The paper presents research on gender aspects in construction, related to the wide area of diversity management. The predominant image of construction is that of a male-dominated industry requiring brute strength and a good tolerance for outdoor conditions, inclement weather and bad language and it has been acknowledged worldwide that women in the construction industry are underrepresented. Women represent low percentage (usually no more than 20%) of the workforce in the construction and numbers of women who represent manual trades i.e. roofers, bricklayers and glaziers were as low as to be immeasurable in national surveys. It is very important to attract more women to construction industry in order to fill the skills gaps and to make changes within the industry in terms of gender segregation and enhanced productivity. The poor image of construction, a lack of role models and knowledge, poor careers advice, gender-biased recruitment literature, practices, peer pressure, and poor educational experiences are cited as having a negative impact to women entering the industry. Paper shows structural and image related barriers militating against the entrance of women into this industry include, i.e.: the dominant male workforce, exclusive networks, informal recruitment, discriminatory sexist behavior, long hours culture, conflict and crisis – reasons why women tend to choose not to enter this industry.


Investigates the comparative performance of output buffer management schemes for a fast packet switch in an ATM/B-ISDN environment. Specifically, the authors compare the performance of the complete sharing, complete partitioning, sharing with minimum allocation and sharing with maximum puzzle length strategies for a network node with several outgoing links. The performance with respect to throughput and power is quantified for a number of different traffic source models and loading patterns.<<ETX>>


Two studies, a 13-month prospective survey and a clinical trial, were conducted to evaluate how children less than 5 years of age opened children's aspirin (small container) and chewable multi-vitamin (large container) bottles. In study one, teeth were used to open a closed children's aspirin container in greater than 50% of reported exposures compared to 5% for reported multivitamin exposures. A clinical trial (study two) revealed an interaction between the child's age and the characteristics of the container (F = 2.83, df = 6,28; P less than 0.05). Larger containers were harder to open in the hands of a 23-28 month old child while smaller containers were harder to open in the 32-38 month age group. Neither container were more easily opened by children between 29 and 31 months of age. These results suggest that container characteristics and a child's age are both variables which may influence future poison prevention activities.


BACKGROUND
It is said that catecholamines increase hepatic blood flow in patients without liver diseases, although several reports have suggested a blunted response to catecholamines in patients with liver cirrhosis.

METHODS
We investigated changes in splanchnic blood flow distribution induced by the infusion of dobutamine into peripheral veins of healthy adults (NC group), patients with chronic hepatitis (CH group), and patients with liver cirrhosis (LC group), using a Doppler duplex system (protocol 1). We also investigated changes in hepatic hemodynamics induced by dobutamine infusion in patients with liver cirrhosis (cirrhosis group) and patients without liver diseases (control group), using hepatic catheterization (protocol 2).

RESULTS
In protocol 1 the average increase in portal venous blood flow during dobutamine infusion was significant in the NC and CH groups but was not significant in the LC group. Changes in the blood flow in the splenic artery and vein, superior mesenteric artery and vein, and femoral artery were similar to those in the portal vein in each of the three groups. Infusion did not cause a change in the common hepatic arterial flow in any of the three groups. In protocol 2 the portal venous flow, cardiac index, and hepatic venous pressure gradient increased significantly during dobutamine infusion in both the cirrhosis and the control groups. Hepatic vascular resistance in the cirrhosis group increased slightly, whereas, in contrast, that in the control group increased significantly. The rate of change in almost all variables was lower in the cirrhosis group than in the control group.

CONCLUSION
These results indicate that dobutamine has less effect on hepatic circulation in patients with liver cirrhosis than in those without liver diseases, indicating that the value of dobutamine in increasing hepatic blood flow in cirrhotic patients is very limited.


BACKGROUND
Nursing organizations play an important role in fulfilling the professional demands of nurses. The Iranian Nursing Organization (INO) is also using diplomatic activities in this direction.

AIM
This study was conducted to explain the diplomatic activities of INO.

METHODS
A descriptive qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. A purposive sampling approach was used. Data were collected via in-depth, unstructured, face-to-face interviews with 21 nurses at various INOs in different cities from March to July 2020. The data collection process continued until data saturation. Interviews were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman's (2004) guidelines. The MAXQDA software (v. 10) was used.

FINDING
The results showed that the diplomatic activities of INO comprise professional (three categories), social (two categories), and diplomacy in power network (two categories).

CONCLUSION
INO carries out diplomatic activities at organizational, national and international levels and pursues its professional nursing goals through diplomacy. INO also uses social diplomacy and political diplomacy to influence decision-makers in the community and network of power.


In this paper we propose an end-to-end, automatic, online camera-LIDAR calibration approach, for application in self driving vehicle navigation. The main idea is to connect the image domain and the 3D space by generating point clouds from camera data while driving, using a structure from motion (SfM) pipeline, and use it as the basis for registration. As a core step of the algorithm we introduce an object level alignment to transform the generated and captured point clouds into a common coordinate system. Finally, we calculate the correspondences between the 2D image domain and the 3D LIDAR point clouds, to produce the registration. We evaluated the method in various different real life traffic scenarios.


The field of therapeutic ultrasound is emerging with strong potential and broad medical applications, Characterized by its ability te penetrate at depth inside the body without harming intervening tissue, ultrasound has posed the basis for a new array of noninvasive therapies. Al low intensities, important interactions occur in the tissue; wound healing is accelerated, functienal recovery is enhanced, and bone growth is more rapid. At moderate intensities, cellular membranes show transient permeability, blood clots dissolution is increased, and gene-transfection is accomplished. At higher intensities, ultrasound produces lesions and stops bleeding by heating the tissue beyond its protein denaturalization threshold and thus provides a noninvasive, bloodless altemative to conventional surgery. This article presents a review of moderate and high intensity appllcatlons, including their mechanisms of action and the imaging used for guidance and monltonng,


Objectives: Elderly lung cancer patients often have chronic diseases other than lung cancer. Therefore, this kind of population is often accompanied by polypharmacy. This situation and the resulting potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use are an increasing global concern. In this context, the Chinese Association of Geriatric Research issued an expert consensus on the safety management of polypharmacy. However, the long- and short-term effects of the expert consensus on polypharmacy and PIM use are not clear. Methods: The study was conducted in Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, consisting of prescriptions for elderly lung cancer outpatients with multimorbidity (cancer with other diseases) from January 2016 to December 2021. The 2019 Beers criteria were used to evaluate PIM use, and interrupted time series analysis was used to evaluate the longitudinal effectiveness of expert consensus by measuring the prevalence of polypharmacy and PIM use. We used R software version 4.2.0 for data analysis. Results: A total of 7,238 elderly lung cancer outpatient prescriptions were included in the study. After the publication of the expert consensus, the level (β = -10.273, P < 0.001) of the prevalence of polypharmacy decreased, but the trend (β = 0.158, p = 0.855) of polypharmacy increased. The prevalence of PIM use decreased abruptly (β = -22.828, p < 0.001) after the intervention, but the long-term trend was still upward (β = 0.907, p = 0.916). Conclusion: The long-term effects of the publication of the expert consensus on the prevalence of polypharmacy and PIM use in hospitals in Chengdu were not optimal. Future research on interventions rationing polypharmacy and PIM use is needed.


Answer: Streptococcus pyogenes. Figure 1 in the photo quiz demonstrates hypergranular, vacuolated neutrophils with intracellular cocci forming chains, resembling the genus Streptococcus. In light of the clinical features and blood film, a presumptive diagnosis of Streptococcus pyogenes toxic shock syndrome was made. Six hours following the blood film observation, growth of Gram-positive cocci in chains was detected in blood culture, which was subsequently confirmed to be S. pyogenes. As a result of the blood film findings, intravenous clindamycin was added; however, 19 h after presentation, the patient died of multiorgan failure.

The published literature suggests that observation of bacteria on routine blood film is rare; case reports involving Capnocytophaga canimorsus (1), Citrobacter koseri (2), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (3) have been described, plus a case series of four neonates involving Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (4). A larger case series, published in 1966, reported 26 bacteremic patients with bacteria observed within leukocytes on routine blood films (S. aureus, S. pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, Proteus species, viridans group Streptococcus, beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, and "paracolon bacillus") (5). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of S. pyogenes observed in a routine blood film. The high fatality rate among these published cases (24 of 33 patients died) (1,–5) likely reflects the poor diagnostic sensitivity of blood films except in patients with very high bacterial loads observed during overwhelming septicemia, such as in our case. The use of buffy-coat smears may improve sensitivity (to a limit of detection of 104 CFU/ml) but is labor- and time-consuming, prohibiting its routine use (6). Bacteria observed during routine blood film examination should be discussed immediately with the treating physician, as the result may be used to predict a microbiological diagnosis and assist with choice of empirical antimicrobial and adjunctive therapy and portends a poor patient outcome.

(See page 3109 in this issue [doi:10.1128/JCM.02824-13] for photo quiz case presentation.)


The present study tested a theoretical model of emotion regulation (Yap, Sheeber, & Allen, 2007) in a sample of Asian American and European American college students (N = 365). Specifically, the mediating role of anger suppression in the effect of temperament and family processes on depressive symptoms was tested across race and levels of interdependent self-construal (a culturally based self orientation emphasizing connectedness with others). Next, the moderation of the suppression-depression relation was tested by race and interdependent self-construal. Results indicated that the hypothesized model fit well across Asian American and European American students, as well as those with high versus low levels of interdependent self-construal. Anger suppression was a significant mediator of the hypothesized indirect effects on depressive symptoms. Moreover, race and interdependent self-construal moderated the suppression-depression link, such that Asian American status and a stronger interdependent self-construal attenuated the relation between anger suppression and depressive symptoms. Understanding both universal and culture-specific aspects of emotion regulation in the development of depressive symptoms will be essential for sound theory, future research, and effective prevention and intervention efforts across diverse populations.


Biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play crucial roles in ecosystems at multiple scales, ranging from mediating soil microbial interactions to contributing to atmospheric chemistry. However, soil VOCs and how they respond to environmental change remains understudied. We aimed to assess how 2 abiotic global change drivers, soil warming and simulated nitrogen (N) deposition, impact soil VOC emissions over time in a temperate forest. We characterized the effect of warming, N deposition, and their interaction on the composition and emissions of soil VOCs during the growing season of 2 consecutive years. We found that chronic warming and N deposition enhanced total VOC emissions at certain times of the year (as high as 332.78 µg m–2 h–1), but that overall VOC composition was not strongly affected by these global change treatments. However, certain compounds, particularly sesquiterpenoids and alkanes, were sensitive to these treatments, with their emissions increasing under both chronic warming and N deposition. Moreover, specific signature VOCs—α-pinene, β-thujone, β-caryophyllene, and 2,4-dimethylheptane—were consistently found under chronic warming and N deposition. This suggests that emissions of specific VOC classes/compounds may increase under global change.


Abstract Two series of Vickrey auctions have been performed to assess the effect of packaging information (bottle and label) on the reservation prices of ordinary consumers for five brut non-vintage Champagnes. As in other studies on wine tasting, packaging information is found to explain much more of the variation in willingness to pay than sensory information. Participants are unable, or unwilling, to put different values on the Champagnes after blind tasting, but significant differences in reservation prices appear when labels are disclosed. Detailed analysis of choices reveals a large heterogeneity in individual behaviors and valuations of the Champagnes included in this study. (JEL Classification: C91, D12)


PROBLEM
Over the last three decades, litigation resulting from gynecological operations has risen considerably. This is attributed to no small extent to inadequate preoperative information of the patient by the physician.

METHODS
The medical histories of 5,676 patients submitted to hysterectomy were evaluated retrospectively and all intraoperative and postoperative complications analyzed.

RESULTS
In order to be able to give the patient comprehensive information, the physician must be familiar with the nature and incidence of possible complications, on the basis not only of his own personal experience, but also of the data provided by extensive case material. Forensic disputes can be reduced only by ensuring that the patient is fully informed and thus that her agreement to the operation is legally binding.


We report on high-repetition-rate frequency-modulation mode locking of all-solid-state neodymium lasers operating at a 1.3-microm wavelength. At a repetition rate of 1 GHz, pulses of 12- and 8-ps durations with average powers of 162 and 240 mW have been obtained for 3-W diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF lasers, respectively. Driven relaxation oscillations of a frequency-modulation mode-locked cw laser are also described.


In this paper, we present an application level aggressive I/O caching and prefetching system to hide I/O access latency experienced by out-of-core applications. Without the application level prefetching and caching capability, users of I/O intensive applications need to rewrite them with asynchronous I/O calls or restructure their code with MPI-IO calls to efficiently use the large scale system resources. Our proposed solution of user controllable aggressive caching and prefetching system maintains a file-IO cache in the user space of the application, analyzes the I/O access patterns, prefetches requests, and performs write-back of dirty data to storage asynchronously. So each time the application needs the data it does not have to pay the full I/O latency penalty in going to the storage and getting the required data. We have implemented this aggressive caching and asynchronous prefetching on the Blue Gene/P (BGP) system. The preliminary experiment evaluates the caching performance using the WRF benchmark. The results on BGP system demonstrate that our method improves application I/O throughput.


This study investigated the effect of chronomodulated nifedipine on glycaemic control and nephropathy in glimepiride treated diabetic rats. Groups 1 and 2 were non-diabetic and diabetic controls respectively, receiving PEG+H2O 1 ml/kg. Groups 3-5, all diabetic, received glimepiride 10 mg/kg at 2000 hrs. Groups 4 and 5 received nifedipine 20 mg/kg at 2000 hrs and 0800 hrs respectively in addition. Treatments were oral for 21 days with fasting and random blood glucose determined intermittently. Nephropathy was evaluated by determining renal serum biomarkers, kidney weights and renal histological assessment. Glimepiride alone at 2000 hrs significantly (P<0.01) reduced blood glucose in successive weeks compared to initial values, without alleviation of microvascular complications. Concurrent administration of glimepiride-nifedipine treatment at 2000 hrs impaired glycaemic control and exacerbated microvascular complications. However, treatment with glimepiride at 2000 hrs and nifedipine at 0800 hrs significantly (P<0.01) improved glycaemic control. Treatment with glimepiride alone at 2000 hrs, and concurrent administration of glimepiride and nifedipine at 2000 hrs exhibited renal data similar to diabetic control. However, treatment with glimepiride at 2000 hrs and nifedipine at 0800 hrs revealed significantly (P<0.05) higher serum protein and albumin and significantly (P<0.05) lower serum urea with non-significantly lower serum creatinine and uric acid levels when compared to the diabetic control group. The relative kidney weight was also significantly (P<0.05) lower in this group than the diabetic controls while histological features were similar to the non-diabetic controls. This study suggest that nifedipine and glimepiride may be successfully used with full therapeutic benefit of both.


This study assessed whether college students in various stages of change relative to exercise adherence would rate self-efficacy and barriers to exercise differently. A total of 198 participants (49 men, 149 women) ranging in age from 17 to 38 years (M = 20.4, SD = 2.3) completed surveys measuring exercise behavior, barriers to exercise, and both task and coping self-efficacy. Multivariate tests yielded significant differences in means on task self-efficacy, coping self-efficacy, and perceived barriers to exercise. Implications are that people who do not exercise or exercise sporadically perceive more barriers to exercise than those who exercise regularly. Also, people who exercise regularly rate their confidence higher (i.e., self-efficacy) to overcome obstacles to exercise. Health practitioners may find useful assessments of baseline self-efficacy and perceived barriers before implementing exercise programs.


Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disease characterized by thrombocytopenia due to platelet autoantibodies, causing an accelerated clearance of opsonized platelets by phagocytes. The etiology of ITP remains unclear, both genetic and environmental factors may have a role in the disease development. The aim of our study was to investigate a possible association of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the genes for interleukin beta (IL1B-511C/T), tumor necrosis factor beta (TNF+252G/A) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFA-308G/A) with ITP. We have analyzed 125 adult patients with ITP and 120 healthy matched controls. Genotyping was performed by using PCRRFLP methods. Our results demonstrated significantly different genotype distributions and allele frequencies for TNFB+252G/A in patients with ITP, p = 0.005 and p = 0.009 with Yates correction. We did not find any significant differences in the genotype distribution or allele frequencies for the other two genes. We have found significantly different genotype distribution and allele frequencies for TNFA308G/A between patients with unresponsive and responsive ITP patients, p = 0.016 and p = 0.009. There were no significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequencies for ILB-511C/T and TNFB+252G/A polymorphisms between those two groups of patients. We did not find any significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequencies for all three polymorphisms between splenectomized and unsplenectomized ITP patients. The obtained data indicate that the A allele of TNFB+252G/A is more frequent in these patients than in the controls and that this polymorphism may play a significant role in disease susceptibility. The A allele of TNFA-308G/A was more frequent in patients with unresponsive ITP, indicating that this gene polymorphisms may contribute to therapy resistance.


A series of BODIPY derivatives with tetraphenylethene (TPE) moieties were designed and synthesized. The effect of positions and numbers of substitution groups on the fluorescence of the BODIPYs was investigated. Theoretical calculation and single crystal structures proved that the TPE substitution groups on the 8-position of BODIPY contributed little to the conjugation, but benefited the aggregated state emission. On the other hand, the substitutions on the 3- or 5-position of BODIPY through vinyl bridges increased the conjugation length, and generated big coplanar π-conjugated structures with poor aggregated state emission. The compound with bright aggregated state emission has been further fabricated into biocompatible fluorescent nanoparticles and used as effective fluorescent contrast agents for intracellular imaging.


This study examined the association between type A behavior, emotional intelligence, social self-efficacy, and work motivation among faculty members at the Hashemite University in Jordan. Seventy seven faculty members responded to four measures: Type A behavior scale, emotional intelligence scale, perceived social self-efficacy scale, and work motivation scale. The results of this study revealed that emotional intelligence was positively and significantly related to work motivation. Moreover, this study confirmed the value of emotional intelligence as a significant predictor of work motivation. However, social-self-efficacy and Type A behavior proved to be non significant predictors of work motivation


Lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-Portland cement (PC) composites were produced and successfully poled at different poling field and time. The effect of polarization on the microstructure and piezoelectric properties were then investigated. It was found that, at a fixed poling field up to 2 kV/mm, the piezoelectric coefficient (d33) was found to increase with poling time. The optimum poling time was found at 45 minutes where d33 value is 42 pC/N. The optimum and most practical poling field found for the composite was at 2 kV/mm. Lower poling field would give the composite lower piezoelectricity and poling field that is too high would result to breakdown of samples. Therefore, from these results, a poling field of 2 kV/mm at 45 minutes would be the ideal polarization condition used in poling PZT-PC composites.


A new operator is presented which adopts a fuzzy logic approach for the enhancement of images corrupted by impulse noise. The proposed operator is based on two-step fuzzy reasoning, and it is able to perform a very strong noise cancellation while preserving image details very well. The new fuzzy filter is favorably compared with other nonlinear operators in the literature.


