Background: Acute myocardial infarction is the most common form of coronary heart disease and the single most important cause of premature death worldwide. A large proportion of patients with coronary disease have metabolic syndrome, although the frequency and association of its different components are not well understood. The risk of the metabolic syndrome on AMI has not been well evaluated.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its association with AMI patients. This study will help in awareness building in reducing AMI by early detection of metabolic syndrome.Patients and methods: This was a prospective observational study consisted of 222 persons of male AMI patients who were aged >20 years. Patients with first time AMI arriving in CCU of Rajshahi medical college during the period of 2012-2014, were included. Data were collected through interview, clinical examination, and laboratory tests. Five components of metabolic syndrome were defined according to criteria set by modified NCEP ATP III (according to ethnic variation) which had abdominal obesity (waist circumference), FBS, HDL-C, Triglyceride, and hypertension were measured within 24 hrs of AMI.Results: A total of 222 patients diagnosed with AMI were inducted in the study. The mean±SD age of the male was 53.51±11.63 years. Among the male patients highest percentage was in the age group 51-60 years (31.1%) followed by 41-50 years (27%) and then age group >60 (24.3%). Study showed that acute Myocardial infarction patients was more in age group >40 years of age. Highest percentage was observed in abdominal obesity (52.3%) followed by high blood pressure (50.0%) and FPG (46.4%). The Metabolic syndrome was 37.4 % (n=83).Conclusion: The metabolic syndrome was associated with an increased risk of AMI. The metabolic syndrome had a high prevalence in patients with AMI.TAJ 2014; 27(1): 57-61


The semantic system is a theoretical product that the researcher creates to achieve some purpose and meet some requirements.It is the result of the interaction between objectivity and subjectivity.Objectivity refers to the correspondence between the semantic world and the actual world,which shows the authenticity,the reasonability and the scientificity of the semantic system.Subjectivity is derived from the researcher' s understanding of the semantic world.It also depends on the goals of developing the semantic system and its functions.The system has universality as well as nationality,and has both generality and application which aims at one target.Therefore it is a multipurpose system which could offer more effective service to people and computers.The assessment of the appropriateness and efficiency of this system relies on a macro-approach which covers the attribution,the function and the research method of the system.


The study aims to prove the controllability of mild solution for semilinar fractional integerodifferential equations with nonlocal conditions in banach spaces. Fractional calculus, compact semigroups and fixed point theorem, are concepts consulted to obtain results this work.


A specific deficit in gaze discrimination has been hypothesized for schizophrenic patients (Rosse et al., 1994). Gaze discrimination is a basic ability for animals as well as for human beings. It plays an important role in mutual control of social interactions. According to Baron-Cohen (1995), sensitivity to eye gaze relies on a specific cognitive module, the Eye Direction Detector (EDD). The author distinguishes three basic functions of the EDD; first, the EDD is involved in eyes detection; second, the EDD is used in order to establish direction of gaze, and specially to compute whether the eyes one is looking at are directed to the subject or somewhere else; third, the EDD is implied in interpretation of gaze as seeing. Rosse et al. (1994) tested subjective impressions concerning gaze discrimination in a group of schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenics reported the subjective impression of being looked at by the portraits significantly more often than controls. The authors concluded that a specific impairment in gaze detection is present in the patients, and that it may be responsible for the paranoid symptoms often reported in schizophrenia. However, it seems difficult to assert that a response bias in schizophrenics toward perceiving faces as looking at them results from the deficit of an elementary perceptual module responsible for the detection of eye-direction. Rather we suspect such a bias to be the consequence of an impairment of the more complex level of mindreading, responsible for the interpretation of gaze as seeing in terms of mental states. The aim of the present experiment was to test in a more specific way the elementary gaze discrimination system. A series of portraits of models looking at five different directions (-30 degrees, -15 degrees, 0 degree, 15 degrees, 30 degrees), have been presented to 22 schizophrenic patients and 36 normal control subjects. In each trial one portrait was presented. Subjects were asked to determine the direction of its gaze by pressing the "z-key" (left side of the keyboard) if the portrait was looking to the left, and the "/-key" (right side of the keyboard) if the portrait was looking to the right. For each trial, we recorded both the side of the response (left key or right key) and the corresponding reaction time (RT). For the purpose of the analysis, the mean numbers of left responses were computed for each subject. The mean numbers of left responses recorded for each direction of gaze did not significantly differ between patients and controls. That is schizophrenic patients are not impaired in the gaze discrimination task used in the present study. In Rosse's experiment, subjects were required to decide whether the portrait on the screen was looking at them or not. On the contrary, in our task, subjects were simply required to state whether gaze was directed to the right or to the left. No explicit judgment was required as to whom or what gaze was directed. Therefore, we can assume that the present paradigm investigated the functioning of a more basic process than that tested by Rosse et al. Our data are consistent with those reporting that basic cognitive processes are unimpaired in schizophrenia, whereas explicit processes are extensively affected.


