Abstract For many applications of the trace formula to problems in the theory of automorphic forms one needs to stabilize the trace formula. Such a stabilization has been achieved by Arthur, building on work of Langlands and Kottwitz, subject to conjectures for orbital integrals known as fundamental lemmas. For the group Sp4 the standard invariant fundamental lemma has been established by Hales. However, for the stabilization of the full trace formula one needs to prove a fundamental lemma for weighted orbital integrals on Sp4. We prove this weighted fundamental lemma and thereby make Arthur's stabilization of the Sp4 trace formula unconditional.


A theoretical study of time dependence in CoCr thin films is presented. The study involved using a Monte Carlo model and taking into account the magnetostatic interaction between the columns. Logarithmic time dependence was observed as a result of the dispersion of local interaction fields. The statistical behavior of small areas of the film was studied and shows good agreement with experiment. Similarly good agreement is found for the temperature variation of the viscosity coefficient and remanent magnetization. >


Lone pair cation-based novel coordination compounds Sn[(pdc)(H2O)] (Sn-I) and (H2bpy)[Bi(pdc)2(Hpdc)]·5H2O (Bi-I) (pdc = pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate; bpy = 4,4'-bipyridine) were synthesized through mild hydrothermal reactions. While Sn-I crystallizing in the polar space group, Pca21, exhibits a helical chain structure consisting of SnO3N distorted seesaws, 2,6-pdc linkers, and water molecules, Bi-I crystallizing in the centrosymmetric (CS) space group, P1̅, reveals a pseudo-3D network composed of BiO5N3 polyhedra, 2,6-pdc ligands, H2bpy2+ cations, and isolated H2O molecules. The lone cations Sn2+ and Bi3+ in the title compounds are in a highly deformed polyhedral environment. The single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation from Sn-I to the anhydrous Sn[(pdc)] (Sn-II) with the polar noncentrosymmetric structure was successfully achieved upon heating crystals of Sn-I. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra indicate that the introduction of Sn2+ or Bi3+ red-shifts the adsorption edges upon coordination. Powder second-harmonic generation (SHG) measurements indicate that Sn-I and Sn-II are type-I phase-matchable and exhibit SHG intensity of ca. 15 and 35 times that of α-SiO2, respectively. Solid state photoluminescence (PL) measurements indicate that Bi-I is an excellent green emitting phosphor with the quantum efficiency up to 26% and outstanding decay lifetime of 1.82 ms at room temperature.


Background The human inferior frontal cortex (IFC) is a large heterogeneous structure with distinct cytoarchitectonic subdivisions and fiber connections. It has been found involved in a wide range of executive control processes from target detection, rule retrieval to response control. Since these processes are often being studied separately, the functional organization of executive control processes within the IFC remains unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings We conducted an fMRI study to examine the activities of the subdivisions of IFC during the presentation of a task cue (rule retrieval) and during the performance of a stop-signal task (requiring response generation and inhibition) in comparison to a not-stop task (requiring response generation but not inhibition). We utilized a mixed event-related and block design to separate brain activity in correspondence to transient control processes from rule-related and sustained control processes. We found differentiation in control processes within the IFC. Our findings reveal that the bilateral ventral-posterior IFC/anterior insula are more active on both successful and unsuccessful stop trials relative to not-stop trials, suggesting their potential role in the early stage of stopping such as triggering the stop process. Direct countermanding seems to be outside of the IFC. In contrast, the dorsal-posterior IFC/inferior frontal junction (IFJ) showed transient activity in correspondence to the infrequent presentation of the stop signal in both tasks and the left anterior IFC showed differential activity in response to the task cues. The IFC subdivisions also exhibited similar but distinct patterns of functional connectivity during response control. Conclusions/Significance Our findings suggest that executive control processes are distributed across the IFC and that the different subdivisions of IFC may support different control operations through parallel cortico-cortical and cortico-striatal circuits.


Background: Reports vary on the incidence of vestibular dysfunction and dizziness in patients following cochlear implantation (CI). Disequilibrium may be caused by surgery at the cochlear base, leading to functional disturbances of the vestibular receptors and endolymphatic duct system (EDS) which are located nearby. Here, we analyzed the three-dimensional (3D) anatomy of this region, aiming to optimize surgical approaches to limit damage to the vestibular organ. Material and Methods: A total of 22 fresh-frozen human temporal bones underwent synchrotron radiation phase-contrast imaging (SR-PCI). One temporal bone underwent micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) after fixation and staining with Lugol's iodine solution (I2KI) to increase tissue contrast. We used volume-rendering software to create 3D reconstructions and tissue segmentation that allowed precise assessment of anatomical relationships and topography. Macerated human ears belonging to the Uppsala collection were also used. Drilling and insertion of CI electrodes was performed with metric analyses of different trajectories. Results and Conclusions: SR-PCI and micro-CT imaging demonstrated the complex 3D anatomy of the basal region of the human cochlea, vestibular apparatus, and EDS. Drilling of a cochleostomy may disturb vestibular organ function by injuring the endolymphatic space and disrupting fluid barriers. The saccule is at particular risk due to its proximity to the surgical area and may explain immediate and long-term post-operative vertigo. Round window insertion may be less traumatic to the inner ear, however it may affect the vestibular receptors.


The effect of OK-432 on the survival of patients with colorectal cancer who had undergone surgical resection was studied. As postoperative chemotherapeutic agents, mitomycin C and tegafur were administered. The survival time in the OK-432 group was prolonged in comparison with that in the chemotherapy-alone group (control) among patients given curative resection, but not among those not given curative resection. The effect of OK-432 was especially significant in patients with Dukes C-Stage and Dukes C rectal cancer (p less than 0.05). Moreover, OK-432 significantly inhibited the recurrence of cancer at the original lesion in patients with Dukes C cancer who had received curative resection. These results indicate that long-term administration of OK-432 is effective as a postoperative adjuvant for curatively resected colorectal cancer, especially Dukes C cancer.


More treatment does not automatically equal better care, particularly at the end of life, according to initial results from a pilot programme in Sacramento California.

Data from the first 10 months of the pilot show that giving patients more options, such as home healthcare, palliative care, and hospice care, cut hospitalisations by almost 70% among this "sickest of the sick population" resulting in savings of "about $2000 (£1293; $1522) per person per month," said the lead researcher.

The study was presented at a conference on innovations in improving the quality and efficiency of delivering healthcare sponsored by the journal Health Affairs on 16 December in Washington, DC.

Brad Stuart, a doctor with the integrated care system Sutter Medical, which ran the pilot, said that most people prefer not to spend their last days in hospital, and earlier discussion of the options available to them leaves them better prepared to …


OBJECTIVE
To determine the rate of full-length publication for the 2004-2019 Veterinary Endoscopy Society (VES) annual meeting abstracts and to identify abstract and author characteristics as predictors of publication.

STUDY DESIGN
Observational bibliographical study.

SAMPLE POPULATION
Three hundred and eighty-nine abstracts.

METHODS
Abstracts from 2004-2019 Veterinary Endoscopy Society (VES) proceedings and matching full-length publications retrieved from bibliographic databases were systematically reviewed. Variables assessed included species, specimen type (cadaver, live animal, etc.), subdiscipline (orthopedics, internal medicine, etc.), institution, country of origin, study design, level of evidence (LoE), time to publication, number of authors, their credentials, and gender. Logistic regression, Fisher's exact tests and t-tests were used to assess the bivariate relationship between publication and characteristics of the authors and publications.

RESULTS
The overall publication rate for presented abstracts published as full-length articles in peer-reviewed journals was 26%. Median time from abstract presentation to full-length article publication was 430 days. Factors associated with full-length article publication were identified: affiliated institution (P = .01), species studied (P = .04), subdiscipline focus (P = .01), level of evidence (P = .01), number of authors (P = .01), and first author's gender (P = .03).

CONCLUSION
Veterinary Endoscopy Society abstracts were commonly categorized into a lower LoE. Abstracts from academic institutions regarding canine patients and soft tissue surgery topics were more likely to be published. Abstracts citing female first authors or with more than 1 author had higher odds of publication.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Data reported provide authors with predictors for publication and identify topics for research opportunities. Veterinary specialty societies may utilize this information when evaluating abstracts.


A surge number of models has been proposed to model the Internet in the past decades. However, the issue on which models are better to model the Internet has still remained a problem. By analysing the evolving dynamics of the Internet, we suggest that at the autonomous system (AS) level, a suitable Internet model, should at least be heterogeneous and have a linearly growing mechanism. More importantly, we show that the roles of topological characteristics in evaluating and differentiating Internet models are apparently over-estimated from an engineering perspective. Also, we find that an assortative network is not necessarily more robust than a disassortative network and that a smaller average shortest path length does not necessarily mean a higher robustness, which is different from the previous observations. Our analytic results are helpful not only for the Internet, but also for other general complex networks.


The leaves of vines exhibit a high degree of variability in shape, from simple oval to highly dissected palmatifid leaves. However, little is known about the extent of leaf bilateral symmetry in vines, how leaf perimeter scales with leaf surface area, and how this relationship depends on leaf shape. We studied 15 species of vines and calculated (i) the areal ratio (AR) of both sides of the lamina per leaf, (ii) the standardized symmetry index (SI) to estimate the deviation from leaf bilateral symmetry, and (iii) the dissection index (DI) to measure leaf-shape complexity. In addition, we examined whether there is a scaling relationship between leaf perimeter and area for each species. A total of 14 out of 15 species had no significant differences in average ln(AR), and mean ln(AR) approximated zero, indicating that the areas of the two lamina sides tended to be equal. Nevertheless, SI values among the 15 species had significant differences. A statistically strong scaling relationship between leaf perimeter and area was observed for each species, and the scaling exponents of 12 out of 15 species fell in the range of 0.49−0.55. These data show that vines tend to generate a similar number of left- and right-skewed leaves, which might contribute to optimizing light interception. Weaker scaling relationships between leaf perimeter and area were associated with a greater DI and a greater variation in DI. Thus, DI provides a useful measure of the degree of the complexity of leaf outline.


