A novel factor of interest for growth/plasticity in the brain is pregnane xenobiotic receptor (PXR). PXR is a liver factor known for its role in xenobiotic clearance and cholesterol metabolism. It is expressed in the brain, suggesting a potential role for plasticity, particularly involving cholesterol-based steroids and neurosteroids. Mating induces synthesis of neurosteroids in the midbrain Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) of female rodents, as well as other "plastic" regions of the brain, including the hippocampus, that may be involved in the consolidation of the mating experience. Reducing PXR in the VTA attenuates mating-induced biosynthesis of the neurosteroid, 5α-pregnan-3α-ol-20-one (3α,5α-THP). The 18 kDA translocator protein (TSPO) is one rate-limiting factor for 3α,5α-THP neurosteroidogenesis. The hypothesis tested was that PXR is an upstream factor of TSPO for neurosteroidogenesis of 3α,5α-THP in the VTA for lordosis, independent of peripheral glands. First, proestrous rats were administered a TSPO blocker (PK11195) and/or 3α,5α-THP following infusions of PXR antisense oligonucleotides (AS-ODNs) or vehicle to the VTA. Inhibiting TSPO with PK11195 reduced 3α,5α-THP levels in the midbrain and lordosis, an effect that could be reversed with 3α,5α-THP administration, but not AS-ODN+3α,5α-THP. Second, proestrous, ovariectomized (OVX), or ovariectomized/adrenalectomized (OVX/ADX) rats were infused with a TSPO enhancer (FGIN 1-27) subsequent to AS-ODNs or vehicle to the VTA. PXR AS-ODNs blocked actions of FGIN 1–27 for lordosis and 3α,5α-THP levels among proestrous > OVX > OVX/ADX rats. Thus, PXR may be upstream of TSPO, involved in neurosteroidogenesis of 3α,5α-THP in the brain for plasticity. This novel finding of a liver factor involved in behavioral/neural plasticity substantiates future studies investigating factors known for their prominent actions in the peripheral organs, such as the liver, for modulating brain function and its augmentation.


Every individual wants to be part of a community. To reach this goal of being included and to gain social rewards instead of punishments, one has to face the expectations of a community, as Habscheid states.2 To be accepted into a community/society, we have to approve social norms, values and narratives.3 Thus, a national discourse is not only relevant to society's stability but underlines the importance of collective as well as individual identity building. The US American identity after 9/11 focused especially on a stereotypically produced national enemy visualized in western imagination of Muslims and Islam. This defined Islam as an antagonism to the US nation built on Christian values, ignoring the different social groups within the state itself. Portraying Islam as a dominantly negative religion transported stereotypes regarding the representation of Muslims. These ideas expressed themselves in a nationally defined enemy mediated by modern media. In the US television series HOMELAND, these fears as well as a nationally constructed exclusion discourse have been addressed and discussed. This paper deals with the basic theories on national identity and analyzes the depiction of Islam as antagonism to US American Christian nationalism within the narrative of the television series HOMELAND.


The human N-ras oncogene, isolated from the HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cell line, is distantly related to viral oncogenes of Kirsten and Harvey sarcoma viruses. We have determined its chromosomal location by Southern blot analysis of DNAs from 37 human x rodent hybrid cell lines derived from 8 different human donors, some of whom carried balanced rearrangements of chromosome 1. The results indicate that the N-ras oncogene (RASN) is localized on the proximal part of the short arm of human chromosome 1, in region p3200 leads to cen.


Purpose. To investigate analytically whether higher-order wavefront errors comprising combinations of trefoil along 30° (trefoil30), vertical coma, and spherical aberration could provide cues to sphero-cylindrical refractive error development. Methods. A total of 25 test wavefronts, subdivided into five different types and five levels of higher-order root mean square errors (HO-RMS), were created for the study. One type contained spherical aberration only, producing HO-RMS levels between 0.1 and 0.5 &mgr;m. Four wavefront types contained coma, trefoil, and spherical aberration of various sign combinations also producing HO-RMS levels between 0.1 and 0.5 &mgr;m. From the 25 wavefronts, refractive power maps were created and 2025 different sphero-cylindrical combinations were added to each refractive power map. For each sphero-cylinder combination, the visual Strehl ratio based on the modulation transfer function (VSMTF) was calculated. Retinal images and refractive power histograms were calculated for the refractive power maps corresponding to the peak of the VSMTF. Results. Spherical aberration affected the best focal plane thereby inducing spherical or defocus cues. The VSMTF produced by vertical coma and trefoil30, in combination with spherical aberration, could be improved with sphero-cylinders of various magnitudes and directions (i.e., with-the-rule, against-the rule, myopic astigmatism, or hyperopic astigmatism). Clinical significance of sphero-cylinders (i.e., ≥0.25 D) was reached at HO-RMS levels between 0.2 and 0.3 &mgr;m for a 5-mm pupil zone. Conclusions. In the context of compensatory blur driven eye growth, commonly occurring combinations of the three considered higher-order aberrations have the potential to produce cues to eye growth resulting in myopia and with-the-rule astigmatism.


Online learning management systems are in use to facilitate the face to face learning process in many universities. There are many variables that shape and influence a student's perception of an online learning management system. This study investigates whether there is a relationship between the perception of a student regarding the learning management system and their actual usage of such system. It is believed to help better understand the student usage of online learning management system. An online questionnaire was published on a course management system for a selected subject and the student participation was voluntary. Results indicate that no significant relationship between the perception students had about the learning management system and the actual use of the system. Interestingly, a significant relationship was found between having internet access away from university and the student perception about the system. Students who had internet access away from university had better perception about the learning management system even though there was no significant difference in the level of online learning management system usage between the groups.


This study was conducted to investigate agricultural graduate students' attitudes of Razi University towards sustainable agriculture. The sample included 165 agricultural graduate students using Krejcie and Morgan's table (1970) for sample size. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.83 for the scales of attitudes which showed a highly satisfactory level of internal consistency. The findings revealed that students had positive attitude toward sustainable agriculture, such as negative effects of conventional agriculture, negative effects of agrochemical on human and animal health and so on. However, there were moderate attitudes towards the effect of mix cropping system on risk management. Respondents were strongly disagreeing regarding to maximize profit as the main objective of farmers. It was found that there is a high positive correlation between agricultural graduate students' knowledge and attitudes towards sustainable agriculture. The results of this study can provide information of the knowledge and attitudes of agricultural graduate students and thus serve guidance for the future options concerning the development of agricultural graduate course. Finally, the outcome of this study indicates that further agricultural policy education in agricultural higher education system is urgently needed.


The mutagenicity of soils (on A. cepa and Tr. poludosa) and chromosome aberration level in population have been studied in two Uzbekistan areas. The obtained results are evidence of global contamination of the whole region by mutagenic and toxic chemicals. The mutation level in test objects and frequency of chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes in the examined persons have not been correlated. The condition of the area studied is classified by mutagenic contamination as "critical".


High morbidity and mortality of influenza virus infection m akes it an important disease world-wide. Mouse is a very well-studied animal model for this disease with similar manifestation to human disease. It would be desirable to induce mucosal as well as circulating immune responses to obtain protection from infection and to decrease the spread of the virus. Cell mediated immunity (proliferative and cytolytic responses) is needed for long -term immunity. A new type of influenza subunit vaccine which can be given orally or parenterally has been developed to induce mu cosal and circulating immune responses. This vaccine consists of membrane proteins rolled up in a unique phospholipid structures called protein cochleates. BALB/c mice were immunized three times with influenza glycoprotein-containing cochleates orally or i ntramuscularly, or they were primed orally or intramuscularly followed by two boosts with the alternate routes. Proliferation assays of spleen cells and ELISA for IgA, IgG, and IgM of the sera and saliva from these mice shown some differences in the immune responses induced by different immunization regimens. Mucosal administration of the formulation led to secretory IgA in saliva while parenteral immunization resulted in circulating IgG. Increased proliferative responses as well as IgG following 2nd and 3rd administration, indicated the effect of boosting in all immunization regimens. Oral immunization with influenza virus envelope glycoprotein-containing cochleates led to protection from infection in the lungs and trachea following intranasal challenge with the live virus. Iran. Biomed. J. 5 (1): 33-38, 2001


Motor vehicle theft cases still often occur around us, this happens because there is still a lack of security systems in motorized vehicles that only use ignition keys and key covers, where the weakness of standard security systems like this has been understood by perpetrators of motor vehicle theft. to perform the action. The need for additional security systems is felt to be very necessary, in order to avoid the occurrence of motor vehicle theft. To overcome all this, a motor vehicle security system was created using SMS with an Arduino-based GPS tracking method, to create a GPS Tracker that can control vehicles via SMS (short message service) that can track or assist the vehicle's position using the Arduino Uno GPS (global positioning system). , SIM 800L. If the vehicle is lost, the owner can be tracked only by SMS to the number that has been programmed on the Arduino uno to prevent and make it easier to get back a stolen motor vehicle.


The Intercooled Recuperated Gas Turbine Engine System (ICR) is being developed by the United States Navy (USN) for shipboard application as a prime mover. The major development goal of the program is reduced fuel consumption relative to the LM2500, the current fielded gas turbine prime mover. This paper describes a 500-hour endurance test of the ICR system. The test was conducted at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD), Philadelphia, in accordance with USN requirements which mimicked the qualification requirements for the system.Data to assess the capability of the ICR to pass the qualification test was collected. Overall, the ICR has demonstrated a readiness to commence qualification testing.The ICR completed the test with a total accumulated operating time of 457 hours and total endurance time of 322 hours. Achievement of the planned 500 endurance hours was precluded by persistent facility waterbrake problems.Copyright © 2001 by ASME


Reading comprehension is an integral part of all learning and success in life. Our Web-based intelligent tutoring system for the structure strategy was tested with 5th grade students on reading comprehension and motivation and we found significant improvement on both areas. This paper presents the theoretical foundations for motivation and reading comprehension, the research design, results, and discussion of findings.