This exploratory-descriptive study was undertaken to determine what combination of variables was the best predictor of life satisfaction in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis of the spine and vertebral fractures. A sample of 93 women, drawn from private osteoporosis clinics, completed the four research questionnaires. Data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, product-moment correlations, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Analysis of the data revealed that there were significant predictors of life satisfaction in this group. Life satisfaction was best predicted by the following combination of variables: income level, frequency of back pain, perceived internal control over health, and perceived social support.


For many of NEON's 80-plus monitoring sites, getting the necessary permits to begin work was the biggest hurdle. But urban sites have posed special challenges because of a constellation of factors that affect construction and operations. One site in Puerto Rico was undone by a human tragedy. It also represented a loss of capacity for the project.


A standardised treatment management approach is needed to address the escalating worldwide prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF). The persistent and longstanding persistent AF patient population particularly needs this standardised treatment option to manage their AF. These patients have underlying structural heart disease that result in increased hospitalizations, long-term medical management that increases the cost burden of the healthcare system. Approximately 100 patients have undergone the Convergent Procedure at our center since its introduction 2 years ago, as a treatment option for AF patients. The epicardial and endocardial ablation procedures performed sequentially in a single setting has shown a single procedure success rate of 80%, similar to published success rates at other centers. The epicardial posterior wall isolation silences a majority of known substrates and the endocardial procedure completes the pulmonary vein isolation, creates the cavotricuspid line and provides diagnostic confirmation. The Convergent Procedure should be considered as a first line treatment option for the persistent and longstanding persistent AF patient population who have very limited or no treatment options for the long-term successful management of their AF.


Information Technology Portfolio Management (ITPM) is a topic of intense interest in the strategic management of information technology (IT). In ITPM, IT synchronization with corporate business strategy is operationalized by the application of the principles of financial portfolio management to IT investments. This perspective is crucial to the continual alignment of business strategy and IT investments. Portfolio management is the discipline of managing projects together as a portfolio that meets corporate objectives. It optimizes development investment and resource allocation across multiple projects. This article investigates current techniques and best practices for managing IT project portfolios and strives to create a solid bridge between corporate strategy and IT investments.


Rube Goldberg's cartoons made him the first Jewish-American comedy star, but on the surface his works seem completely American and not at all Jewish. While the content of his most famous comic strip "The Inventions of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts" is reflective of the American ethos of innovation that was flourishing at the time, his religious roots are present in the form of the cartoons. There are strong structural similarities between these drawings and the European Jewish joke cycle concerning the wise men of Chelm that lampoon the byzantine Talmudic arguments of the rabbinate. In adopting this Jewish form of humor, but substituting the American civil religion of modernist innovative capitalism in the place of Talmudic interpretation as its focus, Goldberg's humor signals the interest of Jewish Americans to be both Jewish and fully American.


