The presence of bronchiectasis may contribute to severity of asthma and affect its managment. Thus, we estimated the incidence of bronchiectasis and its correlation with the clinical and functional parameters in severe asthma. High resolution computed tomography was performed in all patients and Smith scale for bronchectasis was assesed.

Thirty patients (20 women) with partly controlled (20%) or uncontrolled asthma (80%), mean aged of 57 years (30-83) were studied. Twenty two of them were non smokers. The main symptoms were: cough (90%), wheezing (96,6%), dyspnea (96,6%), and expectoration (76,6%). The latter was mucoid (47,8%), mucopurulent (43,5%), and purulent (8,7%). The mean duration of asthma was 15,9 years (2-50), the frequency of exacerbations was 4,6/ year (0-10), the number of systemic steroid cycles/year was 4,6 (0-12), and the number of antibiotic cycles/year was 3 (0-9). The mean FEV1 was 67,6% of pred, (46-128), FVC 79,8% of pred. (46-128), and FEV1/FVC 68,2% (43-83). Seven patients (23,3%) were colonized with pathogens. Bronchiectasis (smith score ≥3) was diagnosed in 24 patients (80%). The severity of bronchiectasis was correlated with the number of antibiotic cycles/year (p=0,016), the positive sputum culture and the sputum quality (p= 0,006). The positive sputum culture was also correlated with the number of antibiotic cycles/year (p= 0,0003), and sputum quality (p= 0,0035).

In conclusion, in patients with severe uncontrolled asthma the incidence of bronchiectasis on HRCT is very high. Bronchial colonization and sputum purulence may indicate the presence of this comorbidity and the need of antibiotics as an additional treatment.


In recent years there has been growing interest in the use of network flow algorithms to solve power system fuel, hydro, and interchange scheduling problems. There have also been attempts to solve electrical power flow problems with related transportation algorithms. The problems solved using network flow or transportation algorithms are naturally linear, or forced into a linear form, and are therefore also amenable to solution by more general linear programming (LP) techniaues. It has been claimed that specialized network flow algorithms are more efficient than general LP for problems which can be expressed in network flow format. On the other hand the use of general LP is attractive, since a considerable amount of information on its application to power systems problems is available. This paper describes relationships between general LP and network flow algorithms and shows how LP can be made competitive for network problems. Applications to fuel scheduling and contingency analysis are discussed.


Paediatric Formulary Committee, London: BMJ Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 0 85369 626 8

Doctors and health professionals now have access to what has been described as the most comprehensively researched source of information on paediatric medicines in the world. The British National Formulary for Children ( BNF for Children ) published in September 2005 covers all aspects of prescribing practice for children from birth up to the age of 18.

Those prescribing for children and babies have had a poor deal with reliable guidance on safe prescribing practice. For ethical reasons, children have rarely been involved in drug trials. But by protecting children from the risks of trials, many adult drugs have not been licensed for use in children. As a result, those prescribing for children have been left without manufacturers' guidance on drug use and without easily accessible published evidence. Decisions on how best to use drugs and to calculate doses for children have frequently had to be made with support from only scant research evidence that …


This study aimed to provide an integrated picture of teachers' attitudes toward ethnic mathematics, an approach to teaching school mathematics. It addressed four main dimensions: knowledge of ethnic mathematics, the current extent of its integration in teaching, perceptions toward it as a pedagogical approach and obstacles that limit its integration. The study adopted mixed methods and followed an explanatory sequential design. The quantitative aspect employed the descriptive survey method, collecting data through an electronic questionnaire comprising 33 items distributed over 4 dimensions. This was followed by qualitative interviews conducted to interpret the results of the quantitative analysis. In total, 104 mathematics teachers participated in the quantitative survey and 4 teachers participated in the qualitative interviews. There were several interesting findings, the most important of which are that mathematics teachers' have only an average level of knowledge of ethnomathematics, they hold positive perceptions toward it in general, and they generally have positive conceptions about it. However, there are many obstacles that limit its integration in teaching, including students' beliefs about the limited use of mathematics in daily life. The study also found no statistically significant differences in the level of knowledge and integration of ethnomathematics attributable to gender, teaching experience, or teaching stage. The study makes several recommendations, the most significant being that meetings and workshops are needed to educate teachers about ethnomathematics and how to discover and integrate it in teaching school subjects.


The climate of Botswana is characterized not only by low and erratic rainfall, but also by high temperatures and an abundance of sunshine. Throughout the year, the daily period of bright sunshine is high; monthly means are usually above 8 hours per day. These conditions favour harnessing the solar energy especially in the rural areas, e.g. for pumping water at boreholes, solar cooling at clinics or coupling photo voltaic cells to a battery to provide electricity at night. It is often necessary to store energy to overcome hours or days when the sun is hidden by clouds and therefore the likelihood of successive days of cloud is of considerable interest. Data on bright sunshine for a period of ten years have been examined for nine stations in Botswana. From this, various sunshine characteristics can be assessed: the number of days with limited sunshine, the likelihood of successive days partly overcast, and the number of sunshine hours per year.


Anoikis, a complete loss of cell anchorage triggers apoptosis in primary human colonic epithelial cells (CEC), is often dysfunctional in metastatic cancer cells. We along with other groups have demonstrated that expression of Claudin-1, a tight junction protein, is markedly increased and mislocalized in colon cancer and helps promote the tumor progression especially metastasis. However the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. To explore, we examined effect of claudin-1 expression upon anoikis. Colon cancer cells genetically manipulated (stable overexpression in SW480 cells and RNA-interference based gene silencing in SW620 cells) for claudin-1 expression were cultured on polyHEMA-coated culture dishes to induce anoikis. Results demonstrated a positive correlation between claudin-1 expression and resistance to anoikis. We also observed a positive correlation between claudin-1 expression, Src (L4A1) and Akt phosphorylation (Ser 473) and Bcl-2 expression in the cells subjected to anoikis. Notably, use of PP2, a Src-kinase inhibitor, inhibited claudin-1-dependent resistance to anoikis (2.5fold) as well as the increases in Akt-phosphorylation and Bcl-2 expression, and thus suggested a causal role of Src-activation in claudin-1-dependent resistance to anoikis. Our further studies revealed that claudin-1 associates with Src in a multi-protein complex that also included ZO-1, a PDZ-domain containing tight junction protein, known to associate with claudin-1and Src. Importantly, claudin-1 contains a PDZ-binding domain in its c-terminal. Deletion of the c-terminal domain of claudin-1 resulted in the loss of the physical association between claudin-1 and Src and a significant loss in claudin-1-dependent resistance to anoikis. Thus, our findings supported a role of claudin-1 in the regulation of colon cancer progression through its association with Src and dependent cell signaling. Our further analysis using a large database of colon cancer patient samples (microarray analysis; 260 colon cancer and 10 adjacent normal colon samples) showed a significant and positive correlation between claudin-1 and Src expression. Taken together, we here report a novel partnering between claudin-1 and Src proteins in colon cancer cells which has a function implication in the regulation of anoikis in a claudin-1/Src/PI3-kinase/Bcl-2-dependent manner. Our findings have clinical significance and have the potential to open potential new therapeutic opportunity in colon cancer treatment and/or management. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2084. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2084


To precisely identify the effect of the molecular weight of syndiotacticity-rich poly(vinyl alcohol) (s-PVA) on the rheological properties of s-PVA/water solutions, we prepared four s-PVAs with a syndiotactic dyad content of 57%, a degree of saponification (DS) of 99.9%, and number-average degrees of polymerization (Pn's) of 300, 1300, 2700, and 4000. Through a series of experiments, we found that the molecular weight of poly(vinyl alcohol) had a significant influence on the rheological properties of s-PVA/water solutions. Over a frequency range of 10−1 to 102 rad/s, the s-PVA/water solution with the highest Pn value showed the largest values of the complex viscosity, storage modulus, and loss modulus at similar syndiotacticity and DS values of s-PVA, and this suggested that the higher Pn was, the stronger the internal ordered structure was in the molecules. All the s-PVA/water solutions showed shear-thinning behavior, which implied heterogeneity. In a modified Casson plot, Bingham flow behaviors, which gave rise to non-zero yield stress, were evident. This suggested that some pseudostructure existed in the s-PVA/water solutions. The yield stress increased with Pn, and this implied that the pseudostructure was developed as Pn increased. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 1426–1431, 2004


Honey bees are the primary pollinators of mustard crop because it is highly attractive to bees and provides both nectar and pollen. To analyze the diversity and foraging behavior of insect pollinators under caged and open pollination, different varieties/ lines (Kranti, Varuna, Marigold, Vardan, Vaibhav, EC399299, EC399301, EC399312 and EC399313) of Brassica juncea were planted during Rabi season 2010-2011 at Apiary Garden, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. It was revealed that 30 species of insect pollinators belonging to ten families under four orders visited mustard flowers. In open pollination, Trigona laeviceps had maximum average abundance (4.51 bees/m2/2 min) and foraging speed (18.55s) in Vardan and EC399313, respectively whereas Apis mellifera showed highest foraging rate (10.68 flower/min.) in EC399313 as compared to other bees in different varieties. Under caged pollination, line EC399313 was most preferred by A. mellifera with maximum abundance (6.24 bees/m2/2 min), foraging speed (2.33 s) and foraging rate (7.69 flower/min). The results indicated that A. mellifera visited all nine varieties/lines in both open and caged plots. Overall average abundance (4.09 bees/1 m2/2 min) and foraging speed (1.97s) of A. mellifera was found maximum under caged pollination while highest foraging rate (8.52 flower/min) was recorded in open pollination per day.

 Key words: Brassica juncea, foraging behavior, Insect pollinators, caged pollination, open pollination.


