In this paper we describe a novel approach of increasing patients' safety using explanation-driven personalized content recommendation. In this approach, patients are exposed to relevant medical information that is continuously gathered from various web sources and timely delivered, educating patients toward better preventive medicine decision making. Personalized content recommendations are further accompanied with detailed explanations that disclose useful information about each recommendation, helping patients to better utilize the recommended content for improving their safety. As a motivation for this approach, we describe the application of personalized ADE alerts. We then describe the recommendation system that we implement for the BlueMedics smart health system, which instantiates this approach.


The behavioural mechanisms by which the larvae of the sibling species D. pavani and D. gaucha, and their reciprocal hybrids select pupation sites are described in terms of larval substrate preferences. If the larval behaviour of the parental species and their reciprocal hybrids during pupation leads them to pupate in different substrates, such preferences could be used to identify environmental factors and genetic mechanisms involved in the evolution of that behaviour. Confronted with dry substrates, interspecific hybrid larvae pupated in the rearing cup, while the parental species pupated both outside and inside the cup. Like the parental species, the hybrids pupated outside, when humid substrates surrounded the rearing cup. Larvae from D. pavani and D. gaucha showed a broader norm of reaction than the hybrids. D. pavani larvae occupied dry and humid substrates to pupate, while D. gaucha larvae tended to prefer only humid substrates. Larvae of D. pavani burrowed into dry sand pupated preferently in the deep layers of the substrate. Few D. gaucha larvae burrowed; they tended to pupate in the upper layers of dry sand. D. pavani larvae pupated on the moist sand, while most of D. gaucha larvae burrowed and formed puparia in the upper layers of the substrate. The hybrid larvae showed no burrowing behaviour in either dry or moist sand.


A number of authors have noticed that observations of specific facts about specific states of the world cause problems for existing theories of nonmonotonic reasoning about action. We argue that these problems are pervasive in action theories, and more subtle than previously noticed. Furthermore, we note that the proposed solutions are fundamentally procedural: they involve treating observations in a separate reasoning step. These insights engender a number of open questions about the precise nature of observations in reasoning about action, and how they should be treated.


Yeast enolase as prepared by current procedures is inherently chemically homogeneous, though deamidation and partial denaturation can produce electrophoretically distinct forms. A true isozyme of the enzyme exists but does not survive the purification procedure. The chemical sequence for both has been established. The enzyme behaves in solution like a compact, nearly spherical molecule of moderate hydration. Strong intramolecular forces maintain the structure of the individual subunits. The enzyme as isolated is dimeric. If dissociated in the presence of magnesium ions and substrate, then the subunits are active, but if the dissociation occurs in the absence of metal ions, they are inactive until they have reassociated and undergone a first order "annealing" process. Magnesium (II) enhances association. The interaction between the subunits is hydrophobic in character. The enzyme can bind up to 2 mol of most metal ions in "conformational" sites which then allows up to 2 mol of substrate or some substrate analogue to bind. This is not sufficient for catalysis, but conformational metal ions do more than just allow substrate binding. A change in the environment of the metal ions occurs on substrate or substrate analogue binding. There is an absolute correlation between the occurrence of a structural change undergone by the 3-amino analogue of phosphoenolpyruvate and whether the metal ions produce any level of enzymatic activity. For catalysis, two more moles of metal ions, called "catalytic", must bind. There is evidence that the enzymatic reaction involves a carbanion mechanism. It is likely that two more moles of metal ion can bind which inhibit the reaction. The requirement for 2 mol of metal ion per subunit which contribute in different ways to catalysis is exhibited by a number of other enzymes.


Peat represents the extreme form of soft soil. Using electro-osmotic techniques to improve the peat entails evaluating electrical properties of the soil. Electrical resistivity and conductivity of peat soil regarding to its pore fluid, organic content, temperature, and degree of humification were investigated to conceptualize electro-osmotic phenomena. The results of the study revealed that the electrical resistivity of the peat decreased as the water content or the temperature increased. The resistivity of the humified peat was lower than the unhumified peat, meaning a higher degree of peat decomposition resulted in a lower peat resistivity. The study showed that the resistivity of peat increased as the organic content increased. The electrical conductivity of the humified peat was higher than the electrical conductivity of the unhumified peat. The electrical conductivity of peat decreased as the organic content increased. The study thus far showed that a highly decomposed peat could be a better candidate for using electro-osmotic techniques in comparison with unhumified peat.


Background We previously reported that an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay for detecting anti-GPIIb/IIIa antibody-secreting B cells is a sensitive method for identifying patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Here we assessed the clinical significance of measuring circulating B cells producing antibodies to GPIb, another major platelet autoantigen. Methods Anti-GPIb and anti-GPIIb/IIIa antibody-producing B cells were simultaneously measured using ELISPOT assays in 32 healthy controls and 226 consecutive thrombocytopenic patients, including 114 with primary ITP, 25 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 30 with liver cirrhosis, 39 with post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (post-HSCT), and 18 non-ITP controls (aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome). Results There were significantly more circulating anti-GPIb and anti-GPIIb/IIIa antibody-producing B cells in primary ITP, SLE, liver cirrhosis, and post-HSCT patients than in healthy controls (P<0.05 for all comparisons). For diagnosing primary ITP, the anti-GPIb ELISPOT assay had 43% sensitivity and 89% specificity, whereas the anti-GPIIb/IIIa ELISPOT assay had 86% sensitivity and 83% specificity. When two tests were combined, the sensitivity was slightly improved to 90% without a reduction in specificity. In primary ITP patients, the anti-GPIb antibody response was associated with a low platelet count, lack of Helicobacter pylori infection, positive anti-nuclear antibody, and poor therapeutic response to intravenous immunoglobulin. Conclusion The ELISPOT assay for detecting anti-GPIb antibody-secreting B cells is useful for identifying patients with ITP, but its utility for diagnosing ITP is inferior to the anti-GPIIb/IIIa ELISPOT assay. Nevertheless, detection of the anti-GPIb antibody response is useful for subtyping patients with primary ITP.


This paper unveils the unique role played by ODL in promoting professional training and development in Tanzania. ODL is significantly increasing in its importance in most societies if not all; this is justified by the increasing in enrolment in ODL institutions. In order to cope with the demanding world, individuals need to properly utilize their time. Hence, they opt for ODL institution as a medium of knowledge transmission, since they can benefit from the flexibility that it offers. In the course of this study, the researchers have adopted a qualitative research approach. Where, the main case study institution being The Open University of Tanzania. Respondents from this study have been carefully sampled through a non probabilistic sample size, and these respondents were OUT students only (current and previous). Among all constraints, ICT remains a common barrier among most ODL students in Tanzania, as all the respondents in the study indicated so.


ABSTRACT Failed hypospadiass cases may result in hypovascular, scarred penis with residual penile chordee and leave the patient with minimal residual skin for penile resurfacing and urethroplasty. Local tissue expansion has become a good alternative to provide skin for penis by using expanders however they require long periods of time for expansion. Besides, rapid tissue expansion was also described in different tissues. We used rapid intraoperative expansion technique by using a Foley catheter in a failed hypospadias case who had minimal residual skin secondary to infection and we concluded that rapid intraoperative tissue expansion with Foley catheter is an effective, feasible reconstructive method for easy dissection and penile resurfacing in failed hypospadiass cases.


BACKGROUND
Serum transferrin receptor (sTfR) is a transmembrane glycoprotein derived from erythroid precursors in the bone marrow. Its concentration provides a quantitative measure of total erythropoietic activity and an indication of functional iron deficiency. This study was conducted to investigate whether sTfR is a useful index of erythropoietic activity in chronic hemodialysis patients with poor response to maintenance recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) therapy.

METHODS
Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, sTfR concentration was measured in 67 uremic patients who had been on hemodialysis for a mean of 42 months (3-242 months). rHuEPO was administered three times a week to keep the hematocrit above 30%. Hemoglobin, red blood cell indices, serum ferritin, serum total iron binding capacity and unsaturated iron binding capacity were determined. Of the 67 patients, 35 who responded favorably to rHuEPO with hematocrits above 30% were categorized as Group I and 32 who did not attain the target hematocrit were categorized as Group II. As a control group, 31 healthy subjects were also investigated.

RESULTS
The serum iron, ferritin, transferrin iron saturation, dialysis efficiency and nutritional state were not different between groups of hemodialysis patients. The mean sTfR concentration was 2.1 +/- 0.6 micrograms/ml (range, 1.15-3.53 micrograms/ml) in Group I patients, compared with 1.9 +/- 0.9 micrograms/ml (range, 1.03-2.65 micrograms/ml) in Group II. The difference was not significant. In addition, the mean sTfR concentration of 1.8 +/- 0.4 micrograms/ml (range, 0.86-2.76 micrograms/ml) in the healthy controls was not significantly different from Groups I and II.

CONCLUSIONS
sTfR concentration cannot be used to distinguish good from poor rHuEPO responders among chronic hemodialysis patients who have elevated serum ferritin (> 300 micrograms/l) and transferrin iron saturation (> 25%) during the course of maintenance rHuEPO therapy.


BACKGROUND
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan that affects a third of the world population and whose updated seroprevalence in children with cancer in our environment is unknown.

AIM
To describe the seroprevalence of IgG anti-T. gondii in pediatric population with cancer treated in hospitals of the Metropolitan Region, Chile.

METHOD
Cross-sectional study of the population of pediatric cancer patients treated in Santiago city, A serum sample was taken from 100 patients between June 2016 and May 2019. ELISA IgG T. gondii was performed.

RESULTS
Of 100 children, 51% male. 12 were positive (12%), 84 negative (84%) and 4 indeterminate (4%). The stratification by age showed 43% patients between 0-5 years, 29% between 6-10 years, 20% in the group of 11-15 years and 8% in patients > 15 years. Sixty one percent of the samples came from patients with acute leukemia. The percentage of women who tested positive for IgG was 21% compared to 4% in men (P < 0.0011).