This paper deals with the problem of the asymptotical stability for a class of linear systems with multiple time-delays. Using Lyapunov-Razumikhin theorem and the concept of matrix norm, the sufficient conditions of delay-independent stability and delay-dependent stability are derived to ensure that the linear systems with multiple time-delays are asymptotically stable. By comparing with the present theorem, it is obvious that the stability theorem in this paper could deal with the linear systems with constant delay and time-varying delay. Last, an example is given to illustrate that the new method is more effective than the present method and the delay bound obtained in this paper is of less conservative.


Acute global aphasia without hemiparesis has been considered pathognomonic of embolic stroke. During 1 year, we encountered six patients with this syndrome. Two had multiple strokes, probably embolic. One had atrial fibrillation; at autopsy, there were metastases as well as multiple infarcts in the left hemisphere. One had a single large infarct in the territory of an anterior branch of the middle cerebral artery (MCA), one had subarachnoid hemorrhage of unknown origin, and one had a sylvian fissure hematoma with intraparenchymal extension from a ruptured MCA aneurysm. Nonembolic etiologies are therefore also possible and include conditions that bar anticoagulation.


less efforts to bring back fugitive diamond businessman Nirav Modi from UK has started paying off ultimately. On Wednesday, Nirav lost his appeal against extradition to India with a United Kingdom court dismissing his plea. The High Court of London (United Kingdom) on Wednesday dismissed the appeal of Nirav Modi, who is wanted in India to face money laundering and fraud cases. Nirav Modi, who is a prime accused in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB scam, had fled India. He lost his appeal after he had moved High Court in London against extradition on mental health grounds. The Bench of Justice Stuart Smith and Justice Robert Jay of the High Court said "no features of psychotic illness". The court rejected Nirav Modi's counsel's claims that he will die by suicide due to severe depression and said "Nirav Modi neither is nor is very likely to be at the most severe end of the scale of depressive illness". "He has so far displayed no features of psychotic illness. Although he has exhibited persistent suicidal ideation, he has neither attempted suicide or deliberate self-harm nor disclosed plans to do so, except in the most vague and general way," the court said. The High Court also noted the steps taken to render Barrack 12 safe and to ensure that there is effectively constant monitoring to reduce both the risk of attempted suicide and the prospect of suicide being committed. The Court noted that the appellant, Nirav Deepak Modi, is sought by the Government of India. The High Court noted the sets of criminal proceedings before it. The first, brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation ("the CBI"), relates to a fraud on the Punjab National Bank, which caused losses equivalent to over £700 million. The second, brought by the Enforcement Directorate ("the ED"), relates to the alleged laundering of the proceeds of that fraud. "While, as we have said, the arrangements cannot entirely eliminate the risk of suicide, that is not the test. The starting point is that a high threshold has to be reached in order to satisfy the court that Mr (Nirav) Modi's condition is such that it would be oppressive to extradite him. As we have said, the arrangements that will be in place, which have been the subject of assurances in response to the concerns and promptings of those acting for Modi, are appropriate," A step closer to extrAdition: nirAv Modi loses cAse in UK rAy of hope


Abstract The debate on the recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Australian Constitution is more about how, than whether, this should occur. The two main proposals involve the use of a preamble. One proposes symbolic recognition in a new constitutional preamble with a clause prohibiting use of the preamble in constitutional interpretation. The other would give Parliament power to make laws with respect to Indigenous Australians, but qualify it in a preamble so that it could only be exercised for their 'advancement'. This article draws on comparative experience of the use of preambles in other common law countries to challenge the assumptions underlying each proposal.


A new mathematical model of the power circuit of a three-phase voltage source converter (VSC) was developed in the stationary and synchronous reference frames. The mathematical model was then used to analyze and synthesize the voltage and current control loops for the VSC. Analytical expressions were derived for calculating the gains and time constants of the current and voltage regulators. The mathematical model was used to control a 140-kW regenerative VSC. The synchronous reference-frame model was used to define feedforward signals in the current regulators to eliminate the cross coupling between the d and q phases. It allowed the reduction of the current control loops to first-order plants and improved their tracking capability. The bandwidths of the current and voltage-control loops were found to be approximately 20 and 60 times (respectively) smaller than the sampling frequency. All control algorithms were implemented in a digital signal processor. All results of the analysis were experimentally verified.


Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS) are one of the biggest problems facing the Internet. To eliminate this type of attack, the number of which has increased in the period under study, various methods of defense have been proposed. However a detection mechanism that is able to completely counteract the attacks has not yet been found. Therefore, detection and defense against DDoS attacks is of great importance for specialists engaged in computer security. This paper presents a systematic review of the scientific literature on methods of detecting DDoS attacks. From the literature the main aspects related to detection have been formulated. Six aspects for analysis in this investigation were identified: techniques, variables, tools, deployment location, point in time and detection accuracy. It was found that each technique used for the detection of attacks exploits certain characteristics of the network traffic, user requests and specific tools. Finally, it managed to identify the mechanisms that have the highest detection accuracy, such as the datasets they use. It has been concluded that an adequate analysis of the above aspects of detection of DDoS attacks can make a useful contribution to designing an appropriate strategy for neutralizing the attacks.


The Medical Council of Rhodesia at its quarterly meeting on 2nd November, 1976, received a document from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rhodesia in which it was proposed to make substantial alterations in the curriculum for the teaching of the M.B.Ch.B. degree, which degree is currently recognised by the Council Among the alterations suggested was a proposal to upgrade psychiatry to a professional barrier examination subject, to place greater emphasis on general practice and community medicine and to reduce the undergraduate period of training to five years and extend the compulsory period of internship to two years. This internship would cover not only medicine and surgery as at present but also would include in the second year four months paediatrics, four months obstetrics and gynaecology and four months primary medical care.


In this paper the problem of using composite heptatubular charges in conventional guns for a linear law of burning has been discussed. A solution of the basic equations of Internal Ballistics has been derived under certain conditions, viz., the value of the radio of specific heats, has been assumed to be the same for both the charges and the covolume correction have not been neglected.


It has been proposed that buckling of actin stress fibers (SFs) may be associated with their disassembly. However, much of the detail remains unknown partly because the use of an elastic membrane sheet, conventionally necessary for inducing SF buckling with a mechanical compression to adherent cells, may limit high quality and quick imaging of the dynamic cellular events. Here, we present an alternate approach to induce buckling behavior of SFs on a readily observable glass plate. Actin SFs were extracted from cells, and constituent myosin II (MII) molecules were partially photo‐inactivated in contractility. An addition of Mg‐ATP allowed actin–myosin cross‐bridge cycling and resultant contraction of only thick SFs that still contained active MII in the large volume. Meanwhile, thin SFs with virtually no active motor protein in the small volume had no choice but to buckle with the shortening movement of nearby thick SFs functioning as a compression‐inducing element. This novel technique, thus allowing for selective inductions of contraction and buckling of SFs and measurements of the cellular prestress, may be applicable to not only investigations on their disassembly mechanisms but also to measurements of the relative thickness of individual SFs in each cell. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 824–832, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Naturally occurring clays, metallic minerals and additives (catalytic agents) are known to change morphology and surface properties of a reservoir matrix. During air injection and in situ combustion, these pore-scale modifications lead to variations in combustion front performance. In this paper, an analytical approach is used to investigate the front behaviour in the presence of catalytic agents. The front involves coherent propagation of low temperature (fuel generating) and high temperature (fuel burning) oxidation reaction regions under the influence of reservoir heat losses. The analysis is performed in a space of parameters that includes kinetic and fuel deposition effects of the agents. Results show the existence of conditions improving frontal coherence and enhancing combustion.


Public interest in biodiversity has never been so high, but the necessary inventory of existing species is hindered by the scarcity of taxonomists able to characterise and describe new species (α-taxonomy). This situation is particularly worrisome in nematology where only a small fraction of the estimated 105 to 108 existing species has been described and where experienced taxonomists are fast disappearing while the few that are still active find it increasingly difficult to publish morphological descriptions and to get financial support for biodiversity studies. The present disregard for α-taxonomy is said to originate from the excessive reliance by funding agencies and academic authorities on the Impact Factors attributed to scientific journals by ISI (Institute for Scientific Information). Molecular studies gave back some support and prestige to taxonomy, but that approach suffers from some limitations and it cannot be used alone for reaching taxonomic conclusions. In addition, any described DNA sequence should always be linked to a named species whose morphology has been correctly described by a trained taxonomist. The authors call for a renewed interest in α-taxonomy. Electronic publication according to the Code of Zoological Nomenclature would be one solution, but journals and authors seem reluctant to accept it. A variant would be to publish on paper only the diagnosis of the new species. The complete descriptions could be deposited in an Internet database but the setting-up of such a database would be a costly enterprise that would require several years of work by a team composed of morphological and molecular taxonomists and computer scientists.