An efficient equalization method for downlink CDMA channels is presented. By representing the transmitted signal as the state of a state-space model, the method employs the Kalman filter (KF) to achieve a minimum-variance unbiased linear estimate of the transmitted chips. The KF is realized at the symbol and chip levels. At the symbol level, the KF is applied to estimation of the transmitted chips that correspond to a particular symbol of interest at each time increment; whereas at the chip level, the transmitted chips are estimated individually. The symbol KF equalizer has a built-in tracking capability that takes advantage of the a-priori known a-periodic scrambling sequence, which renders the transmitted signal non-stationary. In addition, a method for reducing the KF complexity is introduced. Simulations indicate that the KF-based approach is superior to its FIR equalizer counterpart by 1-2 dBs in error-rate performance.


Aims: Medical team members, especially nurses can play an active role in prevention and control of nosocomial infections. The aim of this study was evaluating the knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy of nursing staff in controlling nosocomial infections. Methods: This Cross-sectional study was done in 2010 on 135 nursing staff working in selected hospitals of Mashhad selected by census and purposive method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire evaluating knowledge, attitude and self-efficacy in controlling hospital infections. Data was analyzed by SPSS 16 software using descriptive statistical methods and Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: 67.9% of the nursing staff had average knowledge and 29.9% had good knowledge about infection control. 90.4% had positive attitude towards the perceived threats of nosocomial infections, 17.2% were agreed with the perceived barriers of infections' prevention and control and 36.2% were agreed with the perceived benefits of infection control. 25.2% had average self-efficacy and 74.8% had good self-efficacy. There was not significant relationship between knowledge and selfefficacy. In addition, there was no correlation between attitude and efficacy but there was a significant relationship between knowledge and gender (p<0.05). Conclusion: Nurses do not have appropriate knowledge about controlling nosocomial infections based on the findings of this study. Considering the important role of nurses in nosocomial infection control, training is necessary to increase nurses' knowledge and attitude in order to adopt appropriate health behaviors with positive attitude and more ability.


Background: Etrolizumab, an anti-β7 mAb targeting integrins α4β7 and αEβ7, showed efficacy and safety compared with placebo (PBO) at induction in patients (pts) with moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis (UC) in the phase 2 EUCALYPTUS trial. The percentage of pts achieving clinical remission was numerically lower with the higher dose of estrolizumab compared with the lower dose, which has been hypothesized to be due to dose-related inhibition of regulatory Tcell (Treg) migration to the colon. Using an epigenetic approach, we showed that etrolizumab treatment increased blood levels of CD3+ T cells and Tregs, compared with PBO (Fuh F et al. UEGW 2015). Here, we use the same approach to evaluate changes in cellular composition in colonic biopsies to explore the effect of etrolizumab dose on leukocyte infiltrate in the gut. Methods: Epigenetic analyses were conducted in colonic biopsies taken from 60 EUCALYPTUS (Vermeire et al. Lancet 2015) pts treated with etrolizumab 100 mg (n=23), 300 mg + loading dose (n=18) or PBO (n=19). Samples were collected at screening, wk 6 and wk 10 post-dose. Relative percentages of T cells, B cells, neutrophils/granulocytes, and those committed to Treg or Th17 lineages were assessed by measuring epigenetic activation (demethylation) of respective gene loci. Epigenetic modification of a cell-lineage specific DNA CpG motif was detected using a demethylation-specific qPCR analysis that quantifies active loci. Data are expressed as percentages of total GAPDH positive cells. Results were cross-validated with matched immunohistochemical and qPCR data. Results: There were no significant changes from baseline in colonic Tregs, CD3+ T cells, Th17 cells, neutrophils/granulocytes, or B cells at wk 6 or wk 10 following treatment with etrolizumab or PBO. No significant differences were observed between pts treated with the low and high doses of etrolizumab. However, there was a significant reduction from baseline in colonic Tregs (p=0.028) and B cells (p=0.050) in etrolizumab-treated remitters at wk 10 (n=6). These reductions were not observed in responders–non-remitters or nonresponders regardless of treatment, except for a trending decrease in colonic Tregs in PBO clinical responders at wk 10 (n=7). Conclusions: Pts treated with etrolizumab 100 mg had similar levels of colonic Tregs at wk 6 and wk 10 compared to pts treated with etrolizumab 300 mg. However, etrolizumab-treated remitters at wk 10 showed a significant reduction in Treg levels, suggesting that