CONCLUSION
84% of children undergoing cancer treatment are seronegative for T. gondii, so it is important to educate on the prevention of the acquisition of this parasite in this population, due to the risk of developing serious and fatal disease.


SSCs are popular arrangements for the delivery of support services. However, no-one has systematically analysed how conventional ideas on how to govern SSCs have been introduced in governments. This paper explores the governance of SSCs by juxtaposing agency and stewardship governance prescriptions, and by relating them to empirical examples. More research is needed on the conditions under which different governance methods work.


OBJECTIVE
To shed light on attitudes towards loyalty conflicts among general practitioners (GPs) compared with related specialists such as gynaecologists and paediatricians.

DESIGN
A postal questionnaire containing three case histories with arguments for and against different ways of acting in loyalty conflicts. The medical problems of the clinical cases varied, but the ethical ones were in principle similar.

SETTING
A random sample of all Swedish GPs, gynaecologists, and paediatricians.

SUBJECTS
GPs (n = 313), paediatricians (n = 197), and gynaecologists (n = 236).

RESULTS
On average 71% of the doctors replied. The gynaecologists differed from the other groups by being markedly loyal to the individual patient especially in one case. The paediatricians tended to reply most consistently and they seemed to favour the family perspective, compared with the other doctors. The GPs' response pattern fell in between the other two groups.

CONCLUSIONS
The study indicates that ethical reasoning depends on the doctors' different medical background with regard to specialty. This study should be followed by others in order to give further explanation of the findings.


The concept of evidence-based medicine (EBM), as the highest standard of health care, came into existence in 1990s to promote a systematic approach to helping clinicians in their practice to be guided by the best available scientific evidence. However, there has been an increasing number of warning reports "that in modern research, misrepresented, false and unuseful findings may be the majority or even the vast majority of published research claims In spite of the huge scientific progress, pseudoscience and associated evidence biased medicine represent a serious threat to the concept of the EBM. Effective education in medicine, proper research motivation, sound systems and creative thinking and culture of scientific dialogue may significantly contribute to better science and evidence-based medicine. The seven key words of good science, research and publishing are: integrity, motivation, capacity, understanding, knowledge, experience, and creativity.


1285 Sunitinib malate (SU11248) is an oral, multitargeted, tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGFRs, PDGFRs, KIT, FLT3, CSF-1R, and RET, approved multinationally for the treatment of advanced RCC and imatinib-resistant or -intolerant GIST. We report here the results of preclinical studies investigating the in vitro and in vivo metabolism of sunitinib, which guided the design and conduct of human drug-drug interaction (DDI) and radiolabeled mass balance studies.
 Sunitinib was metabolized in vitro by liver microsomes from mice (M), rats (R), dogs (D), monkeys (Mo), and humans (H). SU12662 (N-desethyl, active metabolite) was the major metabolite in M, Mo, and H liver microsomes, while SU12487 (an N-oxide metabolite) was the major metabolite in D liver microsomes. In R liver microsomes, SU12487 was the major metabolite at a low concentration (2 μM) of sunitinib, but SU12662 predominated at a higher substrate concentration (25 μM).
 Pharmacokinetic and metabolism studies with sunitinib in M, R, rabbits (Rb), and Mo demonstrated high systemic levels of the parent drug, while SU12662 was the only quantifiable metabolite in plasma in M, R, Rb, and Mo; in D, SU12487 was also found. The predominant drug-related compounds found in bile were sunitinib and SU12662 and, in urine, sunitinib, SU12662, and SU12487. Monohydroxylation on the aromatic ring system and aliphatic moieties occurred and their sulfate and glucuronide conjugates were found in bile and urine as minor metabolites. Across studies (M, R, Mo), sunitinib and SU12662 were the only major drug-related compounds found in plasma. SU12487 was only found in M and D plasma.
 CYP3A-mediated N-deethylation to form SU12662 was the major pathway of sunitinib metabolism in R, Mo and H liver microsomes. In H liver microsomes, sunitinib N-deethylation was correlated only with testosterone 6β-hydroxylase (CYP3A4) activity (r2 = 0.56). N-deethylation of SU12662 in human hepatic microsomes was also mediated by CYP3A4 as shown by its metabolic inhibition by ketoconazole (93% inhibition at 1 μM), but not by furafylline (CYP1A inhibitor). In human liver microsomes and hepatocytes, sunitinib or SU12662 did not induce or inhibit major CYP enzymes (CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, CYP3A4/5, and CYP4A9/11) and are unlikely to have any clinically relevant DDIs with drugs that may be metabolized by these enzymes.
 In summary, sunitinib was moderately metabolized in all species evaluated. The N-desethyl metabolite, SU12662, was the primary metabolite identified in the majority of species with minor quantities of the N-oxide metabolite, SU12487. CYP3A4 was the primary route of metabolism, but neither sunitinib nor SU12662 are likely inhibitors or inducers of this or any other CYP450-mediated metabolism. Only sunitinib and SU12662 are measured in clinical trials and clinical recommendations are given only for coadministration of potent CYP3A4 inhibitors and inducers.


Cultured GH3 rat pituitary tumor cells which secrete prolactin (PRL) were used to study autoregulation of rat PRL (rPRL) secretion. Acute (1 h) release of rPRL by cells in monolayer culture was inhibited by ovine PRL (oPRL; 10(-7) and 10(-8) M). Intracellular rPRL accumulation was not inhibited by exogenous oPRL. No effect of oPRL was seen during long-term (12-day) incubation of cells with oPRL (10(-7) to 10(-9) M). oPRL exerts an acute suppressive effect on rPRL release at the cellular level, but does not inhibit rPRL synthesis or long-term release.


Background and Objectives Rituximab induces clinical remission in a majority of seropositive patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), however, all patients eventually relapse. Although B cell return precedes clinical relapse absolute B cell numbers are not predictive of relapse. The aim of this study was to determine whether there were any consistent dynamic changes in combinations of serological parameters following up to 3 cycles of B cell depletion therapy based on rituximab (RTX). Materials and Methods We included 23 RA patients (all clinical responders in each cycle) over 1, 21 over 2, and 15 over 3 cycles of RTX followed for up to 108 months and analysed in relation to B cell kinetics at 4 key points within each cycle of therapy. Serum analytes including Rheumatoid factors (RhF) and anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA), BAFF, serum free light chains (SFLC), soluble CD23 (sCD23 - cleaved from naïve B cells coincident with CD27 expression), antibodies to tetanus toxoid (TT) and pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide (PCP) were measured by ELISA at 4 key points in each cycle: Baseline (pre-RTX in each cycle); when B-cell depleted (CD19+ B-cells<5/ml); at B-cell return (CD19+ B-cells ≥5/ml); and at clinical relapse (ΔDAS28>1.2). Results Comparing levels of analytes at relapse after 3 cycles with baseline values before 1st Cycle, BAFF levels were higher, anti-microbial remained relatively unchanged and IgM-RhF and IgM-CCP and IgG-CCP autoantibodies had decreased (p<0.05). The most consistent changes between baseline to B cell depletion in each cycle, over all 3 cycles, were in lSFLC, sCD23 and IgM-RhF which fell and BAFF levels which rose (p<0.05). Incremental rises in sCD23 levels in Cycles 2 and 3 were associated with time to relapse. In patients with relapse >5 months after B-cell return, significant rises in IgM-RhF, lSFLC and sCD23, and falls in BAFF, occurred between B cell return until clinical relapse. Conclusions Dynamic changes in the serum analytes IgM-RhF, λSFLC, sCD23 and BAFF were consistent over 3 cycles of rituximab and closely associated with clinical response/relapse. This suggests that the clinical response to RTX involves interuption of the genesis of short-lived immunoglobulin-secreting cells. Resumption of this process at relapse involved maturation of B-cell clones associated with sCD23 cleavage and of immunoglobulin-secreting cells accompanied by lSFLC release and IgM-RhF specificity. In patients with the longer periods of remission after B cell return the 'delay' in re-starting the inflammatory process may be due to a slower rate of selection and/or maturation of autoreactive B cell clones, despite raised serum BAFF.


The progress in the digital single market (DSM) has been acknowledged as one of the 10 political priorities by the European Commission since 2015. It could contribute € 415 billion per year (GDP) to the economy of the 28 EU Member States and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Nowadays, the ICT sector and the European Digital Agenda have declared it as one of the seven pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy. In order to speed up the development of new information technology and its commercialisation, it is necessary to increase software quality aimed at accelerating and improving technology transfer, taking into account process quality management. The aim of this article is to give an overview of a new approach to producing an additional value of the software development projects to improve the technology transfer process.


Analyses of water samples collected from the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during 1991-97 indicate that hundreds of metric tons of herbicides and herbicide metabolites are being discharged annually to the Gulf of Mexico. Atrazine, metolachlor, and the ethane-sulfonic acid metabolite of alachlor (alachlor ESA) were the most frequently detected herbicides and, in general, were present in the largest concentrations. Almost 80% of the annual herbicide load to the Gulf of Mexico occurred during the growing season from May through August. The concentrations and loads of alachlor in the Mississippi River decreased dramatically after 1993 in response to decreased use in the basin. In contrast, the concentrations and loads of acetochlor increased after 1994, reflecting its role as a replacement for alachlor. The peak annual herbicide load occurred in 1993, when about 640 metric tons of atrazine, 320 metric tons of cyanazine, 215 metric tons of metolachlor, 53 metric tons of simazine, and 50 metric tons of alachlor were discharged to the Gulf of Mexico. The annual loads of atrazine and cyanazine were generally 1 to 2% of the amount annually applied in the Mississippi River drainage basin; the annual loads of acetochlor, alachlor, and metolachlor were generally less than 1%. Despite a reduction in atrazine use, historical data do not indicate a long-term downward trend in the atrazine load to the Gulf of Mexico. Although a relation (r=0.62) exists between the atrazine load and stream discharge during May through August, variations in herbicide use and rainfall patterns within subbasins can have a large effect on herbicide loads in the Mississippi River Basin and probably explain a large part of the annual variation in atrazine load to the Gulf of Mexico.


