Several heavy ion experiments at SPS have measured azimuthal distributions of particles with respect to the reaction plane. These distributions are deduced from two-particle azimuthal correlations under the assumption that they result solely from correlations with the reaction plane. In this paper, we investigate other sources of azimuthal correlations: transverse momentum conservation, which produces back-to-back correlations, resonance decays such as Delta --> p pi, HBT correlations, and final state interactions. These correlations increase with impact parameter: most of them vary with the multiplicity N like 1/N. When they are taken into account, the experimental results of the NA49 Collaboration at SPS are significantly modified. These correlations might also explain an important fraction of the pion directed flow observed by WA98. Data should be reanalyzed taking into account carefully these nonflow correlations.


The neo-institutional theory has been used to explain inter-organizational networks related phenomena from the economic and sociological perspectives. The political perspective has not been often used to study institutional contexts of networks. We aim to analyze the decision-making of the formal institutions in the internationalization process of firms in an emerging economy from a political bias. For the empirical field of study, we considered the Brazilian wine industry. Starting from a case study with twenty-three interviews with representatives of wineries and entities of this industry, our paper furthers the understanding of how institutions influence the internationalization of firms in an emerging economy. Based on the political perspective of the neo-institutional theory, our study describes how institutions, mainly the government, can influence an industry. Government cannot afford resources to benefit or protect all the industries, as well as cannot provide incentives to all firms, and those that are supported will lose competitiveness. For the firms, the choices are based on trying to achieve economic advantages through political influences. For the institutions, the choices are based on political influences considering institutional strategies.


The quick selection of versatile informing Apps has empowered us to gather gigantic measure of scrambled Internet traffic of portable informing. The classification of this traffic into variations of in-App convenience utilizations can profit for keen system administration, for example, overseeing system data transfer capacity spending plan and giving nature of lodging. Customary methodologies for classification of Internet traffic depend on bundle review, for example, parsing HTTP headers. Notwithstanding, informing Apps are progressively using secure conventions, for example, HTTPS and SSL, to transmit information. This forces significant challenges on the exhibitions of convenience usage classification by bundle investigation. To this end, in this paper, we research how to abuse encoded Internet traffic for consigning in-App utilizations. Specifically, we build up a framework, designated CUMMA, for consigning convenience uses of portable informing Apps by together displaying utilizer behavioral examples, organize traffic attributes and worldly conditions. Along this line, we first section Internet traffic from traffic-flows into sessions with various exchanges progressively. Withal, we extricate the discriminative elements of traffic information from two points of view: (i) bundle length and (ii) time delay. Next, we take in a settlement use prognosticator to consign these sectioned discoursed into single-sort uses or anomalies. In combination, we outline a bunching Obnubilated Markov Model (HMM) predicated technique to identify commixed exchanges from out liers and disintegrate commixed discoursed into sub-discoursed of single-sort use. Indeed, CUMMA enables mobile analysts to recognize convenience utilizations and dissect end-utilizer in-App deportments notwithstanding for scrambled Internet traffic. Determinately, the broad trials on valid world informing information exhibit the viability and efficiency of the proposed strategy for convenience use classification.


In receiver-initiated medium access control (MAC) protocols for wireless sensor networks, communication is initiated by the receiver node which transmits beacons indicating its availability to receive data. In the case of multiple senders having traffic for a given receiver, such beacons form points where collisions are likely to happen. In this paper, we present altruistic backoff (AB), a novel collision avoidance mechanism that aims to avoid collisions before the transmission of a beacon. As a result of an early backoff, senders spend less time in idle listening waiting for a beacon, thus saving significant amounts of energy. We present an implementation of AB for Texas Instruments' eZ430-rf2500 sensor nodes and we evaluate its performance with simulations and experiments.


Aim To assess the effects of incretin-based therapies on β-cell function in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Methods We searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Knowledge databases for eligible randomized clinical trials published up to July 2021. The inclusion criteria were patients with T1DM or latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, patients treated with dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors or glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonists, and outcomes included one of the following: fasting plasma glucose, fasting C-peptide, postprandial C-peptide, C-peptide area under the curve (AUC), homeostasis model assessment for β cell function, and insulin resistance. The effects were analyzed using a random effect model with STATA 11.0. Results Eight trials including 427 participants were included in the final analysis. A pooled analysis found no significant difference in fasting plasma glucose, fasting C-peptide, postprandial C-peptide, or C-peptide AUC between patients treated with incretin-based therapies and placebo. The two trials that reported changes in 2-hour postprandial C-peptide and two of the four trials that reported changes in C-peptide AUC reported increases after incretin-based therapies. Conclusion This meta-analysis showed that incretin-based therapies did not preserve β-cell function in patients with T1DM.


—One of the most important functional units in digital cir- cuitry for synchronization and measurement is time-to-digital converter (TDC) which always requires higher resolution and accuracy. In this brief, a process, voltage, temperature (PVT)-variation-insensitive TDC featured with a PVT detector is proposed. The PVT detector takes advantage of another delay line with optimized locking conditions to differentiate PVT corners. The proposed TDC is physically realized using a 90-nm CMOS process. On-silicon measurement results demonstrate 30-ps resolution, < 1.5 LSB INL/DNL, and 2.22 mW at 100 MHz and 1.2-V supply voltage.


A key objective of microfinance programmes is to provide financial services to poor people who are excluded from such services by the formal banking system. It is in this perspective that governments, development partners and donor agencies continue to provide support to such institutions, to enable them to deepen their outreach. This paper examines the type of poor people served by one of the leading microfinance institutions in Ghana. By comparing the living standards of clients of Sinapi Aba Trust (SAT) with those of non-clients, representing the general population in its operational areas, the paper concludes that the microfinance institution reaches disproportionately a smaller percentage of very poor people. The study notes that programme placement plays a key role in determining the type of clients reached by SAT, since almost all its branches are located in urban centres. It finds that the objective of financial sustainability being pursued by SAT has eventually caused it to shift the provision of financial services from very poor households to the less poor.


A well-known challenge associated with the multi-label classification problem is modelling dependencies between labels. Most attempts at modelling label dependencies focus on co-occurrences, ignoring the valuable information that can be extracted by detecting label subsets that rarely occur together. For example, consider customer product reviews; a product probably would not simultaneously be tagged by both "recommended" (i.e., reviewer is happy and recommends the product) and "urgent" (i.e., the review suggests immediate action to remedy an unsatisfactory experience). Aside from the consideration of positive and negative dependencies, the direction of a relationship should also be considered. For a multi-label image classification problem, the "ship" and "sea" labels have an obvious dependency, but the presence of the former implies the latter much more strongly than the other way around. These examples motivate the modelling of multiple types of bi-directional relationships between labels. In this paper, we propose a novel method, entitled Multi-relation Message Passing (MrMP), for the multi-label classification problem. Experiments on benchmark multi-label text classification datasets show that the MrMP module yields similar or superior performance compared to state-of-the-art methods. The approach imposes only minor additional computational and memory overheads.1


Background:As part of its policy to shift monitoring of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to primary health care (PHC) workers, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tested the feasibility of using dried blood spots (DBS) for viral load (VL) quantification and genotypic drug resistance testing in off-site high-throughput laboratories. Methods:DBS samples from adults on ART were collected in 13 decentralized PHC facilities in the Nord-Kivu province and shipped during program quarterly supervision to a reference laboratory 2000 km away, where VL was quantified with a commercial assay (m2000rt, Abbott). A second DBS was sent to a World Health Organization (WHO)-accredited laboratory for repeat VL quantification on a subset of samples with a generic assay (Biocentric) and genotypic drug resistance testing when VL >1000 copies per milliliter. Findings:Constraints arose because of an interruption in national laboratory funding rather than to technical or logistic problems. All samples were assessed by both VL assays to allow ART adjustment. Median DBS turnaround time was 37 days (interquartile range: 9–59). Assays performed unequally with DBS, impacting clinical decisions, quality assurance, and overall cost-effectiveness. Based on m2000rt or generic assay, 31.3% of patients were on virological failure (VF) and 14.8% presented resistance mutations versus 50.3% and 15.4%, respectively. Conclusion:This study confirms that current technologies involving DBS make virological monitoring of ART possible at PHC level, including in challenging environments, provided organizational issues are addressed. Adequate core funding of HIV laboratories and adapted choice of VL assays require urgent attention to control resistance to ART as coverage expands.


Objective: The benefit of a tech-check-tech (TCT) practice model in institutional settings has been well documented. To date, few studies have explored TCT beyond institutional settings. This article summarizes the existing evidence in community pharmacy–based TCT research with respect to dispensing accuracy and pharmacist time devoted to direct patient care. Data Sources: A literature review was conducted using MEDLINE (January 1990 to August 2016), Google Scholar (January 1990 to August 2016), and EMBASE (January 1990 to August 2016) using the terms "tech* and check," "tech-check-tech," "checking technician," and "accuracy checking tech*". Bibliographies were reviewed to identify additional relevant literature. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Studies were included if they analyzed TCT and were conducted in a community pharmacy practice site, inclusive of chain, independent, mass merchant, supermarket, and mail order pharmacies. Studies were excluded if the TCT practice model was conducted in an institutional or long-term care setting. Survey data on theoretical models of TCT in community pharmacy practice settings were also excluded. Data Synthesis: Over the past 14 years, 4 studies were identified indicating TCT has been performed safely and effectively in community settings. The studies demonstrate that trained community technicians perform as accurately as pharmacists and that TCT increased the amount of pharmacist time devoted to clinical activities. In the 2 studies that reported accuracy rates, pharmacy technicians performed at least as accurately as pharmacists (99.445 vs 99.73%, P = .484; 99.95 vs 99.74, P < .05). Furthermore, 3 of the studies reported gains in pharmacist time, with increases between 9.1% and 19.18% of pharmacist time for consultative services. Conclusions: The present studies demonstrate that TCT can be safe and effective in community pharmacy practice settings, with results similar to those found in institutional settings. It is anticipated more states will explore TCT in community settings in the years ahead as a strategy to improve patient care.


