Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a global problem that stems from gender inequality. Increased migration from countries that perform FGM to England has led to the practice travelling across borders. FGM is subject to heightened political debate and media sensitivity in the England and across the Western world. Debates about FGM often proceed from a universal standpoint that the practice should be prohibited through law. However, the efficacy of FGM legislation is questionable and rarely subjected to scrutiny. Despite implementing a criminal offence of FGM in 1985 and introducing subsequent stringent legal changes, there has not been one conviction for a practice, which remains prevalent in England. A failure to secure convictions for a practice that continues suggests that the law has left women and girls unprotected. To understand why the practice persists in a context in which FGM is criminalised, this thesis aims to address the potential and limitations of social and cultural change through the law. My qualitative research findings are based on two focus groups each with 11 women from FGM-performing communities and 79 semi-structured interviews with women and stakeholders who are responsible for designing and enforcing FGM legislation, including legal professionals, police officers, Members of Parliament and Members of the House of Lords. I chose to interview these two groups of participants to understand the different perspectives of women subject to the law and stakeholders responsible for enforcing the law. The interview data shows the importance of an intersectional analysis of FGM that accounts for women's experiences of gender, race, ethnicity, nation, nationality and religion. While FGM is performed upon girls and women's bodies to control their sexuality, women also identified FGM as representative of other identity issues including race, group rights, migrant culture and religion. The data highlights the complex meanings women ascribe to FGM and the challenges they encounter in accessing the criminal justice system. In contrast, stakeholders believe anti-FGM legislation is a means for the state to eliminate 'cultural' violence against women and girls and enforce British values upon minority groups. The findings from the interviews with women and stakeholders revealed a stark divide in the two groups understanding of FGM and their attitudes towards the law. Examining FGM in the context of criminalisation from two different perspectives highlights the core barriers to the enforcement of law.


A nonequivalent control group design involving academically gifted students who would participate in a residential summer program where they could achieve "consensual validation" by being with other gifted students (n= 156), those eligible but who would not attend the program (n= 172), and academically competent students (n= 106), was used to identify differences in global self-concept, the structure of self-concept and attributional style before, immediately after, and about four months after the intervention. There were no initial differences on any of the measures for the two gifted groups. However, competent students differed from gifted students on both self-concept and attributional measures. While global self concept for gifted and competent students was similar, competent students boasted significantly greater self-concepts in the domains of social and physical activities and significantly lower self-concepts in the academic domain. On the attributional style measure, gifted students were significantly less likely than competent comparisons to take credit or see as pervasive the causes for social successes.

In general, differences observed initially were robust over time. Only tentative support for the effectiveness of the short-term intervention being effective in modifying aspects of social self-concept among the gifted was obtained. Here, gifted program attenders decreased the extent to which they internalized blame for or perceived as pervasive the causes for social failure subsequent to program participation.

The relationship of observed changes in attribution to self-concept and the effectiveness of short-term interventions to effect change in cognitive functioning and personality are discussed.


To enhance the application of lotus roots and to provide basic data for processed foods with lotus roots, lotus root powder was processed under four different conditions, and their physicochemical properties were analyzed as follows. In the Hunter`s color value results, the salted sample had the highest L value, and the vinegared sample had the highest a and b values. The water-holding capacities of the salted, vinegared, and blanched samples were higher than that of the control sample. The amylase contents were in the 19.57-20.43% range but were not significant. The swelling power and solubility of the processed samples increased as the temperature rose. The blanched sample had the highest swelling power and solubility (65 and 60℃, respectively). The crystallinity of the processed samples, as determined via X-ray diffraction, reached their peak at 16.9°, and the other peaks at 14.6, 22.2, and 23.8° were typical of the B type. In addition, the relative crystallinity, gelatinization temperature, and enthalpy, as determined via DSC thermogram, were highest in the vinegared sample and lowest in the blanched sample. In the amylogram results, the vinegared sample had the highest maximum viscosity and breakdown. The retrogradation of the vinegared sample was the slowest as its setback value was the lowest.


The characteristics and site of inhibition of gluconeogenesis by endotoxin were investigated in liver cells isolated from control and endotoxin-treated rats. Endotoxin treatment was associated with inhibition (40-50%) of gluconeogenesis from lactate plus pyruvate over a range of concentrations of substrate and of oleate and with or without glucose or glucagon. Similar inhibition was observed with asparagine, proline, glutamine, alanine and a substrate mixture, but not with glycerol, glyceraldehyde, dihydroxyacetone or endogenous substrates. There was no change in cellular ATP content or in the rates of ketogenesis or ureogenesis from asparagine, proline or glutamine. Other effects on isotopic fluxes, metabolite contents, enzyme activities and control coefficients were consistent with the suggestion that the effects of endotoxin on gluconeogenesis are exerted at the level of phosphofructokinase-1, and not at phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, pyruvate kinase, pyruvate carboxylase or glucokinase.


G-protein-mediated inhibition of presynaptic voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels is comprised of voltage-dependent and -resistant components. The former is caused by a direct interaction of Ca(2+) channel alpha(1) subunits with G beta gamma, whereas the latter has not been characterized well. Here, we show that the N terminus of G alpha(o) is critical for the interaction with the C terminus of the alpha(1A) channel subunit, and that the binding induces the voltage-resistant inhibition. An alpha(1A) C-terminal peptide, an antiserum raised against G alpha(o) N terminus, and a G alpha(o) N-terminal peptide all attenuated the voltage-resistant inhibition of alpha(1A) currents. Furthermore, the N terminus of G alpha(o) bound to the C terminus of alpha(1A) in vitro, which was prevented either by the alpha(1A) channel C-terminal or G alpha(o) N-terminal peptide. Although the C-terminal domain of the alpha(1B) channel showed similar ability in the binding with G alpha(o) N terminus, the above mentioned treatments were ineffective in the alpha(1B) channel current. These findings demonstrate that the voltage-resistant inhibition of the P/Q-type, alpha(1A) channel is caused by the interaction between the C-terminal domain of Ca(2+) channel alpha(1A) subunit and the N-terminal region of G alpha(o).


MN 001 is an orally bioavailable anti-inflammatory agent, originated by Kyorin Pharmaceutical, which is being developed in clinical trials by the US company MediciNova for the treatment of interstitial cystitis and asthma. Kyorin is developing the drug as KCA 757 for these indications. The actions of the drug are described by MediciNova as consisting of eosinophil migration inhibition, leukotriene antagonism, and phosphodiesterase IV inhibition. Other mechanisms described for MN 001 include the inhibition of phosphodiesterases III, 5-lipoxy-genase, phospholipase C as well as thromboxane A2. Development of an immediate-release formulation of MN 001 has been discontinued. An extended-release formulation remains in development. MediciNova is looking for partnering/outlicensing opportunities for MN 001 in North America and Europe. MediciNova licensed MN 001 from Kyorin Pharmaceutical in March 2002, and now holds exclusive worldwide rights, excluding Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea, to develop and commercialise the drug. The phase III clinical programme of immediate-release MN 001 was initiated by Medicinova in the US in November 2006. In the first phase III trial, 705 patients with mild to moderate asthma were to be randomised to receive MN 001 (750 mg twice daily, 500 mg three times daily) or placebo for 12 weeks. The change from baseline in mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) will be the primary endpoint. The primary endpoint was met in a phase II study of MN 001 in patients with mild to moderate asthma. The trial evaluated the efficacy of three different doses of MN 001 for the treatment of asthma. Results have been reported. MediciNova has received Notices of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for three patent applications covering certain compositions, uses and manufacturing processes associated with MN 001. MN 001 has received patent protection through at least 2023.


We consider two twisted actions of a countable discrete group on $\sigma$-unital $C^*$-algebras. Then by taking the reduced crossed products, we get two inclusions of $C^*$-algebras. We suppose that they are strongly Morita equivalent as inclusions of $C^*$-algebras. Also, we suppose that one of the inclusions of $C^*$-algebras is irreducible, that is, the relative commutant of one of the $\sigma$-unital $C^*$-algebra in the multiplier $C^*$-algebra of the reduced twisted crossed product is trivial. We show that the two actions are then strongly Morita equivalent up to some automorphism of the group.


The strategy of anchoring molecular catalysts on electrode surfaces combines the high selectivity and activity of molecular systems with the practicality of heterogeneous systems. The stability of molecular catalysts is, however, far less than that of traditional heterogeneous electrocatalysts, and therefore a method to easily replace anchored molecular catalysts that have degraded could make such electrosynthetic systems more attractive. Here, we apply a non-covalent "click" chemistry approach to reversibly bind molecular electrocatalysts to electrode surfaces via host-guest complexation with surface-anchored cyclodextrins. The host-guest interaction is remarkably strong and allows the flow of electrons between the electrode and the guest catalyst. Electrosynthesis in both organic and aqueous media was demonstrated on metal oxide electrodes, with stability on the order of hours. The catalytic surfaces can be recycled by controlled release of the guest from the host cavities and readsorption of fresh guest. This strategy represents a new approach to practical molecular-based catalytic systems.


