COVID-19 has become a pandemic that has caused over 200,000 deaths worldwide, with no antiviral drug or vaccine yet available. Several clinical studies are ongoing to evaluate the efficacy of repurposed drugs that have demonstrated antiviral efficacy in vitro. Among these candidates, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has been given to thousands of individuals worldwide but definitive evidence for HCQ efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 is still missing.We evaluated the antiviral activity of HCQ both in vitro and in SARS-CoV-2-infected macaques. HCQ showed antiviral activity in monkey African green monkey kidney (VeroE6) cells but not in a model of reconstituted human airway epithelium. In macaques, we tested different treatment strategies in comparison to placebo, before and after peak viral load, alone or in combination with azithromycin (AZTH). Neither HCQ nor HCQ+AZTH showed a significant effect on the viral load levels in any of the tested compartments. When the drug was used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HCQ did not confer protection against acquisition of infection.Our findings do not support the use of HCQ, either alone or in combination with AZTH, as an antiviral treatment for COVID-19 in humans.


The ultimate goal of English teaching is to cultivate the students' ability to communicate information in English, master good language learning methods, and become independent language learners and users. Therefore, successful English language teaching needs to be achieved through language communication training between teachers and students and between students. This article investigates the importance of promoting the reform of oral English teaching in China's English teaching environment. We believe that to promote the reform of oral English teaching, an oral teaching environment must be available. However, the current common problem in oral English teaching in colleges and universities is that the spoken conversation objects are not standard enough, or there is no person who can talk to. Therefore, an intelligent spoken dialogue system based on big data and neural network technology is particularly important, and the quality of dialogue depends on accurate spoken speech evaluation. We first extracted six features of pronunciation quality, fluency, content richness, topic relevance, grammar, and vocabulary richness. Secondly, we propose an evaluation model that connects specific TDNN layers in a feedforward manner, using the feature representation of target words in different TDNN layers, which can obtain richer context information and greatly reduce the amount of model parameters. Finally, we conducted a simulation experiment. The experimental results show that the proposed model is accurate in evaluating spoken English and can effectively assist the reform of spoken English teaching in colleges and universities, and its performance is better than SVM by 9.2%.


Micro-batteries are one of the key components that restrict the application of autonomous Microsystems. However little efforts were made to solve the problem. We have proposed a new planar zinc/air micro-battery, suitable for autonomous microsystem applications. The micro-battery has a layered structure of zinc electrode/alkaline electrolyte/air cathode. A 3D zinc electrode with a high density of posts was designed to obtain a high porosity, hence to offer a best performance. A model of the micro-battery is developed and the device performances were simulated and discussed. A four-mask process was developed to fabricate the prototype micro-batteries. The preliminary testing results showed the micro-batteries is able to deliver a maximum power up to 5 mW, and with an average power of 100 µW at a steady period for up to 2hrs. Fabrication process is still under optimization for further improvement.


The study introduces the rules of liability for failure to perform an obligation to prevent damage to the environment and an obligation to repair damage to the environment, which is subject to regulation by the Act of 2007 on the prevention of environmental damage and the repair of damage to the environment. It is primarily the responsibility of an administrative nature. The author emphasizes a narrow approach by the legislature to the concept of damage to the environment and the complexity of the issue of liability in case of breach of the environment or its element.


Abstract The cost of maintaining and renewing railway tracks affected by traffic-dependent deterioration is considerable. It is important not only to have proper maintenance regimes, but also to have knowledge of the interaction between vehicles and track in order to reduce the deterioration of both. In a joint project between Banverket (Swedish Rail Administration) and KTH (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm), a model for track deterioration is developed, considering track settlement, component fatigue, abrasive wear, and rolling contact fatigue of rails. The basis of the model is taken from what is considered as state-of-the-art knowledge. The model is used as a basis for a proposed new track access charging regime for Banverket, able to differ between vehicle types based on their characteristics and tendency to deteriorate the tracks. The model is implemented in an Excel® environment and applied to Swedish mainline traffic and vehicles. Using representative vehicle characteristics in determining track deterioration, it is predicted that there are large differences between different vehicles regarding their deterioration of the tracks. The model predicts axle load, unsprung mass, and wheelset steering capability as decisive for track deterioration. The model is believed to predict realistic results also for heavy-haul rail operations.


Objective: To examine if chronological age within Canadian youth ice hockey's 2-year age bands influences the proportion of injury. Design: Retrospective secondary data analyses. Participants: Information on 4736 injured youth ice hockey players (10-15 years old) reported by the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting Prevention Program (CHIRPP) and 4959 (12-15 years old) injured players reported by the Hockey Canada Insurance Database (HCID). Main Outcome Measures: Proportions of injuries according to constituent year (first vs second year of participation within 2-year youth ice hockey age bands). Independent Variables: The influence of age band (Atom, 10/11; Peewee, 12/13; Bantam, 14/15) and level of competitive play on constituent year injury proportions were examined. Results: Injured Atom and Peewee players (CHIRPP) were more likely to be in constituent year 2 (Atom: odds ratio [OR], 1.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46-2.03; Peewee: OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.10-1.42). Injured players (HCID) at the highest tiers of competitive play were more likely to be in constituent year 2 (eg, Peewee: OR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.92-4.41; Bantam: 1.89; 95% CI, 1.46-2.46). Conclusion: Constituent year may be a factor in determining injury risk and may be relevant to those managing the risk of injury for youth ice hockey players.


The abilities of three indigenous bacteria for bioremediation of cadmium contaminated soils collected from Agbabu Farm Settlement close to mining sites in Ondo state, Nigeria was studied to provide helpful information for soils remediation and soils health management in this sub-region for Millennium Development Goals accomplishment. Bacillus subtilis, Proteus mirabilis, and Escherichia coli isolated from the soils were inoculated into different soil samples conditioned with optimized factors determined from the first phase experiments. The conditioned samples were experimented for residual cadmium concentration with time in days using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The soil cadmium attenuation from the initial concentration of 70.21 mg/kg to below the maximum allowable of 3 mg/kg was hard for the organisms. Bacillus subtilis performed correction at time 35 days with an efficiency of 96.10 % and residual concentration of 2.74 mg/kg. Proteus mirabilis and Escherichia coli with respective, high efficiencies of 85.05% and 79.35% failed. The removal rate capacities were -0.131d-1 for B. subtilis; -0.111d-1 for P. mirabilis; -0.105d-1 for E. coli. Four kinetic models fitted described the experimental data well. The models assessment revealed the removals to be transport controlled as diffusion process was the rate-controlling step.


In this work bead-on-plates tests have been performed with CO 2 laser beam, on Al-Mg-Si and Al-Zn-Mg aluminium alloys with different surface treatments. Al-Mg-Si alloy has presented more energy absorbed and best surface finish. The surface treatment with paints has produced an increase of absorbed energy, but with an important porosity in the fusion zone. The increase of surface rugosity has produced an increase of absorbed energy. The chemical treatments previous at bead-on-plates test have produced an important increasing in absorbed energy, especially in Al-Mg-Si alloy.


Thermo-mechanical deformation, thermal resistance, and lateral temperature distribution were experimentally studied for a high-power AlGaInN LED chip-on-board array at three different input powers. A fullscale CFD model of the LED assembly was developed and correlated with the temperature and average thermal resistance measurements to enable prediction of the temperature distribution on the surface of a thermally deformed LED assembly. Application of the thermal resistance partitioning approach to thermal modeling of the deformed LED assemblies was discussed. It can be useful for design engineers for estimation of the temperature distribution across the deformed LED array, at the minimum number of temperature measurements required for model calibration.


The Writers Guild of America, West (WGA or Writers Guild), the union that represents Hollywood film and television writers, has waged a major fight about payment for re-use of the writers' work every time technology changed the way that screen entertainment was distributed. In the early 1950s, the Writers Guild negotiated that the movie and television production companies would make a "residual" payment to the credited writer of a film (and later a TV episode) whenever the film or TV episode was reissued or rebroadcast after its initial run. The stakes in this longstanding struggle have grown as Hollywood moved ever more toward the freelance model of intermittent work punctuated by periods of unemployment. The more technology enabled reuse of work, the more tenuous writers' long-term career prospects became, and, therefore, the more writers' economic security depended on being paid for later uses of their work. Disputes over sharing the revenue generated by reuse of films and television episodes have been the source of labor unrest in Hollywood from the 1940s through the long 2007-2008 writers' strike, and the issue arose again in the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement to take effect in May 2017.
The Writers Guild was crucial in overcoming the considerable collective action and administrative challenges in creating this novel form of intellectual property and deferred compensation. Residuals are a collectively bargained benefit to which all credited writers are entitled, regardless of their bargaining power or the amount of their salary or the script fee paid for their work. This article explains the early history of residuals. It also points out that the Guild's early proposals for compensation for re-use would have avoided some of the problems that exist in the current system. In particular, the mind-bogglingly complex system that exists today was the Guild's fallback position when the studios resisted a much simpler system – that today is advocated as the desirable reform – of paying talent a percentage of all of a project's gross revenue from all platforms.