There were 2,174 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) notified to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in Australia in 2003; a rate of 10.9 per 100,000 population. The notification rate varied between states and territories and by geographical region with the highest rates in the north of the country. Invasive pneumococcal disease was reported most frequently in children aged less than two years (98.8 cases per 100,000 population). Enhanced surveillance for IPD in 2003 was carried out in all states and territories, providing additional data on 1,842 (85%) of all notified cases. Rates of IPD in Indigenous Australians were three times the rate in non-Indigenous Australians. There were 125 deaths attributed to IPD resulting in an overall case fatality rate of 6.8 per cent. Seventy-one percent of all pneumococcal isolates serotyped were serotypes in the seven-valent conjugate vaccine and 91 per cent were serotypes in the 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine. The clinical presentation and risk factors for IPD varied between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cases and non-vaccine serotypes occurred more frequently among Indigenous children and adults. Data from three years of surveillance indicate an early impact of the 7-valent vaccine in the target population.


ABSTRACT One's current socioeconomic position is intimately tied to one's health status. Further, childhood living conditions also exert lasting effects on the health of adults. However, studies on changes in one's socioeconomic position over the life course rarely find consistent and systematic effects of social mobility for individual health and wellbeing. Such studies almost exclusively draw on objective measures of social mobility and do not consider subjective appraisals of social mobility by individuals themselves. We conduct an analysis of cross-sectional, representative German survey data to explore the question as to how subjective perceptions as opposed to objective accounts of occupational status mobility affect five self-reported health and wellbeing outcomes differentially. We show that objective and subjective accounts of social mobility overlap, yet this association is far from perfect. Further, there are relatively small associations between objective and subjective mobility accounts and health outcomes. Associations between subjective mobility perceptions and health outcomes are intriguingly independent of objective social mobility trajectories. Mismatches between objective and subjective mobility are also correlated with some health outcomes. We discuss implications of our findings that social mobility is associated with those aspects of health which are more closely related to psychological wellbeing rather than physical health.


Patients with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) are predisposed to develop central nervous system tumors, due to the loss of neurofibromin, an inactivator of proto-oncogene Ras. However, to our knowledge, only three cases of ependymomas with NF1 have been reported in the literature. The authors present a case of NF1 patient with a spinal cord ependymoma. She was referred for about half a year history of increasing numbness that progressed from her fingers to her entire body above the bellybutton. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a relative-demarcated, heterogeneously enhanced mass lesion accompanied by perifocal edema in C5-7 level, a left-sided T11 spinous process heterogeneously enhanced mass in soft tissue, intervertebral disk hernia in L2-5 level, and widespread punctum enhancing lesion in her scalp and in T11-L5 level. The patient underwent C5-7 laminectomies and total excision of the tumor under operative microscope, and intraoperative ultrasonography and physiological monitoring were used during the surgery. Histopathologically, her tumor was found to be a ependymoma without malignant features (grade II in the World Health Organization classification). Therefore, no adjuvant therapy was applied. Following the operation, the patient showed an uneventful clinical recovery with no evidence of tumor recurrence after one year of follow-up.


As one of the most demanding applications in high speed networks, real-time services, such as audio and video, have stringent requirements on quality of service (QoS) guarantee, especially the bounded end-to-end delay and delay variations. Accordingly, the real-time services with deterministically bounded delay have been widely studied. The key is to design efficient scheduling algorithms. In this paper, a scheduling method, referred to as static-rotating-priority-queues (SRPQ), is proposed. Exact schedulability conditions for the method, which is important for call admission control, is also presented. The most desirable features of this method are its low complexity and reduced number of first-in-first-out (FIFO) queues in a scheduler while providing high bandwidth utilization.


One reason for not adopting cloud services is the required trust in the cloud provider: As they control the hypervisor, any data processed in the system is accessible to them. Full memory encryption for Virtual Machines (VM) protects against curious cloud providers as well as otherwise compromised hypervisors. AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) is the most prevalent hardware-based full memory encryption for VMs. Its newest extension, SEV-ES, also protects the entire VM state during context switches, aiming to ensure that the host neither learns anything about the data that is processed inside the VM, nor is able to modify its execution state. Several previous works have analyzed the security of SEV and have shown that, by controlling I/O, it is possible to exfiltrate data or even gain control over the VM's execution. In this work, we introduce two new methods that allow us to inject arbitrary code into SEV-ES secured virtual machines. Due to the lack of proper integrity protection, it is sufficient to reuse existing ciphertext to build a high-speed encryption oracle. As a result, our attack no longer depends on control over the I/O, which is needed by prior attacks. As I/O manipulation is highly detectable, our attacks are stealthier. In addition, we reverse-engineer the previously unknown, improved Xor-Encrypt-Xor (XEX) based encryption mode, that AMD is using on updated processors, and show, for the first time, how it can be overcome by our new attacks.


When the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is used in liquid for adsorption or desorption monitoring based bio- or chemical sensing applications, the frequency shift is not only determined by the surface mass change, but also by the change of liquid characteristics, such as density and viscosity, which are greatly affected by the liquid environmental temperature. A monolithic dual-channel QCM is designed and fabricated by arranging two QCM resonators on one single chip for cancelling the fluctuation induced by environmental factors. In actual applications, one QCM works as a specific sensor by modifying with functional membranes and the other acts as a reference, only measuring the liquid property. The dual-channel QCM is designed with an inverted-mesa structure, aiming to realize a high frequency miniaturized chip and suppress the frequency interference between the neighbored QCM resonators. The key problem of dual-channel QCMs is the interference between two channels, which is influenced by the distance of adjacent resonators. The diameter of the reference electrode has been designed into several values in order to find the optimal parameter. Experimental results demonstrated that the two QCMs could vibrate individually and the output frequency stability and drift can be greatly improved with the aid of the reference QCM.


: A case of halitosis caused by the abuse of antibiotics is presented. The abuse of tetracycline resulted in a black hairy tongue and halitosis in this patient. Periodontal therapy and the withdrawal of tetracycline corrected these problems. This is the first patient with halitosis due to abuse of tetracycline seen in our clinic.


Thirteen steers were used in a 4 13 incomplete Latin square to determine chemical composition and digestibility for 13 samples of tallgrass prairie hay. Hays were collected from a variety of locations in east-central Kansas and represented a wide array of harvest dates and storage conditions. Steers were fed prairie hay and soybean meal at 1.5% and .2% of body weight, respective ly, to equalize intakes relative to body weight and prevent degradable intake protein (DIP) from limiting extent of digestion. Prairie hay samples were analyze d for N, ADIN, ADF, NDF, ADIA, monosaccharides (sugars), and alkali-labile phenolic acids (lignin components). The relationships of various forage chemical components to diet organic matter digestibility (OMD) were examined using simple, linear regression. There was a close relationship between OMD and ADF (r = .62; 2


The article based on the generalization of data from foreign and domestic studies highlighted social and ethical problems and risks caused by the introduction of digital technologies and their manifestations in the field of human resource management. The main problems are the following: structural changes in the labor market and the attendant risks of reducing the level of professionalism and the educational system; "Digital inequality", the emergence of new types of discrimination, including when working with big data and making decisions based on a proactive approach, and their impact on the growth of social inequality and social tension; changing confidentiality in professional and private spheres; problems associated with the development of the practice of monitoring and monitoring the effectiveness of personnel activities, incl. their impact on labor relations; responsibility issues and ethical boundaries of autonomous and intelligent technologies.


A monolithic power amplifier (PA) operating in the 60 GHz band is presented. The circuit has been designed utilizing an advanced 0.25 SiGe-heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology, featuring npn transistors with and . A two-stage cascode architecture has been chosen for the implementation. Design techniques and optimization procedure are explained in detail. Measurements show a small signal gain of 18.8 dB and an output power of 14.5 dBm under 1 dB gain compression at 61 GHz. At this frequency, the saturated output power is 15.5 dBm and the peak power added efficiency (PAE) is 19.7%. To our knowledge, this is the highest PAE reported so far for a monolithic 61 GHz PA in SiGe-HBT technology.


Humans carry two nearly identical copies of Survival Motor Neuron gene: SMN1 and SMN2. Mutations or deletions of SMN1, which codes for SMN, cause spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a leading genetic disease associated with infant mortality. Aberrant expression or localization of SMN has been also implicated in other pathological conditions, including male infertility, inclusion body myositis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and osteoarthritis. SMN2 fails to compensate for the loss of SMN1 due to skipping of exon 7, leading to the production of SMNΔ7, an unstable protein. In addition, SMNΔ7 is less functional due to the lack of a critical C-terminus of the full-length SMN, a multifunctional protein. Alu elements are specific to primates and are generally found within protein coding genes. About 41% of the human SMN gene including promoter region is occupied by more than 60 Alu-like sequences. Here we discuss how such an abundance of Alu-like sequences may contribute toward SMA pathogenesis. We describe the likely impact of Alu elements on expression of SMN. We have recently identified a novel exon 6B, created by exonization of an Alu-element located within SMN intron 6. Irrespective of the exon 7 inclusion or skipping, transcripts harboring exon 6B code for the same SMN6B protein that has altered C-terminus compared to the full-length SMN. We have demonstrated that SMN6B is more stable than SMNΔ7 and likely functions similarly to the full-length SMN. We discuss the possible mechanism(s) of regulation of SMN exon 6B splicing and potential consequences of the generation of exon 6B-containing transcripts.