Bio-based organic acids are an eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-derived products. In this work, the production of organic chemicals was investigated for the first time in the Cosenzaea myxofaciens species using hydrolysed lignocellulosic biomass from Arundo donax. The strain C. myxofaciens BPM1, isolated from bovine rumen, was able to produce a high amount of lactic acid, followed by acetic and succinic acids in synthetic substrate in microaerophilic and anaerobic conditions. When hydrolysed lignocellulosic biomass from Arundo donax supplemented with several nitrogen sources was used as substrate in separate hydrolysis and fermentation in anaerobic conditions, a significant increase in organic acids was recovered, reaching values up to 12.13 ± 0.17, 1.68 ± 0.1, and 5.23 ± 0.04 g L-1 of lactate, succinate, and acetate, respectively. Moreover, the strain C. myxofaciens BPM1 was capable of synthesizing a small amount of ethanol, with a resulting concentration ranging from 0.67 ± 0.05 to 1.46 ± 0.03 g L-1. This work shows that the strain C. myxofaciens BPM1 is a potential source of interesting bio-based chemicals for a wide range of industrial applications. In addition, the inexpensive fermentation process using A. donax hydrolysate and corn steep liquor as carbon and nitrogen sources could be suitable for economical and efficient production of succinic acid in industrial processes.


Mineralogical properties of large single crystals of Zn and Mg-bearing manganoan magnetite from Kawara-Sannotake, were described. The magnetite crystals which are 2.5 cm in maximum diameter, take the basic form of rhombic dodecahedron with frequent combination of smaller face of o(111) and unusual pyramidal face m(311). A typical example of chemical formula for the magnetite crystals, determined by electron microprobe analysis is given below.(Zn0.402+Mn2.452+Fe5.153+)8.00[Mg0.473+Fe4.652+Fe10.873+]15.99O32.00A precise determination of lattice parameter for this magnetite gave 8.4387 A, which is larger than that of foliated magnetite of ordinary composition from the same locality, 8.3940 A. Specific gravity is 5.089 measured and 5.080 calculated. In polished sections of the manganoan magnetite crystal, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and quartz can be observed as inclusions. Reflectivity in air for this crystal seems to be somewhat darker than that of the foliated magnetite. Its intensity of magnetization at 19°C under external magnetic field of 10 K·Oe attains 93.1 emu/g, and the theoretical value based on the cation distribution in its crystal structure at 0°K is calculated to be 106.5 emu/g, whereas the ordinary magnetite shows 96.7 emu/g. Curie temperature of the manganoan magnetite is 466°C, which is lower than that of ordinary magnetite, 580°C. DTA experiments carried out in air show two exothermic reactions. The lower temperature peak at 300°C is small but sharp, and the other exothermic plateau starts rapidly from its Curie temperature. The Zn and Mg-bearing manganoan magnetite crystals are supposed to be generated by reaction of locally pre-existing iron-manganese ore formation with hydrothermal solution, which involves Zn, Mg and (Sn ?), etc., as the later different mineralization from the skarnization widely developed in this area.


In this paper I shall try to explore how the idea of space in what we call 'South Asia' today got reconfigured by modernity. I shall explore three spatial conceptions of South Asia—strategic, geographic and cultural; and I shall try to explain the patterns of space-thinking underlying each one of them, show their connection with modernity, and observe why and how South Asia is still not a space that can be conceived in nationalistic or state terms as a space of belonging. Two political processes of modernity introduce a new kind of space-making—nationalism and stateformation. In the paper, I shall follow some significant points of this dual process—of the emergence of new state structures—of British colonial India—and its animation of the rise of variant forms of nationalism—in 19th century Bengal, in the Islamic imagination of the 20 th century, and eventually through the institution of state-nationalisms in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These state forms and gestalts of affect make it impossible to think of South Asia as a space of emotional inhabitance—like India or Pakistan. Yet, despite this state-nationalist borders of consciousness, there still exist long-term historical commonalities which people spontaneously practice and enjoy—in food, material culture, literature, art, music—which have a deep and long history. This marks peoples of this region (not states) by a common intelligibility which is reflected in their easy commingling when outside their countries, and free of the pressures of state nationalism, or in artistic public spheres. A Strange Love of the Land: Identity, Poetry and Politics in the (Un)Making o... South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, 10 | 2014 14


Abstract The years since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic crash have witnessed significant changes to the funding of the local government system in Ireland. This paper outlines these developments, while, at the same time, exploring some of the most important future challenges relating to the financing of Irish local authorities. The dominant local government revenue issues of the last decade outlined here are fiscal autonomy and the balance between own-source income and central government grants, income differences between urban and rural councils, the Local Property Tax, changes in commercial rates and fiscal equalisation. In terms of fiscal dependency and equalisation, our findings show reductions in the vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalances in the Irish local government system. Likely future challenges include the need to re-examine the balance between business taxes and non-business taxes, funding the expected growth in metropolitan areas and the financing options for capital investment by local authorities, including consideration of municipal bond issuance for the Greater Dublin Area.


Historic Districts possess a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of buildings, sites, structures, or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development. This dataset represents the polygon boundaries of historic districts that: 1. Are National Historic Landmarks, 2. Are included in the New Jersey or National Registers of Historic Places, 3. Have been determined Eligible for inclusion in the registers through federal or state processes administered by the HPO, 4. Have been designated as Local Historic Districts by local government, or 5. Have been identified through cultural resource survey or other documentation on file at the HPO. The majority of features in the dataset represent categories 1, 2, and 3 above. HPO is still in the process of comprehensive digitizing for categories 4 and 5. Inclusion in this dataset does not preclude the existence of other historic districts as yet unidentified, unrecorded, or undocumented.


The 1920s in the Soviet Ukraine are characterised by significant variability of views on the meaning, social significance and mechanism of art and literature, however, all this theoretical and practical variety was limited by political restriction imposed by official communist ideology. Avant-garde groups and movements enriched modernist discussions by drawing attention to the fact that the revolution in arts and literature was of the same nature as political and social revolution. Numerous Soviet writers, poets, artists, philologists, etc. (including Ukrainian writers with their own national agenda) took part in these discussions; many of them were members of different literary movements, groups and organisations – and of course they had a different aesthetic orientation. One of the most important topics of Soviet theoretical discussions in the 1920s was the dualism of "form" and "content" in literature and art. Such discussions were held in Soviet Ukraine as well. Even though we cannot speak about "Ukrainian formalism" as an organised and disciplined aesthetic school, it is important to determine the "Ukrainian version" of correlation between universalist ideas of Russian formalism, internationalist Soviet ideology (in relation to the culture), and forming Ukrainian cultural identity.


A vaccine against chlamydial ovine abortion was prepared according to an original method and experimentally applied to more than 500,000 animals in large breeding units. The vaccine induced a considerable seroconversion (as demonstrated by complement fixation tests) and reduced by 3--5 times the damage due to chlamydioses. Vaccination of primiparous ewes, followed by 2--3 annual revaccinations, gave good results, conferring resistance on the vaccinated animals.


The threshold of spinal motoneurons and interneurons to direct stimulation was tested by applying current pulses through an intracellular microelectrode. Membrane potentials and cellular responses were recorded from the same penetrating microelectrode. Reactions of these neurons to orthodromic (afferent nerve stimulation) and antidromic impulses (ventral root stimulation) were determined. Reflex responses were recorded from ventral roots. Reticular formation stimulation resulting in inhibition of reflex action caused an increase in the thresholds of spinal neurons. Facilitory reticular formation action had more of a mixed effect on these neurons but in a considerable percentage thresholds were lowered. The percentage of neurons thus affected varied as did the magnitude of reticular formation effect on reflex action in the spinal segment under study.


Abstract We compared the seed fate of two animal-dispersed, large-seeded timber species (Dipteryx panamensis [Fabaceae] and Carapa guianensis [Meliaceae]) in logged and fragmented forests with that for continuous forest in northeastern Costa Rica. For both species, we quantified rates of seed removal (an index of vertebrate predation) and the fate of dispersed seeds (those carried away from their original location that either germinated or were not subsequently removed within three months). We predicted that (1) fewer seeds would be dispersed by vertebrates in fragmented forest than in continuous forest due to low population abundances after hunting and/or loss of suitable habitat, and (2) seed predation rates would be higher in forest fragments than in continuous forest due to high abundance of small-bodied seed consumers. We compared three forest fragments currently managed for timber (140–350 ha) and a large reserve of continuous forest (La Selva, 1500 ha and connected to a national park). An exclusion experiment was performed (seeds placed in the open vs. seeds within semipermeable wire cages; 5 cm mesh size) to evaluate the relative roles of large and small animals on seed removal. Seed germination capacity did not differ among all four sites for both species. Removal of Dipteryx seeds was higher in forest fragments (50% removal within 10 days and related to the activity of small rodents) compared to La Selva (50% removal after 50 days). Also, more Dipteryx seeds were dispersed at La Selva than in fragmented forests. Contrary to our predictions, removal of Carapa seeds was equally high among all four sites, and there was a trend for more seeds of Carapa to be dispersed in fragments than in La Selva. Our results suggest that fragmentation effects on tree seed fate may be specific to species in question and contingent on the animal biota involved, and that management strategies for timber production based on regeneration from seed may differ between forest patches and extensive forests.


Non-extended and extended dead-time models, a pulse-height analyser (PHA) windowing model, and a model intermediate between the non-extended and extended models for losses in counting methods are compared. The validities of the methods are examined by application to the analysis of powder diffraction peak intensity profiles measured by a foil method. The intermediate model including parameters for the dead-time and degree of extension can reproduce both the non-extended and the extended models and also intermediate dependence between the two models. A convenient approximate formula for the intermediate model, the maximum relative deviation of which is 0.0003, is also proposed. The determination of the parameters and a correction for the measured intensities can easily be achieved by applying the approximate model, because it provides simple formulae for the correction function expressed as a combination of elementary functions. Experimental and analytical methods for precise evaluation of the parameters to specify the counting losses are also presented. Systematic deviations of the observed dependence from the non-extended and extended dead-time models have been detected by the precise analyses of experimental data, while the PHA windowing model, intermediate model and its approximation have reproduced the observed dependence within the experimental errors.


