Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the linkages between climate change, income dynamics and nutrition intake in rural China. Design/methodology/approach - – Using a system of simultaneous equations in a three-stage least squares model instrumented with carbohydrates, fats, proteins and farm income the authors found generally that the greatest impact on nutrition would be from changes in temperature. Findings - – The authors do not find that modest changes in precipitation affect nutrient intake, but extreme events such as drought do. Furthermore, the authors found a strong income effect and this income effect is opposite the heating effect. This may suggest that large swings in nutrient intake brought about by climate change may be countermanded by equivalent increases in income. The authors also found that in terms of general measures of elasticity that market effects, especially in the price of meats, can impact carbohydrate, fat and protein intake as much as global warming. Originality/value - – The authors believe that three aspects of this manuscript will make it interesting. First, in the short term, poorer households would be the most vulnerable and sensitive to climate change. However, in the long term, all households in rural China appear able to deal with changing climatic conditions through adaptation. Second, the authors do not find evidences to prove the existence of a poverty nutrition trap in rural China. Third, the results also indicate that, the nutrition intake of households in rural China is more prone to gradual changes, rather than extreme events.


We describe the selection of aptamers based on bioinformatics‐based approaches without Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (SELEX). SELEX is a potent method; however, it is time intensive and the PCR‐amplification step, which is essential step for SELEX, leads to the loss of good aptamers. We have developed an aptamer‐screening method, G4 promoter‐derived aptamer selection (G4PAS), and an aptamer‐improving method, in silico maturation (ISM). They are based on in silico sequence selection and computer assisted directed evolution, respectively. In this study, we succeeded in identifying new aptamers against hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) by G4PAS as well as improving the specificity of the HGF aptamers by ISM. Using ISM improved the specificity of the aptamer for HGF by up to 45‐fold in comparison with the original aptamer. These methods enable easy and efficient identification of good aptamers, and the combination of G4PAS with ISM can thus serve as a potent approach for aptamer identification. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2196–2203. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


2,2-Dichloro-1,1,1-trifluorethane (HCFC-123) is used industrially as a refrigerant, as a foam blowing agent, and as a solvent. It is also being considered as a replacement for halons and chlorinated fluorocarbons which have been banned by the Montreal Protocol because they deplete atmospheric ozone. Male Fischer 344 rats were exposed to 1.0, 0.1, and 0.01% HCFC-123 by inhalation. Parent compound was measured in blood, fat, and exhaled breath and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) was measured in blood and urine. A physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model was developed which included a gut compartment and a variable size fat compartment in addition to the standard flow-limited compartments. Compartment volumes and flows were chosen from the literature, partition coefficients were measured in the laboratory, and metabolic parameters were optimized from experimental data using model simulations. Laboratory experiments showed that the TFA blood concentration during the 1.0% exposure was more than 50% less than the TFA blood concentration during the 0.1% exposure. After cessation of the 4-hr exposure, TFA blood concentrations from the 1.0% exposure rebounded and peaked between 12 and 26 hr after the exposure at about the same concentration as the 0.1% peak. This rebound phenomenon suggested that it was not killing of the metabolic enzymes but substrate inhibition that made the TFA blood concentrations lower than expected. Substrate inhibition by halothane, a structural analog of HCFC-123, has been described in the literature. Only by including a term for substrate inhibition in the PBPK model could pharmacokinetic data for TFA in blood be simulated adequately. This combination of laboratory experimentation and PBPK modeling can be applied to relate the levels of parent and metabolite to toxic effects with some hope of elucidating the toxic species. This work is the first step toward developing models that can be used to predict the toxicokinetics of HCFC-123 in humans throughout various potential use scenarios.


The completion of a risk assessment form is a sequence of three events: chemical information discovery and acquisition; chemical information manipulation; and, assessment form template interpolation. For organisations, the costs associated with manual risk assessment are very significant; ranging from the wages of those who complete and review the forms, to the damages paid to those who are affected by any errors. We present a software system that uses Semantic Web technologies to assist with and automate the completion of COSHH risk assessment forms. We use an RDF representation of the GHS and CLP regulation to describe the hazards and precautionary statements that are associated with a library of chemical substances. Aggregating the RDF data for a collection of chemical substances enables the automatic generation of a ready-to-use, human- and machine-readable risk assessment form. The software system is backed by an RDF triple-store and SPARQL endpoint, and fronted by a lightweight, mobile-friendly Web application. We find that the introduction of software systems for automated risk assessment is, on the whole, beneficial to organisations. However, we also encounter a number of new risks, including: the risk that users obtain and utilise the "correct" answer to an "incorrect" question; the risk that users implicitly trust and/or rely upon the software system; and, the risk that the data gathered by the software system could be used to infer the research agendas of both individual users and organisations as a whole. Finally, we report on recent work to implement our software system using the Sigma-Aldrich catalogue as the primary data source


Few medical problems offer greater difficulties than early, accurate diagnosis and correct treatment of the acute abdominal diseases of infants and children. Because of the treacherous behavior of these diseases, the general surgeon who observes relatively few of the children suffering from them is at especial disadvantage. The purpose of this paper is to present our surgical experience with a series of patients varying in age from birth to 12 years, together with a review of the recent literature. It has generally been recognized that surgical treatment of infants and children must differ greatly from surgical treatment of adults. In patients under the age of 12 years the unstable metabolism influences markedly the reaction to acute peritoneal lesions. Requirements of food and fluid are more constant in children than in adults because of growth and its demands on the tissues; temporary interruption of these supplies is detrimental and may in


Cooking at home, according to studies, newspapers and social networks, has become increasingly popular. This is in opposition with the reduction of time spent in culinary preparation. While health discourses advocate consumer responsibility and invite them to consume a more balanced diet, we question the place of cooking in everyday life in France. The culinary act is a cycle of actions that leads to the realization of the desired dish. It is an integral part of the food act. A cycle starts either when you find an idea or a recipe, or when selecting the ingredients. These actions are followed by the realization of the recipe, by technical means, and by conceptual and perceptual skills. Subsequently, the preparation will be served or preserved. By following the steps of the culinary cycle, we have elaborated a first investigation that concerns the determination of the culinary organization of the week. The criteria chosen are to answer to what Ascher calls the creative class, it is composed of individuals who will be more able to modify their culinary practices and to have a reflection on their culinary act. To ensure this criterion, we ask during the recruitment stage, questions such as : how many convenience food are you consuming per week ? These protocols aim at capturing the different definitions of culinary act according to the individual investigated.


God and the Evil of Scarcity: Moral Foundations of Economic Agency Albino Barrera, O.P. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005 (287 pages)


The nucleotide sequence of the RhD transcripts from the reticulocytes of three unrelated variants with the DVII category blood group phenotype has been determined. Our results indicate that the expression of the low frequency antigen Rh40 and the lack of epD8 at the surface of these variant RhD positive red cells are associated with a single point mutation, T329C, in exon 2 of the RHD gene. This nucleotide polymorphism results in a leucine to proline substitution at amino acid position 110 of the RhD polypeptide. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Adversarial training is effective in improving the robustness of neural networks. In NLP, languages are discrete in nature, separate tokens possess discrete semantics. Therefore, to incorporate adversarial training in sequence-level tasks, we introduce a novel training strategy: Text Adversarial Training with token-level perturbation. We fist craft perturbations that are initialized using a fine-grained token-level accumulated perturbations. Then we constrain these perturbations considering that inputs are separate tokens, rather than constraining them under a naive normalization ball. We validate the effectiveness of such normalization method using large-scale Transformer-based language models. Experiments on GLUE benchmark and NER task show that our adversarial training strategy improves the performances on various tasks including text classification and sequence labeling.


Summary: Epithelial ovarian tumours of low malignant potential (LMP) are known to have a generally good prognosis, although there is not universal agreement on all aspects of treatment. We report a series of 175 patients with LMP ovarian tumours referred to the Queensland Centre for Gynaecological Cancer between January, 1982 and December, 1993. Stage I disease accounted for 142 cases, with only 1 patient dead from disease at 293 months. Twenty nine patients in this group had conservative surgery with 1 recurrence only (in the contralateral ovary) giving a recurrence rate of 3.5%. Survival and treatment data for other stages are presented, and the current literature reviewed. It is suggested that early stage disease may be treated conservatively depending upon the patient's desire to retain reproductive capacity. While adjuvant therapy is not recommended, long‐term follow‐up is indicated. More advanced disease should be debulked to the smallest practical volume. The role of lymphadenectomy has been questioned, as survival has not been shown to be affected by treatment decisions made as a result of knowing the lymph node status. Whilst some centres give platinum‐based adjuvant therapy, the evidence that it is beneficial is not supported by any prospective randomized trials.


Recent evidence has demonstrated that cross‐linking class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules on human T cells with monoclonal antibodies (mAb) triggers T cell activation. The only known natural ligand for MHC class I molecules is CD8.Therefore, the possibility that CD8+ T cells might provide activation signals to other T cells by engaging MHC class I molecules was examined by culturing CD4+ peripheral blood T cells with Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) cells that had been transfected with the α chain or α and β chains of CD8 and assessing interleukin (IL)‐2 production. CD4+ T cells did not secrete IL‐2 when cultured alone, with control or CD8+ CHO cells. In contrast, CD4+ T cells produced IL‐2 when cultured with CD8+ CHO cells and co‐stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or mAb to CD3 or CD28. PMA stimulated substantially less IL‐2 when control CHO cells were employed and the mAb to CD3 and CD28 did not stimulate IL‐2 production in the presence of control CHO cells. The co‐stimulatory activity of CD8+CHO cells was completelyeliminated by mAb to CD8 or MHC class I molecules. The data demonstrate that CD8 can interact with MHC class I molecules expressed on T cells and deliver a costimulatory signal that increases IL‐2 production. Thus, engagement of MHC class I molecules byits natural ligand, CD8, provides an activation signal to T cells. Under some circumstances, such interactions may amplify the responses of T cells.