Vitamin D prevents proliferation, promotes differentiation, and induces apoptosis of colon cells, and reduced intake or insufficiency of the vitamin in the body are associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer. Results of previous studies have suggested that mRNA that codes for 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1-alpha-hydroxylase (1 alpha OHase), which converts 25-hydroxyvitamin D to its active metabolite, might be up regulated in human colon carcinomas. We used real-time reverse transcription PCR assays to measure absolute 1 alpha OHase mRNA concentrations in the colonic mucosa of 44 individuals without cancer, and in paired healthy colon and cancerous colon samples taken from 27 individuals with the disease, to ascertain whether or not such up regulation takes place. Our results suggest that concentrations of 1 alpha OHase mRNA in tumour samples and in healthy colon samples from individuals without cancer are similar, but that concentrations are significantly lower in the paired, phenotypically healthy mucosa of individuals with cancer.


To examine whether parental alleles were randomly transmitted from heterozygous donor plants to anther culture (AC)-derived plants, two AC-derived populations and one F2 population in rice were compared for 50 RFLP markers distributed on the rice chromosomes. Two populations which were developed through different anther culture methods (the ordinary method and the direct regeneration method) and the F2 population were produced from an F1 hybrid between distantly related cultivars of Nipponbare (japonica type) and Milyang 23 (indica type). RFLP analysis revealed that ten and eleven of the 50 markers in the two AC-derived populations showed distorted segregation ratios from the theoretical ratio of 1:1. Parental alleles were not randomly transmitted from the F1 plant to the AC-derived plants. Additionally, the segregation ratios of seven and six RFLP markers, respectively, were distorted both from the 1:1 ratios and from the observed ratios in the F2 population. The chromosomal regions involving these markers were on chromosomes 1, 3, 7, 10, 11 and 12. Some of the regions were different in the two AC-derived populations. Non-random assortment of parental alleles might be influenced by anther culture methods.


Immunohistochemistry was applied to determine the distribution patterns of nerve fibres containing tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DbetaH), neuropeptide Y (NPY), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) in the prostate, seminal vesicle (SV) and bulbourethral glands (BU) of male sheep. In all organs studied, cholinergic innervation was more developed than noradrenergic innervation. Numerous VAChT-immunoreactive (IR) nerve fibres were found in the muscular layer and mucosa of the SV and BU as well as in the prostate. A similar abundance of noradrenergic nerve fibres (showing immunoreactivity both to TH and DbetaH) was also found in both layers of the SV and BU (but not in the prostate). In the prostate a moderate density of VIP-IR nerve fibres was present but only very scarce NPY-IR nerve fibres were shown. All the studied accessory sexual glands (ASG) of male sheep contained VIP-IR nerve fibres in a similar frequency. Double immunohistochemistry revealed that the vast majority of noradrenergic nerve fibres also contained NPY. None of the noradrenergic nerve fibres showed the presence of VAChT or VIP. The possible functional significance of these findings is discussed.


Introduction Many children with Crohn's disease have poor nutritional status. Inflammation is thought to place a metabolic burden on the body which can be detected by raised resting energy expenditure (REE). As a result, increased REE unmatched by dietary intake is frequently implicated as a cause of weight loss, poor nutritional status and growth failure. In two separate cross-sectional studies we failed to demonstrate a relationship between REE and disease activity in children with Crohn's disease. We have performed an initial analysis of longitudinal data to assess changes in REE with disease activity in children with Crohn's disease. Methods Children with Crohn's disease recruited from the regional paediatric gastroenterology unit were studied on two occasions at least 6 months apart. REE was measured by indirect calorimetry, fat free mass (FFM) was derived from weight measurement and estimates of fat mass from skinfold thicknesses. Disease activity was measured using the Paediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) and serum CRP. Results 18 children were studied with a mean of 1.6 ± 0.6 years between measurements. Children showed mean increases in height, weight and BMI standard deviation scores of 0.1, 0.5 and 0.7. PCDAI decreased by a mean of 6.5 ±16 points. CRP decreased by a mean of 7±30 mg/L. Mean fat free mass increased from 32.6kg ± 9.8 to 39.7kg ± 11.4 (p=0.048). REE increased from 1379 kcal ± 293 to 1522 kcal ± 297 (p=0.14). REE/kg FFM0.5 was unchanged, 243 ± 21 and 244 ± 28.5. There was no obvious relationship between change in REE/kg FFM0.5 and change in PCDAI r= −0.37; p 0.12 between the two time points. Conclusion Cross-sectional studies of REE and disease activity in children with Crohn's fail to demonstrate a relationship between energy expenditure and disease activity when body size is accounted for. Using children studied twice we have failed to demonstrate any association between change in REE with change in disease activity, over time. A larger study is needed to determine this prospectively.


This paper presents an initial performance analysis of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-actuated mass storage devices that employ a magnetic force microscopy (MFM)-based approach for writing and reading. Extensive micromagnetic modeling and simulations have been performed to optimize both the tip dimensions and read/write flying heights in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, inter-track interference (ITI), and thermal decay rate. Using a commercial, single-layered 14-nm grain diameter Co-based granular media, this initial optimization process indicates the possibility of achieving a track pitch of 59 nm and a bit length (with conservative RL coding) of 100 nm (i.e., areal density of 105 Gb/in/sup 2/). The resulting SNR is 13.1 dB (RMS signal/RMS noise) with -3 dB/10 year thermal decay rate.


Patient: Female, 17-year-old Final Diagnosis: Drug toxicity Symptoms: Seizure Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Neurology Objective: Unusual clinical course Background: The electroencephalographic (EEG) findings associated with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) use, particularly in concentrated form, are not well-described, despite the current widespread availability of these products. There is a lack of prior research describing the EEG findings in adolescent cannabis users, and the effects of THC on the seizure threshold have been variably reported. Case Report: A 17-year-old girl with no prior history of seizures or known seizure risk factors presented to an Emergency Department with acutely abnormal behavior in the setting of daily vaping of highly concentrated THC marijuana ("wax"). On admission, she had a witnessed generalized tonic-clonic seizure. Urine toxicology was positive for THC, and an extensive evaluation for other etiologies of her encephalopathy was unrevealing. Extended EEG on admission showed mild diffuse background slowing with occasional bifronto-centrally predominant sharp and spike wave discharges. Seven days later, without interim antiseizure medications, a repeat extended EEG showed resolution of the previously seen interictal findings. Conclusions: The clinical and EEG findings were temporally associated with the patient's use of concentrated THC and may represent a constellation of symptoms of a THC wax toxidrome. In this case, THC was associated with lowering the seizure threshold and triggering a provoked seizure in an adolescent with no prior evidence of seizure tendency. This case also suggests the possibility of THC concentrate itself generating epileptiform discharges, as has previously been described with synthetic cannabinoid use.


Osmotic stress represents one of the major environmental challenges experienced by yeast during industrial fermentations. This stress is particularly associated with high-gravity processes, which utilize concentrated substrates to yield products with elevated concentrations of ethanol. The aims of this work were to quantitatively measure factors affecting extracellular osmotic pressure (osmolality) during brewing fermentations and to determine their effects on yeast at the physiological and molecular level. Osmolality was observed to increase during fermentation owing predominantly to ethanol production, indicating a strong relationship between these environmental parameters. High osmolality was shown to have a negative impact on yeast physiology, viability, and vitality, and although genome integrity was unaffected, cell membrane fluidity became altered. These data not only demonstrate the occurrence of an increase in osmotic pressure during fermentation but also provide an explanation for the decrease in yeast quality typically observed under high-gravity conditions. The results presented here are directly relevant to all brewery fermentations worldwide and have applications within associated industries in which microorganisms are used for ethanol production, including food products, alcoholic beverages, and biofuels.


PURPOSE
To evaluate whether catheter-related infections after radiologically placed port catheters can be reduced by single-shot periinterventional antibiosis.

MATERIALS AND METHOD
Between January and September 2002, 164 consecutive patients with indication for central venous port catheter implantation were included in the present study. During implantation the interventional radiologist was responsible for deciding whether to administer a prophylactic single-shot antibiosis. The prophylactic antibiosis entailed intravenous administration of ampicillin and sulbactam (3 g Unacid, Pfizer) or 100 mg ciprofloxacine (Ciprobay, Bayer) in the case of an allergy history to penicillins. Catheter-related infection was defined as a local or systemic infection necessitating port catheter extraction.

RESULTS
Indication for port catheter implantation was a malignant disease requiring chemotherapy in 158 cases. The port catheter (Chemosite [Tyco Healthcare] [n = 123], low-profile [Arrow International] [n = 35], other port system [n = 6]) was implanted via sonographically guided puncture of the right jugular vein in 139 patients, via the left jugular vein in 24 cases and via the right subclavian vein in one patient. 75 patients received periinterventional prophylactic antibiosis (Unacid [n = 63] Ciprobay [n = 12]) and 89 patients did not receive antibiosis. The prophylactic antibiosis caused a minor allergic reaction in one patient that improved with antihistamic and corticoid medication. A total of 7 ports, 6 without prophylactic antibiosis versus one with periinterventional prophylaxis, were extracted due to infectious complications.

CONCLUSION
Single-shot periinterventional prophylactic antibiosis can reduce early and late infectious complications after radiological-interventional placement of central venous port catheters.