A novel mutation, mei8, was isolated in a forward genetic screen for infertility mutations induced by chemical mutagenesis of ES cells. Homozygous mutant mice are sterile. Mutant females exhibit ovarian dysgenesis and lack ovarian follicles at reproductive maturity. Affected males have small testes due to arrest of spermatogenesis during meiotic prophase I. Genetic mapping and positional cloning of mei8 led to the identification of a mutation in Rec8, a homolog of the yeast meiosis‐specific cohesin gene REC8. Analysis of meiosis in Rec8mei8/Rec8mei8 spermatocytes showed that, while initiation of recombination and synapsis occurs, REC8 is required for the completion and/or maintenance of synapsis, cohesion of sister chromatids, and the formation of chiasmata, as it is in other organisms. However, unlike yeast and Caenorhabditis elegans, localization of REC8 on meiotic chromosomes is not required for the assembly of axial elements. genesis 40:184–194, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Most patients undergoing dialysis are required to take many phosphate binder pills to control hyperphosphatemia. Phosphate binders prescribed in Japan are classified into two types: metal‐based binders (Ca carbonate, lanthanum carbonate, ferric citrate hydrate, and sucroferric oxyhydroxide) and chemically synthesized polymers (sevelamer hydrochloride and bixalomer). The raw materials of metal‐based phosphate binders are natural ores; thus, such binders may contain several other metallic elements. We measured the elemental contents in six metal‐based phosphate binders using an inductively coupled plasma mass – spectrometry (ICP‐MS) method. As a result, despite being in small amounts, ore‐derived phosphate binders contained various elements besides their active ingredient metals: Na, Mg, P, Mn, Fe, Sr, Y, Ba, La, Nd, and Pb in three Ca‐based products; Mg, P, Se, Ce, and Gd in one La‐based product; and Na, Mg, Al, P, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Ge, Ba, and La in two Fe‐based products. These elements are considered to have originated from pharmaceutical bulk and from pharmaceutical additives. It is unlikely these elements are immediately harmful to patients. However, it should be emphasized that patients undergoing dialysis do not have a urinary excretion route and are administered many phosphate binder pills every day over a long period of time. In the future, pharmaceutical companies may have to disclose standard amounts and/or analytical values regarding the type and quantity of metallic elements in the final formulation or pharmaceutical bulk derived from natural ores.


The multilevel per cell technology and continued scaling down process technology significantly improves the storage density of NAND flash memory but also brings about a challenge in that data reliability degrades due to the serious noise. To ensure the data reliability, many noise mitigation technologies have been proposed. However, they only mitigate one of the noises of the NAND flash memory channel. In this paper, we consider all the main noises and present a novel neural network-assisted error correction (ANNAEC) scheme to increase the reliability of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory. To avoid using retention time as an input parameter of the neural network, we propose a relative log-likelihood ratio (LLR) to estimate the actual LLR. Then, we transform the bit detection into a clustering problem and propose to employ a neural network to learn the error characteristics of the NAND flash memory channel. Therefore, the trained neural network has optimized performances of bit error detection. Simulation results show that our proposed scheme can significantly improve the performance of the bit error detection and increase the endurance of NAND flash memory.


ABSTRACT Anecdotal evidence suggested heat stress in grapevines can be reduced if vines are fully irrigated during a heat stress but only a few cultivars have been evaluated. Accordingly, Vitis vinifera L. cv. Semillon vines were grown in controlled environments and treated to a four-day 40°C heat event with and without water stress. Berry size, sugar content, gas exchange and water potentials were measured. Results indicated water stress was relatively mild, but berry growth was reversed when exposed to the heat event and water stress added to this effect whereas control berries continued growing. Similar results occurred with the sugar accumulation process, except sugar immediately stopped accumulating but heat plus water stress reduced the amount of berry sugar further. The stress treatments also impaired photosynthesis and more so when combined with water stress. While reductions in photosynthesis were mostly a result of stomatal closure, but perhaps also non-stomatal limitations, the reduced photoassimilates, especially of the heat plus water stressed vines, contributed to the lowered sugar amounts in the berries. These data strongly supported the conclusion that water stress exacerbated the effects of heat stress. The corollary is heat stress effects on vines will be ameliorated if no water stress is present.


Technology features of a beam forming network (BFN) employing ferrite devices to provide multiple beam antenna pattern control for satellites used in telecommunications are described. The BFN produces the phase and amplitude distribution for each horn in an antenna array, with the number of horns in the array being equal to the number of outputs in the BFN. One configuration involves microwave switches and permits illumination of a single feed horn at a time using ferrite latching circulators that function by reversing the circulation direction. A more flexible version, yielding a variable amplitude distribution across the feed horn array to accommodate changing traffic patterns or serving a TDMA system, includes the capability of forming nulls in the system with a variable phase shifter in the input ports. The antenna scan angles in phased arrays can be limited to 8 deg from center. Acceptable insertion losses have been demonstrated in BFN with hundreds of ports and switching rates as high as 10 kHz.


Author(s): Lombardo, Daniel | Advisor(s): Rappel, Wouter-Jan | Abstract: The membrane electric potential of the human heart depends on numerous of ionic channels and concentrations. Spikes in the membrane potential are responsible for the contracting of the heart, but disruptions to the membrane potential are also responsible for disorders. A cardiac arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat that is caused by an abnormal activation pattern in the membrane potential. This dissertation focuses on the development of computational models that describe the membrane potential, and examines the conditions for when an arrhythmia can occur. We begin by comparing the efficacy of a highly detailed model, and a very simple one, to describe patient specific quantities of the membrane potential. From this we conclude that increased complexity does not improve the model's ability to describe the data. Next, we use a unique approach of reducing a detailed model in order to develop our own simplified model. In this way we remove the variables and equations that are not necessary, while still preserving physical relevance for the parameters that are most essential to describing the voltage. Finally, we examine the spiral wave dynamics typically seen in cardiac systems, and look to understand when these spirals can become chaotic. Surprisingly, a single spiral can become chaotic without breaking up into multiple waves. Together these results offer new insights into the physics of cardiac dynamics, and present new possibilities for future treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.


By own experiences on 2,850 patients with chronic prostatitis the problems of classification, diagnosis and therapy are demonstrated. In clinical practice should be most exactly differentiated between a chronic prostatitis and a neuro-vegetative prostatopathy. The prostatitis itself can be subdivided into a bacterial and abacterial one. Symptoms, diagnostics and therapy of these two different form of prostatitis are demonstrated.


The timing and number of recent stressful life events occurring in the year before onset of emotional or behavioural disorder was examined in a consecutive sample of children. Overall, events increase the relative risk of psychiatric disorder by 3–6 times. Events occur throughout the 12 months, but tend to cluster in the 16 weeks nearest onset of symptoms. The number of events influences the onset of disorder: cases with multiple events are more likely to have an event within 16 weeks of onset; cases with single events are more likely to have the event 36–52 weeks before onset. Cases whose onset occurs within 4 weeks of an event may have experienced single or multiple events. The results support the concept of additivity of recent stressful events in some cases of emotional and behavioural disorders in childhood.


The nacreous shell of the tropical Pacifi c mollusc Pinctada mazatlanica was widely used by the ancient inhabitants of Mexico. Around 600 pieces made of this shell have been found in offerings buried in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Most of these objects come from the IVth construction stage (1440-1481), prior to the conquest of the Pacifi c Coast by the Aztecs. It was previously thought that the considerably smaller numbers found in the following stages were due to the greater degree of destruction suffered by the temple. Nevertheless, the almost complete absence of this material in nine offerings found recently corresponding to the VIIth construction stage (1502-1521), raise other possibilities. In this work two different hypotheses are presented to explain this observation.


The effects of extracellular matrices and growth factors on the development of isolated blastomeres derived from intact 4-, 8-, and 16-cell porcine embryos (termed, respectively, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 blastomeres) were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Blastomeres were incubated in extracellular matrix components fibronectin (FIN) or swine skin gelatin (SSG)-precoated culture dishes containing either modified Krebs' Ringer Bicarbonate solution (mKRB) supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated lamb serum, or Hanks' solution supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated newborn calf serum (NBCS) or Waymouth medium supplemented with 10% NBCS or in noncoated dishes in mKRB supplemented with either insulin (10, 100, or 1,000 micrograms/ml), transferrin (10, 100, or 1,000 micrograms/ml), or cAMP (0.2 or 2.0 micrograms/ml). Cultures observed at 24-h intervals and morphological development was recorded. Blastomeres were classified into three categories according to their morphology: (1) regular blastocysts, (2) trophectodermal vesicles, or (3) no development. After 96 h, culture was determined; the overall diameter of the blastocysts was determined and the nuclei were counted. Blastomeres/blastocysts did not adhere to the bottom of the culture dishes coated with extracellular matrices. Blastocyst formation rate was highest when FIN/mKRB was used and reached 44.3%, 41.8%, and 36.5% for 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 blastomeres, respectively. The respective blastocysts contained an average of 31.2 +/- 5.8, 58.2 +/- 8.4, and 18.5 +/- 3.5 nuclei and had an overall diameter of 250.0 +/- 10.1, 235.0 +/- 12.8, and 172.5 +/- 13.7 microns, 1/8 blastomeres displayed a better (p less than 0.05) growth rate than 1/4 and 1/16 blastomeres, and 1/8 blastomeres in FIN/mKRB grew better (p less than 0.01) when cultured in an open system than in a microdrop under oil (35.5% vs. 5.0% blastocysts). Neither cAMP nor transferrin had a significant stimulating effect on blastocyst development of 1/8 blastomeres when mKRB plus serum was used as the medium. Insulin supplementation (10 or 100 micrograms/ml) to mKRB plus lamb serum significantly (p less than 0.05) stimulated blastocyst formation rate compared with controls (58.6% and 38.9% vs. 17.7%, respectively; 32.6 +/- 2.5, 58.5 +/- 11.8, and 45.1 +/- 4.6 nuclei, respectively). Transfer of 457 blastocysts grown for 24 h in FIN/mKRB to 16 recipients gilts led to three pregnancies, and two litters were born from 1/8 blastomere-derived blastocysts following 116 days of gestation.4+ is


BACKGROUND
Hypovitaminosis D is prevalent in youth worldwide, but the safety of vitamin D at doses exceeding 200 IU/d is unknown in this age group. We assessed the safety of high doses of vitamin D(3) administered to apparently healthy schoolchildren.