Most occupational choice models introduce only two options for agents: entrepreneurial activities or wage-employment. However, these models represent inadequately the labor force distribution from developing countries, where an important proportion of the total work force are self-employed workers. Some models introduce self-employment as an occupational choice. These works have a common feature: when in equilibrium, wage earners belong to the lower end of the income distribution. Nevertheless, for a large set of developing countries, peasants and small proprietors are part of a self-employment sector that can mostly be found in the lower end of the income distribution. In contrast with previous efforts, in this work self-employment formation is consistent with data from most developing countries. We pay special attention to the conditions under which either the economy ends in a low income equilibrium where self-employment is the only form of production, or alternatively, the economy ends in a high income equilibrium with a well developed labor market. We study some public policy issues, paying special attention to role of capital markets and the efficiency of schooling.


P-glycoprotein is a transmembrane protein which acts as an energy-dependent drug efflux pump for a variety of anti-cancer drugs. The mdr-1 gene which encodes P-glycoprotein was successfully cloned in 1986. To investigate P-glycoprotein expression in diverse ovarian tumors, including benign, low malignant potential and malignant, immunohistochemical study was done using a monoclonal antibody (C 219). Overall, 8 out of the 59 epithelial ovarian tumors (13.6%) expressed P-glycoprotein. It was noted that 5 of the 12 mucinous tumors were found to express P-glycoprotein, while none of the 31 serous tumors were immunohistochemically positive. In 10 malignant ovarian tumors, P-glycoprotein immunostaining was examined both prior to and after chemotherapy. Nine of them did not express any P-glycoprotein before or after chemotherapy. However, one tumor expressed P-glycoprotein after six courses of multidrug resistance-related drug administration. These findings indicate that P-glycoprotein expression is not so common in ovarian tumors, regardless of their malignant potential. Nevertheless, the results suggest a strong association between P-glycoprotein expression and certain histological cell types in epithelial ovarian tumors. It is also possible that P-glycoprotein appears as a result of chemotherapy, but such a phenomenon can not occur unless chemotherapy is administered at high doses for a long period of time.


OBJECTIVE
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified in various malignant tumors and determined to play an essential role in terms of cancer progression. In this study, we aimed at exploring the molecular mechanism of LINC00963 in colorectal cancer (CRC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
The mRNA expressions of LINC00963, miR-124-3p and FZD4 in CRC tissues and cells were detected by qRT-PCR. CCK-8 and transwell assay were chosen to measure the CRC cell vitality. Western blot analysis was performed to assess the expression level of FZD4 in CRC. The correlation between LINC00963 and miR-124-3p or miR-124-3p and FZD4 was appraised by Dual-Luciferase reporter assay.

RESULTS
In this study, LINC00963 was significantly upregulated in CRC tissues and cells. Functionally, LINC00963 knockdown inhibited cell progression in CRC. The results verified that LINC00963 can restrain the expression of miR-124-3p. Moreover, FZD4 restored the inhibitory effect of miR-124-3p on the progression of CRC cells. Besides that, we preliminarily verified that FZD4 was a direct target gene of LINC00963/miR-124-3p axis in CRC.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrated that LINC00963/miR-124-3p/FZD4 played a curial role in cell proliferation and migration in CRC. In addition, LINC00963 can be a possible therapeutic and diagnostic target for CRC treatment.


Investigation was carried out to determine combining ability and heterosis for yield and its component traits in rice. The material consisted of F1 hybrids of 30 crosses developed by crossing 10 lines with three testers. The cross HPR 2639 X HPR 2143 is good specific combination for grain yield/plant, panicle length, spikelets/panicle, grains/panicle, biological yield/plant, days to 50% flowering and plant height. Another hybrid, HPR 2529 X HPR 1156 also shows high heterosis over standard check for grain yield/plant biological yield/plant, grain fertility and plant height.


In recent years the problem of option pricing has received increasing interest from both financial institutions and academics. It is well known that conventional modeling techniques for option pricing have inherent, persistent and systematic biases which are mainly due to the assumption of constant volatility for prices associated with the underlying financial instrument. Nowadays, there is strong and increasing evidence that financial markets are far from being stationary and then, whenever dealing with option pricing, we have to take into account the market heteroschedasticity. A possible approach for dealing with non-constant volatility relies on the modeling of the basic characteristics named implied volatility. Unfortunately this task is extremely complex and parametric models are not available. In this paper the authors discuss how models from the class of Feedforward Neural Networks can be exploited for approaching the task of implied volatility modeling. In particular the paper shows how the main techniques from the nonlinear regression framework can be exploited when models from the class of Feedforward Neural Networks are used. Indeed, in such a case the paucity of data, which can be used for the network training, and the particular structure of Feedforward Neural Networks make the modeling task numerically complex. The authors discuss how the nonlinear regression technique named profile can be exploited for selecting the optimal network's structure and evaluating its numeical properties. To this end, a numerical procedure for empirical model building, in the case of Feedforward Neural Networks, has been developed. Results are evaluated through an ad-hoc procedure which utilizes the estimated implied volatility surface for pricing general contingent claims. Numerical experiments, in the case of the USD/DEM options, are presented and discussed.


Cassia auriculata is an important traditional medicinal plant commonly used in many Ayurvedic formulations, meant for diabetes, rheumatism, conjunctivitis, infertility and etc. But due to similar morphological characters and misidentifications, adulteration from Cassia surattensis has been observed. Since safety and efficacy of herbal products has become a major concern due to adulterations, DNA profiling which is an effective and cheap method can be used to solve this problem by discriminating the genuine material. However, no reports about the genetic identification for these species are available to our knowledge. Therefore, the present study was devoted to developing Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Direct Amplification of Minisatellite-region DNA (DAMD) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) DNA profiles to authenticate C. auriculata and C. surattensis. As the first step, fresh leaf samples from both plant species were randomly collected from Gampaha district, Sri Lanka and genomic DNA were extracted using modified Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide (CTAB) protocols. Four short arbitrary primers, two core primers and two SSR primers were used respectively with three different Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) based molecular markers which were RAPD, DAMD and ISSR to develop DNA profiles. Out of eight primers, three arbitrary primers, OP-F03, OP-U10 and OP-U20 and one core primer, HBV(5) yielded clear and reproducible amplification products. These results clearly discriminated the medicinal plant C. auriculata and the adulterant C. surattensis providing a complementary tool for quality control of plant derived herbal medicinal products. However, both SSR primers couldn't authenticate two plants and further work is needed to develop ISSR DNA profiles for the authentication.


Empire and Nation: the American Revolution in the Atlantic World. Edited by Eliga H. Gould and Peter S. Onuf. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. Pp. viii, 381. Cloth, $49.95.)When is a festschrift not a festschrift? The answer is when it refuses to call itself one. So beware, I will reveal the secret of Empire and Nation: In very thin disguise, this book is a thoroughly deserved festschrift for Johns Hopkins historian and long-time Doktorvater, Jack P. Greene.Edited by two of his students, Empire and Nation emerged from a conference to honor Greene and includes only a few contributions from scholars who did not work with him. The book rightly includes very recent students, as well as famous ones. Why Johns Hopkins Press (of all publishers) could not be convinced to publish a collection of essays celebrating a premier Johns Hopkins University historian is beyond me. Greene's seminar has produced wave upon wave of major historians (67, the last I heard). Any early Americanist is bound to be interested in a volume that brings together many of the best of them, writing around themes that both Greene and they have developed.As its title suggests, Empire and Nation takes an Atlantic perspective, which is very much in accord with Greene's own long trajectory. There are exceptions, especially among the six essays that make up Part II, "Society, Politics, and Culture in the New Nation," but Part I ("Reconstituting the Empire") and Part III ("The American Revolution and the Atlantic World") both span the ocean, one way or another.In Part I the Atlantic is the familiar sea that Britannia ruled. Two of the contributors, David Hendrickson and Don Higginbotham, are among the volume's the non-Greene students. Writing about "The First Union," Hendrickson challenges Richard B. Morris, Justice Joseph Story, and (implicitly) Abraham Lincoln. He attacks their nationalist notion th a sovereign, proto-unified American people emerged in 1776, making the argument that "the People" created both the states and the union, as opposed to the union being created by the separate states. Drawing upon a lifetime of studying the revolution as a military conflict, Higginbotham sidesteps Hendrickson's either/or formulation, linking the formation of the American national state to the needs of the Revolutionary War, rather than to an act of will at the moment of independence. In Hendrickson's formulation and in Higginbotham's (or for that matter in just about any treatment dealing with the creation of American state power), the "Atlantic" dimension turns on the transfer of authority from the British crown.Coeditor Eliga Gould deals with Britain itself, developing Linda Colley's now-familiar argument that far from being solid and ancient, British authority and identity were fragile and new. Against that background, fearful of renewed war and imagining a Pax Britannica, ministers in London provoked a needless conflict about colonial rights and Parliamentary power that led ultimately to war. Surprisingly, Gould does not cite Theodore Draper's A Struggle for Power (New York, 1996), which develops the same theme. Richard Ryerson shows John Adams straddling the Atlantic conceptually, trying to work out the really transformative qualities of American republican thought while clinging to remnants of the idea of monarchy. Ellen Holmes Pearson's essay on republicanism and the reception of English Common Law seems to point toward a major book on legal thought and practice in the early Republic. I look forward to its appearance. …


