of this study is coming up with a burnout index unique to the Filipino factory worker, not just based on subjective expert opinion, but data-driven and statistically derived.


A green and efficient method was developed for upgrading furfural to 1,10-decanediol diacetate and 1-decanol acetate. 92% yield of the acetates was obtained through the tandem benzoin condensation and hydrodeoxygenation reaction. During the benzoin condensation, furfural was catalyzed into furoin in a quantitative yield by the immobilized NHC catalyst under solvent-free conditions. After dissolving the furoin intermediate in acetic acid, the Sc(OTf)3 and Pd/C catalytic system was introduced for hydrodeoxygenation. The effects of reaction factors have been investigated in detail and the hydrodeoxygenation process has been explored by 1H-NMR and GC-MS.


A large batch PECVD system has been developed in order to deposit a-Si/a-SiGe and a-Si/muc-Si solar cell on 20 pieces of SnO2-coated glass with the area of 0.8 m2. Newly designed electrode has been used in order to achieve uniform muc-Si film on 0.8 m2. Beside muc-Si nlayer, p(muc-SiO) has been used in the p-layer of the bottom cell in order to increase the module performance. Alcohol flush has been used in order to minimize the boron contamination. Furthermore, ZnO/Ag back electrode has been used instead of ZnO/Al electrode. Up to now, initial module efficiency of more than 6.5% and 7% have been achieved with a-SiO/a-Si/a-SiGe and a-Si/muc-Si cell structure.


This study was intended to evaluated fat concentration of catfish surimi prepared by different washing methods. Catfish were teken from fish pond culture in Pekanbaru. The fish were filleted, ground and the mince was grouped into three parts which washed respectively in cold water without salt, cold water + 0,3% saltfor 30 minutes and without soaking. The fish then was pressed; and the surimi was evaluated for fat, protein, TVB, pH and yield. The result showed that the fat of surimi washed in cold water without salt has the best quality. Fat concentration for the surimi washed in cold water without salt, cold water + 0,3% salt and without washing was 5,138%, 5,794%, 6,454% respectively. Protein TVB, pH and yield for surimi washed in cold water without salt were 14,186%, 11,52 mgN/100g, 6,798 and 25,01% respectively; for surimi washed in cold water + 0,3% salt were 13,93%, 9,28 mgN/100g, 6,848 and 23,17% respectively; and for surimi without washed were 15,846%, 16,64 mgN/100g, 6,848 and 28,72% respectively. Keywords: Surimi, Fat, Reduction, Cold water, Salt


Abstract Regulation of the epigenome is a mechanism by which the environment influences gene expression and consequently the health of the individual. The advent and refinement of novel assisted reproductive technology (ART) laboratory techniques, including vitrification, dynamic culture systems, oocyte in vitro maturation, laser-assisted hatching, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy have contributed to the success of ART. From fertilization through implantation, the epigenetic profile of the embryo changes dynamically. Concurrently with these changes, embryo development in vitro is dependent on laboratory intervention and manipulation to optimize outcomes. The impact of ART techniques on imprinting errors remains unclear, as the infertile population likely confers an independent risk factor for defects in expected epigenetic patterns. Alternations in epigenetic mechanisms may contribute to the incidence of aneuploidy as well as recurrent implantation failure of euploid embryos. Additional investigative efforts are needed to assess the contribution of oocyte and embryo manipulation on imprinting modifications in this vulnerable population. The development of diagnostic modalities involving the discovery of epigenetic alterations to improve in vitro fertilization outcomes is an exciting and promising area of future study.


Abstract Decomposition of litter and soil organic matter are controlled by temperature, water availability, substrate quality, and soil microbial activities. How the decomposition process and soil microbial communities interact is, however, not well understood. Therefore, litter decomposition rates were studied in situ in comparable soil units, predominantly Luvisols, at three locations in northern, central, and southern Germany and abiotic factors and microbial characteristics were concurrently investigated at four times. The ash-free mass of Triticum, Secale, and Lolium litter remaining after 180 d of field exposure in litter bags was 68, 50, and 15% respectively. For Lolium litter, the highest decomposition rate occurred at the central German site. In contrast, the refractory Secale and Triticum litter was decomposed more rapidly at the northern and southern site where inorganic N was fertilised and plants with N2 symbiosis were predominant respectively. Rapidly degrading Lolium litter was extensively colonised by microorganisms at the early stages, by successively decreased. When looking at the whole investigation period, the microbial properties in the litter did frequently not differ significantly between the locations. However, the interactions determined between decomposition time, litter type and location indicated that microbial characteristics including metabolic-responsive biomass, carbon availability index, metabolic, and respiratory quotient varied site-specifically dependent litter quality. The refractory Titicum litter was most rapidly degraded in the microbiologically active soil, in contrast to N-rich Lolium litter.