METHODS
To assess short-term safety, 25 subjects randomly received placebo or vitamin D(3) at doses of 14,000 IU/wk for 8 wk. To assess long-term safety, 340 subjects randomly received placebo, vitamin D(3) as 1,400 IU/wk or 14,000 IU/wk for 1 yr. Biochemical variables were monitored at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 wk and 8 wk off therapy in the short-term study and at 0, 6, and 12 months in the long-term study.

RESULTS
In both the short- and long-term studies, mean serum calcium and 1,25-hydroxyvitamin levels did not change in any group. In the short-term study, mean 25-hydroxyvitamin concentrations increased from 44 (+/- 11) to 54 (+/- 19) ng/ml in the treated groups (P = 0.033). In the long-term study, mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels increased from 15 +/- 8 to 19 +/- 7 ng/ml (P < 0.0001) in subjects receiving 1,400 IU/wk and from 15 +/- 7 to 36 +/- 22 ng/ml (P < 0.0001) in the group receiving 14,000 IU/wk. No subject developed vitamin D intoxication.

CONCLUSION
Vitamin D(3) at doses equivalent to 2000 IU/d for 1 yr is safe in adolescents and results in desirable vitamin D levels.


DeLap Hilary J (Writer) (Last Name) (First) (Initial) Personal Readiness for Marriage in Adult Children of Alcoholics and Adult Children of (Title) Non-Alcoholics Guidance and Counseling Dr. Stephen Shumate December 2000 43 (Graduate Major) (Research Advisor) (Month/Year) (No. of Pages) American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual (Name of Style Manual Used in this Study) A small body of research suggests that young adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) are less prepared for marriage than their non-ACOA peers. This study examined readiness for marriage between ACOAs and non-ACOAs. A sample of 132 college students completed both the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST), which distinguishes adult children of alcoholics from adult children of non-alcoholics, and the Personal Readiness for Marriage Scale, which measures reported levels of personal readiness for marriage. The results of the comparison of mean values on the overall score and 10 subscales of the Personal Readiness for Marriage Scale between ACOAs and non-ACOAs were not significant. The null hypothesis was retained. There was no statistical significance between scores on the Personal Readiness for Marriage Scale for college students with an alcoholic parent compared to college students not raised by an alcoholic parent. These results contradict past limited research in this area and indicate that further investigation is necessary before any legitimate conclusions can be drawn regarding young ACOAs and their readiness for marriage.


Abstract Highly oriented surface layers of lithium disilicate crystals were grown by crystallizing glasses of the composition Li2O: SiO2. The thickness of the oriented layer was a function of the thermal treatment. The crystallites in these layers were oriented with their c-axes perpendicular to the sample surface. These layers were found to be pyroelectric as determined by the Chynoweth technique. The pyroelectric responses of the glass-ceramics crystallized in a thermal gradient were approximately four times larger than that of a tourmaline crystal of similar dimensions.


The Italian «constitutional compromise» between the liberal, catholic, and socialist-communist traditions and the «fordist-keynesian compromise» between capital and labor are two frequent set expressions. They are often put together, and sometimes overlapped, insofar as they share an emphasis on the central role of labor, the former putting it at the very foundation of the Republic, the latter at the core of the virtuous circle of mass production and mass consumption. Starting from a discussion of these formulas, the essay will propose some lines of research for the history of the Italian Republic, not without significance for contemporary political discourse.


Multivariate time-series (MTS) forecasting is a paramount and fundamental problem in many real-world applications. The core issue in MTS forecasting is how to effectively model complex spatial-temporal patterns. In this paper, we develop a modular and interpretable forecasting framework, which seeks to individually model each component of the spatial-temporal patterns. We name this framework SCNN, short for Structured Component-based Neural Network. SCNN works with a pre-defined generative process of MTS, which arithmetically characterizes the latent structure of the spatial-temporal patterns. In line with its reverse process, SCNN decouples MTS data into structured and heterogeneous components and then respectively extrapolates the evolution of these components, the dynamics of which is more traceable and predictable than the original MTS. Extensive experiments are conducted to demonstrate that SCNN can achieve superior performance over state-of-the-art models on three real-world datasets. Additionally, we examine SCNN with different configurations and perform in-depth analyses of the properties of SCNN.


Atmospheric turbulence below 300 meters has been probed with an Echosondel acoustic sounder at the Mauna Kea, Hawaii observatory. Continuous hourly averages for several months yield "characteristic" site profiles of and Cn2 with altitude as well as the diurnal signatures. Near surface acoustic turbulence soundings are compared to the results of observations using microthermal probes at the NOAA Boulder Atmospheric Observatory in Colorado and at Mt. Livermore near. McDonald Observatory in Texas.


Corona Virus Disease 2019 or known as COVID-19 outbreak was first discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and then designated as a pandemic by WHO on March 11, 2020. This study uses the method of literature research or literature studies. To implement character education during the covid-19 pandemic, good cooperation between parents, educators (teachers), communities and governments (educational units) is needed to achieve success in character building.


In contrast to the prevailing tenor of less than a decade ago, few voices can be heard today reassuring the public or the professional that the American "health care system" is itself in good health. Having dealt with the aged through Medicare, the national spotlight now focuses on children who form the other major segment of our "poverty population." Analyses and complaints, proposals and programs flow forth at an accelerating pace.
 Two types of programs are discussed in the current issues of Pediatrics-one as a proposal presented to the American Academy of Pediatrics last fall, and the other as a report of work in progress.


The differences in the impact of two major groups of herbivorous zooplankton (Cladocera and Copepoda) on summer phytoplankton in a mesotrophic lake were studied. Field experiments were performed in which phytoplankton were exposed to different densities of two major types of herbivorous zooplankton, cladocerans and copepods. Contrary to expectation, neither of the two zooplankton groups significantly reduced phytoplankton biomass. However, there were strong and contrasting impacts on phytoplankton size structure and on individual taxa. Cladocerans suppressed small phytoplankton, while copepods suppressed large phytoplankton. The unaffected size classes compensated for the loss of those affected by enhanced growth. After contamination of the copepod mesocosms with the cladoceran Daphnia, the combined impact of both zooplankton groups caused a decline in total phytoplankton biomass.


Let $n$ be a positive integer and $a$ an integer prime to $n$ . Multiplication by $a$ induces a permutation over $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}=\{\overline{0},\overline{1},\ldots ,\overline{n-1}\}$ . Lerch's theorem gives the sign of this permutation. We explore some applications of Lerch's result to permutation problems involving quadratic residues modulo $p$ and confirm some conjectures posed by Sun ['Quadratic residues and related permutations and identities', Preprint, 2018, arXiv:1809.07766]. We also study permutations involving arbitrary $k$ th power residues modulo $p$ and primitive roots modulo a power of $p$ .


In this paper we describe a novel design methodology for fabricating chemical sensing platforms by utilising well-established inexpensive technologies. In our approach, the sensing site and the active part of the transducer are designated as two separate entities, facilitating the use of a multitude of sensing membranes and/or supporting substrates as well as the employment of discrete off-the-shelf devices. The versatility of this method is demonstrated through prototype chemical sensing platforms based on Pt/SixNy and Au/TiO2 sensing sites, fabricated on glass-microscope slides and printed circuit boards respectively, with discrete MOSFETs integrated on the same platforms. Finally, this concept was further exploited by designing and fabricating a universal instrumentation board that incorporates both the active transducers as well as appropriate read-out circuitry, demonstrating near to Nerstian chemical sensitivities.


Abstract Silence and invisibility have received relatively little scholarly attention. When they have, they have been mostly considered in deficit: something to avoid and walk away from. In this article, I depart from that mainstream position to contribute to the growing literature around how silence and invisibility may be positively associated with power. I do this by considering the case of Mozambique, in relation to the management of pregnancies in the school setting. Here, national policy 39/GM/2003 indicates that girls that get pregnant while in education should be transferred to night classes. This measure responds to wider imperatives to bridge the gender gap in education by attempting to limit the occurrence of pregnancies in mainstream education. Yet, the policy is met with resistances, as young women in education enact a number of strategies to conceal their pregnancies and, thereby, the transfer to night course. Against this backdrop, I ask: what do silence and invisibility tell us about agency and identity? I engage with this question by weaving the voices and experiences of research participants within theories of development, feminist theories and local discourses of gender. By doing this, I argue that silence and invisibility may be powerful tools for agency, which denote an understanding of the main discourses of gender on the girls' part, but also the capability to use such discourses to one's advantage.


Sequences of non-volcanic tremor have been identified along the Nankai and Cascadia subduction zones [41, 151. The source mechanisms of tremor have been attributed to flow-induced rtesonance i n fluid-filled conduits [23]. In northern Cascadia, transient surface deformation indicates that slow slip occurs every 13-1 6 months on the inter-plate boundary and landward of the locked zone. Elevated levels of tremor activity have been found to coincide spatially and temporally with slow slip episodes [46]. 1 image two tremor sequences: one which occurs during a slow slip episode (episodic) and another which occurs in between slip episodes (non-episodic). Episodic tremors migrate 150 km along strike from south to north and correlate with the subduction megathrust. Non-episodic tremors do not migrate, and are found mostly at 5-10 km depth within the continental crust. Non-episodic tremors could arise from readjustment of the crust following the preceding slow slip episode. For Ross and my family.