A nonparametric procedure is developed for determining a structure for multivariate, multiclass pattern classification. The resultant classifier is in the form of a layered machine which is composed of multithreshold elements. The basic algorithm determines partitions which are parallel hyperplanes orthogonal to the feature coordinate dimensions. Inherent in the procedure is the concept of a transgenerator unit used to establish new feature dimensions such that effective partitioning can be obtained. While the choice of which classes of transgeneration units to consider is ultimately up to the user, a number of such units are suggested herein. The algorithm gives an indication as to the effectiveness of various transgeneration units and hence can also be used in an interactive manner if so desired for the actual design of a classification structure.


ness . . . " a n d "two enemies facing each other are not united any more by a moral or intellectual community above the battle fields" (pp. 59, 60). The reviewer has noted but one direct reference to international law—a mention of efforts of National Socialist science to arrive at a theory of the law (p. 68 n.). Professor Fritz Morstein Marx, in his discussion of totalitarian politics, has touched upon the possibility of an international community and of new international standards under conditions of totalitarianism (pp. 4, 37). ROBERT R. WILSON


In this paper, we study the dynamics of the market for Database Management Systems (DBMS), which is commonly assumed to possess network effects and where there is still some viable competition in our study period, 2000 – 2004. Specifically, we make use of a unique and detailed dataset on several thousand UK firms to study individual organizations' incentives to adopt a particular technology. We find that there are significant internal complement effects – in other words, using an operating system and a DBMS from the same vendor seems to confer some complementarities. We also find evidence for complementarities between enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) and DBMS and find that as ERP are frequently specific and customized, DBMS are unlikely to be changed once they have been customized to an ERP. We also find that organizations have an increasing tendency to use multiple DBMS on one site, which contradicts the notion that different DBMS are near-perfect substitutes.


Remote delivery approaches to laboratory courses in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic have included a spectrum spanning passive options such as providing students with prerecorded videos of experiments to replacing in-person laboratory experiences with immersive virtual reality environments. While interactive activities that require students to make choices about experimental design or procedure, mimicking levels of inquiry present in in-person laboratory experiments, are preferred, creating custom activities of this type often require expensive equipment, a media production team, and knowledge of multiple programming languages. The open source, nonlinear storytelling platform, Twine, provides a free alternative that allows instructors to create custom interactive choose-your-own-adventure activities based on their existing laboratory curriculum and inclusive of text, images, and video clips. We used Twine to create a choose-your-own-adventure laboratory activity as the final experiment in a remote delivery format organic chemistry laboratory course that allowed students to obtain customized data based on their experimental choices. We expanded this work to create an entire course of Twine choose-your-own-adventure laboratory activities for a third term organic chemistry laboratory course. ©


This descriptive, correlational study was designed to describe levels of consumer satisfaction with emergency department (ED) nursing and to identify the key determinants of satisfaction with ED nursing in a regional New Zealand hospital. The relationship between satisfaction with ED nursing and with overall satisfaction with the ED visit was also explored. Satisfaction is an important indicator of the quality of healthcare and an understanding of satisfaction and its determinants has the potential to improve healthcare services and consumer health outcomes. The study employed a survey design using the Consumer Emergency Care Satisfaction Scale (CECSS) which is an internationally recognised tool that has demonstrable reliability and validity. It consists of 19 items divided between two subscales - Caring and Teaching. Respondents indicate on a five point Likert scale the extent to which they agree or disagree with each item. In addition to the 19 items in the scale, respondents were also asked to provide some consumer characteristic data and to answer two open-ended questions. The survey was posted to a convenience sample of 410 ED attendees within 24-48 hours of their visit to the emergency department. The final sample comprised 100 completed or partially completed surveys. The majority (n = 65, 88%) were either satisfied or very satisfied with ED nursing. There were no statistically significant relationships between any consumer characteristics and satisfaction; however the following visit characteristics were demonstrated to affect levels of satisfaction - triage category, self-rated acuity, the times consumers arrived at and were discharged from the ED, being able to differentiate between health professionals, being kept informed about the visit and any delays, length of stay (LOS), and number of previous visits to the emergency department. There was a strong positive correlation (r = 0.571, p = 0.000) between consumer satisfaction with ED nursing and with overall satisfaction with the visit. Thematic analysis of the data from the question about what consumers liked about ED nursing revealed four themes - personal qualities of the nurse, professional qualities of the nurse, interpersonal qualities of the nurse, and miscellaneous comments. Thematic analysis of the data from the question about what the nurse could have done to make the visit better also revealed four themes - nothing, staffing/service, information giving, and the environment. The study concludes that ED consumers want to know who their nurses are and to have nurses who communicate well with them and keep them informed about their visit. The most significant implications and challenges for researchers are in exploring the area around the consumer health journey as it is these visit characteristics that this study has demonstrated affect levels of satisfaction with ED nursing.


A sex pheromone, protoplast-release-inducing protein (PR-IP) inducer, of the Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale complex is known to induce the release of PR-IP, from mating-type plus (mt+) cells during sexual reproduction. The purified PR-IP inducer was treated with trypsin to obtain internal peptides for determination of partial amino acid sequences. Using these sequences, oligonucleotides were synthesized and used as primers for the combined reverse transcription-PCR. A 296 bp cDNA fragment was amplified, permitting the cloning of corresponding full length cDNA (CpPI; Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale complex PR-IP inducer). The deduced amino acid sequence of CpPI encodes a protein of 212 amino acid residues of M(r) 23,071 whereas portion of the peptide secreted is predicted to have 142 amino acid residues of M(r) 15,717 and shows no significant similarity with known proteins. The predicted protein has three possible consensus sequences for asparagine-linked glycosylation site. The CpPI gene was expressed when mating-type minus (mt-) cells were incubated at a low cell density in the light. Nitrogen deprivation from the medium enhances expression of the CpPI gene. An analysis by genomic Southern hybridization revealed that the cDNA probe hybridized to several DNA fragments obtained from both the genome of mt- and mt+ cells. However, in mt- cells, transcripts for the PR-IP inducer could not be detected by Northern hybridization.


It is difficult to resurface skin defects of the sole because of its unique anatomy, which is resistant to mechanical stimuli. Though various methods have been reported, few are functionally satisfactory, and it is especially difficult to repair the distal plantar area. We report a reconstruction of the distal plantar area using a flexor digitorum brevis muscle flap based on a reverse-flow lateral plantar artery pedicle in a patient with a malignant melanoma on the right lateral metatarsal head of the fifth toe. The muscle flap was sufficient to cover the exposed fifth metatarsal and was covered with a full-thickness skin graft. The result was favourable and the patient has a normal gait and no pressure sores.


A clear correlation expressed by the following equation was observed between the preoperative left ventricular end-systolic eccentricity (epsilon s) and the percentage change of the left ventricular dimension (% delta D) in chronic valvular heart diseases: % delta D = 88.37 epsilon s - 48.16 (r = 0.66, p less than 0.001). Therefore, epsilon s may function as an index for predicting the postoperative cardiac performance independent of the affected valvular locations and the morphology of the lesions.


Widely spread in intertropical and subtropical areas of Africa, the southern distribution of Amblyomma variegatum in Mozambique seems to have its limit around the Save River, at the 22nd parallel South. This area also corresponds to the northern limit of another Amblyomma tick, A. hebraeum. Several authors use to explain the absence of A. variegatum more southwards by an interspecific competition with A. hebraeum. Whereas only A. variegatum is known to favor dermatophilosis, a skin disease that can cause important burden in ruminants, both species are good vectors of Ehrlichia ruminantium, the bacteria causing heartwater, a fatal disease of ruminants representing a major constraint for livestock development in Africa. However, their vector competence may be different and vary according to the strain of E. ruminantium. As a result, the bio-ecology and distribution of those vectors in the field may result in specific epidemiological patterns for the diseases they transmit and are important to understand to adopt proper sanitary control and prevention measures. Little information on current (last decade) Amblyomma distribution in Mozambique is available, and little is known on the factors influencing their distribution. More especially, the existence of a distribution overlap, as observed in Zimbabwe is not known in Mozambique. Indeed the extent of this overlap and the distribution of A. variegatum and A. hebraeum in this particular area represent useful information to assess potential interspecific competition. The objective of this study is to assess the current distribution of A. variegatum and A. hebraeum in this country and to better locate and characterize species limitation ranges around the Save River with a view to further identify the factors influencing their distribution. First, an exhaustive literature review was made to collect all published and unpublished data relating to the distribution of A. variegatum and A. hebraeum in Africa. A field entomological survey was then conducted in Mozambique between February and April 2012 to identify ticks collected on cattle, in the Inhambane, Manica and Sofala provinces, nearby the Save River. Sampling sites included dip-tanks and corridors, used for acaricides treatment by neighboring farmers, as well as farms which were selected by the local Veterinary Service. In each study site, about 60 animals were carefully examined for ticks presence and abundance, mostly in corridors and on 10 laid-down animals most heavily infested by ticks. Ticks, males and females, were collected to confirm species identification. Data on domestic ruminant population and movements as well as breeding practices including tick control were also collected through interviews with farmers and local and central veterinary services. The epidemiological unit is the sampling site. A site was considered positive for a given tick species if at least one animal was infested by at least one tick of that species, otherwise, it was considered negative. To better assess species presence in their limit of distribution, an attempt was made to interpret presence and absence data to distinguish well-established or occasionally present population and likely not detected or absent populations. This was done considering sampling method, tick abundance, study period against phenology, as well as other information: last acaricide treatment, animal introduction, etc. Data were entered in Access database and displayed on a Geographic Information System, ArcMap9.3 A map of the current A. variegatum and A. hebraeum distribution was produced and included 103 positive sites out of 113 sampled between 2000 and 2012. The field survey conducted in 30 study sites evidenced a distribution overlap of 30km (western side) to 100km (eastern side) width, along a slanting line northwest-southeast accross the Save River, where both species were found in three sites and coinfestation of few animals was observed. The current distribution of