The design of a full-CMOS circuit that converts voltage signals from those used for emitter-coupled logic (ECL) to CMOS and vice versa, for use in digital data transmissions with clock frequencies up to 150 MHz, is described. Extremely high performances are obtained due to a novel circuit principle, in both the ECL-to-CMOS convertor and the CMOS-to-ECL convertor. A wideband CMOS amplifier used in the ECL-to-CMOS convertor, incorporating a current injection technique to increase the bandwidth of the circuit, is also presented. A circuit principle is presented to realize an extremely fast CMOS-to-ECL conversion, based on a current switching technique and charge injection to compensate the large output capacitance. Both circuits make use of replica biasing to ensure maximum switching speed in the ECL-to-CMOS convertor and correct ECL output levels in the CMOS-to-ECL convertor. An ECL-CMOS-ECL repeater has been designed in a 1.2- mu m double-metal CMOS process. >


Biotechnology is a collective term for a group of technologies that use biological matter or processes to generate new and useful products and processes. Biotechnology is a key technology for the new millennium. It has an immense range of applications in agriculture, medicine, food processing, environmental protection, mining, and even nanoelectronics. On the other hand, the potential for altering the genetic structure and characteristics of living organisms, including humans, plants and animals, has resulted in many concerns about safety and ethical implications of the new technologies. When assessing the Indian legal framework for biotechnology, attention must be paid both to international compromises and internal norms. The majority of the agencies that enact rules and control activities in the biotechnology field pertain to four ministries of the central government. Biotechnology can be approached from different angles. Some describe it as "a field of technological activity, in which biochemical, genetic, microbiological and engineering techniques are combined for the pursuit of technical and applied aspects of research into biological materials and, in particular, into biological processing", such as the application of science and technology to living organisms, as well as parts, products and models thereof, to alter living or non-living materials for production of knowledge, goods and services. Research in this paper asks: what have been the impacts of GM crops on poverty and food security? Effective regulation is an essential component of any innovation process. Despite much international attention given to GM crops and food products, genetic engineering in health has been the main focus for modern biotechnology for the past several decades.


Abstract Primary lymphomas of the thyroid (PTLs) are rare entities but pose important diagnostic challenges for the pathologist. Because PTLs tend to develop in patients with a history of Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT), they are frequently misdiagnosed as the more benign and histologically variable HT. Clinical history is by far the most important factor to consider when evaluating a thyroid with a robust lymphocytic infiltrate. Even with a history of HT, in the setting of significant change in clinical status, the pathologist must utilize ancillary testing, including immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry, to thoroughly evaluate for PTLs. Because the principal method of thyroid nodule evaluation is fine-needle aspiration, it may be necessary to obtain additional tissue before a definitive diagnosis can be reached. This is particularly true in cases of marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma), which represent the second most common type of PTLs. While the more common diffuse large B-cell lymphoma often has readily apparent atypia and thus is more easily diagnosed in the absence of ancillary testing, MALT lymphomas are on a histologic continuum with HT. Therefore, this entity is most often missed on fine-needle aspiration specimens and biopsies, particularly if additional testing is not used. In this review, we discuss 1 case of MALT lymphoma and 1 of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma so that the clinical differences between these 2 entities may be appreciated. In addition, the various diagnostic modalities and the inherent challenges to diagnosing PTLs are reviewed.


Since 1965, British political parties have radically, and repeatedly, changed the ways in which they choose their leaders. In this article, I explain how and why these changes occurred and assess the consequences of the 'new' selection procedures adopted by four 'mainstream' parties: Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats. In the first section, following Sjoblom and Stark, I outline a theoretical framework which purports to explain the criteria used by parties in parliamentary systems when choosing their leaders. I then examine the four parties in turn and consider two questions. First, how and why has the process of selecting British party leaders changed over time; and secondly, to what extent, and why, have the 'new' selection procedures adopted since 1965 produced different outcomes, resulting in the election of leaders who would not have been chosen had the decision rested with their party's elites and/or MPs alone?


Barley is one of the major cereal crops grown in Ethiopia. The diversity of barley landraces kept for generations in Ethiopia is nowadays subject to genetic erosion. This is true in North Gondar highlands of the country as well. This research was therefore initiated with the aim of studying the farm diversity status of barley landraces in Debark, Dabat and Wogera districts. A total of 180 randomly selected farmers from six villages were surveyed with a proportion of 30 farmers/village. Ecological models were employed to analyze the level of diversity. Genetic erosion models were employed to estimate the level of genetic erosion over a ten-year period of time. A total of 24 landraces were described by farmers of the studied sites. Of these, 18 of them are still under cultivation although their area coverage is declining from time to time. The landraces Abat gebs, Nech gebs and Tikur gebs were found to be the most common and widely grown. Debark district was found to have the highest richness (Margalef=2.45; Menhinick=1.43) followed by Wogera and Dabat districts. With regard to evenness as a measure of Shannon diversity index, Wogera district (E=0.85) showed the highest diversity followed by dabat (E=0.83) and debark (E=0.79). Simpson's diversity index (D) also revealed the abundance of Nech gebs (0.66), Abat gebs (0.6) and Tikur gebs (0.52). The landraces Demo kises, Goreneje, Chankirme, Gabieaswelik, Amedo and Gero tal were found to be out of production in the last ten years and probably eroded. Genetic erosion and genetic integrity over ten years (2006-2016) was found to be 25 and 75%, respectively. The name given to landraces studied was found to be associated with certain characteristics or situations. Thus, policy makers and researchers should give attention to conservation of landraces of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) for better use of genetic resources.

 Key words: On-farm diversity, genetic erosion, barley, landrace.


In this paper, we derived the wave function for light in a finite spherical well potential by drawing an analogy to an electron in an analogous potential energy well. In order to solve this problem, the theory behind vector calculus on a spherical basis was examined. The wave equation for light, derived from Maxwell's equations, and the Pauli equation for electrons were combined into a unified form that was solved separation of variables, infinite series solutions, and numerical methods. The potential well for light was established by considering an environment with a constant index of refraction inside a spherical boundary and a different, but still constant, index of refraction outside the boundary. It was determined that the radial part of the wave function oscillated more inside the boundary as radial quantum number increased. The distance between the origin and the first peak amplitude inside the boundary increased as the angular momentum quantum number increased. For light, the wave number was found to be complex, therefore the temporal part of the wave function was a dampened oscillator. The time constant of the temporal part of the wave function increased as angular momentum quantum number increased and decreased when the radial quantum number increased.


There is a hadith about the virtue of people who study the Qur'an and teach it in some sources of trusted hadith. To analyze the hadith and explore the benefits of the hadith, it is very interesting to study and studied. In this study used the method maudu'i or a thematic study by collecting some hadith related to the theme of the good human is the study of the Qur'an and teach it. And the type of research used is qualitative research. Qualitative research is used with the intention that this research be obtained from the research results by using natural means so that the data obtained far from the rules or the subjective nature of the researcher or the author's tendencies in Do this research. In this study is examined about the quality of hadith as good as human beings is who study the Qur'an and teach it and the virtue of the people who study the Qur'an and teach it. In studying the Qur'an should be considered both aspects of studying the Qur'an in accordance with the rules of reading the Qur'an, and the second is to understand the meaning of the Qur'an and its subsequent laws to be made into life And make it a living guideline to get the world and the hereafter .


In this paper, we present a numerical method, based on iterative Bregman projections, to solve the optimal transport problem with Coulomb cost. This is related to the strong interaction limit of Density Functional Theory. The first idea is to introduce an entropic regularization of the Kantorovich formulation of the Optimal Transport problem. The regularized problem then corresponds to the projection of a vector on the intersection of the constraints with respect to the Kullback-Leibler distance. Iterative Bregman projections on each marginal constraint are explicit which enables us to approximate the optimal transport plan. We validate the numerical method against analytical test cases.


Artificial neural network (ANN) is one branch of artificial intelligence that mimics the workings of the human brain nerve. ANN is able to predict of output from the input data set that previously had done the learning process. In the event of an earthquake, a building will suffer damage either safe, moderate, or collapse. After an earthquake, a building need to be audited to determine its status or damage index if it is safe (Immediate Occupancy), moderate safe (Life Safety), or damage (Collapse Prevention). In the manual system, it takes a long time because the building experts will gather data before determining the condition of the building that is it still worth or not. This paper explains the design and testing of neural networks application to predict the condition of the building using the data obtained from the simulated earthquake on a building using Finite Element Analysis software. The ANN architecture was designed using feed forward and back propagation algorithm to decrease the error and set the weight in specific iteration, furthermore it is trained with 835 data. The results show that the prediction accuracy of ANN application to the 100 testing data is 92 % with 16 input neurons, 32 hidden neurons, 1 output and 0.1 learning rate.  Keywords : ANN, Building, Prediction, damage index


Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) might be the proverbial "tipping point" in discussions about the role of information and communication technologies in higher education. To some they offer dramatic cost savings without loss in quality; to others they are best described as MESS (Massive Extension of Sage on the Stage). If the history of IS is any guide, MOOCs portend dramatic changes over time, but perhaps less dramatic changes in the short run. This panel discusses the MOOC phenomenon and its implications for both the IS field and for higher education.


Early loss of a given sensory input in mammals causes anatomical and functional modifications in the brain via a process called cross-modal plasticity. In the past four decades, several animal models have illuminated our understanding of the biological substrates involved in cross-modal plasticity. Progressively, studies are now starting to emphasise on cell-specific mechanisms that may be responsible for this intermodal sensory plasticity. Inhibitory interneurons expressing γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) play an important role in maintaining the appropriate dynamic range of cortical excitation, in critical periods of developmental plasticity, in receptive field refinement, and in treatment of sensory information reaching the cerebral cortex. The diverse interneuron population is very sensitive to sensory experience during development. GABAergic neurons are therefore well suited to act as a gate for mediating cross-modal plasticity. This paper attempts to highlight the links between early sensory deprivation, cortical GABAergic interneuron alterations, and cross-modal plasticity, discuss its implications, and further provide insights for future research in the field.