This study examined bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities of oral and parenteral antibiotics for penicillin-susceptible and intermediately and fully penicillin-resistant pneumococci. beta-Lactamase inhibitors did not affect beta-lactam results. The activities of ampicillin, amoxicillin +/- clavulanate, WY-49605, cefuroxime, cefpodoxime, cefdinir, cefixime, and cefaclor against two penicillin-susceptible, two intermediately penicillin-resistant, and two fully penicillin-resistant pneumococcal strains were tested. For all three groups, bacteriostatic values of amoxicillin and WY-49605 were lower than were those of other beta-lactams tested. Of the cephalosporins, cefdinir, cefuroxime, and cefpodoxime yielded the lowest bacteriostatic values. All beta-lactams were bactericidal (reduced original counts by > or = 3 log10 CFU/ml) at 1 dilution above bacteriostatic values, except for cefpodoxime (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above bacteriostatic values for one susceptible strain and one intermediately resistant strain), cefuroxime (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above bacteriostatic values for one intermediately resistant strain), and ampicillin (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above bacteriostatic values for one intermediately resistant strain). The activities of piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, ticarcillin, ticarcillin-clavulanate, ampicillin, ampicillin-sulbactam, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, and ciprofloxacin against four penicillin-susceptible, two intermediately penicillin-resistant, and four fully penicillin-resistant pneumococcal strains were evaluated. Bacteriostatic values of piperacillin, ampicillin, and ceftriaxone for all groups were lower than were those of ticarcillin and ceftazidime. Bacteriostatic values of ciprofloxacin were unaffected by penicillin susceptibility. All beta-lactams were bactericidal at 1 dilution above the bacteriostatic value, except for piperacillin (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above the bacteriostatic value for one intermediately resistant strain), ticarcillin (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above the bacteriostatic value for one susceptible strain and one resistant strain), ampicillin (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above the bacteriostatic value for two resistant strains), ceftriaxone (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above the bacteriostatic value for one resistant strain), and ceftazidime (bactericidal at 2 dilutions above the bacteriostatic value for one susceptible strain).


Objective To investigate the risk factors of acute radiation-induced lung injury (acute RILI) induced by radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. Methods A total of 206 patients with esophageal cancer who received radiotherapy in our hospital from January 2017 to March 2020 were selected. The general data such as gender, age, and comorbidities of the patients were collected, as well as the levels of cytokines (TNF-α, TNF-β, and IL-6) in peripheral blood before radiotherapy; radiotherapy dose-related parameters were recorded during radiotherapy. Follow-up was 12 months after radiotherapy. The patients with induced acute RILI after radiotherapy were set as the observation group (n = 75). Patients without acute RILI after radiotherapy were set as the control group (n = 131). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed on the risk factors of acute RILI induced by radiotherapy for esophageal cancer. Results Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the combined diabetes, total radiation dose, combined lung disease, physical factors (V30, Dmean), and preradiotherapy cytokine (TNF-α, TNF-β, and IL-6) elevated level was an independent risk factor for radiotherapy-induced acute RILI in esophageal cancer (P < 0.05). Conclusion Concomitant diabetes, total radiation dose, lung disease, physical factors (V30, Dmean), and levels of cytokines (TNF-α, TNF-β, and IL-6) before radiation therapy are risk factors for acute RILI induced by radiation therapy in esophageal cancer. The possibility of acute RILI should be comprehensively assessed according to the patient's condition, and the radiotherapy regimen should be adjusted to reduce and avoid the induction of acute radiation-induced lung injury.


Ellipsometry is an optical technique that is widely used for determining optical and geometrical properties of optical thin films. These properties are in general extracted from the ellipsometric measurement by solving an inverse problem. Classical methods like the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm are generally too long, depending on direct calculation and are very sensitive to local minima. In this way, the neural network has proved to be an efficient tool for solving these kinds of problems in a very short time. Indeed, it is rapid and less sensitive to local minima than the classical inversion method. We suggest a complete neural ellipsometric characterization method for determining the index dispersion law and the thickness of a simple SiO(2) or photoresist thin layer on Si, SiO(2), and BK7 substrates. The influence of the training couples on the artificial neural network performance is also discussed.


To improve the pulse shape and to obtain /spl mu/s order pulse duration on a diode load in an inductive energy storage system, an oil-submerged compact pulse transformer with diameter of 20 cm and length of 70 cm has been designed and tested. From theoretical calculations, the parameters with primary inductance L/sub p/=3.4 /spl mu/H, secondary inductance L/sub s/=90 /spl mu/H, and coupling coefficient K=0.772 are obtained. To prevent breakdown, a conical secondary design is adopted. Under the condition of 500 kV operation voltage, the maximum electric field in the transformer is 205 kV/cm (in oil). The axial voltage distribution on the secondary is linear. Experiments have been done to test the insulation, the mechanical force and the coupling coefficient. The test results are consistent with the design parameters.


It is shown that in high-power, large optical cavity laser diodes at high injection currents, the optical losses due to nonuniform carrier accumulation in the optical confinement layer can ensure the laser operation in the fundamental transverse mode. An experimental demonstration of switching from second order mode to fundamental mode in large optical cavity lasers with current and/or temperature increase is reported and explained, with the calculated values for the switching current and temperature in good agreement with the measurements. The results experimentally prove the nonuniform nature of carrier accumulation in the confinement layer and may aid laser design for optimizing the output.


A leaky wave circular dielectric rod antenna with periodic transverse conducting strips and an TE propagating wave is analyzed using a Galerkin solution in the Fourier domain. The effect of the frequency on the angle of the main beam and the attenuation constant is investigated in a wide band. The effects of the structural parameters; the dielectric constant, the rod radius, the strip width and the period length are considered. The use of double strips in each unit cell is examined to enhance radiation in the broadside direction.


In the present research study an attempt has been made to analyze one group of complex predicates or nuclear junctures (NJs) in Persian (as an Indo-European language) in terms of its event attribute within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (Van Valin & Lapolla 1997, Van Valin 2005). These complex predicates fuse with the prepositional phrases and the impoverished forms of the verb referred to as 'light verb' (Cattell 1984). In this study a distinction is made between predicative and non-predicative prepositions providing some examples along with schematizing their layered structure of the clause. To determine the verb class of the prepositional (P) light verb constructions (LVCs) the main five diagnostic tests are applied to a wide range of examples from our collected Persian data. It has emerged from the findings of this study that all the prepositional phrases in Persian prepositional nuclear junctures are of locative type and the light verbs in these constructions belong to the phase class of verbs i.e. the continuative, terminative, and resultative event phases. 1. Types of Preposition In Modern Persian or Farsi, there are generally two types of prepositions: simple/bare as in (1a-b) and compound as in (1c) below. Simple or bare prepositions include such prepositions as: (1) a. ændær 'in', æz 'from', ba 'with', bær 'on', bæraye 'for', bæhr 'for', be 'to', beyn 'between', bi 'without', joz 'except', næzd 'with, by', miyan 'among', piš 'front', pey 'after', ta 'up to', and dær 'in'. Some of the simple prepositions in Persian, as Mahootian (1997) also notes, take ezafe (the suffix –e or sometimes -ye is called ezafe in Persian and is the same as 'of' in English), which include: b. bedun-e 'without', birun-e 'outside', jelow-ye 'in front of', næzdik-e 'near', miyan-e or as pronounced in spoken Persian miyun-e 'between', pæhlu-ye 'by', pošt-e 'behind', ru-ye 'on', tu-ye 'in', and zir-e 'under'. As noted by Shamisa (2000: 214), compound prepositions may be formed by combining prepositions, for example: c. æz bæraye 'because of' (Lit.: 'from for'), æz bæhre 'for' (Lit.: 'from for' bæhre is more formal than bæraye) , æz ruye 'out of' (Lit.: 'from on'), dær bareye 'about' (Lit.: 'in about'), and dær næzde 'front, with' (Lit.: 'in with/by'). Prepositions can also refer to: a) the place or location (e.g., dær xiyaban 'in street'); b) the direction (e.g., betæraf-e mædrese 'towards school'); and c) the time (e.g., qæbl æz mædrese 'before school' (Lit.: before from school). In Persian prepositional phrases


Multiobjective programming has been one of the fastest growing areas of Operation Research . Multiobjective programming is a mathematical programming, a way of considering multiple objectives explicitly and simultaneously in a multiobjective programming framework. As most optimizations problems are multiobjective to their nature, there are many methods avaliable to tackle these kind of problems. Multiobjective problems are discussed in terms of advantages and disadvantages of the four general approaches(articulation of the decision maker's preference structure over the multiple objectives prior to, during, or after the optimization) towards multiobjective programming. The aim of this study is to classify the solving techniques developed for solving multiobjective programming problems. The techniques discessed in this study have been considered in methodolojical aspects the detailed analysis of solution techniques have not been included.


Abstract Wolf and dog depredation on livestock in the province of Rieti, central Italy, in 2007-2008, was studied. The study area was characterized by a high degree of human disturbance, widespread presence of free ranging dogs and a recent wolf recolonization. Because of the ineffectiveness of compensation programmes, it was not possible to use the official statistics to investigate the extent of the conflict, but sample interviews and surveys of farmers were used. Also, the farming protection tecniques adopted for different livestock species were analysed; the most utilized husbandry method was stabling for cattle and pigs, annual fenced grazing for horses and sheeps, and annual open grazing only for goats. Although sheep farms were the most attacked because of their availability (33.6% of the whole farms), goat farms were the most selected by predators because of their accessibility (40% of farms kept goats in annual open grazing). Management implications to mitigate livestock depredation were discussed.