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The possibility has been validated to adjust fundamental differences between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics from the position of the wave theory of matter structure. A derivation of the Planck radiation law has been offered proceeding from the assumption the wave is a true quantum of radiation. The principles of photoeffect have been explained from the positions of classical phisycs and supplemented with consideration of the photoelectric yield. The law of forming spectral series has been obtained with no involvement of quantum numbers and no assumption of electron orbit-to-orbit transition. A deterministic derivation of the Schrödinger stationary wave equation has been given as excluding the necessity of its probability interpretation. The possibility has been shown to construct in unified manner mechanics of macroand microprocesses considering discretness of wave processes.


Driven by the need to offset the variability of wind and solar generation on the electrical grid, development of load controls is a highly active field in the engineering literature. However, practical use of residential loads for grid balancing and ancillary services remains rare, in part due to the relative cost of communicating with hordes of small loads and also due to the limited experimentation done so far to demonstrate reliable operation. To establish a basis for the safe and reliable use of fleets of small compressor loads as distributed energy resources (DERs), we have constructed an experimental testbed in a laboratory, so that load coordination schemes can be tested at extreme conditions within a laboratory environment. This experiment can be used to tune a simulation testbed to which it can then be linked, thereby augmenting the effective size of the ensemble of loads. Control algorithms can simply be plugged in for testing. Modeling of the system was done both to demonstrate the experimental testbed's behavior and also to understand how to tune the behavior of each participating model house in the system. Implementing this testbed has been useful for the rapid turnaround of experiments on various control types, and it enables testing year-round without the constraints and limitations arising in seasonal field tests with real human participants.


Background Skeletal stem cells can be combined with human allograft, and impacted to produce a mechanically stable living bone composite. This strategy has been used for the treatment of femoral head avascular necrosis, and has been translated to four patients, of which three remain asymptomatic at up to three year follow-up. In one patient collapse occurred in both hips due to widely distributed and advanced AVN disease, necessitating bilateral hip arthroplasty. However this has provided the opportunity to retrieve the femoral heads and analyse human tissue engineered bone. Aims Analysis of retrieved human tissue-engineered bone in conjunction with clinical follow-up of this translational case series. Methods A parallel in vitro culture of the implanted cell-graft constructs was set up at the time of surgery, with serial cell viability stains performed up to six weeks. Patient follow-up was by serial clinical and radiological examination. Tissue engineered bone from the two retrieved femoral heads was analysed histologically by Alcian blue & Sirius red stain and bi-refringence, by micro computed tomography (microCT) for both bone density and morphology, and by compression testing for mechanical strength. Normal trabecular and cortical bone from the femoral heads was used as controls. Results Parallel in vitro analysis demonstrated sustained cell growth and viability on the allograft. Histologically, the retrieved tissue engineered specimens demonstrated a mature trabecular micro-architecture and organization identical to normal trabecular bone. MicroCT revealed trabecular morphology within the tissue-engineered bone, with bone density of 1400 Grey scale units (compared to 1200 for natural trabecular bone and 1800 for cortical bone). Axial compression testing showed no difference in strength between engineered and trabecular bone. Conclusions Widespread residual necrosis in the femoral heads of one patient resulted in collapse requiring hip arthroplasty, but analysis of the tissue engineered bone sections has demonstrated the translational potential of a living bone composite to restore both the biological and mechanical characteristics of bone defects. Clinical follow-up shows this to be an effective new treatment for focal early stage avascular necrosis of the femoral head, and this unique retrieval analysis data confirms the potential of cell-based strategies for clinical treatment of bone defects.


Errrorless learning is one of the most studied principles in neurorehabilitation. This is the first volume to capture all the key elements in the field in one invaluable resource, providing an up-to-date and broad analysis of the use of errorless learning principles in rehabilitation after brain injury. With contributions from key researchers in the field, Errorless Learning in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation covers the historical foundations of errorless learning, current understanding of underlying mechanisms which support learning and its use in memory and language in rehabilitation as applied to particular populations across the age span. This volume also addresses questions of efficacy through analysis of research comparing errorless learning with other established learning methods and principles. Errorless Learning in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation is an essential resource for practitioners, researchers and students of psychology, neuropsychology and rehabilitation.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Metastasis is the major cause of cancer mortality. We therefore wanted to study the possible genetic changes acquired by these cancer cells in order to be endowed with metastatic capabilities. Several studies have identified genes which are differentially expressed in primary and secondary tumor growths. 15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15B) is one such gene. It encodes for an enzyme that takes part in arachidonic acid metabolism and has been characterized as a functional tumor suppressor in prostate cancer. The expression and activity of ALOX15B is frequently suppressed during the carcinogenic progress in the prostate, lungs, esophagus and sebaceous glands. However the exact role of ALOX15B as a tumor suppressor or the underlying mechanism behind its suppression in metastatic cancer cells remains largely unknown. Our initial in silico analyses from clinical samples showed that ALOX15B expression is attenuated in metastatic prostate cancer, compared to normal tissue or primary prostate cancer. Gene array studies across several cancer cell lines showed that ALOX15B expression is inversely correlated with invasiveness of the cell type. Gene clustering showed that ALOX15B is grouped with genes associated with an epithelial phenotype. ALOX15B expression was knocked down in immortalized non-transformed prostate as well as non/low invasive prostate cancer cell line. This had no effect on the proliferative indices in these cells, neither were the cells more resistant to apoptosis under normal growth conditions. However the cells were endowed with increased resistance to hypoxic stress. This was at least in part achieved by increased production of VEGF-A. Analyses of several pro-survival pathways identified that Akt signaling was hyper activated in these ALOX15B knocked down cells. This in turn led to a decreased FoxO transcriptional activity. Conversely, restoration of ALOX15B in low/non metastatic as well as highly metastatic prostate cancer cell lines decreased their basal level of Akt signaling along with increased FoxO activity and a concomitant decrease in VEGF-A production. Further experiments showed that ALOX15B regulates Akt activity by modulating its phosphorylation status. Luciferase tagged rat prostate cancer cells were engineered to over-express ALOX15B. Implantation of such cells in mice showed that cells with restored expression of ALOX15B showed no difference in growth kinetics of primary tumor growth, but a decrease in luciferase activity in the liver of such mice. To summarize, our data shows that loss of ALOX15B expression in prostate cancer cells endows such cells with pro-survival benefits which allows them to establish successful macro-metastases.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3424. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3424


We investigate the automatic generation of Wikipedia articles as an alternative to its manual creation. We propose a framework for creating a Wikipedia article for a named entity which not only looks similar to other Wikipedia articles in its category but also aggregates the diverse aspects related to that named entity from the Web. In particular, a semi-supervised method is used for determining the headings and identifying the content for each heading in the Wikipedia article generated. Evaluations show that articles created by our system for categories like actors are more reliable and informative compared to those generated by previous approaches of Wikipedia article automation.


This paper examines the presence and effectiveness of Entrepreneurial Marketing (EM) in SMEs operating in the premium alcoholic drinks industry. Recent years have seen significant numbers of SMEs emerge within the premium alcoholic drinks market. This paper examines the extent to which they utilise EM strategies, evaluating the effect such strategies have on firm performance and assessing the influence the owner/entrepreneur of these firms has on the development and execution of EM strategies. This research responds to calls within the literature for a wider examination of industries in which EM is being utilised (Collinson & Shaw, 2001; Morris et al., 2002; Kraus et al., 2006; Morrish & Deacon, 2011; Thomas et al., 2013). There is now a growing acceptance that although SMEs may not utilise traditional marketing theories and practices, marketing is integral to their survival. These firms are constrained by a number of factors, but principally they are limited by a lack of resources, consequently, SMEs actively pursue non-conventional approaches to marketing (Gilmore et al., 2001; Jones & Rowley, 2011). A qualitative research process was undertaken with individual in-depth interviews with owner/entrepreneurs of five SMEs. The findings detail five core strategies used by sampled firms to enhance performance outcomes building on the Morris et al. (2002) framework, namely: Proactive Opportunity Creation; Resource Leveraging; Legitimacy; Customer Intensity and Innovative Value Creation. These strategic EM competencies were found to have a considerable effect on SME firm performance, increasing organisational ability to differentiate, counteract resource constraints, build brand awareness or overcome initial market challenges. The study also highlighted the important role of the owner/entrepreneur in the development and execution of effective EM strategy. The principal practical implication, which emerges from this exploratory research is the identification of five emergent EM strategies. These strategies were critical in enhancing performance outcomes of these SMEs leading to increased differentiation, increased market acceptance, increased brand awareness and heightened levels of credibility. Such outcomes are imperative in counteracting the resource constraints faced by SMEs in this industry. This research also recommends the development of community based groups to protect the interests of SMEs operating within MNE dominated industries, enabling them to better counteract the resource constraints which limit them. This exploratory study contributes to the EM theory in two fundamental ways. Firstly, by identifying five core strategies, which enhance performance outcomes within SMEs in the premium alcoholic drinks industry. Additionally, this work provides newly established firms with significant insight into the use of EM strategy and the effect which it can have on SME firm performance. By utilising these competencies simultaneously new firms can achieve enhance performance outcomes within a market in constant flux.


Part 1: The need for change 1. Violence risk assessment: from prediction to understanding - or from what? to why?, David J. Cooke and Christine Michie Part 2: Key areas of practice: 2. Violence risk assessment and management: putting structured professional judgement into practice, Kevin S. Douglas, Adam J.E. Blanchard and Melissa C. Hendry 3. Working with complicated cases: mental disorder and violence, Lorraine Johnstone 4. Managing the risk posed by personality-disordered sex offenders in the community, Katharine Russell and Rajan Darjee 5. Suicide and self-harm: clinical risk assessment and management using a structured professional judgement approach, Caroline Logan 6. Pathological firesetting by adults, John L. Taylor and Ian Thorne 7. Risk management: beyond the individual, David J. Cooke and Lorraine Johnstone Part 3: Key client groups: 8. Risk assessment and management with clients with cognitive impairment, Suzanne O'Rourke 9. Making delinquency prevention work with children and adolescents, Corine de Ruiter and Leena K. Augimeri 10. Working with women: towards a more gender-sensitive violence risk assessment, Vivienne de Vogel and Michiel de Vries Robbe 11. Clinical risk assessment and mangement with military personnel and veterans: the tip of a camouflaged iceberg, John Marham Part 4: Key practice skills 12. Risk assessment: specialist interviewing skills for forensic practitioners, Caroline Logan 13. Protective factors for violence risk: bringing balance to risk assessment and management, Michiel de Vries Robbe and Vivienne de Vogel Postscript: 14. Future directions in clinical risk assessment and management, Caroline Logan and Lorraine Johnstone, Afterword by Stephen Hart.