The paper presents the theoretical study results of the dispersion characteristics of electromagnetic waves existing in antiferromagnetic (AFM) metamaterial. The AFM metamaterial consists of a transversely magnetized antiferromagnet, inside of which a two-dimensional periodic structure of thin conducting wires surrounded by insulators is placed. It has been established that the AFM metamaterial has two frequency ranges, in which there are backward waves, and the material pa-rameters of the medium are twice negative. The indicated areas are located in the terahertz range. Keywords: metamaterials, left-handed medium, antiferromagnetics, spin waves.


The vertebrate pharyngeal arches (PAs) are established by a combination of two styles of segmentation; the most anterior 2 PAs are simultaneously but the others are sequentially formed. However, the mechanism underlying their coexistence is unclear. Here, we show that the simultaneous and sequential segmentation discretely proceeded, respectively, but were finally integrated at the second PP (PP2), by dynamic morphogenesis of pharyngeal endoderm in the zebrafish. The coordination of these 2 distinct processes appears to be common in the PA development of many vertebrates, in which specific developmental defects posterior to the PP2 are caused by mutations of particular genes or perturbation of retinoic acid signaling. Surprisingly, comparative analysis of PA segmentation showed that the combinatorial styles of PA development is present in shark but not in lamprey, suggesting that PA segmentation was modified in the stem gnathostomes corresponding to the drastic pharyngeal innovations, such as PA2-derived opercular.


Summary

The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of the addition of native and autoclaved mustard seed (AMS) with combination of acid whey (AW) on the stability of organic model sausages during 30 days of vacuum storage by measuring primary and secondary products of lipid oxidation, the changes in the fatty acid composition, oxidation–reduction potential and antioxidant capacity. Briefly, the addition of AW (5%) with combination of AMS (1%) significantly increased the capacity of sausages to capture the radical cations 2,2-azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline)-6-sulphonate at 1 day of storage which suggests that autoclaved mustard possessed significantly higher amount of phenolic acids compared with native mustard. The salted samples with mustard seed addition characterised by lower oxidation–reduction potential values (264.5–302.1 mV) during the whole storage period compared with control-cured sample (307.3–330.5 mV). Results of conjugated dienes (CD) measurements indicated that salted meat product samples with mustard seed addition were characterised by significantly lower CD concentration (1.12–1.90 μmol mg−1 meat product) compared with control-cured sample (1.86–2.55 μmol mg−1 meat product). The AW and mustard seed added to uncured sausage were able to protect polyunsaturated fatty acids against the oxidation comparable to nitrite.


Existing methods and tools supporting product line variability management typically emphasize either the feature or the architecture level. There have been attempts to combine these aspects, but no widely accepted method is available so far. This paper reports ongoing research in designing and implementing product line variability models, where the focus lies in treating features and architectural elements as parts of an integrated model. The research is carried together with our industry partner Siemens VAI


INTRODUCTION
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) exists in the serum in several molecular forms which can be measured by immunoradiodetectable assays: free PSA and total PSA (which represent the sum of the free PSA and complexed PSA to alpha 1 antichymotrypsin). Recently, the proportion of free to total PSA could enhance the ability to distinguish benign histologic conditions from cancer.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Serum samples of 105 patients (31 histologically confirmed prostate cancers and 74 histologically confirmed untreated benign prostatic diseases) were included in this study. The total and free PSA levels were determined using the PSA immunoradioassay of Tandem-R PSA and Tandem - R free PSA.

RESULTS
When all subjects were included, both total PSA and the proportion of free to total PSA significantly differentiated between patients with prostate cancer and patients with benign histologic conditions (p < 0.01 and p < 0.005). However, in men with total PSA values between 4.0 to 10.0 ng/ml, the proportion of free to total PSA significantly differentiated between the patients with benign and malignant histological conditions (p < 0.04). The most interesting was the ability of the proportion of free to total PSA to distinguish patients with total PSA value between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/ml and normal digital examination (p < 0.001). With these values of PSA-T, a free PSA cutoff of 0.23 detected at least 90.4% of cancers and would eliminate 19.4% of negative biopsies.

CONCLUSION
Measurement of the free to total PSA level improves specificity of prostate cancer screening in selected men with elevated total serum PSA levels between 4.0 to 10.0 ng/ml and normal digital examination, and can reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies with minimal effects on the cancer detection rate.


Anthropogenic global change is rapidly driving Earth's climate outside the range of variation known from direct measurements and there is growing concern that it might cause a system-level change in the biosphere within decades. The information preserved in the fossil record is increasingly perceived as a source of crucial information about the behavior of the Earth System in states beyond those known from direct observation, including non-catastrophic "background" change. Here I review some recent progress using mathematical and computational approaches to analyzing and simulating the complex, biased and incomplete fossil record and some of its underlying processes, including the gain and loss of biodiversity in relation to environmental change. It appears that restricting the analysis to the most common fossil species and genera of fossil land mammals may be used to amplify real trends in the noisy data, that the main ecological structure is well preserved and can be used to reconstruct ecosystem productivity and climate of the past, and that spatial as well as temporal resolution is good. Mathematical modeling suggests that biodiversity is both gained and lost primarily in the middle of existing phenotype space and that invasion of new environments proceeds through adaptation of pre-existing species.


In September 2004, National Public Radio's late afternoon news show, All Things Considered, visited West Virginia to interview potential voters. The state had gone to George W. Bush in 2000, marking a departure from its typical voting pattern. Between 1932 and 1996, Republicans won West Virginia only three times (1956, 1972, and 1984), and each victory was part of an overwhelming Republican landslide. Even in 1980, when Democrat Jimmy Carter carried a mere six states, one of them was West Virginia. Democrats have dominated the state's congressional delegation for decades. In 2000, both U.S. Senators, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller were Democrats, and two of the state's three congressional districts were represented by longtime Democratic incumbents. Bush's victory, moreover, was substantively important. Had West Virginia voted Democratic as was typical, Al Gore would have been elected president with 271 electoral votes. One of reporter Brian Naylor's interviews on NPR was with a truck driver named Mark Methany. With the September 11 terrorist attacks only three years in the past, the candidates' relative ability to deal with foreign threats and terrorism was, not surprisingly, on Methany's mind. The way he talked about the issue, however, was a bit surprising. In sizing up the contest between Bush and Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Methany said, "I really think that [George Bush] is the man for the job to face down our enemy. He won't just give [Osama bin Laden] a time out. He'll smack him in the mouth."1 Bush as tough and Kerry as wimp were familiar campaign personas in 2004. Such personas fit into larger themes of the parties and their respective "manliness." MSNBC's Chris Matthews, host of the popular political talk show, Hardball, has dubbed the Democratic Party the "Mommy Party" and the Republican Party the "Daddy Party." Arnold Schwarzenegger, the


Abstract The external morphology of the adult, egg, larva, and pupa of Agathidium oniscoides Beauvois is described. The natural history of the genus is reviewed, including associations with Myxomycetes and fungi and techniques for field collection and laboratory study. The phylogenetic species concept is discussed and applied in this study. A key and brief diagnoses are provided for the genera of Agathidiini (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Leiodinae) of North and Central America. Volvoxis Kugelann is regarded as a nomen oblitum, and its junior synonym Agathidium Panzer is regarded as the valid name (nomen protectum) for this taxon by invoking article 23.9 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A key to species groups of Agathidium Panzer is presented. Species are revised for the A. sexstriatum, A. brevisternum, and A. revolvens species groups, including keys, diagnoses, descriptions, and figures of important morphological features. Lectotypes are designated for A. bistriatum Horn and A. sexstriatum Horn. The following new species are described: A. angustoperculum, n.sp., A. dioperculum, n.sp., A. dubitanoides, n.sp., A. falcatoperculum, n.sp., and A. rhinocerellum, n.sp.


Platinum resistance is a major obstacle to the treatment of ovarian cancer and is correlated with poor clinical outcomes. Intratumor heterogeneity plays a key role in chemoresistance. Recent studies have emphasized the contributions of genetic and epigenetic factors to the development of intratumor heterogeneity. Although the clinical significance of multi‐subunit chromatin remodeler, switch/sucrose nonfermenting (SWI/SNF) complexes in cancers has been reported, the impacts of SWI/SNF‐related, matrix‐associated, actin‐dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily A, member 4/subfamily A, member 2 (SMARCA4/A2) expression patterns in human cancer tissues have not been fully elucidated. Here, we show that low expression of SMARCA4 and high expression of SMARCA2 are associated with platinum resistance in ovarian high‐grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) cells. We used fluorescence multiplex immunohistochemistry (fmIHC) to study resected specimens; we examined heterogeneity in human HGSC tissues at the single‐cell level, which revealed that the proportion of cells with the SMARCA4low/SMARCA2high phenotype was positively correlated with clinical platinum‐resistant recurrence. We used stable transfection of SMARCA2 and siRNA knockdown of SMARCA4 to generate HGSC cells with the SMARCA4low/SMARCA2high phenotype; these cells had the greatest resistance to carboplatin. Bioinformatics analyses revealed that the underlying mechanism involved in substantial alterations to chromatin accessibility and resultant fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling activation, MAPK pathway activation, BCL2 overexpression, and reduced carboplatin‐induced apoptosis; these were confirmed by in vitro functional experiments. Furthermore, in vivo experiments in an animal model demonstrated that combination therapy with carboplatin and a fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor promoted cell death in HGSC xenografts. Taken together, these observations reveal a specific subpopulation of HGSC cells that is associated with clinical chemoresistance, which may lead to the establishment of a histopathological prediction system for carboplatin response. Our findings may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies for platinum‐resistant HGSC cells. © 2023 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.