The opportunity to make advances in the prevention and treatment of AKI has never been greater than it is today. Major advances have been made in the understanding of the biology of AKI, the design of clinical trials, and the use of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. These advances have been supplemented by the coordinated effort of societies, federal agencies, and industry, such that we are poised in the ensuing years to positively address the unrelenting harm that this disorder has created. Over the past decade, major advances have been made in understanding the pathophysiology of AKI, mainly through the study of small animal models. However, translating these findings to human AKI remains a barrier, which is typified by the absence of effective therapeutic agents. The purpose of the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) XIII was to harmonize human and animal studies and determine what is known about potential therapeutic targets and what gaps in knowledge remain. A series of invited reviews will distill key concepts from this initiative that focus on different pathogenic features of AKI, including hemodynamics, immunity and inflammation, cellular and molecular pathways, progression, and regeneration and repair. This series will convey the status of our knowledge of the pathophysiology of human AKI and propose therapeutic targets for further investigation.


Genomic selection is a new technology in which selection decisions are based on direct genomic values (DGVs) or genomic enhanced breeding values (GEBVs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the relations between DGVs and several milk traits important for both the nutritional value and processability of milk. This is a new approach and can be used to increase the knowledge on how genomic selection can be used in practice. Morning milk samples from Swedish Holstein cows were analyzed for milk composition and technological properties. DGVs were received for each cow for milk, protein and fat yield, milk index, udder health, Nordic total merit and a quota was calculated between fat and milk yield as well as protein and milk yield. The results show that linear correlations exist (P<0·10) between the studied DGVs and contents and yields of parameters in the protein (P=0·002–0·097), fat (P=0·024–0·055) and mineral profiles (P=0·001–0·099) as well as for cheese characteristics (P=0·004–0·065), thus making it possible to obtain detailed information on milk traits that are not registered in the milk recording scheme. Hence, genomic selection will be an efficient tool for breeding and dairy industry to select cows early in life for targeted milk production.


Results of complex treatment of severe combined traumas were compared in 56 patients with using cryosupernatant plasma fraction (CSPF) and fresh frozen plasma--in 112 patients. Better positive dynamics of some laboratory indices was noted as well as lower risk of the development of thromboses, less lethality and better outcomes of the disease when using CSPF. It can be used instead of fresh frozen plasma in complex treatment of patients with severe combined traumas and coexisting DBC-syndrome.


After Choi Chung-heon took power in 1196, he strengthened his political power promising that he would overcome the social crisis and defend the dynasty. He and his successors had been in power for more than 60 years since then. What is the reason why they had been able to maintain absolute power so long while the monarchy and the bureaucracy have been maintained? It is generally assumed that they held the strong private power base, but that is not enough explanation. Also, the research perspective that the military regime abused political power is not enough to reveal the historical character of politics at the period. It is necessary to examine the ideological and institutional grounds that officials condoned and justified the political forms of the Choi families' regime. First, this study, in order to review the grounds that justifies the political forms, pays attention to the Bojeong(輔政) already performed and discussed in the politics of the first half of the 12th century. Second, it examines the political characteristics that emerged in the process of operating the power by using the Munkaek(門客, private retainers) and the private soldiers(私兵) while maintaining the public bureaucracy. Third, it examines the political characters of the benevolent presents and the banquets that Choi Chung-heon and his successors held frequently in such political form. They expected the effect of securing support base and strengthening their position through such political activities.


We suggest general methods to construct asymptotically uniformly valid confidence intervals post-model-selection. The constructions are based on principles recently proposed by Berk et al. (2013). In particular the candidate models used can be misspecified, the target of inference is model-specific, and coverage is guaranteed for any data-driven model selection procedure. After developing a general theory we apply our methods to practically important situations where the candidate set of models, from which a working model is selected, consists of fixed design homoskedastic or heteroskedastic linear models, or of binary regression models with general link functions. In an extensive simulation study, we find that the proposed confidence intervals perform remarkably well, even when compared to existing methods that are tailored only for specific model selection procedures.


The ability to understand uncertainty in building design offers savings in time, cost, quality and environmental impacts, but presents special challenges when considering embodied energy and carbon. The challenges relate particularly to composite building services components. A review of relevant literature suggests that analytical uncertainty propagation (AUP) may in certain conditions have advantages over sampling-based methods for the analysis of initial embodied impacts of composite building services components. A case study shows that the use of AUP combined with parametric prediction could generate realistic estimates of embodied carbon of composite building services components incorporating uncertainty analysis. This approach, if integrated with building information modelling (BIM) could support rapid estimation of whole life energy and carbon impacts of building services systems and components.


Abstract The analysis of effects from coupling in and between systems is important in data-driven investigations as practiced in many scientific fields. It allows deeper insights into the mechanisms of interaction emerging among individual smaller systems when forming complex systems as in the human circulatory system. For systems featuring various regimes, usually only the epochs before and after a transition between different regimes are analyzed, although relevant information might be hidden within these transitions. Transient behavior of cardiovascular variables may emerge, on the one hand, from the recovery of the system after a severe disturbance or, on the other hand, from adaptive behavior throughout changes of states. It contains important information about the processes involved and the relations between state variables such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. Therefore, we apply an ensemble approach to extend the method of symbolic coupling traces to time-variant coupling analysis. These new ensemble symbolic coupling traces are capable of determining coupling direction, strength, and time offset τ from transient dynamics in multivariate cardiovascular data. We use this method to analyze data recorded during an orthostatic test to reveal a transient structure that cannot be detected by classic methods.


Cardiac hypertrophy is an adaptive response to chronic hemodynamic overload. We employed a whole-genome approach using expressed sequence tags (ESTs) to characterize gene transcription and identify new genes overexpressed in cardiac hypertrophy. Analysis of general transcription patterns revealed a proportional increase in transcripts related to cell/organism defense and a decrease in transcripts related to cell structure and motility in hypertrophic hearts compared to normal hearts. Detailed comparison of individual gene expression identified 64 genes potentially overexpressed in hypertrophy, of 232 candidate genes derived from a set of 77,692 cardiac ESTs, including 47,856 ESTs generated in our laboratory. Of these, 29 were good candidates (P < 0.0002) and 35 were weaker candidates (P < 0.005). RT-PCR of a number of these candidate genes demonstrated correspondence of EST-based predictions of gene expression with in vitro levels. Consistent with an organ under various stresses, up to one-half of the good candidates predicted to exhibit differential expression were genes potentially involved in stress response. Analyses of general transcription patterns and of single-gene expression levels were also suggestive of increased protein synthesis in the hypertrophic myocardium. Overall, these results depict a scenario compatible with current understanding of cardiac hypertrophy. However, the identification of several genes not previously known to exhibit increased expression in cardiac hypertrophy (e.g., prostaglandin D synthases; CD59 antigen) also suggests a number of new avenues for further investigation. These data demonstrate the utility of genome-based resources for investigating questions of cardiovascular biology and medicine.


Two-dimensional echocardiography was performed on Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) to determine an optimal echocardiographic imaging technique for snakes and to describe the echocardiographic anatomy of the snake heart. Five snakes immobilized with tiletamine/zolazepam and maintained on isoflurane in oxygen were imaged in dorsal recumbency. The portion of the snake's body containing the heart was submerged in warm water to reduce the artifact created by air trapped between and under the scales. Imaging in sagittal planes demonstrated the caudal vena cava, sinus venous valve, right atrium, various portions of the ventricle, horizontal septum, the left aortic arch, and pulmonary artery. Transverse imaging depicted the spatial relationship of the left and right aortic arches and pulmonary artery and the horizontal septum. Basic knowledge of cardiac blood flow in the reptile was necessary to understand the echocardiographic anatomy.


. Enhancing intellectual potential is becoming a global goal for the development of modern society, since the intellectual potential development index is a major component of the human development index. The society needs new knowledge and, accordingly, new methods and models for obtaining them. One of the ways to increase the intellectual potential of a region can be the integration of business and education through the extensive use of the dual training model, which represents significant advantages for the employer, for the educational institution, for the future specialist and for the state. To solve this problem and form a practice-oriented educational environment, it is necessary to implement a social partnership mechanism that ensures the optimal balance between the realizations of the interests of all parties involved in the education process.