This paper aims to analyze the definition of intelligence that appeared in the book Los Tests (1946) written by BélaSzékely, a Hungarian psychologist who emigrated to Argentina in 1938. Although Székely's work was mainly related to psychoanalysis and child psychology, the publication of this compilation of psychometric tests became one of his most influential works, in which he based his observations on the ideas of Wilhelm Stern, Sigmund Freud, and Alfred Adler. The methodology used in this article is based on a qualitative and interpretative analysis of bibliographical sources from the perspectives of the critical history of psychology and intellectual history in Argentina in the 1930s and 1940s. In using this approach, I analyze what other specialists thought of intelligence, in contrast to the ideas presented by Székely. The article approaches the issue first by briefly presenting the author in question, and his position within Hungarian and Argentinian intellectual groups. Then, it studies general understandings of 'intelligence' and 'intellectual level' in Argentina around the time that Székely's book made its first appearance and, finally, it examines to what extent his viewpoint was different. The articulation between epistemological and historical discussions allows us to reflect not only on the transformations present in scientific constructs such as intelligence but also on the implications they had within the scientific community and on a wider social and political level. If intelligence was considered to be a neutral concept, then a mere compilation of tests would be enough for its dissemination. Székely's book made an impact because it contributed to the availability of testing technology, the popularization of said technology, and the intelligence concept.


Prof. Patten states in the Preface that his -book "represents an endeavor to set forth in simple and readable form the phases of human embryology which are of especial interest to medical students and physicians." Both in lucid and orderly explanation of his subject as a whole and in selection and special emphasis of those aspects of prenatal development which have an important relation to medicine, he has set an admirable example and made a valuable contrilbution. From the teaching standpoint, not only has he succeeded in telling his story well, but he has further assisted in its retention through the use of examples, analogy, and skilful recapitulation. Superfluous terminology is omitted; necessary terms and their synonyms are defined. The illustrative material has been selected discriminately but lavishly. A group of superb drawings and photomicrographs from material in the Carnegie Collection illustrate many of the earlier developmental stages. A numnber of pictures are the work of Dr. Patten. In addition to the description of the development of the embryo and fetus per se, there are several supplementary and well-written chapters on the adult aspects of reproduction, on implantation, the placenta and fetal membranes, on twinning and teratology, and on age and growth changes and their measurement and estimation. An extensive index and reference bibliography are provided. Printing, format, and (binding encourage use of the book. Minor deficiencies, all of which can be corrected in a succeeding edition, include a few photographs which would be more pleasing if they were less dark, occasional labels which contain defective letters or which are printed in undesirably small type, some errors in punctuation and reference of pronouns, and a very few 'badly written sentences. But one does not hesitate to recommend the book heartily. -THOMAS R. FORBES


Objective: Cystatin C is considered an important marker for the detection of renal dysfunction. It was aimed to determine cystatin C levels, status of oxidant-antioxidant and inflammation in hemodialysis (HD) patients.
Methods: The study groups consisted of 20 HD patients and 20 healthy controls. Blood samples were obtained from the control group and from the HD group before hemodialysis. Serum cystatin C, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidative state (TOS), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6) interleukin 18 (IL-18) levels were detected by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), C-reactive protein (CRP) and some biochemical parameters were analyzed by autoanalyser.
Results: Cystatin C, TOS, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18 and CRP levels of the HD group were significantly higher than the control group.
Conclusion: As a result; oxidative stress and inflammation were increased in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis. New strategies and new studies are needed to reduce the increase in oxidative stress and inflammation in HD patients.


Density functional theory DFT (B3LYP)/6-31G (d) has been applied to compute the geometry optimization, dipole moment and vibrational frequencies of aspirin, paracetamol and phenacetin. From the comparison of vibrational frequencies, it is observed that the value of O-H stretching in aspirin is lower as compared to paracetamol shows its greater tendency to form cation whereas paracetamol has least tendency to form cation as the O-H stretching in paracetamol is at greater frequency even than that of phenacetin, which explains that why there is displacement of –COOH by –OH group in aspirin i.e. (aspirin) acetyl-salicylic acid readily converts into salicylic acid, which is responsible for most of its actions. The greater values of O-H and C-H stretching of paracetamol than aspirin and phenacetin explains its selective behavior to inhibit cyclooxynase-2 (COX-2) and poor inhibitor of the synthesis of prostaglandins, which is responsible for pain headache and infection. On comparison of dipole moment of it is also observed that the order is Aspirin > Paracetamol > Phenacetin and from our earlier ADMP studies of total energy curve vs time in trajectory curve of aspirin, paracetamol and pehnacetin at DFT/6-31G(d) it is found that the energy required to release Hydrogen from these drugs are in the order Paracetamol > Phenacetin > Aspirin, therefore from infrared spectra, dipole moment and ADMP studies of aspirin, paracetamol and phenacetin it is concluded that aspirin is most reactive which explains that why it inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins responsible for pain, headache and fever; restricts the blood supply to the tumor in effectnot allowing it to grow than a pea and paracetamol is a poor inhibitor of prostaglandins synthesis, does not have antiinflammatory action; phenacetin shows more reactive sites than paracetamol but less than aspirin, which give the evidence that why it is being replaced aspirin.


Objectives: To present a data visualization approach based on epidemiological principles that can be used to illustrate the complexity of health inequalities by ethnicity.

Methods: We provide an example of our technique by presenting results from the Scottish Health and Ethnicity Linkage Study (SHELS) on 29 different health outcomes across ten ethnic groups. SHELS is a census-based retrospective cohort study of the general population of Scotland (4.62 million people) linking ethnicity data to health records. We employed different colors to show health advantage, disadvantage or equivalence; different color shades to represent degree of certainty, combining effect size and precision of estimate; and different font sizes for absolute rates, to highlight more common conditions. We ranked health conditions by age-adjusted rate within each ethnic group to identify differences in burden of disease.

Results: Data visualization clearly demonstrates that ethnic differences in health vary substantially depending on outcome, sex and ethnic group. Inequalities were present for every outcome but were not uniformly worse for non-White populations. The patterns are also complex within each ethnic group such as the Pakistani population where strong advantage for some outcomes (e.g. RR=0.52 in men for all-cause mortality) coexists with strong disadvantage for others (e.g. RR=1.80 in women for cardiovascular disease). Despite large differences in relative disease rates, ranking conditions within ethnic groups showed that most ethnic groups have similar disease priorities.

Conclusions: Our approach demonstrates the complexity of ethnic differences in health. The use of these simple data visualization techniques can facilitate interpretation of this complexity and avoid misleading generalizations that the health of ethnic minorities is worse or better than majority populations. Using absolute rates of disease and ranking conditions within ethnic groups is also useful as large relative differences in rates of disease between ethnic groups may not always translate into different disease priorities.


In the diagnosis and study of the various allergic states it is frequently desirable to know the blood picture, especially the eosinophil count. The ordinary smear method, in which 200 or more cells are counted, is a time-consuming process and the chance for an error in the eosinophil count is great. Moreover, the result gives only the percentage of eosinophils in the number of cells counted. The method described here gives the number of eosinophils per unit volume of blood, is rapid and at the same time gives the leukocyte count. Blood is collected in the usual manner for the blood count, accurately calibrated white cell pipets being used. In place of the usual acetic acid diluting fluid the following fluid, which is the modification of Camara and Alvarez 1 of that described by von Domarus, 2 is employed: The count is made in the usual manner in the ordinary


Background: Actinic keratosis or solar keratosis is a common skin lesion caused by sun damage that progresses to squamous cell carcinoma. It has been suggested that actinic keratosis is in fact SCC in situ. Objective: This literature review was conducted to investigate the differences between actinic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma and whether actinic keratosis should in fact be managed as squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: A literature review was conducted to assess the differences between actinic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma. We conducted searches of Pubmed, Cochrane and Medline for articles published between January 1, 2000 and April 30, 2014, using the following search terms: actinic keratosis, solar keratosis, skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, dermoscopy, sun exposure, ultra violet radiation, and dysplasia. Studies published in English were selected for inclusion in this review as were additional articles identified from bibliographies. Results: It is difficult to distinguish between both actinic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma. Perhaps a classification system for actinic keratosis including early in situ SCC type AK1, early in situ SCC type AK2 and in situ SCC type actinic keratosis is needed. Conclusion: Actinic keratosis invades the basement membrane and as such may progress into invasive SCC. Superficially actinic keratoses are not distinguishable from a superficial SCC and as such may go unrecognized or inaccurately diagnosed.


There are multiple treatment modalities for periungual warts (PWs), although most are destructive and painful, limiting their application. Radiotherapy is a non‐invasive method suitable for treating PW patients with contraindications to invasive procedures. To investigate the efficacy and safety of topical Tretinoin combined with Superficial X‐ray therapy (SXRT) in treating PWs. This study included patients with 65 PWs who underwent treatment and a 3‐month follow‐up. Twenty four PWs were subjected to SXRT alone (group A). The remaining 41 PWs were subjected to SXRT combined with the application of the Tretinoin cream from the first day (group B). The overall clinical response rate, recurrence rates, cosmetic outcomes, and adverse events were observed during the follow‐up period. The complete clearance rate (75% vs. 92.7% in groups A and B, respectively) and healing times (19.9 vs. 16.0 days in groups A and B, respectively) between the two groups were significantly different (p < 0.046 and 0.04), indicating the combination treatment is more effective. Notably, there was no damaging or permanent deformation on the nail, and the other adverse effects were mild and bearable. Topical Tretinoin combined with SXRT therapy is an effective strategy for treating PWs, with minor side effects. It is painless and with excellent cosmetic outcomes.