We present HST/WFPC2 images, in narrowband filters containing the [O III] λ5007 and Hα + [N II] emission lines and their adjacent continua, of a sample of seven Seyfert 2 galaxies selected because they possess either extended emission-line regions in ground-based observations or a hidden broad-line region in polarized light. Six of the galaxies have also been observed with the VLA in order to obtain radio maps of better quality and angular resolution than those in the literature. We find detailed correspondences between features in the radio and emission-line images, clearly indicating strong interactions between the radio jets and the interstellar medium. Such interactions play a major role in determining the morphology of the NLR, as the radio jets sweep up and compress ambient gas, producing ordered structures with enhanced surface brightness in line emission. In at least three galaxies, namely, Mrk 573, ESO 428-G14, and Mrk 34 (and perhaps also NGC 7212), off-nuclear radio lobes coincide with regions of low gaseous excitation (as measured by the [O III]/(Hα + [N II]) ratio). In Mrk 573 and NGC 4388, there is a clear trend for low-brightness ionized gas to be of higher excitation. These results may be understood if radio lobes and regions of high emission-line surface brightness are associated with high gas densities, reducing the ionization parameter. [O III]/(Hα + [N II]) excitation maps reveal bipolar structures that can be interpreted as either the ionization cones expected in the unified scheme or widening, self-excited gaseous outflows. Only NGC 4388 and Mrk 573 show a clearly defined, straight-edged ionization cone.


The mechanisms by which S-nitrosohemoglobin (SNOHb) stimulates vasodilation are unclear and underlie the controversies surrounding the proposal that this S-nitrosothiol modulates blood flow in vivo. Among the mechanistic complexities are the nature of vasoactive species released from SNOHb and the role heme and oxygen play in this process. This is important to address since hemoglobin inhibits NO-dependent vasodilation. We compared the vasodilatory properties of distinct oxidation and ligation states of SNOHb at different oxygen tensions. The results show that SNOHb in the oxygenated state (SNOoxyHb) is significantly less efficient than SNOHb in the ferric or met oxidation state (SNOmetHb) at stimulating relaxation of isolated rat aortic rings. Using pharmacologic approaches to modulate nitrogen monoxide radical (.NO)-dependent relaxation, our data suggest that SNOoxyHb promotes vasodilation in a.NO-independent manner. In contrast, both SNOmetHb and S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), a putative intermediate in SNOHb reactivity, elicit vasodilation in a.NO-dependent process. Consistent with previous observations, an increase in sensitivity of SNOHb vasodilation at low oxygen tensions also was observed. However, this was not exclusive for this protein but applied to a range of nitrosovasodilators (including a.NO donor [DeaNonoate], an S-nitrosothiol [GSNO], and the nitroxyl anion donor, Angelis salt). This suggests that oxygen-dependent modulation of SNOHb vasoactivity does not occur by controlling the allosteric state of Hb but is a property of vessel responsiveness to nitrosovasodilators at low oxygen tensions.


Glioma stem cells (GSCs) contribute to the malignant biological behavior of these tumors and have also been shown to be resistant to radiation and chemotherapy. Recently, a variety of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been found to present altered expression and to play an important oncogenic role or tumor-suppressive function in cancer stem cells (CSCs). microRNA-608 (miR-608) is one of the newly discovered microRNAs, and its biological functions remain unclear. Human macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a well known oncogene associated with tumor recurrence and the poor prognosis of gliomas. In the present study, we found that miR-608 negatively regulated the gene expression of MIF at the post‑transcriptional level and plays a tumor-suppressive role by targeting MIF in GSCs. We found that miR-608 expression was significantly downregulated and the expression levels of the MIF gene and protein showed an increase in the GSCs. miR-608 overexpression significantly attenuated the proliferation, migration and invasion, and induced the apoptosis of GSCs. The dual-luciferase reporter system revealed that the 3'UTR of MIF is a direct target of miR-608, and miR-608 negatively regulates the gene expression of MIF at the post-transcriptional level by targeting its 3'UTR. Furthermore, we demonstrated that miR-608 overexpression inhibited the malignant behavior of GSCs by downregulating MIF. Western blot results showed that the inhibition of MIF resulted in the inactivation of the PI3K/AKT and JNK pathways. These results demonstrate that miR-608 acts as a potential tumor suppressor and provide insight into new therapeutic targets for malignant glioma.


During the past several years there has been considerable interest in photonic crystals which are periodic dielectric materials with periodicity on the order of the wavelength of light. These crystals can manipulate light through Bragg diffraction and novel dispersion bands. Because of the underlying periodicity, and for suitable dielectric contrast, photonic crystals can possess a spectral region known as a photonic bandgap over which light can be inhibited from propagating. Many applications have been proposed for photonic crystals, including spontaneous emission control, waveguides and filters. However, the range of applications for photonic crystals would be significantly enhanced if the bandstructure of the crystals could be tuned. This might enable the realization of highly-integrated microchips for optical signal processing. Here I review our recent work on linear and nonlinear methods to tune the optical properties of photonic crystals. In particular I focus on tuning mechanisms related to the use of liquid crystals and optically injected electron-hole plasmas.


Shared decision making (SDM) is a healthcare delivery model that mandates patient-centered care for clinical practice. Practicing SDM ensures that patients and family caregivers are engaged in making decisions about their care and treatment with healthcare providers. This article reviews the evidence on how nurses can influence the outcomes of cancer treatment decisions by using the SDM model.


: Present method evaluating the quality of environment (using MAC and MAL) does not enable to assess completely and objectively the work conditions of building industry due to multiple confounding elements. A solution to this complicated problem including the analysis of various correlating elements of the system "human--work conditions--environment" may be encouraged by social norm of morbidity, which is independent on industrial and natural environment. The complete integral assessment enables to see the whole situation and reveal the points at risk.


Drosophila researchers met in sunny San Diego for the 49th annual meeting of The Genetics Society of America. It was cold outside and even colder inside. Like last year, 'Mitosis, Meiosis and Cell Division' was no longer a session. Instead, we searched out and covered talks and posters in 'Cell Division and Growth Control', 'Gametogenesis', 'Cytoskeleton and Cell Biology' and 'Genome and Chromosome Structure'. We split up for maximal coverage and re-grouped later for the Workshop on Cell Cycle and Checkpoints. We apologize in advance for the brevity or omission of some reports.


Gravitational–capillary waves, arising in a system of thick layers of two aggregate states of a substance, are studied using the example of water and its vapour. Their initially flat interface is in hydrostatic and thermodynamic equilibrium at atmospheric pressure and the corresponding saturation temperature $100\,^{\circ }\text{C}$ , provided that a balance is maintained for heat fluxes transported through immovable phases in the process of heat conduction. From the problem of linear stability for small perturbations, estimation relations for their damping coefficient and eigenfrequency shift are obtained, including the factors of viscosities of the media and phase transition. The first two contributions, proportional to the kinematic viscosity of the liquid and the square root of the kinematic viscosity of its vapour, respectively, are consistent, accurate to additionally accounted for capillary forces, with the result of Dore's analysis, which is a development of the weakly viscous Lamb theory for 'deep water'. Numerical calculations have shown that, with increasing wavelength, the accuracy of the proposed approximation increases, especially for the wave damping coefficient, and the contribution of the viscosity of the light phase increases in percentage terms. As for the phase transition effect, which was previously overestimated using the quasi-equilibrium approximation, it remains insignificant at the level of heat fluxes acceptable in the model of thick layers of homogeneous media. The factor of thermocapillarity is found to be very weak; it becomes qualitatively noticeable only on the background of disappearing heating. Here, together with the factor of dependence of the saturation temperature on the phase pressure, it determines a non-zero correction to the wave damping coefficient.


The United States is experiencing an epidemic of opioid abuse. In response, many states have increased access to naloxone, a drug that can save lives when administered during an overdose. However, naloxone access may unintentionally increase opioid abuse through two channels: (1) reducing the risk of death per use, thereby making riskier opioid use more appealing, and (2) saving the lives of active drug users, who survive to continue abusing opioids. By increasing the number of opioid abusers who need to fund their drug purchases, naloxone access laws may also increase theft. We exploit the staggered timing of naloxone access laws to estimate the total effects of these laws. We find that broadening naloxone access led to more opioid-related emergency room visits and more opioid-related theft, with no reduction in opioid-related mortality. These effects are driven by urban areas and vary by region. We find the most detrimental effects in the Midwest, including a 14% increase in opioid-related mortality in that region. We also find suggestive evidence that broadening naloxone access increased the use of fentanyl, a particularly potent opioid. While naloxone has great potential as a harm-reduction strategy, our analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that broadening access to naloxone encourages riskier behaviors with respect to opioid abuse.