N.T. Wright, who represents the New Perspective on Paul, applies philosophical construct of critical realism to the study of the New Testament text. This article explores how N.T. Wright approaches the study of the person of Jesus Christ and his teaching in the context of ancient Judaism, and Apostle Paul's theology and its application in the early Christian communities. A special attention is paid to the essential works of N.T. Wright, in which he describes epistemology applied to the New Testament studies. This article synchronously explores two main concepts – worldview and history – in the theory of cognition according to critical realism. By studying several methods and approaches to the biblical text (or their totality), a contemporary Christian can choose for herself the method that most illuminates the truth of the meanings of the Gospel of Jesus and Paul's preaching.


The interdisciplinary debate on the effects of medicalisation as experienced by women during pregnancy and childbirth rose during the 70s as part of the reflections of the feminist movement and continued throughout the 80's with great intensity. A research conducted through direct observation and interviews gives us the chance to partecipate to the debate by questioning the situation of the women hospitalised in public structures of Salta (Argentina). Starting with the premises that bring to the hospitalisation of childbirth which effectively reduce the role of women to that of patients we will explore how certain organisational necessities and at times the arbitrary choices of medical operators substitute women in the decisional process, not recognising them the ability to decide based on how they are feel and on physiological processes. We will especially focus on the effects of labor management when based on protocols which establish the relation between temporal intervals and physical indexes. We will see how time is manipulated during childbirth and how the first contact between mother and child is often delayed to favour bureaucratic necessities. We will also analyse how these phenomena might depend on a particular conception of pain influenced by biomedical rationality. In the end we will underline the risks brought on by a so called humanised assistance to childbirth perpetrated by practices that subordinate women to obstetrical diktats thus favouring an alienation from one's own feelings and increasing the dependence on medical practices that make the human body virtually indistinguishable form a mere lab specimen.


Protoprophyrinogen oxidase enzyme-inhibiting herbicides are useful in a method for controlling unwanted ground shoots of vines and other trunk vegetation. Of particular interest is the use of carfentrazone ethyl and certain metabolites thereof for control of unwanted ground shoots of vines and other trunk vegetation.


The deformability (D) of erythrocytes and their ultrastructure in the microcirculatory channel of vital tissues of the organism were studied in experiments on rabbits in two types of extreme conditions: staphylococci toxicosis and the postischemic syndrome. Erythrocyte deformability in each of these extreme conditions occurred in the late phase of the process and was manifested by destruction of the ultrastructural organization of the membrane matrix and the cytoplasm of cells in the microvessels. Destruction of the erythrocyte membranes was linked with their disintegration into micro- and macro-fragments (in staphylococci toxicosis) and separation of membrane areas in the form of microvesicles (in the postischemic syndrome). Damage to the erythrocyte membrane and cytoplasm may be considered to be one of the typical manifestations of the organism's response to extreme effects accompanying the phenomena of disseminated intravascular clotting.


Sudden cardiac death (SCD) continues to be one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide, with an annual incidence estimated at 250,000–300,000 in the United States and with the vast majority occurring in the setting of coronary disease. We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis in 1,283 SCD cases and >20,000 control individuals of European ancestry from 5 studies, with follow-up genotyping in up to 3,119 SCD cases and 11,146 controls from 11 European ancestry studies, and identify the BAZ2B locus as associated with SCD (P = 1.8×10−10). The risk allele, while ancestral, has a frequency of ∼1.4%, suggesting strong negative selection and increases risk for SCD by 1.92–fold per allele (95% CI 1.57–2.34). We also tested the role of 49 SNPs previously implicated in modulating electrocardiographic traits (QRS, QT, and RR intervals). Consistent with epidemiological studies showing increased risk of SCD with prolonged QRS/QT intervals, the interval-prolonging alleles are in aggregate associated with increased risk for SCD (P = 0.006).


This work was undertaken in order to ascertain the PKU mutational spectrum in Minas Gerais, Brazil, the relative frequency of the mutations in the State and the origin of these mutations by haplotype determination. Minas Gerais is a trihybrid population formed by miscegenation from Europeans, Africans and Amerindians. All 13 exons of the PAH gene from 78 PKU patients were analyzed, including splicing sites and the promoter region. We identified 30 different mutations and 98% of the PAH alleles were established. A new mutation (Q267X) was identified as well. The most common mutations found were V388M (21.2), R261Q (16.0%), IVS10‐11G>A (15.3%), I65T (5.8%), IVS2+5G>C (5.8%), R252W (5.1%), IVS2+5G>A (4.5%), P281L (3.8%) and L348V (3.2%). These nine mutations correspond to 80% of the PKU alleles in the state. Haplotypes were determined to characterize the origin of the PAH alleles. The majority of the mutations found, with respective haplotypes, are frequent in the Iberian Peninsula. However, there were some mutations that are rare in Europe and four previously unreported mutation‐haplotype associations. I65T and Q267X were found in association with haplotype 38 and may be African in origin or the result of miscegenation in the Brazilian population.


The most common cancer of the endocrine system is thyroid cancer, representing 1.0-1.5 % all newly diagnosed cases of cancer. According to the cancer society of Russia, the thyroid cancer in children is much rarer than in adults. Thyroid cancer in children and adolescents is characterized by an adverse clinical course and a high risk of developing metastases in the lymph nodes. The main method of treatment for pediatric thyroid cancer is total thyroidectomy with central neck lymph node dissection followed by radioactive iodine therapy. In foreign and domestic literature, complications of the organ of vision, namely, changes of the optic disc, after surgical treatment for thyroid cancer are poorly understood. The risk of transient hypocalcemia and hypothyroidism increases after thyroidectomy. In the literature, there are two reported cases of the optic nerve swelling combined with hypoparathyroidism and hypocalcemia. While hypocalcemia intracranial hypertension and swelling of the optic nerves are often recorded. In this article, the authors present their own clinical observation of a 13-year-old patient after thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine therapy with detailed analysis of the clinical data and study results. According to the survey of the patient, bilateral swelling of the optic disc was revealed, which could occur due to hypothyroid state. Objective: to identify the cause of the development of bilateral optic nerve swelling in a patient after thyroidectomy and treatment course with radioactive iodine.


AIM
To illustrate, with two clinical cases of endoperiodontal lesions, the clinical application of the new classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions.

BACKGROUND
The endodont and the periodont are two entities that communicate with each other through physiological communication channels (apical foramen, lateral and secondary canals, and dentinal tubules) resulting in close anatomical and functional interaction. An endoperiodontal lesion is defined by pathological communication between the endodontic and periodontal tissues in a given tooth, according to the definition given by the new classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions from the work of the Chicago Consensus Conference in 2017. This new classification differentiates the lesions with and without root damage. Diagnosis and therapeutic strategy will be analyzed through two clinical cases.

REVIEW RESULTS
The clinical cases we presented show that the treatment of these lesions must involve endodontic and periodontal management due to the intimate relationship between the tooth and periodontium.

CONCLUSION
The classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions provides a clinical focus on endoperiodontal lesions, based on signs and symptoms that have a direct effect on the prognosis and the treatment of the tooth. The pathological communication between the endodont and the periodontium complicates the management of the involved tooth.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Chicago's new classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions offers an up-to-date vision of periodontal lesions management and highlights the intimate links between endodontic and periodontal tissues.


Chestnuts (Castanea spp.) can be propagated by tissue culture methods such as meristem tip culture, shoot tip culture and bud culture. However, some limiting factors prevent using these methods extensively. For example, the explant collection periods of these methods are short, and the collection time is critical. In addition, shoot formation ratios of explants on the initial media and survival of these shootlets thereafter are generally low due to factors such as infection, browning, and vitrification. In this study the shoot apex of the dormant buds were used as the explants source for the first time. By use of this method the explant collection period was much longer and the mass multiplication probability increased. Three chestnut cultivars native to Turkey - 'Sanaslama', 'Osmanoglu' and 'Haciomer' Castanea sativa Mill. - were used in the study in two years of experiments 2007 and 2008. Two main media were used as initial to obtain shootlets: MS (1/2×NH 4 NO 3 and KNO 3 ) and DKW (Driver-Kuniyuki walnut medium). In multiplication step MS (1/2×NH 4 NO 3 medium was used with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 mg/L BAP concentrations and in rooting MS (1/2×NH 4 NO 3 with 1.0 and 2.0 mg/L IBA concentrations were used. Shootlet formation from the explants in 2008 was higher (66.66-95.45%) than in 2007 (42.00-75.00%). MS (1/2×NH 4 NO 3 and KN0 3 ) medium has given successful results in this respect. Therefore it can be recommended as a growing medium. The multiplication coefficient varied between 3.12 to 3.57 in 2007 and 3.95 to 4.76 in 2008 according to the cultivars. Rooting of the shootlets was difficult, and no rooted shootlet was obtained. However the experiment is now being continued, and new rooting media will be tested. The results obtained from this study showed that this method can be efficiently used in the mass multiplication of chestnuts.


Plasmons can map temperature on the nanoscale Determining temperature on small length scales can be challenging: Direct probes can alter sample temperature, and radiation probes are limited by the wavelength of the light used. Mecklenberg et al. show how the bulk plasmon resonance of aluminum can be used to map the temperature on the nanoscale with transmission electron microscopy (see the Perspective by Colliex). Many other metals and semiconductors also have plasmon resonances that could also be used for temperature imaging. Science, this issue p. 629; see also p. 611 Electron microscopy measurement of the bulk plasmon of aluminum provides an accurate temperature probe. [Also see Perspective by Colliex] Modern microelectronic devices have nanoscale features that dissipate power nonuniformly, but fundamental physical limits frustrate efforts to detect the resulting temperature gradients. Contact thermometers disturb the temperature of a small system, while radiation thermometers struggle to beat the diffraction limit. Exploiting the same physics as Fahrenheit's glass-bulb thermometer, we mapped the thermal expansion of Joule-heated, 80-nanometer-thick aluminum wires by precisely measuring changes in density. With a scanning transmission electron microscope and electron energy loss spectroscopy, we quantified the local density via the energy of aluminum's bulk plasmon. Rescaling density to temperature yields maps with a statistical precision of 3 kelvin/hertz−1/2, an accuracy of 10%, and nanometer-scale resolution. Many common metals and semiconductors have sufficiently sharp plasmon resonances to serve as their own thermometers.