The process of growing crystals of the NiFeGaCo alloy by the Stepanov method has been developed. It was found that the structural perfection is disturbed by the formation of dendrites, which are distributed inhomogeneously both along the length and in the cross sections of the crystals. The blocking effect of the dendrites on growth crystals of the martensite phase, which appears when the samples are cooled to the temperature of the transition of the crystal to the martensite state, is found. The elemental composition of dendritic formations was studied and it was shown that the iron content in the dendrite is approximately 30% higher, and the gallium content is 40% lower than in the matrix. Based on the modeling of heat transfer processes in the real growth zone, taking into account the experiments performed, recommendations were obtained for suppressing the formation of dendrites Keywords: Dendritic structure, shape memory alloys, Stepanov's method.


>Acute adrenal insufficiency (AI) is a life-threatening condition. While Addison's disease (AD) is rare, in developing countries, tuberculosis (TB) still remains as the primary cause in 7 to 20% of cases. Urinary TB is also the third most common form of extrapulmonary disease. We report a case of 37-year-old male who presented with weakness, anorexia, weight loss, dysuria, flank pain and low grade fever. Examination revealed hypotension, hyperpigmentation, hyponatremia, hypoglycemia and low serum cortisol. He was diagnosed to have adrenal crisis due to Addison's disease and extrapulmonary TB manifesting as urinary tract infection (UTI). He was treated with corticosteroids and anti-TB medications. Urologic reconstructive surgery was subsequently planned.


Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) on gradient-echo image have generally been considered to be silent, but there have been a few case reports about acutely developing CMBs that can be expected to cause focal symptoms (1–3). It is not known how to differentiate an acute symptomatic CMB from underlying CMBs. A 51-year-old man with known hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia presented with sudden onset of dysarthria and left hemiparesis. His initial National Institutes of Health stroke scale score was 3. An urgent brain computed tomography showed no focal abnormalities, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed on the same day revealed a CMB on the right mid-pons with hyperintense rim on diffusion-weighted image (DWI) (Fig. 1a,b). His symptoms that were likely caused by the CMB continued for over 24 h and resolved completely within seven-days. The follow-up MRI performed two-years later showed that the hyperintense rim disappeared on DWI (Fig. 1c,d). In our patient, a CMB with a hyperintense rim on DWI was found in a location typical for the clinical syndrome. The hyperintense rim on DWI is suggested to be the perihematomal edema frequently seen in acute intracerebral haemorrhage (4). DWI changes may be normalized with time due to a progressive resolution of perihematomal edema. We suggest that a combination of DWI and gradient-echo image can help diagnosing acute symptomatic CMBs.


The caryopses of three wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) genotypes, including xeric and mesic populations in Israel, and a Swedish cultivated barley, 'Mona', were used for the study of the differences in mechanisms of primary dormancy and seedling revival ability from long periods of drought. The results of tests of the cultivar Mona and genotype Sede Boker showed opposite responses of primary dormancy and revival ability. 'Mona' had no primary dormancy and relatively lower revival ability. The Sede Boker genotype had the highest rates of primary dormancy and relatively higher seedling drought tolerance even after 2 years of storage at 5 °C. The intensity of primary dormancy of the other two genotypes, Wadi Kelt and Maalot, fell between the two extremes. The seedling revival ability of Maalot was higher than that of Sede Boker. Irrigation treatments at Sede Boker to the parents from which the caryopses were collected, equivalent to 200 or 400 mm of rain, had no significant effect on the germination and revival ability of the progeny.


Adaptive bit-interleaved coded modulation (ABICM) is attractive for rapidly varying mobile radio channels due to its robustness to imperfect channel state information (CSI). A novel ABICM method that exploits the expurgated bound to maintain the target bit error rate (BER) for diverse CSI conditions is proposed and evaluated for an adaptive mobile radio orthogonal frequency division-multiplex (OFDM) system aided by the long-range fading prediction. It is demonstrated that ABICM is much less sensitive to prediction errors than adaptive modulation techniques that do not employ interleaving. However, reliable fading prediction is still necessary for ABICM to achieve high spectral efficiency for practical channel conditions.


In 2002, Standard & Poor's (S&P) introduced a proprietary earnings measure called Core Earnings that is based on inputs received from financial analysts, portfolio managers, corporate executives, and academic researchers. The distinguishing feature of Core Earnings is its consistent treatment of seven adjustments to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) earnings, which managers and analysts often use inconsistently. This article reports the results of a study we conducted that provides empirical evidence about the value relevance of Core Earnings relative to GAAP earnings and is an extension of a prior academic study. (1) We will discuss the practical implications of our study's primary findings. Specifically, if Core Earnings is more value relevant than GAAP earnings, then corporate controllers and CFOs should give serious consideration to reporting the Core Earnings number on a supplementary basis once S&P releases it. In fact, a reconciliation schedule highlighting the nature and amounts of the Core Earnings adjustments most likely would be even more useful to financial analysts and other investment professionals. Analysts could provide forecasts of both Core Earnings and GAAP earnings to better inform investors about their expectations of the firm's ongoing core operations on both a short-term and long-term basis. What's in a Number? In addition to its value to analysts, the Core Earnings number is potentially very useful to a company's corporate and divisional controllers. For example, Core Earnings would be a more suitable measure to apply in evaluating the performance of individual divisions. Whether return on investment (ROI) or residual income is the performance metric, the Core Earnings number is the more appropriate earnings base for the evaluation process because it eliminates items that do not represent the fundamental operating activities of the firm. For example, a gain or loss on the sale of a plant asset affects a division's normal income, but using Core Earnings as the base for evaluation would eliminate the gain or loss. Also, removal of a material gain may unmask poor divisional core operating performance, and, in similar fashion, the removal of a material loss may reveal exceptional core operating performance. Another example is the elimination of the goodwill impairment charge, which would enable the divisional manager to be evaluated based on factors that are within his or her control rather than on factors brought on by macroeconomic downturns, such as the recession of 2008. The Core Earnings number also allows the controller to prepare a reconciliation of GAAP earnings and Core Earnings. This detailed explanation of the sources of difference between the two numbers would provide a de facto form of variance analysis at a corporate-wide level that will enable management to determine which nonrecurring reconciliation items affect the GAAP net income number. Furthermore, such an analysis would enable managers to consider whether they may have some degree of discretion over any of the reconciliation items. For example, pension interest costs and postretirement costs are mostly nondiscretionary, while a plant asset sale that would trigger the recognition of a gain or loss is more subject to managers' discretion. Thus, management accountants within the firm could work closely with managers to effect changes in the events that give rise to the reconciliation adjustments. From an external perspective, the company's corporate controller and CFO should give serious thought to reporting both the GAAP earnings number and the Core Earnings number in their earnings announcement releases. Through such a dual reporting mechanism, analysts and investors will have ready access to the Core Earnings number without having to perform the necessary reconciliation process to GAAP earnings. Given that our empirical results have indicated that the Core Earnings number is the more informative one, analysts and investors would immediately benefit from such ready access and would enable the capital market to operate more efficiently in the process. …


The location of the province of Valentia has been, and indeed still is, a subject for debate. First, in the early thirteenth century Giraldus Cambrensis placed it in Scotland, but this identification is rejected by modern scholars as there is no archaeological evidence for an official re-occupation of southern Scotland in the fourth century, and in general terms such a re-expansion at that date is inherently unlikely. Secondly, it has been argued that it was one of the two provinces into which, it is maintained, Hadrian's Wall and its hinterland were divided. Thirdly, it has been suggested that it may have been Wales, although this identification lacks academic support at present. Fourthly, it has recently been claimed that in fact it was the diocese of the Britains which was renamed Valentia in 369, and that the whole concept of a fifth province is based on a misunderstanding.


We investigated the effect of Na+ current on the Ca2+ current and Ca2+ transients in cardiac myocytes. Myocytes were isolated from the ventricles of guinea-pig hearts by enzymatic dispersion. The membrane currents were recorded by the whole-cell voltage clamping. The Ca2+ current was activated by depolarisation from -80 to +5 mV preceded by the prepulses to -40 mV. Cellular action potentials (APs) were recorded by current clamping. Intracellular [Ca2+] was assessed by recording of fluorescence of Indo-1 loaded into cells. In current clamped cells (APs recorded) 20 microM tetrodotoxin (TTX) reduced the time to 75% of amplitude of Ca2+ transients from 50 +/- 6.6 ms to 32 +/- 5 ms (n = 7). In voltage clamped cells prepulses from the holding potential of -80 mV to -40 mV 50-100 ms long activated the Na+ current and initiated step increase in [Ca2+] reaching 30-50% of the total amplitude of the transient. Prepulses 10-20 ms long initiated increase in [Ca2+] merging with that elicited by Ca2+ current into smooth rising phase. Blocking of Na+ current with TTX or by switching the holding potential from -80 to -40 mV increased the amplitude of the Ca2+ current by 38 +/- 3.2% (n = 8) and 43 +/- 9% (n = 7), respectively, and eliminated the initial step increase in [Ca2+]. When 10-20 ms prepulses were used, blocking of Na+ current with TTX or switching of the holding potential decreased the time to 75% of amplitude of Ca2+ transients from 27 +/- 3.7 ms to 12 +/- 1.2 ms (n = 5) and from 25 +/- 3.1 ms to 14 +/- 1.1 ms (n = 9), respectively. 100 microM Cd2+ inhibited the initial rise in [Ca2+], however, the inhibition did not correlate with degree of inhibition of Ca2+ current. The Na+ current activated prior to Ca2+ current reduces its amplitude and decreases the rate of release of Ca2+ from sarcoplasmic reticulum. In voltage clamped cells this could result from Ca2+ influx prior to onset of Ca2+ current initiated by Na+ current escaping from the voltage control and/or reversal of Na/Ca exchange due to increase in subsarcolemmal [Na+]. In cells in which Ca2+ transients were initiated by APs only the second mechanism is conceivable.