The aim of this paper is to focus on the effect of cryogenic treatment on the microstructure, mechanical and wear properties of Al 6061 and Al 8011. The first objective was to understand the degree to which hardness of these aluminium grades have been enhanced by giving cryogenic on the specimens. The second objective is to check the wear resistance property of these two aluminium specimens if coated with NiCoW and then treating it cryogenically. To conduct hardness tests specimens were fabricated from aluminium plates from both these grades and cryogenically treated. To conduct wear test Aluminium was coated with NiCoW on both the grades of aluminium and the experimental investigation has been carried out on aluminium alloys with cryogenic coolants. The hardness and wear removal rate were studied for both the specimens. The cryogenic coolant has enhanced the hardenability of aluminium alloys resulting in increased hardness of nearly 15%. The cryogenic coolant has increased the wear resistance properties of aluminium coated with NiCoW by nearly 25% when compared to wear of aluminium not treated with the coating materials. The cryogenic treatment was carried out under three different timings of 8 hrs, 24 hrs and 48 hrs for three different rpm"s 300, 600, 800 under varying loads. The paper also studies the micro structural changes under these varying conditions. doi: 10.5829/idosi.ije.2016.29.06c.00


Biological effects of gravity was examined in embryonic development of Japanese red bellied newt. Two space newt missions were conducted in 1994 and 1995. The Second International Microgravity Laboratory was flown in 1994 as one of the SpaceLab missions. Space Flyer Unit, a Japanese space platform, was delivered to the earth orbit by the third launch of the H-II rocket and retrieved by Space Shuttle in 1996. Female newts were induced to lay eggs in orbit at these two space missions. Eggs were successfully obtained on both missions, and exposed to space environment from its early developmental stages. Morphology of the embryos was found not deviated from those developed on ground, as long as in the images taken in orbit or the examined specimen retrieved to ground. On the other hand, pathological changes were discovered in several organs of the adult newts that returned alive from their space flight.


We argue that the quiescent value of the viscosity parameter of the accretion disc in WZ Sge may be αcold∼ 0.01, in agreement with estimates of αcold for other dwarf novae. Assuming the white dwarf in WZ Sge to be magnetic, we show that, in quiescence, material close to the white dwarf can be propelled to larger radii, depleting the inner accretion disc. The propeller therefore has the effect of stabilizing the inner disc and allowing the outer disc to accumulate mass. The outbursts of WZ Sge are then regulated by the (magnetically determined) evolution of the surface density of the outer disc at a radius close to the tidal limit. Numerical models confirm that the recurrence time can be significantly extended in this way. The outbursts are expected to be superoutbursts since the outer disc radius is forced to exceed the tidal (3:1 resonance) radius. The large, quiescent disc is expected to be massive, and to be able to supply the observed mass accretion rate during outburst. We predict that the long-term spin evolution of the white dwarf spin will involve a long cycle of spin-up and spin-down phases.


Abstract 1268 Poster Board I-290 Purpose There are reports of an increased risk of skin cancers in patients with B-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). These skin cancers include basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. This analysis was performed to more completely define the prevalence of skin cancers in patients in the Mayo Clinic Rochester CLL database and to look for contributing factors. Methods The Mayo Clinic Rochester CLL Database includes all patients with a diagnosis of CLL since January 1995 seen in the Division of Hematology and who have signed institutional review board approved consents for research. For this study, 2240 patients were analyzed to compare differences in characteristics between CLL patients with and without skin cancer. Chi-square statistics were used to compare qualitative variables (age categories, gender, referral status, ALC categories, CD38, ZAP-70, IgVH gene mutation status, FISH categories, Rai stage), and t-tests were used for quantitative variables (age at diagnosis, ALC values). Overall survival (OS) and time to first treatment (TFT) analyses were performed with results being displayed using Kaplan-Meier curves and p-values calculated using a log-rank test. Prevalence of melanoma among CLL patients was compared to the age-adjusted prevalence of melanoma in individuals in the Iowa SEER registry. Results Median follow-up for the 2240 patients diagnosed between 1/1/1995 and 8/11/2009 was 4.6 years. In aggregate, 293 (13.1%) patients were found to have non-melanoma skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma) cancer. The diagnosis of non-melanoma skin cancer occurred before the CLL diagnosis in 39% and at or after the diagnosis of CLL in 61%. There were 57 (2.5%) cases of melanoma in association with CLL. The diagnosis of melanoma occurred before the CLL diagnosis in 38% and at or after the diagnosis of CLL in 62%.The prevalence of non-melanoma skin cancer and melanoma skin cancer were both higher in non-referred (geographically regional) CLL patients than referred CLL patients (16.6% vs. 11.4%, p We next evaluated the relationship between CLL patients with skin cancer and demographic characteristics, prognostic parameters, and CLL related treatment. The risk of non-melanoma skin cancer in CLL was found to be associated with age (median age at diagnosis with skin cancer 67.6 vs. without skin cancer 63.3, p Since the presence of skin cancer could be a marker of immune dysregulation we hypothesized skin cancer may be associated with clinical outcome of CLL. Accordingly, we evaluated the relationship between non-melanoma skin cancer and melanoma skin cancer and TFT and OS. Contrary to our hypothesis, TFT (median 6.0 years vs. 4.9; p=0.04) and OS (median 10.8 years vs. 9.7; p=0.02) of patients with non-melanoma skin cancer were both longer than those without non-melanoma skin cancer. No differences in TFT (p=0.06) or OS (p=0.66) were observed among patients with melanoma compared to those without melanoma. Conclusions We find in our cohort of CLL patients a higher prevalence of melanoma than the general population. Risk of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer among patients with CLL does not appear to be related to CLL characteristics, with the exception of CD 38, or CLL outcome. The diagnosis of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in patients with CLL does not appear to be a risk factor for either CLL specific outcomes (TFT) or shorter survival. Disclosures Kay:Biogenc-Idec, Celgene, Genentech, genmab: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Genentech, Celgene, Hospira, Polyphenon Pharma, Sanofi-Aventis: Research Funding. Zent:Genentech, Bayer, Genzyme, Novartis: Research Funding. Shanafelt:Genentech: Research Funding; Hospira: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Polyphenon E International: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Cephalon: Research Funding; Bayer Health Care Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding.


A case is described of an immense meningioma on the tentorium cerebelli and two concomitant saccular aneurysms of the temporo-occipital artery. The author discusses the problems of the causal relationship of brain tumours and brain aneurysmas, also the clinical evaluation (especially apoplectiform and other minor symptoms).


Background: Interventions to block malaria transmission from humans to mosquitoes are currently in development. To be successfully implemented, key populations need to be identified where the use of these transmission-blocking and/or reducing strategies will have greatest impact. Methods: We used data from a longitudinally monitored cohort of children from Kilifi county located along the Kenyan coast collected between 1998-2016 to describe the distribution and prevalence of gametocytaemia in relation to transmission intensity, time and age. Data from 2,223 children accounting for 9,134 person-years of followup assessed during cross-sectional surveys for asexual parasites and gametocytes were used in logistic regression models to identify factors predictive of gametocyte carriage in this cohort. Results: Our analysis showed that children 1-5 years of age were more likely to carry microscopically detectable gametocytes than their older counterparts. Carrying asexual parasites and recent episodes of clinical malaria were also strong predictors of gametocyte carriage. The prevalence of asexual parasites and of gametocyte carriage declined over time, and after 2006, when artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) was introduced, recent episodes of clinical malaria ceased to be a predictor of gametocyte carriage. Conclusions: Gametocyte carriage in children in Kilifi has fallen over Open Peer Review


The size of the economy-wide rebound effect is crucial for estimating the contribution that energy efficiency improvements can make to reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. We provide the first empirical general equilibrium estimate of the economy-wide rebound effect. We use a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model that is estimated using search methods developed in machine learning. We apply the SVAR to U.S. monthly and quarterly data, finding that after four years rebound is around 100%. This implies that policies to encourage cost-reducing energy efficiency innovation are not likely to significantly reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.


The victims of the violence receive support by part of the State to obtain accompaniment psicosocial and repair the damage. In spite of the innegables advance normative materialized in the frame of the law of victims, these run the risk to be revictimizadas. In spite of the undeniable advances normatives materialized in the framework of the law of victims, these have the risk to be revictimized. The present report of investigation draws on qualitative methodologies and legal psychology to identify best practices in guiding the processes of psychosocial support to victims of violence. The target population of study is in the Department of Magdalena.


Background: this article is devoted to the work of the Kyrgyz Soviet writer ChingizAytmatov. In the vast world of fiction, Aytmatov's works amaze us with their figurative system. Against the background of everything and everyone, admires us with the simplicity, beauty, the variety of images created by the writer, whether it is the image of a person, politician, journalist, village shepherd, tree, horse, whale, ocean, etc.The Sarozek steppes, the vastness of space, Issyk-Kul, the Kremlin, Red Square in Moscow, a yurt in a Kyrgyz village, a church choir, Shostakovich's music, Georgian singing, Baikonur, legends about mankurt and many other concepts and phenomena of humanity make up the figurative system of ChingizAytmatov. The created artistic images cover huge layers of the life of peoples, an individual person, accompanying a person with his constant anxieties, experiences, joy, gains, losses and much of what we call life. Results: Reading Aytmatov, getting imbued with his images, we are more and more convinced that literature in a number of other arts is closer and more understandable to a person, because the main means of artistic expression is the word, this is a natural need for communication between people. We love to speak out, hear someone's confession; we simply cannot do without speech. And then we ask ourselves the question, what is this the art of the word, how the word turns into an artistic image and makes us compassionate, laugh and cry, think, agree and argue, and most importantly receive aesthetic pleasure, because literature is an art. Conclusions: All ingenious is simple. Characters, descriptive elements of the plot, used by the author to create certain images, are in a certain system, filled with aesthetic, philosophical, realistic meaning.