A perceptual reasoning system adaptively extracting, associating, and fusing information from multiple sources, at various levels of abstraction, is considered as the building block for the next generation of surveillance systems. A system architecture is presented which makes use of both centralized and distributed predetection fusion combined with intelligent monitor and control coupling both on-platform and off-board track and decision level fusion results. The goal of this system is to create a `gestalt fused sensor system' whose information product is greater than the sum of the information products from the individual sensors and has performance superior to either individual or a sub-group of combined sensors. The application of this architectural concept to the law enforcement arena (e.g. drug interdiction) utilizing multiple spatially and temporally diverse surveillance platforms and/or information sources, is used to illustrate the benefits of the adaptive perceptual reasoning system concept.


Learning the distance metric between pairs of examples is of great importance for learning and visual recognition. With the remarkable success from the state of the art convolutional neural networks, recent works [1, 31] have shown promising results on discriminatively training the networks to learn semantic feature embeddings where similar examples are mapped close to each other and dissimilar examples are mapped farther apart. In this paper, we describe an algorithm for taking full advantage of the training batches in the neural network training by lifting the vector of pairwise distances within the batch to the matrix of pairwise distances. This step enables the algorithm to learn the state of the art feature embedding by optimizing a novel structured prediction objective on the lifted problem. Additionally, we collected Stanford Online Products dataset: 120k images of 23k classes of online products for metric learning. Our experiments on the CUB-200-2011 [37], CARS196 [19], and Stanford Online Products datasets demonstrate significant improvement over existing deep feature embedding methods on all experimented embedding sizes with the GoogLeNet [33] network. The source code and the dataset are available at: https://github.com/rksltnl/ Deep-Metric-Learning-CVPR16.


Ajax is really several technologies,each flourishing in its own right,coming together in powerful new ways,which consists of HTML,JavaScript~(TM)technology,DHTML,and DOM,is an outstanding approach that helps to transform clunky Web interfaces into interactive Ajax applications.After the definition to Ajax,how to make asynchronous requests with JavaScript and Ajax was introduced.At the end,advanced requests and responses in Ajax were put forward.


Report of Field Meeting at Penrith, 14th–16th May, 1937.

INTRODUCTION.

The object of the meeting was to study the Lower Palaeozoic rocks at north-eastern corner of the Lake District where they have recently been re-surveyed. In a short talk on the evening of Friday, 14th May the leader summarized some of the results of the re-survey. These differ in some respects from the conclusions reached by previous workers; but as the evidence and conclusions have not as yet been published it seems desirable to preface this account of the excursion with a few general remarks.

STRATIFIED ROCKS.

Skiddaw Slates. The oldest rocks seen on the excursion are sandstones in the lower arenaceous division of the Skiddaw Slates. They belong to the Didymograptus extensus Zone of the Llanvirnian and pass up into striped slates overlain by black slates of the D. hirundo and D. bifidus zones. These sandstones appear in the cores of asymmetric anticlinal folds that form part of the broad anticlinorium represented by the main outcrop of the Skiddaw Slates in the Lake District. The general trend of the fold-axes is ENE—WSW, but in the area visited their direction is E—W about Bowscale Tarn, while south of Carrock Fell and about Mungrisdale and Mosedale it has become ESE—WNW Fig. 1.

The cause of this change is problematical; it may represent folding more or less tangential to some resistant mass at depth.1

Borrowdale Volcanic Series. Lavas and tuffs of this series usually succeed the upper Skiddaw …


Most wafer fabrication lines now employ some form of defect inspection plan to identify killer defect types on its wafers and thus protect and predict die sort yields. Although often viewed as a nonvalue added process step, defect inspection is typically incorporated into the process flow at a number of points. However, as with all process steps, there is an associated cost, and oversampling can add more to the wafer manufacturing cost than the cost of field loss that might otherwise have been recovered. It is therefore imperative that the sampling methodology used in the fab is cost effective, i.e. that the benefits gained far outweigh inspection cost. As a minimum, the plan must be able to detect excursions that will ultimately result in probe yield loss. Also, excursion detection must be timely to ensure that the product at risk from excursions is minimized. In summary, the plan must be consistent with the acceptable excursion yield loss in the fab. This paper looks at plans used in two very different fabs on the same site. The first is a 4" line with >1 /spl mu/m geometries. The second is a 6" line with <0.5 /spl mu/m geometries. The same overall structure governs both fabs and the equipment set in both areas is largely similar. However, the sampling strategy used in the two areas is different, as each area plan is tailored specifically to meet its needs in relation to yield objectives. This paper describes the two plans used, and looks at how inspection sensitivity must be tailored to meet the needs of the plan. We look at various defect types, and how some must be sieved out to ensure that the inspection data generated is meaningful.


Endoscopy plays an important role in the early detection of gastrointestinal tract neoplasms. Using conventional white light or dye‐based image enhanced endoscopy, it has been difficult to assess pre‐malignant and early neoplastic lesions precisely. However, narrow band imaging (NBI) dramatically improves the detection of these lesions, particularly in combination with magnifying endoscopy. This allows the endoscopist to accomplish accurate diagnosis. Such enhanced detection of pre‐malignant and early neoplastic lesions in the gastrointestinal tract should allow better targeting of biopsy, improved and more appropriate treatment, and thereby contribute to optimal quality of life and patient survival.


Background: The knee joint has three components, the lateral tibiofemoral, medial tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints. Four bands of tissue, the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, and the medial and lateral collateral ligaments connect the femur and the tibia and provide joint stability. Subjects and Methods: The study was performed during a time period of 12 months. The results of the patients who had undergone both MR and arthroscopy studies were taken for analysis. Results: The most common age group to be involved was between 41-50 years. The following patterns of knee injuries were seen. Most common injury among cruciate ligaments was ACL tear of which complete tears were more common Posterior cruciate ligament tears were less common. Conclusion: Thus, the presence of an anteromedial femoral condyle bone bruise should increase the level of suspicion of a concurrent PLC Knee injury. In addition, we believe that the presence of a posteromedial tibial plateau bone bruise may be a secondary sign of a potential combined PLC injury in the setting of anterior cruciate ligament tear.


The issue of human abilities is widely discussed in the field of psychological literature . It has been developed within specific theories as well as therapeutic practices. In the context of modern positive psychology human abilities are placed within the framework of a continuum including the understanding of them as fixed and unchangeable in time, and at the other end of the same continuum is the conviction that they can be improved and developed by making certain efforts. In the second understanding challenges and difficult situations are an integral part of the way towards the realization of the purposes and serve as a springboard for learning new things and for personal growth. The perception of the idea that competencies and skills are determined by biological laws has to do with the desire to avoid risk and failure as well as with a desire for continuous confirmation of current developments. Uncertainty is the factor responsible for choosing not to endeavour and the one which not lead to a different result. According to Carol Dweck someone's self-acceptnce has significant impact on the choice of a way of living. It is clear that a conviction may have the power to transform an individual's perception of the world. The idea of human abilities can be viewed in the context of the development of character strengths. These are the human competencies in which the implementation of an activity is carried out with ease and leads to a feeling of satisfaction and value. The development of strengths positively correlated with wellbeing and meaning. Leading life according to personal values and goals selected corresponding to individual's strengths have positive impact on the psychological and physical health. Due to the fact that the understanding of the abilities is formed in early childhood the emphasis in modern educational practices was placed on individual skills and traits to be identified and encouraged. An essential aspect in these two theoretical paradigms is the fact that someone's self-acceptance as well as the development of strengths are relevant to all other areas of life, i.e. there are a transfer of these skills in areas such as professional commitment, personal life, hobbies, etc. Everyone has his/her own strengths but not everyone has differentiated them. When recognized, the path to their development should go, so that the activities of the individual correspond to the most prominent skills and competences. The set of 24 character strengths includes spheres such as spiritual life, good-heartedness, curiosity, justice. Related to Carol Dweck's theory we may conclude that they have the powr to change some strategies used in interpersonal relationships as well as in the school environment.


Aphelenchoidid nematodes were collected from the sycones of Ficus subgenus Pharmacosycea from Central America. Two new species of Ficophagus were recovered, and are described herein as F. maxima sp. n. and F. yoponensis sp. n. from Ficus maxima and F. yoponensis , respectively. They are differentiated from other species of the genus by a combination of morphological characters including having C-shaped females and spiral males, EP opening close to the lips, a short to long post-uterine sac, spicule characters, three pairs of subventral caudal papillae, DNA sequence data, biogeographical range, and host wasp and Ficus species affiliation. The new species are differentiated from each other by spicule characters, length of the post-uterine sac, spermatheca shape, and female tail shape. In addition, three morphospecies were collected from sycones of Ficus glabrata , F. insipida and F. tonduzii , respectively. Their morphological descriptions are presented but these taxa are not formally named as they currently lack molecular data.


The noise generated by the rolling tyre contributes significantly to the cars interior noise. This is caused by the tyre-road contact, and at low frequencies (0-500 Hz) is mostly transmitted inside the cockpit through the structure-borne transmission path. In support of the studies in this research field, an interpretative model of the tyre-wheel system accounting for the effects induced by the angular speed represents a useful tool. To this aim, we implemented an analytical model based on a flexible ring on an elastic foundation to analyse the dynamics of the tyre-wheel system, in both static and rotating configurations. We fine-tuned the parameters of the tyre based on data coming from an Experimental Modal Analysis of the static tyre. Particular attention has been paid to the system's free and forced responses, commonly analysed with the so-called cleat test. The results are discussed interpreting the behaviour in different reference systems.