CMR plaque imaging has the potential to predict future coronary events, but is limited by low spatial-resolution, misregistration artefacts, respiratory motion related image quality degradation and unpredictable acquisition times. Here we clinically evaluate the feasibility of a novel 3D free-breathing, non-rigid motion corrected, non-contrast CMR sequence (iT2prep-BOOST) that enables simultaneous, high-resolution visualisation of the coronary arteries and high-risk plaque features on co-registered bright and black blood images in patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction. We found that iT2prep-BOOST can simultaneously visualise coronary artery stenosis as well as culprit and bystander coronary plaque, as validated against invasive coronary angiography and OCT.


AIM
To observe the anti-inflammatory effect of adenovirus-mediated sTLR2 in LPS-induced murine inflammation, and to provide a new thinking and tactics of prevention and treatment for acute inflammatory reaction.

METHODS
Murine inflammation model induced by LPS (lethal dose) was established. BALB/c mice were divided into normal control group, inflammation model group and AdTLR2 treatment group. The recombinant adenovirus (Ad)TLR2 acted on test mice respectively before and after inflammation production, the impact of AdTLR2 on murine survival time was observed. Serum samples of different experiment groups were collected, alteration of cytokine TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13 were tested by ELISA, the influence of AdTLR2 on serum level of cytokines were evaluated.

RESULTS
A prolonged survival time by AdTLR2 was observed on lethal dose of LPS animal model; serum level of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13 were reduced by AdTLR2 on LPS induced murine model, indicating a certain immuno-regulation and anti-inflammatory effect of recombinant AdTLR2.

CONCLUSION
Recombinant AdTLR2 resulted a prolong survival time of LPS induced inflammation animal model and reduction of serum level of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13, which achieved a certain immuno-regulation and anti-inflammatory effect.


Characteristics of labor force activity among the population of retirement age in the Ukrainian SSR are examined. The focus is on the socioeconomic and demographic factors that affect pensioners' productive activity. (summary in ENG, RUS)


Both recognition and recall of pictures improve as picture presentation time increases and as time between pictures increases. Processing of the pictures, rehearsal and/or encoding, continues after the picture has disappeared, just as for verbal material. Both the results and conclusions stand in contrast to those of Shaffer and Shiffrin.


Summary:  Not all visually sensitive patients need antiepileptic drug treatment, and even those who do can benefit from additional preventive measures. Visually provoked seizures, in particular, can be prevented or treated by avoiding or altering the triggering stimulus. Apart from individual preventive measures (use of specific television or video screens, colored glasses, etc.), prevention and warning on a larger scale are helpful. The choice for drug treatment will depend on the type of stimulus, the environment in which the person has to live and work, the frequency and severity of seizures, and the type of epileptic syndrome. A review is given of all treatment options with focus on the specific nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic tools used in clinical practice.


This is an overview and assessment of the value of the International Interdisciplinary Toxicological Conferences TOXCON, which have been organized reciprocally in Slovakia and the Czech Republic since 1996. Characterization of the individual annual conferences and the results of mutual cooperation between the Slovak Toxicology Society (SETOX) and the Toxicological Section of the Czech Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Czech Medical Association of J. E. Purkyně (TS ČSEKFT ČLS JEP) are presented. Moreover, cooperation and common efforts to promote toxicology as a modern interdisciplinary subject with toxicological organizations from the Visegrad Group (V4) and within the Federation of European Societies of Toxicology EUROTOX are also highlighted.


Adenovirus type 7 exposed to solutions of LiI was progressively converted into slower sedimenting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-containing particles, and, ultimately, under proper conditions, DNA free or almost free from protein was released from the virus. The degree of viral degradation was dependent on the time of treatment, on the temperature, and on the concentration of the reagent.


Background. Regulatory cells prevent graft loss to acute rejection and induce tolerance, possibly by promoting Th2 deviation. Th2 cytokines stimulate B cells, which cause alloantibody-mediated chronic rejection. We searched to determine whether regulatory cell-mediated tolerance protects or not against chronic rejection. Methods. Heart transplantation (Htx) was performed using RA (RT1P) and PVG (RT1c) rats as donor and recipients. Donor-specific blood transfusion (DSBT) was given on preTx day 12. Secondary grafts were implanted at day 100. Splenocytes were transferred from tolerant rats (and controls) into lightly irradiated (450 rad) naive PVG, which received RA Htx. Primary Htx were investigated for the development of vascular occlusion (VO), the production of Th1/Th2 intragraft cytokines, and for the nature of graft infiltrate as well as for endothelial deposition of immunoglobulin (Ig)G isotypes and complement (C3) binding. Results were compared with rejecting controls (no DSBT) and syngeneic Htx. Results. RA Htx were rejected within 10 days (8, 9, 10×4). PreTx DSBT prolonged primary Htx survival indefinitely (>140 days) with acceptance of secondary donor-specific (but not third-party) grafts (P <0.001). Naive irradiated PVG rats given splenocytes from tolerant rats but not from controls accepted RA Htx, showing the existence of regulatory cells in allograft acceptors. Despite being tolerant, DSBT-treated rats displayed typical features of chronic rejection at day 90 (VO=77%; P <0.001 vs. VO=4% in syngeneic rats). An overt Th2 deviation, particularly intragraft production of interleukin (IL)-4, was observed at day 30. Simultaneously to this Th2 deviation, B cells emerged in the grafts and endothelial deposition of IgG1 (Th2 dependent) and C3 binding were observed. Conclusions. Regulatory cells that prevent graft loss to acute rejection in primary and secondary grafts do not protect against the development of chronic rejection.


Big data and analytics have become an essential component of organizational operations. The ability to collect and interpret significantly large data sets has provided a wealth of knowledge to guide decision makers in all facets of society. This is no different in sport management where big data has been used on and off the field to guide decision making across the industry. As big data evolves, there are concerns regarding the use of enhanced analytic techniques and their advancement of knowledge and theory. This special issue addresses these concerns by advancing our understanding of the use of big data in sport management research and how it can be used to further scholarship in the sport industry. The six articles in this special issue each play a role in advancing sport analytics theory, producing new knowledge, and developing new inquiries. The implications discussed in these articles provide a foundation for future research on this evolving area within the field of sport management.


The intent of this chapter is to provide an overview to the current thoughts and ideals regarding the involvement of pesticides and heavy metals in the progress of breast cancer. The history of pesticides encompasses a few millennia, but our understanding of the pesticide action and the health consequences has only begun to develop in the last 30-40 years. Interestingly, many of these pesticides have estrogen-like activity and may be involved in the development of breast cancer. A new category of estrogen-like compounds has been identified and studied in the last 30 years, the 'metalloestrogens'. Heavy metals, such as cadmium, which have estrogen like activity will be discussed. Finally, we will attempt to pull together the actions of pesticides and metalloestrogens as a possible synergistic mechanism by which these toxins may work to promote breast cancer development.


Flavonoids are natural polyphynolic compounds with major antioxidant activity that can prevent DNA damage. The anticancer and antiviral activities of these natural products are attributed to their potential biomedical applications. In this review we are examining how the antioxidant flavonoids bind DNA and RNA and what mechanism of action is involved in preventing DNA damage. Detailed spectroscopic data on the interactions of morin (mor), apigenin (api), naringin (nar), quercetin (que), kaempferol (kae) and delphinidin (del) with DNA and transfer RNA in aqueous solution at physiological conditions were analysed. The structural analysis showed flavonoids mainly intercalate into DNA and RNA duplexes with minor external binding to the major or minor groove and the backbone phosphate group with overall binding constants for DNA adducts Kmor═5.99×103 M–1, Kapi═7.10×104 M–1, and Knar═3.10×103 M–1, Kque═7.25×104 M–1, Kkae═3.60×104 M–1 and Kdel═1.66×104 M–1, and for tRNA adducts Kmor═9.15×103 M–1, Kapi═4.96×104 M–1, and Knar═1.14×104 M–1, Kque═4.80×104 M–1, Kkae═4.65×104 M–1 and Kdel═9.47×104 M–1. The stability of adduct formation is in the order of que > api > kae > del >mor > nar for DNA and del > api > que > kae > nar > mor for tRNA. Low flavonoid concentration induces helical stabilization, whereas high pigment content causes helix opening. Flavonoids induce a partial B to A–DNA transition at high pigment concentration, while tRNA remains in A-family structure upon flavonoid complexation. The antioxidant activity of flavonoids changes in the order delphinidin > quercetin > kaempferol > morin > naringin > apigenin. The results show intercalated flavonoid molecule can act as an antioxidant and prevent DNA damage.


Quantum fluctuations of a certain class of bulk operators defined in spatial sub-volumes of Minkowski space-time, have an unexpected area scaling property. We wish to present evidence that such area scaling may be ascribed to a boundary theory. We first highlight the implications of area scaling with two examples in which the boundary area of the spatial regions is not monotonous with their volume. Next, we prove that the covariance of two operators that are restricted to two different regions in Minkowski space scales linearly with their mutual boundary area. Finally, we present an example which demonstrates why this implies an underlying boundary theory.


Seismic data and their complexity still challenge signal processing algorithms in several applications. The advent of wavelet transforms has allowed improvements in tackling denoising problems. We propose here coherent noise filtering in seismic data with the dual-tree M-band wavelet transform. They offer the possibility to decompose data locally with improved multiscale directions and frequency bands. Denoising is performed in a deterministic fashion in the directional subbands, depending of the coherent noise properties. Preliminary results show that they consistently better preserve seismic signal of interest embedded in highly energetic directional noises than discrete critically sampled and redundant separable wavelet transforms.


Objectives To assess whether having received grey packets containing treatment for gonorrhoea and chlamydia was associated with condom use among female sex workers (FSWs) in 5 districts of southern India covered by the Avahan programme where both periodic presumptive treatment (PPT) and syndromic management were used to control these sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among FSWs. Setting Cross-sectional study of FSWs recruited in the field in 5 districts of southern India (Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Guntur and Mumbai) in 2006–2007. Participants 1378 self-identified FSWs out of 1442 were approached to participate in the study (participation rate: 95.6%). The only exclusion criterion was to be aged <18 years. Primary and secondary outcome measures Consistent condom use (CCU) with new or occasional clients, and with the most recent repeat client as assessed using a questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. Results Using the Poisson regression to model the association between the number of grey packets received in the past 3–12 months and reported CCU, adjusting for factors associated with condom use and other potential confounders in our data, CCU was lowest among FSWs who had received ≥3 grey packets in the past 3–12 months with their new or occasional clients (adjusted prevalence ratio (APR): 0.70, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.84, p<0.001) and with the most recent repeat client (APR 0.63, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.78, p<0.001). Tests for trends showed that CCU with both types of clients decreased with the number of grey packets received (p<0.001). Conclusions Since we could not distinguish grey packets used for PPT from those given for syndromic management, these results could be either due to a perception of protection conferred by PPT or by the fact that inconsistent condom users are more at risk for STIs. Further research on the potential disinhibiting effect of PPT is warranted.


Private-public partnership is a key concept for understanding the transformation of regional governance in Sweden. The introduction of Regional Growth Agreements (RGAs) as a new element of industrial policy is the latest illustration of this development. This article analyses the emergence of regional partnerships in the processing of RGAs in Swedish regions. Questions dealt with concern consequences for the public-private balance, democratic accountability, and the pressure for regional reforms. The results reveal that regional partnerships seem ready to take greater responsibility in the field of industrial policy, but also raise questions about who should be included and who is accountable. It is also questionable whether coherent regions will emerge before substantial reforms of regional government are implemented to match more spontaneous processes of regionalization.


Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between rapid antigen detection tests and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Methods: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and the Web of Science from their inception to 31 May 2023. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to estimate false positives in the RADTs group, relative to those in the RT-PCR group, and subgroup analyses were conducted based on the different Ct value cut-offs (<40 or ≥40). We performed this study in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Results: Fifty-one studies were included and considered to be of moderate quality. We found a satisfactory overall false positive rate (0.01, 95% CI: 0.00–0.01) for the RADTs compared to RT-PCR. In the stratified analysis, we also found that the false positive rates of the RADTs did not increase when Ct values of RT-PCR (Ct < 40, 0.01, 95% CI: 0.00–0.01; Ct ≥ 40, 0.01, 95% CI: 0.00–0.01). Conclusion: In conclusion, the best available evidence supports an association between RADTs and RT-PCR. When Ct-values were analyzed using cut-off <40 or ≥40, this resulted in an estimated false positive rate of only 1%.


Abstract Printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) is a promising candidate of coolers used for SCO2 Brayton cycle. The thermal-hydraulic performance of SCO2 in a PCHE depends on the PCHE structure as well as the operating conditions of SCO2 due to its dramatic variation of thermal physical properties near the pseudo-critical point. This work experimentally investigated the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of zigzag-channel PCHEs between SCO2 and water at pressures that ranged from 8.0 to 11.0 MPa. Results showed that increasing the flow rate of SCO2 might affect the PCHE more pronouncedly in comparison with changing the flow rate of water, indicating that the major convective thermal resistance is on the SCO2 side. When increasing the operating pressure from 8.0 MPa to 11.0 MPa, the Nusselt numbers of PCHEs with zigzag angles of 0°, 15°, and 25° averagely decrease by 63.3%, 62.1%, and 54.0%, and the friction factors averagely decrease by 28.6%, 27.4%, and 21.0% respectively. Meanwhile, it is found that the buoyancy force is non-negligible during SCO2 cooling process in PCHEs. In this regard, Nusselt number and friction factor correlations considering the buoyancy effect are proposed with applicable ranges.


Ion species ratio of high current positive hydrogen/deuterium ion beams extracted from an electron-cyclotron-resonance ion source for International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility accelerator was measured by the Doppler shift Balmer-α line spectroscopy. The proton (H(+)) ratio at the middle of the low energy beam transport reached 80% at the hydrogen ion beam extraction of 100 keV/160 mA and the deuteron (D(+)) ratio reached 75% at the deuterium ion beam extraction of 100 keV/113 mA. It is found that the H(+) ratio measured by the spectroscopy gives lower than that derived from the phase-space diagram measured by an Allison scanner type emittance monitor. The H(+)/D(+) ratio estimated by the emittance monitor was more than 90% at those extraction currents.


Ohmic dissipation in conductive media considerably limits the penetrative power of high-frequency electromagnetic imaging methods and implies that deep regions can be probed only with low-frequency fields. Uofortunately, these low-frequency fields xe govemed by a diffusive equation which prevents direct high-resolution imaging as in seismic and georadar imaging. However. a clue for high-resolution imaging in the diffusive approximation is given by a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind which links diffusive fields to their propagative duals. If these duals could be rewvered by inverting this integral equation, the seismic imaging toolbox might be used, at least from a theoretical point of view, to produce fine electromagnetic images. Spectnl decomposition of the integral operator shows that the invem problem is numerically ill-posed for both noisy andtor incomplete data. High-resolution cm be achieved only by adding spxsity consmints upon the sought solution to the information content of the data. This type of o priori information also strongly regularizes the inversion but implies that the inverse problem must be mated as non-linear. A numerical algorithm, designed to work in 3 continuous parameter space, wuples both the simulated annealing and the simplex to recover the propagative field. Numerical applications for pseudo-data with additive noise reveal th3t reflective interfaces un be imaged even within the poorly-favourable magnetotelluric setup.


Biodiesel is a renewable fuel derived from vegetable oils, animal fats, waste cooking oil and other lipids. Biodiesel can be used in its pure form as a blend with petroleum diesel in diesel engines with little or no modification. It can be produced domestically reducing the need to import petroleum products. As current biodiesel feedstocks are mostly derived from edible oils and fats, it is likely that biodiesel will compete with food sources. This research is focused on the characterization of the biodiesel sources such as jatropha and soapnut which are non-edible in nature. A high pressure pendant drop equipment (PD-E 1700) and drop shape analysis (DSA 100 V1.9) were used to measure the equilibrium surface tension of diesel and biodiesel fuels at elevated temperatures and pressures. The surface tension of diesel and biodiesel fuels showed a linear relationship with temperatures and pressures. A regression model was also developed using the measured data from the tests.


Analysis of the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the biologically active mouse mdr1 cDNA clone indicates that the protein is formed by two highly homologous halves, each containing six putative transmembrane domains and a nucleotide-binding site. The duplicated unit shows high sequence homology to the proposed energy-coupling subunit of bacterial periplasmic transport proteins. We have cloned and characterized the mouse mdr1 gene and have analyzed the genomic organization of the two homologous halves forming the mdr1 protein. The gene spans 68 kilobases, is split into 28 exons, and the two homologous halves are encoded by 14 and 13 exons. The transcriptional initiation site of the gene has been mapped and putative TATA and consensus CAAT sequences have been found at positions -27 and -83, respectively. Discrete structural domains of the mdr1 protein are encoded by separate exons: Ten of the 12 putative transmembrane domains are encoded by individual exons and the two nucleotide-binding sites are each encoded by three exons. The exon/intron organization of the gene is conserved in the two highly homologous regions encoding the nucleotide-binding sites. The conservation of certain pairs of introns, together with the high degree of sequence homology, indicate that the mouse mdr1 gene originated from the duplication of an intron-containing ancestral gene.


• Postmaturity, taken as meaning a gestational age of 294 days or more, occurred 247 times in a series of 2,877 deliveries. Gestational age exceeded 299 days in 132 of these babies. The postmature group did not differ significantly, as to average weight and body length, from a group of 252 babies born after the 259th and before the 295th day. The postmature group did, however, include 11 infants with one or more clinical findings characteristic of a placental dysfunction syndrome: dry, scaling, parchment-like skin; staining of the skin and vernix caseosa; and poor tissue turgor, subcutaneous tissue wasting, or other evidence of recent weight loss. Four cases of this are described in some detail. In the full-term group, on the other hand, there was only one infant with any findings consistent with this picture. Perinatal mortalities in these two groups did not differ significantly. The evidence indicated that postmature babies at birth must weigh, on the average, somewhat less than the maximum they attain before birth and that their intrauterine growth is limited by the functional capacities of the placenta.


One of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) is that it recognizes no lesser-evil justification for breaking its rules. Those violating the laws of war will thus be viewed as war criminals even when their conduct was intended to - and in fact did - prevent much greater harm. This Article argues that this deep-rooted absolutist stance undermines the humanitarian drive of the laws of war, and offers, instead, a lesser-evil defense. The argument begins with the obvious analogy to the necessity defense in domestic criminal law, emphasizing the adaptations that are necessary in order to transpose the domestic concept onto the international plane. It then proceeds to test possible first-order accounts – deontological, consequentialist, and institutional – for why IHL might nonetheless prefer a more absolutist stance than domestic law. It finds that none of these accounts offers a compelling explanation for the exclusion of any lesser-evil justification from IHL. The Article then proceeds to develop a blueprint for the concept of a humanitarian necessity justification that would exculpate an actor who violated the laws of war in the name of a greater humanitarian good under certain conditions. A central component of the justification, which is required given the special nature of IHL, is a condition that the greater humanitarian good would benefit the enemy, rather than the actor's own people.


Present study develops two scenarios to analyse gasoline consumption and makes future projections based on the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA). The gasoline consumption is estimated based on the basic indicators of the population, gross domestic product (GDP), import, export, gasoline production and number of cars figures. Two different exponential and linear estimation models are developed for each scenario using PSO and GA methods. Developed models are validated with actual data, while future estimation of gasoline demand is projected between 2006 and 2030. For the best result (PSO - PGIE{inexponential), the relative error average was 1.03%.


We need better ways of evaluating the effects of aid programmes

Scenes of warfare in sub-Saharan Africa remind us of the impact of conflict on human life, but this is but one part of the "silent emergency" of poverty in developing countries. A report released by Oxfam last month reminds us that today one in four of the world's people live in a state of absolute want, unable to meet their basic needs. It calls for concerted action to eradicate poverty and establish new structures for human security.1

If sending Western aid to developing countries to alleviate poverty seems an exemplary response then the fall in the total sum allotted from $61bn in 1992 to $56bn in 1993 must be cause for concern.2 Although such figures are politically useful in lobbying for more, The Reality of Aid, published last month by non-government organisations, raises some more fundamental questions: Is aid …


What drives the behavior of consumers when faced with a product-related crisis, such as that involving food contamination or life-threatening design flaws? For both consumers and companies, these crises have become of increasing importance because of the globalization of markets and an increased coverage by the media. Marketers need to understand why and how consumers react to a crisis. We show that by decoupling risk response behavior of consumers into the separate components of risk perception and risk attitude, a more robust conceptualization and prediction of consumers' reactions is possible. Such a framework helps provide answers on how marketers can deal with such types of crises. The merits of this conceptualization are illustrated in two field studies that examine the reactions of German, Dutch, and American consumers to the BSE (mad cow disease) crisis. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


This article looks at wound dressings, comparing traditional ribbon gauze dressing with occlusive dressings, focusing on the use of calcium alginates. The author looks at the nursing responsibilities concerning the choice of wound products from a professional and ethical perspective. She makes important recommendations about how this knowledge can be integrated into nursing practice in the operating theatre.


Telomerase RNA is an integral part of telomerase, the ribonucleoprotein enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of telomeric DNA. The RNA moiety contains a templating domain that directs the synthesis of a species-specific telomeric repeat and may also be important for enzyme structure and/or catalysis. Phylogenetic comparisons of telomerase RNA sequences from various Tetrahymena spp. and hypotrich ciliates have revealed two conserved secondary structure models that share many features. We have cloned and sequenced the telomerase RNA genes from an additional six Tetrahymena spp. (T. vorax, T. borealis, T. australis, T. silvana, T. capricornis and T. paravorax). Inclusion of these sequences, most notably that from T. paravorax, in a phylogenetic comparative analysis allowed us to more narrowly define structural elements that may be necessary for a minimal telomerase RNA. A primary sequence element, positioned 5' of the template and conserved between all previously known ciliate telomerase RNAs, has been reduced from 5'-(C)UGUCA-3' to the 4 nt sequence 5'-GUCA-3'. Conserved secondary structural features and the impact they have on the general organization of ciliate telomerase RNAs is discussed.


The nitrification process is an important step in the nitrogen (N) cycle, affecting N availability and N losses to the wider environment. Ammonia oxidation, which is the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, was widely accepted to be mainly regulated by AOA in acidic soils. However, in this study, nitrification activity was correlated with the abundance of AOB rather than that of AOA in acidic Ultisols. Nitrosospira cluster 8a, a phylotype of AOB which preferred warm temperatures, and low soil pH played a predominant role in the nitrification process in the test Ultisols. Our results also showed that long-term application of lime or pig manure rather than plant residues altered the community structure of AOA and AOB. Taken together, our findings contribute new knowledge to the understanding of the nitrification process and ammonia oxidizers in subtropical acidic Ultisol under long-term inorganic and organic fertilization. ABSTRACT Long-term effects of inorganic and organic fertilization on nitrification activity (NA) and the abundances and community structures of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) were investigated in an acidic Ultisol. Seven treatments applied annually for 27 years comprised no fertilization (control), inorganic NPK fertilizer (N), inorganic NPK fertilizer plus lime (CaCO3) (NL), inorganic NPK fertilizer plus peanut straw (NPS), inorganic NPK fertilizer plus rice straw (NRS), inorganic NPK fertilizer plus radish (NR), and inorganic NPK fertilizer plus pig manure (NPM). In nonfertilized soil, the abundance of AOA was 1 order of magnitude higher than that of AOB. Fertilization reduced the abundance of AOA but increased that of AOB, especially in the NL treatment. The AOA communities in the control and the N treatments were dominated by the Nitrososphaera and B1 clades but shifted to clade A in the NL and NPM treatments. Nitrosospira cluster 8a was found to be the most dominant AOB in all treatments. NA was primarily regulated by soil properties, especially soil pH, and the interaction with AOB abundance explained up to 73% of the variance in NA. When NL soils with neutral pH were excluded from the analysis, AOB abundance, especially the relative abundance of Nitrosospira cluster 8a, was positively associated with NA. In contrast, there was no association between AOA abundance and NA. Overall, our data suggest that Nitrosospira cluster 8a of AOB played an important role in the nitrification process in acidic soil following long-term inorganic and organic fertilization. IMPORTANCE The nitrification process is an important step in the nitrogen (N) cycle, affecting N availability and N losses to the wider environment. Ammonia oxidation, which is the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, was widely accepted to be mainly regulated by AOA in acidic soils. However, in this study, nitrification activity was correlated with the abundance of AOB rather than that of AOA in acidic Ultisols. Nitrosospira cluster 8a, a phylotype of AOB which preferred warm temperatures, and low soil pH played a predominant role in the nitrification process in the test Ultisols. Our results also showed that long-term application of lime or pig manure rather than plant residues altered the community structure of AOA and AOB. Taken together, our findings contribute new knowledge to the understanding of the nitrification process and ammonia oxidizers in subtropical acidic Ultisol under long-term inorganic and organic fertilization.


It is clear that the principal objective of television advertising is to encourage viewers to become consumers, but in the case of British practice, from the start of commercial television in the mid-1950s, the appeal to social and communal norms has been an essential feature of the techniques used by advertisers. The persistence of a general tendency towards the reinforcement of "normal" or "collective" values can be observed, most obviously in government advertising which seeks to further the contribution of the citizen to the positive evolution of society, but also in commercial publicity where certain mental attitudes and consumer behaviours are encouraged. At the same time, advertising reflects, admittedly with varying degrees of accuracy and distortion, not only the values, but also the nature of the society to which it is directed, representing therefore a living archive of the way in which society sees itself, or is imagined to perceive itself. This chapter will attempt to examine the often inaccurate picture of society given in commercial advertisements, through to the present day, but also to suggest that government advertising, for all its appeals to recognisable local and individual interest groups or communities, aims essentially to establish and to further generally acceptable and politically correct social norms.


Zakat tradition in Islam is important to be studied, especially about the dynamics of knowledge, rationality, and interest in zakat governance. This study focused on the battle of knowledge, rationality and conflicts of interest in zakat governance. The approach in this study is a qualitative approach with a methodology constructivism paradigm. The data obtained by phenomenology method with depth interview techniques and documentation. Data were analyzed using structural conflict perspective with Foucaultian style, especially the theory of power and knowledge. The results showed that: there are three spheres of knowledge, that competing to get authorities in the governance of zakat (religious knowledge, modern knowledge and local knowledge). The discourse of the governance of zakat in the LAZ of community was dominated by the religious knowledge and local knowledge, while at the Bazda and LAZ of Semen Padang, discourse is dominated by modern knowledge. Second, the rationality of LAZ of community is asceticism and altruism with the interests of individual piety and social piety, but the rationality of Bazda is developmentalism to achieve integration and uniformity, while the rationality of LAZ Semen Padang is maximize Utility, with profit interests and investment security. Finally, the phenomenon of zakat governances was showed as moral laundering efforts.


Evidence abound of the neglect and discrimination against women especially those with disabilities. Given the prejudice against women in general, women with disabilities in Nigeria suffer greater discrimination, additional burden and obstacles to their well being because of their disabilities. The burden in turn inhibits their integration and participation in numerous activities including sports. This paper examined the barriers to participation in sports by women with disabilities, it analysed perceived impact of sport on those who participate/participated and have excelled in it and explored further, the use of sport as a strategic tool for the needed positive change.


This article has three objectives: first, to present the results of what has been done in Russia to create the institutional underpinnings for fixed investment; second, to explore investment profitability by type of business activity; and, third, to describe the role of foreign direct investment in the overall fixed investments in the Russian economy. Our analysis reveals that despite all the efforts, two problems remain with the Russian economy. Investments in fixed assets have not decreased income inequality both in industrial sectors and regional aspects, and these investments do not endeavor to change the structure of the Russian economy, leading to the predominance of natural resources extraction and the weakness of modern services and high-tech industries.


PURPOSE
To evaluate enamel permeability after external bleaching procedures.

METHODS
The coronal portion of 75 human canines were covered with an acid resistant varnish, except for a 7.1 mm2 circular area on the labial surface and, according to a randomized complete block design, specimens were allocated to bleaching treatments using carbamide peroxide-containing agents (CP): 10%, 16% or 37%; or a 35% hydrogen peroxide product (HP). The control group was exposed to artificial saliva. The bleaching agents were applied following the manufacturer's recommendations over 21 days. In between bleaching exposures, specimens were stored in artificial saliva. Samples were then prepared according to a histochemical coloring method based on copper sulfate and dithiooxamide solutions. Digital images captured in an optical microscope were used to measure the percentage of copper ion penetration over the total enamel thickness on three sections taken from the exposed area.

RESULTS
Analysis of Deviance showed a significant difference for the permeability values among groups (P = 0.046). Likelihood ratio test revealed that the use of the CP10% and HP35% agents caused significantly greater enamel permeability than did the control treatment. No significant differences in percentage of copper ion penetration were found among CP10%, CP16%, CP37% and HP35%. This in vitro study demonstrated that depending on the external bleaching procedure, enamel permeability may be increased.