In a 43-year old patient, in whom a transluminal revascularisation of an occluded popliteal artery had ben performed, computed tomography showed a popliteal artery entrapment syndrome. The popliteal artery coursed on the medial side of a lateralised, medial gastrocnemius muscle and was also compressed from dorsally by an accessory muscle that extended from the medial femoral condylus to the medial gastrocnemius muscle. The findings were confirmed by an operation.


Connectionist natural language processing models that consider the temporal extension of sentence analysis often make use of local representation, allocating only one unit for each word at the input and output layers of the connectionist architecture. Thus, for increasing the lexicon, it is mandatory to modify the architecture and re-train the network. On the other hand, the proposed system Pred-DR attempts to predict the next word in declarative sentences presented sequentially one word at a time, giving meaning to the units of the connectionist architecture by means of distributed representations based on semantic features. The words are fractionated into their semantic microfeature arrays. Consequently, Pred-DR is able to generalize to new words without increasing the number of processors in its architecture, provided that their semantic features are supplied. This way, it has achieved a considerable performance on connectionist natural language processing using the classical semantic microfeature framework. The system learns to relate the input word array to its possible next word, "remembering" the previous words seen before in a semantically sound sentence. For each input word, Pred-DR gives, as outcome, a list of probabilities of occurrence of next words in the sentence context.


A survey was carried out among undergraduate law students in universities in Osun State, Nigeria to determine the predictive influence of awareness on intention to use Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Proportionate stratified sampling was used to select 356 out of a population of 3269 students. A validated questionnaire with Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.92 was used for data collection. A return rate of 100% was achieved. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and binary logistic regression. Findings revealed that awareness of MOOCs significantly predicted intention to use MOOCs by the students (Odds Ratio=1.894; Wald Statistics=12.413, p=0.000). Findings further revealed that a good number of the respondents intend to use MOOCs (n=264, 78.3%). The Internet (n=92) was the main source of awareness of MOOCs, but slow internet connectivity (n=254) topped the list of constraints to the use of MOOCs by the students. The study concluded that awareness of MOOCs is critical to its use by undergraduate students in universities in Osun State. It was recommended that law librarians should create awareness of MOOCs among students. Also, law administrators, council of legal education and legal educators should work with the government to improve Internet facilities in the universities to enable law students take full advantage of MOOCs platforms.


The short-term memory (STM) of 25 deaf and 20 hearing adults fluent in Australian Sign Language (Auslan) was tested using both free- and serial-recall versions of three tasks. On two tasks, where stimuli were presented as either written words or Auslan signs, hearing subjects performed significantly better than deaf subjects. This difference was attributed to the facility of the hearing subjects in translating these two classes of language-based stimuli into phonological codes, which have a preferred status in STM. On the third, language-free task, which was an adaptation of the Corsi Blocks test, the deaf and hearing subjects performed at comparable levels, indicating that differences in their STM became evident only with the introduction of language-based factors. Analyses restricted to the deaf subjects showed that performances on the language-based STM tasks correlated positively with scores on a reading comprehension test. Also, deaf subjects who reported an oral education outperformed their counterparts, who reported a total communication (oral plus signed English) education on the language-based STM tasks. Thus, for this diverse adult deaf sample, proficiency in STM for language-based material, skill in reading, and report of an oral rather than total communication education appear to covary.


The Affordable Care Act requires nonprofit hospitals to collaborate with public health agencies and community stakeholders to identify and address community health needs. As a rural organization, Wabash County (Indiana) Hospital pursued new approaches to achieve these revised requirements of the community benefit mandate. Using a case study approach, the authors provide a historical review of governmental relationships with nonprofit community hospitals, offer a case study application for implementing legislative mandates and community benefit requirements, share the insights they garnered on their journey to meet the mandates, and conclude that drawing upon the existing resources in the community and using current community assets in novel ways can help conserve time, and also financial, material, and human resources in meeting legislative mandates.


In this paper, we propose a pipelined reconfigurable fixed-width Baugh-Wooley multiplier design framework that provides four configuration modes (CMs): n × n fixed-width multiplier, two n/2 × n/2 fixed-width multipliers, n/2 × n/2 full-precision multiplier, and two n/A × n/A full-precision multipliers. Furthermore, low-power schemes including gated clock and zero input techniques are employed to achieve the power-efficient pipelined reconfigurable design. The presented power-efficient pipelined reconfigurable fixed-width multiplier design not only generates a family of widely used multipliers but also leads to 10.59, 21.7, 28.84, and 31.58 percent power saving, on average, for n = 8,16,24, and 32, respectively, compared with that of the pipelined reconfigurable fixed-width multiplier without using the low-power schemes. On the other hand, compared with non-reconfigurable pipelined multiplier, we can save 0.81, 12.46, 17.93, and 23.2 percent power consumption, respectively, for n = 8,16,24, and 32.


Community ecologists have strived to find mechanisms that mediate the assembly of natural communities. Recent evidence suggests that natural enemies could play an important role in the assembly of hyper-diverse tropical plant systems. Classic ecological theory predicts that in order for coexistence to occur, species differences must be maximized across biologically important niche dimensions. For plant-herbivore interactions, it has been recently suggested that, within a particular community, plant species that maximize the difference in chemical defense profiles compared to neighboring taxa will have a relative competitive advantage. Here we tested the hypothesis that plant chemical diversity can affect local community composition in the hyper-diverse genus Piper at a lowland wet forest location in Costa Rica. We first characterized the chemical composition of 27 of the most locally abundant species of Piper. We then tested whether species with different chemical compositions were more likely to coexist. Finally, we assessed the degree to which Piper phylogenetic relationships are related to differences in secondary chemical composition and community assembly. We found that, on average, co-occurring species were more likely to differ in chemical composition than expected by chance. Contrary to expectations, there was no phylogenetic signal for overall secondary chemical composition. In addition we found that species in local communities were, on average, more phylogenetically closely related than expected by chance, suggesting that functional traits other than those measured here also influence local assembly. We propose that selection by herbivores for divergent chemistries between closely related species facilitates the coexistence of a high diversity of congeneric taxa via apparent competition.


To complement a large‐scale geophysical investigation of occurrence and discharge of fresh water beneath Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia (Delmarva) coastal bays, we measured (1) salinity and nutrient concentrations in ground water samples from several offshore coring sites and (2) a suite of chemical and isotopic parameters, including age tracers, in ground water samples from a Delaware site. Samples were collected in a variety of Holocene and Plio‐Pleistocene sediments in nearshore and offshore areas of the bays. Ground waters that were significantly fresher than overlying waters were found in plumes up to at least 15 m thick extending to more than 500 m offshore in some areas. Steep salinity and nutrient gradients occur within a few meters of the sediment surface in most locations studied. The zone of transition from deeper fresher waters to shallower brackish waters is generally thin near shore, but thickens and becomes more gradual offshore. Ground water ages at the Delaware site were mostly < 50 yr in both fresh waters and brackish waters up to 22 m below the bay bottom. Water chemistry and age data indicate that fresh water plumes beneath the estuary are active extensions of the surficial aquifer carrying nitrate from recharge areas on land, whereas brackish ground water surrounding the fresh water plumes is recharged beneath the estuary and contains ammonium and phosphate released by diagenesis of shallow estuarine sediments. Denitrification affects some of the fresh water nitrate before it mixes with brackish ground water or discharges to surface water.


This paper extends the algorithms used to fit standard support vector machines (SVMs) to the identification of auto-regressive exogenous (ARX) input Hammerstein models consisting of a SVM, which models the static nonlinearity, followed by an ARX representation of the linear element. The model parameters can be estimated by minimizing an ε-insensitive loss function, which can be either linear or quadratic. In addition, the value of the uncertainty level, ε, can be specified by the user, which gives control over the sparseness of the solution. The effects of these choices are demonstrated using both simulated and experimental data.


History An 18-year-old woman had a history of increasing abdominal enlargement and dyspnea of five years' duration. There was mild cyanosis, distended neck veins, muffled heart sounds, abdominal dullness, and liver enlargement on physical examination. Posteroanterior and lateral chest roentgenograms were taken. Diagnosis Constrictive pericarditis with pericardial calcification. Figure 1 shows moderate cardiac enlargement and a calcified plaque along the left contour just below the pulmonary artery. Figure 2 shows a calcific ring almost completely encircling the heart. The cause of constrictive pericarditis remains in doubt in many patients. 1 In some cases, there is a high percentage of tuberculous origin. In other series, tuberculosis has been an infrequent cause. The disorder may also occur following pyogenic infections, connective tissue and neoplastic disease, trauma, radiation, histoplasmosis, active viral infection, asbestosis, and chronic renal failure with uremia. In nearly 50% of patients with constrictive pericarditis, pericardial calcifications can be demonstrated roentgenographically.


In this paper, an operational matrix of integration based on Haar wavelets (HW) is introduced, and a procedure for applying the matrix to solve space and time fractional telegraph equations is formulated. The space and time fractional derivatives are considered in the Caputo sense. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by the five test problems. Approximate solutions of the space and time fractional telegraph equations are compared with the other numerical solutions and the exact solutions. The proposed scheme can be used in a wide class of linear and nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations. These calculations demonstrate that the accuracy of the Haar wavelet is quite high even in the case of a small number of grid points. The present method is a very reliable, simple, small computation costs, flexible and convenient alternative method. The power of the manageable method is confirmed.

 Key words: Haar wavelet, fractional differential equation, decomposition method, telegraph equation, operational matrix of integration.