Children can benefit a lot from enriched and encouraging environment that can offer them numerous possibilities for experimenting, exploring, revealing and development. In this paper the author presents the features of encouraging environment in preschool institutions. The author also discusses the importance of those institutions in creating favorable conditions for learning, growth and development of preschool children. Contemporary research results related to active position of a child in the learning process emphasize the need for creating an encouraging environment not only from strict pedagogic aspect, but also from the aspect of architecture, the role of the educators, and the culture of the educational institution.


In the course of studying the low‐pressure thermal oxidation of nitric oxide by oxygen, a new absorption band occurring on the shoulder of the P branch of nitric oxide at 1840 cm−1 was observed. The new absorption band was shown to be first order with respect to both nitric oxide and oxygen. The variation of this absorption band with time indicated that it was probably due to the free‐radical intermediate present in this system, and was assigned to peroxy‐nitrogen trioxide. The structural assignment OONO, rather than the symmetrical nitrate radical is based on the absorption frequency and by a comparison with frequencies expected for OONO and symmetrical NO3. By assuming a value for the absorption coefficient of OONO, which is presumably formed by the rapid reversible reaction O2+NO⇌OONO, thermodynamic data concerning OONO and the equilibrium constant were estimated.


This paper describes the Dynamic Execution Order Scheduling (DEOS) system that has been developed to handle highly dynamic and interactive scheduling domains. Unlike typical scheduling problems which have a static task list, DEOS is able to handle dynamic task lists in which tasks are added, deleted and modified "on the fly" DEOS is also able to handle tasks with uncertain and/or probabilistic outcomes. DEOS extends the current scheduling paradigm to allow tasking in dynamic and uncertain environments by viewing the planning and scheduling tasks as being integrated and evolving entities. DEOS has been successfully applied to the domains of Air Campaign Planning (ACP) and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) management. The paper provides an overview of the dynamic task model and the "penalty box" scheduling algorithm which was developed to provide robust solutions to over constrained scheduling problems. The basic algorithm is described together with extensions to handle flexible time constraints.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have promising features that presents unique opportunities to observe both urban and rural environments. Unlike traditional monitoring systems, WSNs components are small, inexpensive, and easy to deploy. These characteristics of WSNs offer not only capability of monitoring wider and broader areas but also prolonging the observation time without any intervention. However, implementation of WSNs brings about its own theoretical and practical challenges particularly in regards to energy efficiency, reliability, fault tolerance, and scalability.
We employ distributed algorithms as our basic tool to overcome these challenges. Distributed algorithms research has an extensive repertoire of reliable and scalable methods. Starting with these methods, we design WSN specific solutions where energy efficiency, resource limitations and unreliable communication are key concerns.
We specifically target reliability and energy efficiency issues. While reliability is studied within distributed algorithms research, common models and assumptions are not compatible with WSNs. The issue of energy efficiency is not studied at all, instead constraints such as memory limitations and execution time take precedence.
We utilize "programming abstractions" and "mobility" approaches to provide solutions for reliability and energy efficiency problems. Through programming abstractions approach, we aspire to generate more expressive primitives simplifying the implementations of distributed algorithms. For constructing these primitives in reliable and energy efficient manners, we make use of some of the characteristics of the low power radios frequently used in WSN nodes.
Mobility, more specifically mobile basestations approach, addresses the spatio-temporal features of WSNs. We propose that relocating basestation in cooperation with WSN eliminates many challenges emerging due to the dynamic nature of data generation in applications such as tracking and detection.
We present analytical discussions, discrete event simulations, as well as experimental results from WSN deployments. Our initial results indicate that our approaches have the potential of improving reliability and energy efficiency in WSN deployments.


The application of graph theory in chemical and molecular structure research far exceeds people's expectations, and it has recently grown exponentially. In the molecular graph, atoms are represented by vertices and bonded by edges. In this report, we study the silicon-carbon Si2C3-I[p,q] and Si2C3-II[p,q]. We compute several Zagreb polynomials and Redefined Zagreb indices of these silicon-carbons.


Data regarding the content and composition of the hydrocarbons (HC) — aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) — are presented in comparison with the content of the total organic carbon (C org ) in the bottom sediments in the coastal area of the eastern part of the Gdansk Basin (Russian sector of the Baltic Sea). The HC and PAH distribution in the sediments confirm the dependence of hazardous substance accumulation on the organic carbon content and the sediment grain size of the affected sediment. Bigger concentrations of PAHs were also observed near the Pionersky port. Particular attention was paid to the PAHs content.


This article addresses the question of passengers' experience through different transport modes. It presents the main results of a pilot study, for which stress levels experienced by a traveller were assessed and predicted over two long journeys. Accelerometer measures and several physiological signals (electrodermal activity, blood volume pulse and skin temperature) were recorded using a smart wristband while travelling from Grenoble to Bilbao. Based on user's feedback, three events of high stress and one period of moderate activity with low stress were identified offline. Over these periods, feature extraction and machine learning were performed from the collected sensor data to build a personalized regressive model, with user's stress levels as output. A smartphone application has been developed on its basis, in order to record and visualize a timely estimated stress level using traveler's physiological signals. This setting was put on test during another travel from Grenoble to Brussels, where the same user's stress levels were predicted in real time by the smartphone application. The number of correctly classified stress-less time windows ranged from 92.6% to 100%, depending on participant's level of activity. By design, this study represents a first step for real-life, ambulatory monitoring of passenger's stress while travelling.


Abstract The negative effects of very low birthweight on intellectual development have been well documented, and more recently this effect has been shown to generalise to birthweights within the normal range. In this study we investigate the etiology of this relationship by using a classical twin design to disentangle the contributions of genes and environment. A previous Dutch study (Boomsma et al., 2001) examining these effects indicated that genes were important in mediating the association of birthweight to full IQ measured at ages 7 and 10, but not at ages 5 and 12. Here the association between birthweight and IQ at age 16 is considered (N = 523 twin pairs). Using variance components modeling we found that the genetic variance in birthweight (4%) completely overlapped with that in verbal IQ but not performance or full IQ. Results further showed the importance of shared environmental effects on birthweight (~ 60%) but not on IQ (with genes explaining up to 72% of IQ variance). Models incorporating a direction of causation parameter between birthweight and IQ provided adequate fit to the data in either causal direction for performance and full IQ, but the model with verbal IQ causing birthweight was preferred to one in which birthweight influenced verbal IQ. As the measurement of birthweight precedes the measurement of twins' IQ at age 16, the influence of verbal IQ might be better considered as a proxy for parents' IQ or education, and it is possible that brighter mothers provide better prenatal environments for their children.


Short range wireless communications have been used more and more frequently in our life. But the electromagnetic fields waves also have some disadvantages. One of these disadvantages is health problems. Many studies shows the electromagnetic field waves using for communication may damage our health. And in most hospitals, they also have bans on the use of mobile phones and wide area networks because of Electromagnetic Interference. So this paper studied the use of ultrasound for wireless communication in air, instead of using electromagnetic field wave. In order to find an advisable modulation method for ultrasound wireless communication, Amplitude modulation method and Phased modulation method has been test.


The article sketches the beginnings of a theory of what the courts should do in the political constitution. As such, it differs from most of the literature on political constitutionalism (which tends to say more about what courts should not do) and most of the literature about what courts should do in constitutional law (which tends to be framed in a legal constitutionalist perspective). First, arguments are presented about how a political constitutionalist might distinguish between rights which are best left to political institutions and those which better lend themselves to judicial enforcement. Second, the argument is made that in constitutional litigation the courts should focus as much (if not more) on powers and evidence as on rights. The article closes with brief consideration of the legislature's role in the political constitution and of the courts' role in supporting the legislature. Throughout, the article takes the British constitution as its principal case study, but the implications of the argument presented here extend beyond Britain alone.


Current state of the art algorithms for recommender systems are mainly based on collaborative filtering, which exploits user ratings to discover latent factors in the data. These algorithms unfortunately do not make effective use of other features, which can help solve two well identified problems of collaborative filtering: cold start (not enough data is available for new users or products) and concept shift (the distribution of ratings changes over time). To address these problems, we propose Modurec: an autoencoder-based method that combines all available information using the feature-wise modulation mechanism, which has demonstrated its effectiveness in several fields. While time information helps mitigate the effects of concept shift, the combination of user and item features improve prediction performance when little data is available. We show on Movielens datasets that these modifications produce state-of-the-art results in most evaluated settings compared with standard autoencoder-based methods and other collaborative filtering approaches.