Fruitfulness and fertility are important components of sexual reproductive success in plants, and often depends on environmental conditions and reproductive systems. For invasive plants, fruitfulness and fertility control their ecological success and adaptation in invaded ecosystems. We studied which factors bring about fruitfulness and fertility in invasive populations of the aquatic plant Ludwigia grandiflora subsp. hexapetala. We analysed fruitfulness and fertility of 37 populations growing under variable climatic conditions in Western Europe, and sub-sampled fruitful and fruitless populations grown in common controlled conditions. We carried out self- and cross-pollinations and measured their floral biometrics. Environmental conditions, and temperature in particular, did not affect fruitfulness and fertility in-situ or in common controlled environments. Hand-pollinations resulted in fruit production by individuals sampled from fruitless populations when pollen came from fruitful populations, and by individuals sampled from fruitful populations whatever the origin of pollen. Floral biometrics evidenced the existence of two floral morphs that overlapped with fruitfulness, and individual incompatibility. Our results rebutted the hypothesis that environmental conditions control fruitfulness and fertility in these invasive populations. We instead found that fruit and seed production were controlled by a reproductive system involving a self-incompatible approach herkogamous morph and a self-compatible reverse herkogamous morph. We assessed the floral morphs distribution worldwide of fruitless and fruitful native and invasive populations that matched our results at larger scale. Our results may constitute the first evidence of a possible heteromorphic self-incompatible system in Ludwigia populations and in Onagraceae phylogeny. It calls for further investigations on reproductive systems in this plant family. Finally, the observation that the self-incompatible morph seemed to be the world most invasive morph in this species tackles our understanding of biological and ecological conditions for invasiveness. Synthesis. Our study showed that fruitfulness and fertility in the aquatic invasive plant, Ludwigia grandiflora subsp. hexapetala depend on a self-incompatibility system coinciding with two floral morphs, rather than environmental conditions and limitations. These new explanations on the sexual success of Ludwigia invasive populations will help defining new predictions about its worldwide spreads and ecological success, and will help reappraising future management plans.


Purpose of review Cataract surgery in high myopes is challenging. Using third-generation intraocular lens (IOL) formulas, without adjustments, hyperopic refractive outcomes are common. We discuss these issues, focusing on the various lens formulas and transformations that have improved postoperative accuracy. Recent findings Axial length measurement error has been largely overcome by the use of optical interferometry. Despite this, consistent hyperopic errors are still reported. We reviewed the postoperative refraction results compared with the predicted refractions using: standard formulas (Holladay 1, SRK/T, Hoffer Q, and Haigis) with manufacturers' optical lens constants, the User Group for Laser Interference Biometry (ULIB) constants, manufacturers' constants with axial length adjustment method, and fourth-generation IOL formulas (Barrett Universal II, Holladay 2, and Olsen). Summary Improved predictive results is obtained with the Barrett Universal II (software constants), Haigis (ULIB), SRK/T, Holladay 2 (software constants), and Olsen (software constants) formulas in eyes with axial lengths greater than 26.0 mm and IOL powers greater than 6.0 D. In eyes with axial lengths greater than 26.0 mm and IOL less than 6.0 D, the Barrett Universal II formula (software constants) and the Haigis (axial length adjusted) and Holladay 1 formulas (axial length-adjusted) should be used.


Abstract Enzymatic preparation from culture of keratinolytic Bacillus cereus PCM 2849 was applied for hydrolysis of whole chicken feathers, after sulphitolytic pretreatment. This process was optimized using a three-factor Box-Behnken design, where the effect of substrate concentration, sulphite concentration during pretreatment and reaction temperature was evaluated on the release of amino acids. Obtained results revealed the highest impact of reaction temperature, followed by substrate content and sulphite during pretreatment. Optimal process conditions were established, i.e. temperature 44.4°C, feathers 4.7% and treatment with 25.3 mM sulphite. Amino acid composition of the obtained hydrolysate was analyzed. Glutamic acid (9.21 g·kg−1) and proline were dominant, however significant amount of branched-chain amino acids was also observed. The FTIR analysis of residual substrate revealed the cleavage of disulphide bonds in keratin through the presence of thioester residues. The absence of reduced cysteine residues was confirmed, along with minor changes in proportions of keratin substructures.


A novel method based on microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) with reversed electrode polarity stacking mode (REPSM) was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DEX-SP) and the active drug dexamethasone (DEX) in rabbit plasma. The optimum separation was achieved when a microemulsion background electrolyte consisting of 30 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2), 20 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 0.8% ethyl acetate and 2% 1-butanol was used. Electrophoretic separation was carried out at 24 °C and at +23 kV. A stacking technique has been developed to pre-concentrate samples and to increase the amount of sample that can be loaded onto the capillary without degrading the separation, up to 160 s. REPSM was applied using the following optimized program: +23 kV (0–0.6 min) then −23 kV (0.6–1.5 min) and finally +23 kV for the rest of the run. The analytes were base-line resolved within 12 min. Using hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) as the internal standard, the peak area ratios were found to be linear in the concentration range of 0.1–2.0 μg mL−1 for DEX-SP and 0.05–2.0 μg mL−1 for DEX. The applied stacking mode increased the detectability of the method by about 40-fold with limits of detection and quantitation of 0.03 and 0.1 μg mL−1 for DEX-SP, and 0.02 and 0.05 μg mL−1 for DEX, respectively. The developed method was fully validated according to the ICH guidelines. This optimized method was applied for the determination of DEX-SP and DEX in rabbit plasma samples previously treated with I.V. injection of DEX-SP. The in vivo results thus obtained were used to study the pharmacokinetics of the cited drugs in rabbit plasma.


Air distribution is one of the most important factors determining thermal comfort and transport of airborne contaminants in aircraft cabins. Improvement of air quality in such airspaces is limited by the difficulties in simultaneously measuring the air velocity profile within the entire flow field. Measurement of the airflow field using a new technique, volumetric particle streak velocimetry (VPSV), within aircraft cabins, therefore, has value both theoretically and practically. In this project, quantitative full-cabin air velocities in a full-scale aircraft cabin section were measured under nine experimental conditions (e.g., iso- and nonisothermal, different obstruction configurations). Obstruction configurations in the cabin had a substantial effect on the air velocity at the passenger breathing level. At 100% passenger occupancy capacity, air speed at the passenger breathing level had the least variation and the empty cabin had the largest. A cold fuselage wall under in-flight conditions increased the air speed and may induce drafts for passengers at window seats. The highest air speeds at the window seats were measured at 0.538, 0.382, and 0.228 m/sfor empty, 50%, and 100% occupancy, respectively. Air speeds higher than 0.3 m/s could cause an uncomfortable draft for temperature-sensitive passengers. Some seats downstream from the supply air jet had air speeds as low as 0.034 m/s. Air velocity data presented in this paper are best treated as snapshots rather than mean values for one model of aircraft. Although pollutant concentrations or air ages were not measured at the point of velocity measurements in this study, such low air speed could indicate long mean air age and poor ventilation effectiveness. Further investigations are needed to establish zonal net air exchange rate and local (individual passenger) ventilation effectiveness.


Magnaporthe oryzae, the rice blast fungus, is one of the most dangerous rice pathogens, causing considerable crop losses around the world. In order to explore the rice blast-resistant sources, initially performed a large-scale screening of 277 rice accessions. In parallel with field evaluations, fifty-two rice accessions were genotyped for 25 major blast resistance genes utilizing functional/gene-based markers based on their reactivity against rice blast disease. According to the phenotypic examination, 29 (58%) and 22 (42%) entries were found to be highly resistant, 18 (36%) and 29 (57%) showed moderate resistance, and 05 (6%) and 01 (1%), respectively, were highly susceptible to leaf and neck blast. The genetic frequency of 25 major blast resistance genes ranged from 32 to 60%, with two genotypes having a maximum of 16 R-genes each. The 52 rice accessions were divided into two groups based on cluster and population structure analysis. The highly resistant and moderately resistant accessions are divided into different groups using the principal coordinate analysis. According to the analysis of molecular variance, the maximum diversity was found within the population, while the minimum diversity was found between the populations. Two markers (RM5647 and K39512), which correspond to the blast-resistant genes Pi36 and Pik, respectively, showed a significant association to the neck blast disease, whereas three markers (Pi2-i, Pita3, and k2167), which correspond to the blast-resistant genes Pi2, Pita/Pita2, and Pikm, respectively, showed a significant association to the leaf blast disease. The associated R-genes might be utilized in rice breeding programmes through marker-assisted breeding, and the identified resistant rice accessions could be used as prospective donors for the production of new resistant varieties in India and around the world.


The field of history of mathematics in mathematics education—often referred to as the history and pedagogy of mathematics domain (or, HPM domain)—can be characterized by an interesting and rich past and a vibrant and promising future. In this plenary, I describe highlights from the development of the field, and in doing so, I focus on several ways in which research in the field of history of mathematics in mathematics education offers important connections to frameworks and areas of long-standing interest within mathematics education research, with a particular emphasis on student learning. I share a variety of examples to serve as cases of what has been possible in the HPM domain. Finally, I propose fruitful future directions that call for the contributions of both established and emerging scholars in the field.