SEM examination of suspended material collected by filtration from samples of surface waters over continental shelves and deeper areas off eastern Asia reveals the presence of irregular organic films that are longer, cover more filter area, and have more tapered edges in samples from nearshore than offshore regions. Associated diatoms include species diagnostic of coastal environments. Films and coastal diatoms are most abundant in waters above continental shelves where river discharges cause the waters to be more dilute than 33.5‰ salinity. Farther from shore, both films and skeletal elements are broken and partly dissolved. Skeletal elements, faecal matter, and other debris are trapped or adhere to the films, which therefore provide a concentrated food source for small organisms beyond nearshore regions of high primary productivity. The films contribute an unknown percentage of the total organic matter that reaches bottom sediments.


Although invasive plants increasingly contribute to the current biodiversity crisis, the mechanisms through which they impact native communities are still poorly understood. Community ecology theory has emphasized direct competitive displacement over common resources, but invasion‐driven ecosystem modifications, such as altered soil pH, might also have consequences for plant diversity. However, the relative importance of ecosystem modification compared to direct resource competition has rarely been tested. Here we studied the invasive vine Vincetoxicum rossicum across invaded meadows in southern Ontario, Canada. In each meadow site, we quantified: (a) the strength of impact on the resident plant community, (b) the potential for competition with resident species (as the degree of niche dissimilarity and competitive superiority to the residents based on their functional traits) and (c) the amount of ecosystem modification related to invasion. We found that impacts on plant biodiversity were more negative where the invader had greater potential to competitively displace species (because it had a similar niche as the residents or was competitively superior), but also where it strongly altered soil N pools, moisture and pH. Synthesis. Our case study suggests that while competition is undoubtedly an important driver of invasion impact, ecosystem modifications can have cascading effects on plant communities, thereby magnifying the impacts of biological invasions.


Host cell entry of vaccinia virus (a poxvirus) proceeds through multiple steps that involve many viral proteins to mediate cell infection. Upon binding to cells, vaccinia virus membrane fuses with host membranes via a viral entry fusion protein complex comprising 11 proteins: A16, A21, A28, F9, G3, G9, H2, J5, L1, L5 and O3. Despite vaccinia virus having two infectious forms, mature and enveloped, that have different membrane layers, both forms require an identical viral entry fusion complex for membrane fusion. Components of the poxvirus entry fusion complex that have been structurally assessed to date share no known homology with all other type I, II and III viral fusion proteins, and the large number of fusion protein components renders it a unique system to investigate poxvirus-mediated membrane fusion. Here, we determined the NMR structure of a truncated version of vaccinia A28 protein. We also expressed a soluble H2 protein and showed that A28 interacts with H2 protein at a 1:1 ratio in vitro. Furthermore, we performed extensive in vitro alanine mutagenesis to identify A28 protein residues that are critical for H2 binding, entry fusion complex formation, and virus-mediated membrane fusion. Finally, we used molecular dynamic simulations to model full-length A28-H2 subcomplex in membranes. In summary, we characterized vaccinia virus A28 protein and determines residues important in its interaction with H2 protein and membrane components. We also provide a structural model of the A28-H2 protein interaction to illustrate how it forms a 1:1 subcomplex on a modeled membrane.


AIM
To compare the success of singleton and twin preterm infants in establishing and maintaining breast feeding, and to evaluate the effectiveness of current programmes to promote breast feeding.

METHODS
All infants less than 37 weeks gestation discharged in one month from the special care baby unit at National Womens Hospital were studied. Data on the infants and their in hospital course was recorded from the neonatal records. The mothers were contacted by telephone 3 to 4 months after discharge, to elicit the subsequent breast feeding rates.

RESULTS
Thirty of 33 preterm infants (29 to 36 weeks gestation) were breast fed at discharge from hospital: 93% of singletons, and 89% of twins. The twins were older and heavier at discharge (p < 0.004) due to their longer hospital stays (28.4 vs 16.3 days, p < 0.05). All but 2 infants progressed to exclusive breast feeding. There was a similar rate of decline in the rates of breast feeding in singletons and twins to 68% at 8-12 weeks and 49% at 12-16 weeks after birth.

CONCLUSIONS
Preterm twins can breast feed as successfully as preterm singleton infants; as with sufficient assistance and encouragement, their rates of breast feeding were comparable to those of term infants. Although the resources of this hospital do not allow preterm infants to become fully breast fed before discharge, the current programme at National Womens Hospital is effective in establishing successful breast feeding in these high risk infants.


The present invention provides strength, compression set and why, sealing properties and deformation while preserves the characteristics such as follow-up, non-tackiness, low friction, wear resistance, and surface modified rubber and seal material plasma resistance can be obtained an excellent rubber molded products inherent rubber substrate that is for the purpose of. Method of producing a surface modified rubber of the invention and then brought into contact with the treatment liquid with the rubber base material containing a polymerizable double bond having monomer polymerization initiator and a solvent, by heating the contact treated rubber base material obtained by polymerizing the monomer, the rubber base material surface and it characterized by reforming the vicinity thereof.


Background: Successful therapeutic outcomes demand a patient's adherence to their dosage regimen, yet this is challenging to achieve among elderly people on multidrug therapies (polypharmacy). Therefore, it is the task of formulators to prepare medicines to minimise the burden on patients and maximise the likelihood of a dosage regimen being accurately followed. One route to improve adherence rates is to prepare fixed-dose-combinations (FDCs), in which multiple active ingredients are loaded into a single formulation. This thesis aims to develop different FDCs of multiple drug-polymer composite systems targeting specific conditions for the geriatric population utilising advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing techniques. Methods: Different biocompatible polymers were selected for each formulation based on dissolution behaviour in aqueous media. The polymers were mixed with the selected combination of drugs and then formulated. Initially, fast-dissolving materials based on poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) were generated by either film casting (a conventional technique used to prepare orodispersible films), or single-needle electrospinning (to prepare FDCs in the form of nanoscale fibres). Further modification of the electrospinning setup was then undertaken to prepare oral FDCs containing ibuprofen, famotidine, and prednisone. Three polymers (PVP, Eudragit-L100, and Eudragit-RSPO) were used to generate fibres, and sequential and multi-jet electrospinning employed to fabricated FDCs. Finally, core/shell fibres made of Eudragit-RLPO/PVP, as a platform for levodopa and carbidopa both equally loaded in each layer of the core and shell, for biphasic release oral FDCs was performed using coaxial electrospinning. Results: FDC in the form of PVP-based fast-dissolving oral films loaded with amlodipine besylate and valsartan were prepared by film casting between 5-30% w/w and electrospinning between 5-55% w/w. A comparison between the two types of formulations showed that 90% drug release could be achieved from the electrospun fibres within 2 minutes, while the cast film ODFs took 6 minutes. Next oral FDCs prepared from ibuprofen, famotidine, and prednisone proved the ability to generate different FDCs through modification of electrospinning setup by sequential and multi-jet electrospinning. Results from the in vitro drug release studies showed that the desired multi-phasic drug release could be obtained. This began with the immediate release of drug-loaded in the PVP layer instantly within ~1hr of sampling, followed by release from the Eudragit-L100 fibres triggered by the change of pH >6, and finally extended-release from the Eudragit-RSPO fibres to reach >80% after ~16 hours. Last FDC, the core/shell fibres gave similar release profiles for levodopa and carbidopa, with 50% immediate release from the PVP compartment, followed by 50% extended-release from Eudragit-RLPO. Overall the formulation provided the desired biphasic release profile. Conclusions: The appropriate selection of polymer and manufacturing technique, can fabricate effective drug-polymer composite systems for multiple drug delivery via FDCs. Ultimately, it is believed these could be applied to enhance patient adherence.


BACKGROUND
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a devastating condition for which extracranial protection traditionally has been in the form of helmets, which largely fail to protect against intracranial injury.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the pathological outcome after traumatic brain injury can be improved via slosh mitigation by internal jugular vein (IJV) compression.

METHODS
Two groups of 10 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to impact-acceleration traumatic brain injury. One group underwent IJV compression via application of a collar before injury; the second group did not. Intracranial pressure and intraocular pressure were measured before and after IJV compression to assess collar performance. All rats were killed after a 7-day recovery period, and brainstem white matter tracts underwent fluorescent immunohistochemical processing and labeling of β-amyloid precursor protein, a marker of axonal injury. Digital imaging and statistical analyses were used to determine whether IJV compression resulted in a diminished number of injured axons.

RESULTS
Compression of the IJV resulted in an immediate 30% increase in intraocular and intracranial pressures. Most notably, IJV compression resulted in > 80% reduction in the number of amyloid precursor protein-positive axons as indicated by immunohistochemical analysis.

CONCLUSION
Using a standard acceleration-deceleration laboratory model of mild traumatic brain injury, we have shown successful prevention of axonal injury after IJV compression as indicated by immunohistochemical staining of amyloid precursor protein. We argue that IJV compression reduces slosh-mediated brain injury by increasing intracranial blood volume, which can be indirectly measured by intracranial and intraocular pressures.


Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with a medium overall survival of only six months. The standard of care treatment, consisting of surgical resection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy, which incidentally can be offered to as little as 20% of the newly diagnosed patients, shows only marginal benefit for patients and no significant improvements to PDAC therapy have been made over the past two decades. PDAC is currently treated as a single, homogenous disease. Recently, three molecular subtypes termed classical, exocrine-like and quasimesenchymal (QM) have been defined, based on transcriptomic profiling of micro-dissected cancer cells from primary tumors and commercially available cell lines. The newly defined molecular subtypes were associated with differences in patient overall survival and are suggested to predict response to different chemotherapeutical agents. However, no clinical markers are available for the stratification of patients according to these molecular subtypes.
The aim of this study was the identification and validation of novel pan-PDAC as well as subtype-specific protein biomarker candidates, which can be employed in the development of novel clinical applications, such as diagnostics and/ or targeted PDAC therapies. Using a panel of twelve patient derived primary pancreatic cancer cell lines, grown in a chemically defined serum free medium, we employed LC-MALDI-MS to identify novel cell surface and secreted PDAC protein biomarker candidates. Two commercially available healthy pancreatic cell lines served as controls. The cell surface proteome was analyzed following in vitro biotinylation and subsequent streptavidin pull-down of the covalently biotin-labeled proteins, while the secreted proteome was analyzed by shotgun proteomics. In addition, we investigated in vivo vascular accessible PDAC biomarkers, by carrying out whole body perfusions of mice bearing orthotopic pancreatic tumors using a reactive biotin ester solution. Biomarker candidates of interest were selected after the proteomics discovery experiment and underwent thorough validations, using complementary antibody based (immunofluorescence, Western Blot) and antibody independent (single reaction monitoring, RT-qPCR) techniques. The validation experiments were performed both in vitro – using the PDAC cell culture model and in vivo – using tumor xenografts developed in immunodeficient mice.
More than 2500 proteins were identified after completing the cell surface proteome analysis, and over 1700 proteins could be reported in the conditioned cell culture medium. We selected the two pan-PDAC biomarker candidates, Pan-marker-1 and Pan-marker-2, as well as the two exocrine-like biomarker candidates, Exo-1 and Exo-2, for further validations.
In vitro immunofluorescence confirmed the exclusive presence of Pan-marker-1 and Pan-marker-2 on the surface of primary patient-matched PDAC cell lines, which correlated with elevated levels of the corresponding mRNAs. The expression of the two exocrine-like protein biomarker candidates was restricted to the predicted subtype, as proven by immunofluorescence and single reaction monitoring. The secretion of the two exocrine-like proteins in the cell culture medium was additionally confirmed by single reaction monitoring. The regulation of the two exocrine-like PDAC biomarkers was at least partially due to the upregulation of the corresponding mRNAs. Additionally, we could report that Exo-1 and Exo-2 colocalize on the surface of cultured exocrine-like PDAC cells. In vivo immunofluorescence analyses corroborated the presence of Pan-marker-1 and Pan-marker-2 on the surface of pancreatic cancer cells and in the tumor environment, while being completely absent in healthy human pancreata. Exocrine-like tumor xenografts expressed Exo-1 and Exo-2 at high levels, as evaluated by immunofluorescence. However, a limited activation of the two putative exocrine-like biomarkers could be detected in vivo in some of the classical pancreatic tumors. Protein expression patterns correlated with reported levels of the respective mRNAs for all the investigated biomarker candidates, evaluated in both EpCam+ epithelial cells isolated from orthotopic xenografts and whole tumor tissue.
Moreover, Pan-marker-2 and Exo-2 could be detected in the course of a proof-of-principle in vivo perfusion experiment using mice harboring orthotopic tumors. Therefore, we could conclude that the two proteins are accessible from the blood stream and could represent candidates for novel PDAC targeted therapies.

Taken together, our study identifies novel pan-PDAC as well as subtype-specific protein biomarkers candidates, which can be used in clinical applications for patient stratification. Additionally, the proteins were secreted by pancreatic cancer cells, and could therefore represent the basis for developing novel non-invasive diagnostic tools. Importantly, the validated protein biomarker candidates were also accessible from the vascular system, making them eligible targets for novel antibody based therapies of PDAC.


This Letter proposes and demonstrates the optical trapping of fluorescence sample in a transversely-probed microstructured hollow-core photonic crystal fibres (HC-PCFs). The transmission intensity distribution at the central core of liquid-filled HC-PCFs with different central wavelengths is monitored for both the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes, with illumination in the Γ-M direction. Forces acting on a sphere located inside the central core along the transverse direction of these liquid-filled fibres are calculated and compared using finite-difference time-domain method and Maxwell stress tensor-based method. The proposed concept is illustrated by trapping fluorescent microsphere particles to the core of liquid-filled HC-PCF and the presence of sample particles is confirmed by fluorescence signatures. The obtained results indicate that the proposed concepts have tangible potential for developing novel optical manipulation and trapping inside HC-PCFs and are expected to find potential biomedical diagnostic applications.


The objective of the research was to study the interaction between dose of humic acid and nitrogen fertilizer on the growth and yield of  rice. The experiment was conducted in May until September 2014 in Sukamanah village Cipedes sub-district Tasikmalaya city. A field experiment was done using as split plot design consisted of two factors. The dosage of humic acid were placed as main plot consisted of four levels i.e. 0 kg ha-1, 3 kg ha-1, 4 kg ha-1, and 5 kg ha-1; and the rate of N fertilizer, as subplot, consisted of 4 levels i.e.0 kg N ha-1, 45 kg  N ha-1, 67.5 kg  N ha-1, and 90 kg N ha-1. The variables observed were: (a) the levels of soil organic C before and after treatment, (b) the levels of crop N, and (c) the components of growth and yield. Nitrogen fertilizer efficiency was expressed in terms of  agronomic efficiency of nitrogen (AEN). The results showed that the growth and yield of rice given humic acid was higher than that without humi cacid. The increasing dose of humic acid i.e. 3 kg ha-1, 4 kg ha-1, and 5 kg ha-1 did not have significant effect. A higher response on growth and grain yield was shown at the dose of humic acid 3 kg ha-1. Nitrogen fertilizer gave significant effect on all growth variables and yield of rice. The higher the level of nitrogen fertilizer up to a certain level (i.e. 67.5 kg N ha-1 or equals to 150 kg  Urea ha-1), the higher would be the effect on all growth variables and yield. The increase in weight of grain ha-1 due to the increased level of nitrogen fertilizer compared to those without nitrogen fertilizer (control) were respectively 58.05% at 45 kgha-1 N, 150.54% at 67.5 kg  ha-1 N, and 168.13% at 90 kg ha-1 N. Humic acid increased the efficiency of N fertilizer. The most efficient dose of N fertilizer was 67 kg ha-1, equal to 150 kg ha-1 combined with humic acid 3 kg ha-1. Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE [ How to Cite : Suhardjadinata, Y Sunarya and T Tedjaningsih. 2015. Increasing Nitrogen Fertilizer Efficiency on Wetland Rice by Using Humic Acid. J Trop Soils 20: 143-148. Doi: 10.5400/jts.2015.20.3.143 ]


Forecast observing system simulation experiments (OSSEs) are conducted to assess the potential impact of geostationary microwave (GeoMW) sounder observations on numerical weather prediction forecasts. A regional OSSE is conducted using a tropical cyclone (TC) case that is very similar to hurricane Harvey (2017), as hurricanes are among the most devastating of weather-related natural disasters, and hurricane intensity continues to pose a significant challenge for numerical weather prediction. A global OSSE is conducted to assess the potential impact of a single GeoMW sounder centered over the continental United States versus two sounders positioned at the current locations of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) East and West. It is found that assimilation of GeoMW soundings result in better characterization of the TC environment, especially before and during intensification, which leads to significant improvements in forecasts of TC track and intensity. TC vertical structure (warm core thermal perturbation and horizontal wind distribution) is also substantially improved, as are the surface wind and precipitation extremes. In the global OSSE, assimilation of GeoMW soundings leads to slight improvement globally and significant improvement regionally, with regional impact equal to or greater than nearly all other observation types.


Due to increased competition in a world economy, steel companies are currently interested in developing techniques that will allow for the improvement of the steelmaking process, either by increasing output efficiency or by improving the quality of their product, or both. Slag foaming is one practice that has been shown to contribute to both these goals. This paper describes an effort in progress to both model and control the slag foaming process using neural networks in tandem with genetic algorithms and fuzzy logic.


The main objective of this study was to assess the nutritional value of four protein sources (soyabean meal, fish silage, sardine fish and fishmeal) using commercial broiler and local poultry strains. Four experimental diets were formulated; representing four different proteins sources and was evaluated using six replicates of eight birds per cage at 21 day of age. Cages were located in an environmentally controlled room maintained under conditions suitable for birds at this age with a photo-period of 23 h in every 24 h. Diets and water were offered on ad libitum basis. On the fourth day after the adaptation to th e experimental diets, feed troughs were removed from every cage for 1 h and then reintroduced for 2 h. Then the birds were killed to allow for sampling of ileal digesta, from Meckel's diverticulum to the ileal-caecal- colonic injunction. Broiler birds showed significantly (p<0.001) higher digestibility coefficients and digestible content of amino acids across all the protein sources than the local birds. Out of the four protein sources evaluated in this study, fishmeal had the lowest amino acids digestibility coefficient for the two bird breeds (p<0.001). The digestibility coefficient and digestible content of amino acids estimates for fish silage was the highest across the two strains (p<0.001). The lower digestibility of amino acids for soyabean meal is related to the presence of; antinutritional factor, trypsin inhibitor. Fish silage shows a great potential to be used as protein supplements for poultry feeding. The results suggest that the class of chickens and protein source significantly influenced the apparent ileal digestibility and digestible contents of amino acids in the nutrient assessed in this study.


Pairwise binary regressions are widely used to predict network links by each pair of agents' observed attributes. We propose a new structural pairwise network model based on individual utility maximization. In this model, the econometrician, as an outsider, witnesses a link if and only if both agents prefer it, while the agent is willing to create a bond with a peer if he or she gains positive individual utility from the potential connection. Besides observed personal attributes, unobservable individual heterogeneity enters the random utility as an additive fixed effect. The fixed effects enhance the applicability of the model, but impose technical challenges as they are buried in nonlinear functions. To identify and estimate the model, we exploit the special panel-data structure. In a network of n individuals, we can view one's linking outcomes to all the n-1 peers as a within-group observation, so that the network provides n overlapping groups. We treat each fixed effect term as an unknown parameter. Under a distributional assumption about the link-specific idiosyncratic shock, we establish consistency and asymptotic distribution for the maximum likelihood estimator of the common parameter. We apply this estimator to study the determinants of gift exchange in a network of village households in China.


Herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 + 2 immunoglobulin (Ig)M antibodies assays are important tools for diagnosing pregnant women and their newborns. However, it is unclear whether high levels of rheumatoid factor (RF) interfere with serological methods used to test for HSV types 1 + 2 type-specific IgM antibodies. We report a case of a false-positive result for HSV 1 + 2 IgM antibodies due to gross overestimation of RF by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This result occurred in a 25-year-old Han Chinese woman who was 28 weeks pregnant with a fetus (sex of fetus unknown). Antinuclear antibody (ANA) screening was performed, and RF-absorbent material was used. Test results for 3 antibodies of ANA (SSA, Ro-52, and SSB) were positive; the rest of the results were negative. Also, RF levels were significantly higher than normal, as measured by ANA screening. We observed an obvious decrease in HSV 1 + 2 IgM antibodies after removal of RF. Based on our findings, the presence of high concentrations of RF may be responsible for false-positive HSV 1 + 2 ELISA results.


This paper presents a power management unit (PMU) driving a microcontroller, and controlling a power knob that enables adaptation to the sensed power availability over an ultra-wide range, well beyond voltage scaling. Conventional battery-powered operation is augmented with pure harvesting. Wide power adaptation is enabled by comparator delay self-biasing and zero-current switching scheme shared among all power modes with single-cycle convergence.


Today, virtualization is often discussed on rather high abstraction levels (infrastructure, platform, software as a service). In contrast, in this talk the AMIDAR processor concept [GH05] will be presented, which allows virtualization on the instruction set level as well as on the microarchitectural level. Running different instruction sets on the same hardware and microarchitecture is not a new idea. Particularly, in the early days of microprogrammed machines, it was quite common to run different application specific instruction sets on the same machine. After microprogramming was abandoned due to its performance issues, instruction set architectures (ISA) became rather static. The proposed AMIDAR concept allows changeable instruction sets, yet provides execution efficiency close to modern pipelined processors. Candidate ISAs for this approach are not typical RISC ISAs but rather popular abstract ISAs like Java Bytecode, .NET intermediate language or the LLVM bitcode. Similar to software execution environments for these ISAs, AMIDAR processors will also optimize the execution of instruction sequences, but on the hardware level. Varying the amount and selection of microarchitectural components is also a well developed technique. It is used to build different processor variants for the same ISA, but targeting very different design goals (energy efficiency, performance, throughput). In almost any processor architecture these selections are made before the processor is designed. In AMIDAR processors, these choices are made at runtime and dynamically depending on the characteristic of the running application. This can be seen as a virtualization of hardware resources, where the processor decides itself how to make best use of the available resources. To this end, a reconfigurable fabric can be included in AMIDAR processors, for which the configuration is created at runtime [DH11]. The talk presents achievements, current status and an outlook of the AMIDAR project.


The authors examined the Madden-Julian Oscillation(MJO) in stratospheric ozone during boreal winter using a simulation from the Specified Dynamics version of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model(SD-WACCM) in 2004 and 2010. Comparison with European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Interim Reanalysis(ERA-Interim) data suggested that the model simulation represented well the three-dimensional structure of the MJO-related ozone anomalies in the upper troposphere and stratosphere(i.e., between 200 and 20 h Pa). The negative ozone anomalies were over the Tibetan Plateau and East Asia in MJO phases 3–7, when the MJO convective anomalies travelled from the equatorial Indian Ocean towards the equatorial western Pacific Ocean. Due to the different vertical structures of the MJO-related circulation anomalies, the MJO-related stratospheric ozone anomalies showed different vertical structure over the Tibetan Plateau(25–40°N, 75–105°E) and East Asia(25–40°N, 105–135°E). As a result of the positive bias in the model-calculated ozone in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, the amplitude of MJO-related stratospheric ozone column anomalies(10–16 Dobson Units(DU)) in the SD-WACCM simulation was slightly larger than that(8–14 DU) in the ERA-Interim reanalysis.


This paper focuses upon some space-theoretical concepts within a problematic framework, which is at the basis of the Particular Research Domain 482 Ereignis Weimar-Jena. Kultur um 1800, in order to illustrate their relevance for a larger literary-historical research project. Vangi reconstructs the origin of some fundamental categories of the research project - such as the concept of the twin city, which he understands from its origins onwards in a cultural-historical way. Weimar-Jena as a cultural space proves to be a mere construct, whose discursive production has been generated insofar as temporal and spatial coordinates have been consciously introduced. In the conception of the Particular Research Domain a central role is played also by a detemporalized concept of «event». This offers an innovative methodological approach, which tends to look at the relationship between time and space in the light of a compressed narrative of individual events.


Incidents are the key data for several of the statistical reports and analyses created within the military intelligence community. This paper discusses factors that affect the utility of quantitative methods in military intelligence analysis when used in a low intensity conflict. The first half of the paper presents the general critique of the use of quantitative methods. The second half applies this critique to the case of incident reporting in Afghanistan.


This research seeks to investigate the relationship between project management certification and established project management core competencies in the IT industry. This study was conducted in two phases, the objective being to first identify those characteristics most common to the successful hire of project managers, from the perspective of IT recruiters. Once identified, the study sought to determine preference for these characteristics from the point of view of corporate IT executives. Two hypotheses were tested in an effort to determine the valuation of Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification as a core competency and as an indicator of project success. Both hypotheses were rejected, as results indicated that PMP® certification was the least valued of 15 core competencies and that there was no difference in project success rates between PMP®-certified project managers and uncertified project managers. In addition, recruiters' and IT executives' suggestions for improvement in the delivery of the project management body of knowledge are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To discuss the unusual occurrence of both familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) and primary hyperparathyroidism in the same patient and to explore potential mechanisms of association and issues related to clinical management.

METHODS
We discuss the diagnosis, compare the clinical presentations of FHH and primary hyperparathyroidism, review the literature regarding patients who have presented with both disorders, and discuss management considerations. We also describe 2 patients who have both FHH (confirmed by genetic testing for a mutation in the gene encoding the calcium-sensing receptor [CASR]) and primary hyperparathyroidism.

RESULTS
The occurrence of both FHH and primary hyperparathyroidism in the same patient has been reported in a few cases, including 2 patients described here, one of whom was documented to have a novel CASR mutation. In those with clinical sequelae of hyperparathyroidism, parathyroidectomy has led to reduction, but not normalization, of serum calcium levels.

CONCLUSIONS
The coexistence of FHH and primary hyperparathyroidism should be considered in patients with hypercalcemia, hypophosphatemia, frankly elevated parathyroid hormone levels, and low urinary calcium excretion. Genetic testing for inactivating CASR gene mutations can confirm the diagnosis of FHH. Although surgical intervention does not resolve hypercalcemia, it may be beneficial by reducing the degree of hypercalcemia, alleviating the symptoms, and preventing potential complications of hyperparathyroidism.


We prove the chain rule in the more general framework of the Wiener-Poisson space, allowing us to obtain the so-called Nourdin-Peccati bound. From this bound we obtain a second-order Poincare-type inequality that is useful in terms of computations. For completeness we survey these results on the Wiener space, the Poisson space, and the Wiener-Poisson space. We also give several applications to central limit theorems with relevant examples: linear functionals of Gaussian subordinated fields (where the subordinated field can be processes like fractional Brownian motion or the solution of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck SDE driven by fractional Brownian motion), Poisson functionals in the first Poisson chaos restricted to infinitely many \small" jumps (particularly fractional Levy processes) and the product of two Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes (one in the Wiener space and the other in the Poisson space). We also obtain bounds for their rate of convergence to normality.


A survey of 509 family physicians in New York State was conducted to assess opinions about mammography and use of mammography in screening asymptomatic women of different ages. Findings indicate that most family physicians believe that mammography is an effective procedure for detecting breast cancer in its early stages, but many do not utilize mammography as a screening procedure in their own practices. The major deterrents to the use of mammography in screening asymptomatic women relate to concerns about the safety and reliability of the procedure, the low probability of detecting breast cancer through screening, the patient's willingness to accept a recommendation to have a mammogram, and cost. The results from this study point out the need to better educate primary care physicians about the use of mammography in screening for breast cancer, especially in regard to its safety and reliability.


Given the recent research into the social determinants affecting health outcomes, the goal of this thesis is to examine whether a non-urban setting, among other social determinants of health, increases the risk of mortality among the United States diabetic population. We examined the relationship of urban and non-urban diabetes rates among those aged 40-74 years using a national sample of diabetic and nondiabetic Americans. The data was pulled from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) which was conducted from 1988 to 1994. After excluding pregnant women, those who did not complete a fasting AM glucose, and those with missing information on variables for our analysis, a total of 3,219 American subjects (1,635 women and 1,584 men) were studied. Our results show no significant association between urban living and dying with diabetes. However, we found a significant interaction between urban living and insurance status in predicting diabetes mortality among persons with diabetes. Further research should investigate the influence of having health insurance in urban and rural settings. Therefore, expanding research on the social determinants of health currently impacting diabetes mortality rates has the potential to influence the work being done by healthcare professionals to address access within rural communities.