We report the cloning of the fusidic acid and cadmium resistance determinants from Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pUB101. The pUB101 fusidic acid resistance determinant was located on a 2.9 kb HindIII fragment. Sequencing of this fragment revealed three putative open reading frames (ORFs) of 213 (far1), 152 (orf152) and 170 amino acids (orf170), which are flanked by the right-hand end of insertion sequence IS431/257 (IS431/257RH) and a partial ORF. Far1 and Orf152 demonstrated homology with a chromosomally encoded fibronectin-binding protein of Listeria monocytogenes and the putative protein YosT, found on the SP beta c2 prophage of Bacillus subtilis, respectively. Transformation of S. aureus with a construct containing a 949 bp far1-specific amplicon led to the isolation of a fusidic acid-resistant transformant, thereby identifying the pUB101 fusidic acid resistance structural gene. Between orf152 and far1 we identified a unique 113 bp symmetrical element and other repeat elements that may be involved with the control of orf152 and/or far1 expression. Hybridization of Southern blots revealed that far1 was not located on the chromosome or plasmid content of a limited number of Australian, UK and Hong Kong fusidic acid-resistant isolates. The pUB101 cadmium resistance determinant was located on a 3.6 kb HindIII fragment that carried a cadDX operon, remnants of two putative plasmid replication protein genes and IS431/257RH. Sequence analysis also demonstrated the presence of a single-stranded origin of replication, normally found on rolling circle replicating plasmids, within the putative promoter region of the cadDX operon.


The primary therapy for any potentially curative rectal cancer is surgery. For locally advanced tumors (i.e., T3-4 and/or node positive), the very high rate of local and distant recurrences has necessitated a standard adjuvant regimen of preoperative chemoradiation and postoperative chemotherapy. Several controversies regarding this approach remain, including the technique and fractionation scheme of radiation therapy prior to surgery, the choice of concomitant chemotherapy, and whether all patients require postoperative systemic therapy. Furthermore, in an era of improving staging imaging and surgical techniques, an opportunity for de-escalation of therapy to improve patient morbidity and quality of life may arise. At the same time, advances in radiation and systemic therapy may help facilitate less invasive, sphincter-preserving surgery. This review addresses these questions and others that remain areas of active clinical investigation.


As one of the most important soil components, kaolinite plays an important role in transport and fixation of organic pollutants in soils. P-Aminoazobenzene (PAAB) is a sort of the carcinogenic aromatic amine which is commonly used as the intermediates of azo dyes. It can cause mutations and cancer of aquatic biota as well as humans. In this study, adsorption of PAAB on kaolinite in aqueous solution under different pHs, temperature and ionic strength was examined. Adsorption kinetic experiments indicated that the adsorption of PAAB on kaolinite at pH 1.4 and 4.0 followed the Elovich kinetics. The adsorption isotherm of PAAB onto kaolinite was well described by the Langmuir model, with an adsorption capacity of 2.2 mg/g at pH 1.4 and 1.43mg/g at pH 4.0. Adsorption of PAAB increased with decreasing solution pH and ionic strength. The negative free energy change (� G) after adsorption indicated that the adsorption process is a spontaneous process. The enthalpy change (� H) at pH 1.4 and 4.0 was -6.93 and -4.72 kJ/mol, respectively, suggesting that PAAB adsorption was an exothermal process and the physical adsorption predominated in the adsorption of PAAB on kaolinite. The adsorption affinity of PAAB for kaolinite surface was attributed to the electrostatic attractive and van der Waals' forces.


ABSTRACT Using the Limerick lace veil as a case study, this article argues that Irish female religious orders used Catholic materiality to maintain connections between former students and the wider Irish Catholic community within Australia. The ownership, manufacture and consumption of Limerick lace was predominantly shaped by women in Ireland and in Australia. Fashion provided a particularly feminine way of engaging with ethnic identity, separate from the male-dominated pulpit and the clubs of ethnic associational culture. By moving our focus to fashion choices, we can shift our exploration of religious and social power in the Irish Catholic Church to encompass more fully the diverse influences on ethnic and religious identity creation. Examining the practices of religious orders and how they engaged with the material culture of faith and ethnicity, this article presents a new perspective on the Irish Catholic diaspora which is currently missing from scholarship on the 'spiritual empire' during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.


Abstract In the world of science, in particular the section concerning the field of chemistry, when the results encountered during the experiment do not meet our expectations, our shrewdness may play an important role to open up new unexplored fields that could be much more interesting than what we were seeking. In those cases, our research undergoes an unforeseen shift, delivering novel and challenging results that may altogether alter our point of view and our future work. We have then struck serendipity. Specifically, in our investigation linked to palladacycles we have found that the new trends in their reactivity, as well as in their structure, have been, in many cases, related to this experience, broadening our research scope within this field. Herein, we describe our most relevant findings, which have shed new light upon the reactivity of palladacycles, thus opening new routes that lead to novel unexpected structures.


With the rapid growth of multimedia data, it becomes increasingly important to develop semantic concept modeling approaches that are consistently effective, highly efficient, and easily scalable. To this end, we first propose the robust subspace bagging (RB-SBag) algorithm by augmenting random subspace bagging with forward model selection. Compared with traditional modeling approaches, RB-SBag offers a considerably faster learning process while minimizing the risk of overfitting. Its ensemble structure also enables a convenient transformation into a simple parallel framework called MapReduce. To further improve scalability, we also develop a task scheduling algorithm to optimize task placement for heterogenous tasks. On a collection consisting of more than 250,000 images and several standard TRECVID benchmark datasets, RB-SBag achieved more than a 10fold speedup with comparable or even better classification performance than baseline SVMs. We also deployed the MapReduce implementation on a 16-node Hadoop cluster, where the proposed task scheduler demonstrates a significantly better scalability than the baseline scheduler in the presence of task heterogeneity.


Ferrierite zeolites with nanosized crystals and external surface areas higher than 250 m2  g-1 have been prepared at relatively low synthesis temperature (120 °C) by means of the collaborative effect of two organic structure directing agents (OSDA). In this way, hierarchical porosity is achieved without the use of post-synthesis treatments that usually involve leaching of T atoms and solid loss. Adjusting the synthesis conditions it is possible to decrease the crystallite size in the directions of the 8- and 10-ring channels, [010] and [001] respectively, reducing their average pore length to 10-30 nm and increasing the number of pores accessible. The small crystal size of the nano-ferrierites results in an improved accessibility of reactants to the catalytic active centers and enhanced product diffusion, leading to higher conversion and selectivity with lower deactivation rates for the oligomerization of 1-pentene into longer-chain olefins.


This paper investigates the feasibility of full/partial complementary alliances in composite goods markets with network structure. There are multiple producers who each provide a complementary component of the composite good. In another related market, one single firm (a monopolist) produces another composite good which could be a substitute or complement of the composite good. The analysis shows that even a full alliance cannot be profitable when the number of producers is small and the two goods are close substitutes or complements. Moreover, none of the profitable alliances is stable, except the full alliance with two component producers.


Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles (MP) possess immunological adjuvant properties. Yet, exploitation of their full potential has just begun. The purpose of this study was to explore opportunities arising from surface modifications, and attachment and entrapment of combinations of antigen and a Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligand. The cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-restricted OVA ovalbumin peptide SIINFEKL was microencapsulated into bare, chitosan-coated, and protamine-coated PLGA MP using a microextrusion-assisted solvent extraction process. A TLR-ligand (CpG ODN) was either covalently coupled or physically adsorbed onto the MP surface. The peptide encapsulation efficiency decreased from 71% for uncoated particles to 62% and 45% upon coating with chitosan and protamine, respectively. CpG adsorption efficiency decreased from 93% for protamine-coated particles to 19% and 8% for chitosan and bare particles. Release of the adsorbed CpG was slow and incomplete (23% within 7 days) with the protamine coating, intermediate (>90% within 3 days) with the chitosan coating, and immediate (100% within 3 h) without coating. Interestingly, only the uncoated PLGA MP with adsorbed CpG mediated a prominent CTL response in mice at 6 days after immunization, as determined from IFN-γ release from antigen-specific CD8+ cells; failure of the other MP formulations was ascribed to the low release of antigen and CpG within the first week after immunization. The study illustrates novel opportunities for PLGA MP vaccines by combining antigens and immunostimulatory ligands.


RS ABSTRACT Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease of worldwide spread. It is caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania and is transmitted to animals and humans through the bite of sand flies. In Brazil, leishmaniasis is one of the zoonoses of major importance and expansion. The objective of this work is to describe the clinical, pathological, immunohistochemical and molecular findings of cutaneous leishmaniasis by Leishmania enriettii in guinea pig ( Cavia porcellus ). Three animals had nodular and alopecia lesions on the muzzle, ears and ulcerated lesions on the distal extremities of the pelvic limbs. The males (2) also had diffuse thickening of the scrotal skin. Samples of the ulcerated cutaneous lesions were evaluated by cytology which were observed as amastigote forms of Leishmania . One of the animals was euthanized and necropsied. Histopathology showed abundant dermal infiltrate of macrophages, plasma cells, lymphocytes and multinucleated giant cells. Numerous macrophages contained parasitoid vacuoles with amastigote forms, evidenced by immunohistochemical examination. The molecular characterization based on the SSUrDNA gene identified the species as L. enrietti . The diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis in these cases was based on pathological findings and confirmed by immunohistochemistry, PCR and nodular and ulcerative lesions in the left auricle. C) C. porcellus, skin, amastigotes form of Leishmania spp., fine needle aspiration cytology (CAAF). HE. Obj. 40x. D) C. porcellus , skin, intense infiltrate of macrophages associated with large number of amastigotes, in addition to lymphocytes and plasma cells, CAAF. Obj. HE. 40x. E) C. porcellus , skin, Leishmania amastigotes in the interior of macrophages, immunohistochemistry, DAB. Obj. 20x.