Unlike conventional utility grids, microgrids comprise generators, storage devices and loads at all levels of the system. Power generation, distribution and consumption levels are not discrete and power flow may occur at any direction. At any point in time, microgrid may be disconnected from the utility grid and continue its operation under islanding conditions. Furthermore, some microgrids may have changing structures with alternative paths and the coupling point for a device or a part of the microgrid may change due to the altering conditions. Considering all of these challenges, it is required to develop a new protection concept/scheme for a safe and secure operation. Maintaining proper selective operation of relays in these new systems and new dynamic microgrid structures is also a challenge in itself. This requires monitoring the connections and updating time delays of the relays to ensure the desired protection hierarchy in the system. In this paper, a microgrid system is modeled according to the graph theory where the components are represented as nodes. Dijkstra's algorithm, which is famous for shortest-path calculation purposes, is run over the microgrid to determine the relay hierarchy at any point in time. In this manner, regardless of the dynamic changes occurring in the system the hierarchy of network components can be extracted. The implemented algorithm not only ensures proper selective operation under fault conditions but also facilitates the introduction of new connections and new devices to the system. Since the relay hierarchy is detected automatically, even with new connections, this algorithm serves for plug-and-play concepts in electrical networks.


This paper presents a case study to examine the affinity of the code review process among young developers in an academic setting. Code review is indispensable considering the positive outcomes it generates. However, it is not an individual activity and requires substantial interaction among stakeholders, deliverance, and acceptance of feedback, timely actions upon feedback as well as the ability to agree on a solution in the wake of diverse viewpoints. Young developers in a classroom setting provide a clear picture of the potential favourable and problematic areas of the code review process. Their feedback suggests that the process has been well received with some points to better the process. This paper can be used as guidelines to perform code reviews in the classroom.


We describe a case of a giant conjunctival nevus presented in a 12-year-old girl with suspicious clinicomorphological appearance. The lesion was noticed by the parents at the age of 3 years as a "fleshy spot" on the bulbar conjunctiva. The lesion remained unchanged until approx. 6 months before recent admission. On slit-lamp examination, a large conjunctival lesion with variegate pigmentation and indistinct margins was detected on the superonasal part of the bulbar conjunctiva of the left eye. Intralesional cysts and vessels were detected with AS-OCT examination. Wide excision and cryotherapy to the scleral bed were performed and amniotic membrane graft was used to restore the ocular surface. Histopathological examination revealed compound type conjunctival nevus and disclosed any sign of malignancy. Although giant conjunctival nevus is a rare entity, precise diagnosis and adequate management are very important as it can be confused with malignant melanoma.


In this study, monthly average values of BOD, COD, and TOC observed for 10 years (2008–2017) in the Nam River were estimated, and monthly variations of BOD, COD, and TOC were analyzed. Monthly average COD was always higher than monthly average BOD; monthly average TOC was high from June to September when rainfall was high. Monthly correlation coefficients between BOD and COD ranged from 0.57 to 0.94, those between BOD and TOC from 0.45 to 0.93, and those between COD and TOC from 0.75 to 0.93. The correlation coefficients were high from November to February when rainfall was low. Regression analyses for monthly average water quality data of the Nam River classified into dry season (October to April) and wet season (May to September) were conducted. Correlation coefficients were higher in the dry season than those in the wet season, and the determination coefficients of linear regression functions for BOD and COD with TOC were also higher in the dry season than those in the wet season. From this study, it can be concluded that it is appropriate to use monthly data to analyze the correlations among BOD, COD, and TOC in the stream. To analyze the relationship between TOC flowing into the stream and BOD/COD, it was found that seasonal characteristics should be considered.