The transthyretin (TTR) amyloidoses are human diseases in which the misfolded TTR protein aggregates in tissues with subsequent visceral, peripheral, and autonomic nerve dysfunction. Recent reports have stressed the importance of oligomeric intermediates as major cytotoxic species in various forms of amyloidogenesis. We have examined the cytotoxic effects of several quaternary structural states of wild-type and variant TTR proteins on cells of neural lineage. TTR amyloid fibrils and soluble aggregates >100 kDa were not toxic. Incubation of TTR under the conditions of the cell assay and analysis by size-exclusion chromatography and SDS/PAGE reveal that monomeric TTR or relatively small, rapidly formed aggregates of a maximum size of six subunits were the major cytotoxic species. Small molecules that stabilize the native tetrameric state were shown to prevent toxicity. The studies are consistent with a model in which the misfolded TTR monomer rapidly aggregates to form transient low molecular mass assemblies (<100 kDa) that are highly cytotoxic in tissue culture.


This article reports on the use of the Nottingham health profile (which was developed in the United Kingdom as a valid and reliable indicator of perceived health status) in a community‐health survey in Noarlunga, an outer suburban area of Adelaide. The instrument appears valid for use with an Australian population. It was used in Noarlunga to demonstrate a correlation between health status and a range of social and economic variables. The uses of the Nottingham health profile in health‐services planning are discussed. (Med J Aust 1989; 150: 581‐590)


Industry demands reliable and accessible reference data on the physical and chemical properties of a wide variety of binary mixtures. These data are required in the development of models for process design, energy efficiency and in the evaluation of possible environmental impacts. The study of molecular interaction in the solid - liquid mixtures is of considerable importance in the elucidation of the structural properties of the molecules. The intermolecular interactions influence the structural arrangement along with the shape of the molecules. The components capable of undergoing specific interaction exhibit significant deviation from ideal behaviour, arising not only from the difference in molecular size and shape but also due to the structural changes. Speed of sound have been measured as a function of composition for binary mixtures of stearates (zinc stearate and calcium stearate) and ethylene glycol were studied along with density and viscosity values, a comprehensive understanding of the molecular interactions in the binary mixture is thus only possible from the measurements of various physico – chemical properties and treating the excess functions derived there from [1]. Inspite of this interesting consideration, the concrete studies on the excess functions of zinc stearate – ethylene glycol and calcium stearate – ethylene glycol mixtures are studied. The results have been discussed in terms of molecular interactions. The aim of this work was also to find out if there are any structural peculiarities in solutions of stearate and glycol.


Nonprofit chambers of commerce have a long history in western culture but little if any empirical research has been conducted to explore why a small business would join one. This study focuses on members' evaluation of chamber assistance programs and benefits and how they mediate the impact of satisfaction and the perceived customer value of paid membership for chamber services. A mail census survey of all 2019 members, in a large category-four chamber of commerce, provided valid and reliable representation of existing membership demographics. Factor analysis identified four main benefits, whereas a LISREL model was applied to identify the mediating impact of relational benefits on satisfaction and perceived value. All four dominant benefits significantly correlated with both membership satisfaction and perceived value as did the correlation between satisfaction and perceived value. However, perceived value was found to have higher correlations with relational benefits than that of satisfaction. This study is important as it provides managers with a framework to identify and balance the benefits desired by the membership and adjust the level of expected satisfaction with perceived value in a nonprofit service-oriented assistance organization. Keywords: Chamber of Commerce, Small Businesses, Members Evaluation


We have developed an ultrasonic instrument that can measure absolute regional myocardial wall motion throughout the cardiac cycle using a single epicardial piezoelectric transducer. The methods in place currently that utilize ultrasound to measure myocardial wall thickness are the transit-time sonomicrometer (TTS) and, more recently, the Doppler echo displacement method. Both methods have inherent disadvantages. To address the need for an instrument that can measure absolute dimensions of myocardial wall at any depth, an ultrasonic single-crystal sonomicrometer (SCS) system was developed. This system can identify and track the boundary of the endocardial muscle-blood interface. With this instrument, it is possible to obtain, from a single epicardial transducer, measurement of myocardial wall motion that is calibrated in absolute dimensional units. The operating principles of the proposed myocardial dimension measurement system are as follows. A short duration ultrasonic burst having a frequency of 10 MHz is transmitted from the piezoelectric transducer. Reflected echoes are sampled at two distinct time intervals to generate reference and interface sample volumes. During steady state, the two sample volumes are adjusted so that the reference volume remains entirely within the myocardium, whereas half of the interface sampled volume is located within the myocardium. After amplification and filtering, the true root mean square values of both signals are compared and an error signal is generated. A closed-loop circuit uses the integrated error signal to continuously adjust the position of the two sample volumes. We have compared our system in vitro against a known signal and in vivo against the two-crystal TTS system during control, suppression (ischemia), and enhancement (isoproterenol) of myocardial function. Results were obtained in vitro for accuracy (> 99%), signal linearity (r = 0.99), and frequency response to heart rates > 450 beats/min, and in vivo data were acquired for end-systolic dimension (r = 0.99), end-diastolic dimension (r = 0.99), and percent wall thickness (r = 0.99). Both in vitro and in vivo tests indicate that the SCS functions identically to the two-crystal TTS. Use of the SCS allows measurement of absolute wall thickness and hence myocardial function, for both acute and chronically instrumented animal studies, with minimal or no trauma to myocardium.


Background: Obesity is considered as one of the most important nutrition and health issues among adolescents in the developing countries. In this respect, risks and problems associated with obesity can put a huge burden on the health care system of a society. Moreover, underweight and malnutrition are also prevalent in developing countries and impose enormous health care expenditures on individuals and societies. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate the weight status among 10th-grade high school students residing in the city of Golpayegan, Iran. Methods: A total number of 800 students including 396 boys and 404 girls studying at the 10th grade of high school were included in this cross-sectional research with a descriptive design. The participants were selected using a random cluster sampling method. Moreover, the demographic characteristic information and the anthropometric status (based on the US CDC criteria, 2000) questionnaires were completed for each participant and the data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 16). Results: The mean age of the students was 15.6 ± 6.6 years. The total prevalence rate of underweight was 11.4% (91 individuals) including 14.2% in boys and 8.7% in girls. The overweight rate was equal to 10.85% including 10.4% in boys and 11.1% in girls. Furthermore, the rate of obesity was 6.3% including 7.3% and 5.2% in boys and girls, respectively. Conclusion: Following the specification of the rates of underweight, overweight, and obesity among students, the authorities are recommended to provide proper nutrition programs, good lifestyle, and educational courses for individuals in this domain.


Background—Rupture of thin-cap fibroatheromatous plaques is a major cause of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Such plaques can be identified in vitro by 3D intravascular palpography with high sensitivity and specificity. We used this technique in patients undergoing percutaneous intervention to assess the incidence of mechanically deformable regions. We further explored the relation of such regions to clinical presentation and to C-reactive protein levels. Method and Results—Three-dimensional palpograms were derived from continuous intravascular ultrasound pullbacks. Patients (n= 55) were classified by clinical presentation as having stable angina, unstable angina, or AMI. In every patient, 1 coronary artery was scanned (culprit vessel in stable and unstable angina, nonculprit vessel in AMI), and the number of deformable plaques assessed. Stable angina patients had significantly fewer deformable plaques per vessel (0.6±0.6) than did unstable angina patients (P = 0.0019) (1.6±0.7) or AMI patients (P < 0.0001) (2.0±0.7). Levels of C-reactive protein were positively correlated with the number of mechanically deformable plaques (R2 = 0.65, P < 0.0001). Conclusions—Three-dimensional intravascular palpography detects strain patterns in human coronary arteries that represent the level of deformation in plaques. The number of highly deformable plaques is correlated with both clinical presentation and levels of C-reactive protein. Further studies will assess the potential role of the technique to identify patients at risk of future clinical events


Bitcoin, as well as many of its successors, require the whole transaction record to be reliably acquired by all nodes to prevent double-spending. Recently, many blockchains have been proposed to achieve scale-out throughput by letting nodes only acquire a fraction of the whole transaction set. However, these schemes, e.g., sharding and off-chain techniques, suffer from a degradation in decentralization or the capacity of fault tolerance. In this paper, we show that the complete set of transactions is not a necessity for the prevention of double-spending if the properties of value transfers is fully explored. In other words, we show that a value-transfer ledger like Bitcoin has the potential to scale-out by its nature without sacrificing security or decentralization. Firstly, we give a formal definition for the value-transfer ledger and its distinct features from a generic database. Then, we introduce the blockchain structure with a shared main chain for consensus and an individual chain for each node for recording transactions. A locally executable validation scheme is proposed with uncompromising validity and consistency. A beneficial consequence of our design is that nodes will spontaneously try to reduce their transmission cost by only providing the transactions needed to show that their transactions are not double spend. As a result, the network is sharded as each node only acquires part of the transaction record and a scale-out throughput could be achieved, which we call "spontaneous sharding".


Peripheral blood monocyte phagocytosis of SRBC was studied in 32 patients with chronic brucellosis and 20 normal controls. It was found that phagocytosis was significantly decreased in patients with chronic brucellosis. Our findings suggest that disfunction of this cell-system in chronic brucellosis could be responsible for the chronicity of the disease.


Improving children's living standards is a top priority for government policy makers. Whilst the presence of a link between bad housing and child outcomes has been acknowledged in a number of studies, there is little evidence on how long children live in bad housing for and whether the duration of living in bad housing is associated with other poor outcomes for children. This research uses five waves of data from the Families and Children Study, a representative longitudinal study of families with children in Britain, to show that the longer children live in bad housing the more vulnerable they are to a range of other poor outcomes included in the Government's Every Child Matters framework. The research implies that policy-makers need to focus on reducing the substantial number of children who live in bad housing for long periods and that interventions in housing provision for families are likely to lead to improvements in many other aspects of children's lives.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of our study is to evaluate the efficiency of a new therapeutic method using CO2 laser to avoid mutilation or total excision for the treatment of invasive, large and unexcisable oral lymphangiomas.