Gherkin is an export oriented vegetable (cucurbit) crop. Karnataka state accounts for almost 90 per cent of export of preserved gherkins. Gherkin cultivation is largely driven through contract farming. The present study was undertaken to study the performance of contract farming of gherkin on farmers and to examine the constraints of gherkin contract farming. The study was carried out in two randomly selected talukas 'Kunigal' and 'Sira' of purposively selected 'Tumkur' district of Karnataka state. Performance of farmers was measured using structured interview schedule on five dimensions such as contract farming, extension, market, economic and social dimensions. Constraints of gherkin contract farming was measured using Principal Component Matrix on six dimensions such as soil and environmental management, lack of Government support in contract management, disease pest complex management, difficulty in management, timely input and technical know-how support and high input cost.The overall analysis revealed that rank wise farmers were highly satisfied with assured income, timely availability of quality inputs, assured price and ready market, getting transport arrangement and increased employment at village level. Soil and environmental management ranked first, Lack of government support in contract management ranked second. Disease pest complex management and poor risky management of the crop rank high and almost equal in importance, Timely input and technical know-how support and High input cost were far behind in order of importance. The finding emanating from study makes a strong case for promoting the model of contract farming of gherkin on a wider scale.


Our research hypothesis was that single lung ventilation during thoracic surgery in the lateral position increases the blood concentration of propofol during target-controlled infusion. Thirty adult patients in two tertiary referral hospitals undergoing open-chest surgery were studied. Anaesthesia was induced and maintained with propofol using a Diprifusor (Graseby 3500) computer-controlled pump set to deliver a blood concentration of 4 μg.ml-1. Blood samples were taken with the patient positioned in 1) the supine position 20 minutes after induction (supine); 2) the lateral position just prior to one-lung ventilation (lateral); 3) the lateral position five minutes after commencing one-lung ventilation (OLV5) and 4) the lateral position 20 minutes after commencing one-lung ventilation (OLV20). Propofol concentrations were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The target-controlled infusion target level was maintained at 4 μg.ml-1 during the study period for all cases. The mean (SD) propofol blood concentration (μg.ml-1) at each stage was 5.5 (1.5) supine, 5.3 (1.1) lateral, 5.3 (1.2) OLV5 and 5.1 (1.2) OLV20. Repeated measures ANOVA showed an F value 1.9, lambda 5.5 and P value 0.15. Post hoc analysis did not identify a significant difference between the sample times. During target-controlled infusion of propofol, mean blood propofol concentrations did not change significantly from those obtained with the patient supine after up to 50 minutes in the lateral position during thoracic surgery, or 20 minutes after commencing one-lung ventilation.


Author(s): Cedrez, CB; Hijmans, RJ | Abstract: © 2018 by the American Society of Agronomy. Opportunities for and constraints to crop production can be assessed with crop growth simulation models. Most crop simulation models require daily weather data as input but such data are generally not available at a high spatial resolution. Several approaches have been developed to estimate yield potential (Yp) at locations without daily weather data (weather stations) but these have not been compared. We used two crop simulation models (WOFOST and LINTUL) to compute Yp for two crops for the entire world. A global weather database was divided into 856 training and 12,808 testing sites. We predicted Yp at the testing sites by using five main methods (eight methods if one considers within-method variants): (i) weather interpolation followed by simulation; (ii) nearest neighbor interpolation; (iii) thin plate spline interpolation, either with or without covariates; (iv) Random Forest-based metamodels with either climatic or bioclimatic variables; and (v) weather generation from either climate data or interpolated climate data, followed by simulation. The metamodel with bioclimatic variables performed best [average root mean square error (RMSE) = 667 ± 111 kg ha–1], followed by weather generation from climate data, weather interpolation, and spatial interpolation of yield with climatic covariables. The most commonly used method, nearest neighbor interpolation, performed worst (RMSE = 1763 ± 472 kg ha–1). The optimal method for a particular study will depend on the simulation model, the region, weather station density, and other variables but these results suggest that for estimating Yp, alternatives to nearest neighbor interpolation should be considered.


Ensuring privacy of users of social networks is probably an unsolvable conundrum. At the same time, an informed use of the existing privacy options by the social network participants may alleviate - or even prevent - some of the more drastic privacy-averse incidents. Unfortunately, recent surveys show that an average user is either not aware of these options or does not use them, probably due to their perceived complexity. It is therefore reasonable to believe that tools assisting users with two tasks: 1) understanding their social net behavior in terms of their privacy settings and broad privacy categories, and 2)recommending reasonable privacy options, will be a valuable tool for everyday privacy practice in a social network context. This paper presents YourPrivacyProtector, a recommender system that shows how simple machine learning techniques may provide useful assistance in these two tasks to Facebook users. We support our claim with empirical results of application of YourPrivacyProtector to two groups of Facebook users.


Under semiclassical evolution, black holes retain a smooth horizon but fail to return information. Yet, the Ryu-Takayanagi prescription computes the boundary entropy expected from unitary CFT evolution. We demonstrate this in a novel setting with an asymptotic bulk detector, eliminating an assumption about the entanglement wedge of auxiliary systems.
We consider three interpretations of this result. (i) At face value, information is lost in the bulk but not in the CFT. This conflicts with the AdS/CFT dictionary. (ii) No unique QFT state (pure or mixed) governs all detector responses to the bulk Hawking radiation. This conflicts with the existence of an S-matrix. (iii) Nonlocal couplings to the black hole interior cause asymptotic detectors to respond as though the radiation was pure, even though it is naively thermal. This invalidates the standard interpretation of the semiclassical state, including its smoothness at the horizon.
We conclude that unitary boundary evolution requires asymptotic bulk detectors to become unambiguously pure at late times. We ask whether the RT prescription can still reproduce the boundary entropy in this bulk scenario. We find that this requires a substantial failure of semiclassical gravity in a low-curvature region, such as a firewall that purifies the Hawking radiation.
Finally, we allow that the dual to semiclassical gravity may be an ensemble of unitary theories. This appears to relax the tensions we found: the ensemble average of out-states would be mixed, but the ensemble average of final entropies would vanish.


Summary The functions of extracellular RNA in the vascular system as new procoagulatory and permeability-increasing factor in vivoand in vitrowere shown to be counteracted by pancreatic type RNase1. Based on the identification of RNase1 in plasma and serum, it is proposed that the enzyme is expressed by vascular cells to contribute in the regulation of extracellular RNA. It is demonstrated that RNase1 and RNase5 (also termed angiogenin) were differentially expressed in various types of endothelial cells, whereby human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) expressed and released the highest concentration of active RNase1. Expression and release of RNase5 were similar in all types of endothelial cells tested. Both RNases were constitutively produced and secreted, whereby a portion of RNase1, but not RNase5, was stored in Weibel-Palade bodies, co-localising with von Willlebrand factor and P-selectin. Accordingly, immediate release of RNase1 from these granules was demonstrated in vitroand in vivousing Weibel-Palade body exocytosis-inducing agents. Additionally, extracellular RNA or poly:IC (but not DNA) induced this short-term release of RNase1. Our results indicate that vascular RNase1 and RNase5 are mainly produced by vascular endothelial cells and can serve, depending on the vascular bed, different functions in vascular homeostasis and endothelial cell responses.


In a multicellular organism, different genes are active in different cells. These patterns of gene activity control the development and differentiation of cells, ultimately deciding the form as an adult organism. Great progress has been made in the study of developmental genetics over the past 60 years. Much of this research is based on data collected at multi-cell resolution. However, it is believed that the details of gene regulation have to be understood at a molecular, rather than cellular, level. Current imaging techniques allow the measurement of multiple gene transcription events at single-molecule resolution, capturing a 3-D volumetric view of the developing organism. Unfortunately, the resulting 3-D images are too complex to allow for manual analysis. In other words, the data is available, but it is difficult to extract and to translate into a usable form. We develop a system which transforms images of multiple gene activity patterns into discrete models which capture the different combinations of nascent transcription occurring within individual cells. Using simple computer vision algorithms and sophisticated machine learning, we have developed image segmentation and counting algorithms that are adaptive. We employ active learning to engage experimentalists to teach the system their preferences, and we use these preferences to tune the parameters of these simple computer vision algorithms. This system, coupled with the experimental methods of the McGinnis and Bier Labs, is used to transform a large image archive of early stage Drosophila embryos imaged using multiplex Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH) into a quantified model of Drosophila transcriptional repression at the detail of a single-molecule. With this model we study the regulation of the transcriptional state of individual nuclei within regions of developing Drosophila embryos, directly measuring the impact of Snail repressor on transcription of genes short gastrulation (sog), ventral nervous system defective (vnd), and rhomboid rho


Abstract It has been claimed that recent developments in the research on the efficiency of code generation and on graphical input/output interfacing have made it possible to use a functional language to write efficient programs that can compete with industrial applications written in a traditional imperative language. As one of the early steps in verifying this claim, this paper describes a first attempt to implement a spreadsheet in a lazy, purely functional language. An interesting aspect of the design is that the language with which the user specifies the relations between the cells of the spreadsheet is itself a lazy, purely functional and higher order language as well, and not some special dedicated spreadsheet language. Another interesting aspect of the design is that the spreadsheet incorporates symbolic reduction and normalisation of symbolic expressions (including equations). This introduces the possibility of asking the system to prove equality of symbolic cell expressions: a property which can greatly enhance the reliability of a particular user-defined spreadsheet. The resulting application is by no means a fully mature product. It is not intended as a competitor to commercially available spreadsheets. However, with its higher order lazy functional language and its symbolic capabilities it may serve as an interesting candidate to fill the gap between calculators with purely functional expressions and full-featured spreadsheets with dedicated non-functional spreadsheet languages. This paper describes the global design and important implementation issues in the development of the application. The experience gained and lessons learnt during this project are discussed. Performance and use of the resulting application are compared with related work.