The pharmacokinetic aspects in humans of macrolide antibiotics that are currently or soon to be on the market (i.e. erythromycin, oleandomycin, spiramycin, josamycin, midecamycin, miocamycin, rosaramycin, roxithromycin and azithromycin) are reviewed. Macrolide antibiotics are basic compounds, poorly soluble in water, which are mostly absorbed in the alkaline intestinal environment. They are acid unstable, but the newer semisynthetic derivatives (i.e. roxithromycin and azithromycin) are characterised by increased stability under acidic conditions. Macrolides are highly liposoluble and consequently penetrate well into tissue, especially bronchial secretions, prostatic tissue, middle ear exudates and bone tissues, as evidenced by tissue/serum concentration ratios greater than 1. They do not penetrate well into the CSF. Macrolides undergo extensive biotransformation in the liver. With a few exceptions (e.g. miocamycin), the metabolites of these drugs are characterised by little or no antimicrobial activity. Plasma protein binding is variable from one compound to another. At therapeutic concentrations, protein-bound erythromycin accounts for 80 to 90% of the total drug present in the blood, and the fraction is 95% for roxithromycin. The lowest values of protein-bound fraction are observed for midecamycin and josamycin (about 15%), and intermediate values are reported for spiramycin and miocamycin. However, the clinical relevance of this parameter is not clearly established. Plasma half-life (t1/2) values vary for the macrolides described: erythromycin, oleandomycin, josamycin and miocamycin have a t1/2 ranging from 1 to 2 hours; spiramycin, erythromycin stearate, the mercaptosuccinate salt of propionyl erythromycin and rosaramicin have an intermediate t1/2 (about 7, 6.5, 5 and 4.5 hours, respectively); the newer semisynthetic compounds roxithromycin and azithromycin are characterised by high t1/2 values (i.e. 11 and 41 hours, respectively). Under normal conditions, the major route of elimination is the liver. Renal elimination also takes place but it contributes to total clearance only to a small degree, as evidenced by low renal clearance values. The degree of modification of macrolide pharmacokinetics by renal insufficiency or hepatic disease is usually not considered clinically relevant, and no recommendation for dose modification is necessary in these patients. The pharmacokinetics of macrolides are modified in elderly patients. Accordingly, their use must be accompanied by a closer than usual clinical monitoring of the older patient.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Because of a mutation of the gene allowing the synthesis of the Neu5Gc form of neuraminidic acid, humans lack the Neu5Gc present in other mammals and develop anti-Neu5Gc. However, humans can absorb dietary Neu5Gc and normal colon epithelium displays minute amounts of Neu5Gc. The potential "physiological" formation of in situ immune complexes has been proposed as a risk factor for colon cancer and as the link between red meat-rich diet and colon carcinoma. In this article, we took advantage of evidence that polyclonal rabbit IgG (ATG) elicits an immune response against Neu5Gc and we consulted a large data base of allograft recipients treated or not with animal-derived IgG to discuss this hypothesis. Based on data from 173,960 and 38,505 patients without and with ATG induction, respectively, we found no evidence that exposure to higher levels of anti-Neu5Gc is associated with a higher incidence of colon carcinoma.


The first part of this thesis deals with the theoretical approaches to development and a discussion of the dilemma facing the policy makers in choosing the best approach to the Third World. I then offer examples from South Africa and India which support the premise of economic prosperity versus ethical concerns. Lastly, the ramifications for women affected by Third World Development are presented with an emphasis upon the disruptive influences of advanced capitalist countries in their attempt to modernize technology and promote industrialization. The complexity of societal implications is explored from economic and political to social and cultural concerns.