The chemical control of disease vectors which has been very successful during about 15 years is now faced with some difficulties due to the resistance of insects to the insecticides, to the decreasing number of candidate insecticides, to the increase of their price and to the legal restrictions concerning their safe use and their environmental inocuity. Since 1960, W.H.O. has carried out an evaluation programme to define the properties of new insecticides and to access their usefulness for public health. Through this programme several alternative insecticides have been selected and are now used in vector control operations. Although research continues on organophosphorous compounds and carbamates, it also includes the promising groups of pyrethroids and insect growth regulators. The present trend of vector control is to integrate various control techniques and to limit the use of insecticides to the control of the epidemiologically dangerous part of the vector population. This approach might prevent or delay the development of resistance.


Warm prestressing is widely acknowledged as being able to enhance material toughness, especially in steels that exhibit lower shelf cleavage fracture. The enhancement in toughness has a significant impact on the integrity of pressure vessels, particularly during severe loading conditions, such as pressurised thermal shock.In this paper, we undertake detailed statistical analyses of experimental data provided via a comprehensive programme of fracture tests at UJV (Ustav jaderneho výzkumu Řež a.s.). A warm prestressing model, developed by Chell, is used to predict the change in toughness probabilistically, using Monte-Carlo methods to predict the distribution in toughness following different warm prestressing cycles. The results obtained from this model are also compared to predictions made by the Wallin approach.Experimental data was generated, at UJV for WWER 440 RPV steel, using small single-edge-notched bend SEN(B) specimens (or pre-cracked Charpy) across a range of different fracture temperatures, warm pre-stress temperatures, and levels of preload, in both as-received and irradiated conditions. In this paper, experimental data obtained only from tests on unirradiated specimens were statistically treated. A three parameter Weibull distribution was used to map the scatter observed in the virgin toughness. The statistical significance of increase in apparent fracture toughness due to warm prestressing was evaluated using the Mann-Whitney test. It was further shown by Monte-Carlo simulations that the Chell and Wallin models provide slightly conservative predictions of the resulting fracture toughness. Both, the experimentally measured and predicted values of the resulting fracture toughness, depend on the specific tests conditions, especially on the level of preload.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


In monitoring and supervision schemes, fault detection and diagnosis characterize high efficiency and quality production systems. To achieve such properties, these structures are based on techniques that allow detection and diagnosis of failures in real time. Detection signals faults and diagnostics provide the root cause and location. Fault detection is based on signal and process mathematical models, while fault diagnosis is focused on systems theory and process modeling. Monitoring and supervision complement each other in fault management, thus enabling normal and continuous operation. Its application avoids stopping productive processes by early detection of failures and by applying real-time actions to eliminate them, such as predictive and proactive maintenance based on process conditions. The integration of all these methodologies enables intelligent monitoring and supervision systems, enabling real-time fault detection and diagnosis. Their high performance is associated with statistical decision-making techniques, expert systems, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic and computational procedures, making them efficient and fully autonomous in making decisions in the real-time operation of a production system.


Combining phylogeographic data from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Nearctic and Palearctic freshwater and anadromous fishes, we used a comparative approach to assess the influence of historical events on evolutionary patterns and processes in regional fish faunas. Specifically, we (i) determined whether regional faunas differentially affected by Pleistocene glaciations show predictable differences in phylogeographic patterns; (ii) evaluated how processes of divergence and speciation have been influenced by such differential responses; and (iii) assessed the general contribution of phylogeographic studies to conservation issues. Comparisons among case studies revealed fundamental differences in phylogeographic patterns among regional faunas. Tree topologies were typically deeper for species from nonglaciated regions compared to northern species, whereas species with partially glaciated ranges were intermediate in their characteristics. Phylogeographic patterns were strikingly similar among southern species, whereas species in glaciated areas showed reduced concordance. The extent and locations of secondary contact among mtDNA lineages varied greatly among northern species, resulting in reduced intraspecific concordance of genetic markers for some northern species. Regression analysis of phylogeographic data for 42 species revealed significant latitudinal shifts in intraspecific genetic diversity. Both relative nucleotide diversity and estimates of evolutionary effective population size showed significant breakpoints matching the median latitude for the southern limit of the Pleistocene glaciations. Similarly, analysis of clade depth of phylogenetically distinct lineages vs. area occupied showed that evolutionary dispersal rates of species from glaciated and nonglaciated regions differed by two orders of magnitude. A negative relationship was also found between sequence divergence among sister species as a function of their median distributional latitude, indicating that recent bursts of speciation events have occurred in deglaciated habitats. Phylogeographic evidence for parallel evolution of sympatric northern species pairs in postglacial times suggested that differentiation of cospecific morphotypes may be driven by ecological release. Altogether, these results demonstrate that comparative phylogeography can be used to evaluate not only phylogeographic patterns but also evolutionary processes. As well as having significant implications for conservation programs, this approach enables new avenues of research for examining the regional, historical, and ecological factors involved in shaping intraspecific genetic diversity.


DAVID NELKEN, Disclosing/Invoking Legal Culture: An Introduction The introduction to this special issue provides a context tor the other more substantive contributions by discussing the concept of legal culture and the part it might play in reviving the comparative sociology of law. It first surveys some of the different uses of the term in the existing literature, and then examines a variety of problems of theory and method relevant to attempts to portray legal cultures in a period of increasing globalization. The merits of interpretative approaches, such as the ones in this special issue, are stressed but some of the drawbacks are also spelled out. It concludes by underlining the antimonies which confront efforts not only to grasp other people's legal cultures but also our own. MICHAEL SALTER, A Dialectic Despite Itself? Overcoming the Phenomenology of Legal Culture This article sets out the characteristics of a phenomenological approach to legal culture, and contrasts these point by point with the more positivistic methods that have traditionally been adopted by much socio-legal research. The strengths and limits of the phenomenological approach to legal culture are then explored through a process of immanent critique drawn from an explicitly dialectical account of law. It is shown that the phenomenological inversion of terms that takes place within a series of traditional dichotomies, e.g. from objectivism to subjectivism, utterly fails, in practice, to resolve the basic problems caused by these underlying dualisms themselves. By contrast, the critique carried out by means of a dialectical approach to legal experience reveals the presence of a series of contradictions between what is promised by a phenomenological approach, and what this approach can actually fulfil given the consequences for empirical research of some of its more dubious methodological prescriptions. SERGIO LÓPEZ-AYLLÓN, Notes on Mexican Legal Culture Based on a broad concept of legal culture, the article outlines in the first part certain elements of the substratum of the Mexican legal culture, particularly the fact that in Mexico law has played more of an instituting rather than a regulatory role. The second part explains how these elements determine the social meaning of the law and the way it relates to the Mexican State. Finally, the article shows how, as a result of the change of the economic model of development, the modifications in the structure and distribution of the population, the process of globalization and the entry into force of the NAFTA, the Mexican legal culture is undergoing a substantial transformation. ANTOINE GARAPON, French Legal Culture and the Shock of 'Globalization' These last years, French law has been subjected to challenges of considerable importance.


Romania's integration in the European Union is a real challenge for Romanian managers, especially for those working in the public administration field. It is vital that all Romanian clerks be aware of the European realities in order to meet its possible demands.


This paper proposes a new approach for quantifying the economic cost of hidden economies. I specifically apply the method to the case of mafia racketeering in Northern Italy, and in so doing, provide the first explicit estimate of the economic cost of mafia spread in this area. I show both theoretically and empirically that acts of extortion imposed on certain firms are linked to resource mis-allocation. I quantify the share of output that the mafia extorts from firms, which ranges between 0.5 and 5 percent of firm-level output for the taxed firms. I then consider what these estimates imply and find that between 2000 and 2012, the Northern Italian economy suffered an aggregate loss of approximately 2.5 billion Euros. Quite remarkably, only one-fourth of this cost consists of the aggregate transfer to the mafia. The remaining three-fourths corresponds to the contraction of production due to mis-allocation.


X-ray reflectometry allows the determination of the thickness, density, absorption and rms roughness of a stack of thin layers on a substrate from several nanometres to some hundred nanometres. Inversion of the experimental reflectivity data is usually realized by a trial-and-error method based on the theoretical computation of the reflectivity curve after having extracted initial values of the layer thicknesses from the result of a classical FFT of the reflectivity data. However, the order information of the layers is lost during classical FFT. The order of the layers then has to be known a priori. Besides, the classical Fourier transform does not reveal anything about the stack parameters (density, absorption and the rms roughness). As this trial-and-error method is efficient provided that one has a good idea of the stack parameter values, it is important to extract some valuable information directly from the experimental reflectivity. In this paper, it will be shown that the order of the layers can be obtained by the so-called joint time-frequency representations. Furthermore, the continuous wavelet transform allows qualitative determination of the stack parameters and helps in the determination of an appropriate starting model for the trial-and-error method. The points of interest of this method are illustrated by experimental examples.