Studies on the theory of model predictive control include the assumption that the origin is in the interior of the feasible region (that is, the inequality constraints are not active at steady state). The reason for making this assumption is that without it one cannot guarantee feasibility of the control problem on the infinite horizon because of the finite horizon parameterization of the input with an unconstrained linear feedback law. As demonstrated in this article, however, this assumption often does not hold in practice. A strategy for handling inequality constraints active at steady state is presented by projecting the system onto the active constraints under the finite horizon parameterization of the input, as well as an algorithm for constructing the optimal linear feedback law that constrains the system to the active constraints. Feasibility is obtained using output admissible sets. For the steady-state target calculation, we propose an algorithm utilizing exact penalties that treats systems in a unified fashion with more inputs than outputs and vice versa. Assuming the system is detectable, it is proven that the algorithm yields a unique steady-state target.


Foreign language learners tend to mispronounce sounds in the target language by subconsciously searching and substituting with "similar corresponding sounds" in their native dialects. Correction of EFL pronunciation is thus difficult for both instructors and learners. Yet Critical Period Hypothesis is being increasingly misused by Chinese teachers and researchers as an excuse for not paying attention to learners' pronunciation habits. To address this problem with an effective learning strategy, the paper proposes a two-step approach, i.e., Step 1, the use of Venn diagram as visual organizer by mapping the phones of native language and target language into the sets in a clear and logical manner; and Step 2, the use of sensory integration pronunciation exercise to realize self-monitored oral-motors of the learners. An intensive five-minute instruction with the aid of Venn diagram and sensory integration pronunciation exercise of diphthongs is given to Chinese learners to elicit differences in diphthongs between target language and native language. Results of phonetic data analyses show that learners made significant improvements in accuracy after the two-step intensive training. Language instructors should therefore be aware of the effects of a) Venn diagram visual aid as a prototype to compare and differentiate the seemingly similar "corresponding sounds" against native language interference, and b) sensory integration in pronunciation training as a positive habit-forming practice.


Background: Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is increasingly recognized as a clinically variable and likely underdiagnosed syndrome caused by non-traumatic CSF leaks. The aim of this study was to correlate the findings of imaging studies – magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radionuclide cisternography – with clinical features and CSF pressure in SIH in order to improve the diagnostic yield and management in patients with SIH. Methods: Clinical case study of 10 consecutive cases of SIH, MRI, radio-isotope cisternography. Results: 5 out of 10 patientshad unusual clinical symptoms of SIH(2 subdural haematomas, 1 gait ataxia, 1 tinnitus, 1 haemodialysis-associated headache). In 7 patients pachymeningeal gadolinium enhancement was detected in MRI accompanied by a reduced CSF opening pressure. In contrast, the 3 patients with normal MRI also had a normal CSF pressure. Radio-isotope cisternography was abnormal in all patients tested. There was no correlation between the severity of clinical symptoms and MRI or radionuclide cisternography findings. Conclusions: The spectrum of clinical symptoms and imaging findings in SIH is highly variable. There- fore the diagnosis of SIH is often delayed. Radio-isotope cisternography is an important additional diagnostic method to detect CSF leaks or pathological kinetics of radio-isotope movement particularly in cases with normal MRI findings.


Motivated by the recursive Newton-Euler formulation, we propose a novel cascaded Gaussian process learning framework for the inverse dynamics of robot manipulators. This approach leads to a significant dimensionality reduction which in turn results in better learning and data efficiency. We explore two formulations for the cascading: the inward and outward, both along the manipulator chain topology. The learned modeling is tested in conjunction with the classical inverse dynamics model (semi-parametric) and on its own (non-parametric) in the context of feed-forward control of the arm. Experimental results are obtained with Jaco 2 six-DOF and SARCOS seven-DOF manipulators for randomly defined sinusoidal motions of the joints in order to evaluate the performance of cascading against the standard GP learning. In addition, experiments are conducted using Jaco 2 on a task emulating a pouring maneuver. Results indicate a consistent improvement in learning speed with the inward cascaded GP model and an overall improvement in data efficiency and generalization.


The effect of concomitant hyperthermia on the cytotoxicities of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (CDDP), a newly synthesized drug, Pt(Rh-123)2, and its chemical components, K.l'tà Uand rhodamine 123, was examined in vitro in a squamous cell tumor line of human origin (SCC-25) and in a CDDP-resistant subline (SCC-25/CP). No difference in the cytotoxicity of hyperthermia alone was observed between these cell lines. The dose-dependent cytotoxicities of 1-h exposures to CDDP and Pt(Rh-123)2 were markedly increased at 42°Cand 43°Cin compari son to 37°C,and this effect was of the same magnitude in both cell lines (enhancements of approximately 1.5 logs at 42°Cand 2.5 logs at 43°C for CDDP and 1.5 logs at 42°Cand >3 logs at 43°Cfor Pt(Rh-123)2). The use of hyperthermia with CDDP, however, did not lower survivals in the SCC-25/CP cells even to the levels seen in the parent line at 37°C. The cytotoxicities of KjPtCU and rhodamine 123 were essentially the same in the CDDP-sensitive and -resistant cells at all temperatures tested. The magnitude of the temperature effect was significantly greater for Pt(Rh-123)2 than for its chemical components. No significant effect on CDDP or Pt(Rh-123)2 accumulation was observed at 42, 43, 44 or 45°Cin either cell line. DNA lesions, measured by alkaline elution, were significantly enhanced for CDDP in the SCC-25 cells at 42°C.These results suggest that treatment with hyperthermia and either CDDP or Pt(Rh-123)i should result in supraadditive anti-tumor effects, although the efficacy of CDDP plus hyperthermia will be significantly less once resistance to CDDP has developed. Since resistance to CDDP does not imply cross-resistance to Pt(Rh-123)2, and since the effect of hyperther mia is somewhat greater for Pt(Rh-l 23)2than for CDDP at 43°C,Pt(Rh-123)2 may be more selectively toxic to tumor cells when used with local hyperthermia versus normal cells outside the treated area, especially if resistance to CDDP has already developed.


When it comes to the electromagnetic interference (EMI) immunity of a Battery Management System Integrated Circuit (BMS IC), Printed Circuit Board (PCB) traces, external components and BMS impedance have a major impact. In a number of cases, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues are reported at the last testing phase which can lead to design changes thus increasing cost and time to market. In this context, this work gives an insight on what some design choices on the external components, PCB traces and hot-plug (HP) protection architecture can lead to in terms of the noise coupled to the BMS IC. Moreover, an analytical model based on ladder network theory is used to predict the main noise coupling frequencies under some low-cost design choices. This model is then used in the comparison of two HP protection architectures in terms of the noise coupled onto the BMS IC.


Constant rate infusion/stop-entry experiments of varied duration were done with rat pituitary LH to test the possibility that the relatively slow disappearance of endogenous circulating LH after hypophysectomy/stop-entry in orchidectomized rats might be due to redistributive distortion consequent to a prolonged "packing" of the extravascular LH spaces in these animals. The findings indicated that prolongation of LH infusion did result in progressive flattening of the decay curve after stop-entry. After 1 h of infusion, constant rate infusion/stop-entry decay of LH was nearly as rapid as decay after simple pulse injection of the same extract. After 24 h of infusion, it was nearly as slow as after hypophysectomy/stop-entry. However, this change could not be explained solely on the basis of redistribution, because a similar difference was seen when disappearance of "infused" and "injected" pituitary LH were examined by pulse injection of sera collected from rats which had been given this LH by injection or prolonged infusion. Although variations in extravascular LH "packing" might have influenced LH disappearance in the donor rats, there was no opportunity for such variations to develop in the recipients. Although the mechanism(s) involved in this progressive change in the metabolic clearance characteristics of exogenous (extracted) circulating LH might simply be selective accumulation of the molecules most capable for surviving in the blood, other possibilities exist (e.g. actual mutation of circulating LH molecules). Whether endogenous (secreted) LH undergone similar changes during its sojourn in the circulation is not yet known but these findings suggest that postsecretory mechanisms could contribute to the apparent qualitative difference(s) between stored and circulating rat LH. Several implications of this new information have been discussed.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Introduction:

Bladder urothelial carcinoma (UC) ranks fourth in incidence among cancers in men and eighth in women in the United States, however, the chemotherapy response rate is only about half. The cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are believed as the driving force of tumor progression, have related to chemoresistance. Here we present the finding of CSC-like cells from human UC cell line NTUB1, and investigate the effect of MLN4924, a neddylation inhibitor on conquering chemoresistance in human UC.

Materials & methods:

The CSC-like cells were enriched from its parental cell line NTUB1 by cisplatin selection consecutively for at least one year. The properties of CSC-like cells were demonstrated by colony formation assay, side population assay, and cell viability assay. The expression levels of specific stemness-related markers, EMT-related markers and cell death-related molecules were revealed by western blot. The ability of migration was analyzed by wound-healing assay and transwell assay. The MLN4924-induced apoptosis on CSC-like cells were determined by flow cytometry with annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) staining. Gene knockdown was performed with gene-specific siRNA. The in vitro findings were further confirmed in vivo via xenograft mouse model.

Results:

The CSC-like cells exhibited multiple drug resistance, highly expression level of stemness markers as well as EMT markers, and highly mobility. The treatment of MLN4924 repressed the expression of stemness markers and EMT markers and reduced cell mobility; meanwhile, it caused significant cell death in CSC-like cells. The knockdown of stemness markers diminished the drug resistance of CSC-like cells. And in the end, MLN4924 significantly inhibit tumor growth in xenograft models bladder cancer stem-like cells.

Conclusion:

Our data suggested that the drug resistance in UC may conferred by CSC-like cells via up-regulation of stemness markers, and the treatment of MLN4924 could abolish drug resistance through repression of stemness markers. This could provide a new remedy for bladder cancer treatment.