In the last years the existence of freak waves has been affirmed by observations, registrations and severe accidents. Many publications investigated the occurrence of extreme waves, their characteristics and their impact on offshore structures, but their formation process is still under discussion. One of the famous real world registration is the so called "New Year Wave", recorded in the North Sea at the Draupner jacket platform on January 1st, 1995. Since there is only a single point registration available, it is not possible to draw conclusions on the spatial development in front of and behind the measurement point which would be indispensable for a complete understanding of this phenomenon. This paper presents a spatial development of the "New Year Wave" being generated in a model basin (L = 120 m, W = 8 m, d = 1 m, scale 1:70). To transfer the recorded "New Year Wave" into the wave tank, an optimization approach for the experimental generation of wave sequences with predefined characteristics is applied. The method is utilized to generate scenarios with a single high wave superimposed to irregular seas. At the end of this optimization process, a control signal for a deterministic wave sequence is obtained. The generated sea state with the embedded "New Year Wave" is measured at different locations in the tank, in a range from 2163 m (full scale) ahead of to 1470 m behind the target position — altogether 520 registrations. The focus lies on a detailed description of a possible evolution of the "New Year Wave" over a large area and time interval. It is observed that the extreme wave at the target position develops mainly from a wave group of three smaller waves. In particular the group velocity, wave propagation and the energy flux of the wave group is analyzed. In addition, the WAVE FORECAST METHOD is applied. This method is based on linear wave propagation and provides a prediction of the wave train a few minutes in advance from a single surface elevation snap shot. The capability of the prediction of approaching extreme wave heights is shown.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Background and Objectives This study aimed to identify CSF proteomic signatures characteristic of Parkinson disease (PD) and evaluate their clinical utility. Methods This observational study used data from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), which enrolled patients with PD, healthy controls (HCs), and non-PD participants carrying GBA1, LRRK2, and/or SNCA pathogenic variants (genetic prodromals) at international sites. Study participants were chosen from PPMI enrollees based on the availability of aptamer-based CSF proteomic data, quantifying 4,071 proteins, and classified as patients with PD without GBA1, LRRK2, and/or SNCA pathogenic variants (nongenetic PD), HCs, patients with PD carrying the aforementioned pathogenic variants (genetic PD), or genetic prodromals. Differentially expressed protein (DEP) analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were applied to the data from nongenetic PD and HCs. Signatures characteristics of nongenetic PD were quantified as a PD proteomic score (PD-ProS), validated internally and then externally using data of 1,556 CSF proteins from the LRRK2 Cohort Consortium (LCC). We further tested the PD-ProS in genetic PD and genetic prodromals and examined associations with clinical progression. Results Data from 279 patients with nongenetic PD (mean ± SD, age 62.0 ± 9.6 years; male 67.7%) and 141 HCs (age 60.5 ± 11.9 years; male 64.5%) were used for PD-ProS derivation. From 23 DEPs, LASSO determined weights of 14 DEPs for the PD-ProS (area under the curve [AUC] 0.83, 95% CI 0.78–0.87), validated in an independent internal validation cohort of 71 patients with nongenetic PD and 35 HCs (AUC 0.81, 95% CI 0.73–0.90). In the LCC, only 5 of the 14 DEPs were also measured. Notably, these 5 DEPs still distinguished 34 patients with nongenetic PD from 31 HCs with the same weights (AUC 0.75, 95% CI 0.63–0.87). Furthermore, the PD-ProS distinguished 258 patients with genetic PD from 365 genetic prodromals. Finally, regardless of genetic status, the PD-ProS independently predicted both cognitive and motor decline in PD (dementia, adjusted hazard ratio in the highest quintile [aHR-Q5] 2.8 [95% CI 1.6–5.0]; Hoehn and Yahr stage IV, aHR-Q5 2.1 [95% CI 1.1–4.0]). Discussion By integrating high-throughput proteomics with machine learning, we identified PD-associated CSF proteomic signatures crucial for PD development and progression. Trial Registration Information ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01176565). A link to the trial registry page is clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01141023. Classification of Evidence This study provides Class II evidence that the CSF proteome contains clinically important information regarding the development and progression of Parkinson disease that can be deciphered by a combination of high-throughput proteomics and machine learning.


Experimentation in animal models has created a basis for highly improved therapeutic procedures in reconstructive periodontal surgery. This symposium has discussed several animal models currently used; additional models have been described in recent literature. The presentations by Drs. Caton, Wikesjö, and Lynch illustrated the need for further discussion of some of the problems inherent in animal experimentation, including: standardization of periodontal defect configuration; adequate recording of preoperative attachment level; minimizing the effect of biological variability; use of surgically-created versus naturally-developed periodontal lesions; choice of observation period; and regenerative potential of the model chosen.


In this paper, after introducing the different theories of laughter, we defend that basic laughter (that one without a social function) has incongruity as its necessary, though not sufficient, element. Besides, we propose the joke (made primarily to provoke laughter) as a hermeneutic paradigm of understanding that provides a new view of a state of affairs, and breaks with what should be naturally expected from the course of the narrative. Even though there is a series of possible interpretations, only one is the right one, and that is the one that makes the joke a joke.


There is consensus that the origin of the tomato is South America, where is the greatest diversity of related species (wild relatives) (Peralta et al., 2005), but is also accepted that domestication of tomato occurred in Mexico (Rick & Holle, 1990; Hoyt, 1992, Perez et al., 1997). Consequently in this country, the tomato, also called "jitomate", is considered one of the basic components of Mexican cuisine. Additionally, the name "tomate" comes from the Nahuatl language of Mexico (Rick & Holle, 1990; Perez et al., 1997). After corn the tomato is the crop that has had greater genetic manipulation (Perez et al., 1997), but focused on the standpoint of productivity. It has been documented that there is an inverse correlation between the degree of domestication (productivity) of plants and damage by pests and diseases (Coley et al., 1985; Rosenthal & Dirzo, 1997); so that resistance to pests and diseases in wild relatives is higher than in native varieties of crops and these in turn show greater tolerance than hybrid modern varieties.