In this paper, we propose a frequency-domain approach for convolutive blind separation of nonstationary acoustic sources (ConvBSS). We focus on the challenging problem of permutation ambiguity correction and introduce a new method using spectrum characterization of acoustic signals. The proposed approach involves the computation of the harmonic product spectrum (HPS) to take advantage of the sourcespsila time-frequency representation. The permutation ambiguity problem is then resolved by searching the permutation that maximizes the HPS-based correlation between the constructed harmonic spectrum and the estimated one at each resolution step. We demonstrate through experiment simulations that the ConvBSS is achieved in real environments.


Australia's aggressively "macho" men have been targeted by what is being billed as the world's first blueprint to tackle male health problems. The draft policy, unveiled by the federal health minister, Carmen Lawrence, is aimed at critically examining men's health in the same way that women's health was examined in the 1980s.

Dr Lawrence said that the federal government would spend up to A$4m (pounds sterling2m) on the first stage of the strategy. "The conventional approach to men's health is to deal with injuries, disease, and conditions in …


This article describes a technique the dental technician can use to fabricate a long-term combination implant and natural tooth provisional prosthesis that will be used to evaluate esthetics and function. This provisional will act as an interim prosthesis while additional implants are healing.


This paper examines the determinants of hospitalized very low birth weight infant (or neonatal) mortality using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research database from 1997 to 2009. After infants are discharged from hospital, it is not possible to track their mortality, so the Cox proportional hazard model is used to analyze the very low birth weight infant mortality rate. In order to clarify treatment responsibility and to avoid selective referral effects, we use the number of infants treated in the preceding five years to observe the effect of a physician's and hospital's medical experience on the mortality rate of hospitalized minimal birth weight infants. The empirical results show that, given disease control variables, a higher infant weight, higher quality hospitals, increased hospital medical experience, and higher investment in pediatrics can reduce the mortality rate significantly. However, an increased physician's medical experience does not seem to influence significantly the very low birth weight infant mortality rate.


A dominating set D for a graph G is a subset of V (G) such that any vertex in V (G)−D has a neighbor in D, and a domination number γ(G) is the size of a minimum dominating set for G. For the Cartesian product G2H Vizing's conjecture [10] states that γ(G2H) ≥ γ(G)γ(H) for every pair of graphs G, H. In this paper we introduce a new concept which extends the ordinary domination of graphs, and prove that the conjecture holds when γ(G) = γ(H) = 3.


The bulk and interfacial shear rheological behavior of aqueous solutions of biocompatible polymer HPC has been investigated in the presence of cationic CTAB and nonionic Tween 40 having the same chain length but different head groups. Steady-state bulk experiments depict two distinct regions in the rheogram (Newtonian followed by pseudoplastic). Dynamic experiments suggest that the stability of HPC hydrogels decreases with the increase in surfactant concentration. Interfacial steady shear tests of 2D monolayers of 1 wt % HPC and 1 wt % HPC with varying concentrations of Tween 40/CTAB show a non-Newtonian dilatant behavior at the solution-air interface. However, two distinct dilatant regions separated by a Newtonian region were observed for the same films at the solution-soya oil interface. The strength of films formed at the two interfaces decreases with the increase of surfactant concentration as observed from oscillatory interfacial tests. HPC interacts more strongly with CTAB than Tween 40 both in bulk as well as at the interfaces studied.


We have investigated the preparation conditions of single-oriented (002) Zr film on n-(001) Si by varying the sputtering parameters during deposition using an ultrahigh-vacuum dc magnetron sputtering system. The crystallinity and preferential orientational plane of Zr film on Si were examined by X-ray diffraction analysis, and the chemical nature at the Zr/Si interface was evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy analyses. We found that the Zr film with the single-oriented (002) plane grew on (001) Si under the conditions of sputtering power above 50 W and substrate temperature range of 350–400°C. For this reason, it is speculated that a thin interdiffusion layer, which consists of elementary atoms (Zr and Si) and Zr silicide, formed at the Si interface plays the role of a buffer layer to relax the misfit between Zr and Si.


PURPOSE
The clinical outcomes of an institution's critical pathway that uses a comprehensive approach to serum ferritin management are reported. The results of this center are compared with the results of a national survey of deferoxamine (DFO) use and serum ferritin level outcomes.

METHODS
Current DFO dosing and serum ferritin levels of 38 patients at this center were summarized. A questionnaire was then sent to 98 centers throughout the United States requesting information on criteria for beginning treatment with DFO, administration methods, dose modifications, and serum ferritin levels.

RESULTS
The application of a critical pathway in this program resulted in 29 of 38 patients maintaining serum ferritin levels <2,000 ng/mL. Of the 42 institutions that responded to the survey, 10 attained this ferritin level in > or =50% of their patients. Ferritin levels ranged from 500 ng/mL to >20,000 ng/mL, and wide variations were reported in all study parameters.

CONCLUSIONS
Iron overload can be effectively managed with alteration of DFO doses and routes using a consistent approach. Modification of administration methods, including administration of DFO during red blood cell transfusions, are indicated to attain ferritin levels of <2,000 ng/mL.


Background Nontraumatic diseases of the skeletal system, such as osteoporosis, have reached epidemic proportions today. Toxic environmental factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of, but their influence has been insufficiently studied. Objectives Our aim - to study the growth characteristics of bones of white rats after a 60-day inhalation poisoning with toluene. Methods We carried out a study of 180 white adult male rats. All animals were divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group was exposed to vapors of toluene in two months. We deduced animals from the experiment at 1, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days by decapitation under ether anesthesia. After this, we studied the morphometric parameters of bones. Results Continuous and fairly intensive longitudinal and appositional growth of all investigated bone was observed in intact rats during the experiment. This is consistent with both the literature and the results of our previous studies. After a 60-day inhalation of toluene vapors, we registered a longitudinal and appositional deceleration of growth of the bones studied, which was the highest since the 1st to the 15th day after the termination of inhalation cycle and subsequently slightly smoothed. However, 60 days after termination of the influence of toluene credible deviations remained. Thus, the maximum length of the tibia and hip bones were smaller than in group 1 to all deadlines of observation, respectively, at 4.15%, 4.47%, 2.67%, 3.35% and 3.41%, and at 3.84%, 3.78%, 4.88%, 4.16% and 2.91%. Body height third lumbar vertebra was also less than the control, respectively, at 5.12%, 6.27%, 6.69%, 3.28% and 4.80%. The transverse dimensions of the tibia were also lower than in intact rats, in all the deadlines of the experiment: the width of the proximal and distal epiphyses, respectively, at 3.69%, 4.14%, 5.77%, 4.49% and 2.84% (p>0.05) and 11.94%, 7.78%, 10.75%, 10.00% and 6.86%, while the width and anterior-posterior size of the middle diaphysis - by 6.82%, 6.72%, 7.01%, 5.82% and 6.05% and 12.31%, 10.14%, 9.80%, 8.65% and 7.11%. The maximum width of the hip bone was lower than in intact animals also in all the deadlines of the experiment, respectively, at 6.06%, 6.19%, 6.89%, 4.87% and 5.53% (p>0.05) and the width of the body third lumbar vertebra - at 7.27%, 7.12%, 5.90%, 5.43% and 5.69%. However, after a 60-day inhalation of toluene vapor the maximum thickness of the hip bone was less than control values of group 1 to 1, 30 and 60 days of the experiment at 5.02%, 4.78% and 10.45% and a maximum width of body third lumbar vertebrae although it was smaller, but significantly different from control values only to the 7 day - at 7.51%. Conclusions Inhaled toluene influence leads to a slowdown of both longitudinal and appositional of bone growth. The identified changes are seen at 1, 7 and 15 days after inoculation with toluene inhalation with a tendency to a leveling of 30 and 60 days. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


BACKGROUND
Risk factor modification is important in preventing coronary artery disease; however, risk factors for coronary artery disease have been studied mostly in men, not women.

OBJECTIVE
To examine risk factors for coronary artery disease in women.

METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the records of all adult women who underwent their first-ever cardiac catheterization at our institution in 1983. Risk factors in women with angiographic evidence of coronary atherosclerosis were compared with risk factors in women without angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease.

RESULTS
Risk factors identified included age, diabetes mellitus, hypertension for more than 5 years, hyperlipidemia, smoking, and familial coronary artery disease.

CONCLUSIONS
Risk factors for coronary artery disease in women are similar to those of men.


It is estimated that by the year 2020, 700 million wearable technology devices will be sold worldwide. One of the reasons is the industries' need to increase their productivity. Some of the tools welcomed by industries are handheld devices such as tablets, PDAs and mobile phones. However, handheld devices are not ideal for industrial applications because they often subject users to fatigue during their long working hours. A viable solution to this problem is wearable devices. The advantage of wearable devices is that they become part of the user. Hence, they subject the user to less fatigue, thereby increas- ing their productivity. This chapter presents the development of an intelligent glove, which is designed to control actuators in an industrial environment. This system utilizes RTI connext data distributed service middleware to facilitate communication over WiFi. Our experiments show very promising results with maximum power consumption of 310 mW and latency as low as 23 ms. These results make the proposed system a perfect fit for most industrial applications.


Raman microscopy allows a non-destructive characterisation of inorganic and organic painting materials such as pigments and organic dyestuffs. The objectives of this study are the more recent organic pigments typically present in paintings and other art works from the 20th century. More than 20 organic synthetic pigments from different chemical classes could be identified by Raman spectroscopy using different excitation wavelengths (457.9, 476.5, 487.9, 514.5, 632.8, and 1064 nm). To evaluate the performance for real paint samples, varying paint mixtures of the Hansa Yellow pigment PY 3 and the binding medium Mowilith, a polyvinyl acetate (PVAC) compound, were characterised; PY 3 was determined at a 1 wt% level in the binder. In addition, commercial tube paints containing the quinacridone violet PV 19 were studied. The pigment was clearly identified in all of these more complex oil and acrylic paints. Finally, alizarin (PR 83) and a green copper phthalocyanine pigment (PG 7) could unambiguously be identified by Raman microscopy in the painting 'Woman with mandolin in yellow and red' of Max Beckmann dating 1950. The discovery of a red naphthol AS pigment by Raman spectroscopy in a sample from the 'Three field workers' by Georg Baselitz (1964/1965) demonstrated that in some cases complementary chromatographic methods are needed for a comprehensive identification of the organic pigments. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objective To investigate memory disorder after acute cerebralvascular disease (ACVD) . Methods It was tested with Wechsler Memory Scale(WMS) that immediate, short- and long-term memory(IM STM and LTM),as well as memory quotient(MQ). Results IM STM,LTM and MQ in each group were significantly lower than that of control, comparison of scale score between cerebral haemorrhage (CH) and infarct, left and right and both brain global (LBG RBG and BBG), single and multiple lacunar infarction and single infarction(SLI, MLI and SI) hadn't significant different. But memory defect of CH.RBG BBG and SI were mainly middle or severe. Conclusions ACVD induced memory damage primary on STM and LTM but IM, The site of focus has no markedly effects on the degree of memory defects.


Tip growth is basic and deceptively simple. A single cell has a wall that is cylindrical with a prolate spheroid as an end cap. The growth takes place in the end cap. The mechanical loading which drives the growth consists of turgor pressure of magnitude 5–10 atmospheres. We report recent measurements on the geometry of the growth that provide detail of the shape of the end cap. In addition, fluorescent beads were placed at points on the cap, whose positions with time were recorded.
 A Lagrangian formulation provides the kinematics of the growth process, and indicates that for steady-state, axisymmetric growth, the current velocity of a bead depends on only the geometry and the stretch ratio. The ratio of current mean strain rate to mean stress provides a coefficient of growth rate. This depends on position, which can be interpreted as a dependence on the stretch ratio, i.e., the past history of the wall element. Thus a simple mechanical description appears to be appropriate. However, the stability of the process has not yet been considered.


ZnT7, a novel member of the zinc transporter (ZnT) family, was identified by searching the expressed sequence tag (EST) databases with the amino acid sequence of ZnT1. Like the other ZnT proteins, the protein (387 amino acids) predicted from this gene contains six transmembrane domains and a histidine-rich loop between transmembrane domains IV and V. We show that Znt7 is widely transcribed in mouse tissues with abundant expression in the liver and small intestine and moderate expression in the kidney, spleen, brain, and lung. An affinity-purified antibody raised against the amino acids 299–315 of mouse ZnT7 specifically reacted with the proteins with apparent molecular masses of 85, 43, and 65 kDa in small intestine and lung tissues by Western blot analysis. Immunofluorescence microscope analysis reveals that ZnT7 is localized in the Golgi apparatus and cytoplasmic vesicles. Exposure of the ZnT7-expressing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to zinc causes an accumulation of zinc in the Golgi apparatus, suggesting that ZnT7 facilitates zinc transport from the cytoplasm into the Golgi apparatus.


The extraction of toluene from heptane was analyzedby liquid extraction with 1,3-dimethylimidazolium methylsulfate[MMim][MeSO4] ionic liquid, as a solvent.The experimental (liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE)data were determined at T= 318.15 K and atmosphericpressure. Selectivity and distribution coefficient,derived from the tie-lines, were used to determine theability of this ionic liquid as solvent for the separationof toluene from its mixtures with heptane. Thedegree of consistency of the experimental LLE datawas ascertained using the Othmer–Tobias equation.The experimental data for LLE of the ternary systemwere correlated with the Non-Random Two-Liquid(NRTL) and UNIversal QUAsi-Chemical (UNIQUAC)thermodynamic models.


Dynamic all-red extension (DARE) has recently attracted research interest as a nontraditional intersection collision-avoidance method, for which the prediction of red-light running (RLR) and its related hazardous situations is a crucial part. We propose a probabilistic framework to model and predict RLR hazards for DARE. The RLR hazard, which is quantified by a predictive encroachment time, has contributory factors, including the speed, distance, and car-following status of the violator and the empirical distribution of the entry time of conflict traffic. An offline data analysis procedure is developed to set the parameters for RLR hazard prediction. Online-wise, a 2-D normal model is developed to predict the vehicle's stop-go maneuver based on speeds at advanced detectors and the car-following status. Additionally, unlike most prediction models that are designed to minimize mean errors, our model identifies two types of errors, namely, the false alarm and a missed report. The capability of distinguishing these two types of errors is crucial to the effectiveness of dynamic operations. To quantify the tradeoff between these two types of errors in DARE, a system operating characteristic (SOC) function is then defined. Effectiveness of the proposed model and its prediction algorithm is demonstrated using data collected from a field intersection. At a false-alarm rate of less than 5% (or equivalently about one false trigger per 8 h), the algorithm reached a correct detection rate of over 70% to more than 80%. Performance evaluation results showed that the proposed DARE framework can effectively predict the RLR hazards.


Sweden is introducing large scale market reforms, patient choice, and privatisation into its healthcare system. It is unclear whether it can also maintain its good record on social equity, says Bo Burstrom


The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychologic burden in terms of depression, anxiety, and stress among the parents of children with congenital craniofacial deformity, nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) with early and late diagnosis and/or treatment. In this study, total 240 patients were enrolled, out of which 72 were parents (either mother/father) of CL/P children, below 10 years (group A: before adolescence), 70 were parents of CL/P children, above 10 years of age (group B: after adolescence), and 98 were parents of children with no CL/P or any other genetic disorder (group C). Depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 was administered in all groups after obtaining the informed consent. Mean ranks of group B revealed a higher score for all the 3 psychologic domains. The CL/P was further divided into only cleft lip, only cleft palate, and both cleft lip and palate groups. A statistically significant difference was observed in group B for all the psychologic domains. Analysis of variance was applied between the groups and a P-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Analysis revealed severe to extremely severe depressed state of mind and moderate to severe levels of stress in maximum parents (above 20%) of group B. However, approximately 50% parents of group B showed extremely severe anxiety. Therefore, psychologic assessment helps in providing a psychiatric or psychologic counseling and treatment to the parents of CL/P children.


HTML clipboardThe thesis deals with the dual problem of finding out and modelling the needs of users in various situations and constructing models of supportive software. Task analysis has not been a very hot topic for research in the last years, but in my work I have tried to apply task analysis to certain application areas. In this thesis the focus is therefore on two different kinds of applications, the first being a traditional software application, electronic mail systems. The second application area is programming of service robots for the home, and specifically robots that are intended as support for people with functional disorders, e.g., as a result of neural diseases or accidents with neurological consequences. The work in the thesis spans over a long period of research, but there is a thread going through the thesis based on a perspective that regards work tasks as consisting of sequences of patterns. In the e-mail application area, the pattern theory was not outspoken, but can be seen in the software prototyping tool, GRASP, that was developed in pure Prolog. The task pattern system, TAPAS, that was developed from the work in robots and the interviews with people with various degrees of disorders is clearer on the pattern approach. With the GRASP system, the idea was that users could be involved in the development through prototyping tools that would enable a more individual design of the application and the interface functionality. When this was taken into the area of design for inclusion, it was clear that the pattern approach in TAPAS would need to cater for an individual design of the robot's tasks. Individualisation is a costly process but it can be eased through the use of a pattern approach to task modelling. The conclusion of the work in this thesis is that task analysis and conceptual modelling still have application areas within software development, especially where there is a large need for individual adaptation of the applications (such as robots as support for people with functional disorders). I show that a combined knowledge elicitation method and task modelling tool based on a pattern-based perspective can facilitate a more flexible and individual design of software. More precisely, in the robot context, I show that a robot that is programmed through a pattern approach receives a potential to become flexible enough to allow for end user reprogramming under certain circumstances. The conclusion of my work is that task analysis in combination with conceptual modelling of tasks as patterns is a promising method combination for the programming in task areas where there is a large need for individualization and flexibility.


The issue that is the main focus of this paper has not been of great interest to bibliology scholars. Even though one version of the Brest Bible, marked as B, was described quite thoroughly by Feliks Bentkowski already two hundred years ago, the catalogue descriptions have until today been based upon the scheme formulated by Karol Estreicher (senior). He identified three versions of the Brest Bible, which differ only in the title page. The fact is that there are only two versions, A and B, in existence, which differ in the first gathering (*) or (very rarely) in the first two gatherings (*, **). The gatherings of version B were established to have been printed in the 1580s or 1590s in Jan Karcan's press in Vilnius. Apparently, a certain number of the Old Testament gatherings A–Y were typeset and printed in Brest in 1563. There is only one extant complete copy of it with the newly printed gatherings, whereas in the remaining dozen or so copies that have survived it is only one, or rarely, two gatherings, and sometimes only single leaves. The search for versions of the Bible also made it possible to compile a list of 135 copies of the Brest Bible stored today in public, monastic and church collections in Europe and North America.


AIMS
Our study aims to make inferences from inpatient admission of conversion disorder with regards it's age and sex distribution, clinical presentation, yearly distribution of admission and morbidity of conversion disorder in comparison to total psychiatric admissions. It also compares it's results with those of previous studies in this country, neighbouring countries and western studies.

METHODS
A case notes review was done for admissions of this disorder for five years in Mosul University Hospital. The data were inputted into SPSS programme and analysed. The statistical analysis was by t-test, Anova and regression.

RESULTS
Two hundred seventy five patients were admitted during the period; 224 women and 51 men. The majority of men came from Urban areas compared to 58% of women. Single status was over represented; 59% compared to 34% married. Women formed 82% of the singles, 90% of the widows and 83% of the divorced. Pseudo-fits was the most frequent diagnosis. There was no significant change in the number of yearly admissions apart from the first year. The proportion of conversion disorders compared to total psychiatric disorders admissions was 7.4%.

IMPLICATIONS
Results were consistent with national studies but showed higher figures than neighbouring countries. What was interesting was that, results were consistent with figures in United Kingdom before 1950.


In this paper, by numerical simulation of gas flow, effects of divergence angles on the amplification factor, side force and thrust vector magnitude of a moveable nozzle with supersonic split line have been investigated. The study is conducted for constant exit to throat area ratio and the location of the split line is also constant. The finite volume method with second order upwind scheme for spatial discretization and AUSM method for flux splitting have been used in numerical solution of the equations. It was observed that for two different deviation angles, the results of RNG k-e turbulence model are in good agreement with experimental data. Results also show that by increasing the divergence angle of the nozzle, the amplification factor, side force and thrust vector magnitude will decrease.


In Turkey, the differences in the properties of gasolines that are taken from different petrol stations are intensively discussed. By taking this as a starting point, the main target of this project is to examine these differences and how they affect exhaust emissions. The properties of nine gasoline samples taken from nine different petrol stations that belong to three different oil companies were studied. The values obtained are compared with European and Turkish National norms, and the differences in the values are described. The exhaust emissions test equipment and test methods and outputs are explained. The results show that the fuels that have high sulfur, low volatility and low Reid vapour pressure exhibit increased emission values.


We obtain a solution to eleven-dimensional supergravity that consists of M2-branes embedded in a dielectric distribution of M5-branes. Contrary to normal expectations, this solution has maximal supersymmetry for a brane solution (i.e. sixteen supercharges). While the solution is constructed using gauged supergravity in four dimensions, the complete eleven-dimensional solution is given. In particular, we obtain the Killing spinors explicitly, and we find that they are characterised by a duality rotation of the standard Dirichlet projection matrix for M2-branes.


We propose to use methods of inverse electrocardiography (iECG) to compete in the 2007 Computers in Cardiology Challenge, which aims to delineate the location and extent of old myocardial infarct from body-surface potential maps (BSPMs) combined with anatomical imaging information. The provided 120-electrode BSPM data and MRI images were used to calculate epicardial potentials and isochrones of activation. A method was used to define the location and extent of scar tissue based on the morphology of computed epicardial electrograms. Negative Q wave deflection followed by R wave on the left ventricular surface corresponded well with the location of the scar as determined by the gold standard in the two training cases. iECG shows promise as a non-invasive imaging tool to quantitatively characterize location and extent of chronic infarcts.


With the discovery of Hubble Red Shift in the cosmological Universe, the question of Big Bang explosion has become inevitable and to explain this point of singularity thereon. Dissolution and manifestation of the universe happen to occur periodically. In this paper, analysis has been undertaken on the basis of scientific development on well accepted cosmological model, different scientific concepts and on one Vedic/Tantric scriptural remark. According to Vedic/Tantric scriptural remark, at the time of dissolution of the universe it remains in the form of gram. Different scientific tools like Electron Microscopy, X-rays powder diffraction method. Raman & UV spectroscopy have been applied in analyzing the two parts of gram and finally to find out what do they correspond to cosmological analysis of Big Bang singularity. Main mechanisms in action in dissolution and manifestation have also been pointed out.


On the 17th of June 2015, members of a group named 'Voice of the Voiceless' stormed the Nigerian National Assembly and demanded a legislation that would prescribe death penalty as punishment for corruption in the country. In their opinion, there was no way Nigeria would make progress if corruption in public office was not brought under control. This paper seeks to determine if the death penalty can curb corruption in Nigeria?The paper begins with a measurement of the perceived level of corruption in countries where the death penalty is being applied. It compares the corruption score in those countries with that of the corruption score in countries who do not punish corruption via death penalty. The paper will later examine certain measures that could pose a threat to the potential success of death penalty legislation.


To better understand how hydrogen bonding influences the excited-state landscapes of aza-aromatic materials, we studied hydrogen-bonded complexes of 2,5,8-tris (4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,4,6,7,9,9b-heptaazaphenalene (TAHz), a molecular photocatalyst related to graphitic carbon nitride, with a variety of phenol derivatives (R-PhOH). By varying the electron-withdrawing character of the para-substituent on the phenol, we can modulate the strength of the hydrogen bond. Using time-resolved photoluminescence, we extract a spectral component associated with the R-PhOH-TAHz hydrogen-bonded complex. Surprisingly, we noticed a striking change in the relative amplitude of vibronic peaks in the TAHz-centered emission as a function of R-group on phenol. To gain a physical understanding of these spectral changes, we employed a displaced-oscillator model of molecular emission to fit these spectra. This fit assumes that two vibrational modes are dominantly coupled to the emissive electronic transition and extracts their frequencies and relative nuclear displacements (related to the Huang-Rhys factor). With the aid of quantum chemical calculations, we found that heptazine ring-breathing and ring-puckering modes are likely responsible for the observed vibronic progression, and both modes indicate decreasing molecular distortion in the excited state with increasing hydrogen bond strength. This finding offers new insights into intermolecular excited-state hydrogen bonding, which is a crucial step toward controlling excited-state proton-coupled electron transfer and proton transfer reactions.


CUREM, Center for Urban & Real Estate Management n Zurich offers the only RICS-accredited real estate programme in Switzerland n the Master of Science in Real Estate (MSc Real Estate). Our Scientific Director is Prof. Dr. Karl-Werner Schulte (IREBS: International Real Estate Business School der Universit‰t Regensburg), an outstanding academic in the field of real estate research. CUREM was founded in 2004 by real estate professionals and is up to this date privately funded. It is completely focused on the real estate industry and aims to contribute towards its professionalisation. From the start, CUREM has endeavoured to bring international knowledge to Switzerland. This is reflected by the Swiss and European background of its teaching staff. CUREM aims to participate and contribute significantly to national and international research bodies such as INREV, ERES or srett.


In this paper we present a new method for alignment of 3D models. This approach is based on symmetry properties, and uses the fact that the principal components analysis (PCA) have good properties with respect to the planar reflective symmetry. The fast search of the best optimal alignment axes within the PCA-eigenvectors is an essential first step in our alignment process. The plane reflection symmetry is used as a criterion for selection. This pre-processing transforms the alignment problem into an indexing scheme based on the number of the retained PCA-axes. We also introduce a local translational invariance cost (LTIC) that captures a measure of the local translational symmetries of a shape with respect to a given direction. Experimental results show that the proposed method finds the rotation that best aligns a 3D mesh.


In any state, having the specificity of tasks, an important role is played by the tax system in the mobilization of financial resources of society. At the current stage of development and overcoming the negative consequences of the transitional period, they are offered to overcome due to the formation of business, in which the development opportunities of self-realization of certain sectors of society, in order to achieve preferences, as well as through the tax system namely, strengthening and stimulating social tax functions. For the optimization of the tax system, in the conditions in which it is at the moment, you need to thoroughly study the Russian experience in conducting economic reforms, as well as detail to use theoretical and practical aspects of fiscal science.


ABSTRACT Yang, S.; Liu, X.; Liu, Q.; Guan, L.; Lee, J.M., and Jung, K.H., 2017. A study of storm surge disasters based on extreme value distribution theory. In this study, a statistical model was set up using extreme value distribution theory to estimate the return periods for both the highest surge levels and the adjusted direct economic losses from storm surge disasters based on the historical database. The extreme value distribution theory has been widely applied in hydrology and coastal engineering, and one well-performing extreme distribution is the Gumbel distribution. Based on the Gumbel distribution, three parameter estimation methods were used to determine the best method for generating the Gumbel distribution functions; subsequently, the expressions for the return periods were derived. The least square method was identified as the best parameter-estimation method for this study. Comparisons were implemented among return periods of the highest surge levels with the adjusted direct economic loss, which showed that the linear functional relationship between these two indicators was not significant. This study also found there was strong spatial autocorrelation for the highest surge levels with the adjusted direct economic loss by employing spatial analysis along the China's coastline. Analysis based on comparisons among the return periods of the highest surge levels and the adjusted direct economic loss in three coastal regions showed different levels of return periods the regions tended to have. Furthermore, analysis of the variation in indicators between the former half and the latter half of the study period reflected the change in climate. The application of the extreme value distribution theory was extended to evaluate economic losses during a storm surge disaster, and the underlying relationships and the deviations between the highest surge levels and the adjusted direct economic loss were analyzed, which indicated the damages caused by storm surges did not completely depend on the surge level.


A rapid and an efficient protocol for germination of immature seeds of Vanda tessellata , PLBs development and plant regeneration system have been developed. The results indicate that immature capsules performed better in terms of germination (100.0%) and development of PLBs (90.0%). Around 45 - 60 days old PLBs were transferred to half strength of MS supplemented with different concentrations of auxins and cytokinins. The highest weight of PLBs (5.53 g), the best plant regeneration (16.50) and shoot length (3.25 cm) were recorded when the medium was supplemented with BAP (1.0 mg/l) and NAA (1.5 mg/l). The highest number (5.0) and length (3.22 cm) of roots, the maximum number of plantlets (3.75) were obtained in the medium supplemented with 1.5 mg/l BAP and 1.0 mg/l IAA. The maximum numbers of leaves (3.33) were recorded in the medium fortified with 1.5 mg/l BAP + 1.00 mg/l IAA; the highest length of leaves (2.59 cm) was observed in the medium combining with of BAP and IAA (2.0 mg/l). Well shooted - and rooted plants were acclimated in pots that contained two types of compost. Here, type-II showed better performance on plant development. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 25(2): 181-191, 2015 (December)


Alveolar macrophages (AM) play a critical role in the removal of inhaled particles or fibers from the lung. Species differences in AM size may affect the number and size range of particles/fibers that can be actually phagocytized and cleared by AM. The purpose of this study was to compare the cell size of rat, hamster, monkey, and human AM by selective flow cytometric analysis of cell volume. Resident AM from CD rats, Syrian golden hamsters, cynomolgus monkeys, and nonsmoking, healthy human volunteers were harvested by standard bronchoalveolar lavage procedures. Morphometric analysis of AM was performed using a flow cytometer that generates volume signals based on the Coulter-type measurement of electrical resistance. We found that hamster and rat AM had diameters of 13.6 +/- 0.4 microns (n = 8) and 13.1 +/- 0.2 microns (n = 12), respectively. Comparatively, the AM from monkeys (15.3 +/- 0.5 microns, n = 7) and human volunteers (21.2 +/- 0.3 microns, n = 10) were larger than those from rats and hamsters. The AM from humans were significantly larger (p < 0.05) than those from all other species studied, corresponding to a 4-fold larger cell volume of human AM (4990 +/- 174 microns 3) compared to hamster (1328 +/- 123 microns 3) and rat (1166 +/- 42 microns 3) AM. In summary, we have found marked species differences in the cell size of AM. We suggest that the number and size range of particles/fibers that can be phagocytized and cleared by AM may differ among species due to inherent or acquired species differences in AM cell size.


A number of testing programs offer handicapped examinees the opportunities to take admissions tests under nonstandard conditions. Typically, the test scores based on these nonstandard administrations have been flagged to indicate to test users that the scores may not be comparable to those from standard administrations. In order to avoid thus identifying handicapped applicants, a panel established by the National Academy of Sciences suggested the possibility of rescaling the scores of handicapped students to make grade predictions comparable for handicapped and nonhandicapped students. This report examines this possibility and concludes that the approach is not feasible technically and furthermore that it would also have a number of potentially serious undesirable side effects.


Objectives: To establish and implement a simplified protocol for the extraction, primary isolation, and culture of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs). To analyze the isolated cells quantitatively and qualitatively. Methodology: Ten healthy third molars were donated by patients who attended the School of Dentistry, UdelaR, and gave their written consent. The teeth were processed within 48 hours. The teeth were sectioned to obtain the pulp tissue and processed with the explant method. Cell viability and marker expression were analyzed by flow cytometry at passages 4 and 12 and verified by immunocytochemistry. Results: The cells obtained had a vitality greater than 90% in all passages. We found the characteristic morphology and the expression of CD90, C105, CD73, CD29 and 166 mesenchymal stem cell markers by flow cytometry in both passages. Conclusion: It was possible to establish a cell isolation protocol that is highly successful and safe to isolate hDPSC.


In this article we present a new class of high order accurate Arbitrary-Eulerian-Lagrangian (ALE) one-step WENO finite volume schemes for solving nonlinear hyperbolic systems of conservation laws on moving two dimensional unstructured triangular meshes. A WENO reconstruction algorithm is used to achieve high order accuracy in space and a high order one-step time discretization is achieved by using the local space-time Galerkin predictor. For that purpose, a new element--local weak formulation of the governing PDE is adopted on moving space--time elements. The space-time basis and test functions are obtained considering Lagrange interpolation polynomials passing through a predefined set of nodes. Moreover, a polynomial mapping defined by the same local space-time basis functions as the weak solution of the PDE is used to map the moving physical space-time element onto a space-time reference element. To maintain algorithmic simplicity, the final ALE one-step finite volume scheme uses moving triangular meshes with straight edges. This is possible in the ALE framework, which allows a local mesh velocity that is different from the local fluid velocity. We present numerical convergence rates for the schemes presented in this paper up to sixth order of accuracy in space and time and show some classical numerical test problems for the two-dimensional Euler equations of compressible gas dynamics.


Exploration of chemical composition and structural configuration space is the central problem in crystal structure prediction. Even in limiting structure space to a single structure type, many different compositions and configurations are possible. In this work, we attempt to address this problem using an extension to the existing ChemDASH code in which variable compositions can be explored. We show that ChemDASH is an efficient method for exploring a fixed-composition space of spinel structures and build upon this to include variable compositions in the Mn-Fe-Zn-O spinel phase field. This work presents the first basin-hopping crystal structure prediction method that can explore variable compositions.


ABSTRACT Interaction among plant nutrients can yield antagonistic or synergistic outcomes that influence nutrient use efficiency. To provide insight on this phenomenon, peer-reviewed articles were selected that quantified the interaction effects of nutrients on crop yield levels. In total 94 articles were selected that described 117 interactions between all macro- and micronutrients for different agricultural crops. In 43 cases the interaction was synergistic, in 17 cases the interaction was antagonistic, and in 35 cases the interaction was zero-interaction; the other 23 cases were non-significant (16) or showed a negative response (7). Generally: (a) when the availability of two nutrients is characterized as deficient, a large increase in yield can be expected by diminishing these deficiencies: (b) for most macronutrients the mutual interactions on yield levels are synergistic; and (c) antagonistic effects on yield are often found for divalent cations. Knowledge of nutrient interactions can guide fertilizer design and optimization of fertilization strategies for high yields and high nutrient use efficiencies.


Freedom, equality, and otherness : on the fragile nature of democracy
This contribution consists of three phases. It focuses, firstly, on the broad outlines of a modern politics and more specifically on three forms - namely liberal democracy, socialism and nationalism. Secondly, these modern models of politics, which largely operate with a logic of exclusion, are then challenged by an alternative understanding of politics and democracy. The issue here is a postmodern politics, which emphasises the interests of the other and a logic of creative otherness. Thirdly, the issue of a modern or postmodern politics is further investigated with regard to citizenship in a multicultural society.


Alibardi, L. 2012. Cytology and localization of chromatophores in the skin of the Tuatara (Sphenodon punctaus). —Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 93: 330–337.

The study deals with skin pigmentation in the reptile Sphenodon punctatus where neither strong colors nor rapid color changes are present. Dark areas of the skin derive from an intense pigmentation of beta-keratinocytes of the epidermis. Only epidermal melanocytes are involved in the process of melanosome transfer into keratinocytes. The basement membrane is a structural boundary separating melanocytes from melanophores that are sparse or concentrated in some dermal areas where they contribute to the dark coloration of the skin. In these regions, dermal melanophores give rise to the dark dots or to the irregular spots or to the dark stripes present in the skin. Ultrastructurally only eu-melanosomes are present, although only molecular studies can detect whether also pheomelanins are synthesized in these organelles. Chromatophores are not organized in functional dermal melanophore units. Xantophores are distributed under the epidermis and store lipid-containing droplets or lamellated pterinosomes. Their specific yellow-orange hues become evident on the skin surface. Iridophores are generally localized among the melanosomes and form reflecting platelets that are derived form the endoplasmic reticulum and probably are also elaborated in the Golgi apparatus. The role in color production of the latter cells in the skin remains to be identified.


The performance evaluation of information and communications technology (ICT) adoption has become important for the horticulture sector in South Korea. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in South Korea has promoted the 'Horticulture ICT convergence project' for distributing technologies such as smart phone remote control, and an automatic control system in a single-span greenhouse. However, its performance has not quite been evaluated, which causes concerns for continuous ICT diffusion in the agricultural field. Thus, we survey three types of horticulture farms: tomato, cucumber, and strawberry, and perform a multi-level analysis on the effect of ICT adoption. The results show that it led to farms saving working time. In addition, it had positive effects on financial outcomes such as revenue and operating profit. These results offer scope for research and practical insights into the effect of ICT adoption on horticulture, especially for single-span greenhouses.


In this paper we construct a new solution which represents Pollard-like three-dimensional nonlinear geophysical internal water waves. The Pollard-like solution includes the effects of the rotation of Earth and describes the internal water wave which exists at all latitudes across Earth and propagates above the thermocline. The solution is provided in Lagrangian coordinates. In the process we derive the appropriate dispersion relation for the internal water waves in a stable stratification and discuss the particles paths. An analysis of the dispersion relation for the constructed model identifies one mode of the internal water waves.


Background The Ponseti method has been shown to be a highly effective way to correct congenital clubfeet nonoperatively. Children treated with the technique frequently require percutaneous Achilles tenotomies, however, and until recently have experienced frequent relapses of their deformity. The purpose of this study was to see if Botulinum a A toxin (BTX-A) (manufactured by Allergan, Irvine CA) and administered before starting treatment with the Ponseti method might decrease the time in cast to correction, reduce the need for percutantous Achilles tenotomy, and reduce the frequency of relapse. Methods After IRB approval and informed consent, 20 newborns (age 0 to 30 d) with Dimeglio lll congential clubfeet (N=32) were randomized into either BTX-A or placebo groups. All clubfeet underwent serial manipulation and casting according to the Ponseti technique. Outcomes measured were days in cast to correction of deformity (judged clinically and radiographically), and the need for percutaneous Achilles tenotomy to achieve correction. Recurrence requiring further treatment after initial correction was also recorded. Results We were unable to demonstrate a significant difference (t test and χ2 procedures) between the BTX-a group and the placebo group in the outcomes measured. Conclusions We were not able to demonstrate that BTX-A as administered in this study speeds correction, reduces the need for percutaneous Achilles tenotomy, or decreases the chance of relapse after treatment when used as an adjunct to serial manipulation and casting for congenitial clubfoot. It is possible that BTX-A could have a treatment effect that due to the power of our study would not have been detected by our study. Level of Evidence Level 1b.


The heating and cooling curve of Magnetically Impelled Arc Butt Welding of steel pipe were calculated by one dimensional heat flow and compared with the measured data. The swelling shape of welded joint was also calculated with results of temperature distribution of pipe. The measured heating and cooling curve corresponded to the calculated one at η=0.72, k=5.64 mm2/s. The time that the temperature at l mm position from the pipe end was heated to 1200°C corresponded to the arc time of the optimum welding conditions.


Informatics or Computer Science is important subject in nowadays school education. Informatics can be presented as a discipline for understanding technology in a deeper way – the understanding behind computer programs. Bringing Informatics to schools means preparing young people to be creators of information technology – not only to be users of technological devices. To achieve that, we need to introduce Informatics concepts to primary, basic (K-9) and secondary education (K-12). From the other side, we need to help people to solve problems by using technology and developing computational thinking in various areas. The paper presents a short overview of Informatics education at schools of Lithuania with focus on future modern Informatics and Information Technology curriculum for K-12 education. The importance of informal education of Informatics concepts and computational thinking through contests is discussed as well. Few examples of short tasks for understanding Informatics concepts and developing computational thinking skills are presented.


In this work, we generalise linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability theory to include equilibrium pressure anisotropy in the fluid part of the analysis. A novel 'single-adiabatic' (SA) fluid closure is presented which is complementary to the usual 'double-adiabatic' (CGL) model and has the advantage of naturally reproducing exactly the MHD spectrum in the isotropic limit. As with MHD and CGL, the SA model neglects the anisotropic perturbed pressure and thus loses non-local fast-particle stabilisation present in the kinetic approach. Another interesting aspect of this new approach is that the stabilising terms appear naturally as separate viscous corrections leaving the isotropic SA closure unchanged. After verifying the self-consistency of the SA model, we re-derive the projected linear MHD set of equations required for stability analysis of tokamaks in the MISHKA code. The cylindrical wave equation is derived analytically as done previously in the spectral theory of MHD and clear predictions are made for the modification to fast-magnetosonic and slow ion sound speeds due to equilibrium anisotropy.


Three strains of Selenomonas ruminantium (D, GA192, and H18) were surveyed for phosphorylation of D-glucose and 2-deoxyglucose by phosphoenolpyruvate and ATP. Cells of all three strains that had been treated with toluene had high rates of hexose phosphorylation with either phosphoryl donor; this activity was constitutive in strain D. Glucose phosphorylation that was dependent on phosphoenolpyruvate was maximal at pH 7.2, remained fairly high at pH 6.5, but decreased (> or = 65%) at pH 5.0 for all strains. Cell extracts were used to evaluate the involvement of soluble kinases in 2-deoxyglucose phosphorylation. Both glucose and 2-deoxyglucose were phosphorylated by ATP, but phosphorylation of either hexose was negligible with phosphoenolpyruvate in each bacterium. Because phosphoenolpyruvate could not serve as a phosphoryl donor, the activity dependent on phosphoenolpyruvate in cells treated with toluene might have been due to a phosphotransferase system associated with the membrane. Unlabeled 2-deoxyglucose was a strong inhibitor (> or = 59%) of [14C]glucose phosphorylation with ATP by cell extracts of all S. ruminantium strains, and unlabeled glucose was a strong inhibitor (> or = 78%) of [14C]2-deoxyglucose phosphorylation with ATP. Based on Lineweaver-Burk kinetics, 2-deoxyglucose was a competitive inhibitor of initial rates of kinase activity in strains D, GA192, and H18. These results collectively suggest that glucose phosphorylation with phosphoenolpyruvate and 2-deoxyglucose phosphorylation with ATP are common traits in these strains of S. ruminantium.


The presence of Single nucleotide polymorphism causes DNA sequence difference, affects protein changing the structure and function, which causes the human genetic disease. The whole genome wide association is a new strategy to screen SNP with disease related, it avoids the hypothesis before non-fully evidence, but it increases the difficulties of screening SNP with disease. Now in the whole genome wide association the association analysis of single SNPs has been considered and without the consideration of the interaction among SNPs, thus the SNP of screening are not entirely credible. In order to improve the classification accuracy of SNP selecting, this paper proposed a feature selection method based on Relief-SVM for SNP data, which can screen important SNP with disease related


Carboxylesterases are enzymes often associated with insect resistance to insecticides. The Est3 locus of Zaprionus indianus Gupta (Diptera: Drosophilidae) harbors four alleles that encode carboxylesterases with potentially detoxifying roles. In this study, we propose a model of resistance to insecticides in Z. indianus based on the adaptability of the Est3 locus inferred from the spread of its alleles over 27 generations in experimental populations, and their frequencies in field populations, which were either exposed or unexposed to the organophosphorous insecticide malathion. The increase in the frequency of this allele in experimental populations, and its high prevalence in field populations exposed to organophosphorous insecticides suggest that natural selection favors individuals with the Est3-3 allele. The low frequency of this allele in unexposed field populations, and the low productivity of Est3-3 homozygotes indicate that an adaptive cost is associated with this allele. The existence of a marker locus for insecticide resistance in Z. indianus makes it possible to use this species as a bioindicator for monitoring the excessive use of organophosphorous products and the emergence of resistance, and to devise strategies for the management of agricultural pests.


Modern tendencies to general digitalization in all spheres of life in our society create objective preconditions to pay teachers'attention to the new approach, constructing the educational process which has arisen recently – edutainment (from Eng. "education" and "entertainment"). The peculiarity of edutainment technology is in introduction modern forms of entertainment in the system of traditional lectures, lessons, classes, seminars and master classes, as without television programs, desktop, computer and video games, movies, music, websites, multimedia programs it is difficult to imagine the daily reality of any student. The rapidly developing innovative developments in the field of technology within last ten years gave teachers and students the opportunity to widely use all kinds ofmultimedia resources for the most effective learning of a foreign language, providing immersion in the "real" language environment. Edutainment offers resources that can be used in almost any field of teaching, and in learning a foreign language, probably even more efficiently than anywhere else. In addition to the obvious advantages of using the technology of edutainment, this article examines the effectiveness of using this kind of multimedia forstudents' professional language skills development in comparison with traditional methods. The results of the experimental part confirmed the feasibility of using interactive resources as components of edutainment, combining them with proven classical, academic approaches to teaching foreign languages, as well as a number of shortcomings that were identified, on the basis of which warnings were formulated regarding the use of the edutainment approach to higher education in general and foreign language teaching in particular.


Simulation of the interactions with deformable models is important in many applications such as medical training and tissue engineering. To physically model the 3D object, both the inner and outer segments need to be considered. This implies dealing with different materials and hence different deformation behavior. Thus, a physically-based simulation needs to augment the behavior of embedded materials when the materials are in direct physical contact, and produce a plausible net result in both visual and haptic cues.


Aggregation operators are important tools for solving multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) problems. The main challenging issue for aggregating data in a MAGDM problem is how to develop a symmetric aggregation operator expressing the decision makers' behavior. In the literature, there are some methods dealing with this difficulty; however, they lack an effective approach for multi-polar inputs. In this study, a new aggregation operator for m-polar fuzzy soft sets (M-pFSMWM) reflecting different agreement scenarios within a group is presented to proceed MAGDM problems in which both attributes and experts have different weights. Moreover, some desirable properties of M-pFSMWM operator, such as idempotency, monotonicity, and commutativity (symmetric), that means being invariant under any permutation of the input arguments, are studied. Further, m-polar fuzzy soft induced ordered weighted average (M-pFSIOWA) operator and m-polar fuzzy soft induced ordered weighted geometric (M-pFSIOWG) operator, which are extensions of IOWA and IOWG operators, respectively, are developed. Two algorithms are also designed based on the proposed operators to find the final solution in MAGDM problems with weighted multi-polar fuzzy soft information. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed methods is illustrated by some numerical examples. The characteristic comparison of the proposed aggregation operators shows the M-pFSMWM operator is more adaptable for solving MAGDM problems in which different cases of agreement affect the final outcome.


Drawing on research with Brazilian in London, which combined 18-month ethnography in places of leisure with 33 in-depth interviews, this articles builds a theoretical framework, through a dialogue between feminist, post -(de)colonial and Bourdeusian studies, in order to analyse the production and negotiation of difference in a globalised world. e article argues that a dialogue between (black) feminist, post and de-colonial theory, and a more exible and multi-varied approach of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, analytically developed in migration studies by Abdelmalek Sayad, proves to be useful to analytically address how people are constantly producing and negotiating difference in a 'world on the move'. Key words: Post-colonial Bourdieu, Brazilians in London, Black feminism, De-colonial studies


ABSTRACT Mutations in the interdomain linker of the gene for the AraC regulatory protein of Escherichia coli that severely interfere with the protein's ability either to repress or to activate transcription have been found. These mutations have relatively small effects on the dimerization domain's ability to bind arabinose or to dimerize the protein or on the DNA-binding domain's affinity for a single DNA half-site. The linker mutations, however, dramatically change the affinity of AraC for binding to two direct-repeat DNA half-sites. Less dramatically, the induction-deficient linker variants also display altered DNA sequence selectivity. These results show that changing the sequence of the interdomain linker can profoundly affect the dimerization domain–DNA-binding domain interactions in AraC. The smaller effects on the functions of the individual domains could be the direct result of the linker alterations but more likely are the indirect result of the altered dimerization domain–DNA-binding domain interactions. In summary, the linker does not simply function as a passive and flexible connector between the domains of AraC but, instead, is more directly involved in the protein's dimerization domain–DNA-binding domain interactions.


The article was report the fi  ndings of the experiences of Family Nurses who graduated the master degree programmes in Family Nursing in utilization knowledge of practice. A pragmatic qualitative research design was adopted in order to access relevant alumni group. A group of alumni from family nursing programmes who were attending the annual family nursing conference was invited to take part in focus group interviews. Six focus groups involving a total of 71 alumni were held simultaneously. Within these groups trained facilitators with experience in nursing research- from out with family nursing education- elicited responses to the research questions. Within all six groups designated scribes took verbatim notes which were later subject to qualitative content and thematic analyses. Results revealed three themes as follows: 1) Building new type of nurse identities: From a general nurs


A biomimetic vector was genetically engineered to contain at precise locations (a) an adenovirus mu peptide to condense pDNA into nanosize particles, (b) a synthetic cyclic peptide to target breast cancer cells and enhance internalization of nanoparticles, (c) a pH-responsive synthetic fusogenic peptide to disrupt endosome membranes and facilitate escape of the nanoparticles into the cytosol, and (d) a nuclear localization signal from human immunodeficiency virus for microtubule mediated transfer of genetic material to the nucleus. The vector was characterized using physicochemical and biological assays to demonstrate the functionality of each motif in the vector backbone. The results demonstrated that the vector is able to condense plasmid DNA into nanosize particles (<100 nm), protect pDNA from serum endonucleases, target ZR-75-1 breast cancer cells and internalize, efficiently disrupt endosome membranes, exploit microtubules to reach nucleus and mediate gene expression. The therapeutic potential of the vector was evaluated by complexing with plasmid DNA encoding TRAIL (pTRAIL) and transfecting ZR-75-1 cells. The results demonstrated that up to 62% of the ZR-75-1 breast cancer cells can be killed after administration of pTRAIL in complex with the vector.


Cyclin-dependent kinases such as Cdk4 are involved in the control of cell cycle progression, and misregulation of Cdk4 has been implicated in many types of cancers. In the present study, we report the development of a novel homogeneous assay using an affinity peptide-tagging technology for rapidly discovering Cdk4 inhibitors. The DNA sequence encoding a streptavidin recognition motif, or StrepTag (AWRHPQFGG), was cloned and expressed at the C-terminus of a fusion protein of a 152-amino acid hyperphosphorylation domain (Rb152) of the retinoblastoma protein (Rb) linked to GST at the N-terminus. This affinity peptide-tagged protein (GST-Rb152-StrepTag), which contains the two known phosphorylation sites of Rb, specifically phosphorylated by Cdk4 in vivo, was used as a substrate in the current in vitro kinase assay. After phosphorylation, scintillation proximity assay (SPA) scintillant beads coated with streptavidin were added. Radiolabeled GST-Rb152-StrepTag was brought in close proximity to the SPA scintillant beads through the interaction between StrepTag and streptavidin, resulting in the emission of light from beads. By applying the affinity peptide-tagging technology, we have eliminated the separation and wash steps which are normally required in a radioactive filtration assay. Therefore, this homogeneous method is simple, robust, and highly amenable to high-throughput screening of Cdk4-specific inhibitors. Furthermore, the affinity peptide tagging technique reported here is a simple, generic method that can be applied to many recombinant proteins for the development of kinase and protein-protein interaction assays.


In this paper, we study the -gravitation theory under the assumption that the standard matter-energy content of the universe is a perfect fluid with linear barotropic equation of state within the framework of Bianchi-Type III model from the class of homogeneous and anisotropic universe models. However, whether such a restriction lead to any contradictions or inconsistencies in the field equations will create an issue that needs to be examined. Under the effective fluid approach, we will be concerned mainly the field equations in an orthonormal tetrad framework with an equimolar and examined the situation of establishing the functional form of  together with the scale factors, which are their solutions. Unlike similar studies, which are very few in the literature, instead of assuming preliminary solutions, we determined the consistency conditions of the field equations by assuming the matter energy content of the universe as an isotropic perfect fluid for Bianchi-Type III.


"Nom de Dieu, quelle race!": The Saying, the Said, and the Betrayal of Charity in Mongo Beti's Le pauvre Christ de Bomba When Mongo Beti's Le pauvre Christ de Bomba was published in 1956, some critics modern-day Voltaire who had an axe to grind, in particular against Christianity, and who viewed religion as superstition. It is true that, in his fiction, Mongo Beti never expresses the kind of reverence for indigenous African religions that we find, for example, in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, published in 1959. Achebe laments the passing of a mythic order and shows how its noble protagonists are tragically caught between the demands of the old order and of the encroaching of the modern West. There is no nostalgia in Mongo Beti for the old order. Indeed, he himself is a modern Western intellectual in the sense that he believes in the highest ideals of the Western Enlightenment, i.e. in social and economic equality for all people. On the other hand, unlike Voltaire and many eighteenth-century philosophers, Mongo Beti is not hostile to Christianity itself, or so I argue in this essay. Mongo Beti's novel Le pauvre Christ de Bomba is not anti-Christian, as Beti himself acknowledged when he remarked, more than twenty years after the book was published, that he was not "in principle hostile to Christianity or even to Roman Catholicism" (Beti in Djiffack 147).1 The real target of Beti's satire is the spirit of missionary evangelism, which the author sees as subverting the alleged core of Christianity – that core being charity towards others – which Emmanuel Levinas associates with what he calls the "saying" ("le dire") as opposed to the "said" ("le dit") of a theologizing discourse that is always in danger, paradoxically, of betraying others in the name of God.


Introduction Infants with food allergy may acquire oral tolerance. There is limited knowledge about the natural history of food allergy during childhood. The incidence, prevalence and trends in food hypersensitivity have been explored in birth cohorts over the first 3 years of life, however the trend over longer periods is still unclear and widely debated. Knowledge of the time trends of food allergy over longer period would provide valuable information on the natural history of food allergy. Objective We examined the prevalence and time trends of reported food hypersensitivity and food allergy in an unselected birth cohort over the first 18 years of life. Methods Food allergy information were collected ages 1, 2, 4, 10 and 18 years from the whole population Isle of Wight birth cohort (n = 1456). Food allergy was diagnosed based on strict study criteria: Characteristics of reaction, timing of reaction and type of food causing reaction. Skin prick testing (SPT) was performed at year 1, 2 for specific food allergens and at 4, 10 and 18 years of age for a panel of food and aeroallergens. SPSS statistical package was used to determine frequencies and prevalence. Results The prevalence of food allergies based on strict study criteria was 5.3% at 1 year, 4.4% at 2 years, 5% at 4 years, 2.3% at 10 years and 4% at 18 years. This was much lower than reported food allergies. Based on individual food groups, milk (1.6-3.5%), and eggs (1.1-1.4%) were the most common allergens in the first 10 years and peanut (0.4-1.0%), tree nuts (0.2-0.5%), fruit and wheat (0.3-0.5%) became more prevalent between 10-18 years. Sensitisation rates to food allergens were 3.2%, 4.5% and 21.4% respectively at 4, 10 and 18 years. There was a significant rise in food allergen sensitisation between 10 and 18 years Conclusions This is the first study looking into longitudinal patterns of food allergy (using symptom defined study criteria) and food sensitisation. This study provides valuable information on the patterns of various food allergies and their resolution. Prevalence of food allergies shows a significant drop between 4 and 10 years, followed by a significant rise between 10 and 18 years.


The space of the random events Ω will be supposed a space of sequences of finitely many symbols ω = {ωj}j=−∞, for instance a sequence of spins ωj = ±1, with the usual metric d(ω,ω) = ∑ j |ωj − ω j|2, and with τ the shift to the left: (τω)j = ωj+1. A "reflection" operation will be defined on Ω as ω←→ωT , with (ω )j = ω−j. The probability distribution P will be a τ–invariant and reflection–invariant mixing process on Ω, for instance a Bernoulli shift or a Markov process with symmetric transition probabilities or a suitably symmetric general Gibbs distribution on Ω. Reflection–invariant means that P (E) ≡ P (E ) for every Borel set E, where E is the image of E under the reflection ω←→ωT . The manifoldM will be a torus Tm and fω will be supposed to be close to a map f which is a "linear hyperbolic torsion" of Tm, independent of the environment, i.e. close to a map which is defined by the action of a hyperbolic matrix with integer entries and determinant ±1 on the torus. For instance the point x ∈M can be visualized as a pair of clock arms x = φ = (φ1, φ2)


Although Linux has yet to achieve wide popularity in the computer game world (see ibid., Dec., p.161-2, 2001), it is making rapid progress toward becoming the dominant operating system in the other major entertainment arena: motion pictures. Name a motion picture from the past year or two (to 2002) that featured stunning animation or dazzling special effects, and chances are the film's producers used Linux-based computers to splash those graphics on the big screen. For most of the past 30 years, Hollywood has led the development of computer graphics by constantly pushing the state of the art to wow audiences with ever more spectacular visuals. Many of these achievements can be seen annually at Siggraph conferences and exhibitions, where leading researchers and practitioners in the computer graphics field demonstrate work that companies such as Industrial Light and Magic or Pixar have done for the latest blockbuster films.


Mack Sennett's slapstick tradition and the comedy of silent clowns in the 1910s and 1920s are characterized by speeded up motion and the thrill of displacement. It is argued here that Chaplin's tramp resists the centrifugal forces of that knockabout style. Rooted in the assumption that moving is "useless," a cen tripetal principle sems to govern both Charlie's acting and Chaplin's directing, to the extent of structuring the gags and the films themselves in a decisive way.


In this paper, we solve the Hua Loo-Keng problem with prime numbers representable by given primitive positive-definite binary quadratic forms whose discriminants coincide with those of the imaginary quadratic fields in which the quadratic forms decompose into linear factors.


BACKGROUND
Stroke and traumatic injury to the nerve system may trigger axonal destruction and the formation of scar tissue, cystic cavitations and physical gaps. Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) can secrete neurotrophic factors to promote neurite growth and thus act as a prime candidate for autologous transplantation. Biological scaffolds can provide a robust delivery vehicle to injured nerve tissue for neural cell transplantation strategies, owing to the porous three-dimensional structures (3D). So transplantation of the purposeful cells seeded scaffolds may be a promising method for nerve tissue repair. This study aimed to evaluate the compatibility of a novel collagen-heparan sulfate biological scaffold with olfactory ensheathing cells in vitro.

METHODS
Collagen-heparan sulfate (CHS) biological scaffolds were made, and then the scaffolds and OECs were co-cultured in vitro. The viability of OECs was tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay at days 1, 3, 5 and 7. Statistical analysis was evaluated by student's t test. Significance was accepted at P < 0.05. OECs were labeled with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), and the CFSE-labeled OECs were seeded into CHS scaffolds. The attachment and growth of OECs in CHS scaffolds were observed and traced directly by fluorescent microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM).

RESULTS
CHS biological scaffolds had steady porous 3D structures and no cytotoxicity to OECs (F = 0.14, P = 0.9330). CHS biological scaffolds were good bridging materials for OECs attachment and proliferation, and they promoted the axonal growth.

CONCLUSION
The compatibility of CHS biological scaffolds with OECs is pretty good and CHS biological scaffold is a promising cell carrier for the implantation of OECs in nerve tissue bioengineering.