A growing body of research suggests that computer games can help players learn to integrate knowledge and skills with values in complex domains of real-world problem solving (P. C. Adams, 1998; Barab et al., 2001; Gee, 2003; Shaffer et al., 2005; Starr, 1994). In particular, research suggests that epistemic games—games where players think and act like real world professionals—can link knowledge, skills, and values into professional ways of thinking (Shaffer, 2006). Here, we look at how a ten hour version of the epistemic game Urban Science developed civic thinking in young people as they learned about urban ecology by role-playing as urban planners redesigning a city. Specifically, we ask whether and how overcoming authentic obstacles from the profession of urban planning in the virtual world of a role playing game can link civic values with the knowledge and skills young people need to solve complex social and ecological problems. Our results from coded pre-and post-interviews show that players learned to think of cities as complex systems, learned about skills that planners use to enact change in these systems, and perhaps most important, learned the value of serving the public in that process. Two aspects of the game, tool-as-obstacle and stakeholders-as-obstacle, contributed to the development of players' civic thinking. Thus, our results suggest that games like Urban Science may help young people— and thus help all of us—identify and address the many civic, economic, and environmental challenges in an increasingly complex, and increasingly urban, world.


The article is deal with the sociodemographic differences between Czech cohesion regions for the last teenty years and more. There are drew up the basic Czech population and spatial regions differencess in the preface. The spatial hierarchy of the cohesion regions is completed about its eight spatial units. There are those cohesion regions (NUTS 2) in the Czech Republic: Central Bohemia (CBM), Central Moravia (CMR), Moravia Silesia (MS), Northeast (NE), Northwest (NW), Prague (PRG), Southeast (SE) and Southwest (SW). We are research their population size changes, demographic structures and ageing proces during last 20 years at least. The typology is given weigh of the population development changes and some choiced population compositions. The analyses on this spatial level is working with the creation of cartogram method for processing of the demographical data. We can use ArcGIS 9.2 and his version ArcMap 9.2 as a complete system for authoring, serving, and using geographic informations for better processing the spatial data by the help of cartogram method. Our principal main is to group the all eight Czech cohesions regions on the Czech territory on the basis groups according the sociodemographic disparities.


In this research, an adaptive control system is designed for a safe touchdown of an unmanned helicopter during its landing phase on a 6DOF moving platform. In this paper the landing phase is divided into the approach and touchdown stages. In the first stage, the helicopter tries to attenuate the initial position and direction errors and in the next stage, the platform's attitude is tracked for a safe touchdown. The hierarchical structure of the proposed control system includes supervisory and tracking levels. The supervisory level recognizes the landing stage and the tracking level controls and compensates the errors based on SDRE (State Dependent Riccati Equation) method. The robustness and performance of the landing system is evaluated by computer simulation in different scenarios. The results show satisfactory tracking performance of the designed control system during landing phase on a moving platform.


Software design is not easy-not easy to do, teach, or evaluate. Much of software education these days is about products and APIs, yet much of these are transient, whereas good design is eternal, if only we could figure out what good design is. The author has been struck by one of the underlying principles that leads to better designs: remove duplication. The principle is simple: say anything in your program only once. Stated blandly like that, it hardly bears saying. Yet identifying and removing repetition can lead to many interesting consequences. The author looks at a simple case of subroutine calls. He considers the benefits of design patterns.


Consumer decisions depend on rational and emotional drives. Marketing methods searching for effective ways for managing consumer's behavioral, increasing its loyalty and other. Managing of emotional level of customer fatigue at optimal level in current shop will raise consumer's loyalty as a result. The study is designed to determine the effect of the environment on the quality of shopping service through consumer fatigue in the purchase process. Results of the study indicate of possibility to evaluate shopping floor service through the background emotional level of its customers. The result may be to improve the quality of trade services by creating conditions conducive to a more favorable environment for shops.


The effect of electron beam (E-beam) radiation on a series of styrenic block copolymers (SBCs) was investigated. These SBCs included newly developed poly(styrene-block-isoprene/butadiene-block-styrene) (SIBS), poly(styrene-block-butadiene-block-styrene) (SBS), and poly(styrene-block-isoprene-block-styrene) (SIS). The tensile properties, stress relaxation, molecular weight, and dynamical mechanical properties were studied. Generally, the crosslink density and tensile moduli of SBCs increased with increasing of E-beam radiation dose. The tensile strength of SIBS and SIS was shown to first decrease at lower E-beam radiation dose ( 190 kGy). The tensile strength of SBS was significantly decreased at high E-beam radiation dose (>190 kGy). This was attributed to the differences between entanglement before E-beam radiation and the homogeneity of the crosslink network after exposure. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2979–2988, 2014. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers


Network reconfiguration (NR) is one of the most effective methods to reduce line power loss in the distribution system, which causes higher losses than the other parts of the power system. This paper proposes a modified symbiotic organisms search (MSOS) algorithm to solve the NR problem. For the purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of MSOS, the mutualism and parasitism strategies of the original symbiotic organisms search (SOS) have been modified to create better new solutions. In the mutualism strategy, the so-far best solution is updated immediately as soon as new solutions are created. In the parasitism strategy, the update is only implemented for the first half of control variables, whereas another half still remains unchanged. The comparison results between MSOS and SOS on twenty-five benchmark functions and different scales of test distribution systems with 14, 33, 69, and 119 nodes show that the improvement level of MSOS over SOS is significant with higher success rates and better quality of gained solutions. Similarly, MSOS also reaches better results than other methods in the literature. Consequently, MSOS can be a favorable method for determining the most appropriate configurations for the distribution systems.


Background Treatment of LQT2 is inadequate. Many drugs which can pharmacologically rescue defective protein trafficking in LQT2 also result in potent blockade of HERG current, negating their therapeutic benefit. It is reported that PD-118057 and thapsigargin can rescue LQT2 without hERG channel blockade, but the precise mechanism of action is unknown. Furthermore, the effect of PD-118057 and thapsigargin on the dominant negative E637K-hERG mutant has not been previously investigated. Objective In this study, we investigated: (a) the effect of PD-118057 and thapsigargin on the current amplitudes of WT-hERG and WT/E637K-hERG channels; (b) the effect of PD-118057 and thapsigargin on the biophysical properties of WT-hERG and WT/E637K-hERG channels; (c) whether drug treatment can rescue channel processing and trafficking defects of the WT/E637K-hERG mutant. Methods The whole-cell Patch-clamp technique was used to assess the effect of PD-118057 and thapsigargin on the electrophysiological characteristics of the rapidly activating delayed rectifier K+ current (Ikr) of the hERG protein channel. Western blot was done to investigate pharmacological rescue on hERG protein channel function. Results In our study, PD-118057 was shown to significantly enhance both the maximum current amplitude and tail current amplitude, but did not alter the gating and kinetic properties of the WT-hERG channel, with the exception of accelerating steady-state inactivation. Additionally, thapsigargin shows a similar result as PD-118057 for the WT-hERG channel, but with the exception of attenuating steady-state inactivation. However, for the WT/E637K-hERG channel, PD-118057 had no effect on either the current or on the gating and kinetic properties. Furthermore, thapsigargin treatment did not alter the current or the gating and kinetic properties of the WT/E637K-hERG channel, with the exception of opening at more positive voltages. Conclusion Our findings illustrate that neither PD-118057 nor thapsigargin play a role in correcting the dominant-negative effect of the E637K-hERG mutant.


This monograph, published as the fourteenth supplement of the Acta Ophthalmologia , is concerned chiefly with the occurrence of citric acid in the intraocular fluids. It begins with a discussion of the application and limitations of the Thunberg enzymatic method for the determination of citric acid. The different qualitative tests which confirm the presence of the acid in ocular fluids and tissues are reported. The quantity of citrate in the intraocular fluids and serums of various mammals, birds and fish, of bovine fetuses and also of patients suffering from different ocular diseases is recorded. It also deals with the relation of blood, tears, corneal permeability and retinal dehydrogenases to the metabolism of citric acid. Citric acid is found in intraocular fluid in all mammals, birds and fish, although the amount in birds is higher than in other animals. Unlike dextrose, citric acid is evenly distributed throughout the vitreous


This paper considers issues in religious education that ought to be addressed by the recent non‐statutory framework for England. It outlines problematic features of the current situation and paints a generally welcoming picture of the educational opportunities afforded by this new initiative.


Purpose
This paper aims to examine how metadata taxonomies in embodied computing databases indicate context (e.g. a marketing context or an ethical context) and describe ways to track the evolution of the embodied computing industry over time through digital media archiving.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors compare the metadata taxonomies of two embodied computing databases by providing a narrative of their top-level categories. After identifying these categories, they describe how they structure the databases around specific themes.

Findings
The growing wearables market often hides complex sociotechnical tradeoffs. Marketing products like Vandrico Inc.'s Wearables Database frame wearables as business solutions without conveying information about the various concessions users make (about giving up their data, for example). Potential solutions to this problem include enhancing embodied computing literacy through the construction of databases that track media about embodied computing technologies using customized metadata categories. Databases such as FABRIC contain multimedia related to the emerging embodied computing market – including patents, interviews, promotional videos and news articles – and can be archived through user-curated collections and tagged according to specific themes (privacy, policing, labor, etc.). One of the benefits of this approach is that users can use the rich metadata fields to search for terms and create curated collections that focus on tradeoffs related to embodied computing technologies.

Originality/value
This paper describes the importance of metadata for framing the orientation of embodied computing databases and describes one of the first attempts to comprehensively track the evolution of embodied computing technologies, their developers and their diverse applications in various social contexts through media archiving.


Objective - This study investigates whether private information newly incorporated into stock price enhances performance in timing share repurchases.

Methodology/Technique - Cost saving gained in share repurchases is used a proxy for performance of market-timing in share repurchases and firm-specific stock return variation is used to gauge stock price informativeness. A sample of 334 U.S. repurchasing firms are tested using panel data regression.

Findings - The paper concludes that managers possess better market timing skill by obtaining more cost saving from their share repurchases when private information is reflected in stock price. Stock price informativeness may be the tool for managers to improve their market timing skill to take advantage of the stock market. Furthermore, firms with smaller size and a higher market-to-book ratios, and firms with higher cash-to-assets ratios are found to achieve more cost saving in buying back their shares indicating that these firms are able to time the market in share repurchasing.

Novelty – Despite numerous previous studies focusing solely on using share repurchases announcement for computing cumulative abnormal returns in testing managerial market timing, this study contributes to the literature in several ways: (i) providing evidence relating stock price informativeness and performance of market-timing in share repurchases; (ii) developing a better timing measure constructed using actual repurchasing data; (iii) adopting a cost saving measure as the timing measure instead of cumulative abnormal return.

Type of Paper - Empirical.

Keywords: Managerial Learning Hypothesis; Market Timing; Stock Repurchase; Stock Price Informativeness; Firm-specific Stock Return Variation.

JEL Classification: G12, G13, G14.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35609/jfbr.2019.4.1(5)


Background: Communities within the EU are aging. For some religious communities this is not just a demographic effect, but one influenced by changes in recruitment rates to the order. As communities age, the tacit knowledge and experiences members carry within them – the stories of vocation and calling – are amongst those most vulnerable to loss, and yet also some of the most valuable and powerful delineators of what it is to be 'community'. This paper describes a project intended to help the members of a retirement community of nuns in northern England recollect and share their stories. Methods: The Patient Voices Reflective Digital Storytelling process was adapted to suit the needs of the group, using experiences gained in working with elderly patients and service users in health and social care settings. Results: A set of some twenty stories was created with members of the community, in several workshops. Ages of participants ranged up to 101 years. One storyteller returned several times to tell four stories over a period of some years. Several adaptations to the process were needed to fit it to storyteller profile. Conclusions: With appropriate adaptation and support, digital storytelling can be an effective process through which elderly sections of religious communities can preserve and share stories of vocation, calling and life experience. These stories can then provide valuable resources for reflection within the broader part of that religious community, and have common ground with stories told by groups within health and social care.


A novel member of the metallocarboxypeptidase gene family was identified from its homology with carboxypeptidase E and has been designated CPX-2. The cDNA of 2500 nucleotides encodes a protein of 764 amino acids that contains an N-terminal signal peptide-like sequence, a 158-residue discoidin domain, and a 400-residue carboxypeptidase domain. The 400-residue metallocarboxypeptidase domain has 59% amino acid identity with a protein designated AEBP-1; 44% to 46% identity with carboxypeptidases E, N, and Z; and lower homology with other members of the metallocarboxypeptidase gene family. The discoidin domain of CPX-2 has 22% amino acid identity with the carbohydrate-binding domain of discoideum-I, 29% to 34% identity with the phospholipid-binding domain of human factors V and VIII, and 59% identity with the discoidin-like domain on AEBP-1. CPX-2 is missing several of the predicted active-site residues that are conserved in most other members of the metallocarboxypeptidase gene family and which are thought to be required for enzyme activity. Expression of CPX-2 using the baculovirus system produced several forms of protein, from 80 to 105 kDa, but no detectable activity toward a variety of carboxypeptidase substrates. A shorter 50-kDa form of CPX-2, which contains the carboxypeptidase domain but not the discoidin domain, was also inactive when expressed in the baculovirus system. CPX-2 is able to bind to Sepharose-Arg; this binding is blocked by 10 mM Arg. Northern blot analysis showed CPX-2 mRNA in mouse brain, liver, kidney, and lung. In situ hybridization analysis of brain revealed a broad distribution. Areas that are enriched in CPX-2 include the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, median eminence, and choroid plexus. Taken together, these data suggest a widespread function for CPX-2, possibly as a binding protein rather than an active carboxypeptidase.


Posterior fossa tumors (PFTs) are prevalent in children, and about half of all childhood brain tumors arise from the structures of the posterior fossa. Studies on PFTs in Iranian children have mainly focused on epidemiological characteristics. This study aimed to evaluate surgical outcomes and predictive factors for survival in children with PFTs in Shiraz, Iran. A prospective cohort study was conducted from March 2014 to September 2019 in Namazi Hospital affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Shiraz, Iran). A total of 87 pediatric patients under the age of 16 who were diagnosed with PFT and had undergone surgery were recruited. The children were followed up for postoperative outcomes such as mortality and neurological complications. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 20.0) and R software (version 3.3.1). P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean age of the patients was 6.49±4.14 years and 64.4% were male. Sixteen patients were lost to follow-up, 31 died after surgery, and 40 were in remission during phone calls. The median survival time of the patients was four years. The most common type of PFT was medulloblastoma (n=46, 53%). The result of the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model showed that age (P=0.034) was correlated with postoperative survival, hazard ratio 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.82 to 0.99). Among various predictive factors, lower age was associated with poor outcomes in pediatric children with PFTs.


We present a versatile automated theorem proving framework capable of automated proofs of outer bounds in network information theory, automated discovery of inner bounds in network information theory (in conjunction with the method by Lee and Chung), simplification of capacity regions involving auxiliary random variables, automated deduction of properties of information-theoretic quantities (e.g. Wyner and Gács-Körner common information), and automated discovery of non-Shannon-type inequalities, under a unified framework. Our method is based on the linear programming approach for proving Shannon-type information inequalities by Yeung and Zhang, together with a novel pruning method for searching auxiliary random variables. We introduce the concept of existential information inequalities, which provides an axiomatic framework for a wide range of problems in information theory. A full version of this paper is accessible at: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2101.12370.pdf


Abstract The relationship between experimental method and the perception hypothesis being examined is a particularly critical one. Here, earlier studies employing the click-placement method are surveyed, and the conclusions drawn there about the perceptual processes involved are discussed. A working hypothesis is developed which enables an examination, for the first time, of Ladefoged and Broadbent's [1960] original claim concerning basic processing units. Within a hypothetical framework of hierarchically organized perceptual decisions, the click-placement task is applied in a series of experiments designed to approach the question of processing units at segment, syllable and foot level. Evidence is found for the psychological reality of the syllable and foot. The phonetic basis of the foot is examined and found to be replaceable by top-down information. Between foot and syllable level, indications of differential word demarcation were found, dependent on differences in segmental structure.


Lifted Markov chains are Markov chains on graphs with added local "memory" and can be used to mix towards a target distribution faster than their memoryless counterparts. Upper and lower bounds on the achievable performance have been provided under specific assumptions. In this paper, we analyze which assumptions and constraints are relevant for mixing, and how changing these assumptions affects those bounds. Explicitly, we find that requesting mixing on either the original or the full lifted graph, and allowing for reducible lifted chains or not, have no essential influence on mixing time bounds. On the other hand, allowing for suitable initialization of the lifted dynamics and/or imposing invariance of the target distribution for any initialization do significantly affect the convergence performance. The achievable convergence speed for a lifted chain goes from diameter-time to no acceleration over a standard Markov chain, with conductance bounds limiting the effectiveness of the intermediate cases. In addition, we show that the relevance of imposing ergodic flows depends on the other criteria. The presented analysis allows us to clarify in which scenarios designing lifted dynamics can lead to better mixing, and provide a flexible framework to compare lifted walks with other acceleration methods.


This paper proposes the use of cepstrum editing technique as a signal pre-processing algorithm to enhance spall related vibration features in rolling element bearings for the purpose of size quantification and fault prognosis. Cepstrum editing technique has been proposed and utilized in a number of contexts which include: signal separation; bearing diagnosis enhancement through pre-whitening and operation modal analysis through extracting the forcing function. In this paper, the cepstrum editing technique is utilized to enhance the weak step response event originating from the entry of the rolling element into the spall region. The cepstrum editing technique is used to remove the transfer path effect (high quefrency liftering). The effectiveness of the cepstrum editing technique is demonstrated on two sizes of a naturally originated and propagated inner race spalls from a high-speed test rig. The use of the proposed technique helps in clarifying the entry event at a number of locations when visually examining the time domain signal. The further processing of the signal using bearing synchronous averaging for instance will give a definite measure for the size of the spall. In addition, features extracted with the aid of the cepstrum editing can be applied effectively in neural networks (NNW) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to quantify spall 


Having analyzed the results of the previous treatment, the authors performed sparing resurgery in 11, laryngectomy in 31 and chemotherapy in 29 patients. The resurgery should be indicated only in cases of localized recurrent tumor with clearly outlined margins. Repeated laryngectomy did not change the patients' survival essentially. For elderly patients with disseminated cancer and recurrences resurgery is not recommended.


Data generated by GPS-equipped probe vehicles, especially public transit vehicles can be a reliable source for traffic speed estimation. Traditionally, this estimation is done by learning the parameters of a model that describes the relationship between the speed of the probe vehicle and the actual traffic speed. However, such approaches typically suffer from data sparsity issues. Furthermore, most state of the art approaches does not consider the effect of weather and the driver of the probe vehicle on the parameters of the learned model. In this paper, we describe a multivariate predictive multi-model approach called SpeedPro that (a) first identifies similar clusters of operation from the historic data that includes the real-time position of the probe vehicle, the weather data, and anonymized driver identifier, and then (b) uses these different models to estimate the traffic speed in real-time as a function of current weather, driver and probe vehicle speed. When the real-time information is not available our approach uses a different model that uses the historical weather and traffic information for estimation. Our results show that the purely historical data is less accurate than the model that uses the real-time information.


This paper proposes a model of international trade with capital accumulation and …nancial intermediation. This is achieved by embedding the Melitz (2003) model into an incomplete-markets neoclassical framework with an endogenous credit market. The model preserves the analytical tractability of the original Melitz model despite nontrivial distribution of …rms'net worth and capital stocks. We use the model to examine the di¤erential e¤ects of …nancial and non-…nancial shocks on aggregate output and international trade ‡ows. The model predicts that trade volume declines far more sharply and signi…cantly than that of output (with an elasticity larger than 3) under …nancial shocks than under non-…nancial shocks. The prediction is consistent with the stylized fact that most countries that experienced major …nancial crises had signi…cantly larger and sharper contraction in exports than aggregate output (as is also true during the recent …nancial crisis). In the long run, however, a deeper …nancial market is a great source of "comparative advantage"— it raises not only the level of aggregate productivity but also the ratio of trade volume to domestic output.


This paper presents clinical, laboratory and sialographic studies on 22 patients with recurrent sialadenitis of parotid glands in adults (RSPA), 103 sjögren's syndrome (SS) cases, and particularly a long term (2 approximately 24 years, mean 10 years) follow-up studies on 22 patients with RSPA. Twelve out of 22 RSPA patients developed SS. These patients had recurrent parotid swelling for 1.5 approximately 14 years (mean 5.2 years) before xerostomia and keratoconjunctivitis sicca presented. Ten of the 22 RSPA patients did not develop SS, of them 10 experienced recurrent parotitis from childhood to adulthood, and the disease underwent remission in 7 of them. It is suggested to classify RSPA patients without any history of parotid swellings in childhood tentatively as subclinical SS (SCSS).


With field experiment and under low-density condition, this paper studied the individual grain yield (GY) and nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUE) of fifty Zea mays cultivars widely planted in North China since 1990s. Exploring analyses and normality tests showed that the 1000-kernal weight (KW), above-ground biomass per plant (AB), grain harvest index (HI(G)), NUE, and nitrogen harvest index (HI(N)) were all conformed to normal distribution, with N (265.1, 44.50(2)), N (322.3, 36.91(2)), N (515.8, 64.73(2)), N (0.514, 0.06(2)), N (43.0, 5.37(2)), and N (0.643, 0.06(2)), respectively. The GY ranged from 198.35 to 345.22 g.plant(-1), KW from 241.50 to 391.82 g.1000 kernal(-1), AB from 402.34 to 712.84 g.plant(-1), HI(G) from 0.39 to 0.63, NUE from 31.18 to 57.35 g grain.g N(-1), and HI(N) from 0.47 to 0.74. Correlation analyses indicated that GY positively and significantly correlated with NUE (partial correlation coefficient was 0.471, P = 0.001), while KW negatively and significantly correlated with NUE (Pearson correlation coefficient was -0.427, P = 0.002). Through hierarchical cluster analyses for GY and NUE, the test Zea mays varieties could be sorted into 3 types, i.e., high-GY with high-NEU, low-GY with low-NEU, and mediate type. Currently, only 24 percent of Zea mays cultivars in North China were of high-GY with high-NEU type, and thus, its breeding should be strengthened in the future.


In an effort to identify biologically active molecules in compound databases, we have investigated similarity searching using short binary bit strings with a maximum of 54 bit positions. These "minifingerprints" (MFPs) were designed to account for the presence or absence of structural fragments and/or aromatic character, flexibility, and hydrogen-bonding capacity of molecules. MFP design was based on an analysis of distributions of molecular descriptors and structural fragments in two large compound collections. The performance of different MFPs and a reference fingerprint was tested by systematic "one-against-all" similarity searches of molecules in a database containing 364 compounds with different biological activities. For each fingerprint, the most effective similarity cutoff value was determined. An MFP accounting for only 32 structural fragments showed less than 2% false positive similarity matches and correctly assigned on average approximately 40% of the compounds with the same biological activity to a query molecule. Inclusion of three numerical two-dimensional (2D) molecular descriptors increased the performance by 15%. This MFP performed better than a complex 2D fingerprint. At a similarity cutoff value of 0.85, the 2D fingerprint totally eliminated false positives but recognized less than 10% of the compounds within the same activity class.


ABSTRACT Few empirical studies suggest that fictional stories can influence political opinions. Nonetheless, in this study I demonstrate the relevance of Harry Potter consumption to oppositional attitudes toward Donald Trump and his worldview. Using multivariate observational models and panel data from 2014 to 2016, results suggest that the lessons of the Harry Potter series have influenced levels of opposition to punitive policies and support for tolerance of groups considered outside the American mainstream. Further, they predict public reactions to Donald Trump above and beyond their influence on policies consistent with his views.


Abstract. We present an energy management scheme for the power-over-fiber system used in the electric power industry. The scheme dynamically adjusts output power of the system by tuning the driven current of the laser, according to the power consumption of the external load, which is deduced by the output current and voltage of the photovoltaic cell. In addition, an auxiliary power is employed to increase the output power and improve the dynamic response of the system. Experiments were made in which the static response, dynamic response, and the stability of the scheme were tested. The results show that our scheme can automatically control the output power of the system corresponding to the external load, which leads to the alleviation of the working temperature and potentially increases the reliability of the system and even prolongs the lifetime.


The mammalian brain is organized over sizes that span several orders of magnitude, from synapses to the entire brain. Thus, a technique to visualize neural circuits across multiple spatial scales (multi-scale neuronal imaging) is vital for deciphering brain-wide connectivity. Here, we developed this technique by coupling successive light microscope/electron microscope (LM/EM) imaging with an ultrastructurally-preserved tissue clearing method, ScaleSF. Our multi-scale neuronal imaging incorporates 1) brain-wide macroscopic observation, 2) mesoscopic circuit mapping, 3) microscopic subcellular imaging, and 4) EM imaging of nanoscopic structures, allowing seamless integration of structural information from the brain to synapses. We applied the technique to three neural circuits of two different species, mouse striatofugal, mouse callosal, and marmoset corticostriatal projection systems, and succeeded in the simultaneous interrogation of their circuit structure and synaptic connectivity in a targeted way. Our multi-scale neuronal imaging will significantly advance the understanding of brain-wide connectivity by expanding the scales of objects.


Gender distinction in statistics, particularly labour statistics have real impact in formulating policies and programs for steering market towards economic as well as social development. True labour statistics are supposed to reflect dynamics of each individual participant in the labour force and their work situation irrespective of its gender / sex. However, studies reveal that official labour statistics don't provide real picture of women's paid economic activities, particularly in third world countries. The invisibility of women's work prevails due to perception about women's role confined to be housewife only. This perception stemmed from patriarchal gender roles and society norms. Improper field work survey of collection labour statistics also aggravates the invisibility. Enumerator and respondent are two main actors of field work of national survey and their being male with biased perception cause invisibility.
Though it is not easy to suggest remedial measures for addressing enumerator's or respondent's biases that shaped by culture and society norms, an attempt can be made to sensitize and address the problem. This paper suggests that Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) to have more female enumerators to seek out women respondents, can still reduce invisibility. As a result, PBS may consider labour force survey as more focused and important assignment being prime input for policy making, rather than routine official duty of collecting numbers and figures only. For the purpose, a policy measure has to be taken not only for capacity building for enumerators but also for review of questionnaire and time spent on each household. Without proper training and instructions, enumerator's own perception can influence their performance in collecting real labour force statistics which could lead to ineffective policy formulation and implementation.


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

The American Cancer Society reported that 35,420 Americans died in 2009 because of pancreatic cancer. It is an aggressive malignancy that is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage with poor prognosis. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt is a potent survival pathway that may mediate resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs and conventional therapies in pancreatic cancer patients. Thus, PI3K/Akt is considered as a promising therapeutic target for this cancer. Dietary phytochemicals offer promising options for the development of effective strategies for the prevention of cancer, and thus can be utilized as complementary and alternative medicine. Therefore, to develop newer and more effective chemotherapeutic agent for pancreatic cancer, we have examined the effect of grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSPs) on the growth of pancreatic cancer cell lines and the molecular mechanisms underlying this effect using PANC-1, AsPC-1 and Miapaca-2 cell lines as a model. The effect of GSPs on pancreatic cancer cell lines was studied on cell proliferation, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and PI3K/Akt pathway using MTT assay, western blotting and FACS analysis. In vitro treatment of pancreatic cancer cells (Miapaca-2, PANC-1, and AsPC-1) with GSPs resulted in: (i) growth inhibition, which was associated with G2/M-phase arrest, and includes the inhibition of the expressions of cyclin B1, Cdc25B and Cdc25c proteins. (ii) Induction of apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells by GSPs was associated with the enhanced expression of Bax, and caspase-3 activation while reduced levels of anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl2, Bcl-xl). (iii) Blocking of PI3K/Akt pathway. Exposure of Miapaca-2 and PANC-1 cancer cells to PI3K inhibitor (wortmannin) also resulted in a dose-dependent induction of apoptosis in these cells. The in vitro data were further verified using in vivo tumor xenograft model. Administration of GSPs (0.2% and 0.5%, w/w) as a supplement of an AIN76A control diet resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of the growth of Miapaca-2 tumor xenografts in athymic nude mice (35-65%; P<0.05-0.01) compared to non-GSPs-treated controls. The growth inhibitory effect of dietary GSPs on the pancreatic xenograft tumors was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death of tumor cells, and induction of Bax expression and activation of caspase-3 while decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins. Further, the levels of phospho-Akt and the proteins of PI3K family (PI3K 110 and PI3K 85) were markedly decreased in the xenograft tumors treated with GSPs compared with controls. Together, this preclinical study provides evidence that the chemotherapeutic effect of GSPs on the growth of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo is mediated, at least in part, through the induction of apoptosis, G2/M phase arrest and blocking of PI3K/Akt cell survival pathway.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1614. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1614


Abstract In response to the last recession, the European Union (EU) adopted a new economic governance (NEG) regime. An influential stream of EU social policy literature argues that there has been more emphasis on social objectives in the NEG regime in more recent years. This article shows that this is not the case. It does so through an in‐depth analysis of NEG prescriptions on wage, employment protection and collective bargaining policy in Germany, Italy, Ireland and Romania between 2009 and 2019. Our main conclusion is that the EU's interventions in these three industrial relations policy areas continue to be dominated by a liberalization agenda that is commodifying labour, albeit to a different degree across the uneven but nonetheless integrated European political economy. This finding is important, as countervailing transnational trade union action is the more likely, the more there is a common threat. Even so, our contextualized analysis also enables us to detect contradictions that could provide European labour movements opportunities to pursue countervailing action.


Accepted 11 November, 2010 The aim of the present paper is to answer whether the QM concept is universal or context-dependent, organic or mechanistic, and theoretical or practical in its essence.The study examines the impact of contingency factors on quality management in Serbian companies in order to find out the possible causes of failure, that is inadequate results of QM application and to recommend the companies how to harmonize their context with TQM principles. The starting point is that QM concept is not universally applicable, but context-dependent, so this is the reason why a model is assumed for relation between organizational contingency factors ‐ environment, demographic variables, strategy, management style, organizational structure, technology applied, and employees' behavior, and QM critical factors. The model was tested by the structural equation modeling method using the sample of 111 Serbian industrial companies. Context-dependent nature of QM concept has been proved by confirming basic research hypotheses, through direct impact of organizational structure and employees' behavior, and by confirming accessory hypotheses for indirect impact of other contingency factors, such as environment, strategy, technology, and management style in the model. Quality management is directly dependant of mechanistic organizational structure (relation strength 0.657) and organic employees' behavior (relation strength 0.520). The other contingency factors exert their influence indirectly through mediation (the largest influence has strategy 0.500, followed by demographic variables and management style 0.380, then technology 0.240, and finally environmental factors -0.280 on lower level of significance). The results indicate that large companies achieve solid results relatively easily in QM area, while small- and medium-sized companies cannot achieve solid QM practice through the pathway of demographic variables and organizational structure. Therefore, it is recommendable for SMEs to take the "alternative road" through clearly defined strategy without risk elements, which further impacts technology (so it can alleviate unfavorable environment impact) and furthermore management style and employees' behavior. Also, it is noticeable that in more favorable environment the small-sized companies will additionally strengthen technology impact and thus achieve better QM practice. The present work also indicates that it is needed to combine mechanistic and organic principles, because high organizational structure with high formalization and specialization is a feature of mechanistic approach, while proactive behavior of employees with a strong spirit of collectivism is a typical feature of organic type.


BACKGROUND
Psychosis is one of the most serious complications of advanced parkinsonism, but many patients are spared. The genetic factors predisposing to psychosis are unclear.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the association between apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphism and the development of psychosis in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

METHODS
Eighty-seven patients with advanced PD were assessed. Psychosis was diagnosed in 50 patients who manifested paranoid delusions, hallucinations without insight, or disorders of perception. Time of onset of psychosis was retrieved from the medical records and caregivers' recall. APOE genotype was determined by restriction enzyme digests of amplified alleles. Cox models of logistic regression and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to assess factors determining early development of psychosis.

RESULTS
APOE epsilon3/epsilon4 allele was carried by 20 patients (14 with psychosis), epsilon2/epsilon3 by 11 patients (10 with psychosis), epsilon3/epsilon3 by 55 patients (25 with psychosis) and epsilon2/epsilon4 by one patient who had psychosis. The mean age of onset of PD symptoms was 60.0 +/- 12.5 years. The mean duration of motor symptoms at the onset of psychosis was 7.3 +/- 4.3 years for the 15 patients harboring an APOE epsilon4 allele and 10.1 +/- 6.2 years among those who did not carry APOE epsilon4 (n = 35). The APOE epsilon4 allele was significantly associated with earlier onset of psychosis (P < 0.05) when the age of onset of motor symptoms and presence of dementia were included in the Cox regression model. Carrying the APOE epsilon4 allele was a significant risk factor for earlier appearance of psychosis with a hazard ratio of 3.24 (95% CI 1.62-6.46) while dementia by itself did not increase the risk.

CONCLUSION
Parkinson's disease patients who carry the APOE epsilon4 allele develop psychosis earlier.


To reduce the spread of COVID-19, in March of 2020, the state of Virginia issued a stay-at-home order requiring fitness center closures for 2.4 months. The purpose of this study was to explore how the fitness center closures influenced physical activity (PA) in older adults who previously participated in the centers' exercise classes. Eleven older adults (69.0 ± 6.6 years) completed semistructured interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed to identify emergent themes. Ten participants reported engaging in PA during the stay-at-home order; four participants maintained/increased PA compared to prepandemic levels. Four themes emerged regarding PA are as follows: recognition of the value of PA, high self-efficacy in regard to PA, adaptation to circumstances, and functional limitations. Findings suggest that prior exercise class participation positively influenced PA. While most participants did not maintain prepandemic PA levels, they remained active because they recognized the benefits of PA, had high self-efficacy for exercise, and adapted to their circumstances.


Abstract. r.avaflow represents an innovative open-source computational tool for routing rapid mass flows, avalanches, or process chains from a defined release area down an arbitrary topography to a deposition area. In contrast to most existing computational tools, r.avaflow (i) employs a two-phase, interacting solid and fluid mixture model (Pudasaini, 2012); (ii) is suitable for modelling more or less complex process chains and interactions; (iii) explicitly considers both entrainment and stopping with deposition, i.e. the change of the basal topography; (iv) allows for the definition of multiple release masses, and/or hydrographs; and (v) serves with built-in functionalities for validation, parameter optimization, and sensitivity analysis. r.avaflow is freely available as a raster module of the GRASS GIS software, employing the programming languages Python and C along with the statistical software R. We exemplify the functionalities of r.avaflow by means of two sets of computational experiments: (1) generic process chains consisting in bulk mass and hydrograph release into a reservoir with entrainment of the dam and impact downstream; (2) the prehistoric Acheron rock avalanche, New Zealand. The simulation results are generally plausible for (1) and, after the optimization of two key parameters, reasonably in line with the corresponding observations for (2). However, we identify some potential to enhance the analytic and numerical concepts. Further, thorough parameter studies will be necessary in order to make r.avaflow fit for reliable forward simulations of possible future mass flow events.


Much of the current German debate about the integration of immigrants overlooks the fact that Germany is not solely a country of immigration, but also - and to a substantial degree - a country of emigration. One of the largest groups of emigrants is made up of Germans themselves. The percentage of German natives in the total population of emigrants has risen substantially over the last few years. In 2009, of the almost 750,000 individuals who emigrated from Germany, 155,000 were German citizens. Data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) show that in 2009, one in every eight German citizens seriously considered moving abroad. Of these, one in three considered leaving Germany permanently and one in eleven considered leaving within the next twelve months. Of the factors that tend to favor emigration, previous experiences and friends abroad play a crucial role. University graduates are more inclined to move abroad temporarily. Concerns that Germany is suffering a "brain drain," losing its best and brightest to other countries, are therefore unjustified at the present time.


This article discusses new problems which should receive more attention in the process of distributed application: Benefit Feedback Mechanism and segmentation and transfer of data. Moreover, it shows other related problems, such as fault tolerance, support for the self-operation on individual PCs for users, measurement of processing period and popularization of the distributed computing technology. The main purpose of this article is to avoid the certain limitations in the process of employing distributed computing in some projects, improve the processing speed and the preciseness of the data processed, reduce the time cost and satisfy the demand in more domains.


The development of robotics, the Internet of Things concept, big data processing techniques, automation, and distributed digital ledgers leads to the fourth industrial revolution. One of the main issues of new industry is interaction between the "smart factory" components both internally and with other factories based on the Internet of Things. This interaction should provide trust between the participants of the Internet of Things; control over the distribution of resources (such as maintenance time, energy, etc.) and finished products. The paper describes one of the possible ways of integrating Internet of Things and blockchain technologies to solve these issues. For this purpose, an architecture has been developed that combines Smart-M3 information sharing platform and blockchain platform. One of the main features of the proposed architecture is the use of smart contracts for processing and storing information related to the interaction between smart space components. ______________________________________________________PROCEEDING OF THE 21ST CONFERENCE OF FRUCT ASSOCIATION


The hamster model of enterocolitis after the administration of clindamycin was used to study various drugs used in treatment of the disease in humans. Current evidence strongly suggests toxigenic, clindamycin-resistant Clostridium difficile is a cause of the disease in hamster and man. This organism is susceptible to vancomycin and metronidazole, and the disease could be prevented in the hamster so long as the antibiotics were given orally. A fatal colitis almost invariably ensued once they were discontinued. Administration of cholestyramine significantly prolonged survival of hamsters, but did not pervent death or colitis. Corticosteroids or atropine-diphenoxylate (Lomotil) did not alter the disease. The hamster model may be useful in studying other kinds of treatment of this disease.