Based on the specimens from Guangxi and Yunnan deposited in the Guangxi Normal University, the paper is firstly reported the female sex of two known species from China, viz. Furcilarnaca armata (Bey-Bienko, 1957) and Furcilarnaca forceps (Bey-Bienko, 1962). The female of Furcilarnaca armata (Bey-Bienko, 1957) is very similar to Furcilarnaca chiangdao in seventh abdominal tergite and subgenital plate, and they may belong to the same species. After examining the female subgenital plate of Furcilarnaca chirurga (Bey-Bienko, 1962), we treat Furcilarnaca hirta as a valid species. Mitochondrial genomes of six specimens of three Furcilarnaca species were sequenced and annotated in this study. The organization and gene content of new sequenced mitogenomes were conserved, except for significant variation of the control region. All the PCGs started with the typical ATN codons and most ended with complete TAA or TAG codons. Combined with five mitogenomes in NCBI, a total of twelve specimens (including one outgroup) were used in phylogenetic analysis based on 13 PCGs. The result revealed that Furcilarnaca was a monophyletic group. These data will provide more meaningful genetic information and validate the phylogenetic relationships within the Gryllacrididae.


We have developed a measurement methodology for measuring resin temperature and temperature profiles during processing using fluorescence spectroscopy. The technique consists of mixing a temperature sensitive fluorescent dye with a polymer resin at very low concentration, on the order of 10−6 molar concentration, and monitoring the temperature dependence of the fluorescence spectra. Two classes of fluorescent dyes are used: (a) excimer producing dyes such as bis-(pyrene) propane, and (b) band broadening dyes such as perylene and benzoxazolyl stilbene. Because the fluorescence measurement reflects the temperature in the neighborhood of the dye molecule, true resin temperature is observed and effects due the large thermal mass of the processing machine are minimized. Real-time monitoring was achieved using optical fiber sensors which were inserted into the process line at existing instrumentation ports. We monitored both injection molding and extrusion observing effects due to shear heating, crystallization and thermal diffusion. Temperature profiles in a flowing resin were measured using a sensor with confocal focusing optics. With this sensor, excitation light is focused to a point in the resin and the temperature at that point is deduced from the resultant fluorescence. In most cases, the fluorescence data must be corrected for effects due to pressure in order to yield an accurate temperature measurement.


: Brain rhythms, such as beta (~12-20 Hz) or theta (~4-7 Hz) have been linked to specific mental processes, such as attention and memory encoding. This study examined whether or not inducing these brain rhythms in individuals engaged in a task would increase aforementioned cognitive performance. Presentation of binaural auditory beats (BAB) can increase, or entrain cortical activity to specific frequencies. In a pilot study using BAB, we found that stimulation in the beta range effected task-related changes in beta wave activity, whereas stimulation in the theta range led to increased theta-wave activity. In a follow up using the 2-back memory task, effects were seen involving attention-related event-related potentials (ERPs) in one BAB condition but not the other, indicating a possible effect on attention processes. In the same BAB condition, it was seen that reaction time had decreased as a function of baseline working-memory ability as measured by the reading span task. The present study extends the prior works using a larger dataset to examine BAB effects on working memory performance, as well as more robust ERP and wavelet analysis. We recorded brainwaves while participants viewed a series of letters and were asked to press a button when the letter on screen was the same as a letter that appeared two trials back. Each subject completed two sessions (one with beta manipulation, one with theta) using a double-blind design. Control (no BAB) blocks were presented before and after the experimental blocks in each session. Behavioral and ERP measures of target detection and suppression of "lures" (1-back trials) were examined across conditions. In addition, we used joint time-frequency (wavelet) analysis to characterize BAB effects on beta and theta bands prior to the behavioral response.