A lack of timely financing for purchases of vaccines and other health products impeded the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on analysis of contract signature and delivery dates in Covid-19 vaccine advance purchase agreements, this paper finds that 60-75 per cent of the delay in vaccine deliveries to low- and middle-income countries is attributable to their signing purchase agreements later than high-income countries, which placed them further behind in the delivery line. A pandemic Advance Commitment Facility with access to a credit line on day-zero of the next pandemic could allow low- and middle-income countries to secure orders earlier, ensuring a much faster and equitable global response than during Covid-19. The paper outlines four options for a financier to absorb some or all of the risk associated with the credit line and discusses how the credit would complement other proposals to strengthen the financing architecture for pandemic preparedness, prevention, and response.


The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide proposes that suicide occurs in the presence of three factors: perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and acquired capability for suicide. The Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) was developed to assess the first two factors, and the Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale (ACSS) was developed for the third. Our study presented here developed and evaluated Japanese versions of the INQ and ACSS, and determined the best ones for Japanese samples. In Study 1, we asked 189 university undergraduates to evaluate each scale's clarity. In Study 2, 812 undergraduates were asked about the INQ, the ACSS, and validity items, and 225 undergraduates participated in a second survey approximately one-month from the initial survey for test-retest reliability. In Study 3, 104 psychiatric patients completed the INQ and ACSS and were asked about suicidal ideation and suicidal attempt. Content, structural, generalizability, and external validity results showed that each version of the INQ and ACSS demonstrated acceptable validity. Our comprehensive evaluation provides evidence that INQ-10/INQ-15, and ACSS-5/ACSS-FAD can yield reliable data from Japanese-language population samples.


A total of 41 wild boar specimens, including 19, 10, 10, and 2 specimens from the Lesser-Caucasus, the Greater Caucasus, the Kura-Araks lowland, and Lankaran natural region were studied. On the whole, 16 helminth species were revealed, including 2, 2, 1, and 11 species of trematodes, cestodes, acanthocephalans, and nematodes. The distribution of helminths in landscape-ecological zones of Azerbaijan is analyzed.


Fats and oils are important ingredients of skin care. The properties of hydrocarbons and silicones are compared with vegetable and synthetic triglycerides. The influences on skin recovery and long term effects are described. The present literature is reviewed from the physiological point of view.


The tremendous utilization of synthetic plastics over last decades has led to environmental problems due to lack of degradability of plastics.The degradability issue has resulted in development of degradable plastics which degrade faster.This study deals with utilization of manganese carboxylates (i.e.manganese laurate,manganese palmitate and manganese stearate) on enhancing degradation of high density polyethylene (HDPE).Initially, manganese carboxylates were synthesized through two-steps reactions:(i) sodium carboxylates synthesis by reacting sodium hydroxide and carboxylic acids,(ii) manganese carboxylates synthesis by reacting manganese chloride and sodium carboxylates. Characterization of manganese carboxylates was then carried out.Incorporation of manganese carboxylates up to 1% (w/w) into HDPE resin was carried out using twin screw extruder followed by injection molding to produce specimens.Thermal treatment was performed at 70°C for maximum duration of 1000 hours to examine the degradation of pure HDPE and HDPE containing manganese carboxylates.Accelerated weathering was conducted up to 1000 hours combining thermal and UV exposure.Natural weathering was carried out for 24 weeks under weather conditions of Gambang,Malaysia.Analyses of tensile strength,elongation at break, FTIR spectra,average molecular weight,melt flow index (MFI),thermogravimetry (TG),differential scanning calorimetry (DSC),X-ray diffraction (XRD),and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out to asses the changes during treatments. Results have revealed that all manganese carboxylates have demonstrated adequate thermal stability.Their melting temperatures are in range of 108-117°C.Manganese stearate has shown the highest thermal stability and melting point among manganese carboxylates synthesized.Thermal treatment has led to thermo-oxidative degradation of HDPE.Manganese carboxylates have significantly played a role in enhancing degradation of HDPE.The degradation increased by increasing amount of manganese carboxylates.During accelerated weathering,the degradation took place more rapidly than during thermal treatment,particularly for HDPE containing manganese carboxylates.Photo-degradation and thermo-oxidative degradation took place simultaneously during accelerated weathering and allowed dramatic reductions of essential properties.Natural weathering has given similar effects with accelerated weathering.Manganese carboxylates has also shown the capabilities on enhancing degradation of HDPE in natural environment.Manganese stearate has shown a slightly greater effect in enhancing degradation of HDPE than manganese laurate and manganese palmitate during all treatments.Pure HDPE lost its elongation at break about 16 %; 65 % and 64 %,whereas HDPE containing 1% manganese stearate lost its elongation at break about 62 %; 96 % and 95 % for thermal treatment;accelerated weathering and natural weathering respectively.Tensile strength and tensile modulus also decreased proportionally with the decrease of elongation at break.Other properties have also been found to decrease including average molecular weight,thermal stability,and melting point.The MFI,carbonyl index and crystallinity were found to increase after all treatments. Generally,manganese carboxylates have demonstrated the capabilities on enhancing degradation of HDPE under all modes of treatments.


Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that increasingly is being studied in cancers and inflammatory diseases. Though murine models have been instrumental in understanding the functional role of MIF in different pathological conditions, the information obtained from these models is biased towards a specific species. In experimental science, results obtained from multiple clinically relevant animal models always provide convincing data that might recapitulate in humans. Syrian golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), is a clinically relevant animal model for multiple human diseases. Hence, the major objectives of this study were to characterize structure and function of hamster MIF, and finally evaluate its effect on pancreatic tumor growth in vivo. Initially, the recombinant hamster MIF (rha-MIF) was cloned, expressed and purified in bacterial expression system. The rha-MIF primary sequence, biochemical properties and crystal structure analysis showed a greater similarity with human MIF. The crystal structure of hamster MIF illustrates that it forms a homotrimer as known in human and mouse. However, hamster MIF exhibits some minor structural variations when compared to human and mouse MIF. The in vitro functional studies show that rha-MIF has tautomerase activity and enhances activation and migration of hamster peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Interestingly, injection of rha-MIF into HapT1 pancreatic tumor bearing hamsters significantly enhanced the tumor growth and tumor associated angiogenesis. Together, the current study shows a structural and functional similarity between hamster and human MIF. Moreover, it has demonstrated that a high-level of circulating MIF originating from non-tumor cells might also promote pancreatic tumor growth in vivo.


Over the last 10 years, the availability of large and steadily growing amounts of visual and multimedia data and the development of the Internet underline the need to create thematic access methods that offer more than simple text based queries or requests based on matching exact database fields. Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) has been one of the most vivid research areas in the field of computer vision that is, the problem of searching for digital images in large databases. Content based" means that the search will analyze the actual contents of the image. Content Based Image Retrieval. (CBIR) aims at developing techniques that support effective searching and browsing of large image digital libraries based on automatically derived image features. In this Image retrieval system, query results are a set of images sorted by feature similarities with respect to the query. However images with high feature similarities to the query may be very different from the query in terms of semantics. Clustering is a form of unsupervised classification that aims at grouping data points based on similarity. In this paper, various clustering techniques are given. After reading all the technique we analyze that the complexity of computational terms is increasing subsequently.


Metformin is a widely used drug in the therapy of patients affected by diabetes mellitus. Although some caution is needed in the very old, advanced age per se does not represent a contraindication to metformin use. Despite the fact that its precise mechanism of action it is not completely elucidated, long-term treatment with this drug in monotherapy, improves glycaemic control and reduces cardiovascular mortality in overweight type 2 diabetic patients. Experimental evidence produced over the years suggests that metformin may be useful in some clinical conditions different from diabetes mellitus. In the present review we have examined currently available data about the possible use of metformin as an effective therapeutical agent in pathological conditions different from type 2 diabetes mellitus. On the basis of our investigation, the use of metformin can be suggested in overweigth patients affected by impaired glucose tolerance and/or fasting hyperglycaemia and in subjects affected by polycystic ovary syndrome, while further data are needed in order to prescribe such a drug in patients affected by non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis and in HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy.


Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate respiratory and auditory disorders among workers in a ceramic manufacturing factory and their relationship with workplace environment in the same factory. Background The ceramic industry is one of the most hazardous industries to the respiratory system. In addition, disorders due to occupational exposure to noise are possible. Participants and methods A cross-sectional, comparative study was carried out on 138 workers in a ceramic manufacturing factory and 138 nonoccupationally exposed participants (control group). An environmental study for total, respirable, and differential dusts and noise was carried out. Spirometric measurements, audiometric assessment, and plain chest radiography were applied. Results The mean value of respirable dust level, free crystalline silica concentration, and noise levels were higher than international permissible levels. Ceramic manufacturing factory workers had a higher significant prevalence of respiratory and auditory manifestations as well as deteriorated spirometric measurements, abnormal audiometric assessment, and abnormal radiological findings. Conclusion Exposure to free crystalline silica concentrations more than permissible levels results in abnormal spirometric measurements and abnormal radiological findings. Continuous exposure to noise levels more than 90 dBA leads to abnormalities in audiogram in the form of threshold shifting and V-dip depression. Regular use of good-quality personal protective equipment, especially masks and ear muffs, and periodic medical examination are highly recommended.


Introgression can be an important source of adaptive phenotypes, although conversely it can have deleterious effects. Evidence for adaptive introgression is accumulating but information on the genetic architecture of introgressed traits lags behind. Here we determine trait architecture in Populus trichocarpa under introgression from P. balsamifera using admixture mapping and phenotypic analyses. Our results reveal that admixture is a key driver of clinal adaptation and suggest that the northern range extension of P. trichocarpa depends, at least in part, on introgression from P. balsamifera. However, admixture with P. balsamifera can lead to potentially maladaptive early phenology, and a reduction in growth and disease resistance in P. trichocarpa. Strikingly, an introgressed chromosome 9 haplotype block from P. balsamifera restores the late phenology and high growth parental phenotype in admixed P. trichocarpa. This epistatic restorer block may be strongly advantageous in maximizing carbon assimilation and disease resistance in the southernmost populations where admixture has been detected. We also confirm a previously demonstrated case of adaptive introgression in chromosome 15 and show that introgression generates a transgressive chlorophyll-content phenotype. We provide strong support that introgression provides a reservoir of genetic variation associated with adaptive characters that allows improved survival in new environments.


Background More people are presenting with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), frequently a precursor to dementia, but we do not know how to reduce deterioration. Aims To systematically review randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of any intervention for MCI on cognitive, neuropsychiatric, functional, global outcomes, life quality or incident dementia. Method We reviewed 41 studies fitting predetermined criteria, assessed validity using a checklist, calculated standardised outcomes and prioritised primary outcome findings in placebo-controlled studies. Results The strongest evidence was that cholinesterase inhibitors did not reduce incident dementia. Cognition improved in single trials of: a heterogeneous psychological group intervention over 6 months; piribedil, a dopamine agonist over 3 months; and donepezil over 48 weeks. Nicotine improved attention over 6 months. There was equivocal evidence that Huannao Yicong improved cognition and social functioning. Conclusions There was no replicated evidence that any intervention was effective. Cholinesterase inhibitors and rofecoxib are ineffective in preventing dementia. Further good-quality RCTs are needed and preliminary evidence suggests these should include trials of psychological group interventions and piribedil. Declarations of interest C.L. has received grant support (research or continuing medical education) from NIMH, NIA, Associated Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Weinberg Foundation, Forest, GlaxoSmithKline, Eisai, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Ortho-McNeil, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novartis, National Football League (NFL), Elan, Functional Neuromodulation; and has been a consultant/advisor to AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Eisai, Novartis, Forest, Supernus, Adlyfe, Takeda, Wyeth, Lundbeck, Merz, Lilly, