Despite the importance of disseminating the results of community-based participatory research (CBPR), community health partnerships face many challenges in getting their work published. The purpose of this article is to present practical guides for writing about CBPR for those who have little experience in writing for publication or those who want to help their partners write strong manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals. The article includes tips on how to organize each part of a manuscript, suggestions on how partners can collaborate on preparing manuscripts, recommendations on how to convey unique aspects of a partnership's work throughout a manuscript, and an annotated bibliography of well-written CBPR articles. By understanding how to prepare a manuscript about CBPR for a peer-reviewed journal, authors should be more effective in disseminating information that will help other communities to benefit from their partnership's work.


Objectives. We assessed the effects of neighborhood composition on effectiveness of the Walk Your Heart to Health (WYHH) intervention in promoting physical activity and reducing cardiovascular risk (CVR) in low-to-moderate–income, predominantly non-Latino Black (NLB) and Latino communities. Method. Multilevel models assessed modifying effects of neighborhood composition on (1) WYHH adherence/participation at 8 weeks and 32 weeks, (2) associations between participation and steps, and (3) associations between steps and CVR. Results. Approximately 90% of participants were women. Neither neighborhood poverty nor racial composition modified intervention participation at 8 weeks. At 32 weeks, residents of high percentage–NLB neighborhoods that also had high poverty rates had reduced participation. Neighborhood composition did not modify associations between participation and steps or between steps and CVR. Neighborhood percentage poverty and NLB were positively associated with CVR. Conclusion. Positive associations between participation in the WYHH program and physical activity, and CVR did not differ by neighborhood composition. Efforts to address challenges to long-term participation are warranted for residents of racially segregated, high-poverty neighborhoods. Residents of racially segregated neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty experience disproportionately high risk for cardiovascular disease and can benefit from interventions such as WYHH that increase physical activity and reduce CVR.


We demonstrate spin-transfer switching of nanomagnetic devices composed of Co/Pt multilayer electrodes with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. In order to obtain highly spin-polarized current, we have proposed the adoption of thick Co adjacent layers. The film stack has been optimized so that two different Co/Pt multilayer electrodes switch separately, with each having narrow switching field distribution. Detrimental effects of surface roughness have been observed and minimized to achieve well-defined switching behavior. Diverse nanopillar devices fabricated by e-beam lithography and subsequent processes show well-defined single step switching in both perpendicular field and injected current applications. The critical current density obtained is comparable to that of Co/Ni electrode based devices, indicating enhanced spin-transfer efficiency.


The physicochemical characteristics of seed and oil of six varieties/lines of safflower cultivated in Iran and comparison of type and amount of oil and their classification to oleic (Saffola) or linoleic acid group were investigated. Varieties/lines of Iranian safflower including Goldasht (IL.III, a spring variety), Mahali Isfehan, Isfehan 14, Isfehan 28 (a spring line), Padide (LRV, a fall variety) and Sina (PI, a day land variety) were provided and characteristics of safflower seeds (oil, protein, ash, moisture and fiber contents) and their extracted oil (iodine, saponification and acid values, fatty acid profile, α-, β-, γ- and δ-tocopherol, tocotrienols and β-carotene) were studied. Results indicated that the studied samples were only linoleic safflower (not oleic safflower). Iranian safflower varieties/lines have the highest amount of ω -6 (71.99 - 75.78) in comparison with other oil sources which is a valuable and essential fatty acid. Goldasht and Mahali Isfehan lines as a natural antioxidant (α-tocopherol: 346.25 – 376.83%; β-tocopherol: 54.29 – 52.89%; β-carotene: 8.53 – 8.1%, respectively) were mixed at two levels of 2 and 5% with soybean oil (without any antioxidant) and their shelf lives were determined by peroxide, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and Rancimat indices at 0, 5, 10 and 15 days and were compared with control. Statistical results did not show any antioxidant effect in shelf life of soybean oil at more days. This means that the safflower antioxidant compounds were not migrated completely to its oil.


The medical use of cannabinoids, especially in palliative care, is by now well known. Despite clinical data remain limited and inconclusive, cannabinoids may be effective in nausea and vomiting, cancer pain, anorexia and depression or anxiety. A 60-year-old American woman, with an insignificant medical history, was first seen at the out-patient hematology department in July 2016. She presented with intermittent right-sided abdominal pain for several weeks. The pain increased by eating fatty foods. Masquillier HIL* and Lugtenburg PJ Department of Hematology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands


A novel framework of a probabilistic mixture regression model (PMRM) is presented for alignment of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) data with respect to retention time (RT) points. The expectation maximization algorithm is used to estimate the joint parameters of spline-based mixture regression models and prior transformation density models. The latter accounts for the variability in RT points and peak intensities. The applicability of PMRM for alignment of LC-MS data is demonstrated through three data sets. The performance of PMRM is compared with other alignment approaches including dynamic time warping, correlation optimized warping, and continuous profile model in terms of coefficient variation of replicate LC-MS runs and accuracy in detecting differentially abundant peptides/proteins.


The localization of NAD+ glycohydrolase [EC 22.214.171.124] (NADase) in purified rat liver nuclei has been examined. Subnuclear fractionation revealed that at least 70% of the NADase in nuclei was associated with the nuclear envelope fraction. The nuclear envelope fraction was practically free of microsomal contamination as judged by electron microscopic morphometry and assays of microsomal marker enzymes. Therefore, NADase was found to be an integral component of the nuclear envelope. The enzymological properties of the nuclear envelope NADase were compared with those of the microsomal enzyme. The nuclear envelope NADase was identical to the microsomal enzyme in its Km for NAD+ (60 muM), pH optimum (pH 6.5), ratio of transglycosidase activity to NADase activity (about 0.5), thermal stability and sensitivity to various inhibitors. Thus, NADase is a common enzymic component of both the nuclear envelope and the endoplasmic reticulum.


Disclosed is a method of preparing hypophosphorous acid comprising contacting an insoluble anode with an aqueous solution of hypophosphite anions and applying a direct current through the insoluble anode to a cathode in electrical contact with the equeous solution to generate H^+ ions in the aqueous solution thereby forming a hypophosphorous acid solution.The process is simple,low cost and high efficient,which can be tied into an existing process for producing sodium hypophosphite wherein the product of sodium hypophosphite process is used as a starting material in the hypop[hosphorous acid process.


In this paper, we describe the structure and the features of the air quality and meteorological monitoring system adopted in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy. We are interested in describing which data the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA Lombardia) must collect, how this process takes place and how they are disseminated to the public for institutional communication and research purposes. ARPA monitors the atmospheric conditions through a dense ground monitoring network composed mainly by permanent stations, but also by mobile samplers. We describe in a detailed fashion the structure of the network: how many stations the network consists of, their locations, which pollutants and weather events are monitored and with what frequency. Our main objective is to present to an international audience the case study of ARPA Lombardia and the main available public data, explicitly stating the sources of information and how to find them, and encouraging international researchers to deal with the subject. In spite of the significant and extensive efforts made to counteract the phenomenon of air pollution, the air quality recorded in the region is very poor, and the local authorities are struggling to comply with international regulations on the concentration of pollutants in the air, making Lombardy a relevant international case. In addition, we present in a synthetic and descriptive way, without any modeling ambition, some data observed in the last years in Lombardy regarding meteorology and the main pollutants (oxides and particulate matters). The empirical descriptive results have been obtained by analyzing sample data provided by ARPA Lombardia through the same sources described in the sections dedicated to the Agency. From the graphical analysis, it is noticeable that at aggregate (regional) level, the concentrations are affected by significant decreasing trends, but at a rather contained speed. This is particularly true for the concentrations of oxides (NO2 and NOX) in urban and industrial areas. However, particulate matters and ozone show a high persistence in the average concentrations, interrupted only by the alternation of climatic seasons. The data also show that the meteorology of the region does not seem favorable for the improvement of air quality, as the region is characterized by low precipitation, and wind almost everywhere is not very intense. This situation could be induced by the unfavorable geography of the area, which prevents adequate air recycling and facilitates the stagnation of pollutants. We suggest that any public policy intervention aimed at improving the air quality situation in the region should take into account this empirical evidence in the impact assessment phase.


PURPOSE
To evaluate dosimetric uncertainty in 4D dose calculation for lung cancer patients using three different temporal probabilities.

METHODS
The impact of temporal probability, defined as the fraction of time a patient spends in each respiratory amplitude, was evaluated in nine lung cancer patients. For each patient, 4D dose was computed using 4DCT and three temporal probability distributions: 1) uniform distribution, 2) sinusoidal distribution, and 3) patient-specific distribution. To calculate 4D dose, the dose for each of 10 binned CTs was first computed using the same planning parameters as those used in the breath-hold CT. Next, deformable image registration was used to deform the dose of each binned CT to the breathhold CT using the deformation map between each binned CT and the breathhold CT. Finally, 4D dose volume was computed by summing the 10 deformed doses using corresponding temporal probabilities. In this study, 4D dose calculated from patient-specific temporal probabilities was used as the ground truth. Dosimetric comparison included: 1) 3D gamma (3% dose difference, 3mm distance to agreement tolerance), 2) mean tumor dose (MTD), 3) mean lung dose (MLD), and 4) lung V20.

RESULTS
For all patients, both uniform and sinusoidal dose distributions were found to have an average gamma passing rate >99% for both lung and PTV volume. Compared with 4D dose calculated using the patient respiratory trace, uniform distribution and sinusoidal distribution showed a percentage difference on average of -0.1±0.6% and -0.2±0.4% in MTD, -0.2±2.0% and -0.2±1.3% in MLD, 0.9±2.8% and -0.7±1.8% in lung V20, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Both uniformly and sinusoidally-distributed temporal probabilities can be used to approximate 4D dose calculation. The dosimetric difference among the three temporal probability distributions is not clinically significant. This research is supported by Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.


Background : Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common among athletes and the general public. These injuries may lead to significant absence from all activities with associated financial and social burdens for the patient. No definitive association has been described between the mechanism of injury and the pathology to enable the implementation of preventative measures to limit these injuries. Aim : To determine whether there is an association between the mechanism of injury and the pathology seen on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in ACL injuries. Methods : This was a cross-sectional analytical study. Eighty-seven male patients with an ACL injury and who had an MRI scan of the knee within the last two years participated in this study. Participants were contacted to give their informed consent to participate in this study. The mechanism of injury and the pathology seen on the MRI scan was noted and categorised into different groups of injuries and associated pathologies. Statistical analyses included summaries of the data and a test for the association between the mechanism of injury and the pathology. Since there were multiple pathology responses to each mechanism, a modified version of the chi-square test for independence was used. A five percent level of significance was specified. Results : MRI scans of ACL injuries indicated that the mechanism of a solid foot plant with rotation of the knee has a greater tendency to be associated with medial meniscal injuries (77%). There was also a 54% possibility for it to be associated with lateral meniscal injuries. A solid foot plant with a valgus stress on the knee showed a higher incidence of associated medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries (41%) and femoral bone bruising (62%). These two mechanisms of injury are the most common in ACL injuries and contribute to the clinical significance found in this study. The p-value was, however, not statistically significant (p=0.44, chi-square value=20.27, df=45) for any association between the pathology and the mechanism of injury. Conclusion : Some injury mechanisms causing an ACL injury were more common than others and had more associated pathologies. The most common mechanism of injury noted in this study was a solid foot plant with either rotation of the knee or valgus stress on the knee. Strengthening the tissue structures involved in those movement patterns causing these mechanisms can possibly limit future ACL injuries in athletes and the general public. Keywords : knee injury, mechanism, association, pathology, MRI scan, prevention


In machining process, chatter is an unstable dynamic phenomenon which causes overcut and quick tool wear, etc. To avoid chatter, traditional methods aim to optimize machining parameters. But they have inherent disadvantage in gaining highly efficient machining. Active magnetic bearing (AMB) is a promising technology for machining on account of low wear and friction, low maintenance cost, and long operating life. The control currents applied to AMBs allow not only to stabilize the supported spindle but also to actively suppress chatter in milling process. This paper, for the first time, studies an integrated control scheme for stability of milling process with a spindle supported by AMBs. First, to eliminate the vibration of an unloaded spindle rotor during acceleration/deceleration, we present an optimal controller with proper compensation for speed variation. Next, the controller is further enhanced by adding an adaptive algorithm based on Fourier series analysis to actively suppress chatter in milling process. Finally, numerical simulations show that the stability lobe diagram (SLD) boundary can be significantly expanded. Also, a practical issue of constraints on controller output is discussed.


Abstract Geologists should develop new methods of objectively evaluating reservoirs and defining geological features in terms of reservoir properties. Detailed reservoir description is necessary to properly design secondary recovery projects. The necessity of good design is becoming increasingly important as the processes become more expensive and complex and prospective pools less desirable. Traditional subjective and pictorial geology of petroleum exploration with its emphasis on historical concepts does not provide the quantitative information on rock features required by the recovery engineer. The detailed geological analysis of reservoirs should place full reliance on the "scientific method" rather than the intangibles of intuition and technical experience. Representative sampling, measurements with known limits of precision, and an objective, often statistical, approach to geological data are required. By such practice, the development of new geological techniques should solve the three major objectives of reservoir geology: 1. The identification and distribution of the significant rock features of a reservoir — significant to reservoir performance, that is. 2. The quantitative relationship of these rock features to reservoir properties such as permeability, porosity, effective reservoir thickness, vertical displacement, and chemical composition of the porous medium. 3. The three-dimensional picture of the areal and vertical distribution of reservoir properties in such a form that any increment of the data is readily available to the production engineer. The systematic concentration on painstaking measurements of the significant features of rock geometry, their relationship to reservoir properties, and the incorporation of these data in a quantitative scheme of areal and vertical variability: this is the challenge of secondary recovery to geologists.


We have previously demonstrated the appearance of fucosyl asialo-GM1 (FGA1) in the small-intestinal epithelial cells of germ-free mice via the induction of GDP-fucose: asialo-GM1 (GA1) alpha(1 leads to 2) fucosyltransferase (FT) after the conventionalization of these animals (Umesaki Y, Sakata T, Yajima T: Biochem Biophys Res Commun 105:439, 1982). The present study, based on this earlier work, demonstrates the changes in the glycolipid antigens of the small-intestinal epithelial-cell membrane as shown immunohistochemically with specific antibodies raised against asialo GM1 (GA1) and FGA1. In germ-free mice, GA1 was localized both in the villus cells and in the crypt cells. In the process of conventionalization, FGA1 appeared in the villus cells while the GA1 content of these cells was decreased. Four to 5 days after the conventionalization procedure, the fluorescence produced by anti-FGA1 was strongest in the villus cells, while that produced by anti-GA1 was detected only in the crypt cells. At this same time the FT activity of the small-intestinal mucosa was highest, with most of the GA1 apparently being converted into FGA1, as shown in the paper cited above. Thereafter, the GA1 content of both the villus and crypt cells again increased greatly. On the other hand, the fluorescence produced with anti-FGA1 decreased, and could no longer be detected 14 days after conventionalization. The activity of FT, measured biochemically in epithelial cells differentially isolated from the villus tip to the crypt, was greater in the villus than in the crypt region. This confirmed the intense staining with anti-FGA1 that was seen in villus cells. The fluorescence produced by the two anti-glycolipid antibodies used in the study distributed not only in the microvillus membrane but also to some extent in the basolateral membrane. The localization of the respective glycolipids contrasted with that of the glycoprotein sucrase--isomaltase enzyme complex, the fluorescence of which was exclusively confined to the microvillus-membrane side of the villus cells.


Education and especially technical education is recognized as a builder of both society and the nation. However, the precondition that it is fit in all respects must have been satisfied. The haziness in the definition of quality and hence 'the fitness' notwithstanding, requirements and expectations have been rightly raised to so called 'excellence' in education. The present work seeks to map the roadmap of improvement of (technical) education towards excellence, using quality, and/or quality management as the stimulus. By underpinning the triad model of Juran, the development of a case of quality utilizes the Joiner's model to achieve total quality improvement. This may not have excluded the paradigm of TQM in (technical) education, and rather considers it as a label or as an ardent part of the same package within the conceptual initiative. The modulation of requirements of quality management makes a case that the total quality improvement process accents on the various core activities associated with the knowledge transfer to students through an environment which sustains the proliferation of 'quality culture' and plethoric use of quality, its management, through the optimal use of the quality management standard. The quality of their exploration as core technology, use of quality management (standard) as a tool and pursuance of quality as advised by Juran's model and the institution's quality culture shall determine what level of excellence will be achieved. Keywords: Quality assurance, TQM, quality management standard, Thareja's adaptation of Joiner's model, 4-A model, PDCA Cite this Article Priyavrat Thareja. Excellence in Technical Education: The Pathway of Quality Management. Omni Science: A Multi-disciplinary Journal. 2017; 7(3): 7–22p.


Bartonella henselae is a relatively uncommon pathogen that can present as a serious disease in immunocompromised patients. We present a case of a 76-year-old man with stable chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who presented to the emergency department (ED) with an onset of right axillary lymphadenitis after recovering from a recent cat bite on the ipsilateral finger. Doppler ultrasound demonstrated an irregular, circumscribed 5cm x 4cm, hypoechoic mass with mild vascular flow consistent with an enlarged abnormal lymph node. The patient was diagnosed with cat scratch disease and discharged on oral antibiotics with spontaneous drainage of the purulent materials in subsequent outpatient oncology visits. This case highlights the classic presentation of this rare disease in an immunocompromised patient with feline contact. Early antibiotics should be considered for at-risk and immunocompromised patients due to low sensitivity and specificity for Bartonella serologic tests. CLL can also present with similar progressive lymphadenopathy with severe systemic symptoms and extranodal involvement that requires emergent oncologic interventions and diagnostic vigilance.


The treatment of osteoporotic distal femur fractures is still an unsolved problem of trauma surgery. The poor bone stock often leads to secondary loss of reduction and implant failure. Therefore, the development of new implants and their biomechanical testing is essential. In a previous study, we developed and initially characterized an artificial osteoporotic bone model of the distal femur. This follow-up study was performed to characterize this model in a biomechanical comparison. We investigated two different artificial bones: five foam cortical shell (Sawbones) and 10 custom-made artificial femoral condyles. Additionally, eight human femora were used for comparison. For biomechanical testing, two intramedullary nails (distal femur nail (DFN) and supracondylar nail (SCN)) were cyclically axial loaded in an AO 33 C2 unstable distal femoral fracture model. In our testing, the artificial bone showed a decrease in the axial stiffness of 27% for the SCN and 28% for the DFN compared to the human results. Also the number of cycles for a deformation of 2.5 mm was reduced by 55% (SCN) and 62% (DFN). This decrease was homogenous and caused by the relative high bone mineral density of the human specimen used. The modes of failure showed no difference between the artificial and human bones. Our customized artificial bone provides suitable results. In relation to the human bones classified as mildly osteoporotic, we assume that the biomechanical properties match to serve as an osteoporotic bone. Yet, we suggest to check transferability of the results with human material.


Acute urinary retention in infancy, due to a congenital bladder diverticulum (CBD) is rare. The literature is scanty on the subject. We report 2 such cases. In both of them the ureters were opening directly into the dive rticulitin. One of them had a complete duplex system on the left side, which is the first reported of its kind, with both ureters of the duplex system opening into the diverticulum.


ABSTRACT Promiscuous enzymes are generally considered to be starting points in the evolution of offspring enzymes with more specific or even novel catalytic activities, which is the molecular basis of producing new biological functions. Mhg, a typical α/β fold hydrolase, was previously reported to have both γ-lactamase and perhydrolase activities. However, despite having high structural similarity to and sharing an identical catalytic triad with an extensively studied esterase from Pseudomonas fluorescens, this enzyme did not show any esterase activity. Molecular docking and sequence analysis suggested a possible role for the entry of the binding pocket in blocking the entrance tunnel, preventing the ester compounds from entering into the pocket. By engineering the entrance tunnel with only one or two amino acid substitutions, we successfully obtained five esterase variants of Mhg. The variants exhibited a very broad substrate acceptance, hydrolyzing not only the classical p-nitrophenol esters but also various types of chiral esters, which are widely used as drug intermediates. Site 233 at the entrance tunnel of Mhg was found to play a pivotal role in modulating the three catalytic activities by adjusting the size and shape of the tunnel, with different amino acid substitutions at this site facilitating different activities. Remarkably, the variant with the L233G mutation was a very specific esterase without any γ-lactamase and perhydrolase activities. Considering the amino acid conservation and differentiation, this site could be a key target for future protein engineering. In addition, we demonstrate that engineering the entrance tunnel is an efficient strategy to regulate enzyme catalytic capabilities. IMPORTANCE Promiscuous enzymes can act as starting points in the evolution of novel catalytic activities, thus providing a molecular basis for the production of new biological functions. In this study, we identified a critical amino acid residue (Leu233) at the entry of the substrate tunnel of a promiscuous enzyme, Mhg. We found that substitution of this residue with smaller amino acids such as Gly, Ala, Ser, or Pro endowed the enzyme with novel esterase activity. Different amino acids at this site can facilitate different catalytic activities. These findings exhibited universal significance in this subset of α/β fold hydrolases, including Mhg. Furthermore, we demonstrate that engineering the entrance tunnel is an efficient strategy to evolve new enzyme catalytic capabilities. Our study has important implications for the regulation of enzyme catalytic promiscuity and development of protein engineering methodologies.


DNA methylation changes are important in cancer development and the etiology of the CpG Island Methylator Phenotype (CIMP), the most extreme form of aberrant promoter DNA methylation in cancer, can only partially be explained by genetic changes. An association between CIMP and the gut microbiota has been implicated in colorectal cancer (CRC) pathogenesis but the exact mechanisms underlying the observations are poorly understood. In order to clarify the link between CIMP and the microbiome in CRC, we studied human primary tumor and adjacent mucosal tissues (normal) from CRC patients (n=46). The patient samples were categorized by tumor sites (23 proximal and 23 distal), sex (28 males and 18 females), and age (69 yrs ±11). Bisulfite pyrosequencing and Digital Restriction Enzyme Analysis of Methylation (DREAM) were performed to determine the methylation of CpG sites in the CRC tumors. The tumor samples were selected based on their CIMP status (10 high, 10 low, and 26 negative) and the tumor sites. 16S rRNA gene sequencing using Illumina-Hi-Seq was performed on those samples. Principle Coordinate analysis of the 16S rRNA sequences showed that the microbiota of CIMP-positive (CIMP-high and -low combined) tumors was significantly different from the microbiota of the CIMP-negative tumors (PERMANOVA, P = 0.013). Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) showed an enrichment of specific bacterial taxa in the CIMP-positive microbiota. Fusobacterium (LDA score = 4.71, p=0.033) and Erysipelotrichaceae (LDA score = 3.77, p=0.004) were most enriched in the CIMP-positive tumors along with Bacteroides. The microbiota of different tumor sites also showed significant difference with Fusobacterium (LDA score = 4.32, p=0.047) and Erysipelotrichaceae (LDA score = 3.45, p=0.039) being enriched in the proximal tumors compared to the distal tumors. All these bacterial taxa have previous been found to be associated with CRC and/or metabolic disorders. We validated the 16S rRNA data by qPCR analysis using genus-specific probes. In the same samples, Pan-Fusobacterium and Bacteroides fragilis were enriched in the CIMP-positive tumors. The median number of Pan-Fusobacterium per 100 human cells was 12-fold higher in the CIMP-positive tumors (p=0.0015) and 6-fold higher in the case of B. fragilis (p=0.0228). Thus, our data show broad difference in the microbiota of CIMP-positive CRCs compared to CIMP-negative CRCs. The significantly enriched bacterial taxa in CIMP-positive CRC suggest that these specific taxa could play an important role in aberrant DNA methylation modulation in colorectal cancer, and further studies should elucidate the mechanism underlying the CIMP/microbiota link in the context of CRC. Citation Format: Pyoung Hwa Park, Raad Z. Gharaibeh, Lauren Cole, Ang Sun, Woonbok Chung, Jaroslav Jelinek, Jillian L. Pope, Christian Jobin, Jean-Pierre J. Issa. CIMP is associated with altered microbiota composition in colorectal cancer patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-141.


The relationship between LOX (lipoxygenase) activity, SA (salicylic acid) and JA (jasmonic acid) accumulation was studied in the tobacco leaf under water stress. The result showed that LOX activity and JA content increased simutaneously with losing of water. NDGA (nordihydroguaiaretic), an inhibitor of LOX, inhibited simultaneously both the activity of LOX and the enhancement of JA level under the stress. Likewise, adding LOX to tobacco cell-free system led to the increase of JA content. It suggested that LOX could be a key enzyme in JA biosynthesis under water stress. SA inhibited the enhancement of JA level under the stress.


Tritium self-sustainment, which will meet the fuel requirement of fusion reactor, is one of the key issues of fusion power development. The tritium breeding performances of various tritium-breeding materials are compared based on a series of neutronics calculations using three-dimensional Monte Carlo neutron-photon transport code MCNP/4C with the IAEA FENDL-2 data library. The effects of the dimensions of the tritium-breeding zone and the enrichment of 6Li on Tritium Breeding Ratio (TBR) are analyzed. The effects of Be as a neutron multiplier on TBR are also calculated.


Investigators have studied the absorption of sound energy in toluene from 30 kc to 200 Mc in an effort to determine the causes of the excess absorption. The results to date have raised many puzzling questions. For example, Verma and Yeager (private communication) have reported a resonance peak at 50 kc, the existence of which is quite difficult to explain. R. T. Beyer reports a relaxation peak at 150 kc, the mechanism of which is not clear. We have made ultrasonic absorption measurements in toluene using the reverberation method and the pulse method over a frequency range from 150 kc (overlapping Beyer's [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 27, 1 (1955)] frequencies) to 55 Mc and a temperature range from 6°C to 44°C. The high‐frequency megacycle attenuation is studied as a function of temperature, and it is found that the temperature dependence is different than that reported by G. S. Verma [J. Chem. Phys. 18, 1352 (1950)]. The results in the kilocycle region show that the absorption per wavelength has a resonance type p...


The first appearance of abundant cumulus augite in the Kiglapait layered mafic body, on the coast of Labrador, defines the base of the Upper Zone at 84 PCS (percent solidified). The appearance of this phase is gradual, culminating in an impressive overproduction in the region around 90 PCS. This behavior can be rectified to yield an "errorless equivalent" cumulus arrival of augite at 81 PCS. The observed modal behavior was interpreted as evidence for a poorly stirred magma in which augite components were sequestered in the core of a convection cell. The compositional relations of augite and olivine offer some support for this hypothesis. These relations are best viewed in the context of linear partitioning in binary solutions extended to coexisting pairs of mineral species that share the same exchange reaction, here FeMg. Hence, rather than a melting loop, the partitioning of Fe and Mg involves the two crystalline solutions augite and olivine. Here, the partition coefficient D is formulated as X Aug / X Ol (hence D ≤ 1.0). A test of linear partitioning is applied: D = X Aug* K + X Aug , where K has its usual Roeder–Emslie meaning. For the subsolidus Kiglapait equilibria, a strong linear correlation is found (r 2 = 0.995) for PCS > 91.4, running from fictive D = K = 0.32 at the pure Mg end of the augite series to D = 1.0 at the pure Fe end of the augite series. For the stratigraphic interval 84–91 PCS, D is clustered well above the line at D = 0.63–0.68. This higher value of D suggests a metastable equilibrium on a narrower loop driven by an overstepping reaction. At high temperature modeled by QUILF, the same general relations hold, but all values of D are higher, and the linear array leads back to a significantly higher K = 0.44, as would be expected for higher-temperature interphase equilibria. Hence, linear partitioning can be used successfully to describe both liquidus and subsolidus interphase equilibria. With calibration, the fictive K can be correlated with T , from liquidus equilibria at the higher limit to intracrystalline cation diffusion blocking at the lower limit.


Being 'hip' is nowadays considered a crucial source of social prestige in the fields of fashion and music which are in a state of constant flux and revaluation. Being 'in the know' of new developments in the cultural field has consequently been discussed as an alternative to a status hierarchy based on social class as Bourdieu described it. In-depth interviews with young people deeply involved in urban culture scenes reveal a different perspective: They dismiss following trends which is seen as shallow, boring and too easy. Instead, their central concerns are authenticity and individuality. While the participants emphasize their openness and acceptance of other people's tastes, not submitting oneself to any set style regimes is considered admirable. Bourdieu's concept of naturalness turns out to be a useful theoretical approach that captures the kind of authenticity that the interviewees are performing.


The Secretary is adopting as final, without changes, interim final regulations for the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) program to permit a consortium of Indian tribes to establish a separate legal entity to apply for a grant under this program. These final regulations are needed to enable the Department to make grants to Indian tribes that choose to form a consortium and, rather than authorizing one of the Indian tribes of the consortium to serve as the grantee, create a separate legal entity that serves as the grantee on behalf of the consortium and that is responsible for using the grant funds to provide services to all the Indian tribes in the consortium.


We investigated changes in mineral nutrient uptake and cellular expression levels for metal transporter genes in the cadmium (Cd)/zinc (Zn) hyperaccumulator, Thlaspi caerulescens during whole plant and leaf ontogenesis under different long-term treatments with Zn and Cd. Quantitative mRNA in situ hybridization (QISH) revealed that transporter gene expression changes not only dependent on metal nutrition/toxicity, but even more so during plant and leaf development. The main mRNA abundances found were: ZNT1, mature leaves of young plants; ZNT5, young leaves of young plants; MTP1 (= ZTP1 = ZAT), young leaves of both young and mature plants. Surprisingly different cellular expression patterns were found for ZNT1 and ZNT5, both belonging to the ZIP family of transition metal transporters: ZNT1, photosynthetic mesophyll and bundle sheath cells; ZNT5, nonphotosynthetic epidermal metal storage cells and bundle sheath cells. Thus, ZNT1 may function in micronutrient nutrition while ZNT5 may be involved in metal storage associated with hyperaccumulation. Cadmium inhibited the uptake of Zn, iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn), probably by competing for transporters or by interfering with the regulation of transporter gene expression. Cadmium-induced changes in cellular expression for ZNT1, ZNT5 and MTP1 could also be part of plant acclimatization to Cd toxicity. Defence against Cd toxicity involved enhanced uptake of magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and sulphur (S).


Prenatal detection of uniparental disomy (UPD) is a methodological challenge, and a positive testing result requires comprehensive considerations on the clinical consequences as well as ethical issues. Whereas prenatal testing for UPD in families which are prone to UPD formation (e.g., in case of chromosomal variants, imprinting disorders) is often embedded in genetic counselling, the incidental identification of UPD is often more difficult to manage. With the increasing application of high-resolution test systems enabling the identification of UPD, an increase in pregnancies with incidental detection of UPD can be expected. This paper will cover the current knowledge on uniparental disomies, their clinical consequences with focus on prenatal testing, genetic aspects and predispositions, genetic counselling, as well as methods (conventional tests and high-throughput assays).


Scarcities of labour and low labour productivity are seen to be the unending characters in the oil palm plantation industry in Malaysia. The two characters could be regarded as the pertinent push factors for an holistic implementation of a sustainable mechanisation programme in the oil palm plantation. A complete machinery package that adopts the concept of mechanisation in-totality has been designed, developed and evaluated to offer a solution to the problems. The package consists of a universal single chassis, 4WD, 4WS prime mover with selectable and easily mounted machine attachments for soil filling in polybags, seedling transplanting, VRT band fertilising, herbicide circle spraying, herbicide blanket spraying, and in-field fresh fruit bunch (FFB) collection-transportation. The prime mover design was such as to allow better control and comfort to the operator under the harsh field environment and at the same time give greater maneuverability and stability to the overall machine system under the rugged terrain condition. Good feature with the machine system is that the units are self-propelled and self-contained, completely integrated having a continuous once-over-operation, simple in construction and operation and at the same time economical and reliable to be adopted. This new and innovative technology has great potential in maintaining the country's oil palm industry competitive edge through alleviation of labor shortage and enhancement of labor productivity.


Three fructans (CoPS1, CoPS2 and CoPS3) were isolated from the root of Cyathula officinalis Kuan, a traditional Chinese medicine. The structures of the fructans were determined by methylation, reductive-cleavage method combined with GC-MS analysis, and 13C NMR spectroscopy. These results show that the fructans (CoPS1, CoPS2 and CoPS3) are graminan type fructans, and comprised of (21)-and (26)-linked β-D-fructofuranosyl backbone residues containing high branches.


The characterization of the native and recombinant P2X7 receptor continues to be hindered by the lack of specific and subtype-selective antagonists with a "druglike" profile. However, a tyrosine derivative named KN-62 exhibits selective P2X7 receptor-blocking properties. As a molecular simplification of KN-62, the present study was designed to evaluate the functional antagonistic properties of a novel series of glycine derivatives characterized by the presence of different phenyl-substituted piperazine moieties. Antagonistic activity of these glycine derivatives was tested on HEK293 cells transfected with the human P2X7 receptor. The most potent P2X7 receptor antagonist identified in this study (compound 4g) contains an o-fluorine substituent on the phenylpiperazine moiety and had an IC50 of 12.1 nM. The biological responses investigated were ATP-dependent Ca2+ influx across the plasma membrane and ethidium bromide uptake.


Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is important for preserving learning and memory‐related cognitive functions. Physical exercise, especially voluntary running, is one of the strongest stimuli to promote neurogenesis and has beneficial effects on cognitive functions. Voluntary running promotes exit of neural stem cells (NSCs) from the quiescent stage, proliferation of NSCs and progenitors, survival of newborn cells, morphological development of immature neuron, and integration of new neurons into the hippocampal circuitry. However, the detailed mechanisms driving these changes remain unclear. In this review, we will summarize current knowledge with respect to molecular mechanisms underlying voluntary running‐induced neurogenesis, highlighting recent genome‐wide gene expression analyses. In addition, we will discuss new approaches and future directions for dissecting the complex cellular mechanisms driving change in adult‐born new neurons in response to physical exercise.


This study aims to establish a systematic method to optimize the bacterial consortium for the simultaneous biodegradation of multixenobiotics in wastewater. Three nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (NHCs), pyridine, quinoline, and carbazole, were chosen as the target compounds with each about 200 mg/L. Different consortia originated from six bacteria for degrading pyridine (Paracoccus sp. BW001 and Shinella zoogloeoides BC026), quinoline (Pseudomonas sp. BW003 and BW004), and carbazole (Pseudomonas sp. BC039 and BC046) were tested for the capacity of NHCs simultaneous degradation. Mathematical methods including dummy-variable-laden kinetic modeling, cubic spline regression and interpolation, and dimensionality reduction were employed to evaluate the complex impacts of cocontaminants and coexisting bacteria on the simultaneous biodegradation, and the most efficient consortium was determined. The influences of cocontaminants on the bacterial degradation activity were far greater than the interactions among the mixed bacteria. Integrating the experimental results and mathematical analysis, consortium M19 (BC026, BW004, BC039, and BC046 with dose rate of 1:1:0.5:0.5) was the best one, which degraded over 95% of pyridine, quinoline, and carbazole simultaneously in 15.4 h. The research methodology in this study could be applied to the optimization of a bacterial consortium which might be used in the bioaugmentation and bioremediation of multixenobiotics removal.


A wide literature regards learning difficulties relating to electrical circuits. Many researches focus on different aspects of student reasoning on circuits functioning: i) the conceptual differentiation of charge, current, voltage, energy; ii) link between electrostatics and electrodynamics, iii) connection between macroscopic (founded on voltage/current) and microscopic (in terms of particles and interactions) level of description of the processes. Regarding the point (iii) an exploration is missing of spontaneous ideas which play an important role in learning. So, this research has explored the reasoning and models of 10 (N = 11) and 13 (N = 35) years old pupils on microscopic processes that occur in conductor wires. The data discussion indicates that reflection on microscopic processes helps students to overcome local reasoning and to gain a vision of the circuit as a system of interacting elements (systemic reasoning).


Complexes of composition Fe2Cl2(O2CCBr3)4, Fe2Cl(O2CCBr3)5, Fe (O2CCBr3)3, [(Me4N)2][Fe (O2CCBr3)4], K[Fe (O2CCBr3)4], Rb[Fe (O2CCBr3)4], Cs[Fe (O2CCBr3)4], [(Me4N)2][Co(O2CCBr3)4], [(Me4N)2][Mn(O2CCBr3)4], [(Me4N)2][Cu(O2CCBr3)4], and [(Me4N)2][Ni(O2CCBr3)4] have been prepared by metathetical reactions using nitromethane as solvent. All these compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance, infrared, reflectance and thermogravimetric studies.


Langmuir – Blodgett (LB) thin film technique has been used to fabricate thin films of thiol-coated gold nanoparticles and lithium-doped poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) derivative matrix. These thin films have been fabricated on interdigitated gold electrodes. Electrical measurements have been made using these thin films containing 4-32 layers. I-t measurements for all films showed that the current passing through is stable with time. The I-V measurements showed that the current passing through the Langmuir-Blodgett films is in the μA and nA (for 0-5V bias) region for nanoparticles and PEO respectively and that the presence of ions in the films modifies the conductivity.


Glycine receptors (GlyR) are anion-permeable channels that belong to the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel family. Different GlyR subtypes are known. The main synaptic form is thought to be α1β heteropentamers which mediate fast synaptic inhibition in the adult spinal cord and brainstem. Data on recombinant receptors suggest two possible stoichiometries for this subtype, 2α1:3β and 3α1:2β. Evidence for the first comes from experiments on oocytes, whereas a study in mammalian cells favours the latter, raising the possibility that stoichiometry depends on the expression system. Here, we assess the stoichiometry of α1β GlyRs in Xenopus oocytes using two different electrophysiological approaches. The first involves the use of a reporter mutation at the conserved 9΄ position of the pore-lining domain. In other receptors, this mutation shifts agonist sensitivity in proportion to the number of mutated subunits. Recordings from mutant receptors failed to point towards one or the other stoichiometry. The second approach involved single-channel recordings from conductance mutants. This approach was also inconclusive for stoichiometry. However, we provide evidence that oocytes are not a suitable expression system for the study of heteromeric glycine receptors as they are highly prone to contamination by homomers.
α2 homomeric GlyRs are predominant early in development and are replaced by α1 subunits in the first postnatal days. We investigated the activation mechanism of these channels in HEK293 cells by maximum likelihood fitting of single-channel data, at a wide range of glycine concentrations. The mechanism we propose suggests that α2 channels can open only when all binding sites are occupied by glycine, and only after the channel undergoes a conformational change ('flip') that links binding to gating. Macroscopic data favour a two binding site model. The scheme can describe adequately macroscopic currents from fast concentration jumps experiments when desensitization is included in the model.


Abstract: We cared for an Infant girl with the clinical constellation of supraumbllical midabdomlnal raphe, sternal atresia, and cutaneous facial and upper trunk hemangioma. This is the first report of this clinical association in the dermatologic literature. The vascular component of the disorder responded to fiashlamp‐pumped pulsed dye laser therapy and to systemic Interferon alfa‐2a (Roferon‐A).


Previously documented arguments, in favor of the suspected impact of a seed and soil mechanism, in the development and progression of isolated pancreatic metastasis of renal cell carcinomas (isPM) are: (1) uniform and independent from the side of the primary tumor distribution of isPM within the pancreas and, (2) the similar survival rates for singular and multiple isPM. In addition, the present study adds new arguments that further confirm the importance of an seed and soil mechanism in isPM: (1) Within the singular isPM, the size of the metastasis does not affect the overall survival; (2) Within the group of multiple isPMs, the overall survival does not depend on the number of metastases; (3) For synchronous and metachronous isPM, survival rates are also not different, and (4) Within the group of metachronous isPM there is also no correlation between the overall survival and interval until metastases occurs. This unusual ineffectiveness of otherwise known risk factors of solid cancers can be explained plausibly by the hypothesis of a very selective seed and soil mechanism in isPM. It only allows embolized renal carcinoma cells in the pancreas to complete all steps required to grow into clinically manifest metastases. In all other organs, on the other hand, the body is able to eliminate the embolized tumor cells or at least put them into a dormant state for many years. This minimizes the risk of occult micrometastases in distant organs, which could later—after isPM treatment—grow into clinically manifest metastases, so that the prognosis of the isPM is only determined by an adequate therapy of the pancreatic foci, and prognostic factors, such as total tumor burden or interval until the occurrence of the isPM remain ineffective.


The ichthyofauna of the headwaters of the main tributaries of the mighty Solimoes/Amazonas River  has been little studied. Considering the importance of those environments for the overall fish  diversity in that river system, we surveyed the composition of the fish fauna of the upper portion  of Purus River and two of its tributaries (Caete and Macapa rivers), state of Acre, Brazil. The collections were done in November 2004, using a seine net and a set of gillnets of different mesh  sizes. A total of 735 specimens belonging to 86 species and 28 families were collected. Eight  species, Creagrutus occidaneus, Phenacogaster pectinatus, Prionobrama filigera, Moenkhausia cf. lepidura, Leptagoniates pi (Characidade), Henonemus punctatus (Trichomycteridae), Toracocharax  stellatus (Gateropelecidae), and Eigenmannia macrops (Sternopygidae) composed nearly half of the  specimens collected. This survey adds 48 new records to the ichthyofauna of Purus River and  elevates to 243 the number of known fish species in that river, but a greater sampling effort is necessary to produce a reasonably complete picture of the fish diversity in the basin.


This paper discusses the process about a series of meetings about local women's efforts to get a meeting place where they could share problems and collective experiences from its life in a multicultural suburb. The meetings emerged as an interaction between a researcher, a local planner and networks aimed to empower women in local politics, planning and research agendas. One ambition during the meetings was to figure out a participative methodology to find a balance between different situated knowledge. We wanted also to test an anti-colonial methodology to be used in both planning and research.Pertaining women's concerns on empowerment they used different strategies to come together during the meetings. Initially they realised the different positioning they have both to each other and in the society when they interacted. In consequence they put into action an intersectionality approach to understand the way they become marginalised from influencing local politics and research and from becoming a stronger collective. Later on they worked with a strategy of action based on 'transversal politics' to get access to a meeting place for all women in the community. Further than these aspects it is an approach based on affect that made these common efforts to work more successfully at the end. Women explained that they could conduct all these efforts because they wanted to make some women happy. On the one hand they wanted to support activist that they have strong respect and affection for in the local community, and on the other hand they wanted to support the local developer (a local planner coordinator) that have shown a strong commitment with women and feminist perspectives in the local planning. They perceived that working for empowering women in such a place is very difficult. In consequence they agreed that it was necessary to work with an affective approach if they wanted to create a stronger sense of community and achieve better results. I will discuss whether these aspects are characteristic of the suburban feminism that takes place in some Swedish multicultural places.


After a through phytochemical screening of the Carica papaya Leaf extract for the constituents present, the tannins namely tannic acid and gallic acid were analyzed and quantified in the crude methanolic extract and herbal formulations. Both the RP-HPLC and HPTLC methods were developed and validated according to the ICH Q2 (R1) guidelines. The tannic acid was quantified by the RP-HPLC method and gallic acid was quantified by the HPTLC method. The linearity of tannic acid and gallic acid was found to be in the range of 20-50 µg/ml (y=2121.99 x-29648.1) and 400-1200 ng/spot (y=6.4325 x-2016) respectively with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 for both calibration graphs. The % RSD values calculated for the intraday, inter day precision repeatability of measurement, repeatability of sample application and accuracy studies which was found to be below 2. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 1 and 5 µg/ml respectively for tannic acid. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 100 and 300 ng/band respectively for gallic acid. The percentage recovery of tannic acid was found to be between 95 to 97% and between 94-97% for gallic acid at 80%, 100% and 120% level of recovery. The amount of tannic acid and gallic acid quantified in the herbal formulation was found to be 11 µg/ml and 0.378 µg/ml respectively. Both the chromatographic methods are simple, precise, accurate and sensitive which can be applied for the routine analysis of the two constituents in the Carica papaya leaf extract.


Different models have been proposed for the processing of multisymbol numbers like two- and three-digit numbers but also for negative numbers and decimals. However, these multisymbol numbers are assembled from the same set of Arabic digits and comply with the place-value structure of the Arabic number system. Considering these shared properties, we suggest that the processing of multisymbol numbers can be described in one general model framework. Accordingly, we first developed a computational model framework realizing componential representations of multisymbol numbers and evaluated its validity by simulating standard empirical effects of number magnitude comparison. We observed that the model framework successfully accounted for most of these effects. Moreover, our simulations provided first evidence supporting the notion of a fully componential processing of multisymbol numbers for the specific case of comparing two negative numbers. Thus, our general model framework indicates that the processing of different kinds of multisymbol integer and decimal numbers shares common characteristics (e.g., componential representation). The relevance and applicability of our model goes beyond the case of basic number processing. In particular, we also successfully simulated effects from applied marketing and consumer research by accounting for the left-digit effect found in processing of prices. Finally, we provide evidence that our model framework can be integrated into the more general context of multiattribute decision making. In sum, this indicates that our model framework captures a general scheme of separate processing of different attributes weighted by their saliency for the task at hand. (PsycINFO Database Record


Abstract The interest in Smallanthus sonchifolius (yacon) has strongly resurfaced due to its multiple beneficial effects on human health. This study aimed at determining the toxicity and the chemical profile of an ethanol extract (EE) and a crude lactone mixture (CLM) of yacon leaves. Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests were performed by the MTT assay and the alkaline version of the comet assay respectively. The phytochemical analysis, performed by chromatographic and spectroscopy techniques, revealed the presence of nine sesquiterpene lactones (STLs) and two acyclic diterpene acids. In all cases, cell viability was inversely proportional to the extract concentration employed. The effects obtained with the highest dose of EE were significantly different from those obtained with the negative and solvent controls. Conversely, no significant differences were observed between the lowest doses of EE and controls. As for CLM, all tested doses showed statistically significant increases, as compared to negative and solvent controls. Graphical Abstract


The aim of this paper was to study the development of carcass traits obtained by ultrasound, weight, chest circumference and hip height by longitudinal data of two genetic groups of heifers. These data were analyzed by different structures of residual (co)variance consider homogeneity or heterogeneity of (co)variances to better represent the variability between and within individual observations over the time. The traits were obtained in 60 animals ½ Braunvieh x ¼ Santa Gertrudes x ¼ Nelore and 60 animals ½ Santa Gertrudes x ½ Nelore. The traits were evaluated at intervals of 28 days. The comparison was done with several models, based on the criterion SBC (Schwarz's Bayesian Criterion) with the goal of identifying structures of residual (co)variance more appropriate to best represent the variation of the measures within individuals. Later, as the animals were measured at different ages, it was evaluated the most appropriate model to regress these traits as a function of age, using ordinary polynomials and verifying the need for different curves for each genetic group. The results indicated that it should consider different structures of residual (co)variance to better represent the variability between and within individualobservations. For weight, hip height, chest circumference and longissimus muscle area traits there are differences in the genetic group over the time.


A synnematous species of Penicillium subgenus Biverticillium was found inside emergence tunnels from insect galls (Cynipidae, Hymenoptera, the so-called gall wasps) on scrub oaks (Quercus pacifica Nixon & C.H. Muller) collected in the western United States. The fungus produces synnemata with white or creamish stipes, biverticillate conidiophores with lanceo- late phialides typical of subgenus Biverticillium, and small, ellipsoidal, slightly roughened dark green conidia. In culture, the fungus produces velutinous, dark green colonies, with synnemata near the margins of the colonies, particularly in fresh isolates exposed to light after 10 days. The fungus produces the extrolite apiculide A and a series of unidentified extrolites also pro- duced by P. panamense. The oak gall species is described here as Penicillium cecidicola and compared with similar species. An ITS phylogeny suggests that P. cecidicola is a sister species to P. dendriticum, an Australian species with yellow synne- mata that also sometimes occurs on insect galls. Notes are included on other Penicillium species we have isolated from insect galls.


This study, based on the expanded means–end chain (MEC) theory, proposes a logic deduction procedure for qualitative analyses as a conceptual structure for establishing information systems. Through the expressions of variable matrix and set theory, the illustrations of data collection and programming procedures reveal the logic deduction framework for analyzing the linkages of consumer value satisfaction and product attribute design. This allows MEC methodology to have an easier programming procedure for creating a related marketing decision support system and thus effective marketing strategies can be developed.


A major reason for biomarker failure is the selection of candidate biomarkers based on inaccurate or incorrect published results. Incorrect research results leading to the selection of unproductive biomarker candidates are largely considered to stem from unintentional research errors. The additional possibility that biomarker research may be actively misdirected by research fraud has been given comparatively little consideration. This review discusses what we believe to be a new threat to biomarker research, namely, the possible systematic production of fraudulent gene knockdown studies that target under-studied human genes. We describe how fraudulent papers may be produced in series by paper mills using what we have described as a 'theme and variations' model, which could also be considered a form of salami slicing. We describe features of these single-gene knockdown publications that may allow them to evade detection by journal editors, peer reviewers, and readers. We then propose a number of approaches to facilitate their detection, including improved awareness of the features of publications constructed in series, broader requirements to post submitted manuscripts to preprint servers, and the use of semi-automated literature screening tools. These approaches may collectively improve the detection of fraudulent studies that might otherwise impede future biomarker research.


Background The purpose of this analysis was to examine and quantify the coordinating center workload in regard to certification and turnover of clinical personnel who participated in the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study (COMS). Methods The COMS was a set of multicenter, multidisciplinary randomized clinical trials conducted to evaluate radiotherapy for initial treatment of choroidal melanoma, a primary eye cancer. Patients were screened, enrolled, treated, and followed for mortality and clinical outcomes at 43 clinical centers in the United States and Canada, beginning late in 1986. Clinical centers were added to the COMS during three calendar periods. Training and certification of clinical personnel was performed by five resource centers and coordinated at the COMS coordinating center. A personnel database was maintained at the coordinating center for tracking certification progress, recertification, transfers and resignations. Certification records were analyzed for the period 1986 through 1998 when patient accrual and treatment were completed. Results Clinical personnel (929 individuals) were certified for one or more of nine distinct roles in the COMS, resulting in 1342 certifications; 26% were certified for two or more positions. The total number certified for each role ranged from 114 to 208. Certifications per year ranged from 260 in 1987 to 35 in 1997. The certification workload at the coordinating center rose following addition of each group of new clinical centers. It also increased in 1995 as a result of recertification of current personnel mandated by the external data monitoring committee. Conclusions This analysis documented that training and certification were continuing tasks, and not limited to initiation of the study. Resignations and reassignments of certified personnel were responsible for 642 decertifications.


A new series of 4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)thieno[2,3-b][1,5]benzoxazepines 1a-k has been synthesized from 4-bromo-2-methylthiophene 6 or ethyl 2-amino-4,5-dimethyl-3-thiophencarboxylate 10. Preparation of the key intermediate thieno[2,3-b][1,5]benzoxazepine-4(5H)-ones 4a-i, 4k were carried out by treatment of 2-bromo-N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-3-thiophencarboxamides 5a-i, 5k with potassium carbonate in DMSO. Compounds 1 are thienoanalogues of loxapine, a potent antipsychotic drug. Of these compounds, the neu-roleptic activity of 2-methyl-4-(4-methylpiperazin-l-yl)thieno[2,3-b][1,5]benzoxazepine 1a (R1, R3=H, R2=CH3) demonstrated potent antipsychotic activity.


A newly developed aqueous system with acid and phosphide was introduced in which odorless and stable sodium arylsulfinates can in situ generate arylsulfenyl radicals. These radicals have high reactivity to react with alkynes, alkenes, and H-phosphine oxides for the synthesis of alkyl and alkenyl sulfides and phosphonothioates. The control experiments and quantum calculations are also performed to gain insights into the generation mechanism of arylsulfenyl radicals. Notably, the chemistry is free of thiol odors, organic solvents, and metals.


Solar radiation is the main source of energy for the Earth-atmosphere system, and directly or indirectly, is responsible for all phenomena affecting the meteorology and climatology of this system. The variation of any component of this system affects the radiative equilibrium, resulting in, for example, changes in the temperature of the system and/or in the configuration of the atmospheric circulation. In order to quantify these effects the concept of radiative forcing was introduced in the literature to show the magnitude of radiation variation due to changes in a specific atmospheric component, for instance, clouds, gases or atmospheric aerosols.


We present a multiwaveband spectroscopic study of the nearby Seyfert 1 galaxy MCG-6-30-15. New optical spectra from the Anglo-Australian Telescope are presented which clearly show the effects of dust extinction/reddening on both the emission line spectrum and the non-stellar AGN continuum. The reddening is constrained to be in the range E(B-V)=0.61-1.09. Spectroscopy in the X-ray band, with both ROSAT and ASCA, reveal absorption by the warm absorber but little or no neutral absorption expected to accompany the dust responsible for the optical reddening. The dusty warm absorber solution to this discrepancy is discussed and photoionization models of such warm absorbers are constructed. The optical spectrum also displays the relatively strong `coronal' lines of [FeX]6375, [FeXI]7892 and [FeXIV]5303. We show that these lines may plausibly originate from the outer regions of the warm absorber, although better calculations of the collision strengths for these transitions are required in order to conclusively address this issue. We also present new ultraviolet data from the International Ultraviolet Explorer and suggest that much of the observed UV flux is scattered into our line of sight (with a scattering fraction of 1-5 per cent). We conclude with a discussion of the global energetics of this system.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of sleep quality in the relationship between academic stress and social network service (SNS) addiction tendency among adolescents. Methods: The participants were composed of 204 high school students who were enrolled at private schools in Incheon metropolitan city. Data were collected from August 16 to September 10, 2019. The collected data were analyzed using a regression analysis, and SPSS Process Macro was used to test the mediating effect. Results: The direct effect of academic stress on SNS addiction tendency and the indirect effect of academic stress mediated with sleep quality about SNS addiction tendency were statistically significant. Conclusion: These findings suggest that positive intervention for academic stress and effective intervention program enhancing sleep quality should be provided for adolescents in order to prevent SNS addiction.


In the present work we describe the design, syntheses, and use of a new barium metalloorganic precursor for barium titanate thin film deposition. Barium-containing thin films deposited by different deposition methods are widely used for various applications in optics and electronics. An important goal for applications is concerned with the production of stable, fluorine free barium-metalloorganic precursor materials, to obtain better performance photonic devices. We describe an alternative barium-metalloorganic precursor based on a calixarene ligand, its application to dip coating and thin film growth of the BaO−TiO2 family of compounds, and studies of these films by second harmonic generation. The BaTiO3 films showed promising nonlinear optical response for guided wave-applications.


Humans have significant individual variations in odor perception, derived from their experience or sometimes from differences in the olfactory receptor (OR) gene repertoire. In several cases, the genetic variation of a single OR affects the perception of its cognate odor ligand. Musks are widely used for fragrance and are known to demonstrate specific anosmia. It, however, remains to be elucidated whether the OR polymorphism contributes to individual variations in musk odor perception. Previous studies reported that responses of the human musk receptor OR5AN1 to a variety of musks in vitro correlated well with perceptual sensitivity to those odors in humans and that the mouse ortholog, Olfr1440 (MOR215-1), plays a critical role in muscone perception. Here, we took advantage of genetic variation in OR5AN1 to examine how changes in receptor sensitivity are associated with human musk perception. We investigated the functional differences between OR5AN1 variants in an in vitro assay and measured both perceived intensity and detection threshold in human subjects with different OR5AN1 genotypes. Human subjects homozygous for the more sensitive L289F allele had a lower detection threshold for muscone and found macrocyclic musks to be more intense than subjects homozygous for the reference allele. These results demonstrate that the genetic variation in OR5AN1 contributes to perceptual differences for some musks. In addition, we found that the more functional variant of OR5A1, a receptor involved in ▫-ionone perception, is associated with the less functional variant of OR5AN1, suggesting that the perceived intensities of macrocyclic musks and ▫-ionone are inversely correlated.


Power quality issues concern absolutely all spheres of human activity, from household to economy and transportation. Standardization, monitoring, management, and coordination to ensure electromagnetic compatibility in the power supply system are the subject of constantly ongoing research in most countries. In order to attract attention to issues of the harmonic current, this study focused on the harmonic current distortions observed on the level of urban electricity users. The paper considers the aspects of consolidating terminology and structure of power quality indicators. We carefully reviewed the current and voltage waveform distortions and related harmonic components. We also summed up the power quality indicators currently used around the world as a flowchart. Based on the results of measurements of quality indicators at the existing urban infrastructure facilities, a comparative analysis with the IEEE 519-2014 standard requirements was performed. As a result of the field measurements analysis, an unsatisfactory situation in terms of harmonic current distortions was revealed; the most probable causes and consequences of poor current quality are described.


The teaching-learning process may require specific pedagogical approaches to establish a relationship with industry practices. Recently, some studies investigated the educators' perspectives and the undergraduate courses curriculum to identify potential weaknesses and solutions for the software testing teaching process. However, it is still unclear how the practitioners evaluate the acquisition of knowledge about software testing in undergraduate courses. This study carried out an expert survey with 68 newly graduated practitioners to determine what the industry expects from them and what they learned in academia. The yielded results indicated that those practitioners learned at a similar rate as others with a long industry experience. Also, they studied less than half of the 35 software testing topics collected in the survey and took industry-backed extracurricular courses to complement their learning. Additionally, our findings point out a set of implications for future research, as the respondents' learning difficulties (e.g., lack of learning sources) and the gap between academic education and industry expectations (e.g., certifications).


There is tremendous interest in understanding the effects of welfare reform enacted by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Our interest lies in one possible consequence of welfare reform: the loss of health insurance.This paper advances the literature by utilizing the 1992-1996 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, matching type of insurance coverage to the presence of waivers from AFDC or TANF implementation in each state in specific months. We utilize a difference in differences method. Specifically, we estimate the difference before and after welfare reform in the insurance coverage of women and children who were likely to be eligible for welfare compared to those who were likely to be ineligible for welfare.We find that AFDC waivers prior to 1996 and the implementation of TANF after 1996 raised the probability that welfare-eligible women lack health insurance coverage. Specifically, TANF implementation is associated with a 7.8 percent increase in the probability that a welfare-eligible woman was uninsured. Welfare reform had less of an impact on the health insurance coverage of children. We find no evidence that AFDC waivers increased the probability that welfare-eligible children were uninsured. However, TANF implementation was associated with a 2.8 percent increase in the probability that a welfare-eligible child lacked health insurance.


A set of symmetric, traceless, divergence-free differential forms, Weyl covariant under a conformal scaling of a (pseudo-)Riemannian metric, is constructed in 4n-1 dimensions.


Modulation via Fourier transform division multiplexing (FTDM) has been suggested for transmission over channels whose signal-to-noise ratios, as functions of frequency, are far from flat. Original designs following the classical water-pouring theorem left a large gap between the theoretical promise of the method and the actual rates achieved. The author presents heuristic input-power allocations for enhancing the performance of such schemes. He also considers FTDM under peak-power constraints.<<ETX>>


Rain removal has recently attracted increasing research attention, as it is able to enhance the visibility of rain videos. However, the existing learning based rain removal approaches for videos suffer from insufficient training data, especially when applying deep learning to remove rain. In this paper, we establish a large-scale video database for rain removal (LasVR), which consists of 316 rain videos. Then, we observe from our database that there exist the temporal correlation of clean content and similar patterns of rain across video frames. According to these two observations, we propose a two-stream convolutional long-and short-term memory (ConvLSTM) approach for rain removal in videos. The first stream is composed of the subnet for rain detection, while the second stream is the subnet of rain removal that leverages the features from the rain detection subnet. Finally, the experimental results on both synthetic and real rain videos show the proposed approach performs better than other state-of-the-art approaches.


A 75 g oral glucose tolerance test was performed in 127 normal Nigerian women between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. The glucose response at fasting, 1, 2 and 3 h were studied. At 2 h, the glucose level at 2-SD and 4-SD above the mean were less than the criteria of abnormality recommended by the World Health Organisation: 6.5 mmol/l vs. 8 mmol/l for impaired glucose tolerance and 8.0 mmol/l vs. 11.0 mmol/l for gestational diabetes mellitus. The area under the glucose response curve correlated best with the glucose levels at 2 h during the OGTT (y = 4.3 + 1.8x, r = 0.862). The 75-g OGTT interpreted with the WHO criteria appear not to be appropriate for use in pregnant women in Nigeria.


Since German reunification in 1989, about 185,000 former Soviet Jews have been granted refugee status in Germany. Drawing on my observations and in-depth interviews with recent immigrants in five German cities, this qualitative study explores the identity dilemmas faced by Russian Jews who moved to the lands of the historic nemesis loaded with the memories of the Holocaust. The findings suggest that for most informants migrating to Germany (rather than Israel or North America) was a pragmatic decision based on the anticipated benefits from the German welfare system, security and comfort of living in Europe. All but a few informants were secular and had limited interest in the Jewish life, keeping in touch with the Jewish communities only inasmuch as it proved useful for their resettlement. Most middle-aged informants were traumatised by their occupational downgrading and/or chronic unemployment, but many also believed that the welfare aid they receive from the German state is morally justified as a continuing retribution for the wartime crimes. Older immigrants did not even try to narrow a cultural gap with German society, kept to their co-ethnic social circle, and were permanently intimidated by the shadow of anti-Semitism. Conversely, many younger informants opined that past grievances were no longer relevant, tried to adopt some cultural features of the mainstream, and saw themselves as citizens of unified Europe, rather than Germany as such.


This is an interdisciplinary monograph at the cutting edges of infinite dimensional dynamical systems, partial differential equations, and mathematical physics. It discusses Y. Charles Li's work of connecting Darboux transformations to homoclinic orbits and Melnikov integrals for integrable partial differential equations; and Artyom Yurov's work in applying Darboux transformations to numerous areas of physics. Of particular interest to the reader might be the brand-new methods, developed by Li in collaboration with others, of using Darboux transformations to construct homoclinic orbits, Melnikov integrals, and Melnikov vectors for integrable systems. It should be noted that integrable systems (also named soliton equations) are the infinite dimensional counterparts of finite dimensional integrable Hamiltonian systems. What the new methods reveal are the infinite dimensional phase space structures. This work is intended for advanced undergraduates, graduate and postdoctoral students, and senior researchers in mathematics, physics, and other relevant scientific areas.


With agriculture playing an intricate role in the economies of the East African Community (EAC) Member countries, it is essential that the sector be harnessed in a way that promotes equitable agricultural development. Currently, over 80% of the EAC population lives in rural areas and depends on agriculture. The sector is dominated by smallholder farmers who make up 75% of the labor force in the EAC. For the region, it is the agriculture sector that would benefit more from trade opportunities availed through Multilateral and Free Trade Agreements. In this policy brief, the opportunities and challenges presented by the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and the EC-EAC Economic Partnership Agreement are reviewed, along with recommendations for the creation of an enabling environment towards equitable agricultural development.


Properties of surface spin waves are studied in an FeBr2 field-induced metamagnet that consists of ferromagnetically ordered layers, with intralayer nearest-neighbour ferromagnetic exchange coupling, intralayer next-nearest-neighbour antiferromagnetic exchange coupling and interlayer antiferromagnetic exchange coupling as well as strong three-ion anisotropy. A Green function method is applied to calculate surface spin-wave modes for the (001) surface and for the paramagnetic phase at low temperatures. By allowing the surface exchange parameters to deviate from the bulk values, the full richness of the surface spin-wave spectra is found. The problem of the stability of the ground state of the system is also discussed.


: Treatment of 18 cyclic Clun Forest ewes with two i.m. injections of ICI 80,996, given 9 days apart and without reference to stage of the oestrous cycle, synchronized ovulation in all ewes at a mean time interval of 73.1 +/- 1.6 (s.e.m.) h from the second injection. The interval from the LH peak to ovulation was 22.6 +/- 0.7 h and this is comparable to previously reported gigures for a natural oestrus.


The Catholic Church's Magisterium deems as devoid of moral lawfulness gamete and embryo donation. The history of In vitro fertilization (IVF) pioneers perfectly shows how Catholic moral prohibitions have worked, as well as the origins of the French bioethical system. This system interpreted the medical and social practice of gamete donation through the lens of the concept of "don de couple a couple", trying to address moral prohibitions. Nevertheless, in 2020 the bioethics law reform might change, fundamentally, this system.
Parole chiave: Gamete, Donation; French Bioethics Law; Catholic Sexual Morality; IVF
Indice: 1. Introduzione – 2. Cenni storici sulla procreazione medicalmente assistita – 3. L'integrazione della morale sessuale cattolica nel modello francese ideato da Georges David – 4. Conclusioni


ABSTRACT The established link between attachment insecurity and disinhibited eating may in part be explained by social problems, negative mood, and/or physiologic 'stress'; however, these mechanisms have not been tested in adolescents with loss of control (LOC) eating. We therefore examined associations among attachment styles, social problems, negative emotions, and autonomic indices in 32 adolescent girls with recurrent LOC eating (body mass index z-score = 2.2 ± 0.4; age = 14.9 ± 1.6 years). Participants completed the Behavioral Systems Questionnaire to assess relational styles (secure, preoccupied, avoidant) and the Beck Depression Inventory to assess depressive symptoms. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist to assess teen social problems. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of real-world negative affect and social problems was collected for two weeks, and ambulatory monitoring of autonomic indices for two days. Preoccupied attachment was positively associated with depressive symptoms (n = 32, p = .03), greater EMA negative affect (n = 29, p = .03), and marginally higher EMA social problems (p = .06). Further, avoidant attachment was positively associated with ambulatory heart rate (n = 18, p < .05), but was not associated with any self-report indices. Adolescent girls with preoccupied versus dismissing attachment may exhibit different patterns of social problems, negative mood, and physiologic 'stress', suggesting the need for more detailed investigations of the mechanisms responsible for the relationship between insecure attachment and LOC eating.


The author demonstrates that an accurate detailed life table that represents average mortality experience between two censuses can be constructed if the censuses provide accurate records of the single-year age distribution of a closed population. This life table can begin at age zero if accurate data on the annual number of births during the inter-censal period are available; otherwise the first age in the life table must equal the duration of time between the censuses. "The estimation technique involves the calculation of the number of persons attaining each age during the period between the censuses and the determination of the average rate of increase in the number at each individual age. The success of the technique comes from the use of interpolation to calculate how many in each cohort attain each exact age the cohort passes through between the censuses." The estimation technique is tested using two alternative methods of interpolation. Some illustrations based on data for Sweden and China are included.


We demonstrate a gain-switched laser pumped by a high energy Ho : YAG laser. The maximum output power of in the spectrum range from to is obtained at a pulse repetition rate of , corresponding to a pulse energy of . With a volume Bragg grating (VBG) for compressing the linewidth, a output power with a narrow linewidth is obtained at . The pulse shapes obtained at different pump energies are also studied and analysed. A minimum pulse width of is achieved at a pump energy of , corresponding to a peak power of .


B(20) is a "magic number" cluster with double-ring structure. Surprisingly, we also find that B(14)(2+) is a "magic number" cluster with double-ring structure, which has the largest HOMO-LUMO gap (3.31 eV) and the highest aromaticity in double-ring clusters. This double-ring B(14)(2+) cluster is energetically lower than the quasi-planar one by even ∼1.2 eV using high level ab initio calculations. B(14)(2+) also has 40 valence electrons as in Al(13)(-) cluster. The reason leading to the unusual properties of B(14)(2+) may be the electronic shell closing as in Al(13)(-) cluster based on the jellium model, besides the double aromaticity in all double-ring clusters.


Keratinocytes in psoriatic skin lesions were studied to provide more information on the nucleolar ultrastructure in these cells. In contrast to normal keratinocytes, nucleoli in the keratinocytes of the uppermost layer of stratum granulosum (intermedium) of psoriatic lesions were characterized by the absence of the segregation of nucleolar components. In addition, the keratinocytes without keratohyalin of the uppermost layer of stratum intermedium of psoriatic lesions did not contain degranulated nucleoli. Such observations indicate an alteration of the maturation processes in the keratinocytes of the psoriatic skin lesions and the characteristic nucleolar changes apparently represent the morphological expression of the altered inhibition of the nucleolar (preribosomal) RNA synthesis.


The hematological effects of carbamazepine, a drug effective in the acute and prophylactic treatment of manic-depressive disorder, were assessed in 43 subjects with affective disorder. Carbamazepine was found to cause statistically significant, but clinically insubstantial, decreases in white blood cell indexes. The consistent decreases in white cell counts observed with carbamazepine should be differentiated from the extremely rare, idiosyncratic blood dyscrasias reported in the literature.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy of dapoxetine on demand for premature ejaculation and provide evidence for clinical decision-making.

METHODS
We searched PubMed, Embase, BIOSIS Previews, Cochrane Library, CNKI Database and Wanfang Database for literature on dapoxetine on demand for premature ejaculation. We performed meta-analysis on the identified publications and evaluated its therapeutic efficacy based on the intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT), patient-reported global impression of change (PGI), and composite PRO criteria for clinical benefit (CCCB).

RESULTS
Four relevant studies were included involving 6 081 cases of premature ejaculation. Compared with the placebo controls, the patients treated with dapoxetine on demand showed significant improvement in IELT (WMD = 1.39, 95% CI [1.23, 1.55], P < 0.000 01), PGI (OR = 2.59, 95% CI [2.21, 3.04], P < 0. 000 01), and CCCB (OR = 2.59, 95% CI [1.98, 3.39], P < 0.000 01). There were significant differences between the 60 mg and 30 mg dapoxetine groups in IELT (WMD = 0.46, 95% CI [0.19, 0.74], P = 0.001 0) and PGI (OR = 1.32, 95% CI [1.06, 1.64], P = 0.01), but not in CCCB (OR = 1.39, 95% CI [0.90, 2.15], P = 0.13).

CONCLUSION
Dapoxetine on demand can prolong IELT and improve PGI and CCCB, either at the dose of 60 mg or 30 mg, and has an even better efficacy in prolonging IELT and improving PGI at 60 mg.


We investigate the potential of using fNIRS signals for biometric person identification. Independent sessions for training and testing have been recorded using 8 channels of frontal fNIRS. We extract logarithmic power spectral densities as features to train and test a Naive Bayes Classifier. We evaluate different frequency bands and report classification results for different trial lengths.


Abstract In order to develop a first-class major in theater, film and television and achieve the goal of "cultivating artistic talents", this paper believes that the development of the discipline should focus on "creativity" and "originality". Therefore, a new understanding of the profession and theoretical innovation in academic research should be realized, and an educational system more in line with the essence of art education should be established. The research is based on the ADDIE model and the course "Theatre, Film and Television" as the carrier to explain the teaching design of Theatre, Film and Television professional courses. Procedures and methods in the five stages of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation ensure local adaptation in the course design and development process and tailoring to the actual teaching and learning. We will build an ADDIE teaching design model for drama, film and television courses, and conduct systematic teaching design research and teaching case practice for drama, film and television courses to ensure the positive development of teaching quality. Through an operationalized guidance model in order to improve the standard of course design and enhance course system construction. More than 80% of the students expressed the hope that the ADDIE model could continue to be used in the teaching of drama and film.


This study aimed to achieve high range precision in the sub-100 µm order with time-of-flight (TOF) range imaging for 3-D scanners. The precision of a TOF range imager was improved using dual reference plane sampling (DRPS). DRPS using two short-pulse lasers reduces driver jitter, which limits the range precision below sub-100 µm. A proof-of-concept measurement system implemented using a TOF range imager demonstrated the reduction in driver jitters, resulting in reduced column-to-column variation in range precision. The developed system also achieved a high precision of 52 µm using a single frame and 27 µm using a 10-frame average.


The DC biasing dependence of the Si near-surface modifications caused by exposure to a DC-excited CHF3 plasma has been analysed to provide further insight into the mechanisms which govern the electron- and ion-assisted chemistry in a fluorocarbon plasma environment. Evolution of the time-dependent variation of desorbed SiF4 partial pressure is discussed in relation to surface characterization data as obtained from ellipsometry, photoelectron spectroscopy and Auger sputter profiling. Four biasing ranges have been exhibited, separated by three characteristic biasing potentials, the values of which depend in particular on surface temperature.


Multi-walled carbon nanotube reinforced epoxy composites were fabricated using shear
mixing and sonication. The mechanical, viscoelastic, thermal, and electrical properties of the
fabricated specimens were measured and evaluated. From the images and the results of the
measurements of tensile strengths, the specimens having 0.6 wt% nanotube content showed
better dispersion and higher strength than those of the other specimens. The Young's moduli
of the specimens increased as the nanotube filler content was increased in the matrix. As the
concentrations of nanotubes filler were increased in the composite specimens, their storage
and loss moduli also tended to increase. The specimen having a nanotube filler content of
0.6 wt% showed higher thermal conductivity than that of the other specimens. On the other
hand, in the measurement of thermal expansion, specimens having 0.4 and 0.6 wt% filler
contents showed a lower value than that of the other specimens. The electrical conductivities
also increased with increasing content of nanotube filler. Based on the measured and
evaluated properties of the composites, it is believed that the simple and efficient fabrication
process used in this study was sufficient to obtain improved properties in the specimens


The disturbed puberty is most frequently manifested by a retardation of sexual maturation and growth. For a correct classification of a developmental disturbance the knowledge of the endocrine processes, of the stages of puberty, tables of height and methods of the assessment of the skeletal maturity is necessary, the use of which for the population of the GDR is discussed. The large differential diagnosis of the delayed puberty and of the short stature must be above all concentrated to the causal-therapeutically influencible endocrinopathies, even though the proportion of the constitutional delayed puberty as an extreme variant of the norm with a good spontaneous prognosis prevails. In order to prevent serious psychosocial conflicts, after transgression of a critical age limit of about 16 years in sexual immaturity an adequate hormone treatment should be introduced even then, when the etiopathogenesis of the disturbance could not be completely clarified.


Tissue transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is overexpressed in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and promotes intraperitoneal metastasis. How TG2 facilitates the spread of EOC is unknown. Here, we show that TG2 regulates the expression and function of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), a critical mediator of tissue invasiveness. TG2 knockdown down-regulates MMP-2 protein and mRNA expression in SKOV3, IGROV-1, MDA-MB-436, and PC-3 cancer cells. TG2 knockdown or inhibition of TG2 activity using KCC009 decreases MMP-2 gelatinase activity in cancer cells. MMP-2 expression and function are regulated by TG2 at transcriptional level, as demonstrated by quantitative PCR and reporter assays. We used bioinformatics and chromatin immunoprecipitation to identify a CREB binding site in the MMP-2 promoter. Binding of CREB to the MMP-2 promoter was diminished in cells that expressed decreased TG2 levels. TG2 knockdown decreased CREB phosphorylation, and CREB knockdown decreased MMP-2 expression. The effect of TG2 on CREB activity and MMP-2 transcription is mediated by TG2-dependent degradation of protein phosphatase 2 (PP2A-α). We show that PP2A-α complexes with and is targeted for degradation by TG2. In addition to their related in vitro expression levels, TG2 and MMP-2 expression were significantly correlated in vivo, as shown by concordant immunostaining in peritoneal xenografts and in human ovarian tumors. The capacity of TG2 to regulate MMP-2 expression in vitro and in vivo identifies a mechanism that may facilitate tissue invasion and the spread of EOC. The demonstration that TG2 induced degradation of PP2A-α activates CREB, and thereby increases MMP-2 transcription, provides novel mechanistic insight into the pro- metastatic function of TG2.


In this study, it was investigated the occurrence of positive coagulase Staphylococcus (SPC) strains on the hands of food handlers. The samples were collected from the hands of 100 food handlers that work in a food industry located in the state of Ceara (Brazil). The samples were streaked on plates of Baird–Parker agar. From each plate, typical colonies of Staphylococcus with similar morphologies were picked out and identified by morphologic and biochemical tests. The isolates were tested for antibiotic susceptibility by agar diffusion test. Results indicated Staphylococcus positive coagulase (SPC) presence in 24% of personnel, being 79,17% of the women. The isolates were resistant to ampicillin and penicillin (89% and 86,6%, respectively) and were sensitive to sulfazotrim (100%), nitrofurantoin (98.8%), vancomicyn (97.6%), chloranphenicol (96,3%) and ofloxacin (90,3%). The resistant to ampicilin was observed in 76% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant and one strain was resistant to eight antibiotics. This high occurrence of multiple resistances represents a potential risk for public health and can make difficult to treat human and animal diseases, aggravating potentially curable clinical pictures.


Abstract: Tick-borne protozoans of the genus Hepatozoon are obligate hemoparasites that can infect domestic and wild terrestrial vertebrates. Main hepatozoonosis affects canids and involves mainly Hepatozoon canis and Hepatozoon americanum. However, molecular studies revealed the capacity of H. canis to infect a wide range of wild mammals. In July 2018, we conducted an epidemiological survey for tick-borne pathogens in wild hosts, assaying Hepatozoon sp. occurrence in 34 bats captured in different habitats within a conservation unit in the state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil. Blood and spleen tissue DNA samples were submitted to PCR amplifications of Babesia/Theileria and Hepatozoon 18S rRNA gene and 21% (7/34) were positive for Hepatozoon sp. Phylogenetic inferences grouped the obtained sequences from Seba's short-tailed bat (Carollia perspicillata) with the H. canis cluster, and from the great fruit-eating bat (Artibeus lituratus) with rodent-associated Hepatozoon cluster. Further studies are needed to characterize the epidemiological role of Seba's short-tailed bat and the great fruit-eating bat in the wild transmission cycle of these hemoparasites in Brazil.