A new, free online atlas of facial malformations from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) aims to help physicians around the world, especially those in regions without geneticists, diagnose inherited disorders in patients of non-European descent (Muenke et al., 2016). The Atlas of Human Malformation Syndromes in Diverse Populations is intended to diminish healthcare disparities in the diagnosis and care of children with malformation syndromes by featuring facial photos only of children of non-European descent. The site, which went live earlier this year, currently features images of African-American and Asian children but plans to expand to include photos of children from different countries and racial and ethnic groups. Previous malformation atlases have featured few photos of children of non-European descent, whose diseasedistinguishing facial features can differ from those in youngsters of European descent. As a result, children of nonEuropean descent often miss the proper care that comes with a correct diagnosis. Max Muenke, MD, co-creator of the atlas and Chief of the Medical Genetics Branch at the NHGRI, expects that the site will be particularly useful in low-resource areas outside of the United States and Europe. "The developed world has geneticists at major medical centers, but many countries have very few or no geneticists," Dr. Muenke says. For example, Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, has none. In Nigeria and similar areas, he says, "we hope the atlas will help other specialists make diagnoses sooner." Identifying the Need Dr. Muenke's interest in creating the atlas began years ago when he left northern Germany to train at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where about one-third of patients were from non-European backgrounds. There he learned about slight differences among both typically developing children and those affected by a genetic syndrome from various racial and ethnic groups. Similarly, at the NHGRI, about half of Dr. Muenke's trainees come from abroad. When they return home, they often must relearn what some disorders look like in their local populations. Dr. Muenke says he decided to create the atlas with his NHGRI colleagues Paul Kruszka, MD, Staff Clinician in the Medical Genetics Branch of the Human Development Section, and Adebowale Adeyemo, MD, Deputy Director of the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, after they traveled to a children's heart clinic in Nigeria. While there, they spotted patients with facial phenotypes associated with particular syndromes involving cardiac defects. When they suggested that a local colleague, who was a cardiologist, refer them to a medical geneticist, she told them Nigeria had none, Dr. Muenke says.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the neurohormonal and subjective mood response of children with anxiety disorder to clonidine challenge

METHOD
Children with DSM-IV diagnoses of anxiety disorder (ANX) (n = 24) and normal controls (n = 15) were given a challenge of intravenous clonidine (1.3 micrograms/kg) and provided neurohormonal and mood self-report assessment over a 180-minute period.

RESULTS
The ANX group differed from normal controls in Hamilton Anxiety Rating, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale score, and maximum change from baseline (delta max) in growth hormone (GH). Clonidine-stimulated GH concentration of the ANX group was significantly elevated compared with that of controls but returned to baseline within 2 hours. A subgroup with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (n = 9) had significantly higher delta max GH (17.5 +/- 10.1 ng/mL) than the group with other anxiety disorders (ANX-OCD) (9.1 +/- 5.8 ng/mL) and controls (5.7 +/- 4.1 ng/mL).

CONCLUSION
GH response to clonidine challenge is not blunted in ANX subjects. This finding is in contrast to adult disorder and suggests that adrenergic postsynaptic receptor down-regulation is not a feature of childhood anxiety. These findings suggest enhanced central adrenergic sensitivity in ANX which is most pronounced in OCD and argue against a neurobiological continuum from childhood to adult anxiety disorder.


The protective effect of T-593 ((+/-)-(E)-1-[2-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]-3'-[2-[[[5-(methylamino) methyl-2-furyl]methyl]thio]ethyl]-2"-(methylsulfonyl)guanidine, CAS 140695-21-2), a new histamine H2-receptor antagonist, was investigated in rats with acute gastric mucosal injury. An ischemic injury followed by reperfusion was produced by applying a small vascular clamp to the celiac artery for 30 min and then removing it for 60 min. T-593 significantly reduced the area of the lesion in the stomach in a dose-dependent manner, and doses of 0.3 and 3.0 mg/kg inhibited the increase of lipid peroxides in the gastric mucosa after ischemia-reperfusion. A spin-trapping method using 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide showed that T-593 scavenged hydroxyl radicals generated by the hydrogen peroxide-ferrous iron sulfate system. T-593 also significantly inhibited the increase of lipid peroxides induced by free-radical initiators in gastric mucosal homogenates. Thus, the protective effect of T-593 against acute gastric mucosal injury induced by ischemia and followed by reperfusion may result, in part, from its antioxidant properties.


Clinical trials have suggested that Losartan has beneficial effects on preventing stroke beyond its antihypertensive properties. Although there is evidence for Losartan reducing ischemic damage following a highly localized type of stroke, its role in larger focal and global ischemic insults and the importance of blood pressure change are not known. We hypothesized that pre-treatment with Losartan would enhance the tolerance of the brain to both global and focal ischemia. Two weeks prior to ischemia, rats were administered either Losartan 50 mg/day in their drinking water or vehicle (water) alone. The neuroprotective effects of Losartan were assessed by either global ischemia using 10 minutes of four-vessel occlusion (4-VO) or 90 minutes of focal ischemia by distal middle cerebral artery occlusion. Seven days after 4-VO, histological assessment of cellular injury in the hippocampal CA1 region was performed. In addition, brain injury following transient MCAO was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and histology. Losartan pretreatment reduced neuronal damage following global ischemia, as detected by 92% versus 46% neuronal cell death in CA1 region for Control and Losartan groups, respectively (p<0.001). Following transient ischemia, pre-treatment with Losartan resulted in a reduced infarct volume: measured as 41% ± 10% versus 26% ± 12% of the hemisphere in control and Losartan groups, respectively (p<0.04). These protective effects were observed in spite of 12-15 % reductions in blood pressure in the Losartan treated group. Our results demonstrate that pre-treatment with Losartan enhances the tolerance of the brain to either global or focal ischemia and provides further evidence for Losartan as a treatment for stroke prevention.


The future electricity grid will be a complex system-ofsystems, incorporating various intelligent devices for monitoring, control and automation. The interaction between various technological, regulatory and social factors add complexity which need to be addressed in a holistic and coordinated way to support the system innovation. To better understand the complexity, the driving forces for system innovation have been identified and structured, for the Norwegian distribution grid. Based on the driving forces, a repository of 109 mini scenarios has been developed. This paper describes the foresight process, the structure of the driving forces and shows examples of mini scenarios and their impact on the future development of the distribution grid. Further it gives some insight into how the DSOs can prepare for the uncertain future by utilising the knowledge gained from this work.


Neural networks are very often applied to the pattern recognition problem. In 1990 D. Specht introduced a special class of Probabilistic Neural Networks which were unnoticed in the computational practice due to their extremely large computer memory requirement. In this note we present and discuss results of experiments assessing the usability of Probabilistic Neural Networks to the multifont recognition problem for large size of the training set.


Abstract Features of the two illuminations from the first quire of the Codex Amiatinus, the bifolium of the tabernacle of Moses (6v and 7r, formerly 2v/II and 7r/III) and the miniature of the Jewish priest Ezra, who is identified by inscription (2r, formerly 4r/V), correspond more closely with text from the Jewish Antiquities of Flavius Josephus than with the parallel accounts in Scripture. Cassiodorus had the Jewish Antiquities of Flavius Josephus rendered from Greek into Latin, referring to the seventh chapter (that is, chapter 6) of book 3 as the source for his illustration of the tabernacle of Moses; and this illumination, according to Bede, was available as a model at Wearmouth–Jarrow. It appears that Bede also took part in fashioning the miniature of Ezra, both the verse inscription and the image itself, which also reflects more closely passages from Cassiodorus' so-called Latin Josephus than the corresponding sections of the Bible.


A new method to calculate active power output of large-scale wind farms connected to power grids, based on the fuzzy random chance-constrained programming(FRC )theory, is presented in this paper. The calculation of calculate active power output can be turned into a FRC programming problem which constrained conditions. A mathematical model of calculate active power in wind power integrated system based on FRC programming form is put forward, including ramp constrains of the generating units, output restricted zone, line transmission capacity, reserved capacity constraints, the balance of load, and so on. The problem can be solved by particle swarm optimization based fuzzy simulations. The results on IEEE30 system demonstrate the advantages of the proposed approach.


In this paper scrutinizes image compression using Halftoning Based Block Truncation Coding for color image. Many algorithms were selected likely the original Block Truncation coding, Ordered Dither Block Truncation Coding, Error Diffusion Block Truncation Coding , and Dot Diffused Block Truncation Coding . These above techniques are divided image into non overlapping blocks. BTC acts as the basic compression technique but it exhibits two disadvantages such as the false contour and blocking effect. Hence halftoning based block truncation coding (HBTC) is used to overcome the two issues. Objective measures are used to evaluate the image degree of excellence such as Peak Signal to Noise Ratio, Mean Square Error, Structural Similarity Index and Compression Ratio. At the end, conclusions have shown that the Dot Diffused Block Truncation Coding algorithm outperforms the Block Truncation Coding as well as Error Diffusion Block Truncation Coding.


In the paper the main results of experimental investigations made by the author on distribution of static pressure from granular material in a covered capacity structure are presented. The investigations were conducted on the small-sized steel constructions and provided for the variation both a row of constructive parameters of the experimental installation and the types of granular material.