In search of a more in-depth grasp of the process and practice of dynamic assessment (DA) in second language acquisition (SLA), the present study adopted a qualitative meta-synthesis methodology and identified a number of synoptic accounts and themes pertinent to the practical implementation of DA and the philosophical worldview adopted towards it. The overarching inferences made based on the systematic review of 40 peer-reviewed, primary studies, which met certain predetermined criteria for selection and inclusion in the data set, emanated a shared set of two primary and two secondary themes. Expounding upon the dual function of DA in terms of both diagnosing and developing learners' abilities and elucidating how DA, formative assessment, and scaffolding are different, the two primary themes reflect on commonalities dissected across the 40 selected primary studies on DA, respectively. The two secondary themes give fresh insights into the nature of DA by hailing DA as an assessment tool that can ameliorate fairness in education and explaining how DA is in line with experientialism and pragmatic worldviews. Therefore, the established primary themes can shed light on further dimensions of DA implementation in language pedagogy as well as its practical application guidelines, and the secondary themes can reflect on the way fairness, validity, reliability, and generalizability in DA can be revisited.


We screened patients with juvenile nephronophthisis for mutations of the tightly linked PAX8 gene. No disease-associated mutations were found, but we identified the first known human PAX8 polymorphism, F329L, in 1 of 15 patients and 2 of 20 controls. This polymorphic variant involves a conservative amino acid change (phenylalanine to leucine) in the C-terminal portion of the PAX8 protein.


This paper presents the main issues involved in estimating potential output. The objective is to describe the alternative methods and analyze their application and implications for growth forecasts and macroeconomic policy in Brazil. The text emphasizes the determinants of potential output under fixed and flexible coefficients of production. Given the wide use of aggregate measures of total factor productivity in growth accounting, and the sensitivity of such a variable to economic assumptions and errors of measurement, the text also presents the main applied critiques and alternatives to aggregate growth-accounting exercises. The main conclusions are: (1) the annual potential growth rate of Brazil's GDP varies substantially depending on the method and hypotheses adopted and, what is most important, potential GDP is not separable from effective GDP in the long-run; (2) growth-accounting and time-series studies of Brazil result in low potential-output growth rates because they extrapolate the slow growth of 1981-2003 to the future; (3) capital seems to be the main constraint on growth in Brazil and, therefore, a demand-led increase in investment can raise both its effective and potential output levels; (4) however, because of the slow adjustment of the capital stock, an investment boom can also hit a supply constraint before the stock of capital has time to adjust to the growth rate of investment; and (5) aggregate measures of potential output do not carry much information about the economy and, therefore, they should be complemented by sectoral estimates of capacity utilization to identify the bottlenecks in inter-industry flows and the corresponding demand pressures on inflation.


An appreciable amount of nitrogen-fixing (acetylene-reducing) activity was observed in the excised roots of graminaceous weed, Eragrostis ferruginea. The highest activity obtained at 5 % oxygen concentration was 26.8 nmol acetylene reduced/g/hr. From the excised root, an aerobic bacterial strain with rapid growth on nitrogen-deficient medium and high acetylene-reducing activity was obtained. The isolate, termed ER201, was Gram-negative nonmotile rod and resembled Azotobacter, although its taxonomic position is uncertain. Glucose, sucrose, ethanol, acetate, lactate, malate, pyruvate, and succinate supported its N2-dependent growth, while lactose, rhamnose, starch, xylose, glycerol, citrate, and p-hydroxybenzoate did not. At the expense of 1 g of glucose, 7.3 to 7.5 mg of nitrogen was fixed. Specific activity of the isolate for acetylene reduction was 37.7 nmol acetylene reduced per mg cell protein per min under 10.6 % oxygen concentration. The isolate failed to grow in nitrogen-deficient media with initial pH below 6.6, while its growth was abundant at pH 6.8 or higher.


Drawn from the Prussian Academy edition of Kant's collected works, these letters make it possible to trace the development of Kant's thought from his earliest worries about the topics discussed in the "Critique of Pure Reason" to his attempts in later life to meet the objections of his critics and erstwhile disciples. "Perhaps the major value of these writings is their demonstration of Kant's own attitude towards his philosophical works."-Paul Arthur Schilpp, "Saturday Review"


The value-added tax (VAT) is often a major component of national fiscal structures. While its effects on allocative efficiency, inflation, income distribution, and tax administration have been addressed, little work exists on the theoretical base of a VAT, given its structure. This is essential for knowing how much of the base is actually taxed. Using Mexican national accounts and input-output tables, this paper develops a methodology for calculating the theoretical base of the Mexican VAT for 1980 and 1983 (two years whose individual VAT structures were considerably different). The method is applicable to other VAT systems as well.


In this essay the author discusses the benefits of introducing digital making tools into the glass artist's practice-based research, both on a professional and student level. Using an example from his personal creative practice as a case study, the author outlines not only the practical benefits of using digital technology, but how when combined with traditional hot-worked glass techniques the synthesis can produce art objects that would otherwise be impossible using either digital or manual means alone. He argues that it is the possibility of inventing novel approaches to art making that can motivate glass artists and students to embrace digital means of making, rather than relying on appeals to practicality and efficiency alone. Includes a description of producing blown glass sculptures that combine fused water-jet cut sheet glass with traditional mold blowing and glass sculpting techniques.


Purpose: To determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and the dose limiting toxicity (DLT) of docetaxel in combination with fixed doses of epirubicin. Patients and methods: Women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer were given docetaxel, 60 mg/m 2 in escalated doses by steps of 10 mg/m 2 , in association with two fixed doses of epirubicin (90 mg/m 2 , and 75 mg/m 2 ). Since neutropenia was foreseen to be the most likely DLT, a third group with prophylactic G-CSF support was planned to define the MTD of docetaxel with 90 mg/m 2 of epirubicin. Selected patients underwent pharmacokinetic evaluation of docetaxel. Results: Fifty-eight patients entered the study. At the first step (90 mg/m 2 of epirubicin) the MTD was obtained at 60 mg/m 2 of docetaxel. At the second step (75 mg/m 2 of epirubicin) the MTD of docetaxel was 80 mg/m 2 . At the third step (epirubicin 90 mg/m 2 ) G-CSF allowed a safe escalation of docetaxel up to 90 mg/m". Neutropenia was the most common hematological adverse event. Without G-CSF, grade 4 neutropenia occurred in 69% of cycles, of which 11% was complicated by fever. In G-CSF group, grade 4 neutropenia and neutropenic fever occurred in 31% and 3%, respectively. Most frequent non-hematological adverse effects were asthenia (45%), nausea (39%) and mucositis (36%). No patient developed congestive heart failure. Two toxic deaths occurred. Overall response rate was 73% in 42 out of 58 patients, with no apparent epirubicin dose-related effect. No statistically significant effect of the two doses of epirubicin was observed in docetaxel pharmacokinetics. Conclusions: On the basis of the toxicity profile, the docetaxel pharmacokinetics and the response rate observed, epirubicin 75 mg/m 2 combined with docetaxel 80 mg/m 2 can be recommended for further studies.


108 • Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art • 40 • May 2017 108 • Nka DOI 10.1215/10757163-3886120 © 2017 by Nka Publications What is art? Why ought we to bring the "African" into African art discourse, description, scope, and evaluation? If we take seriously the analogy with the point-and-shoot camera with which Rowland Abíódún begins this book, we can deduce that he wishes to argue that our understanding of the subject matter of African art is impacted by what tools, theories, and concepts we deploy in the task and how sophisticated they are.1 To the extent that our instrument is the equivalent of a point-and-shoot camera, calibrated to flatten the object and failing to register its many hues in as close as possible to their original realization, we are unlikely to end up with an adequate, much less correct, characterization of the object of our investigation. The alien-derived tools with which Yorùbá art has been interpreted, described even, have meant, for instance, that "African art was not even considered art with a capital 'A' until relatively recent times mainly because art was 'for art's sake.'"2 Abíódún is not advocating the incommensurability of different traditions of art, but he wants to argue that total indifference to the ways of making, valuing, and understanding art in the context of the larger cultures within which such art is produced in Africa is likely to lead to the kinds of minimally inadequate, maximally incorrect appraisals of African art that is widespread in the discourse over time. "This study is offered as a contribution to, and revision of, the conceptual tools that we need in order to meet the challenges of studying Africa's still largely misunderstood artistic traditions."3 The aim, then, is to insert into the discourse of African art tools that are fashioned from within the cultures that gave birth to the artistic traditions themselves. This does not mean that foreign tools may not be applied. Nor does it mean that foreign scholars have no place in the interpretation of African art. Even African scholars, who do not evince the requisite familiarization with or sophistication in the language in which the original discourse is articulated, are wont to exhibit similar stumbles as those of their foreign counterparts. The problem is not with the personnel of the interpreters; it is with the conceptual tools they bring to their task. The reason for such outcomes is not far to seek. No doubt much art emanates from the genius of single and singular individuals. But even in those situations it requires much more than the genius of the individual artist. Our characterization of art and our evaluation of same must give a nod to the enabling community within which the art piece is named and evaluated. Art may be autonomous, but it is not freefloating. Yorùbá art, in particular, is made up of products that are indigenous to a particular area, marked by specific discourses in their original home. Additionally, some of the objects go back to antiquity and the discourses that attach to them, the context of their emergence, and the functions that they were made to perform. The criteria of appreciation and criticism by which they have been assessed and judged are, without exception, imbricated in a particular linguistic and cultural tradition and its associated practices. Any assessment of these objects in all their complexity that does not have the requisite grounding and fluency in the factors just listed is likely to be inadequate, if not false, but definitely problematic. A note of caution is warranted here. There are other attempts at incorporating Yorùbá elements into the discourse of Yorùbá art. Too often, though, they are marked by what I would call equivalencism, under which we think all that is required is to look for equivalent Yorùbá terms for concepts derived from other traditions respecting the object of analysis. The danger with this manner of proceeding is that it takes the point-and-shoot camera as unproblematic and begins to force its object into the constricting conceptual framework it has not bothered to interrogate. There is no deep analysis of Yorùbá phenomena as such. On this view, one would take the conceptual framework of art in say, Italy, mistake it for the universal concept of art, and then look for the equivalent in Yorùbá. Abíódún's book steers clear of equivalencism by forcing us to confront Yorùbá life and its intellectual processes as an independent, integrated whole, marked by the requisite complexity that usually attaches to civilizations that are advanced enough to not only make art, but to have criteria of definition and evaluation that often are identified with aesthetics and similar theoretical forms. When Abíódún deigned to look inward and tease out a theory of art from Yorùbá, what he found is the core of this book. According to him, the key to making sense of and judging Yorùbá art is to conceive of it as oríkì.4 Ordinarily, oríkì is associated with delineating the boundaries, the very essence of a thing, a person, a practice, and/or a process as well as of the many concatenations of people, things, practices, and processes. Oríkì is standardly verbal, covering a variety of Yorùbá literary and performative genres that include affective speech, recitation, incantations, chants, vocalized curses, targeted discourse, a bride's lament, a hunter's dirge, dramatized satire, figures of speech, and more.5 I don't think that anyone familiar with Yorùbá disRowland Abiodun The Yoruba was one of the most important civilizations