BACKGROUND DATA
Cystic lymphatic malformations, or lymphangiomas, are mature lymphatic malformations, consisting of abnormal lymphatic vessels. Surgical excision is considered by most surgeons to be the treatment of choice for lymphangioma. Laser beam has been used to treat superficial or small lymphatic malformations by excision or by photocoagulation, and to excise or photocoagulate small lymphangiomas.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Seventeen patients with diffuse and unexcisable lymphangiomas were treated using a CO2 laser with specific settings: beam was 2 W in noncontact and defocus mode, power density was 0.63 W/cm2 for irradiation time in the range of 3-5 min, and the estimated energy density range was 114.65-191.02 J/cm2. The beam diameter at the tissular impact point was ±2 cm. The laser beam was defocused to provoke a deep heat generation that would dry up the lymphatic tissues and induce deep tissue necrosis that heals by fibrous tissue process.

RESULTS
The results were satisfactory and stable, with localized recurrence in three cases. The recurrent areas were re-treated using the same technique successfully and with no further recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of CO2 laser under the suggested irradiation conditions can be considered a useful technique for the treatment of invasive lymphangiomas.


A full wave analysis of a transmission line with a trapezoidal cross section is described. The boundary element method (BEM) is used, and by making a convenient choice for the dyadic Green's function the method is shown to be very efficient in comparison to appropriate alternative methods of analysis. This is an innovative application of the BEM to an innovative structure. The analysis is verified by comparisons with calculated results from a vector finite element computer program.


Exploring Reports of Recidivism by Guantanamo Bay Releasees. The purpose of this research is to examine what is known about recidivism by Guantanamo Bay releasees. Government reports suggest that approximately 27 percent of these releasees have returned to the battlefield while reporting in the open source media identifies the recidivism rate as nearly 9 percent. Deterrence, labeling and defiance theories were applied to explain their recidivism, and The New York Times' Guantanamo Docket document release was used to code the 779 detainees on whether they were released, their nationality, age, time since release, risk level, intelligence value and other relevant domains. The recidivism data were obtained from the New America Foundation. These datasets were used to model the predictors of release from Guantanamo Bay and the predictors of recidivism for those who were released. Risk level, intelligence value, membership in multiple groups, and being of Yemeni nationality all statistically significantly affected the likelihood of release. However, only time since release predicted recidivism. It is likely that the proportion of detainees identified as recidivists will increase over time, as time to offend and be discovered increases, and as higher-risk detainees are released as part of the Obama Administration's attempts to empty the island prison.


Тhe problems of library services integration into social media are considered. The main activities of the library specialist working in social media are revealed. The opinion is expressed that the library account in social networks has not only a marketing function, but also an educational and service one. The example of applied research "Activities of municipal public libraries in Belgorod region on the grounds" held in 2016, Belgorod state universal scientific library, lists the shortcomings of the mission of the municipal libraries of the region in social networks, among them the lack of system and low frequency, incorrect processing of accounts, poor navigation, insufficient efficiency in answering queries of users and the support of dialogue. It is proved that the insufficient realization of the potential of social networks as a resource for promoting libraries and a platform for full library and information services is due to human resources. It is concluded that the library, the leading representation of the library in social networks, requires an employee at a separate rate for work in social networks.


Jack Johnson was an African American boxer in America at the turn of the century. This paper will detail Johnson's accomplishments and how his time as a household name changed the relationship between white supemacy and masculinity. The complex charateristics of masculinity in the 1900s strictly excluded African Americans. Sustaining white supremacy was crucial to maintaining mainstreem masculinity. This study will focus on African Americans' and white Americans' views of Jack Johnson during his most famous years.


The power of transmission/disequilibrium tests (TDTs) for detecting disease susceptibility loci is expected to be influenced by population admixture through its impact on the degree of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between the genetic marker and the DSL. However, few studies have been done to systematically examine this behavior of the TDTs in admixed populations. In the present study, extensive computer simulations were conducted to explore how population admixture affects the power of TDTs. It was found that (1) in newly admixed populations, the LD due to admixture makes no contribution to the power of TDTs, and it is the averaged background LD in the parental populations that determines the power of TDTs; but (2) after random mating between the admixed populations, the LD due to admixture becomes effective in increasing or decreasing the power of the tests, and (3) incomplete random mating can prolong the time for the LD due to admixture to become effective. This study clarifies the potential influence of population admixture on the performance of TDTs. Genet. Epidemiol. 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Inhibitors of muscle myosin ATPases are needed to treat conditions that could be improved by promoting muscle relaxation The lead compound for this study (3-(N-butylethanimidoyl)ethyl)-4-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one; BHC) was previously discovered to inhibit skeletal myosin II. BHC and 34 analogs were synthesized to explore structure-activity relationships. Properties of analogs, including solubility, stability and toxicity, suggest that the BHC scaffold may be useful for developing therapeutics. Inhibition of actin-activated ATPase activity of fast skeletal and cardiac muscle myosin II, inhibition of skeletal muscle contractility ex vivo, and slowing of in vitro actin-sliding velocity were measured. Several analogs with aromatic side arms showed improved potency (IC50 < 1 µM) and selectivity (≥ 12-fold) for skeletal myosin versus cardiac myosin compared to BHC. Several analogs blocked neurotransmission, suggesting they are selective for nonmuscle myosin II over skeletal myosin. Competition and molecular docking studies suggest that BHC and blebbistatin bind to the same site on myosin.


A highly diastereo- and enantioselective vinylogous Mukaiyama-Michael reaction of silyloxyfurans with α,β-unsaturated 2-acyl imidazoles catalyzed by either chiral Sc(iii) or Er(iii) complexes of a pybox ligand has been reported. The enantioenriched γ-butenolides formed in the reaction were further transformed into highly functionalized γ-lactones found as important structural frameworks in a wide range of biologically active natural products.


Empirical studies suggest that the so-called "low volatility anomaly" is actually an artifact of skewness preferences—a tendency of investors to prefer stocks offering upside potential with low likelihood of loss. The authors argue that if skewness preferences underlie the low volatility anomaly, then a naïve low volatility strategy should be dominated by one that explicitly targets expected return skew. This article provides empirical evidence to that effect. It recommends a multi-factor alpha strategy that is based on avoiding index constituents that are perceived to have ex ante high relative skew. These findings have important implications for investors. Specifically, the authors demonstrate that portfolios constructed to avoid high expected skew stocks outperform both low volatility strategies and several widely used US and global capitalization-weighted indices.


Bromination of visnaginone (1) yielded the dibromo derivative (2), which upon methylation with methyl iodide gave 1-(2,7-dibromo-4,6-dimethoxybenzofuran-5-yl) ethanone (3). Compound (3) reacted with dimethylformamide dimethylacetal to give (4). The reaction of (3) with aromatic aldehydes namely (vanillin, benzaldehyde and 3-anisaldehyde) in ammonium acetate, malononitrile and/or butyric cyanoanhydride gave the 2-amino substituted nicotinonitriles (5a-c) and the 2-hydroxyl substituted nicotinonitriles (7a-c), respectively, while in piperidine gave (E)-1-(2,7-dibromo-4,6-dimethoxybenzofuran-5-yl)-3-(substituted)prop-2-en-l-one (11a-c). (5a) was hydrolyzed with sulfuric acid on cold to give the nicotinic acid derivative (6a). When compound (3) reacted with hydrazines and aromatic amines, it gave the Schiff bases (8a,b) and (10a,b), respectively. (8b) reacted with thioglycolic acid to give the thiazolidin-4-one (9b). When (11a-c) reacted with thiourea, it gave the pyrimidine derivatives (12a-c). (11a,b) also reacted with butyric cyanoanhydride and hydroxylamine hydrochloride to give (13a,b) and (15a,b), respectively. When the carboxylate (13a) was treated with 2,4-dinitroaniline, it gave the carboxamide (14a). Compounds (11b,c) reacted with hydrazine derivatives (hydrazine hydrate and phenylhydrazine) yielding the substituted pyrazole derivatives (16b,c) and (17b,c), respectively. All the structures of the synthesized compounds were elucidated by elemental analyses and spectral data. The newly synthesized benzofuran compounds showed a strong to moderate cytotoxicity against liver HEPG2 cancer cell line compared to 5-fluorouracil and doxorubicin (the anticancer agents). Compounds (2, 6a, 13a, 14a, 16c and 17b) were the most active compounds in descending order. The synthesized compounds were also tested for their antimicrobial activity. Compound (10b) showed the highest activity against all the tested strains followed by 6, 10a, 5a, 8b and 7a in descending order.


Correlated spiking activity prevails in immature cortical networks and is believed to contribute to neuronal circuit maturation; however, its spatiotemporal organization is not fully understood. Using wide-field calcium imaging from acute whole-brain slices of rat pups on postnatal days 1–6, we found that correlated spikes were initiated in the anterior part of the lateral entorhinal cortex and propagated anteriorly to the frontal cortex and posteriorly to the medial entorhinal cortex, forming traveling waves that engaged almost the entire cortex. The waves were blocked by ionotropic glutamatergic receptor antagonists but not by GABAergic receptor antagonists. During wave events, glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic inputs were balanced and induced UP state-like depolarization. Magnified monitoring with cellular resolution revealed that the layer III neurons were first activated when the waves were initiated. Consistent with this finding, layer III contained a larger number of neurons that were autonomously active, even under a blockade of synaptic transmission. During wave propagation, the layer III neurons constituted a leading front of the wave. The waves did not enter the parasubiculum; however, in some cases, they were reflected at the parasubicular border and propagated back in the opposite direction. During this reflection process, the layer III neurons in the medial entorhinal cortex maintained persistent activity. Thus, our data emphasize the role of layer III in early network behaviors and provide insight into the circuit mechanisms through which cerebral cortical networks maturate.