Indonesia has involved in quite many regional trade agreements, since more than a decade ago. Theoritically, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are very beneficial to the countries, as resources are more efficiently allocated due to production specialization. However, presence of asymmetric information, market inefficiency, and economic distortion in the real world have led to a deviation of FTAs benefits from its theoritical framework. This paper studies whether Indonesian export competitiveness is improving after Indonesia involves in ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and ASEAN-Cina Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA). Export competitiveness are measured by some trade indicators, such as: trade intensity index, market share, export product dynamics, and RCA, for some Indonesian main export products. The indices are compared across ASEAN countries and Cina to reveal: (i) which products are gaining or losingcompetitiveness in ASEAN and Cina markets; and (ii) which countries are  becoming Indonesian main competitors in ASEAN and Cina markets. Additionally, this paper ends up with some policy recommendations that Indonesia should undertake to improve competitiveness of its products in ASEAN and Cina markets. JEL Classification : R11, F16 Keywords : FTA, export competitiveness, Indonesia


This article investigates how Catholicism has had to evolve and adapt in order to sustain itself in Thailand. As Siam/Thailand developed through economic, political and cultural interactions with Western powers, Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular served as a site on which Thai national identity was forged in response to these interactions. Christianity was an 'other' against which Thai Buddhist identity coalesced yet the appeal of first Catholic and later Protestant missionary education was very strong. This article combines interpretive historical method and analysis of contemporary shifts that reflect a more assertive Thai Catholic Church. In so doing, the article offers a new reading of the place of Catholicism as a minority religion that is both aware of the risks of overtly challenging Buddhist nationalism and also confident of its place within the Thai cultural imaginary and the global Catholic networks across Asia.


Complications and mortalities observed in 176 patients undergoing abdominoperineal resection at the University of Iowa Hospitals from 1947 through 1951, inclusive, were reported and discussed in an earlier communication.1This was the total number of abdominoperineal resections performed at the University Hospitals during this five-year period for all indications by all surgeons. The diagnosis, sex, and ages of these patients are recorded in the Table. One hundred eleven patients had one or more complications, for a total of 206 complications. Seventy-eight patients had early nonurologic complications; thirty-four, early urologic, and thirty-two, late complications. There were 17* deaths (9.6%). The present report is concerned with an evaluation of the possible causative roles played by certain preoperative and operative factors in the genesis of the observed morbidities. The days' duration of the postoperative hospitalization (POD), incidence of complications (CI), and mortality rate (MR) have been used as indices of morbidity. The


In HUTCHINSON'S publications, as well as in BARKLEY'S (1) and LAWRENCE'S (ID, p. 137), diagrams are presented showing as linear sequences his concept of the relationships of the various orders or families. HUTCHINSON (7, p. 649) stressed the fact that such a diagram... is not intended to convey the idea that families are derived from each other as they exist at the present time, but that one or more have been derived from the same basal stock as the one lower down in the family 'tree'. The possibility of confusion of these two completely different concepts has been pointed out by BARKLEY (op. cit) and by RODRIGUEZ (11), the latter with reference to BESSEY'S ( 2) familiar "cactus plant" illustration of his own phylogenetic treatment of the Angiosperms. Both authors pointed out that a phylogenetic diagram should be thought of as a cross-section of the "family tree", made at a particular moment in time -i.e., the present- rather than as a "family tree" in itself.


The total three year experience with frozen sperm used with artificial insemination by donor (AID) at Prince Henry's Hospital, Melbourne is presented. During this period, 252 women have had one or more cycles of treatment, with life table pregnancy rates of 47.6 ±3.55 after six cycles and 62.8 ± 4.00 after 12 cycles. There was no difference in outcome between patients with azoospermic or Oligospermic husbands, but patients requiring ovulatory stimulants or who have tubal abnormalities have a much lower success rate.


The firing temperature in gas turbine relates itself directly to the power output and the efficiency of the turbine. The higher the firing (operating) temperatures, higher the wall temperature of blades. However, an increase in the firing temperature is limited by the first stage blade material properties. This is because the higher firing temperature may cause a creep rupture, oxidizing, melting and ultimately failing of blades. Prior to blade cooling, the firing temperature was the same as the blade material temperature. Advancements in cooling technology have resulted in high firing temperatures with acceptable material temperatures. To better design the cooling channels and to improve heat transfer, many researchers are studying the flow patterns inside the cooling channels both experimentally and computationally. In this paper, the authors present the performance of three turbulence models using a Computational Fluid Dynamics code in comparison with the experimental values. To test the performance, a square duct was used with rectangular ribs oriented at 90° and 45° degree and placed at regular intervals. The channel also has bleed holes. The wall Nusselt numbers are compared in both the experimental and the computational results after suitable normalization. The Reynolds number is set to 10,000. The interactions between secondary flows and separation lead to very complex flow patterns. To accurately simulate these flows and heat transfer, both refined turbulence models and higher-order numerical schemes are indispensable for turbine designers to improve the cooling performance. The three-dimensional turbulent flows and heat transfer are numerically studied by using several different turbulence models, such as a non-linear low-Reynolds number k-ω and Reynolds Stress (RSM) models. In the k-ω model the cubic terms are included to represent the effects of extra strain-rates such as streamline curvature and three-dimensionality on both normal and shear turbulence stresses. The finite volume difference method incorporated with the higher-order bounded interpolation scheme has been employed in the present study. The outcome of this study helps to determine the best suitable turbulence model for future studies.© 2010 ASME


Recently, pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) incidence is a serious co-infection and an emerging global concern for children living with human immune deficiency virus (HIV). However, the incidence of PTB among adult HIV patients is exhaustively studied; the incidence of PTB among children on ART is overlooked. This research provides invaluable time based relevant actionsclues.Objective:- Hospital-based retrospective cohort study was conducted among 359 HIV infected children those registered on ART since 2009-2018. Time to develop PTB defined as the time from enrollment for ART care until the development of PTB. The proportional hazard assumption was checked for each variable and no variable was found with Schoenfeld test <0.05. Variables with P-value <0.25 at bivariate Cox regression analysis were entered into the multivariable Cox model. Multivariable Cox regression model with 95%CI and AHR used to identify significant predictor. Result:-Totally 359 HIV infected children followed and produced 686.5 Person per Years of observation (PYOs) with minimum and maximum follow up time on ART was 0.34 & 5.1 years, respectively. The median age of the children was 9 (SD±3.78) years. The overall incidence density of PTB was 7.2 Person/100years in 95%CI (5.52--- 9.24).Notably being age group >= 11 years (AHR=5.1 95% CI 1.4--18.), who stage 3&4 (AHR= 3.4 times increase the risks of PTB developed was compared WHO clinical stage 1& 2 (AHR=3.4 95%CI: 1.2-9.7). Being sever underweight (AHR=3.2 95%CI: 1.3--7.8), not started INHAHR =2.8, 95%CI: 1.1 -7.2) and having previous opportunistic infections (AHR= 2.34 95%CI: 1.3--4.1) significantly associated with PTB incidence. Conclusion:-The incidence of PTB in HIV infected children were found higher as compared with evidence from previous findings. Strengthening intensified screening of INH and therapeutic feeding needs for risk children highly recommended.


Background : although the search for biomarkers of mental disorders that is aimed at improving diagnosis, individualizing therapy based on knowledge of pathophysiological processes and preventing the development of mental illness is actively underway for endogenous mental disorders, the study of biological markers in non-endogenous mental disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in particular has received much less attention. Aim : to analyze current state of research dedicated to genetic and biochemical biomarkers that can be used to identify high risk groups and clarify the diagnosis of PTSD. Material and method : keywords "biomarkers", "post-traumatic stress disorder", "pathogenesis" have been used to fi nd in PubMed articles published in 2010–2020. Conclusion : research methods for elucidating the mechanisms of PTSD are actively developing, however, the identifi cation of specifi c biomarkers (biochemical, molecular, genetic, epigenetic, neuroimaging, psychophysiological) is a complicated task. This complexity is associated with numerous pathogenic mechanisms of PTSD and frequent comorbidity with mental disorders (depression, anxiety) and somatic diseases, as well as lack of specifi city of detected biomarkers.


In this paper, we present a novel design of a balanced bandpass filter using the substrate integrated waveguide cavity. Two square-shaped substrate integrated waveguide cavities are side-by-side with removing the vias on the common sidewall to form the BPF. Pared microstrip lines are used to construct the balanced ports of the proposed circuit. Slots are utilized to perturb the degenerated modes of TE102 and TE201 modes. Common-mode signals are managed to be suppressed for a better performance.


The digital system design support environment at Star Technologies, Inc. has changed radically in its implementation over a few years. Nevertheless, it has remained unusually effective in meeting corporate goals. This paper summarizes this evolution and the forces that drove it. Star's projected future CAE environment is also discussed.


One of the key priority tasks for the international Antarctic community is drilling and studying old Antarctic ice with age exceeding 1  million years in order to investigate possible reasons for the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. During the 2017–2018 austral season at Vostok Station, we carried out microscopic study of geometrical properties of the crystalline inclusions of air hydrates in ice core samples from boreholes 5G‑3 (Vostok) and DC2 (EPICA DC) in depth intervals where the age of the ice exceeded 400,000 years. The obtained data confirmed the existence of a robust linear relationship between the mean radius of the hydrates and the age of the ice in the bottom part of the East Antarctic ice sheet, and will be useful for further development of the new dating technique based on the phenomena of hydrate growth in polar ice. Preliminary, the age of the atmospheric ice bedded at Vostok at a depth of3538 m, inferred from the data on the size of the hydrates, amounts to 1.3±0.17 million years. The existence of ice older than 1 million years in the vicinity of Vostok implies that in the area of Ridge B, where the ice flow line which passes through Vostok Station originates, even older ice, with undisturbed stratigraphy, may exist. It would be desirable therefore to carry out a glacio-geophysical traverse to Ridge B in order to implement a detailed study of Dome B area aimed at identifying the most suitable site for a new deep drilling of the Antarctic ice sheet.


We treated two chronic phase chronic myelogenous leukemia patients with imatinib mesylate. Hematological complete remission and significant regression of bone marrow fibrosis were observed in both patients. The large amount of TGF-beta produced by increased bone marrow megakaryocytes might have caused the myelofibrosis, and it was revealed that imatinib mesylate brought about regression of the myelofibrosis by reducing the number of megakaryocytes in both patients.