Purpose
This paper aims to present an adaptive approach of the generalized finite element method (GFEM) for transient dynamic analysis of bars and trusses. The adaptive GFEM, previously proposed for free vibration analysis, is used with the modal superposition method to obtain precise time-history responses.

Design/methodology/approach
The adaptive GFEM is applied to the transient analysis of bars and trusses. To increase the precision of the results and computational efficiency, the modal matrix is responsible for the decoupling of the dynamic equilibrium equations in the modal superposition method, which is used with only the presence of the problem's most preponderant modes of vibration. These modes of vibration are identified by a proposed coefficient capable of indicating the influence of each mode on the transient response.

Findings
The proposed approach leads to more accurate results of displacement, velocity and acceleration when compared to the traditional finite element method.

Originality/value
In this paper, the application of the adaptive GFEM to the transient analysis of bars and trusses is presented for the first time. A methodology of identification of the preponderant modes to be retained in the modal matrix is proposed to improve the quality of the solution. The examples showed that the method has a strong potential to solve dynamic analysis problems, as the approach had already proved to be efficient in the modal analysis of different framed structures. A simple way to perform h-refinement of truss elements to obtain reference solutions for dynamic problems is also proposed.


When on-wafer high frequency characterization of MOSFETs is performed, influences of the substrate coupling arising from metal bonding pads have to be considered in order to de-embed the characteristics of intrinsic transistors at high frequencies. In this work we examine different metal pad configurations used for the de-embedding procedure, i.e. pad compensation. Lumped circuit models are used to account for the effects of the metal pads and the substrate beneath. Good agreement is found between the Y-parameters of the proposed models and the measured data up to 18 GHz. With the guidance of the models we discuss designs of metal pad configurations, substrate resistivity, substrate isolation and layout of MOSFETs in order to improve the accuracy of the pad compensation.


Climate change, increasing population and economic development have resulted in an imbalance between availability of, and demand for, potable water supplies worldwide. In Australia below average rainfall has led to severe drought over the past 12 years; consequently water restrictions have been introduced to reduce water demand, and alternative sources of water such as rainwater are being considered to supplement traditional water supplies. Currently, 2.5% of the population in capital cities use rainwater as the primary water source; however some health authorities do not endorse rainwater for potable use when a reticulated system exists. Traditionally, rainwater has not been considered a safe drinking water option since the quality is highly variable. Several observational studies have found an association between rainwater consumption and adverse health outcomes; however the level of risk cannot be accurately established through observational studies. This thesis aims to provide scientific evidence that will enable a better understanding of the health risks associated with rainwater consumption using a double-blinded randomized controlled design. The scope of the thesis is limited to gastrointestinal illness which is the most likely health risk of rainwater associated with rainwater use. A nested case control design was also used to investigate risk factors for gastroenteritis among rainwater consumers. Data on recruitment, tank characteristics and maintenance, and water quality are also provided. The results of the randomised trial show that, among regular users, consumption of untreated rainwater does not play a significant role in community gastroenteritis. Since direct ingestion delivers the largest possible dose, it would present the greatest health risk. These findings alone may be insufficient to change policy regarding rainwater consumption but at a minimum should guide policy makers to consider endorsing expanded household rainwater use, including showering/bathing where consumption is at most inadvertent. The case control study enabled determination of risk factors for gastroenteritis amongst this niche population. The findings, particularly the contribution of beef as a risk factor for illness, and the protective effect of salad prepared and consumed at home, add to the body of knowledge regarding gastrointestinal risk factors in non-outbreak settings. The quality of harvested and stored rainwater depends on maintenance and management practices implemented. The results of the tank survey show that the majority of households employed at least one of the recommended strategies. Longitudinal data on the microbiological quality of harvested rainwater is provided and are correlated with practices implemented and rainfall. The findings show that implementation of at least four strategies results in improved microbial quality. In addition, increases in microbial counts 24hrs after rainfall indicate a potential health risk. In summary, this research has provided novel information on the suitability of rainwater as a potential alternative water source in urban areas. Overall, the data show that while harvested rainwater quality exhibits a high degree of variability, the risk of illness is low; however, it cannot be stated unconditionally that rainwater is safe for drinking. Nevertheless, rainwater use can be expanded for indoor non-potable purposes where inadvertent or accidental ingestion of small quantities may occur.


Taking Duke University as an example, this article makes a comparison between the major of biomedical engineering in the Southeast University and that in American universities in term of subject direction, faculty, teaching principle and status of publishing academic papers. Through the comparison and analysis, the problems we face were explored. From the comparison and summary the future improvements in four aspects, such as strengthening the interdisciplinary among different majors, etc. so as to provide an inspiration on the future perspectives of research and teaching in biomedical engineering in China.


In monkey extraocular muscles (EOM), a battery of histochemical reactions delineates three muscle fiber types, coarse, fine, and granular. Normal EOM are compared with EOM denervated by intracranial oculomotor nerve section. The experimentally denervated EOM fibers did not show the constellation of histologic responses typical of denervated limb muscle, making a diagnosis of a denervation process in EOM muscle very difficult. Although the denervated fine and granular fibers (but not the coarse fibers) develop diffuse extrajunctional acetylcholine receptors (AChR) following experimental denervation, this is not a reliable criterion of denervation because not all of those fibers developed it and they did not show it beyond a 12-week period following nerve section; moreover, myopathic mechanisms have previously been shown capable of provoking diffuse extrajunctional AChR in limb-muscle fibers.


The study of alkaliphilic microbial communities from anaerobic sediments of Owens and Mono Lakes in California led to the isolation of a bacterial strain capable of metabolizing amino acids with alternative chirality. According to the phylogenetic analysis, the anaerobic strain BK1 belongs to the genus Tindallia; however, despite the characteristics of other described species of this genus, the strain BK1 was able to grow on D-arginine and Dlysine. Cell morphology of this strain showed straight, motile, non-spore-forming rods with sizes 0.45 x 1.2-3 microns. Physiological characteristics of the strain showed that it is catalase negative, obligately anaerobic, mesophilic, and obligately alkaliphilic. This isolate is unable to grow at pH 7 and requires CO3 (2-) ions for growth. The strain has chemo-heterotrophic metabolism and is able to ferment various proteolysis products and some sugars. It plays the role of a primary anaerobe within the trophic chain of an anaerobic microbial community by the degradation of complex protein molecules to smaller and less energetic molecules. The new isolate requires NaCl for growth, and can grow within the range of 0.5-13 %, with the optimum at 1 % NaCl (w/v). The temperature range for the growth of the new isolate is 12-40 C with optimum at 35 C. The pH range for the growth of strain BK1 occurs between 7.8 and 11.0 with optimum at 9.5. This paper presents detailed physiological characteristics of the novel isolate from Owens Lake, a unique relic ecosystem of Astrobiological significance, and makes an accent on the ability of this strain to utilize L-amino acids.


Popularity as a fur-bearing species led to the American mink Mustela vison being transported far beyond its native range in North America (Dunstone, 1993). In many places the species was bred in fur farms, from which there were inevitably escapes, and in some areas it was deliberately released in large numbers with the intention of establishing harvestable populations. Both routes led to the widespread establishment of feral populations of this versatile semi-aquatic mustelid. Invariably, close scrutiny of the impact of feral American mink on native fauna has led at least to concern, and increasingly to proof, that they are inimical to the conservation of native species. Evidence of the impact of the American mink on native species falls into two categories. First, American mink may reduce significantly, and locally exterminate, certain vertebrate prey (Macdonald et al., in press). Second, as versatile and seemingly aggressive competitors they may alter the competitive balance within the local guild of semi-aquatic predators, even ousting native mustelids.


TSV (through silicon via) is regarded as a key technology for 2.5D and 3D electronic packaging. And the manufacturing of the through silicon interposer is very challenge and costly. In the backside process of interposer, grinding is considered as the most promising technology to control wafer's surface roughness and surface defect. In this paper, according to the grinding process, a mathematical model is established. According to the model, MATLAB is used to simulate and predict the grinding marks and the distance between two adjacent grinding lines during the backside grinding process. The grinding marks of the half contact grinding model and full contact grinding model with different wheel rotation speed and wafer rotation speed are presented. And the relationship between two adjacent grinding lines and the ratio of wafer rotation speed and wheel rotation speed is predicted. The experiments are also carried out to verify the proposed model. The results of the experiments agree well with the simulation results.


Effect of a permanent magnet on ventilation of an air duct through compost have been investigated numerically. Some compost yield heat over 60 Celsius in fermentation process. That exothermic reaction produces a considerable amount of heat, which could be a potential heating source. Fermentation reaction requires ventilation, abundant supply of paramagnetic oxygen gas and exhaust of metabolized diamagnetic carbon dioxide gas. Continuous and forced air supply is more efficient rather than the conventional manual turn or stirring as ventilation means. In magneto-fluid-dynamics, the magnetizing force acting on a paramagnetic oxygen gas is applied for the enhancement of air flow, heat and mass transfer. In this research, the enhancement of the air flow of various size air ducts have been numerically investigated by applying a permanent magnet on an air duct. Numerical results shows that a permanent magnet enhances the air flow. The application of a permanent magnet to an air duct is useful for CHS, a promising alternative energy system.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Boronization of NSTX has allowed access to higher density higher confinement plasmas. A glow discharge with 4 mtorr helium and 10% deuterated trimethyl boron deposited 1.7 g of boron on the plasma facing surfaces. Ion beam analysis of witness coupons showed a B + C areal density of 1018 cm-2 corresponding to a film thickness of 100 nm. Subsequent ohmic discharges showed oxygen emission lines reduced by a factor of 15, carbon emission reduced by a factor of two and copper reduced to undetectable levels. After boronization, the plasma current flat-top time increased by 70% enabling access to higher density higher confinement plasmas.