Autophagy is regulated for IFN-γ-mediated antimicrobial efficacy; however, its molecular effects for IFN-γ signaling are largely unknown. Here, we show that autophagy facilitates IFN-γ-activated Jak2-STAT1. IFN-γ induces autophagy in wild-type but not in autophagy protein 5 (Atg5−/−)-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and, autophagy-dependently, IFN-γ induces IFN regulatory factor 1 and cellular inflammatory responses. Pharmacologically inhibiting autophagy using 3-methyladenine, a known inhibitor of class III phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, confirms these effects. Either Atg5−/− or Atg7−/− MEFs are, independent of changes in IFN-γ receptor expression, resistant to IFN-γ-activated Jak2-STAT1, which suggests that autophagy is important for IFN-γ signal transduction. Lentivirus-based short hairpin RNA for Atg5 knockdown confirmed the importance of autophagy for IFN-γ-activated STAT1. Without autophagy, reactive oxygen species increase and cause SHP2 (Src homology-2 domain-containing phosphatase 2)-regulated STAT1 inactivation. Inhibiting SHP2 reversed both cellular inflammation and the IFN-γ-induced activation of STAT1 in Atg5−/− MEFs. Our study provides evidence that there is a link between autophagy and both IFN-γ signaling and cellular inflammation and that autophagy, because it inhibits the expression of reactive oxygen species and SHP2, is pivotal for Jak2-STAT1 activation.


Various attractive materials are being used in bioelectronics recently. In this paper, hydroxymethyl-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT-OH) has been in situ integrated and polymerized on the surface of the regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) film to construct a biocompatible electrode. In order to improve the efficiency of in situ polymerization, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was adopted as surfactant to construct a well-organized and stable poly(hydroxymethyl-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT-OH) coating, whereas ammonium persulfate was used as oxidant. The effects of dosages of surfactant and oxidant, initial pH value, and monomer concentration on the polymerization were studied. Under the optimal conditions, the RSF/PEDOT-OH film exhibited a square resistance of 3.28 × 105 Ω corresponding to a conductance of 6.1 × 10-3 S/cm. Scanning electron microscope images indicated that PEDOT-OH was deposited uniformly on the surface of the RSF film with SDS. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that interactions existed between the peptide linkages of silk fibroin (SF) macromolecules and PEDOT-OH. The RSF/PEDOT-OH film displayed favorable electrochemical stability, biocompatibility, and fastness. This study provides a feasible method to endow conductivity to RSF materials in various forms. In addition, the conductive layer and biocompatible silk substrate make the RSF/PEDOT-OH biomaterial highly suitable for potential applications in bioelectric devices, sensors, and tissue engineering.


Objective: This study sought to correlate the presence of pleural-based B-lines seen by emergency department ultrasound performed with the linear transducer with B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level in patients with suspected congestive heart failure. Methods: The study was a prospective convenience sample on adult patients in an academic, urban emergency department with over 100,000 annual patient visits. Adult patients with a BNP level ordered by the treating physician were prospectively enrolled by one of four physicians, blinded to the BNP level. The enrolling physicians included an emergency ultrasound director, two emergency ultrasound fellows, and a senior emergency medicine resident. Bedside ultrasound was performed using a 3–12 MHz linear broadband transducer in four lung fields. The serum BNP level was correlated with bilateral B-lines, defined as three or more comet-tail artifacts arising from the pleural line extending to the far field without a decrease in intensity on the right and left thorax. Results: Sixty three patients were consented and enrolled during a four-month period. Fifteen patients had the presence of bilateral B-lines. The median BNP in patients with bilateral B-lines was 1560 pg/mL (95% confidence interval (CI) 1141–3706 pg/mL), compared with 538 pg/mL (95% confidence interval 310–1917 pg/mL) in patients without B-lines. The distributions in the two groups differed significantly (p=0.0006). Based on the threshold level of BNP 500 pg/mL, the sensitivity of finding bilateral B-lines on ultrasound was 33.3% (95% CI: 0.19–0.50), and the specificity was 91.7% (95% CI: 0.73–0.99). In addition, bilateral B-lines were absent in all patients with a BNP<100 pg/mL. Conclusion: The presence of bilateral B-lines identified with the linear probe is associated with significantly higher BNP levels than patients without B-lines. In our patient population, the presence of B-lines was specific but not sensitive for BNP>500. Further research may show that it can be applied to quickly assess patients with undifferentiated dyspnea.


Alien substance mixture accident inside foods is serious problems for both consumer and company side. The systems that can measure the different kinds of alien substance have been required. The detecting systems using X-ray, SQUID sensor, and supersonic wave as well as metal detector have been developed and been in the market, however, they are, in many cases, appropriate for the detection of metal alien substance. We have been studying the system using millimeter-waves with frequency of 50-140 GHz to detect both metal and dielectric alien substance. The scattered and transmitted waves are detected using a heterodyne receiver. The angular distribution of the scattered wave is analyzed to obtain the dispersion, auto-correlation function, and the Fourier spectrum. The neural network analysis is utilized to judge the mixture and the size of alien substances. It is shown that the alien substance having 1-3 mm size can be detected in spite of the materials by the present system. By using short wavelength millimeter wave, it is expected to detect even less than 1 mm alien substance.


A substantial number of renal diseases progress to renal failure although the initaial injury is no more active. Enhanced understanding of the diverse pathogenic me-chanisms involved in progression of renal disease has pointed to the three main factors which initiate and/or sustain this progress. These factors are: altered activity of intrinsic glo-merular cells, enhanced activity of mononuclear cells infiltrating glomerulus, and tubulointerstitial injury. In addition several potentional risk factors, such as disturbed glomerular haemodinamics, proteinuria, systemic hypertension, intraglomerular coagulation, hyperlipidaemia, dietary protein and phosphate, may contribute to progression of renal disease and renal failure. These risk factors are disscused in detail in this review. There is now strong evidence that in clinical practice good control of risk factors slow the progression of renal failure.


On the Internet there are publishers (the supply side) who provide free contents (e.g., news) and services (e.g., email) to attract users. Publishers get paid by selling ad displaying opportunities (i.e., impressions) to advertisers. Advertisers then sell products to users who are converted by ads. Better supply side revenue allows more free content and services to be created, thus, benefiting the entire online advertising ecosystem. This thesis addresses several optimisation problems for the supply side. When a publisher creates an ad-supported website, he needs to decide the percentage of ads first. The thesis reports a large-scale empirical study of Internet ad density over past seven years, then presents a model that includes many factors, especially the competition among similar publishers, and gives an optimal dynamic ad density that generates the maximum revenue over time. This study also unveils the tragedy of the commons in online advertising where users' attention has been overgrazed which results in a global sub-optimum. After deciding the ad density, the publisher retrieves ads from various sources, including contracts, ad networks, and ad exchanges. This forms an exploration-exploitation problem when ad sources are typically unknown before trail. This problem is modelled using Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), and the exploration efficiency is increased by utilising the correlation of ads. The proposed method reports 23.4% better than the best performing baseline in the real-world data based experiments. Since some ad networks allow (or expect) an input of keywords, the thesis also presents an adaptive keyword extraction system using BM25F algorithm and the multi-armed bandits model. This system has been tested by a domain service provider in crowdsourcing based experiments. If the publisher selects a Real-Time Bidding (RTB) ad source, he can use reserve price to manipulate auctions for better payoff. This thesis proposes a simplified game model that considers the competition between seller and buyer to be one-shot instead of repeated and gives heuristics that can be easily implemented. The model has been evaluated in a production environment and reported 12.3% average increase of revenue. The documentation of a prototype system for reserve price optimisation is also presented in the appendix of the thesis.