Citation Format: Kuan-Lin Kuo, I-Lin Ho, Yeong-Shiau Pu, Yu-Chieh Tsai, Tsung-Hsien Shih, Kuo-How Huang. MLN4924, a neddylation inhibitor, abolishes chemoresistance of bladder cancer stem-like cells through suppression of stemness. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3770. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3770


Ergonomics is the study of people at work to understand the complex relationships among people, machines, job demands, and work methods. All work, regardless of its nature, results in stress. As long as stress is kept within reasonable limits, work performance will be satisfactory and the worker's health and well-being will be maintained. However, if stress is excessive, undesirable outcomes may result in the form of accidents and injuries. A variety of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders can be caused by physical stress in the work environment. Because of the high medical and compensation costs associated with these problems, it becomes essential in many manufacturing situations to implement programs for controlling physical stress. An important part of any control program is job evaluation. We have presented several analytical methods for measuring and evaluating physical stress in the workplace. In almost all instances in which it is found to be excessive, stress can be reduced to acceptable levels by applying ergonomic principles to the design of facilities, processes, equipment, tools, and work methods. This design effort should be multidisciplinary, with inputs from medical personnel, engineers, ergonomists, and workers.


Features in machine learning problems are often time-varying and may be related to outputs in an algebraic or dynamical manner. The dynamic nature of these machine learning problems renders current higher order accelerated gradient descent methods unstable or weakens their convergence guarantees. Inspired by methods employed in adaptive control, this paper proposes new algorithms for the case when time-varying features are present, and demonstrates provable performance guarantees. In particular, we develop a unified variational perspective within a continuous time algorithm. This variational perspective includes higher order learning concepts and normalization, both of which stem from adaptive control, and allows stability to be established for dynamical machine learning problems where time-varying features are present. These higher order algorithms are also examined for provably correct learning in adaptive control and identification. Simulations are provided to verify the theoretical results.


The nuclear POLG gene encodes the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase gamma (polγ), the only polymerase involved in the replication and proofreading of mitochondrial DNA. As a consequence, POLG mutations can cause disease through impaired replication of mitochondrial DNA. To date, over 150 different mutations have been identified, with a growing number of associated phenotypes described. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of POLG mutations in an adult population of Australian patients with mitochondrial disease, displaying symptoms commonly associated with POLG‐related diseases.


Human-automated judge learning (HAJL) is a methodology providing a three-phase process, quantitative measures, and analytical methods to support design of information analysis automation. HAJL's measures capture the human and automation's judgment processes, relevant features of the environment, and the relationships between each. Specific measures include achievement of the human and the automation, conflict between them, compromise and adaptation by the human toward the automation, and the human's ability to predict the automation. HAJL's utility is demonstrated herein using a simplified air traffic conflict prediction task. HAJL was able to capture patterns of behavior within and across the three phases with measures of individual judgments and human-automation interaction. Its measures were also used for statistical tests of aggregate effects across human judges. Two between-subject manipulations were crossed to investigate HAJL's sensitivity to interventions in the human's training (sensor noise during training) and in display design (information from the automation about its judgment strategy). HAJL identified that the design intervention impacted conflict and compromise with the automation, participants learned from the automation over time, and those with higher individual judgment achievement were also better able to predict the automation.


Integrated agriculture and aquaculture systems (IAA) are well known for their ability to improve the overall farm productivity and profitability. This is through recycling of on-farm resources, such as nutrient rich fish pond water and agriculture remains that would otherwise be considered as wastes. The present study explores the existing and potential IAA systems in Tanzania. It also examines management strategies and their influence on fish yield and the economic returns between IAA and non-IAA fish farming. The study assesses farmer's socio-demographic characteristics and their perception towards fish farming. The study was conducted through an on-site survey of 129 fish ponds owned by 89 farmers in six districts in Tanzania, involving 65 and 64 IAA and non-IAA ponds respectively. Results indicate that tilapia-vegetables is the most common type of IAA practiced by fish famers. Despite higher fish feed use and stocking density in non-IAA ponds, IAA ponds had an average fish yield of 2.46 t ha−1, which was significantly (p< 0.05) higher than the fish yield of 1.54 t ha−1 found for non-IAA ponds. IAA ponds had also 1.6 and 2.9 times higher (p< 0.05) revenue and net profit, respectively, than non-IAA ponds. Additionally, the net return from IAA ponds in an integrated system was significantly (p< 0.05) higher than when practiced as stand-alone activities. IAA famers were more positive towards fish farming compared to non-IAA farmers. Thus, IAA systems should be promoted among small-scale farmers to cover for an increased fish demand and to improve food security.


A detailed electrochemical investigation using H2/Pt electrode potentiometry as well as Raman and NMR spectroscopy was carried out to develop a comprehensive chemical explanation for the unusual patterns of hydroxide concentrations observed in strongly alkaline, highly concentrated aluminate solutions (Bayer-liquors). For this, aluminate solutions with various alkaline metal background cations were investigated. The effect of the temperature on the observed patterns was also studied, and for comparison with solutions of similar concentrations, the chemical speciation of borate solutions was also studied. The formation of the NaOH 0 ion-pair has been proven with the formation constant (defined in terms of activities) beta 0 = 0.78 +/- 0.08. The formation of analogous KOH 0 or CsOH 0 ion-pairs under the experimental conditions applied is negligible. Assuming the formation of the NaAl(OH)4 (0) ion-pair is not necessary for modeling the experimental findings, as its formation causes only secondary effects on the potentiometric patterns. It has also been shown that all experimental data can be interpreted quantitatively if the formation of the doubly charged dimeric aluminate species is included in the calculation of the changes in the mean activity coefficients. The formation constant of the aluminate dimer could not be estimated purely from the H2/Pt potentiometric data but a lower limit for its formation constant (defined in terms of activities) has been derived. These conclusions are in full congruency with those derived from the Raman spectra of solutions with similar concentrations, so the two independent experimental methods lead to the same set of chemical species in highly concentrated alkaline aluminate solutions.


Abstract. A methodology of magnitude estimates for debris flow events is described using airborne LiDAR data. Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) is a widely used technology to generate digital elevation information. LiDAR data in alpine regions can be obtained by several commercial companies where the automated filtering process is proprietary and varies from companies to companies. This study describes the analysis of geomorphologic changes using digital terrain models derived from commercial LiDAR data. The estimation of the deposition volumes is based on two digital terrain models covering the same area but differing in their time of survey. In this study two surveyed deposition areas of debris flows, located in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, were chosen as test cases. We discuss different grid interpolating techniques, other preliminary work and the accuracy of the used LiDAR data and volume estimates.


This paper builds a model that provides a unified explanation for the onset of the financial crisis in 1998 and the striking economic recovery in Russia afterwards. We argue that before the crisis, the banking sector in Russia was stuck in a banking development trap due to firms incentives to raise liquidity through barter trade and due to the government over issuing of bonds to finance the budget. The banking development trap arises due to an externality that barter trade generates on the lending rates of banks. It is sustained by high yields of government bonds which induces banks to invest in treasury bills rather than to lend to firms. The financial crisis in August 1998 reversed this process and thus acted as a trigger to get out of this trap. This has led to the strong economic recovery and provided initial conditions for banking development. We provide empirical evidence for the banking development trap with firm level data from Ukraine in 1997 and for the financial crisis as a trigger for banking development with country level data for transition conomies.


Studies of prolonged avian flight have shown it to require large amounts of energy supplied mainly by free fatty acids (FFA). In the present study, the high levels of plasma ketone bodies found in sparrows (2.58 mmol l(-1)) are supportive of the use of fatty acids for flight. To determine the nature of fatty acid (oleic acid, OA) uptake, various pharmacological agents were used. The uptake of OA was examined using the extensor digitorum communis (EDC) muscle of English sparrows incubated in vitro. Initial studies demonstrated that radiolabeled OA uptake decreased in the presence of increasing unlabeled OA, suggesting that uptake occurred by a facilitative transport process. To further characterize OA uptake, EDC muscles were incubated with either: insulin (2 ng ml(-1)), insulin-like growth factor isoform-1 (IGF-I; 48 ng ml(-1)), 5'-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR; 2 mmol) or caffeine (5 mmol). Insulin, but not IGF-I, significantly increased OA uptake by avian EDC (P < 0.01). Caffeine and AICAR were ineffective at increasing OA uptake. A specific inhibitor of FFA transport by fatty acid transporters (FAT/CD36), sulfo-N-succinimidyl oleate (SSO; 500 micromoles), significantly decreased OA uptake at 2.5 min. The effectiveness of SSO suggests that a FAT/CD36-like protein is expressed in avian tissues. As uptake of OA was not completely blocked by SSO, it is likely that other mechanisms for FFA movement across membranes, such as diffusion, may be present.


Surrounded by subducting slabs and continental keels, the upper mantle of the Pacific is largely prevented from mixing with surrounding areas. One possible outlet is beneath the southern part of the Central American isthmus, where regional observations of seismic anisotropy, temporal changes in isotopic composition of volcanic eruptions, and considerations of dynamic topography all suggest upper mantle flow from the Pacific to the Caribbean. We derive new constraints on the nature of seismic anisotropy in the upper mantle of southern Costa Rica from observations of birefringence in teleseismic shear waves. Fast and slow components separate by ∼1 s, with faster waves polarized along the 40°–50° (northeast) direction, near-orthogonally to the Central American convergent margin. Our results are consistent with upper mantle flow from the Pacific to the Caribbean and require an opening in the lithosphere subducting under the region.