In order to promote the in-depth and regular communication and cooperation between the peers in the biological electromagnetic research field and the safety evaluation research field, on the basis of the present works, epidemiological data, and laboratory results, we summarized the research progress in bio-electromagnetic technology as well as the related works of health risk evaluation. Regarding to the medical applications, μs/ps/ns pulsed electric fields have a wide application prospect in non-invasive cancer treatments, low-frequency electromagnetic fields can promote the growth of bone cells and accelerate bone reconstruction, the holmium laser lithotripsy in vivo has certain advantages for its relatively short operation time and small body damage, and the electret exposure provides a new method for clinical treatment. As for the health hazard assessment of electromagnetic exposure, there is no conclusion that whether microwave radiation poses health risks. Although there is still a large number of international controversy, in 2007 the World ——Health Organization announced that the evidence of associated carcinogenicity in human of power-frequency electromagnetic field inducing childhood leukemia was limited. How power-frequency electromagnetic field exposure affects animal behavior cognition is associated with the electromagnetic field's magnetic flux density and exposure duration. Under certain conditions, THz electromagnetic waves can destroy the double helix structure of DNA, and weak radiation of THz waves can interfere with the identification process of proteins. Being set in the magnetic resonance imaging field which has intensity above 4.0 T, most people will experience headaches, chest tightness, and other cardiovascular symptoms. Using the basic theories of public health, physiology, epidemiology and management of toxicology and some other disciplines, we proposed the ideas and measures for establishing the assessment system of health risks, i.e. from the four aspects including hazard identification of bio-electromagnetic technology, hazard characterization, exposure assessment, and risk characterization, system evaluation will be proceeded on the basic principles of bio-electromagnetic applications and related health risks of electromagnetic exposure, for the reasonable applications of bio-electromagnetic technologies and preparing preventive measures to avoid possible health risks. The first step should be establishing a scientific, standardized, multi-disciplinary integrated health risk assessment system to electromagnetic bio-effects.


Abstract The construction of the Leavitt path algebra associated to a directed graph E is extended to incorporate a family C consisting of partitions of the sets of edges emanating from the vertices of E. The new algebras, LK(E, C), are analyzed in terms of their homology, ideal theory, and K-theory. These algebras are proved to be hereditary, and it is shown that any conical abelian monoid occurs as the monoid 𝒱(LK(E, C)) of isomorphism classes of finitely generated projective modules over one of these algebras. The lattice of trace ideals of LK(E, C) is determined by graph-theoretic data, namely as a lattice of certain pairs consisting of a subset of E0 and a subset of C. Necessary conditions for 𝒱(LK(E, C)) to be a refinement monoid are developed, together with a construction that embeds (E, C) in a separated graph (E+, C+) such that 𝒱(LK(E+, C+)) has refinement.


Four recent studies of the modern Chinese economy show how the disciplines of economics and history have produced different judgments about the economic changes of the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. These differences are overridden, however, by shared disciplinary concerns with problems of inequality and the growth of the modern state. Economists have demonstrated statistically that regional variations (particularly urban-rural differences), coupled with the size of the Chinese polity, continue to pose many of the same administrative problems for the modern state that they posed during the late empire and in turn have produced some similar strategies for ruling. These enduring problems are located squarely in the order of production in China's agrarian peasant communities and in the logistical problems of distributing what is produced there through an integrated political and economic system.


This is a book about the history of the Arts Council, and an assessment of regional theatre in Britain. Its subject is that much-visited battleground where funding bodies and artists meet to nervously eye each other up and tenatively shake hands, or go to full-on war. One might expect such a book to be a passionately partisan account of hidden agendas buried deep within a deliberately perplexing bureaucracy, or (depending on your political persuasion), a crusade against the promotion of a politically correct inclusivity that sacrifices artistic quality at great expense to the taxpayer. However, Turnbull's book demonstrates admirable scholarly detachent and rigour on every page, where the temptation to grind a polemical axe might have been impossible for many writers to resist.


Disastrous natural calamities, large-scale catastrophes and terrorist actions are characterized by a sudden and unexpected character and lead to numerous human victims. As a rule this fact seriously aggravates the work of local medical service and the law-enforcement agencies. Nowadays not a single society can totally guarantee itself from the danger of natural calamities, terrorist actions and emergency situations. Taking into consideration peculiarities of our country and also aware of the international experience a brand new set of preventive measures was elaborated by forensic experts of Azerbaijan in close cooperation with the law-enforcement bodies. The basic purpose of these sets of actions is to relieve the consequences of such kinds of unpredictable cases. Language: en


The evaluation of the inhibition effect achieved by essential oils of dill ( Anethum graveolens L . ), oregano ( Origanum vulgare L.), juniper (Juniperus communis L.), sage ( Salvia officinalis L.) and winter savory ( Satureja montana L.)  on seed germination and shoot growth of Johnson grass ( Sorghum halepense L.) was tested in laboratory. The chemical composition of essential oils was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The major constituents were carvon (40.5%) and limonene (32.2%) for A. graveolens essential oil, carvacrol (73.7%) for O. vulgare essential oil, α-pinene (43.5%) for J. communis essential oil, b-thujone (32.7%) and camphor (17.2%) for S. officinalis essential oil, thymol (44.6%) and p- cimene (13.4%) for S. montana essential oil. The in vitro study on herbicidal activity was carried out on seed germination and shoots length of S. halepense ; A. graveolens , O. vulgare , S. montana essential oils significantly inhibited the germination and shoot length and their herbicidal activity could be attributed mainly to their high content of carvone, carvacrol and thymol. A. graveolens , O. vulgare and S. montana essential oils reduced seed germination by 61.5%, 52.7% and 47.3%, respectively, while J. communis and S. officinalis essential oils stimulated germination (7.7% and 2.2%, respectively). The shoot growth reduction for almost all essential oils, except J. communis essential oil , was more than 30%. The solution of A. graveolens , O. vulgare and S. montana essential oils exhibited more powerful bio-herbicidal effect compared to J. communis and S. officinalis essential oils on the germination and shoot growth of S. halepense .


Poverty rates amongst youth are high even in the most developed countries in the world. The aim of alleviating poverty in many nations, therefore, remains a significant issue. To comprehend the risks posed by poverty, its dimension and the process by which it can become deeper must be identified and recognized. A broad consensus among policy makers, academic and other institutions is that poverty can be a mixture of various monetary and non-monetary components. These components can limit people's capacity to achieve their ability and affect their well-being. Therefore, the socio-economic growth of a family and the increase in welfare of a country should be defined in the combination of both monetary and non-monetary aspects. In this study, we aim to estimate the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for the young and the general population in Turkey over the period 2006–2015. The results of the study show a significant reduction in youth poverty, especially in the Eastern part of the country in the period we explore. The second aim is to evaluate the effect of the 2012 Regional Investment Incentive Scheme on the MPI of the youth population. The findings suggest that the Regional Investment Incentive Scheme had a positive impact on the poverty level in the Eastern part of Turkey, which is the major region of the policy's interest.


Seven-letter targets were flashed for 50 msec and followed by either a blank adapting field (persisting representation of the stimulus fully available) or a series of continuous cycles of target and mask until the cumulative duration of the target matched the estimated duration of visual persistence (stimulus physically present for same interval as representation). The reportability of information from the targets in the latter case was only 50% that in the former. The interpretation is that visual persistence is an active, continuously operating process rather than a passive neural copy of the stimulus.


Thirty-one patients with subclinical diabetes, who showed diabetic or impaired glucose tolerance after treatment for diabetes, were investigated in order to clarify the abnormalities of insulin response in diabetes mellitus. These patients showed a delayed response of plasma insulin during oral glucose loading. In the tolbutamide-glucose test, in which glucose loading followed the intravenous tolbutamide injection at a 60-min interval, the insulin level at 90 min was significantly lowered in a group of 20 patients with subclinical diabetes. In the tolbutamide-glucagon test, in which 1 mg of glucagon was injected 60 min after tolbutamide injection, the maximal level of plasma insulin was significantly decreased in a group of 10 subclinical diabetes except for one patient. These results indicate that insulinogenesis and/or release of insulin were decreased even in subclinical diabetes, suggesting that such a defect in islet function might be one of the abnormalities in primary diabetes.


In the past decades, there has been evidence on the relationship between Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). In addition, PD frequently develops in already existing ET. The occurrence of PD in ET seems to be a problem of relevance, since the risk of PD is higher in patients with ET than that in the population. However, due to the lack of awareness about this nosological phenomenon among physicians, it can be difficult to formulate a diagnosis of PD that has developed in ET.This paper gives an update on the clinical, epidemiological, pathogenetic, and neuroimaging characteristics of ET concurrent with PD.


The problem of responsibility and efficiency of public authority has always been the subject of heated public and scientific debates. The abundance of different points of view and the relative limitations of domestic experience create certain difficulties in studying responsibility as process and system. At the same time, the level of research of political processes achieved by domestic political science makes it possible to objectively analyze the entire set of problems relating to the responsibility of those who make and implement political decisions, to develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the activities of government bodies and administration.