Primary treatment of breast cancer succeeds when the primary tumor and its regional lymph node spread are completely extirpated or destroyed in the absence of established systemic metastases. The classical radical mastectomy has been extended to include en bloc in continuity excision of the internal mammary lymph node chain. This procedure removes the primary breast cancer in continuity with both of its primary lymph node deposits, axillary as well as internal mammary, and should result in better local control and an improved salvage rate. The patients most likely to benefit from this extended procedure are those with a high risk of internal mammary node metastases. Stage I carcinoma of the breast is defined as an early lesion confined to the breast, with no clinically suspicious axillary lymph nodes and no distant metastases suspected. Not infrequently, pathologic examination of the operative specimen will disclose metastatic axillary nodes in some clinical stage


Aiming at the problem that the anti-noise performance of the existing fast convergent and easily realized greedy iterative algorithms is deficient, a novel sparsity adaptive matching pursuit with Kalman filtering (KF-SAMP) algorithm is proposed for unknown sparsity noisy signal compressed sensing (CS) recovery. To start with, the concrete Kalman filtering (KF) equation set are come up with according to the CS signal model; secondly, KF is introduced into recovery iterations and the signal is optimal estimated by the mean-squared error minimization criterion at each time; the last but not least, sparsity adaptive matching pursuit is used to sift the effective support set and pick out the redundancy and then recover the original signal. The new algorithm is effective as other greedy ones and is able to avoid recovery failure due to noise interference or unknown sparsity as well. The theoretical analysis and experiment simulation prove that the performance of the new algorithm is better than that of the traditional greedy iterative reconstruction algorithms in the same condition.


Cellulosic fibers from the bast of Pueraria lobata (P. lobata) vine were separated using a "green" and efficient method that combined steam explosion (SE) and a laccase mediator system (LMS). The chemical components, structure, and thermal alterations in the fibers were evaluated. The SE performed at 180 °C for 10 min did not change the chemical composition of P. lobata; however, SE did alter the fiber structure and rendered its surface more accessible to the laccase enzyme. Treated and untreated samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and chemical methods. The cellulose content of the processed fibers was approximately 68.2%, and the lignin content was 11.8%, which was much lower than the 22.98% lignin content of the raw material. The cellulose fibers exhibited higher cellulose crystallinity and thermal stability compared with the untreated samples. This combined treatment approach may be useful for the isolation of cellulose fibers for composites, textiles, and other industrial applications.


Recent multi‐beam bridge designs have been developed around standard prestressed, precast double‐tee sections to combat the high cost of this particular type of bridge design. Although several methods of multi‐beam bridge analysis are available, none are applicable to discretely connected or skewed bridges. A procedure for the analysis of skewed, discretely connected multibeam bridges is presented. The method of analysis proceeds through three distinct phases: (1) Development of a single beam response model; (2) modeling of connection response; and (3) generation of a governing system of equations for the total structure. The first phase is accomplished through the use of statics, and connection response is modeled by linear and rotational springs resisting relative displacement between adjacent beams. The governing equations for the response of the assembled bridge take the form of a symmetric banded linear system in which the four forces at each connection in the bridge are the unknowns.


We study a family of directed random graphs whose arcs are sampled independently of each other, and are present in the graph with a probability that depends on the attributes of the vertices involved. In particular, this family of models includes as special cases the directed versions of the Erdős‐Rényi model, graphs with given expected degrees, the generalized random graph, and the Poissonian random graph. We establish a phase transition for the existence of a giant strongly connected component and provide some other basic properties, including the limiting joint distribution of the degrees and the mean number of arcs. In particular, we show that by choosing the joint distribution of the vertex attributes according to a multivariate regularly varying distribution, one can obtain scale‐free graphs with arbitrary in‐degree/out‐degree dependence.


The present invention provides a cathode active material, a method for manufacturing the same, and a lithium secondary battery comprising the same, the cathode active material being manufactured by a manufacturing method comprising a step of forming a coating layer including a ceramic ion conductor on lithium composite metal oxide particles by mixing the lithium composite metal oxide particles with nano-sol of the ceramic ion conductor and performing heat treatment, wherein the coating layer including the ceramic ion conductor is formed, with a uniform thickness, on the surface of the lithium composite metal oxide particles, so that the cathode active material can minimize capacity reduction and improve life time characteristics when being applied to a secondary battery.


Iodine is an antiseptic that often utilized in various antiseptic synthetic trademark types. Nature substance garlic that contains alicin and scordinin are degradation character of membrane cells bacteria. Both of this antiseptic's types done research to look at zero zone by Fledged Random Design with three treatment and six repetitions to get data analysis resistive extent each antiseptic into pure breeding Bacillus subtilis . Research method has done with observation, then using analysis ANOVA with analysis's result on checkmates significant 5% and keep on by advanced tests. Result advanced tests points out there is compare zoom that significant of nature and synthetic material, garlic has greater zero zone if compared to Iodine II. Clear zone average of garlic is 6.7 cm and Iodine as big as 3.0 cm. Of this research, result that garlic ( Allium sativum ) as nature antiseptic could utilize to prevent its happening infection effect of microbe. Keywords: antiseptic, Bacillus subtilis, garlic, Iodine


The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of propolis on the sex reversal of Guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata) with broodstock immersion method in a range of 24 hours and a different dose. This study was conducted over 80 days, performed at the Laboratory of Fish Hatchery and Breeding, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, University of Riau. The experimental design used was a completely randomized design (CRD) with 1 factor of 4 treatments and 3 replications the P0 treatment (control), treatment P1 (0.2 ml), treatment P2 (0.4 ml) and P3 treatment (0.6 ml). The variables measured were Survival (SR), Briefing Gender Male, Weight Absolute Growth, Growth Absolute length and Growth Daily. The results showed that the direction of the male gender is the highest in the P2 treatment (0.4 ml) with the percentage of males was 72%, survival rate (SR) were highest in treatment P3 (85%) at a dose of 0.6 ml, where as growth absolute weight of 0.27 grams (P0), the absolute growth in length by 2.87 cm (P0 and P1) and daily weight growth rate of 2.84% (P0).Key word: Guppy, Propolis, Sex Reversal, Male


Computing has become ubiquitous and organic. The "new" human ecosystem is increasingly composed of "intelligent" objects. Since the Nineties there has been a constant application of the practice of disappearance of everyday objects. The daily experience changes, since the objects we use, in their disappearance and imperceptibility, do not divide us from the Life-World. At the same time, the designer is called to rewrite and amplify human experience, and design reflects a different conception of the aesthetic, which must be intended not only as a theory of the artistic and/or cosmetic beauty, but mainly as a science of the experience as such. The designer is no longer limited to designing objects, but he can also design human beings.


A multiple schedule is a compound schedule in which two or more component schedules of reinforcement, extinction (EXT), or punishment are alternated based on the passage of time; each component is correlated with a unique stimulus. This review summarizes the stimuli used within a multiple schedule. Thirteen studies were identified through a systematic search process and several different characteristics were evaluated. The variables evaluated were the types of stimuli used, the extension of findings to other settings or people, and if the stimuli were faded. The discussion consists of the findings, implications, and recommendations for future researcher


Middle managers play a crucial role in contributing to strategy. Much existing research focuses on trying to understand the desired characteristics and competencies of these managers, in order to explain their ability to sell issues to top executives (upwards) and external stakeholders (outwards). Though this yields valuable insights, it does not account for the role of an institution as: 'more or less taken for granted behaviour that is underpinned by normative systems and cognitive understanding that give meaning to social exchange and thus enable self-reproducing social order' (Greenwood, Oliver, Sahlin and Suddaby; 2008:4). This thesis examines how middle managers sell issues upwards and outwards, in a setting where attending to institutions is central: public service reform, concerning home improvement. It does so by looking through the lens of institutional work. This allows insight into how different jurisdictions and organizational and professional boundaries overlap and at times conflict. In analysing interviews and observations, the thesis mobilizes a central concept in institutional work: the concept of institutional pillars, to explain differential levels of success in implementing reform. These pillars can be regulatory (to do with policies and conventions), cultural ('the way we do things around here'), or normative (concerning basic values). In broad terms the thesis demonstrates that reform in this setting is progressively less likely to be implemented as one moves from the regulatory domain, to the cultural and normative domains. This complements accounts of middle manager competence, with a more fine-grained insight into how contextual complexities can prefigure the likelihood of successful strategy implementation.


Rabex-5 is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Rab5. Here, we report the identification of a novel functional domain of Rabex-5 that is essential for its membrane targeting and Rab5 GEF activity in vivo. The data show that full-length Rabex-5 efficiently activates Rab5 in the cell. However, the GEF domain itself (residues 135-399) is inactive in this respect, despite its activity in vitro. Generation and characterization of a series of Rabex-5 constructs reveal that the GEF domain is unable to target to early endosomes and that a sequence N-terminal to the GEF domain can restore its early endosomal targeting and its ability to activate Rab5 in the cell. This region (residues 81-135) is termed membrane-binding motif, which together with the downstream helical bundle domain (residues 135-230) forms an early endosomal targeting (EET) domain necessary and sufficient for association with early endosomes. Furthermore, several active Rabex-5 constructs do not contain the Rabaptin-5-binding domain in the C-terminal region. Thus, Rabex-5 can target to early endosomes via the EET domain and activate Rab5 in a Rabaptin-5-independent manner in vivo. We discuss a model to reconcile these in vivo data with previous in vitro results on Rabex-5 function and its interaction with Rabaptin-5.


Condensation and subsequent reduction of 2,2′-diaminobiphenyls 5 with 6′- and 5′-substituted 6-carbaldehyde-2,2′-bipyridines 4 yielded N,N′-bis(2,2′-bipyridine-6-ylmethyl)-2,2′-biphenyl-enediamines 7, which were employed as hexadendate ligands with N6 donor sets in the synthesis of dicationic [Fe2+(7-κ6N)] complexes 8. Dependent on the substitution pattern the respective complexes are found in the HS state (8b and 8c) or show SCO behaviour. By means of temperature-dependent susceptibility measurements, usingEvans' method, the thermodynamic parameters ΔH, ΔS and T1/2 for the SCO have been determined. T1/2 as well as ΔH are remarkably susceptible to substitution next to the central C–C bond of the biphenyl bridge.