The primarily Australian genera Rulingia R.Br. and Commersonia J.R. & G.Forst., as currently circumscribed, are distinguished from each other by the number of antisepalous staminodes. Although most taxonomic treatments recognise Rulingia and Commersonia as separate genera, recent phylogenetic analyses and morphological observations have suggested that neither is monophyletic. In the present study, we test the monophyly of both genera with a phylogenetic analysis of 80 individuals of Rulingia and Commersonia, representing 46 species, using three chloroplast markers. Our analyses recovered the following two well supported clades: Clade 1 includes three species referable to Commersonia and 17 to Rulingia and Clade 2 includes 20 species referable to Commersonia and six to Rulingia. Type species of both Commersonia and Rulingia are in Clade 1, although Commersonia has priority. These results are used to identify lineages that will be formally recognised in accompanying taxonomic treatments. The extensive polyphyly of both Commersonia and Rulingia suggests that the staminode character previously used to separate these two genera is highly homoplastic. We discuss alternative androecial characters that may prove to be synapomorphies for Clades 1 and 2.


Most existing multi-user Augmented Reality (AR) systems only support multiple co-located users to view a common set of virtual objects but lack the ability to enable each user to directly interact with other users appearing in his/her view. Such multi-user AR systems should be able to detect the human keypoints and share device poses (for identifying different users) in the meanwhile. However, due to the stringent low latency requirements and the intensive computation of the above two capabilities, previous research only enables either of the two capabilities for mobile devices even with the aid of the edge server. Integrating the above two capabilities is promising but non-trivial in terms of latency, accuracy, and matching. To fill this gap, we propose DiTing to achieve real-time ID-aware multi-device visual interaction for multi-user AR applications, which contains three key innovations: Shared On-device Tracking to merge the similar computation for optimized latency, Tightly Coupled Dual Pipeline to enhance the accuracy of each task through mutual assistance, Body Affinity Particle Filter to precisely match device poses with human bodies. We implement DiTing on four types of mobile AR devices and develop a multi-user AR game as a case study. Extensive experiments show that DiTing can provide high-quality human keypoint detection and pose estimation in real-time (30fps) for ID-aware multi-device interaction and outperform the SOTA baseline approaches.


Large amounts of alarms coming into control center when faults occur have harassed operators for a long time, especially when there are false alarms, missing alarms or multiple faults. An online intelligent alarm-processing system based on abductive reasoning network (ARN) is developed to deal with the alarms automatically. Models and real-time data of the power system are collected from both supervisory control and data acquisition system / energy management system (SCADA/EMS) and fault information system, including primary and secondary models. First, when alarms arrive, rules reflecting cause-effect relationship between faults and alarms and between alarms themselves are established automatically, and the whole abductive reasoning network is constructed. Then, all the coming alarms are located on the network and traced back to the roots. Third, possible diagnoses are sifted and picked out according to their false alarm rate and missing alarm rate. At last, the diagnosis results are presented to the operators in several friendly manners. The system has been applied to the district control center of Jiaxing, China and is functioning well.


The physical quality and microbial safety of Korean beef jerky was evaluated at various steps during its preparation. Microbial counts in raw beef demonstrated mesophillic bacteria at 4.20 Log CFU/g, psychrotrophic bacteria at 3.85 Log CFU/g, anaerobic bacteria at 4.90 Log CFU/g, and yeast and molds at 1.92 Log CFU/g. Spore-forming bacteria and coliforms were not detected in raw beef samples. Spices and spiced meats showed similar trends in microbial counts, demonstrating minimal microbial contamination during these stages of preparation. The final beef jerky product exhibited counts of mesophillic bacteria at 1.15-1.66 Log CFU/g, psychrotrophic bacteria at 1.15-1.66 Log CFU/g, and anaerobic bacteria at 0.81-1.72 Log CFU/g. Spore-forming bacteria, yeast and molds, and coliforms were not detected in beef jerky. Significant differences from added ingredients occurred for instron textural profile analysis traits for hardness. In general, Korean beef jerky with humectant and tenderizer had lower hardness than control (without humectant and tenderizer). Also, the sample added with 0.01% protease from Streptomyces griseus had lower hardness than all samples. All samples had 0.71 to 0.72 water activities, and the color and pH were not shown in significant changes of all samples.


SUMMARY Crude concentrates of epidermal chalone from pig skin in some cases have shown striking oncolytic activity in melanomata in hamsters and mice. Attempts to purify this antitumor factor by biochemical methods failed. A correlation of epidermal or melanocytic chalone activity in vitro and oncolytic activity in vivo was absent. From fluid collected from lysing tumors spore-forming bacteria could be isolated and classified as Clostridium. It could be proved that the oncolytic activity in the active pig skin fractions is caused by contaminating spores of these clostridia.


BACKGROUND
Inter-fractional anatomical changes challenge robust delivery of whole-pelvic proton therapy for high-risk prostate cancer. Pre-treatment robust evaluation (PRE) takes uncertainties in isocenter shifts and distal beam edge in treatment plans into account. Using weekly control computed tomography scans (cCTs), the aim of this study was to evaluate the PRE strategy by comparing to an off-line during-treatment robust evaluation (DRE) while also assessing plan robustness with respect to protocol planning constraints.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Treatment plans and cCTs from ten patients included in the pilot phase of the PROstate PROTON Trial 1 were analysed. Treatment planning followed protocol guidelines with 78 Gy to the primary clinical target volume (CTVp) and 56 Gy to the elective target (CTVe) in 39 fractions. Recalculations of the treatment plans were performed for a total of 64 cCTs and dose/volume measures corresponding to clinical constraints were evaluated for this DRE against the simulated scenario interval from the PRE.

RESULTS
Of the 64 cCTs, 59 showed DRE CTVp measures within the robustness range from the PRE; this was also the case for 39 of the cCTs for the CTVe measures. However, DRE CTVe coverage was still within constraints for 57 of the 64 cCTs. DRE dose/volume measures for CTVp fulfilled target coverage constraints in 59 of 64 cCTs. All DRE measures for the rectum, bladder, and bowel were inside the PRE range in 63, 39, and 31 cCTs, respectively.

CONCLUSION
The PRE strategy predicted the DRE scenarios for CTVp and rectum. CTVe, bladder, and bowel showed more complex anatomical variations than simulated by the PRE isocenter shift. Both original and recalculated nominal treatment plans showed robust treatment delivery in terms of target coverage.


In order to sustain a competitive advantage and a leading market share, organizations must employ successful project management techniques. Efficient project management systems thinking and strategic planning deliver strategic organizational competency by facilitating operational outcomes to strategic priorities. When sustainability is introduced, strategic planning leads to effective problem avoidance that aligns with an organization's project management methodologies. This paper proposes conceptual project management approaches for strategic planning that balances organizational strategy with sustainable tactics at universities and colleges. It addresses sustainability in higher education institutions (HEIs) and proposes project management planning methods for strategic adaptations that can create differentiation and competitive advantage for HEIs. The end goal is to focus attention on strategic planning coupled with structured project management methodology for sustained maintenance. The concept of the triple-bottom-line framework for HEIs is introduced for coupling strategic planning, project management and sustainable methodologies. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research into operationalization of the areas of sustainability and project management systems thinking in order to further advance conscientious strategic planning for educational institutions.


ABSTRACT The current Hong Kong concrete design code (HKConcrete2013), which is a non-seismic design code, includes provisions of the design of confinement zone in reinforced concrete (RC) columns. Whether or not these provisions can be adopted in the development of the new design code of structures for seismic resistance remains uncertain. A thorough scientific investigation with a comprehensive statistical analysis on the seismic behaviour of RC columns under different levels of the axial compression ratio (ACR) and concrete confinement has been conducted and presented in the companion paper [1], where the use of the ACR limits for controlling the seismic performance of various types of RC columns is proposed. The present paper addresses the important aspect of the confinement zone length and the design of confinement reinforcement in RC columns under different levels of the ACR. The theoretical background of the confinement zone is presented and the requirements of the prevailing design standards for designing confinement reinforcement in RC columns are critically compared and discussed. Design recommendations for the development of new provisions on the design of the confinement zone in RC columns are made for (1) the revision of the extent of the critical regions and (2) the introduction of the required quantity of the confinement reinforcement.


Background Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder with high heritability but with complex genetics. Besides the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), more than 25 loci have already been associated to the disease using an unrelated case-control design but they explain only a minor fraction of total heritability. Objectives We conducted a family-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify new non-MHC genetic factors associated with SpA. Methods Nine hundred and six subjects from 156 French multiplex families, including 438 affected with SpA, were genotyped using Affymetrix 250K microarray. After quality control, 230,801 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) were kept for further analyses. Association was tested with Unphased. The best-associated non-MHC SNPs were then genotyped sequentially in two independent familial trio cohorts, one from France and the other from North America (including 215 and 294 subjects, respectively) in order to replicate associations. Results Forty-three non-MHC SNPs yielded an association signal with SpA in the discovery cohort (p<1x10-4). In the extension studies, association was replicated at a nominal p-value <0.05 for 16 SNPs in the second cohort and for 3 of these 16 SNPs in the third cohort. Pooled analysis identified an association close to genome-wide significance between rs7761118, an intronic SNP of MAPK14, and SpA (p=6.2 x 10-7). Such association was independent of HLA-B27. Conclusions We report here for the first time a family-based GWAS study on SpA and identified a highly associated polymorphism in MAPK14 that codes for the p38-a MAP kinase, a key kinase in immune cell signalling. Further analyses are needed to understand the functional significance of this genetic association. Disclosure of Interest None declared


A laboratory incubation experiment was conducted to examine the combined effects of chlorsulfuron and bensulfuron-methyl herbicides on the soil microbial biomass C (Cmic), N (Nmic) and their ratio in a loamy sand soil. The herbicides were added at four levels that were (C0B0) control, (C1B1) 0.01& 0.01, (C1B2) 0.01& 0.1 and (C1B3) 0.01&1.0 μg gG soil of chlorsulfuron and bensulfuron-methyl, respectively. The soil was then incubated in the dark at 25±1EC. Determinations of Cmic and Nmic were carried out at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 25 and 45 days after herbicide application. The results showed that combined applications of herbicides have significant effect on soil microbial biomass C and N, particularly during the first 15 days of incubation, which declined after 25 day of incubation with C1B1 application rate. At 45 day of incubation, the effect of herbicides decreased significantly in C1B2 and it become non-significant as compared with the control. While, C1B3 was still found to be significant as compared to the control and C1B1 but it was at par with C1B2. The results also revealed that with C1B1 treatment the biomass C/N ratio was significantly higher within first 3 days of incubation as compared with the control. But with C1B2, the ratio was significantly different within first 5 days of incubation. While with C1B3 the ratio was found significantly higher within first 25 days of incubation as compared with the control. Increasing the application rate resulted in increased inhibitory effect on the soil microbial biomass and also combined addition of herbicides caused negatively more effect than their single application.