Objective: To investigate the effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway on the migration ability of HaCaT cells and full-thickness skin defects in mice. Methods: The experimental research method was adopted. According to the random number table (the same below), HaCaT cells were divided into the normal oxygen group and the hypoxia group cultured under hypoxia (with oxygen volume fraction of 1%, the same below) condition. After 24 hours of culture, the significantly differentially expressed genes between the 2 groups were screened using the microarray confidence analysis software SAM4.01. The significance of the number of each gene in the signaling pathway was analyzed through the Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes to screen the significantly differentially signaling pathways (n=3). HaCaT cells were cultured for 0 (immediately), 3, 6, 12, and 24 h under hypoxia condition. The secretion level of TNF-α was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the number of samples was 5. HaCaT cells were divided into normal oxygen group, hypoxia alone group, and hypoxia+inhibitor group cultured with FR180204 (an ERK inhibitor) and under hypoxia condition. The cells were cultured for 3, 6, 12, and 24 h. The migration ability of the cells was detected by scratch test (n=12). The expressions of phosphorylated nuclear factor kappa B (p-NF-κB), phosphorylated p38 (p-p38), phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2), N-cadherin, and E-cadherin in HaCaT cells were detected by Western blotting under hypoxic condition for 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h (n=3). Sixty-four BALB/c male mice aged 6 to 8 weeks were used to make a full-thickness skin defect wound model on the dorsum of the mice. The mice were divided into the blank control group and the inhibitor group treated with FR180204, with 32 mice in each group being treated accordingly. On post injury day (PID) 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15, the wound conditions of mice were observed and the healing rate was calculated (n=8). On PID 1, 3, 6, and 15, hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe neovascularization, inflammatory cell infiltration, and epidermal regeneration on wound, Masson staining was used to observe collagen deposition on wound, the expressions of p-NF-κB, p-p38, p-ERK12, N-cadherin, and E-cadherin in wound tissue were detected by Western blotting (n=6), the number of Ki67 positive cells and the absorbance value of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were detected by immunohistochemistry (n=5), the protein expressions of interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-1β, and CCL20 in wound tissue were detected by ELISA (n=6). Data were statistically analyzed with one-way analysis of variance, analysis of variance for repeated measurement, factorial design analysis of variance, Tukey test, least significant difference test, and independent sample t test. Results: After 24 hours of culture, compared with normal oxygen group, 7 667 genes were up-regulated and 7 174 genes were down-regulated in cells in hypoxic group. Among the above differentially expressed genes, the TNF-α signaling pathway had significant change (P<0.05) with large number of genes. Under hypoxia condition, the expression of TNF-α at 24 h of cell culture was (11.1±2.1) pg/mL, which was significantly higher than (1.9±0.3) pg/mL at 0 h (P<0.05). Compared with normal oxygen group, the migration ability of cells in hypoxia alone group was significantly enhanced at 6, 12, and 24 h of cell culture (with t values of 2.27, 4.65, and 4.67, respectively, P<0.05). Compared with hypoxia alone group, the migration ability of cells in hypoxia+inhibitor group was significantly decreased at 3, 6, 12, and 24 h of cell culture (with t values of 2.43, 3.06, 4.62, and 8.14, respectively, P<0.05). Under hypoxia condition, the expressions of p-NF-κB, p-ERK1/2, and N-cadherin were increased significantly at 12 and 24 h of cell culture compared with 0 h of culture (P<0.05), the expression of p-p38 was significantly increased at 3, 6, 12, and 24 h of cell culture (P<0.05), the expression of E-cadherin was significantly decreased at 6, 12, and 24 h of cell culture (P<0.05), the expression of p-ERK1/2, p-NF-κB, and E-cadherin was time-dependent. Compared with blank control group, on PID 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15, the wound healing rate of mice in inhibitor group was significantly decreased (P<0.05); there were more inflammatory cell infiltration around the wound edge of mice in inhibitor group on PID 3, 6, and 15, especially on PID 15, a large number of tissue necrosis and discontinuous new epidermal layer were observed on the wound surface, and collagen synthesis and new blood vessels were reduced; the expression of p-NF-κB in the wound of mice in inhibitor group was significantly decreased on PID 3 and 6 (with t values of 3.26 and 4.26, respectively, P<0.05) but significantly increased on PID 15 (t=3.25, P<0.05), the expressions of p-p38 and N-cadherin were significantly decreased on PID 1, 3, and 6 (with t values of 4.89, 2.98, 3.98, 9.51, 11.69, and 4.10, respectively, P<0.05), the expression of p-ERK1/2 was significantly decreased on PID 1, 3, 6, and 15 (with t values of 26.69, 3.63, 5.12, and 5.14, respectively, P<0.05), the expression of E-cadherin was significantly decreased on PID 1 (t=20.67, P<0.05) but significantly increased on PID 6 (t=2.90, P<0.05); the number of Ki67 positive cells and absorbance value of VEGF of wound in inhibitor group were significantly decreased on PID 3, 6, and 15 (with t values of 4.20, 7.35, 3.34, 4.14, 3.20, and 3.73, respectively, P<0.05); the expression of IL-10 in the wound tissue of the inhibitor group was significantly decreased on PID 6 (t=2.92, P<0.05), the expression of IL-6 was significantly increased on PID 6 (t=2.73, P<0.05), the expression of IL-1β was significantly increased on PID 15 (t=3.46, P<0.05), and CCL20 expression levels were significantly decreased on PID 1 and 6 (with t values of 3.96 and 2.63, respectively, P<0.05) but significantly increased on PID 15 (t=3.68, P<0.05). Conclusions: The TNF-α/ERK pathway can promote the migration of HaCaT cells, and regulate the healing of full-thickness skin defect wounds in mice by affecting the expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.


Hypertension is a multifactorial disease that is manifested hemodynamically by an increased total peripheral resistance that is more or less uniformly distributed throughout the organ circulations, especially in its target organs, the brain, heart, and kidney. The vasoconstriction involves venules as well as arterioles. The increased afterload that is imposed upon the left ventricle results in the development of concentric hypertrophy. This may be complicated by a preload component early in hypertension or in patients who are volume-dependent (e.g., obesity, blacks). Eventually, if not treated, dysrhythmias, sudden death, or cardiac failure may supervene. The kidney becomes affected by progressive failure in function related to hemodynamic impairment secondary to afferent, as well as efferent, arteriolar constriction, which increases glomerular hydrostatic pressure. If at all possible, antihypertensive therapy should not be associated with intravascular volume expansion or reflex cardiac stimulation. Calcium antagonists reduce arterial pressure through a fall in vascular resistance without expanding volume or inordinately stimulating the heart. Left ventricular afterload is diminished with associated decrease of left ventricular mass. Moreover, renal blood flow increases while filtration fraction and glomerular hydrostatic pressure diminishes. Thus, these agents approach the ideal in reversing the pathophysiological complications of the disease.


The "obesity paradox" phenomenon is referred to as a U-shaped curve between long-term prognosis and body mass index in heart failure patients. There is a large body of evidence regarding the regulatory role of visceral adipose tissue-related adipocytokines in activity of endogenous repair system. The reparation of myocardium and endothelium may strongly enhance by differentiation and mobbing of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). They improve angiogenesis and collateral vessel growth, as well as counteract vascular injury. It has suggested that several metabolic factors frequently associated with HF may increase the number of circulating EPCs, which mediate repair processes and collaborate with obese. In contrast, decreased number and/or weak functionality of EPCs relate with altered endogenous repair system and may negatively contribute in HF development. Finally, moving across recently received evidence "obesity paradox" could be elucidated as a result of interplaying of trigging repair systems and ability of EPCs to response on challenges enhancing reparative potency in target organs, i.e. myocardium, vascular wall and endothelium.


The contribution of postsynaptic alpha 1-and alpha 2-adrenoceptors to vascular responses was investigated in the blood perfused hindlimbs of pentobarbitone-anaesthetised dogs and chloralose-anaesthetised cats. Responses were obtained to sympathetic nerve stimulation, noradrenaline, phenylephrine and UK-14,304. In the dog and cat hindlimbs, the response to phenylephrine was reduced by the selective alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist, prazosin, while that to UK-14,304, in the dog, was reduced by the alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, rauwolscine. Responses to noradrenaline and sympathetic nerve stimulation were only partially blocked by prazosin in both the dog and cat, but were further reduced by the addition of rauwolscine. These results suggest that the hindlimb vasculature of the dog and cat responds to neuronally released, as well as exogenous, noradrenaline by activation of both postsynaptic alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenoceptors.


Work reported herein was supported by the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, an M.I.T. research program sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense under office of Naval Research contract number N00014-70-A-0362-0002.


Using a new local smoothing estimate of the first and third authors, we prove local-in-time Strichartz and smoothing estimates without a loss exterior to a large class of polygonal obstacles with arbitrary boundary conditions and global-in-time Strichartz estimates without a loss exterior to a large class of polygonal obstacles with Dirichlet boundary conditions. In addition, we prove a global-in-time local smoothing estimate in exterior wedge domains with Dirichlet boundary conditions and discuss some nonlinear applications.


Purpose of reviewOverweight and obesity together with their comorbidities have become increasingly prevalent worldwide. The need for well tolerated, effective interventions has become increasingly urgent. Here we review the pharmacology, benefits, and risks of Western and Chinese medications used for weight loss. Recent findingsLifestyle interventions for weight loss are efficacious, but have had limited long-term durability. Bariatric surgery is very effective for weight loss and reversal of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but it is invasive and not consistently durable in all patients. Recent studies show that newer Western pharmaceuticals and some traditional Chinese medications may be effective for appropriate patients in need of weight loss. SummaryNew Western medications, notably lorcaserin, phentermine/topiramate, naltrexone/bupropion, and liraglutide, are more effective and possibly safer than older medications but have important side-effects. Chinese herbal medicines may have efficacy similar to that of older Western medications and with few side-effects, but data are limited. We suggest that for appropriate patients, in particular those with or at high risk for T2DM, the judicious use of these medications with lifestyle modification is justified. This may be particularly true in Asia where T2DM develops at a low BMI, though more data are needed to support this concept.


Gate-dependent tunneling-induced level shifts observed in carbon nanotubes quanum We have studied electron transport in clean single-walled carbon nanotube quantum dots. Because of the large number of the Coulomb blockade diamonds simultaneously showing both shell structure and the Kondo effect, we are able to perform a detailed analysis of tunneling renormalization effects. Thus, determining the environment induced level shifts of this artificial atom. In shells where only one of the two orbitals is strongly coupled, we observe a marked asymmetric gate dependence of the inelastic cotunneling lines together with a systematic gate dependence of the size (cid:1) and shape (cid:2) of the Coulomb diamonds. These effects are all given a simple explanation in terms of second-order perturbation theory in the tunnel coupling.