We propose an original method for the characterization of superconducting tapes and wires from electrical measurements on a test coil. The principle is to measure the voltage-current characteristic of a coil for several values of the external applied flux density. A computer program then allows finding parameters of a model of the E(J, B) law that best fit the experimental curves. A numerical study on the algorithm convergence and on the accuracy of results was performed. This method has been employed experimentally to characterize a BiSCCO tape. Parameters of three different models have been obtained and compared. This process has several advantages compared to the conventional measurements on short samples: the voltage to noise ratio is higher and the self flux density of the coil is taken into account. Two models that fits well experimental curves were found.


Continuous launching of new satellites and increasing numbers of space missions is making space a congested environment. Collision with space debris or other satellites is now a real problem for satellites with the problem more acute in highly trafficked orbits. Thus, mission operators and space agencies are in need of high accuracy collision avoidance systems for spacecrafts and satellites. This paper focuses on tackling the satellite collision problem by implementing a collision avoidance system using neural networks and relevant machine learning techniques. The primary model is based on General Regression Neural Network (GRNN) and the secondary models are based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Random Forest Regression & Support Vector Regression techniques. The dataset used in this paper is collected from the ESA (European Space Agency) which contains the events of risk assessment or in other words, Conjunction Data Messages (CDM). The proposed collision avoidance system predicts the collision risk percentage between target (a satellite of interest) and chaser (space debris or another satellite) objects. The predicted risk enables the target to maneuver accordingly and ultimately avoid collision with the chaser object. The GRNN algorithm uses lazy learning which does not require iterative training and makes predictions based on stored parameters. The training data has been normalized before applying the algorithm as GRNN network is sensitive to high deviation among input features. However, the GRNN model predicts the risk of collision between the target & the chaser object with an MSE (Mean Squared Error) of 11% which means the model predicts the risk of collision with 89% accuracy and this 89% risk can give enough confidence factor to the concerned authority to take necessary evasive maneuvers. This is reliable enough and lower than other models' MSE to consolidate the fact that the GRNN model is best fit for our dataset.


The purpose of this study was to investigate on what kinds of consumer confusion exist and how much confusion consumers experience during their information search process. In-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey with college students were conducted to figure out the type and the level of consumer confusion. Results showed that college students were somewhat confused when they chose information channel and when they understood and used the chosen information. It was found that confusion was due to partly because of too many information and partly because of the lack of consumer searching skill.


A ternary gauge field theory is explicitly constructed based on a totally antisymmetric ternary-bracket structure associated with a 3-Lie algebra. It is shown that the ternary infinitesimal gauge transformations do obey the key closure relations [δ1, δ2] = δ3. Invariant actions for the 3-Lie algebra-valued gauge fields and scalar fields are displayed. We analyze and point out the difficulties in formulating a nonassociative octonionic ternary gauge field theory based on a ternary-bracket associated with the octonion algebra and defined earlier by Yamazaki. It is shown that a Yang–Mills-like quadratic action is invariant under global (rigid) transformations involving the Yamazaki ternary octonionic bracket, and that there is closure of these global (rigid) transformations based on constant antisymmetric parameters Λab = - Λba. Promoting the latter parameters to space–time dependent ones Λab(xμ) allows one to build an octonionic ternary gauge field theory when one imposes gauge covariant constraints on the latter gauge parameters leading to field-dependent gauge parameters and nonlinear gauge transformations. In this fashion one does not spoil the gauge invariance of the quadratic action under this restricted set of gauge transformations and which are tantamount to space–time dependent scalings (homothecy) of the gauge fields.


Background: Intellectual disability (ID) is a state of developmental deficit, beginning in childhood which results in significant limitation of intellect or cognition and poor adaption to the demands of everyday life. The relationship between seizure disorders and ID, and their socio-demographic correlations is a current topic of research to implement proper psychosocial interventions and to eliminate the preventable causes of ID as well as seizure disorder. Aims: To find out the prevalence of seizure disorders and their types in the intellectually disabled patients, and find out their socio-demographic correlations. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study sample comprising of 100 intellectually disabled patients of Silchar Medical College and Hospital was taken, and the study was conducted after obtaining institutional ethical committee approval and permission from the college. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5) criteria were used for diagnosing ID. A standardised proforma describing socio-demographic variables, Malin's Intelligence Scale for Indian Children (MISIC) for children in age group six to 17 years, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, third edition for subjects above 18 years, and the Vineland Social Maturity Scale were applied to diagnose and classify ID. International League Against Epilepsy guidelines were used to classify seizure disorder. Results: Prevalence of seizure disorder was found to be 22% among the intellectually disabled population in our sample. A significant association was found between the severity of ID and increased incidence of seizure disorder (p=0.0045). Seizure disorder was more prevalent in the low intelligence quotient (IQ) group (p=0.0067). Generalised tonic clonic seizure (GTCS) was the commonest among the types of seizure disorder (n=11, 50%). Among the GTCS cases, eight out of 11 (72.7%) were from severe/profound ID group and from an IQ range of one to 35. Conclusion: A strong association was observed in our study between seizure disorder and poor IQ group, and with increasing severity of ID (severe and profound ID). As expected, GTCS variety was found to be more strongly associated out of all types of seizures with the groups of poor IQ and severe forms of ID. In addition, we have also observed a significant association between seizure disorder, ID, and few important socio-demographic variables.


To study the cortical reorganization after long time exposure to hand-held vibrating tools, we investigated 10 dental technicians with sensory neuropathy after long time exposure to vibrating tools and 10 controls for cortical changes using functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T. The activated volumes corresponding to individual fingers in the hand area of S1 were significantly larger in the neuropathy group than in controls. Activation in the primary motor cortex did not differ significantly from controls. These changes are likely the result of cortical reorganization following long-term non-physiological sensory input and they can partly explain the symptoms seen in vibration-induced neuropathy.


The gene-sized macronuclear DNA molecules of hypotrichous ciliates carry telomeric sequences of homogenous length. Incubation of these molecules at low concentrations in the presence of monovalent cations (K+, Na+, Cs+) leads to the formation of intramolecular circles. They can be visualized on one or two-dimensional agarose gels only when KCl is present in the gel. From their electrophoretic behavior on agarose gels as well as on density gradients it can be concluded that they are topologically constrained. Digestion of macronuclear DNA with S1 as well as various exonucleases indicate that both the 3' overhang and the 5' C-rich strand of the telomeric repeat is involved in these interactions. Several models of these interactions are discussed.


The purpose of the study was to evaluate the predictive capacity of the Mini Nutritional Assessment method (MNA), by means of data from the Danish part of the SENECA survey (1988), and the follow-up study from 1993. Using the MNA, 171 persons between 70-75 years of age were classified according to their nutritional risk as either being "well-nourished", comprising 78.4% or "at risk of malnutrition" comprising 21.6%. A total of 115 persons participated in the follow-up study. The participation rate in the follow-up study was significantly lower in the risk group (p < 0.01). The 13 Danes judged "at risk of malnutrition" had had a significantly higher occurrence of acute diseases (p < 0.05), need of help (p < 0.05) and weight loss (p < 0.001) in the preceding years. However, no significant differences were found in hospitalization rates and physician visits between the two groups. In conclusion, the results indicate that the MNA is capable of identifying a group of 70-75 year-old Danes who are at risk of certain nutrition-related health problems.


In this work, an ultrasensitive and turn-on sensor for homogeneous Hg2+ detection has been constructed based on a target-triggered isothermal cycling reaction and rapid label-free signal output with dsDNA-templated copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). As the key component of the sensor, a hairpin DNA without any labels was designed to contain different functional sequence segments and to resist digestion by exonuclease due to the protruding 3'-terminus. In the presence of Hg2+, the formation of a T-Hg2+-T structure turned the protruding 3'-terminus of the hairpin DNA to a blunt end that could be efficiently digested by Exo III, accompanied by Hg2+ release, followed by another digestion cycle. Hence, the Hg2+-triggered isothermal cycling reaction accumulated numerous dsDNA templates that facilitated fluorescent CuNP generation and finally output an amplified signal used to identify the target. This protocol is capable of Hg2+ sensing in a concentration range of 5 orders of magnitude with a detection limit down to 3.9 pM. The as-constructed sensor also revealed high selectivity, as well as satisfactory results in recovery experiments of Hg2+ detection in real water samples.


The similar molecular structure but different geometries of the carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene nanoribbon (GNR) create a genuine opportunity to assess the impact of nanofiller geometry (tube vs. ribbon) on the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding of polymer nanocomposites. In this regard, GNR and its parent CNT were melt mixed with a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix using a miniature melt mixer at various nanofiller loadings, i.e., 0.3, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 wt%, and then compression molded. Molecular simulations showed that CNT would have a better interaction with the PVDF matrix in any configuration. Rheological results validated that CNTs feature a far stronger network (mechanical interlocking) than GNRs. Despite lower powder conductivity and a comparable dispersion state, it was interestingly observed that CNT nanocomposites indicated a highly superior electrical conductivity and EMI shielding at higher nanofiller loadings. For instance, at 2.0 wt%, CNT/PVDF nanocomposites showed an electrical conductivity of 0.77 S·m−1 and an EMI shielding effectiveness of 11.60 dB, which are eight orders of magnitude and twofold higher than their GNR counterparts, respectively. This observation was attributed to their superior conductive network formation and the interlocking ability of the tubular nanostructure to the ribbon-like nanostructure, verified by molecular simulations and rheological assays.