We examine the impact of research partnerships on a firm's own R&D capability along with the context of the importance of geographical proximity using original survey data obtained from small and medium-sized firms in Zhongguancun Science Park (ZSP). This study develops an analytical framework related to the impact of research partnerships on a firm's R&D capability. Results show that research cooperation with universities and research institutes and small and medium-sized firms enhances the R&D capability of individual firms when the partners are located nearby, although distance has no significant effect on cooperation with large firms.


This review summarizes the current knowledge of metabolism and function of polyamines and signalling molecules of NO in plants. Polyamines (PA) interact with polyanionic biomolecules such as DNA or some proteins and appear to be involved in a wide range of plant pro¬cesses. Despite their significance, the polyamine-dependent signal transducer system has not yet been found. It has been shown that PA induce NO biosynthesis in plants. PA seem to be mediators in pathogen defence, abiotic stresses and senescence.


Literary narrative fiction may be particularly effective in enhancing Theory of Mind (ToM), as it requires readers to contemplate author and character intentions in filling the literary 'gaps' that have been suggested to characterise this fiction type. The current study investigates direct and cumulative effects of reading literature on ToM using confirmatory Bayesian analyses. Direct effects were assessed by comparing the ToM skills of participants who read texts that were manipulated to differ in the amount of gap filling they required. Cumulative effects were assessed by considering the relationship between lifetime literary fiction exposure and ToM. Results showed no evidence for direct effects of reading literature on ToM. However, lifetime literary fiction exposure was associated with higher ToM, particularly cognitive ToM. Although reading a specific piece of literary fiction may thus not have immediately measurable effects on ToM, lifetime exposure to this fiction type is associated with more advanced ToM.


We assess the stability of two previously suggested binding modes for the neuropeptide orexin-A in the OX2 receptor through extensive molecular dynamics simulations. As the activation determinants of the receptor remain unknown, we simulated an unliganded receptor and two small-molecular ligands, the antagonist suvorexant and the agonist Nag26 for comparison. Each system was simulated in pure POPC membrane as well as in the 25% cholesterol–POPC membrane. In total, we carried out 36 μs of simulations. Through this set of simulations, we report a stable binding mode for the C-terminus of orexin-A. In addition, we suggest interactions that would promote orexin receptor activation, as well as others that would stabilize the inactive state.


This thesis presents a system, which builds on the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) framework, with the focus of learning interpretable representations of data. The system is able to learn representations of data that are ordered in regards to the saliency of the attributes, in a completely unsupervised manner. The training strategy expands the latent space dimension while appropriately adding capacity to the model in a controlled way. This builds on the intuition that highly salient attributes are easiest to learn first. Empirical results on the Swiss roll dataset show that the representation is structured in regards to the saliency of the attributes when training the latent space progressively on a very simple GAN architecture. Experiments using a more complex system, trained on the CelebA dataset, scales the idea to a more interesting use case. Experiments using latent space interpolations show that our model successfully structures the latent space with respect to the saliency of the attributes, while also generating at least as real looking images and in less training time, than state-of-the-art methods. (Less)


Conviction is a less developed legal institution in Georgian criminal science. It is a legal consequence of a convict's conviction by a court and is reflected in the restriction of the convict's individual rights, which, in turn, is reflected in the norms of constitutional, civil or administrative law. Conviction is only a legal consequence of the sentence and that is why the presumption applies - a person is presumed not convicted from the beginning until his conviction is confirmed by a court judgment, however, he should not be revoked or annulled. Thus, unlike other measures of state coercion, only criminal punishment results in a person being convicted.


This paper uses regional data for Western Europe to explore relative and absolute farmland size inequality and farm size concentration, demonstrating that specific indicators provide somewhat differing country characterisations. The paper uses exploratory spatial data analysis techniques to measure the degree of spatial dependence in farm size at a NUTS2 level. Regional farm size clusters are identified, some of which straddle national borders. The results have policy implications, demonstrating that the association between land inequality and farm productivity and resistance to change in farm support structures may relate to pan national regional considerations more so than national concerns. The research is conducted at a NUTS3 level for the Italian case and these findings suggest that the level of spatial disaggregation is an important consideration.


Financial report is a tool for business entity to deliver information to stakeholders. The difference of user's interests causes that the financial report needs to be audited by the independent auditor, to make sure fairness and conform with accounting standard. The cooperatives managers must conduct the rule stated in accounting standard. Thus, that the Accountability, Technical Difficulty, Measurement Difficulty are the basic to realize the implementation of cooperative accounting standard. The objective of the research is to analyze the quality of implementation accounting standard and the adherence to existing rule and regulation. The samples of the research are accounting and finance manager cooperative offices in East Java, Indonesia. The hypothesis tested by ordinary least square with the degree of significant at 0.05. The research found that the Accountability Influence and Technical Difficulty affect significantly to implementation of cooperative accounting standard. However, measurement difficulty doesn't affect significantly to implementation of cooperative accounting standard.


A temporally evolving turbulent plane jet is studied both by direct numerical simulation (DNS) and Lie symmetry analysis. The DNS is based on a high-order scheme to solve the Navier–Stokes equations for an incompressible fluid. Computations were conducted at Reynolds number $\mathit{Re}_{0}=8000$ , where $\mathit{Re}_{0}$ is defined based on the initial jet thickness, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{0.5}(0)$ , and the initial centreline velocity, $\overline{U}_{1}(0)$ . A symmetry approach, known as the Lie group, is used to find symmetry transformations, and, in turn, group invariant solutions, which are also denoted as scaling laws in turbulence. This approach, which has been extensively developed to create analytical solutions of differential equations, is presently applied to the mean momentum and two-point correlation equations in a temporally evolving turbulent plane jet. The symmetry analysis of these equations allows us to derive new invariant (self-similar) solutions for the mean flow and higher moments of the velocities in the jet flow. The current DNS validates the consequence of Lie symmetry analysis and therefore confirms the establishment of novel scaling laws in turbulence. It is shown that the classical scaling law for the mean velocity is a specific form of the current scaling (which has a more general form); however, the scaling for the second and higher moments (such as Reynolds stresses) has a completely different structure compared to the classical scaling. While the failure of the classical scaling for the second moments of the fluctuating velocities has been noted from the jet data for many years, the DNS results nicely match with the present self-similar relations derived from Lie symmetry analysis. Key ingredients for the present results, in particular for the scaling laws of the higher moments, are symmetries, which are of a purely statistical nature. i.e. these symmetries are admitted by the moment equations, however, they are not observed by the original Navier–Stokes equations.


According to a proposal of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ISSHP) the definition of hypertension is based on a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or more. Systolic and mean arterial blood pressure (e.g. MAP II) are not be taken into account. Out of a clear defined district the totality of n = 2259 pregnant women has been strictly supervised till to delivery and afterwards. The frequency of hypertension according to the old ACOG-definition was calculated to be 15.9% (n = 360). According to the newer ISSHP-definition it was 12.7% (n = 287). To detect severe and hazardous cases the newer ISSHP-definition seems to be better than the older definition of ACOG. Therefore, the acceptance of the ISSHP-proposal is recommended.


The analysis presented covers three broad areas of implementation of eyeand gaze-tracking (with the description of current research and functional prototypes): 1) Gaze-tracking for mobile devices: Recent advances in eyeand gaze-tracking make it possible to use Web-cams or smart phone cameras for eye-tracking. 2) Gaze-tracking in a museum/gallery context: Ability to track visitors' gaze direction offers a wide range of new possibilities for enhancing visitor experience in a museum. Just focusing (looking) at a detail of a painting a visitor can gain more detailed information. Collecting visitors gaze direction data also opens up a whole new area of research. 3) Gaze-tracking for medical information display: Most of the information in medical imaging field already exists in digital format (PET, CAT, MRI scans). This information is crucial when performing surgery and so far has been delivered by hand. The use of a gaze-sensitive display would allow a surgeon to access relevant information just by looking at a display. The author of the paper holds US patent for "interacting with visual display using eye and gazegestures" (US 7,561,143 'B1).


The observations and theory of the exciting new class of galactic black hole X-ray transients is reviewed. Seven of these systems have measured mass functions or mass estimates in excess of stable neutron stars, making them excellent black hole candidates. Two of them have revealed ``superluminal" radio jets. Study of the hard and soft radiation from these sources has given tight constraints on the physics of the viscosity of the accretion disk and promises firm proof that these systems contain black holes. This will allow us to search for black holes of more moderate mass and apply the knowledge of these systems to suspected supermassive black holes in AGN's. The most plausible mechanism for triggering the outburst of black hole candidate X-ray transients is the ionization thermal instability. The disk instability models can give the deduced mass flow in quiescence, but not the X-ray spectrum. Advection models that can account for the quiescent X-ray spectrum are difficult to match with the non-steady state, quiescent Keplerian disks. Self-irradiation of the disk in outburst may not lead to X-ray reprocessing as the dominant source of optical light, but may play a role in the ``reflare." The hard power-law spectrum and radio bursts may be non-thermal processes driven by the flow of pair--rich plasma from the disk at early times and due to the formation of a pair--rich plasma corona at late times. The repeated outbursts in systems like GRO J0422+32 suggest some sort of clock, but it is unlikely that it has anything to do with a simple X-ray heating of the companion star. These systems typically have low mass secondaries and their evolutionary origin is still mysterious.


Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a potentially life-threatening degenerative vascular disease that affects 6-9% of men over 65. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) mediate the innate immune response resulting in the recruitment of inflammatory cells to the site of a range of pathogen-associated molecular patterns; they have also been implicated in many other inflammatory diseases such as cancer and atherosclerosis. It has been suggested by others that TLR4 might play a role in AAA formation. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether TLR4 and its related Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway contributed to the development of angiotensin II (AngII)-induced AAA formation. Methods and Results: AngII (750 ng/kg/min) was infused into either ApoE-/- or ApoE-/-TLR4-/- male mice at 4 month old for 28 days using osmotic minipumps. The expression of TLR4 protein was significantly increased in aneurismal tissues compared to control aorta. TLR4 deficiency profoundly reduced AAA, with incidence of AAA formation of 82% versus 39%, with external aortic diameters of 1.88±0.13 mm versus 1.28±0.20 mm (n=18) respectively. STAT3 activation as measured by levels of pSTAT3 was increased in AngII treated ApoE-/- mice compared to vehicle treated, and was markedly reduced in AngII treated ApoE-/-TLR4-/- mice. Furthermore, the TLR4 antagonist, Eritoran attenuated AAA formation, with incidence of AAA formation of 80% versus 50%, with external aortic diameters of 1.92±0.15 mm versus 1.35±0.18 mm (n=9) respectively. Eritoran treatment also decreased pSTAT3 in AngII-treated ApoE-/- mice. The JAK/STAT3 can be driven by both AngII and TLR4 signaling. In order to determine the role of STAT3 in AAA formation, S3I-201, an inhibitor of STAT3 was administrated. AngII-induced AAA formation in ApoE-/- was significantly prevented by S3I-201 treatment (5mg/kg, IP, QOD) with incidence of AAA formation of 85% versus 40%, with external aortic diameters of 1.90±0.16 mm versus 1.15±0.10 mm (n=15) respectively. Conclusions: These studies demonstrated that inhibition of TLR4 reduces AngII-induced AAA via a STAT3 dependent mechanism suggesting that selective targeting of STAT3 may have substantial therapeutic potential.


Determination of affinities and binding sites involved in protein-ligand interactions is essential for understanding molecular mechanisms in biological systems. Here we combine singular value decomposition and global analysis of NMR chemical shift perturbations caused by protein-protein interactions to determine the number and location of binding sites on the protein surface and to measure the binding affinities. Using this method we show that the isolated AD1 and AD2 binding motifs, derived from the intrinsically disordered N-terminal transactivation domain of the tumor suppressor p53, both interact with the TAZ2 domain of the transcriptional coactivator CBP at two binding sites. Simulations of titration curves and line shapes show that a primary dissociation constant as small as 1-10 nM can be accurately estimated by NMR titration methods, provided that the primary and secondary binding processes are coupled. Unexpectedly, the site of binding of AD2 on the hydrophobic surface of TAZ2 overlaps with the binding site for AD1, but AD2 binds TAZ2 more tightly. The results highlight the complexity of interactions between intrinsically disordered proteins and their targets. Furthermore, the association rate of AD2 to TAZ2 is estimated to be 1.7 × 10(10) M(-1) s(-1), approaching the diffusion-controlled limit and indicating that intrinsic disorder plus complementary electrostatics can significantly accelerate protein binding interactions.


Dimethylaniline and its p-nitro-, p-chloro-, and p-methoxy-derivatives have been ozonised with ozone–oxygen or ozone–nitrogen in various solvents, at different temperatures and with different molar proportions of ozone to amine. We suggest that both radical and cationic intermediates result from attack at the nitrogen atom, leading to bis-(N-methylanilino)methyl peroxides and N-methylformanilides, together with other minor products, but no N-oxides. The mechanism is discussed and the results are compared with those of related reactions of dimethyl-aniline and with the results of ozonation of aliphatic tertiary amines. Cyclisation reactions with o-substituted dimethylanilines (o-NHAc and o-CO2H) are reported and the ozonation of dimethylanilines is proposed as a synthetically useful method of demethylation.


The author addresses the attribution of lung cancer to cigarette smoking and the problems of confounding synergistic effects of occupational and other carcinogenic risk factors, as well as the divergent trends of declining smoking rates and increasing rates of lung cancer. He also reviews the existing literature to document associations between lung cancer and occupational exposures. Finally, interventions for prevention of occupational lung cancer are discussed.


The amount of waste generated nowadays is a reflection of population growth and consumerism, many times, unnecessary by people. Organic waste is the most part of the solid waste generated. This waste need to be treated adequately to avoid environmental problems and health problems in people. The objective was to treat urban residential organic waste and to verify the efficiency of the transformation into biogas and bio fertilizers. A digester of the Indian type was used in Nova Palma, Rio Grande do Sul. The research was developed in the period of three years with a daily monitoring. The average biogas production was higher in the summer for three years and it was more stable in the third year in different seasons. There were no reagents to coliforms. The study found that anaerobic digestion has potential in treating organic waste. http://dx.doi.org/10.18226/23185279.v4iss2p131


The value of experiential learning is explored as it has now become a given among educators and corporate leaders that a university must provide experiential learning programs such as internships; real-life cases in marketing research, advertising, etc.; and voluntary student participation in income tax preparation for the needy and elderly; and many additional types of programs to promote the application of learning and involvement with the world of work. The paper presents one unique experiential learning program in complete detail—Student in Free Enterprise's Walgreens Wrangle. This is a twelve-university business strategy competition sponsored by the Students in Free Enterprise team at Southern Arkansas University that has the three-day involvement of managers of four major corporations. This period of time to interact both professionally and socially with a corporate group has proven to be invaluable to business majors and provided them with many experiential learning experiences.


Abstract Background Natural supplements and herbal medicines have been attracted to use for managing elevated cholesterol levels. Tiliacora triandra (Colebr.) Diels (TT) or Yanang (in Thai) is commonly used as an ingredient in various types of Thai foods. In this study, we investigated the effect of methanolic TT leaf extract on cholesterol absorption by measuring the uptake and the efflux of cholesterol and cholesterol micellar solubility. In addition, we tested the effect of TT leaf extract on pancreatic lipase activity. Methods The uptake and efflux of cholesterol was determined by quantification of radioactivity in differentiated Caco-2 cells after treatment with radioactive cholesterol. Cholesterol mixed micelles were prepared for cholesterol uptake, efflux and solubility studies. The pancreatic lipase activity was determined using 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate as a substrate. Results Our finding showed that TT extract decreased the uptake of cholesterol by approximately 48% but did not affect the efflux of cholesterol. TT inhibited pancreatic lipase activity with the IC50 at 273.5 μg/mL and also decreased cholesterol micellar solubility. Conclusions These findings suggest that TT leaf extract seems to be a potential candidate as cholesterol-lowering agents.


It is possible to mix two dyes of opposite selective bacteriostatic powers and obtain a mixture which combines the powers of the two components. This possibility has been established by experiments with a mixture of gentian violet, which has a predilection for Gram-positive organisms, and acriflavine, which has a predilection for Gram-negatives; a mixture of these two dyes is quite bactericidal for both groups of bacteria. The weakness of each dye, when used alone, is thus, in the mixture, fortified by the strength of the other.


the largest authorized reproductions available. The book incorporates separate considerations of two monumental wall maps, which were drawn by the same cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller, and printed within one decade in the sixteenth century. Each of the two maps' twelve sheets is presented as it came off the press individually. A brief explanation of the essence of the representation on each sheet is offered, or a single critical point on that sheet is focused upon and explained on a preceding page. An essay, enhanced by elegant pertinent illustrations, introduces the reader to each of the maps. In the case of the 1507WorldMap, there is a somewhat disproportionate focus on Johannes Schöner, who assembled the portfolio that included the 1507 world map and the 1516 Carta Marina. Perhaps this is a consequence of Hessler's current engagement in preparing a book about Schöner. The roles of the two most important scholars, Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann, who participated is the genesis of the maps and the book, Cosmographia Introductio, which accompanied and announced the 1507 world map, are considered. The comments provide an explanation for the revolutionary presentation of two continents in the New World in an insular form surrounded by two great bodies of water. Also included, is a consideration of the reasoning behind the assignment of the name, 'America', to continental land in the New World. An analysis of the printing of the map, the location where the printing took place, and the establishment of the date that the map in question was actually printed are appropriately included. The cordiform projection is considered, and the probable literary and cartographic sources are discussed. Coupling Copernicus's De Revolutionibus to encapsulate a period in which an intellectual revolution occurred is intriguing. The companion Carta Marina of 1516 is treated in an identical fashion, with each of the twelve sheets depicted with an accompanying description related to the map's pertinent features. The essayist points out that the Carta Marina has been less studied than its older brother. Consequently the narrative is more informative. Despite its younger age, the map is cartographically more mature in that it repudiates Ptolemaic authority and corrects the error of honouring Americus Vespucci as the discoverer of continental land in the New World. The Carta Marina is a nautical chart that focuses on those parts of the world where Europeans had travelled and shows the regions in more detail and with more lavishly embellished figures. The Carta Marina itself contains more textual material than the 1507 World Map and is unusual in providing an extensive list of the narratives that served as sources. Columbus has replaced Vespucci as a source. As is emphasized by Van Duzer, themap presents the Columbian view of the world, that the New World was an extension of Asia. Significant attention is directed to the images that appear and their possible sources. Both authors include reference to Waldseemüller's 1513 Ptolemaic atlas but have elected not to include a discussion of the prototype of the 'Admiral's Map'with the name 'America' designating a southern land mass that has been the subject of a book by Henry Stevens. Seeing the World Anew is truly a magnificent production. It is in keeping with the two extraordinary maps that it brings into focus. For themajority of the public without an interest in cartography, the work provides a valuable exposure to two of the most significant and elegant graphic works related to the history of America. The 1507 World Map rightly merits the appellation of 'America's Baptismal Document'. The Carta Marina reflects the advancement of knowledge, over a single decade, of a revolutionary cartographer. For the aficionado, this book offers the opportunity to study the graphic representations in detail and exposure to titillating discussions with new vantage points.