We investigated the role of subjective factors in the information search process. Forty-eight participants each conducted six Web searches in a controlled setting. We examined relationships between subjective factors (happiness levels, satisfaction with and confidence in the search results, feeling lost during search, familiarity with and interest in the search topic, estimation of task difficulty) and objective factors (search behavior, search outcomes, and search-task characteristics). Data analysis was conducted using a multivariate statistical test (canonical correlations analysis). The findings confirmed existence of several relationships suggested by prior research, including relationships between objective search task difficulty and the perception of task difficulty, and between subjective states and search behaviors and outcomes. One of the original findings suggests that higher happiness levels before and during the search correlate with better feelings after the search, but also correlate with worse search outcomes and lower satisfaction, suggesting that, perhaps, it pays off to feel some "pain" during the search to "gain" quality outcomes.


Prediction of suitability of patients for tidal peritoneal dialysis (TPD) treatment based on the peritoneal equilibration test (PET) may be hypothetically subject to errors, due to the difference between the long equilibration times of the PET and the short dwell times currently utilized during TPD. Eleven patients, mean age 12.4 +/- 3.3 years, mean body weight 34.2 +/- 15kg, had both a standardized TPD run (initial fill volume 40 mL/kg, tidal volume 50%, dwell time 10 min, treatment time 8 h) and a PET performed. D/P ratios for creatinine and urea were calculated at the 5th and 7th TPD exchanges (approximating equilibration time of the TPD run), at the time points of the PET and on the total TPD dialysate volume. D/P ratios for creatinine and urea of the 5th and, even more, the 7th TPD exchange, and D/P ratios obtained from total TPD dialysate were significantly correlated overall (r = 0.96, p < 0.0001 for 5th D/P creatinine and urea; r = 0.98, p < 0.0001 for 7th D/P creatinine and urea). Correlation coefficients between PET-derived and total TPD dialysate-derived D/P ratios were generally poor or only modest. Thus, it is possible to predict TPD clearance, and consequently the suitability of patients for TPD, knowing the D/P ratios for creatinine and urea at the 7th TPD exchange of a standardized TPD run. Our data could represent a new reliable test for TPD prescription.


Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is a non-destructive testing technique for imaging the spatial distribution of electrical conductivity and/or magnetic permeability in the examined object. The signals obtained with the help of such a technique are extremely small, especially when imaging materials of low electrical conductivity. In order to provide the highest sensitivity the MIT system must be designed very carefully. An experimental MIT system has been built at the West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Poland. In this paper we present a modern methodology for the design of an exciter which, by coupling the finite element method, genetic algorithm and multi-objective optimization procedure based on weighted sum method, gives the optimal design variables of the exciter and testing frequency.


AC coupled interconnects enable multi-gigabit-persecond communication data rates between integrated circuits with very high pin counts and low power consumption. AC coupling can be realized with either series capacitive or inductive coupling elements. Capacitive AC coupling offers better performance when low power I/O buffers are required and when there is sufficient area to dedicate to coupling capacitors in the top-level metal of each IC. At a slight expense of circuit complexity, inductive AC coupling can be used to bring I/O pad pitches down to 75 /spl mu/m and maintain a controlled impedance connection. A novel physical structure, buried solder bumps, are used as a solution for providing DC power and ground connections across the same surface as the AC connections. When used in conjunction with NRZ-tolerant receivers, and current-mode signaling, highly effective interconnect structures can be built. As well as presenting both physical and circuit aspects of this work, experimental results are shown.


Neural Machine Translation (NMT) models often lack diversity in their generated translations, even when paired with search algorithm, like beam search. A challenge is that the diversity in translations are caused by the variability in the target language, and cannot be inferred from the source sentence alone. In this paper, we propose to explicitly model this one-to-many mapping by conditioning the decoder of a NMT model on a latent variable that represents the domain of target sentences. The domain is a discrete variable generated by a target encoder that is jointly trained with the NMT model.The predicted domain of target sentences are given as input to the decoder during training. At inference, we can generate diverse translations by decoding with different domains. Unlike our strongest baseline (Shen et al., 2019), our method can scale to any number of domains without affecting the performance or the training time. We assess the quality and diversity of translations generated by our model with several metrics, on three different datasets.


Purpose: The present study was conducted to determine the effect of vitamins C and E administration on the outcome of therapy in patients with paraquat intoxication admitted in the Poisoning Emergency Department (PED) of Noor Teaching General Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Methods: We studied retrospectively medical records of 186 patients admitted to the PED in two different study periods: 157 patients were evaluated from 1985 to 2001 (first study period) in which patients received conventional treatment protocol consisting of fluid replacement, oral absorbents, haemodialysis, etc, Also, 29 other patients were assessed from 2001 to 2005 (second study period) in which vitamins C and E had been administered to the patients, in addition to the conventional protocol. The patients' mortality rate after the first study period was compared to that of the second one, with regard to the impact of the additional therapeutic intervention (use of antioxidant vitamins). Results: Most of the patients (40.5 %) had ingested more than 20 mL of 20 % paraquat solution and were admitted to the hospital during the first 4 h after exposure. Paraquat poisoning was more common in men (76.6 %), young adults in the age group 19 - 34 (47 %) and during summer (43.3 %). Mean (± SE) length of hospital stay was 62.6 ± 15.6 h. Overall mortality rates were 31 and 55.2 % in the first and second periods, respectively. Conclusion : Although the addition of antioxidants (vitamins C and E) to the conventional therapy did not reduce the mortality rate, other dependent variables including different doses of antioxidants may be considered for future studies.


Gene therapy has become a feasible and efficient strategy for the treatment of human genetic diseases. The main principle of a gene therapeutic regimen relies on the delivery of a corrected gene of interest in human cells. In about one fifth of the clinical trials, gamma-retroviral vectors are used as gene-transfer vehicle. However, previous successful gene therapy trials revealed gamma-retroviral vector-mediated severe adverse events: Upregulation of proto-oncogenes led to malignant transformation of the affected cells and tumor progression. These severe adverse events enhanced the development of new 'safer' gamma-retroviral vectors and comprehensive biosafety studies. This review highlights all possible safety and biosafety risks of gamma-retroviral vectors.


Abstract Liposomes were the first nanoscale drug to be approved for clinical use in 1995. Since then, the technology has grown considerably, and pioneering recent work in liposome-based delivery systems has brought about remarkable developments with significant clinical implications. This includes long-circulating liposomes, stimuli-responsive liposomes, nebulized liposomes, elastic liposomes for topical, oral and transdermal delivery and covalent lipid-drug complexes for improved drug plasma membrane crossing and targeting to specific organelles. While the regulatory bodies' opinion on liposomes is well-documented, current guidance that address new delivery systems are not. This review describes, in depth, the current state-of-the-art of these new liposomal delivery systems and provides a critical overview of the current regulatory landscape surrounding commercialization efforts of higher-level complexity systems, the expected requirements and the hurdles faced by companies seeking to bring novel liposome-based systems for clinical use to market.


Nowadays, the operative range limit of compressors is still a key aspect of the research into turbomachinery. In particular, the study of the mass flow rate lower limit represents a significant factor in order to predict and avoid the inception of critical working conditions and instabilities such as stall and surge. The identification of these instabilities and typical precursors of these two phenomena can imply many advantages, in both stationary and aeronautic applications, such as avoiding the loss of production (in industry) and efficiency of systems and reducing the maintenance and repairing cost. Many approaches can be adopted to achieve this target, but one of the most fascinating is the vibro-acoustic analysis of the compressor response during operation. At the Engineering Department of the University of Ferrara, a test bench, dedicated to the study of the performance of an aeronautic turboshaft engine multistage compressor, has been equipped with a high frequency data acquisition system. A set of triaxle accelerometers and microphones, suitable for capturing broad-band vibration and acoustic phenomena, were installed in strategic positions along the compressor and the test rig. A great amount of vibro-acoustic data were first processed through an innovative data analysis technique, and then correlated to the thermodynamic data recorded. Subsequently, the precursor signals of surge were detected and identified demonstrating the reliability of the methodology used for studying compressor instabilities. The experimental data and results offer a valid alternative way of analyzing and detecting unstable compressor behavior characteristics by means of nonintrusive measurements.


The main purpose of this paper is to explain the patterns of access to water supply and sanitation facilities in urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa since the late 90's, and its relation with the performance of service providers in the case of improved water supply. It also seeks to explore the institutional context of the water supply and sanitation sectors. The paper concludes that services providers in Sub-Saharan Africa have been unable to keep up with urban population growth. Service providers are overwhelmed by the pace of urban population growth as they face high distributional losses, low billing collection, overstaffing, and under recovery of costs. The institutional frameworks are yet to be completed as there is vast political inference in service provision and regulation, as well as obstacles for effectively undertake public private partnerships. The paper is organized as follows. Section one presents definitions of water supply sources and sanitation, as well as the sources of data used for the analysis. Section two discusses the current and projected trends of urbanization, and introduces the country clustering used for analytical purposes. Section three and four present pathways of access to water supply sources and sanitation facilities -respectively- in urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses trends in access by country cluster. Section five explains the operational and financial performance of services providers in the region. Section six explores the existing institutional arrangements for the urban water supply and sanitation service provision. Finally, section six presents the main challenges for the future expansion of sustainable improved water supply and sanitation services.