The Internet has become an integral part of young people's lives. It is 'their' medium, they are the pioneers in the cyber-space, developing online competencies and literacies, gaining confidence and expertise as a result (Livingstone 2004). They do not hesitate to look for information concerning their intimate problems on the Internet because it is an accessible and anonymous method of seeking help. However, there is very little knowledge of the popularity and effeciency of online counselling forums among Estonian youth.
The aim of this Bachelor's thesis "The effectivity and usage practices of online advice-seeking forums among Estonian youngsters" is to study youngsters' motivations in accessing the Internet for seeking advice and to learn about their usage practices of online counselling. In addition, the present thesis analyses the efficiency of Estonian help-seeking environments and makes suggestions on developing them.
Data for the present study were obtained through two focus group interviews with young people who have used counselling forums. Also two efficiency experiments were carried out in order to analyse whether it is possible for adolecents to get adequate help from Estonian online forums.
The results of this study showed that online sources play a partial role in youngsters' information and advice seeking. However, online forums have been welcomed as providing information on taboo subjects concerning relationships and sexuality. Therefore anonymity plays the key role in accessing those forums.
Surprisingly, the usage rate of online advice-seeking environments among the interviewees turned out to be very high. Although they, contrary to the typical net generation stereotype, seldom post their own questions, the participants surf the forums to obtain information from previously posted questions and answers up to five times a week. Therefore, the online forums prove to be far more popular with and vital to Estonian youngsters than previously thought.
Altough adult forums may provide helpful feedback, it occurs that teen forums in Estonia are still relatively incapable of assuring youngsters the help they are looking for. Considering the shortage and superficiality of answers and lack of socially competent counsellors, the service is unable to complete its purpose effectively. Counselling forums are vital for opening oneself and obtaining, if lucky, consolation or moral support but when it comes to solving their problem they mostly feel left alone.
Estonian youngsters' adivce-seeking forums are lacking publicity, moderators and the contribution of professional consultants who would ensure that everyone gets adequate help.


The aim of this investigation was to study how a change to the dietary regimen of the Weight Watchers' (WW) affected salivary secretion rate, buffer effect and number of cariogenic bacteria. Thirty-three women joining the WW were saliva sampled at the evening prior the day of the start of the dietary regimen and after 4 and 8 wk on the dietary regimen. No significant changes were found regarding saliva secretion rate and buffer effect. A significant decrease of salivary numbers of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli occurred. Between the 4th and 8th wk of dietary regimen an increase of cariogenic bacteria occurred but not back to the baseline values. At baseline 15 of the WW carried Streptococcus sobrinus in addition to Streptococcus mutans. The total number of salivary mutans streptococci and lactobacilli was significantly higher in those subjects. In conclusion the dietary regimen of the WW, based on food choice and distributions of meals in agreement with a non-cariogenic diet, reduced the number of cariogenic bacteria in most subjects, but not in all, while the secretion rate and buffer effect remained the same.


Abstract I report the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the East Asian fish-eating bat (Myotis ricketti or M. pilosus), also known as the Rickett's big footed bat. The total length of the circular M. ricketti mitogenome is 17,098 base pairs, containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs, and a non-coding control region (D-loop region). The gene order and organisation of this mitogenome are similar to most of other determined vertebrate mitogenomes, with the nucleotide base composition of A 34.22%, T 30.32%, C 22.80%, and G 12.66%. Besides, the mitogenomic D-loop region contains 29 copies of a tandem repeat sequence of six nucleotides (CATACG). The phylogenetic analysis indicates that M. ricketti is closely related to M. macrodactylus and M. petax. This study will contribute to the investigations of phylogeny and evolution for Myotis and its relevant taxa.


A PLC-based multi-well automatic metering and remote monitoring system has been developed to improve metering accuracy, realize multi-well continuous metering and meet the needs of remote monitoring. A three-level management mode consisting of metering station, oil production crew and oil production plant is built. The metering station is used to control the metering order, monitor the working condition of oil wells and upload metering data to oil production crew through wireless module; the oil production crew is used to receive the instantaneous data from the metering station and upload the statistical data to the server in the oil production plant; the oil production plant is used to browse and manage the data from every oil production crew through internet and the website of oil field data management system has been developed based on B/S frame. Field test shows that this system can accurately meter and analyze oil production data, generate needed reports and graphs with the functions of automatic metering, remote transmission, data analysis and queries.


The two exocyclic oxygen atoms at phosphorus of cAMP have been repIaced by a sulfur atom or by a dimethylamino group. These substitutions introduce chirality at the phosphorus atom; therefore, two dia- stereoisomers are known for each derivative: (Sp)- CAMPS, (Rp)-CAMPS, (Sp)-cAMPN(CH&, and Rp-cAMPN(CH&. We have investigated the agonistic and antagonistic activities of these compounds in four CAMP-dependent reactions: activation of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum via its cell surface cAMP receptor, and phosphorylation by CAMP- dependent protein kinases type I, type I1 (both mammalian enzymes), and type D (derived from D. discoi- deum). The results show that 1) the compounds (Sp)-CAMPS and (Sp)-cAMPN(CH& are (mostly full) ago- nists for the four proteins. Half-maximal activation is at micromolar concentrations (0.8-7 FM). 2) (Rp)-


In Drosophila montana, male courtship song frequency is closely associated with male courtship success and offspring survival. Other pulse characters (pulse length and cycle number) may also affect female mate choice, whereas pulse train characters (interpulse interval, pulse number and pulse train length) are not associated with these male fitness components. Inbreeding depression in these song characters was investigated by comparing the songs of inbred and outbred fly strains. The average change in most song characters as a result of inbreeding was only a few percent. However, in male song frequency the average inbreeding depression was about 14%, suggesting that this song character is associated with fitness. Outbreeding depression and the genetic architecture of song characters were investigated with interpopulation crosses and joint scaling tests. For pulse train characters the generation means show only evidence of additivity, and the existence of dominance or epistasis in these characters was strongly rejected in each case. In pulse characters the means of the F1 males were lower than the average of the parental generations. In pulse length and cycle number this difference was attributable to dominance alone. In frequency there was outbreeding depression also in the F2 generation, suggesting a break-up of favourable epistatic gene combinations. The outbreeding depression in this character in the F1 generation was caused by dominance, and in the F2 also by duplicate epistasis between dominant decreasers. The possible role of outbreeding depression and epistasis in speciation is discussed.


To provide a consistent experience for customers, most Web site developers must integrate existing content with new content, server-side applications, and Web-based services. Increasingly, even basic sites are becoming more like traditional portals-a single, integrated point of access to information, applications, and people. Portals integrate diverse interaction channels at a central point, providing comprehensive context and an aggregated view across all information. Portals are largely based on existing Web application technology, such as Web servers and Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE). I present an overview of portal types and services, followed by a more detailed examination of portal-specific components and architectures.


Over the last five years, relaying or multihop techniques have been intensively researched as means for potentially improving link performance of wireless networks. However, the data rates of relays are often limited because they cannot transmit and receive on the same frequency simultaneously. This limitation has come to the attention of researchers, and recently a number of relay techniques have been proposed specifically to improve the data efficiency of relaying protocols. This paper surveys transmission protocols that employ first single relays, then multiple relays and finally multiple antenna relays. A common feature of these techniques is that novel signal processing techniques are required in the relay network to support increased data rates. This paper presents results and discussion that highlight the advantages of these approaches.


The first general method for iron-catalyzed aerobic oxidative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols was achieved with good to high enantiomeric differentiation (k(rel) = 7-50). Although iron(salan) complex 1 does not catalyze alcohol oxidation, the naphthoxide-bound iron(salan) complex does.


The proprotein convertase PC1/3 is synthesized as a large precursor that undergoes proteolytic processing of the signal peptide, the propeptide and ultimately the COOH-terminal tail, to generate the mature form. The propeptide is essential for protease folding, and, although cleaved by an autocatalytic process, it remains associated with the mature form acting as an auto-inhibitor of PC1/3. To further assess the role of certain residues in its interaction with its cognate enzyme, we performed an alanine scan on two PC1/3 propeptide potential cleavable sites (50RRSRR54 and 61KR62) and an acidic region 65DDD67 conserved among species. Upon incubation with PC1/3, the ensuing peptides exhibit equal inhibitory potency, lower potency, or higher potency than the wild-type propeptide. The Ki values calculated varied between 0.15 and 16.5 nm. All but one mutant exhibited a tight binding behavior. To examine the specificity of mutants, we studied their reactivity toward furin, a closely related convertase. The mutation of certain residues also affects the inhibition behavior toward furin yielding propeptides exhibiting Ki ranging from 0.2 to 24 nm. Mutant propeptides exhibited against each enzyme either different mode of inhibition, enhanced selectivity in the order of 40-fold for one enzyme, or high potency with no discrimination. Hence, we demonstrate through single amino acid substitution that it is feasible to modify the inhibitory behavior of propeptides toward convertases in such a way as to increase or decrease their potency, modify their inhibitory mechanisms, as well as increase their selectivity.


This article argues that during the first two decades of the twentieth century, William Monroe Trotter's Boston Guardian challenged "post-truth" politics at the heart of America's exploitative racial project both at home and abroad. Trotter's reinvigorated Black radical press exposed a fundamental lie at the heart of American racialization: that lynching, segregation, and violent white domination were natural features of United States exceptionalism, and that "the colored people themselves" (both at home and abroad) were responsible for their own subjugation. Through the Guardian's campaign against racial disinformation espoused in mainstream Black newspapers, Trotter influenced the New Negro radicalism of Cyril V. Briggs, Hubert Harrison, and the African Blood Brotherhood.