Relevance. Liquidators of the consequences of radiation accidents have an increase in neuropsychiatric diseases. However, the structural and functional rearrangement of brain neurons under prolonged low radiation exposure remains virtually unexplored, which makes it difficult to assess the pathogenesis of these diseases. Intention. To study morphological correlates of prolonged low radiation effects on brain neurons in the model of radiobiological experiment. Method. 270 white outbred male rats aged 4 months were exposed to radiation-quanta of 60Co in equal portions in total doses of 10; 20; 50 and 100 cGy with a dose rate of 0.5 Gy/h over 5 days. Age control consisted of animals exposed to false radiation. Animal studies complied with GLP standards. Brain fragments were taken after 1 day, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after irradiation. After a standard histological treatment, changes in the tinctorial properties of neurons, their morphometric parameters, total protein and nucleic acids were evaluated. Results and their analysis . At the end of the observation period, the number of normochromic neurons decreased and the number of hyper and hypochromic cells increased, as well as their destructive forms. The neuro-cellular index decreased over time suggesting the death of some neurons, but without a statistically significant decrease in their number per area. In the post-irradiation period there were observed phase changes in the size of the cytoplasm, nucleus and nucleolus of neurons, as well as the content of protein and nucleic acids (RNA in the cytoplasm and nucleoli, DNA in the nuclei), more pronounced in irradiated animals and sometimes different from those observed in age control animals. As a result, a number of neuromorphological parameters in some periods of observation were not consistent with those in control animals, with a certain instability in the structural and functional organization of neurons. Conclusion. Prolonged low-dose ionizing radiation does not cause significant organic changes in the brain. However, increased radiation exposure or other concomitant adverse factors can be associated with further instability of the structural and functional organization of neurons and serve as a material substrate for a number of deviations in the central nervous system.


Microfocussed X-rays produced by an electron synchrotron were essential for the first structure elucidation of protein crystals having extremely small dimensions (5×20-40 μm). A further prerequisite for the successful crystal structure analysis of bacteriorhodopsin was a novel crystallization method using a lipid matrix. These methodological breakthroughs pave the way for further advances in structure determinations of membrane proteins.


Abstracts. Filariasis (elephantiasis disease) in Indonesia is still a health problems, there are still areas with the patient chronic and acute. A total of 1553 villages in 647 health centers scattered in 231 districts in 26 provinces as the location of the endemic, with a number of chronic cases of 6233 people. Elimination program disease elephantiasis has been undertaken by the government, but until today there are still many areas with the number of microfilariae (Mf rate) is still high (> 1%). One of the government's efforts in this regard Litbangkes RI in collecting basic data, including data filariasis is with the activities of the Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) conducted simultaneously across Indonesia. Based on the results of data collection Riskesdas then further analysis is to look at the environmental conditions and demographic status associated with the incidence of filariasis. Based on the results of analysis show that there were a statistically significant relationship between the type of waste water reservoirs; types of sewage systems and types of livestock kept, the classification of villages with the incidence of filariasis. Keywords: riskesdas, filariasis, environmental, demographic status


In the presence of monoamines, L-type Ca(2+) channels on the dendrites of motoneurons contribute to persistent inward currents (PICs) that can amplify synaptic inputs two- to sixfold. However, the exact location of the L-type Ca(2+) channels is controversial, and the importance of the location as a means of regulating the input-output properties of motoneurons is unknown. In this study, we used a computational strategy developed previously to estimate the dendritic location of the L-type Ca(2+) channels and test the hypothesis that the location of L-type Ca(2+) channels varies as a function of motoneuron size. Compartmental models were constructed based on dendritic trees of five motoneurons that ranged in size from small to large. These models were constrained by known differences in PIC activation reported for low- and high-conductance motoneurons and the relationship between somatic PIC threshold and the presence or absence of tonic excitatory or inhibitory synaptic activity. Our simulations suggest that L-type Ca(2+) channels are concentrated in hotspots whose distance from the soma increases with the size of the dendritic tree. Moving the hotspots away from these sites (e.g., using the hotspot locations from large motoneurons on intermediate-sized motoneurons) fails to replicate the shifts in PIC threshold that occur experimentally during tonic excitatory or inhibitory synaptic activity. In models equipped with a size-dependent distribution of L-type Ca(2+) channels, the amplification of synaptic current by PICs depends on motoneuron size and the location of the synaptic input on the dendritic tree.


The present study demonstrates for the first time, the development of mesoporous zirconium hydroxide with high CO2 capacity and sustainable adsorption-desorption performance within a broad range of pressures (100-3000 kPa). Mesoporous zirconium hydroxide with a high surface area of ∼400 m(2) g(-1) was prepared by a simple and easy-to-handle precipitation route. The prepared high surface area mesoporous zirconium hydroxide exhibited significantly higher CO2 adsorption uptake and working adsorption capacity on a volumetric basis within a wide range of operating pressures of 100-3000 kPa than commercially available zeolite 13X. Reversible CO2 desorption was easily achieved by a pressure swing at moderate temperatures (298.15 K). Additionally, the prepared mesoporous zirconium hydroxide was adequately stable and strong to effectuate CO2 capture over multiple adsorption-desorption cycles without major reductions in its CO2 adsorption capacity. Furthermore, the effect of co-adsorbed water on the CO2 adsorption properties of mesoporous zirconium hydroxide was investigated. In the presence of co-adsorbed water, mesoporous zirconium hydroxide displayed reversible CO2 adsorption-desorption behavior in contrast to zeolite 13X that exhibited negligible CO2 adsorption within the wide range of pressures examined. The present study demonstrates the potential of high surface area mesoporous zirconium hydroxide toward efficient CO2 capturing processes.


A direct-current air plasma jet operated underwater presents three stable modes including an intermittently-pulsed discharge, a periodically-pulsed discharge and a continuous discharge with increasing the power voltage. The three discharge modes have different appearances for the plasma plumes. Moreover, gap voltage-current characteristics indicate that the continuous discharge is in a normal glow regime. Spectral lines from reactive species (OH, N2, N2 , Hα, and O) have been revealed in the emission spectrum of the plasma jet operated underwater. Spectral intensities emitted from OH radical and oxygen atom increase with increasing the power voltage or the gas flow rate, indicating that reactive species are abundant. These reactive species cause the degradation of the methylene blue dye in solution. Effects of the experimental parameters such as the power voltage, the gas flow rate and the treatment time are investigated on the degradation efficiency. Results indicate that the degradation efficiency increases with increasing the power voltage, the gas flow rate or the treatment time. Compared with degradation in the intermittently-pulsed mode or the periodically-pulsed one, it is more efficient in the continuous mode, reaching 98% after 21 min treatment.


We study the effect of a merger in a dynamic high-technology industry—the videogame market—which is characterized by the frequent introduction of new products. To assess the impact of the merger between two large specialist retailers in the United Kingdom—Game Group PLC and Games Station Limited—we perform a difference-in-differences analysis comparing the price evolution of the merging parties with that of their 7 major competitors on an original sample of 196 videogames belonging to 6 different consoles. The results of our econometric analyses suggest that there has been a reduction in the general level of prices of both new and pre-owned games after the merger. This decline has been more marked for the merging parties, which suggests that the merger between Game Group PLC and Games Station Limited did not lead to a substantial lessening of competition; rather, it is consistent with the existence of efficiency gains.


Domain wall memory (DWM) is gaining significant attention for embedded cache application due to low standby power, excellent retention, and ability to store multiple bits per cell. Additionally, it provides fast access time, good endurance, and good retention. However, it suffers from poor write latency, shift latency, shift power, and write power. DWM is sequential in nature and latency of read/write operations depends on the offset of the bit from the read/write head. This paper investigates the circuit design challenges such as bitcell layout, head positioning, utilization factor of the nanowire, shift power, shift latency, and provides solutions to deal with these issues. A synergistic system is proposed by combining circuit techniques such as merged read/write heads (for compact layout), flipped-bitcell and shift gating (for shift power optimization), wordline strapping (for access latency), shift circuit design with two micro-architectural techniques: 1) segmented cache and 2) workload-aware dynamic shift and write current boosting to realize energy-efficient and robust DWM cache. Simulations show 3-33% performance and 1.2-14.4X power consumption improvement for cache segregation and 2.5-31% performance and 1.3-14.9X power enhancement for dynamic current boosting over a wide range of PARSEC benchmarks.


Less lipophilic and better water soluble tariquidar analogues were synthesised from one central anthranilic acid derived building block by CuI-catalysed N/O-arylation reactions. The compounds were tested for their inhibitory activity against the ABCB1 transporter in a flow cytometric calcein-AM efflux assay. A correlation between their calculated log P values and their activities was observed, with the more lipophilic analogues being as potent as the reference substance tariquidar.


Triangulated polyhedra are simpler to process than arbitrary polyhedra for many graphics operations. Algorithms that compute the boundary representation of a constructive solid geometry (CSG) model, however, may perform poorly if the model involves triangulated polyhedral primitives. A new CSG algorithm specifically tailored to triangulated primitives is presented. The key features of this algorithm are its global processing of intersections between polyhedra and its avoidance of ray-casting when classifying polyhedra against one another. The new algorithm is shown to perform substantially better than one published algorithm, and arguments are presented suggesting its benefits over several others in the context of an interactive modeling environment. Keywords: constructive solid geometry, Boolean set operations, solid modeling, polyhedra, triangulation.


Dylann Roof killed nine people in a Black church in 2015 in order to start a "war" between the white and Black races. This case is used here to develop a psychoanalytic theory of murderous racism, and even genocide. Major concepts from Freud (self-preservation, hatred, narcissism, life and death drives, delusion), Klein (projective identification), and Bion (psychotic and nonpsychotic parts of the personality) are employed. Particular attention is given to the hearing to determine Roof's capacity to represent himself after he dismissed his lawyers, who wanted to use an insanity defense to avoid the death penalty. This hearing was confronted with an undecidable dilemma, which led to legal cooperation with Roof's suicidal impulses. The deconstructive approach to undecidability, and its use in questions of law, especially as concerns the relation between psychoanalysis and the death penalty, leads to tentative recommendations for the prevention of racist murder.


High frequency strain mapping of a porcine cornea was produced by three-dimensional speckle tracking of a three-dimensional confocally merged ultrasonic data set. Previous two-dimensional elasticity imaging was limited by speckle moving in the non-imaged dimension. This study used an ultrasonic transducer (53 MHz center frequency, 31 MHz bandwidth, 1.67 f#) scanned in three dimensions. A fresh porcine eye globe was embedded in gelatin up to the cornea/sclera junction and pressurized to physiological pressure. A portion of the cornea was imaged with a single element transducer scanned in three directions. Three-dimensional volume sets were created from the data by confocally merging volume sets at several depths. In the vertical dimension, parallel to ultrasonic propagation, the transducer was moved by nearly half its depth of field. Overlaps between adjacent depths were correlated using phase-sensitive speckle tracking to determine precise shifts. Two-dimensional images over multiple depths of field were combined to form a single 2-D image over an entire vertical scan range. Multiple planes were then stacked in the remaining direction to form a 3-D volume set. Next, the cornea was deformed and then imaged again. Three-dimensional speckle tracking was used to create strain maps from the two volume sets. Vertical strain, horizontal strain, and transverse strain behave as expected and provide insight into mechanical properties of corneal tissue.


Objective: To describe the pathogens found in home nebulizers and in respiratory samples of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, and to evaluate the effect that a standardized instruction regarding cleaning and disinfection of nebulizers has on the frequency of nebulizer contamination. Methods: We included 40 CF patients (22 males), all of whom used the same model of nebulizer. The median patient age was 11.2 ± 3.74 years. We collected samples from the nebulizer mouthpiece and cup, using a sterile swab moistened with sterile saline. Respiratory samples were collected by asking patients to expectorate into a sterile container or with oropharyngeal swabs after cough stimulation. Cultures were performed on selective media, and bacteria were identified by classical biochemical tests. Patients received oral and written instructions regarding the cleaning and disinfection of nebulizers. All determinations were repeated an average of two months later. Results: Contamination of the nebulizer (any part) was detected in 23 cases (57.5%). The nebulizer mouthpiece and cup were found to be contaminated in 16 (40.0%) and 19 (47.5%), respectively. After the standardized instruction had been given, there was a significant decrease in the proportion of contaminated nebulizers (43.5%). Conclusions: In our sample of CF patients, nebulizer contamination was common, indicating the need for improvement in patient practices regarding the cleaning and disinfection of their nebulizers. A one-time educational intervention could have a significant positive impact.


Commonsense reasoning is a long-standing challenge for deep learning. For example, it is difficult to use neural networks to tackle the Winograd Schema dataset (Levesque et al., 2011). In this paper, we present a simple method for commonsense reasoning with neural networks, using unsupervised learning. Key to our method is the use of language models, trained on a massive amount of unlabled data, to score multiple choice questions posed by commonsense reasoning tests. On both Pronoun Disambiguation and Winograd Schema challenges, our models outperform previous state-of-the-art methods by a large margin, without using expensive annotated knowledge bases or hand-engineered features. We train an array of large RNN language models that operate at word or character level on LM-1-Billion, CommonCrawl, SQuAD, Gutenberg Books, and a customized corpus for this task and show that diversity of training data plays an important role in test performance. Further analysis also shows that our system successfully discovers important features of the context that decide the correct answer, indicating a good grasp of commonsense knowledge.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the protein expression of myogenin, a mark of muscle regeneration, and TGF-beta1, an important factor of myelofibrosis, in long-term denervated posterior cricoarytenoid muscles (PCAMs) in order to find the appropriate time point of reinnervation in long-term denervated PCAMs.

METHODS
Thirty-eight patients with vocal paralysis were divided into four groups, the 0.5-year denervation group, the 1-year denervation group, the 2-year denervation group and the over 3-year denervation group. Twelve normal adults served as a control group. The change in expression of related factors such as myogenin and TGF-beta1 were observed using immunofluorescence stain and Western blot.

RESULTS
Immunostaining with antibody against myogenin showed no staining in innervated, however, by 0.5-year of muscle denervation, there was a significant accumulation of myogenin protein in myonuclei. There was a peak in expression of myogenin in 1-year denervated muscles. After 2 years of denervation, expression of myogenin protein in myonuclei was decreased, but after 3 years of denervation, no expression of myogenin protein in myonuclei was found. TGF-beta1 showed no staining in innervated, however, by 0.5-year and 1-year of muscle denervation there was a significant accumulation of TGF-beta1 protein in endochylema of myofiber, After 2 years of denervation, expression of TGF-beta1 protein in endochylema of myofiber was decreased, but after 3 years of denervation, no expression of TGF-beta1 protein in endochylema could be found. In Western blot, the change in protein expression of myogenin was observed 7.12-fold (F = 332.205, P < 0.001) increase from 0.5-year denervated muscles to innervated muscles, 15.58-fold (P < 0.001) increase from 1-year denervated muscles to innervated muscles, 6.50-fold (P < 0.001) increase from 2-years denervated muscles to innervated muscles (P < 0.001). After 3 years, the protein expression of myogenin decreased, 1.12-fold to innervated muscles. The change in protein expression of TGF-beta1 was observed 4.80-fold (F = 106.192, P < 0.001) increase from 0.5-year denervated muscles to innervated muscles, 10.59-fold (P < 0.001) increase from 1-year denervated muscles to innervated muscles, 6.01-fold (P < 0.001) increase from 2-years denervated muscles to innervated muscles(P < 0.001). After 3 years, the protein expression of TGF-beta1 decreased 1.20-fold to innervated muscles. There was significant positive correlation between expression of myogenin and TGF-beta1 in long-term denervated PCAMs.

CONCLUSIONS
The change in expression of myogenin and TGF-beta1 indicated that there was a good muscles regeneration and a high amplitude of myelofibrosis within 2 years.


Background and Objective Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology. Changes in the lymph nodes could precede those in the synovial joints. Recent studies reported the importance of lymph node stromal cells (LNSCs) in lymphoid homeostasis, peripheral tolerance and the adaptive immune response. Therefore, we characterised the functional capacities of LNSCs in human lymph nodes during health and different phases of RA. Materials and Methods Individuals with arthralgia but without any evidence of arthritis upon physical examination who were positive for IgM rheumatoid factor and/or anti-citrullinated protein antibodies were included (n = 12; RA risk group). In addition, we included patients with early arthritis (disease duration <1 year; n = 6), RA (n = 15) and healthy controls (n = 8). All study subjects underwent ultrasound-guided inguinal lymph node biopsy. LNSCs were isolated and cultured from freshly collected lymph node needle biopsies. LNSCs originating from different culture passages were studied to investigate the effects of in vitro culture on the expression level of stromal cell associated genes, including VCAM-1, ColIVa and IL-6. In addition, we analysed the expression of Deaf1 and Aire, transcriptional regulators involved in peripheral tolerance. Functional capacities of LNSCs were studied by analysing STAT-1 and MxA mRNA induction and interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 production after TLR-3 triggering by PolyI:C. Results Cells with a fibroblast-like morphology started to grow out from the stromal part of lymph node biopsies within a few weeks of culture. Passage 0 consisted of a mixture of adherent cells, resulting in a lower expression of the measured stromal genes. From passage 1 gene expression levels for VCAM-1, ColIVa and IL-6 increased and stabilised. All LNSCs cell lines expressed Deaf1 while the expression of Aire was only detected at very low levels. LNSCs were sensitive for TLR-3 ligation by PolyI:C resulting in upregulated STAT-1 and MxA, downregulated Deaf1 and high levels of IL-6 and IL-8. Chemokines CCL19 and CCL20 were only expressed after stimulation with PolyI:C. There was a high variability between donors and interim analysis showed no clear differences between LNSCs cultured from healthy individuals, RA risk or RA patients. Conclusions We developed a culture system for human LNSCs to facilitate research on the role of the lymph node microenvironment in the pathogenesis of RA. Cultured human LNSCs express typical stromal cell markers and are responsive for TLR-3 triggering. Interestingly, the LNSCs express the transcriptional regulator Deaf1 which may indicate peripheral tissue antigen expression by LNSCs.


Mobile applications have become widely popular for their ability to access real-time information. In electric vehicle (EV) mobility, these applications are used by drivers to locate charging stations in public spaces, pay for charging transactions, and engage with other users. This activity generates a rich source of data about charging infrastructure and behavior. However, an increasing share of this data is stored as unstructured text—inhibiting our ability to interpret behavior in real-time. In this article, we implement recent transformer-based deep learning algorithms, BERT and XLnet, that have been tailored to automatically classify short user reviews about EV charging experiences. We achieve classification results with a mean accuracy of over 91% and a mean F1 score of over 0.81 allowing for more precise detection of topic categories, even in the presence of highly imbalanced data. Using these classification algorithms as a pre-processing step, we analyze a U.S. national dataset with econometric methods to discover the dominant topics of discourse in charging infrastructure. After adjusting for station characteristics and other factors, we find that the functionality of a charging station is the dominant topic among EV drivers and is more likely to be discussed at points-of-interest with negative user experiences.


The reaction of ent-kaur-16-ene (1) or 13β-kaur-16-ene (4) with thallium(III) nitrate in glyme gave only allylic nitrate products, in high yield. The same reaction with ent-kaur-15-ene (16) gave the nitrates (2) and (3), an epoxide (22), and an allylic alcohol (5). Similar treatment of 13β-kaur-15-ene (21) afforded the allylic alcohols (9) and (10) and the ketones (23) and (24); considerable amounts of starting material were recovered. The significance of the differences between these reactions is discussed. A mutual allylic rearrangement of the allylic nitrate products is reported.


[14C]Dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione was used to determine the pH and bicarbonate concentration ([HCO3-]) in follicular cells and luminal fluid (LF) of turtle thyroids. Values of cellular and luminal pH and [HCO3-] were derived from the steady-state [14C]dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione values in whole gland and in the follicular LF sampled by micropipettes inserted into the follicular lumen and by resolution of the [14C]dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione uptake curve into its components by a computer program. In extracellular fluid of control turtles at 24 degrees C, the pH was 7.66, [HCO3-] was 33.1 mmol/l and pCO2 was 33.6 mm Hg. In thyroidal follicular cells, pH was 7.26 and [HCO3-] was 14.3 mmol/l; and in LF, pH was 7.32 and [HCO3-] was 16.5 mmol/l. These data provide evidence that H+ and HCO3- do not distribute according to their electrochemical gradients across both the basal and apical membranes of thyroid. Thyrotropin increased cell pH to 7.70 and [HCO3-] to 39.8 mmol/l; luminal pH and [HCO3-] were also markedly increased. Acetazolamide reduced [HCO3-] in both cells and LF. 4-Acetamido-4'-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid increased cellular pH and [HCO3-] but did not alter these parameters in LF. Both ouabain and furosemide increased cellular pH and [HCO3-] and decreased luminal pH and [HCO3-]. Methimazole increased cellular pH and [HCO3-], decreased LF [HCO3-] and did not affect the LF pH.


We propose a simple remedy for the exaggerated extrinsic information produced by the soft-output Viterbi algorithm (SOVA). We argue that what leads to these optimistic extrinsic values is the inherent strong correlation between the intrinsic information (input to the SOVA) and extrinsic information (output of the SOVA). The proposed remedy involves employing two attenuators, one applied to the immediate output of the SOVA and another applied to the extrinsic information before it is passed to the other decoder (assuming iterative decoding). We examine the modified SOVA (MSOVA) on additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and fading channels for serial concatenated codes (SCCs). We show that the MSOVA provides substantial performance improvements over both channels. For example, it provides improvements of about 0.8 to 1.0 dB at P/sub b/ = 10/sup -5/ in AWGN, and about 1.4 to 2.0 dB at P/sub b/ = 10/sup -5/ in fading channels, all relative to the SOVA. We extend the proposed modifications to the a posteriori probability (APP) algorithm with favorable results. We demonstrate that the modified APP (MAPP) provides performance improvements between 0.3 to 0.6 dB at P/sub b/ = 10/sup -5/ relative to the APP.


INTRODUCTION
There is a need to develop accurate devices for measuring daily energy expenditure under free-living conditions, particularly given our current obesity epidemic.

PURPOSE
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the validity of energy expenditure estimates from two portable armband devices, the SenseWear Pro3 Armband (SWA) monitor and the SenseWear Mini Armband (Mini) monitor, under free-living conditions.

METHODS
Participants in the study (30 healthy adults aged 24-60 yr) wore both monitors for 14 consecutive days, including while sleeping. Criterion values for total energy expenditure (TEE) were determined using doubly labeled water (DLW), the established criterion standard method for free-living energy expenditure assessment.

RESULTS
The average TEE estimates were within 112 kcal·d−¹ for the SWA and within 22 kcal·d−¹ for the Mini, but the absolute error rates (computed as the average absolute value of the individual errors) were similar for the two monitors (SWA = 8.1% ± 6.8%, Mini = 8.3% ± 6.5%). Using intraclass correlation (ICC) analysis, significant agreements were found between the SWA and DLW estimates of energy expenditure (ICC = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.89-0.70) and between the Mini and DLW (ICC = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.92-0.76). Graphical plots of the DLW TEE values against the difference between DLW and monitor estimates of TEE showed that the agreement was consistent across a range of TEE values.

CONCLUSIONS
The SenseWear Pro3 and the SenseWear Mini armbands show promise for accurately measuring daily energy expenditure under free-living conditions. However, more work is needed to improve the ability of these monitors to accurately measure energy expenditure at higher levels of expenditure.


In recent times the concept of global civil society has made its appearance on national and international intellectual, as well as political agendas, in a major way. It is of some interest that two other concepts, both of which call for transcendence of national boundaries in precisely the same way as global civil society does, have also made their appearance on the scene of intellectual debates at roughly the same time: the concept of cosmopolitanism and that of transnational justice. All three concepts have dramatically expanded the notion of commitment to one's fellow beings beyond the nation state. And all three concepts have extended critiques of policies that violate the dignity of human beings from national governments to the practices of inter-national institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Forum. In sum the inter-related concepts of global civil society, cosmopolitanism, and transnational justice have greatly enlarged the traditional domain of political theory. And yet for any political theorist who is acutely conscious of the phenomenon of power, these concepts are not unproblematic. For the practices of global civil society may just reinforce the intellectual and the moral power of the West over the postcolonial world. This is particularly true of say global human rights organizations. This paper will attempt to raise some questions of the concept and the practices of global civil society from the perspective of the countries of the South.


Canada and the USA differ in their recommendations for the use of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV). The Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) continues to recommend LAIV as one of the influenza vaccines available for use in children 2 to 17 years of age. The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) made an interim recommendation against the use of LAIV for the 2016 to 2017 influenza season in response to low LAIV effectiveness observed in the USA during the 2013 to 2014 to 2015 to 2016 seasons. The recommendation has been continued for the 2017 to 2018 season. In response, NACI undertook a review of available LAIV effectiveness data in children and adolescents from Canada, the USA and a number of European countries. This commentary by Canada's Chief Public Health Officer summarizes the findings of that review and provides the rationale for Canada's current continued recommendation for LAIV use.


The odour threshold concentrations (OTCs) levels of aldehydes and alkyl nitriles, two groups of disinfection by-products of water treatment, have been studied in order to know if some of these compounds can be associated with off-flavour events. For aldehydes, as a result of the values obtained, which are in the low microg/L range, it is possible that they are related to these events. This is not the case for the other group, alkyl nitriles, with very high OTC values.


The consumption of household and personal care products in Australia is similar to that of more highly regulated agricultural and veterinary chemicals. One class of chemical used in cosmetic applications, polymeric quaternary ammonium salts (polyquaterniums), is thought to have adverse effects on aquatic organisms. These polymers belong to a larger class of polymers, cationic polyelectrolytes, that are widely used in industry, largely for water treatment, and that have been extensively studied and regulated. The cosmetic polyquaterniums, however, have not been subject to the same scrutiny, even though differences in, or expectations of, their behaviour are known to exist.
The aim of this study was to examine the fate and toxicity of some cosmetic polyquaterniums, and particularly to examine the impact of the presence of the anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulphate, that is often complexed with the polyquaterniums in cosmetic formulations on fate and toxicity. The polyquaterniums studied consisted of six samples of Polyquaternium-10 of provided by Amerchol (The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI U.S.A.), five samples of three polyquaterniums (Polyquaternium-11, Polyquaternium-28, Polyquaternium-55) provided by International Specialty Products (ISP, Wayne, New Jersey, USA), and polydimethyldiallyl ammonium chloride (poly(DADMAC), Polyquaternium-6), widely used in water treatment but less commonly in cosmetic applications purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Castle Hill, NSW, Australia). The four-step risk assessment paradigm (hazard identification, exposure assessment, hazard assessment, risk characterisation) provided the framework for this study.
Metachromatic polyelectrolyte titration was used to analyse polyquaterniums in aqueous solution. Although the method is generally not viable in the presence of other ions due to interference, it was found to be viable in the presence of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate. Further, the method was found to work with the supernatant following a sorption experiment involving humic acid. It was not possible to titrate solutions following exposure to bentonite, or in solutions prepared for toxicity tests. Metachromatic Colloid Titration was found to be useful in determining the charge density of the polyquaterniums, and in measuring the concentration of polyquaterniums of known charge density.
To establish the extent of exposure of vulnerable aquatic organisms to polyquaterniums released from cosmetic usage, it is necessary to estimate the concentration of polyquaterniums in the aquatic environment. The volume usage of polyquaterniums was estimated from available published data and standard emission scenarios used in the risk assessment of new and existing chemicals. The partitioning of the polyquaternium from the aqueous to the biosolid phase from wastewater treatment plants was estimated from the determination of the partition coefficient between water and humic acid. The latter was assumed to be a suitable surrogate for the biosolids. The fate of polyquaterniums in wastewater treatment plants was modelled using a fugacity approach based on a typical wastewater treatment plant. The import/manufacture volume of polyquaterniums for cosmetic uses was estimated to be between 20 and 60 tonnes per annum. The partition coefficient for polyquaterniums between the aqueous phase and humic acid was lower than expected, generally between 100 and 1000 for the polyquaterniums in this study. Fugacity modelling results suggested that the partitioning of polyquaterniums to the solid phase in wastewater treatment may be less than the default values normally assumed in regulatory risk assessment. Therefore, the estimate of the predicted environmental concentration (PEC) of polyquaterniums in Australian waters is between 0.7 µg/L and 40 µg/L depending on the assumptions and methodology used.
Effects assessment, or hazard assessment, is concerned with determining the capacity of the cosmetic polyquaterniums to cause harm to aquatic organisms in the environment. In this study, the aim was to determine if the hazard of the polyquaternium from cosmetic usage is the same as that of the better studied water treatment polymers; and if the complexing of the polyquaternium with the anionic surfactant makes any difference to the toxicity. One species from each of three trophic levels, viz fish, crustacean and algae were selected. Using assessment factors developed for the risk assessment of new chemicals, the environmental concentration likely to be hazardous to the most sensitive species was estimated. The polyquaterniums studied were found to be just as hazardous to the most sensitive species for a typical cosmetic polyquaternium when complexed with the anionic surfactant. The lowest concentration at which a toxic effect occurred was for 50% growth inhibition for algae, 0.3 mg/L for the most toxic polyquaternium. With assessment factors, and using the concentration at which cosmetic polyquaterniums were likely to be hazardous to aquatic organisms, the predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) was estimated to be between 0.3 µg/L and 1.2 µg/L.
The risk characterisation process combines the information obtained from the effects and exposure assessments to evaluate the nature of the potential risk. Commonly, the level of risk is estimated based on the PEC/PNEC ratio. In this study, using point estimates and probabilistic methods (Monte Carlo Simulation), the risk of polyquaterniums from cosmetic uses was estimated. Based on the behaviour and toxicity determined in this study, there may be some risk to aquatic organisms from individual polyquaterniums at even low import volumes. As a class of compounds, polyquaterniums from cosmetic uses may present a significant risk to environmental waters in Australia. Sensitivity analysis showed that the prediction of risk was most sensitive to those parameters for which the least amount of data was available, such as the import volume and dilution to receiving waters.
A recently developed method of estimating potential risk based on the concept of an Environmental Threshold of No Concern (ETNC), was applied to the use of cosmetic polyquaterniums in Australia. Using the fugacity model approach, the usage volume at which the environmental concentration would exceed the critical threshold was estimated. The volume was found to be significantly lower than the estimated usage determined by either of the methods employed in estimating the current usage volume.
While some problems remain in identifying the risk from polyquaterniums to the Australian environment, particularly those associated with the difficulties of quantifying polymers in environmental samples, this thesis has made substantial progress in the risk assessment. Particularly, it has been shown that the use of default assumptions that are largely unsubstantiated, and the sensitivity of the methodology to information that is often unavailable, may result in an estimation of risk that may not be able to protect vulnerable environments.


Besides their skepticism about universal reason and universal morality, the Frankfurt Schools of Critical Systems Theory and Critical Theory share basic assumptions: (1) the thinking in societal-systemic, institutional concepts, which transcend simple reciprocal relations by dint of their complexity; (2) the assumption that society is based on fundamental paradoxes, antagonisms, antinomies; (3) the strategy to conceptualize justice as a contingent and transcendental formula; (4) the form of immanent (and not morality-based, external) critique as an attitude of transcendence; (5) the aim of societal (and not only political) emancipation in an "association of free individuals" (Marx). The article focuses on those parallels and aims to conceptualize a critical turnaround of autopoietic systems theory.


Five crabapples, 'Manchurian', 'Sentinel', 'Yantaishagou', 'Hopa A' and 'SKK14', were evaluated as pollinizers of 'Hongro' apple tree for their flowering times, percentage of pollen germination, fruit setting, and disease and pest resistance. Flowering dates of 'Manchurian', 'Yantaishagou', and 'Hopa A', which ranged from April 19 to May 1, coincided with 'Hongro' apple cultivar. Those three crabapples had high percentage of pollen germination rate and fruit set pollinated with 'Hongro'. They were resistant to apple blotch, sooty blotch and fly speck. Fruit characteristics of 'Hongro' cultivar pollinated with any of three crabapples were similar to open pollinated fruits. The results suggested that three crabapples, 'Manchurian', 'Yantaishagou', and 'Hopa A', could be suitable pollinizers for 'Hongro' apple cultivar.


Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge decks have emerged as a competitive alternative to traditional decking solutions for the refurbishment of existing bridges, as well as the construction of new ones, in the past two decades. FRP decks offer inherent properties such as light weight, high strength and high resistance to aggressive environments. In addition, the prefabrication of FRP decks brings the benefits of industrial bridge construction and rapid on-site assembly leading to the minimisation of traffic disturbance. Even though the use of FRP decks started in the early 1990s, the uptake of these decks has been slow in bridge construction and there remains a need for research in diverse technical areas to promote the widespread use of these decks. The existing research and field applications of FRP decks were synthesised to recognize the standing level of knowledge and map out possible knowledge gaps. As an outcome several research needs were identified wherein two of them were: to determine the potential of bridges with FRP decks with respect to sustainability, and to develop connections which enable rapid on-site assembly. This thesis aims to contribute in bridging these knowledge gaps by investigating the sustainability of bridges with FRP decks and developing a novel panel-level connection for potential swift on-site assembly of FRP bridge deck panels. The sustainability of bridges with FRP decks was evaluated using life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis and life-cycle assessment (LCA) with a focus on carbon emissions. An existing steel-concrete bridge with a deteriorated concrete deck was selected as a case study. Two scenarios were studied and analysed: the total replacement of the bridge and a bridge rehabilitation scenario in which the concrete deck is replaced by an FRP deck. The analyses revealed that the latter scenario contributes to potential cost savings over the life cycle of bridges in addition to a reduced environmental impact in terms of carbon emissions. A novel panel-level connection was developed by following a process in which the client, designer, manufacturer and contractor were involved. Numerical analyses and experimental tests were conducted to investigate the overall structural behaviour and the load-carrying capacity of the developed panel-level connection. The results demonstrated that the connection exhibits sufficient load-carrying capacity and ductility, while the requirements in the serviceability limit state (SLS) were not fully satisfied due to geometric flaws in the connection modules. More experimental studies encompassing specimens with higher level of precision are therefore recommended to obtain enhanced performance in the serviceability limit state.


Abstract Sorting of sediment on a beach occurs when the cross-shore profile consists of graded sediments. Each grain-size fraction within a mixture responds differently to the same hydrodynamic regime. Sorting of sediment under wave action takes several forms. Stratified layers of finer and coarser sediment are formed, depending on wave climate, grain size, and beach slope. Grain size and sorting studies are of great importance in characterizing the dynamic beach environment. Some field data have been reported in the literature. In the present study, the cross-shore distribution of sediments, as well as the corresponding beach profiles, were measured in a wave basin on 1:5 beach slope for regular waves. Eighteen sets of experiments were performed on cross-shore sorting mechanisms using two different sand beds. The sorting of bed material and the formation of armor coats along beach profiles were defined by grain-size distribution and dimensionless parameters in this study. The experiments showed that finer material was deposited on the crest of bar-type beach profiles, but coarser grains accumulated on the foreshore, trough, ridge, and toe sections. Finer materials settled on the foreshore and crest of step-type profiles while coarser grains were deposited on the ridge and toe sections. The effect of the movement of a particular fraction on the sediment transport rate was also studied. Calculated sediment transport, modified to include the effects of sorting, was compared with transport rates measured in the wave basin. This suggested that the results under the experimental conditions were satisfactory for the description of sediment transport in the surf zone using the partial sediment transport mechanism over the beach profiles.


The aim of this study is to find design criteria for a writing pedagogy for Dutch universities of applied sciences (also: HBO schools). We analyzed policy and educational documents and interviewed lecturers of three writing courses in three HBO schools. This enabled us to characterize their writing approach and the problems and aspirations of the lecturers.

We discovered two issues: one is a conflict between the competence-based learning approach advocated in HBO policy documents and the actual writing approach, used by lecturers and in educational documents, reflecting a transfer of knowledge model. A second issue is an imbalance in the two key characteristics of HBO schools: the first characteristic, an orientation towards professional practice, is evident, but no attention is paid to the second one, that of vertical mobility and emancipation of HBO-students.

Lecturers would like a more motivating and activating writing approach. They are cautiously experimenting with creative writing techniques, but they lack professional self-confidence and support by their study programmes.

Design criteria for an HBO writing pedagogy should guarantee the significance of writing for student's professional future and for their current lives. It also should provide lecturers with consistent, justified principles and exercises. Thus, personal interests can function as incentive for professional writing.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the utility of telemedicine in the treatment of adult patients with strabismus.

METHODS
A 27-question online survey was sent to ophthalmologists of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) Adult Strabismus Committee. The questionnaire focused on the frequency of telemedicine utilization, the benefits in the diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment of adult strabismus, and barriers of current forms of remote patient visits.

RESULTS
The survey was completed by 16 of 19 members of the committee. Most respondents (93.8%) reported 0 to 2 years of experience with telemedicine. Telemedicine was found to be useful for initial screening and follow-up of established patients with adult strabismus, mainly to reduce wait time for a subspecialist visit (46.7%). A successful telemedicine visit could be completed with a basic laptop (73.3%) or a camera (26.7%) or could be assisted by an orthoptist. Most participants agreed that common forms of adult strabismus (cranial nerve palsies, sagging eye syndrome, myogenic strabismus, and thyroid ophthalmopathy) could be examined via webcam. It was easier to analyze horizontal than vertical strabismus. Among the paralytic forms, sixth nerve palsy was the easiest one to assess. Latent forms of strabismus can be partially diagnosed and evaluated using telemedicine, but half of the respondents underlined the importance of in-person examinations in these cases. Sixty-nine percent believed that telemedicine could be a low-cost and time-efficient health service solution.

CONCLUSIONS
Most members of the AAPOS Adult Strabismus Committee consider telemedicine to be a useful supplement to the current adult strabismus practice. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 20XX;X(X):XX-XX.].


The objective of this review is to assess the incidence of postoperative acute renal failure that necessitates the application of hemofiltration and to determine the factors that influence the outcome in patients undergoing surgical repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm. In addition, the review aims to assess the outcomes of postoperative early hemofiltration as compared to late intensive hemofiltration. Different forms of renal replacement therapies for use in abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery patients are discussed. Electronic literature searches were performed using Pubmed, Medline, Embase, Sumsearch, Cinahil, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Excerpta Medica. The search identified 419 potentially eligible studies, of which 119 were excluded based on the title and abstract. Of the remaining 300 studies, full articles were collected and re-evaluated. Forty-five articles satisfied our inclusion criteria, of which only 12 were of the IA Level of evidence. The search results indicated that the underlying disease, its severity and stage, the etiology of acute renal failure, clinical and hemodynamic status of the patient, the resources available, and different costs of therapy might all influence the choice of the renal replacement therapy strategy. However, clear guidelines on renal replacement therapy duration are still lacking. Moreover, it is not known whether in acute renal failure patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery, renal replacement therapy modalities can eliminate significant amounts of clinically relevant inflammatory mediators. This review gives current information available in the literature on the possible mechanisms underlying acute renal failure and recent developments in continuous renal replacement treatment modalities.


King v. Burwell is a crucial victory for the Obama Administration and for the future of the Affordable Care Act. It also has important implications for tax law and administration, as explored in the other terrific contributions to this Pepperdine Law Review Symposium. In this Essay, we turn to another tax-related feature of the Chief Justice's opinion for the Court: It is hard to ignore the fingerprints of a tax lawyer throughout the opinion. This Essay focuses on two instances of a tax lawyer at work.First, in the Chief's approach to statutory interpretation one sees a tax lawyer as interpreter. As others have observed, the Chief and the Court more generally seem to be embracing a brand of contextualism to depart from the textualism Justice Scalia has imbued in the Court's statutory interpretation jurisprudence during his tenure. The Chief's articulation of this interpretive approach in King, however, tracks tax law's substance-over-form doctrine. In particular, the Chief looks beyond Congress's formal, textual characterization of the statutory provision to recharacterize the provision based on strong proof of its true nature or substance. Indeed, this is not the first time the Chief has taken an approach that is functionally similar to the substance-over-form doctrine when interpreting the Affordable Care Act. He also seemed to do so when rejecting the constitutional challenge to the statute three Terms prior.Second, as to King's sweeping administrative law holding, the Chief crafts a new major questions doctrine that could significantly cut back on federal agency lawmaking authority by not applying Chevron deference at all to questions of deep economic or political significance. Yet the Chief seems to develop this doctrine against the backdrop of tax exceptionalism — the notion that general administrative law principles do not apply to tax — and thus this development may have a more limited application to extraordinary circumstances at the intersection of tax and administrative law. Tax exceptionalism may well limit the opinion's impact on administrative law, and tax law may better inform the Chief's (and the Court's) evolution from textualism to contextualism in statutory interpretation. The growing call to abandon the perception that tax is exempt from general principles of administrative law may well be correct. We believe it is. But that does not mean tax law cannot provide us with special insights that can be applied in other legal contexts.


Meshkenet Tessera structures were mapped from Magellan data and several resemblances to chocolate tablet boudinage were found. The complex fault sets display polyphase tectonic sequences of a few main deformation phases. Shear and tension have contributed to the areal deformation. Main faults cut the 1600-km long Meshkenet Tessera highland into bar-like blocks which have ridge and groove pattern oriented along or at high angles to the faults. The first approach to the surface block deformation is an assumption of initial parallel shear faulting followed by a chocolate tablet boudinage. Major faults which cut Meshkenet Tessera into rectangular blocks have been active repetitively while two progressive or superposed boudinage set formations have taken place at high angles during the relaxational or flattening type deformation of the area. Chocolate tablet boudinage is caused by a layer-parallel two-dimensional extension resulting in fracturing of the competent layer. Such structures, defined by two sets of boudin neck lines at right angles to each other, have been described by a number of authors. They develop in a flattening type of bulk deformation or during superposed deformation where the rock is elongated in two dimensions parallel to the surface. This is an attempt to describe and understand the formation and development of structures of Meshkenet Tessera which has complicated fault structures.


This article provides a critical analysis of the topical debate about the revision of anthropological codes of ethics in the 1990s. Ethical codes are approached from the viewpoint of postmodern ethics, which rejects the foundation of morality in a hierarchy of values on which professional codes of ethics are based. Whereas ethical codes are founded on the proposition that morality is non-ambivalent and universal, in postmodern ethics it is argued that the condition of morality is essentially ambivalent and not universalizable. The institutionalization of moral rules and regulations in an ethical code for anthropologists is therefore exposed as characteristic of morality in modernity, allowing the substitution of a code of ethics for the moral self. Postmodern ethics instead aims at the emancipation of the autonomous moral self and the vindication of its moral responsibility. In many ways this anti-Enlightenment project of postmodern philosophy bears interesting similarities with the premodern tradition of Socratic philosophy.


AIM
To investigate whether hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α modulates vasculogenic mimicry (VM) by upregulating VE-cadherin expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

METHODS
Esophageal squamous cancer cell lines Eca109 and TE13 were transfected with plasmids harboring small interfering RNAs targeting HIF-1α or VE-cadherin. The proliferation and invasion of esophageal carcinoma cells were detected by MTT and Transwell migration assays. The formation of tubular networks of cells was analyzed by 3D culture in vitro. BALB/c nude mice were used to observe xenograft tumor formation. The relationship between the expression of HIF-1α and VE-cadherin, ephrinA2 (EphA2) and laminin5γ2 (LN5γ2) was measured by Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
Knockdown of HIF-1α inhibited cell proliferation (32.3% ± 6.1% for Eca109 cells and 38.6% ± 6.8% for TE13 cells, P < 0.05). Both Eca109 and TE13 cells formed typical tubular networks. The number of tubular networks markedly decreased when HIF-1α or VE-cadherin was knocked down. Expression of VE-cadherin, EphA2 and LN5γ2 was dramatically inhibited, but the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 had no obvious change in HIF-1α-silenced cells. Knockdown of VE-cadherin significantly decreased expression of both EphA2 and LN5γ2 (P < 0.05), while HIF-1α expression was unchanged. The time for xenograft tumor formation was 6 ± 1.2 d for Eca109 cells and Eca109 cells transfected with HIF-1α Neo control short hairpin RNA (shRNA) vector, and 8.4 ± 2.1 d for Eca109 cells transfected with an shRNA against HIF-1α. Knockdown of HIF-1α inhibited vasculogenic mimicry (VM) and tumorigenicity in vivo.

CONCLUSION
HIF-1α may modulate VM in ESCC by regulating VE-cadherin expression, which affects VM formation through EphA2 and LN5γ2.


The objectives of the research are to know the students' ability in reading comprehension of TOEFL test for the EFL Learners. This study is categorized as descriptive quantitative research. This study was conducted at the eighth semester students of Hamzanwadi University. The population of this study was 144 students from 3 classes and the sampling method was purposive sampling. The sample of this study was 30 students. The research instrument used to collect data was reading comprehension of TOEFL. The collected data were submitted to descriptive statistic by using SPSS 22 for windows. The mean score of the test was 4.17, which is categorized into low. Based on that result, the EFL Learners did not have good ability in finding main ideas, references, and meaning of words on reading comprehension of TOEFL. Meanwhile, the mean score in finding information was 7.2 and inference was 6.4. Therefore, the EFL Learners did not have good ability in finding information and inference.


Abstract. Very few studies of ecosystem–atmosphere exchange involving eddy covariance data have been conducted in Siberia, with none in the western Siberian middle taiga. This work provides the first estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2) and energy budgets in a typical bog of the western Siberian middle taiga based on May–August measurements in 2015. The footprint of measured fluxes consisted of a homogeneous mixture of tree-covered ridges and hollows with the vegetation represented by typical sedges and shrubs. Generally, the surface exchange rates resembled those of pine-covered bogs elsewhere. The surface energy balance closure approached 100 %. Net CO2 uptake was comparatively high, summing up to 202 gC m−2 for the four measurement months, while the Bowen ratio was seasonally stable at 28 %. The ecosystem turned into a net CO2 source during several front passage events in June and July. The periods of heavy rain helped keep the water table at a sustainably high level, preventing a usual drawdown in summer. However, because of the cloudy and rainy weather, the observed fluxes might rather represent the special weather conditions of 2015 than their typical magnitudes.


Has deteriorated in the presence of Raney copper catalyst case, by leaching the Raney copper alloy was prepared for a useful (meth) acrylamide catalyst preparation process, which process is a Raney copper catalyst in a suspended liquid-phase bed prepared by (meth) acrylonitrile and water of hydration reaction of (meth) acrylamide, and the above are merely useful catalysts conventionally leached Raney copper alloy having a high performance, compared with in the settling and filtration satisfactory performance, and can effectively reduce the number of catalyst waste.


We report the phase diagrams of an ammonium ionic liquid:  (benzyl)dimethylalkylammonium nitrate, [BA][NO3], where the alkyl is {C12H25 (w = 0.4) or C14H29 (w = 0.6)} with alcohols (propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol, hexan-1-ol, octan-1-ol, and decan-1-ol); with hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, hexane, and hexadecane); and with water. The phase equilibria were measured by a synthetic method from 220 K to the melting point of the ionic liquid or to the normal boiling temperature of the solvent. Simple eutectic systems were observed for binary mixtures of [BA][NO3] with propan-1-ol and with butan-1-ol. The solid−liquid equilibria with immiscibility in the liquid phase for the ([BA][NO3] + water, hexan-1-ol, octan-1-ol, decan-1-ol, benzene, toluene, hexane, or hexadecane) are described. The difference of the solubility of the ionic liquid with longer chain alcohols is significant, a simple eutectic system was observed with immiscibility in the liquid phase for low mass fraction of the solvent. The upper critical soluti...


The use of the indigenous resources of the Moon can result in the development of a power system on the moon based on the fabrication of solar cells by thin film growth technology in the vacuum environment of the Moon. This can be accomplished by the deployment of a moderately-sized (~200kg) crawler/rover on the surface of the Moon with the capabilities of preparation of the lunar regolith for use as a substrate, evaporation of the appropriate semiconductor material for the solar cell structure, and deposition of metallic contacts and interconnects. This unique process will allow for the emplacement of a lunar electric power system that can reach a 1 MW capacity level in several years of crawler operation. This approach for the emplacement of an electric power system on the Moon would require the transportation of a much smaller mass of equipment to the Moon than would otherwise be required to install a complete electric power system brought to the Moon and emplaced there. It would also result in an electric power system that was repairable/replaceable through the simple fabrication of more solar cells.


A new method has been developed for recording short‐latency somatosensory‐evoked potentials after median nerve stimulation. Negative electrical forces recorded with three orthodiagonal bipolar electrodes in the neck had a direction opposite to that of impulse conduction in the proximal peripheral and cervical somatosensory pathway. Sequential tracings of vectors opposite the electrical forces were made in three‐dimensional display, thus reproducing the actual time sequence of electrical events in those structures. Fixed generators such as the subcortical nuclei were also analyzed with this technique, and multiple generators of N13 potential (N13a and N13b) were visualized. This technique may be useful in the functional evaluation of the somatosensory pathway in the cervical cord.


Data are scant regarding serum bilirubin levels in non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). In this study, we evaluated the role of serum bilirubin levels in NSTE-ACS. We enrolled 782 patients who presented to the emergency department with acute chest pain. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the troponin positivity. Patients with NSTE-ACS who had troponin positivity were included in group 1 (n = 382), and group 2 consisted of the control patients (n = 400). Direct bilirubin (DB) levels (group 1: 0.31 ± 0.37 mg/dL, group 2: 0.20 ± 0.25 mg/dL, P < .001) and total bilirubin (TB) levels (group 1: 0.78 ± 0.56 mg/dL, group 2: 0.62 ± 0.45 mg/dL, P < .001) were significantly higher in group 1. There was a significant and moderate correlation between serum bilirubin levels and admission troponin values (r = .34, P < .001 for TB and r = .42, P < .001 for DB). These results show that serum bilirubin levels were associated with troponin positivity in patients with NSTE-ACS.


Archaeologists in 2015 engaged with critical anthropological topics in our search to understand humanity's story, including conflict and cooperation, materiality, ritual, food, environment, and heritage. New shifts in both our theory and our approaches are emerging; lines between traditional publication outlets and gray literature have blurred; open-source publications are now available; and social networking sites, along with blogs, crowdfunding, and data-sharing sites, are changing archaeological practices. At the same time, political challenges to archaeology's relevance exert pressure on what and how we study. Social changes and technological improvements have affected archaeological practices and prompted archaeologists to explore these various entanglements, including the range of audiences who consume and use our work. Archaeological research in 2015 produced new research findings and new multidisciplinary perspectives while reflecting a continued commitment to examining anthropological questions. [archaeology, conflict, cooperation, materiality, environment, ritual, social networking, year in review]


The electrical resistivity ρ and thermopower S of metallic ferromagnets CuCr2X4 (X=S,Se or Te) are measured at low temperatures and in an external magnetic field of 1.5 Tesla. These properties are dominated by strong scattering effects in their ferromagnetic phase, resulting in (a) ρ(T) ~A T2dependence with very large value of coefficient A ≈ 1 − 3×10−8 Ω-cm/K2 in resistivity and (b) a peak in the thermopower around TC/3 . Thermopower is further increased by crystalline order and by the alignment of magnetic domains in an external magnetic field as has been found for Cu1+x Cr2Te4. We have interpreted these effects as due to strongly coherent momentum conserving electron-magnon scattering giving a large T2 – contribution in resistivity and a large drag effect in thermopower.


With the advance of intelligent operation and maintenance in china railways, the requirement of condition monitoring and remaining life prediction for lightning protection equipment has become increasingly urgent. MOV(Metal Oxide Varistor) is the key component of railway surge protector, and it is necessary to study the description model of its degradation process. The output of the model that uses a single parameter to characterize degradation is more prone to contingency, and cannot truly and fully reflect the life state of the MOV. The degradation of MOV is a cumulative effect, and its life model should consider the surge history information. In view of the above problems, a prediction model of the residual life value of MOV is given by combining various degradation related parameters and surge history. Firstly, nine degradation related parameters are fused to construct degradation core. Then, the degradation core and surge history are fused through Markov chain to build a life model of MOV. Then, the model is calibrated with experimental data. Finally, the model is validated and analyzed by experiments. The model can describe the degradation process of MOV more comprehensively and accurately, and can predict the residual life value at the same time, and it has potential application in the life assessment of surge protective devices.


To better characterize immunologic aberrations in aplastic anaemia (AA), we examined peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 67 patients with AA and other patients with various haematological diseases for the expression of heat shock protein 72 (hsp72), which is inducible in lymphocytes by various stressors including antigenic stimulation. When freshly obtained PBMC were examined using flow cytometry, the proportion of cells expressing hsp72 in cytoplasm was significantly higher in allogeneic marrow transplant recipients (22 ± 15%, mean ±standard deviation (SD)) and AA patients (17 ± 21%) than in normal individuals (6 ± 3%). When PBMC were tested after heat treatment, only the proportion of hsp72+ cells of AA patients (37 ± 30%) was significantly higher than that of the normal control (17 ± 11%). Dual fluorescence analysis of the PBMC revealed that the majority of hsp72+ cells was CD3+. For 28 untreated AA patients, the proportion of hsp72+ cells in those who later responded to cyclosporine (CyA) (62 ± 24%) was higher than that in non‐responders (19 ± 13%). Immunoblotting analysis revealed predominant expression of hsp72 in T cells. These findings indicate that high inducibility of hsp72 in PBMC by heat treatment is an immunologic aberration characteristic of CyA‐responsive AA and that this simple test may be useful for identifying a subset of AA patients responsive to immunosuppressive therapy.


Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is among the top 10 malignant carcinomas1. Clear cell (cc)RCC, accounting for ~ 75% of RCC cases, is an aggressive histological RCC subtype. In the last decade, large-scale multiomics studies have profoundly enhanced our understanding of this disease2,3. However, despite the differences of genomic alterations between Western and Eastern ccRCC4,5, these studies mostly focused on patients in Western populations. Here we conducted a comprehensive proteogenomic analysis of 232 tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissue pairs from Chinese ccRCC patients. Genomic analysis revealed unique genetic features of Chinese ccRCC and distinct mutation patterns associated with copy number alterations. Based on proteomic profiles, ccRCC showed extensive metabolic dysregulation, especially in one-carbon metabolism. We classified ccRCC into three subtypes (GP1–3), among which the most aggressive GP1 exhibited dominant immune response, metastasis, and metabolic imbalance, linking the proteomic features, genomic alterations, and clinical outcomes of ccRCC. Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) and NNMT mediated protein homocysteinylation were identified as a poor prognosis indicator and a drug target for GP1, respectively. We demonstrated that NNMT induces DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs) homocysteinylation, increases DNA repair, and promotes tumor growth in ccRCC. Treatment of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), an inhibitor of homocysteinylation, markedly reduced the NNMT overexpression induced radioresistance of tumor cells. This study provided valuable insights into the biological underpinnings and prognosis assessment of ccRCC, revealing a targetable metabolic vulnerability.


Chatbot is a machine with the ability to answer automatically through a conversational interface. A chatbot is considered as one of the most exceptional and promising expressions of human computer interaction. Voice-based chatbots or artificial intelligence (AI) devices transform human-computer bidirectional interactions that allow users to navigate an interactive voice response (IVR) system with their voice generally using natural language. In this paper, we focus on voice based chatbots for mediating interactions between hotels and guests from both the hospitality technology providers' and guests' perspectives. We developed a hotel web application with the capability to receive a voice input. The application was developed with Speech recognition and deep synthesis API for voice to text and text to voice conversion, a closed domain question answering (cdQA) NLP solution was used for query the answer.


This paper presents and evaluates a cache hierarchy-aware code parallelization/mapping and scheduling strategy for multicore architectures. Our proposed parallelization/mapping strategy determines a loop iteration-to-core mapping by taking into account the data access pattern of an application and the on-chip cache hierarchy of a target architecture. The goal of this step is to maximize data locality at each level of caches while minimizing the data dependences across the cores. Our scheduling strategy on the other hand determines a schedule for the iterations assigned to each core in the target architecture, with the goal of satisfying all the data dependences in the code (both intra-core and inter-core) and reducing data reuse distances across the cores that share data. We formulate both parallelization/mapping problem and scheduling problem in a linear algebraic framework and solve them using the Farkas Lemma and the Integer Fourier-Motzkin Elimination. To measure the effectiveness of our schemes, we implemented them in a compiler and tested them using eight multithreaded application programs on a multicore machine. Our results show that the proposed mapping scheme reduces cache miss rates at all levels of the cache hierarchy and improves execution time of applications significantly, compared to alternate approaches, and when supported by scheduling, the improvements in cache miss rates and execution time become much larger.


Info Introduction: In medical education, the exclusive role of explicit knowledge has been emphasized, and tacit knowledge has been driven to the irrational, even mysterious, sphere of thought. The issue is why physicians and policy makers in the field of health and medicine, based on a long tradition, regard the components of tacit knowledge as unpleasant and unfamiliar. In their view, contrary to explicit thinking, the concepts of this type of knowledge are obscure or unobtrusive. Methods : The dominant approach to this research is qualitative. In this research, conceptual analysis method has been used. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of medical education as an implicit knowledge gate. In this method, the concepts used in a new structure are analyzed and redefined. Results Evaluation of an alternative model for clinical diagnosis has important implications and results in medical education. This study demonstrates the disadvantages of the conventional model in explicit knowledge-based medical education that has no place in physicians' tacit knowledge. By analyzing the tacit knowledge components, including observation, training and narrative, an alternative model of tacit education model in medicine is proposed. Conclusion : The tacit teaching model is a suitable method for moderating reductive and quantitative approaches in medicine. This type of attitude derived from tacit knowledge should consider motives, beliefs, aspirations and personal connections as the main and tacit basis of the medical education system.


Speaking anxiety is one of the most pressing problems that both learners and instructors of a language are likely to experience or encounter. This is especially so when the target language is not the speaker's native or first language. In fact, it would be a foreign language or a second language. While in some cases the anxiety may produce positive results, more often than not the opposite happens. Related to anxiety is the learner's set of beliefs which can affect the teaching as well as the learning process. The objectives of the present study were to identify learners' speaking anxiety levels and also their language learning beliefs. In addition, the research also aimed to investigate if there was a relationship between speaking anxiety and beliefs. The study employed a quantitative method of research for data collection and analysis. Findings showed varying levels of speaking anxiety, a range of positive as well as negative beliefs associated with language learning and different relationships for different belief items. The findings from this study could be used to further enhance learning and teaching in the second language classroom with respect to motivation, strategies and resource materials for the learners of the target language. It is hoped that the implications will benefit all language learners and the weaker ones in particular.


BACKGROUND
In response to the high prevalence of health-risk behaviors among adolescents, policy agencies have urged primary care clinicians to discuss these behaviors with all adolescents. Yet such discussions frequently do not take place. A commonly mentioned barrier is the clinician perception that patients are not interested in, or are embarrassed by, such discussions. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of this perception by conducting a survey of adolescents.

METHODS
Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 305 adolescents, ages 11 to 16 years, waiting to be seen in three community health centers and three private practices. The questionnaire queried adolescents' willingness to talk about eight preventive counseling topics with health care practitioners, and information was collected on variables that might influence willingness. Descriptive frequencies were generated. Chisquare analysis and stratification assessed differences between groups.

RESULTS
A majority of adolescents felt that it is a clinician's job to discuss health risk behaviors. On the current visit, however, fewer than 20% wanted to talk about drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or depression; fewer than 40% about sex; and fewer than 55% about diet or exercise. Adolescents reporting previous conversations on a topic were more likely to want to talk about that issue at the current visit. Willingness to talk did not vary by visit type (well care vs acute care).

CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms that adolescents are hesitant to discuss health risk behaviors with clinicians, but the findings also suggest that receptivity increases if clinicians address these topics on repeat occasions.


Abstract. Our previously published paper (Permadi et al. 2018) focused on
the preparation of emission input data and evaluation of WRF–CHIMERE
performance in 2007. This paper details the impact assessment of
the future (2030) black carbon (BC) emission reduction measures for Southeast
Asia (SEA) countries on air quality, health and BC direct radiative forcing
(DRF). The business as usual (BAU2030) projected emissions from the base year
of 2007 (BY2007), assuming "no intervention" with the linear projection of
the emissions based on the past activity data for Indonesia and Thailand and
the sectoral GDP growth for other countries. The RED2030 featured measures to
cut down emissions in major four source sectors in Indonesia and Thailand
(road transport, residential cooking, industry, biomass open burning) while
for other countries the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5)
emissions were assumed. WRF–CHIMERE simulated levels of aerosol species
under BAU2030 and RED2030 for the modeling domain using the base year
meteorology and 2030 boundary conditions from LMDZ-INCA. The extended aerosol
optical depth module (AODEM) calculated the total columnar AOD and BC AOD for
all scenarios with an assumption on the internal mixing state. Under RED2030,
the health benefits were analyzed in terms of the number of avoided premature
deaths associated with ambient PM 2.5 reduction along with BC DRF
reduction. Under BAU2030, the average number of the premature deaths per
100 000 people in the SEA
domain would increase by 30 from BY2007 while under RED2030 the premature
deaths would be cut down (avoided) by 63 from
RED2030. In 2007, the maximum annual average BC DRF in the SEA countries was
0.98 W m −2 , which would increase to 2.0 W m −2 under BAU2030 and
1.4 W m −2 under RED2030. Substantial impacts on human health and BC
DRF reduction in SEA could result from the emission measures incorporated in
RED2030. Future works should consider other impacts, such as for agricultural
crop production, and the cost–benefit analysis of the measures'
implementation to provide relevant information for policy making.


The relationship between breast cancer mortality and air pollution was examined using an ecological design. The study areas consisted of 61 municipalities in Taiwan. Air quality data for recorded concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from study municipalities for 2006-2009 were obtained as a marker of traffic emissions and were used as a proxy for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure. Age-standardized mortality rates for breast cancer mortality were calculated for the study municipalities for the years 1999-2008. A weighted multiple regression model was used to calculate the adjusted risk ratio in relation to PM2.5 levels. Results showed that individuals who resided in municipalities with the highest PM2.5 were at an increased risk of death from breast cancer. This study is the first to suggest that exposure to high levels of PM2.5, a proxy measure of PAHs, may be associated with an increased risk of death from breast cancer. The findings of this study warrant further investigation into the role of air pollutants in the risk of breast cancer.


Two new types of quantum states are constructed by applying the operator s(ξ) = exp (ξ*ab−ξa†b†) on the two-mode even and odd coherent states. The mathematical and quantum statistical properties of such states are investigated. Various nonclassical features of these states, such as squeezing properties, the inter-mode photon bunching, and the violation of Cauchy–Schwarz inequality, are discussed. The Wigner function in these states are studied in detail.


Abstract:The Mexican film Another Dawn (1943) contributed to strengthening the early prestige of its filmmaker, Julio Bracho. After its premiere, in November 1943, the important entertainment magazine Cinema Reporter stated: "By many outstanding movie critics this is considered the best cinema picture screened thus far" (Godoy 28). However, the press of the time refrained from mentioning that the film openly criticized the corrupt governors. Instead, it expressed its hope in the power of the guilds, the relevance of education and the implications of the expropriation of the railway network, which had been the cornerstones of President Lázaro Cárdenas's (1936-40) policy. This article proposes that Another Dawn can be read as an adherence to the achievements of former president Cardenas and a warning about the actions of Manuel Avila Camacho (1940-46), who not only stopped supporting any revolutionary action of socialist nuances but prevented them directly. My analysis of the film starts by taking a look at the Mexican sociopolitical context in the late 30s and the early years of the next decade; after that, it links Max Aub's original text with Bracho's film adaptation. Finally, this article analyzes some union and social issues that were of Bracho's personal interest and are part of the main meaning of his film.


Abstract The complete mitochondrial genome of Macromia amphigena (Odonata; Macromiidae; Macromia) was sequenced and found to be 15,594 bp in length including 37 genes (thirteen protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and a non-coding region). The overall GC content of the mitochondrial genome for M. amphigena was 28.4%. A phylogenetic analysis conducted for 13 species within the order Odonata suggested that Macromia daimoji is the most closely related to M. amphigena.


The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic wreaked havoc on almost all aspects of life and has undeniably altered the landscape of the world forever. In the medical profession, everything from education to scheduling operations was affected. Educational events such as conferences, Continuing Medical Education (CME) and other events had to be converted into virtual conferences and meetings. However, now that the pandemic is slowly coming to an end and countries and borders have started to reopen, the question now remains- should we go back to our old ways or has this become the new normal? This review discusses the advantages and limitations of conducting virtual events and discusses future trends of holding such events in these uncertain times.


Numerical simulations indicate that cosmological halos display power-law radial profiles of pseudo phase-space density (PPSD), Q=rho/sigma^3, where rho is mass density and sigma velocity dispersion. We test these predictions using the parameters derived from the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis performed with the MAMPOSSt code on the observed kinematics of a velocity dispersion based stack (sigmav) of 54 nearby regular clusters of galaxies from the WINGS dataset. In the definition of PPSD, the density is either in total mass rho (Q_rho) or in galaxy number density nu (Q_nu) of three morphological classes of galaxies (ellipticals, lenticulars, and spirals), while the velocity dispersion (obtained by inversion of the Jeans equation) is either the total (Q_rho and Q_nu) or its radial component (Q_r,rho and Q_r,nu). We find that the PPSD profiles are power-law relations for nearly all MCMC parameters. The logarithmic slopes of our observed Q_rho(r) and Q_r,rho(r) for ellipticals and spirals are in excellent agreement with the predictions for particles in simulations, but slightly shallower for S0s. For Q_nu(r) and Q_r,nu(r), only the ellipticals have a PPSD slope matching that of particles in simulations, while the slope for spirals is much shallower, similar to that of subhalos. But for cluster stacks based on richness or gas temperature, the fraction of power-law PPSDs is lower (esp. Q_nu) and the Q_rho slopes are shallower, except for S0s. The observed PPSD profiles, defined using rho rather than nu, appear to be a fundamental property of galaxy clusters. They would be imprinted during an early phase of violent relaxation for dark matter and ellipticals, and later for spirals as they move towards dynamical equilibrium in the cluster gravitational potential, while S0s are either intermediate (richness and temperature-based stacks) or a mixed class (sigmav stack).


In coupled models the performance of massively parallelmodel components strongly suffers from sequential coupling overhead.A coupling interface for parallel interpolation and parallelcommunication is urgently required to work out this performancedilemma. Performance measurements for a parallel coupling ofparallel regional atmosphere and ocean models are presented for theCRAY-T3E-1200 using the coupling library MpCCI. The differentrotated grids of the models MOM2 (ocean-seaice) and PARHAM(atmosphere) are configured for the arctic region. In particular, asunderlying MPI-implementations CRAY-MPI and MetaMPI are compared intheir performance for some relevant massive parallel configurations.It is demonstrated that an overhead of 10\% for coupling, includinginterpolation and communication, can be achieved. Perspectives for acommon coupling specification are given enabling the modelingcommunity to easily exchange model components as well as couplingsoftware, making model components reusable in other couplingprojects and on next generation computing architectures. Futureapplications of parallel coupling software in parallel nesting anddata assimilation are discussed.


Results: From the total ACRs performed (N = 1054), 29 CP patients were matched 1:1 with non-CP patients. A proportion of CP patients (17.2 vs 0%, P<0.001) never returned to work and a lower proportion returned to pre-injury duties (3 vs 52%, P<0.01). The median time to RTW did not differ (P=0.86) between groups (5.1 weeks, IQR 2.6-8.6 vs4.4, 0.7-11.1). Symptom duration and current smoking status were significantly (P<0.05) associated with longer time to first RTW.