The debate about media convergence and its relevance in Nigeria is on-going. This study contributes to the discussion by examining how this critical construct impacts the broadcasting practice in Edo State, one of the country's 36 political subdivisions. The work adopts the mixed research method to investigate 100 survey respondents and interview three discussants, which helps to generate the requisite data. Findings reveal that convergence has significantly influenced broadcasting practice, and this influence is more positive than negative. The findings also show that media convergence creates additional and better opportunities, as more distribution channels for broadcast content emerge. These developments, however, may remain unsustainable if the stakeholders do not address the identified challenges appropriately. The government of Edo State can play a leading role in addressing those


This article examines the role of artwork in cancer and palliative care. The literature review focuses on both children and adults. One case scenario focuses on a child's reaction to his mother's illness showing his distress through painting. Artwork from children are included in the text to help demonstrate some feelings and reactions to illness. Some themes, which emerged from examination of the artwork, were isolation, anger, and lack of hope. Carers became overtly aware of the distress people were experiencing through artwork. Art depicted graphically what people were feeling and can, therefore, be considered a valuable tool in the communication process. It is useful especially when individuals are unable to express their feelings verbally. Recommendations focus on how artwork may be implemented in hospice and hospital settings and on how the environment may be made safe psychologically. The importance of the art process rather than on artistic skill is discussed. The potential for developing creativity at the end of life, when self-esteem may be low is explored.


A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the quantification of flurbiprofen in 100 mg film-coated tablet in accordance with the direction of the European Medicines Agency and the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. 10 μl of flurbiprofen solution was injected onto a C8 reverse phase column (5 μm, 120 Å, 4.6×150 mm). The mobile phase employed was acetonitrile : water : glacial acetic acid (65 : 32.5 : 2.5, v/v/v) at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The column effluent was monitored within 8 minutes by diot array detection at 247 nm. The retention time of flurbiprofen was found to be 3.73 minutes. In the concentration range of 2 20 μg/ml, there was a tight linear correlation between peak area y (mAU.min) and sample concentration x (μg/ml) according to the equation y = 0,680x as the squared correlation coefficient R was 0.9993. The limit of detection and limite of quantification were respectively 0.05 and 0.15 μg/ml. The method was specific to flurbiprofen with good precision and accuracy. The percentage recovery was ≤ 100 ± 2%, the relative standard deviation of the repeatability was ≤ 1.71% and the relative standard deviation of the intermediate precision was ≤ 2.34%.


We investigated relationships between outdoor air pollution and pterygium in Korean adults. This study includes 23,276 adults in population-based cross-sectional data using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008–2011. Pterygium was assessed using slit lamp biomicroscopy. Air pollution data (humidity, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm [PM10], ozone [O3], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], and sulfur dioxide levels [SO2]) for 2 years preceding the ocular examinations were acquired. Associations of multiple air pollutants with pterygium or pterygium recurrence after surgery were examined using multivariate logistic models, after adjusting for several covariates. Distributed lag models were additionally used for estimating cumulative effects of air pollution on pterygium. None of air pollution factors was significantly associated with pterygium or pterygium recurrence (each P > 0.05). Distributed lag models also showed that air pollution factors were not associated with pterygium or pterygium recurrence in 0-to-2 year lags (each P > 0.05). However, primary pterygium showed a weak association with PM10 after adjusting for covariates (odds ratio [OR] 1.23; [per 5 μg/m3 PM10 increase]; P = 0.023). Aging, male sex, and greater sun exposure were associated with pterygium, while higher education level and myopia were negatively associated with pterygium (each P ≤ 0.001). Male sex and myopia were negatively associated with pterygium recurrence (each P < 0.05). In conclusion, exposure to higher PM10 levels was associated with primary pterygium, although this study observed no significant association between air pollution and overall pterygium or pterygium recurrence in Korean adults.


Coated urethral catheters were introduced in clinical practice to reduce the risk of catheter-acquired urinary tract infection (CAUTI). We aimed to systematically review the incidence of CAUTI and adverse effects in randomized clinical trials of patients requiring indwelling bladder catheterization by comparing coated vs. non-coated catheters. This review was performed according to the 2020 PRISMA framework. The incidence of CAUTI and catheter-related adverse events was evaluated using the Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel method with a random-effects model and reported as the risk ratio (RR), 95% CI, and p-values. Significance was set at p < 0.05 and a 95% CI. Twelve studies including 36,783 patients were included for meta-analysis. There was no significant difference in the CAUTI rate between coated and non-coated catheters (RR 0.87 95% CI 0.75–1.00, p = 0.06). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that the risk of CAUTI was significantly lower in the coated group compared with the non-coated group among patients requiring long-term catheterization (>14 days) (RR 0.82 95% CI 0.68–0.99, p = 0.04). There was no difference between the two groups in the incidence of the need for catheter exchange or the incidence of lower urinary tract symptoms after catheter removal. The benefit of coated catheters in reducing CAUTI risk among patients requiring long-term catheterization should be balanced against the increased direct costs to health care systems when compared to non-coated catheters.


This article reassesses Thomas Jefferson's political economy in light of debates about the influence of liberal and republican ideas on his thought. I argue that Jefferson embraced liberal premises, but used them to reach anticapitalist conclusions. He opposed neither commerce nor the prosperity it promised; he opposed working for a wage, and he did so on liberal grounds. The first section of this article shows that John Locke's theory of property turns on the justification of capitalist labor relations. The second section establishes, first, that Locke's argument played a decisive role in the development of Jefferson's own and, second, that Jefferson redefined its terms to fashion a forceful critique of wage labor. An examination of Jefferson's writings elucidates a neglected variant of the liberal tradition, prevalent in the United States until the Populist agitation. Its core is the stigma attached to working for hire as a diminished form of liberty, tantamount to wage slavery.


As events in the 2008/09 season have amply demonstrated, instability in staple food market remains a major problem in Zambia. A rise in world food price levels and instability, which is projected to occur in the near future according to several international institutes, will make it all more important for developing countries to consider the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches for buffering their domestic food systems from potential high volatility in world markets. These findings suggest that promoting more "rules based" approaches to marketing and trade policy may reduce the level of policy uncertainty and the price instability associated with it. Greater policy stability may also contribute to broader grain market development. For the most part, addressing problems of policy uncertainty involve very little cost per se, but do require greater coordination and more efficient management of government operations. However, policy makers may feel that rules-based and non-discretionary marketing and trade policies entails a loss of control and autonomy – leaders are bound to act according to predefined rules and triggers. Successfully addressing these dilemmas may lie at the heart of efforts to move to a new post-liberalization system in which governments retain the ability to influence prices to achieve national food security objectives but within a clear and transparent framework of credible commitment to support long run private investment in the development of markets.


can never be repeated too often, namely, that not all cases of cerebellar abscess reported as latent are really latent. All the same, we must also admit that, according to the statistics given us by the authors, in only some 84 per cent, of cases of cerebellar abscess is a failure to diagnose inexcusable. In the other cases, it would seem, symptoms are either altogether absent or they are obscured by the existence of the symptoms of other intracranial complications. As the book shows, however, modern research is providing us with many more methods of testing the integrity of the cerebellum, and it is the duty of every ear-surgeon to make himself acquainted with them. The whole of one's experience and reading, indeed, tends to the belief, which time only strengthens, that all cases of middle-ear suppuration are suspect all the time, and ought, therefore, to be systematically examined and tested with reference to intracranial complication at frequent intervals. We are still being " surprised " by intracranial complications far too often, and it is possible that a more frequent survey of cases would enable us to forestall these events oftener than we do at this present. Many of these cerebellar tests are very delicate, and they are also simple and easy to apply. Dan McKenzie.


Based on neural network calibration the confi- dence intervals of aromaticity determination from infrared reflectance spectra of raw brown coals were estimated by means of the bootstrap method, a simplified Monte Carlo Simulation. The standard deviations and the confidence intervals were estimated to characterise the analysis error. It is shown that confidence intervals of non-linear analy- sis methods like Back Propagation Neural Networks (BPNN) can be estimated by the bootstrap method. The estimated confidence intervals of the calibration confirm the analysis by BPNN.


Computer simulations have been performed to describe the effect of small admixtures of hydrogen to an argon glow discharge in the Grimm-type configuration. The two-dimensional density profiles of the various plasma species (i.e., electrons, Ar+, ArH+, H+, H2+ and H3+ ions, H atoms and H2 molecules, Ar metastable atoms and sputtered Cu atoms) are presented for 1% H2 added to the argon glow discharge, and the effect of different H2 additions (varying between 0.1 and 10%) on the species densities, the hydrogen dissociation degree, and the sputtering process, are investigated. Finally, the relative contributions of various production and loss processes for the different plasma species are calculated.


Abstract Lactoferrin (LF) exhibits a broad spectrum of anti-microbial properties and may have regulatory functions in the immune system. In the present study, 40 calves (20 males, 20 females) were used to examine the effects of supplemental bovine LF added to colostrum and milk replacer (at 0.16%) on health, weight development and feed intake during a 70-day experimental period. The calves were allocated to a treatment group (n = 20) and a control group (n = 20); the groups were balanced in terms of sex, live weight and date of birth. Body weight and feed intake were measured at regular intervals. Blood and colostrum samples were collected to determine the content of IgG. In addition, colostrum and milk replacer samples were analysed for their LF concentrations. Significantly higher IgG values were observed in the LF treated than in the control group during the entire feeding experiment from week 2 to week 6. Calves receiving LF had less days of disease with less serious cases of diarrhoea than the control group. Body weight and feed intake were not significantly different between the treatments; in male calves LF-treated animals tended towards higher weight gains. This study indicates that LF is advantageous for health and may therefore be a beneficial supplement in the diets for neonatal calves.