This paper presents the trend of biopotential recording front-end channels developed from the 1970s to the 2020s while describing a basic background on the front-end channel design. Only the front-end channels that conduct electrical recording invasively and non-invasively are addressed. The front-end channels are investigated in terms of technology node, number of channels, supply voltage, noise efficiency factor, and power efficiency factor. Also, multi-faceted comparisons are made to figure out the correlation between these five categories. In each category, the design trend is presented over time, and related circuit techniques are discussed. While addressing the characteristics of circuit techniques used to improve the channel performance, what needs to be improved is also suggested.


GeoEye satellite has provided the world with high spatial resolution 0.50 meter panchromatic images. Not only the high spatial resolution, but also the high spectral, radiometric and temporal resolutions of GeoEye imagery make it ideally suited for mapping applications. Currently, the empirical sensor models are traditionally employed, instead of the physical models, to establish the mathematical relationships between the image space and the ground space. In this study, the geometric accuracy of pan GeoEye images was determined using three dimensional (3D) polynomial model. The obtained planimetric accuracy was compared to that obtained using the rational function model (RFM). The implementation of the 3D polynomial model (PM) experiments was performed using only the new standalone software EMAN, since the 3D PMs are not available in other software packages such as ERDAS imagine or PCI from Geomatica. However, both EMAN and PCI software were used to carry out the experiments for the RFMs. A GeoEye panchromatic image covering the city of Tanta, El Gharbiya, Egypt was used in this study. The results revealed that the 3D polynomial models have the capability for geometrically correcting GeoEye images since it provides competitive geometric accuracies, compared to those obtained using 3D RFMs.


Metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo often show strong enhancements in carbon and/or neutron-capture elements. However, the Galactic bulge is notable for its paucity of these carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) and/or CH-stars, with only two such objects known to date. This begs the question whether the processes that produced their abundance distribution were governed by a comparable nucleosynthesis in similar stellar sites as for their more numerous counterparts in the halo. Recently, two contenders of these classes of stars were discovered in the bulge, at [Fe/H] = −1.5 and −2.5 dex, both of which show enhancements in [C/Fe] of 0.4 and 1.4 dex (respectively), [Ba/Fe] in excess of 1.3 dex, and also elevated nitrogen. The more metal-poor of the stars can be well matched by standard s-process nucleosynthesis in low-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) polluters. The other star shows an abnormally high [Rb/Fe] ratio. Here, we further investigate the origin of the abundance peculiarities in the Rb-rich star by new, detailed measurements of heavy element abundances and by comparing the chemical element ratios of 36 species to several models of neutron-capture nucleosynthesis. The i-process with intermediate neutron densities between those of the slow (s-) and rapid (r)-neutron-capture processes has been previously found to provide good matches of CEMP stars with enhancements in both r- and s-process elements (class CEMP-r/s), rather than invoking a superposition of yields from the respective individual processes. However, the peculiar bulge star is incompatible with a pure i-process from a single ingestion event. Instead, it can, statistically, be better reproduced by more convoluted models accounting for two proton ingestion events, or by an i-process component in combination with s-process nucleosynthesis in low-to-intermediate mass (2–3 M⊙) AGB stars, indicating multiple polluters. Finally, we discuss the impact of mixing during stellar evolution on the observed abundance peculiarities.


In this article, Alpha Recyclage Composites presents a new steam thermolysis process to treat carbon fibre composites for recycling. The thermochemical process is used to recover the carbon fibres, which are then recycled into new thermoplastic composites. These second-generation materials possess mechanical properties that are comparable to those of materials made using virgin carbon fibres


Compact cities, characterized by high density and accessibility with fully developed inner-city public transport, are widely discussed and practiced around the world in response to the challenges of sustainable development and global warming. On this basis, we are committed to answering the question of how cities with varying urban growth rates adopt different policy practices, and whether these practices contribute to achieving the goal of building a sustainable, low-carbon city. Specifically, this study assesses the theoretical evidence and practical experiences on the effect of compact city characteristics and policies on urban CO2 emissions using a focused literature review and representative case studies. The results illustrate that public transportation is often strengthened in compact city policies and the density and spatial configuration of cities has a significant impact on urban carbon emissions. Moreover, there are significant differences within the impact mechanisms of compact cities on carbon emissions between small-medium-sized cities (dealing with aging populations and resource waste) and megacities (dealing with excessive urban sprawl). However, there is still insufficient quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of compact city policies and this review provides insights into future compact city planning toward policy approaches which yield lower carbon emissions.


A real time 3D pupil position detection system necessary for non-contact and remote eye gaze detection allowing head displacement was developed. So far, methodology had been proposed that estimates 3D positions of eyes from their 2D positions detected from the face images captured by two stereo cameras. However, using eye position detection is not prospective for precise and stable eye gaze detection. In the method proposed in the present study, several near-infrared LEDs were arranged around the apertures of two cameras. These two sets of light sources were alternately switched on and off synchronously with the even/odd signal. After differentiating the bright and dark pupil images obtained from each of the two cameras, the center coordinates of the two pupils were detected. An image processing algorithm for precise and stable pupil detection, including the pupil detection method utilizing a blink, is described. In one of the experiments, the 3D position of the pupil of one eye was measured by the two stereo cameras. Another narrow camera, which detects the centers of both pupil and corneal reflection images necessary for eye gaze direction determination, placed on a pan-tile unit could be automatically directed toward the 3D pupil position.


Background: The Code of Ethics of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) exists to encourage and enforce ethical behavior among its members. Complaints against individual members may be filed by patients or their representatives, members of the Society, or other members of the public. Methods: Data from a total of 677 complaints from 2004 to 2008 were reviewed by the author. These complaints were categorized with regard to geographic area, type of complaint, and the outcome of the investigation of the complaint, including disciplinary actions. The system of managing these complaints within the Society is discussed. Results: States with the most complaints filed included California, Florida, Texas, Illinois, and New York, with all others having a minimal number. The most common complaint was filed regarding unethical advertising, followed by unprofessional conduct and participation in a contest. Differences in frequency of complaints were statistically significant (Fisher's exact test, p < 0.001). Fifty-four cases were heard by the Judicial Council, with 31 receiving discipline, primarily the less severe types of censure. The total number of complaints per year seems to be trending downward. Conclusions: Ethical complaints (filed mostly by ASPS members) vary in frequency according to geographic area and the type of complaint. A downward trend was noted in the total number of complaints over the years 2004 to 2008, although this was not statistically significant. Given the basic purposes of the development of a code of ethics and its subsequent enforcement, the ethical construct within the ASPS seems to serve the specialty well.


Excessive weight gain in children diagnosed with celiac disease (CD) is becoming more common. We describe 2 siblings (9-year and 6 months-old female and 6-year and 9 months-old male) with obesity showing attenuated gastrointestinal and atypical symptoms in which CD was diagnosed in the absence of a known family history of CD. After children's diagnosis, CD in their parents was also investigated. It was detected in their father affected by overweight. The presentation of patients with CD has changed. While patients with overweight and obesity commonly have symptoms such as abdominal pain, reflux, headache, and constipation due to lifestyle factors, CD should also be considered in patients with or without a family history of CD. Careful nutritional status assessment and follow-up monitoring after the diagnosis of CD are mandatory, especially in subjects who are already overweight at the presentation of this disease.


ABSTRACT Polymorphism in the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) was shown to cause chloroquine resistance. In this report, we examined the antimalarial potential of novel 3-halo chloroquine derivatives (3-chloro, 3-bromo, and 3-iodo) against chloroquine-susceptible and -resistant P. falciparum. All three derivatives inhibited the proliferation of P. falciparum; with 3-iodo chloroquine being most effective. Moreover, 3-iodo chloroquine was highly effective at potentiating and reversing chloroquine toxicity of drug-susceptible and -resistant P. falciparum.


An extension of the standard rationing model is introduced. Agents are not only identi fied by their respective claims over some amount of a scarce resource, but also by some payoff thresholds. These thresholds introduce exogenous differences among agents (full or partial priority, past allocations, past debts, ...) that may influence the final distribution. Within this framework we provide generalizations of the constrained equal awards rule and the constrained equal losses rule. We show that these generalized rules are dual from each other.We characterize the generalization of the equal awards rule by using the properties of consistency, path-independence and compensated exemption. Finally,we use the duality between rules to characterize the generalization of the equal losses solution.