Recent techniques that integrate \emph{solver layers} into Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have shown promise in bridging a long-standing gap between inductive learning and symbolic reasoning techniques. In this paper we present a set of techniques for integrating \emph{Satisfiability Modulo Theories} (SMT) solvers into the forward and backward passes of a deep network layer, called SMTLayer. Using this approach, one can encode rich domain knowledge into the network in the form of mathematical formulas. In the forward pass, the solver uses symbols produced by prior layers, along with these formulas, to construct inferences; in the backward pass, the solver informs updates to the network, driving it towards representations that are compatible with the solver's theory. Notably, the solver need not be differentiable. We implement \layername as a Pytorch module, and our empirical results show that it leads to models that \emph{1)} require fewer training samples than conventional models, \emph{2)} that are robust to certain types of covariate shift, and \emph{3)} that ultimately learn representations that are consistent with symbolic knowledge, and thus naturally interpretable.


Implementing PK-guided dosing with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in oncology has been for long impaired by difficulties in developing appropriate (i.e., time- and cost-effective) bioanalytical methods suitable for routine Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, plus concerns regarding the exact PK/PD relationships of several biologics possibly blurred by the TMDD phenomenon. To help lifting these issues, we have developed and cross-validated a multiplex LC-MS/MS method allowing to assay simultaneously up to 8 mAbs in plasma, including several immune checkpoint inhibitors (i.e., atezolizumab, bevacizumab, cetuximab, ipilimumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab, rituximab, trastuzumab). Using a ready-to-use kit (mAbXmise), the method proved to be simple and rapid - covering a concentration range of 2-100 µg/ml, in line with plasma concentrations usually expected with mAbs. Inter and intra-assay precision were both <15% and accuracy was comprised between 90.1 and 111.1%, thus meeting the requirements of current EMA guidelines for validating bioanalytical methods. Cross-validation using reference LC-MS/MS or ELISA methods was performed on 7 mAbs (excluding atezolizumab since no reference method was available) with a satisfactory mean absolute bias of 10.6% (3.0-19.9%). This LC-MS/MS method was next used as part of the Cetuximax trial (NCT-04218136), an open, non-randomized, single arm, multicentric study aiming at determining the PK/PD relationships of Cetuximab in Head-and-Neck cancer patients with monitoring of both Cmax and Cmin levels. Patients are all treated with the 250 mg/m² QW schedule. Previous works have suggested that Cetuximab trough levels < 34 µg/ml were associated with higher risk for treatment failure in Head-and-Neck patients. Patients were repeatedly sampled in a longitudinal fashion at their Cmax plus trough levels and individual PK parameters were derived using a pop-PK approach. Preliminary results on 90 samples collected from the first 25 out of the 110 patients to be included have confirmed the marked inter-individual variability in Cetuximab exposure (i.e., >56% on trough levels and >55% on Cmax values). Mean Cetuximab trough level was 54 ± 30 µg/ml (range: 12-104 µg/ml) and mean Cmax value was 211 ± 116 µg/ml (range: 75-418 µg/ml), with several individuals (8 out of 25, i.e., 32%) showing plasma exposure below the expected trough levels associated with efficacy. Although preliminary, our data confirm that PK variability is massive with mAbs. This observation suggests that Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, using appropriate LC-MS/MS method, could help appraising interpatient variability at bedside and detecting individuals with exposure levels out of the range usually observed.
 Citation Format: Clemence Marin, Nihel Khoudour, Aurélien Millet, Dorothée Lebert, Pauline Bros, Fabienne Thomas, David Ternant, Jerôme Guitton, Mourad Hamimed, Benoit Blanchet, Sebastien Salas, Joseph Ciccolini. A multiplex LC-MS/MS method for assaying mAbs in oncology: Application to the CETUXIMAX GPCO-Unicancer trial on cetuximab pharmacokinetics in head and neck cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 1144.


A hybrid binary phase shift keying-modified multi-pulse pulse-position modulation scheme is proposed as a new modulation technique to improve the performance of conventional optical multipulse pulse-position modulation (MPPM) scheme in optical fiber communication systems.


Agriculture in the Mezzogiorno Hills: Creeping out from Depression? - Agricultural development in the hill areas of Southern Italy has shown different trends in the last three decades. This difference in not evident if one looks only at official statistics, since they frequently are not accurate and obsolete. On the contrary, it shows up rather clearly if one looks at what is happening in the real world. Direct observation suggests that since the 90's development has been faster, while the structure of agriculture is becoming more modern. This is taking place because, among other things, small size of farms in the South is not any more a critical attribute as it was in the past. This follows directly from the changes that are taking place in the European and Italian market for food, and in modern society. Demand is more and more oriented by quality, generic welfare issues and way of living, and less by the struggle for low prices. Quality, aesthetics, well-being, etc. are becoming more important in determining the behaviour of consumers. These changes provide new chances and opportunities to hill regions in the South, mainly where natural resources
can effectively be exploited for leisure. What could be defined as the "European model" for food and farm production opens today new possibilities to rural areas that only a few years ago looked completely out of the market. Therefore, economic perspectives for these areas economic perspectives are now much more promising than before.


Error contour charts have been generated comparing scattered intensities calculated using the RGD and the single-wave and two-wave WKB approximations against Mie theory in the range of real refractive index from 1 to 1.5 and of size parameter from 0 to 20. It is demonstrated that the two-wave WKB method is superior to the others. Nonetheless its range of applicability is very limited, especially at scattering angles larger than .}


This article presents an analysis of the literature of the last 2 years on the treatment of sepsis and septic shock. It appears that most of the antimediator therapies applied in phase II or III clinical trials yielded disappointing results. But, many other therapeutic approaches are proposed or are ongoing, and many papers report critical analysis of the reasons for the lack of success of past clinical trials.


This thesis is descriptive normative legal research on the Trustees' duty to bondholder investors under the Capital Market Law, hence no hypotheses are needed. Data collecting strategies using library research to trace legal documents to books, periodicals, seminar papers, and related laws and regulations, notably in the Investment industry. Data management techniques include editing and categorizing data, followed by qualitative data analysis to draw a conclusion, which is that the Trustee's obligation to bondholder investors under the Capital Market Law is to act only for the benefit of all investors and avoid a conflict of interest between the trustee's interests and those of bondholder investors (duty of loyalty and good faith). According to the Capital Market Law, these include researching prospective issuers, determining the rights of debt/bond holders, and drafting contracts/agreements.


Analysis of the chromosomic beta-galactosidase activity in strains of Escherichia coli with and without plasmids indicated that plasmid maintenance enhances gene expression. Cyclic AMP (cAMP) determinations confirmed that the gene enhancement observed in strains carrying plasmids was due to a small increase in the intracellular concentration of cAMP. Also, cells carrying plasmids displayed higher specific glucose uptake rates than did cells without plasmids. The increases in the expression of beta-galactosidase and the glucose uptake rate suggest a cAMP-mediated release of the glucose effect due to plasmid maintenance. Our results suggested that this effect is independent of the host and type and number of plasmids.


In a memory test based on the phonemic similarity effect, and using visually-presented homophone and non-homophone word lists, the serial recall of a group of 18 children with central auditory processing disorders (CAPD) was compared with that of a group of 18 normally hearing matched controls. The controls produced more errors on the homophone than the non-homophone list. The CAPD group showed only a slight bias towards more errors on the homophone list. This difference between the groups implied that, as expected, the controls used internal speech and preferred an articulatory- or auditory-rather than a visually-based processing code. The CAPD group, however, showed only a weak articulatory or auditory coding preference. Thus, the use of internal speech seemed poorly developed in the CAPD subjects.


The West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) province is one of the regions that contribute the most to the production of rice, corn, and cacao. The residues of these crops increase as production increases. The potential availability of the residue was calculated on the basis of the amount of agricultural product and the availability of unutilized residues. The estimated potential energy and collected data were processed and combined with converted factors, such as the yield per hectare and the calorific value, taking into account another purpose, the use of domestic residues for animal feed. Paddy straw, corn straw, and corn cobs had the highest percentage of residue availabilities, 85.91%, 82.26%, and 88.25%, respectively. In addition, the WNT regency has a rich diversity of agricultural residues from superior commodities such as rice, corn, coffee, coconut and cacao. The calculation of the total heating value (THV) of the agricultural residue available reached up to 42.4 PJ. Furthermore, the use of biomass for bioenergy resources is promising, particularly for the WNT region, with the potential for unused agricultural residues. The dependence on unsustainable energy, such as coal and fossil fuel, can be reduced by deploying and developing energy production from biomass use. Therefore, the potential for bioenergy generation and the availability of biomass can be developed for sustainable agriculture and energy management.