The article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of apparent time used by modern sociolinguistics to identify the social features of the use of language by various socio-demographic groups. There are a number of problems that can be solved by using this empirical method. The first problem is the "constraints": which language changes are possible and which are not. Historical data can only show what changes have already occurred, but not what changes are possible/impossible. The second is the problem of "embedding": how a language changes reach all (or almost all) the community members. The third problem is "assessment": how community members react to language changes and what impact their assessments have on the course or nature of changes. The fourth is a "transitional" problem: how does the language change from one state at the moment A to another state at the moment B. Finally, the fifth problem is "actualization": why there is a change in a particular language, when and where it occurs. The founders of the method, Weinreich, Labov and Herzog, argued that these important problems can only be solved by observing the change of language as it arises and from different social points of view, including a wide range of ages, social statuses and places of residence. The difficulties of applying this concept are considered: there are few comparable real-time data on earlier periods; methods of early work and socio-demographic characteristics do not correspond to modern research needs. The ways to overcome these difficulties are proposed: research should be of a longitudinal nature with the unification of the methodology for obtaining empirical data.


Tumor cells communicate bidirectionally with the surrounding microenvironment, sending and receiving topographical and molecular cues that direct diverse cellular phenomena, including differentiation, growth, and invasion. The microenvironment has long been acknowledged as a facilitator of melanoma progression, and recent studies have illuminated tumor-associated factors, including hypoxia and the extracellular matrix, as important mediators of melanocyte transformation and transdifferentiation. Although these findings portray the microenvironment as a perilous obstacle to the successful treatment of advanced melanomas, it is important to note that certain molecular milieus may be capitalized on as potential treatment modalities. Indeed, our group and others have elucidated the unique ability of embryonic microenvironments to normalize aggressive melanoma cells toward a more benign melanocytic phenotype. The microenvironment therefore presents a novel target for the treatment and ultimately the prevention of melanoma progression and metastasis.


Generating photos satisfying multiple constraints finds broad utility in the content creation industry. A key hurdle to accomplishing this task is the need for paired data consisting of all modalities (i.e., constraints) and their corresponding output. Moreover, existing methods need retraining using paired data across all modalities to introduce a new condition. This paper proposes a solution to this problem based on denoising diffusion probabilistic models (DDPMs). Our motivation for choosing diffusion models over other generative models comes from the flexible internal structure of diffusion models. Since each sampling step in the DDPM follows a Gaussian distribution, we show that there exists a closed-form solution for generating an image given various constraints. Our method can unite multiple diffusion models trained on multiple sub-tasks and conquer the combined task through our proposed sampling strategy. We also introduce a novel reliability parameter that allows using different off-the-shelf diffusion models trained across various datasets during sampling time alone to guide it to the desired outcome satisfying multiple constraints. We perform experiments on various standard multimodal tasks to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. More details can be found at: https://nithin-gk.github.io/projectpages/Multidiff


Surface sediment samples from 87 locations within the Gulf of California were analyzed in order to establish the supply and dispersal processes of the fine-grained sediments in this marine rift basin. Q-mode factor analysis of sediment bulk chemistry indicates that the surface sediments can be described in terms of four end-member sources, including terrigenous clastics, biogenic opal, biogenic carbonate, and manganese-rich components. The terrigenous factor accounts for as much as 80 to 90% of the total sedimentation on the eastern margin of the central and southern Gulf, but represents less than 40% of the total sediment on the western margin of the central and southern Gulf. Mass accumulation rates of the terrigenous component in nine laminated cores taken in the Gulf re estimated to range from 168 to 265 g/m2/yr (Guaymas Basin), 168 to 651 g/m2/yr (southeastern slopes), and 63 to 88 g/m2/yr (western slopes). Decreasing mass accumulation rates of the terrigenous component from the eastern to the western slopes of the southern and central Gulf account for the low content of biogenic components to the east (dilution by terrigenous silt and clay). The east-west trend in accumulation rates also indicates a dominant eastern (mainland) source of terrestrial sediment supply to the Gulf. A minor manganese component, of hydrothermal origin, is associated with basin-floor sediments of the Guaymas Basin in the central Gulf. X-ray diffraction studies of two size fractions--clay (2-4 µm) and silt (16-32 µm)--identify distinct mineralogical provinces within the Gulf based on quartz:feldspar ratios and on anorthite content of the plagioclase feldspars. The clay fractions throughout the northern Gulf (north of Tiburon Island) are dominated by Colorado River origins. In contrast, Colorado River silt is restricted to only the northernmost Gulf, north of Angel de la Guarda Island, an area End_Page 569------------------------ of strong tidal forcing. In the central and southern Gulf, the silt and clay fractions have similar mineralogical origins, which largely reflect the geologic provenances of the Mexican mainland. Only minor inputs of silt and clay from Baja California are found on the western shelves and upper western slopes of the southern Gulf region. Whereas the southern Gulf shows dominant northeast-southwest (across-Gulf) mixing gradients, the central Gulf generally shows southeast-northwest (along-Gulf) mixing gradients. River sediment dispersal by Gulf surface and geostrophic currents is thought to predominate in the southern Gulf, where river runoff is high along the eastern margin. By comparison, eolian transport of terrigenous sediments from the arid northern mainland might play an important ole in supplying sediment to the central Gulf basins, as suggested by Baumgartner et al. (1991b).


In this letter, we propose two algorithms for adaptive finite impulse response (FIR) filters as variants of the filtered gradient adaptive (FGA) algorithm. The proposed algorithms are formulated from the FGA by introducing an orthogonal constraint between the direction vectors. The algorithms employ the forgetting factor optimized on a sample-by-sample basis so that the direction vector is orthogonal to the previous direction vector, while the FGA algorithm uses a fixed one. It is shown through the computer simulations that the proposed algorithms are superior in terms of convergence and tracking capability to the FGA algorithm.


The high number of poisoning food and diarrheal diseases caused by Bacillus cereus bacteria has been treated with chemical drugs and traditionally herbal plants. One of the commonly used herbal plants is sweet root (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.). This study aims to extract and fractionate sweet root plants, determine the antibacterial activity and identify the types of bioactive compounds as antibacterial compounds. The extraction process uses a maceration technique and fractionation using buthanol, ethyl acetate, and hexan solvents. Antibacterial activity was carry out by the diffusion method and identification of bioactive compounds by GCMS analysis. This study showed that greatest antibacterial activity was found in ethyl acetate fraction with a strong category and MIC value of 12,5%. This study for the first time also revealed that the types of bioactive compounds from sweet root plants (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) as antibacterial compounds are n-Hexadecanoic as a fatty acid group and 4H-Pyran 4-one 2.3 dihydro-3, 5-dihydroxy-6 methyl from the flavonoid group.


In this paper, the hardware development of a brake wire failure indicator for a car is presented. This paper gives a brief review of the mini project work undertaken by us involves the design and development of the brake wire failure indicator. The main aim of our project is to develop brake wire failure indicator implemented for controlling the accidents and protect the livelihood. This brake wire failure indicator circuit can be done using buzzer and IC timer on PCB where the LED will blink with the condition given as input. The wire which has been assumed as brake wire is connected across terminals and led' s blink with the condition. This circuit is very simple and easy to build, it just requires a few components. The work concludes with an application being implemented practically. The developed prototype shows the efficiency and power of the invention. This brake failure indicator circuit checks the continuity of the brake wire and turn on the red light if the brake wire is broken. The work presented here is the mini-project work of the second semester engineering students of electronics & communication engineering department of Dayananda Sagar College of Engg., Bangalore, Karnataka.


Previously, we have shown that p-cyanophenylalanine (Phe CN) and tryptophan (Trp) constitute an efficient fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) pair that has several advantages over commonly used dye pairs. Here, we aim to examine the general applicability of this FRET pair in protein folding-unfolding studies by applying it to the urea-induced unfolding transitions of two small proteins, the villin headpiece subdomain (HP35) and the lysin motif (LysM) domain. Depending on whether Phe CN is exposed to solvent, we are able to extract either qualitative information about the folding pathway, as demonstrated by HP35, which has been suggested to unfold in a stepwise manner, or quantitative thermodynamic and structural information, as demonstrated by LysM, which has been shown to be an ideal two-state folder. Our results show that the unfolding transition of HP35 reported by FRET occurs at a denaturant concentration lower than that measured by circular dichroism (CD) and that the loop linking helix 2 and helix 3 remains compact in the denatured state, which are consistent with the notion that HP35 unfolds in discrete steps and that its unfolded state contains residual structures. On the other hand, our FRET results on the LysM domain allow us to develop a model for extracting structural and thermodynamic parameters about its unfolding, and we find that our results are in agreement with those obtained by other methods. Given the fact that Phe CN is a non-natural amino acid and, thus, amenable to incorporation into peptides and proteins via existing peptide synthesis and protein expression methods, we believe that the FRET method demonstrated here is widely applicable to protein conformational studies, especially to the study of relatively small proteins.


CMEA governments export "soft" goods at high price discounts to the west to generate hard currency. Dumping is therefore particularly prevalent in times of balance of payment or debt crises. EC producers "injured" by CMEA exports initiate AD investigations. The discretion of the EC administering agency and its political accountability results in relief being granted to politically influential interest groups through AD measures. Undertakings are the predominant measure for rent transfer and for collusive reasons. Important implications for the Eastern European trade policy makers and producers follow.


Abstract : Three different types of activation counters have been tested and used for neutron diagnostics on pulsed plasmas produced with intense relativistic electron beams. Each counter employs the activation of silver, rhodium, or lead respectively. The advantages of each detector are pointed out, and limitations due to dead-time losses or neutron-scattering effects are carefully documented. Absolute calibrations have been made for radioactive sources and for d(d,n)3He and t(d,n)alpha pulsed neutron sources.