BACKGROUND
According to the recommendations proposed at The Consensus Conference on Diagnosis and Treatment of Aluminium Overload in End-Stage Renal Failure Patients, Paris, 1992 low-dose desferrioxamine (DFO) treatment was applied for the first time in 41 acutely aluminium-intoxicated patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS
DFO-related neurological/ophthalmological side-effects were observed in nine of 11 patients with a post-DFO serum aluminium level > 300 micrograms/litre and in two patients of 30 below this level after a single administration of a 5-mg/kg dose of the chelator in the conventional way (i.e. the last hour of a dialysis session). They were no longer observed after introducing an alternative DFO administration schedule (i.e. administration of the chelator 5 h prior to the start of a haemodialysis session; group I: n = 14). A significant decrease in the serum aluminium levels as well as in the post-DFO serum aluminium increment (delta s A1) was observed during the first 6 months, course of low-dose DFO treatment in group I as well as group II (which consisted of patients receiving DFO in the conventional way; n = 27). Low-dose DFO treatment was accompanied by a significant increase in the mean +/- SD serum iPTH levels (group I: 174 +/- 245 up to 286 +/- 285 ng/litre; group II: 206 +/- 272 up to 409 +/- 424 ng/litre; P < 0.005) and the mean corpuscular volume (group I: 80 +/- 6.4 up to 85 +/- 3.7 fL, P < 0.005; group II: 76 +/- 5.0 up to 87 +/- 4.3 fL, (P < 0.0001). Serum ferritin levels significantly decreased in both groups. No further side-effects were observed during the DFO course. Patients in which DFO treatment could be stopped (i.e. subjects in which both serum aluminium and delta sA1 were below 50 micrograms/litre at two successive occasions) before the end of the 6 months' treatment course had a significantly greater residual diuresis (700 +/- 682 ml/min vs 84 +/- 109 ml/24 h). Also, residual diuresis was found to protect against aluminium intoxication as reflected by the values noted in group I versus those in group II.

CONCLUSION
The 5-mg/kg DFO treatment provides a safe and adequate therapy for aluminium overload. In severely aluminium-intoxicated patients presenting post-DFO serum aluminium levels above 300 micrograms/litre DFO should be given once weekly 5 h prior to high-extraction dialysis ensuring (i) maximal chelation of aluminium (ii) limited exposure to circulating aluminium noxamine levels, and (iii) adequate removal of the latter compound. Finally, the necessity for a better communication between the local water distribution companies and the dialysis centres is a major lesson that can be drawn from this dramatic intoxication.


Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are developing a new solid-state high-voltage Marx modulator for the generation of pulsed power. The initial application of the LANL modulator is to provide power to a magnetron that requires a 46-kV, 160-A, 5-mus rectangular pulse. This modulator technology is also being developed for other applications, including portable millimeter wave sources, a beam energy corrector for induction accelerators, and space-based power systems. The LANL solid-state modulator has several benefits, including wave shape control, switch protection, efficiency, and compactness. The present paper describes this source technology and its design.


Striated muscle has the ability to remodel itself in response to mechanical stress and (patho) physiological factors, through the various signalling pathways, which govern myofibril turnover. One such pathway, involving MuRF1 is the ubiquitin proteasome system, which targets proteins for degradation. The focus of this work has been placed on investigating muscle specific proteins involved in sarcomere signalling and elasticity. Emphasis has been placed in elucidating the crystal structure of the coiled coil domain of MuRF1 to 2.1A resolution. This domain has been thought to govern homodimerization of this E3 ubiquitin ligase, but we show that the coiled coil potential of this fragment in isolation is limited, and has a promiscuous sequence capable of establishing parallel and anti-parallel self-associative interactions. We have concluded that this domain requires the presence of either the N-terminal B-box domain to set the registry of the coiled-coil or the C-terminal COS-box domain. We predict that the latter forms two short helices, which interact with the coiled coil domain to form a clamp that stabilizes the dimer interaction.
MuRF1 binds to the titin cytoskeleton vicinal to the titin kinase domain. We have also examined the titin homologue twitchin (from C. elegans) to gain insight into how the kinase domain is activated by sensing mechanical strain. We have determined that these kinase domains are autoinhibited by two regulatory tails flanking the catalytic core, and can be activated by stretching forces that displace the N-terminal tail.
Finally, to further understand the ability of the titin I-band to contribute to sarcomere elasticity and end-filament formation work has been carried out on a five- domain construct of the distal I-band. Preliminary results suggest that there may be key Ig "catch" domains, which are deterministic for inducing self-assembly of titin.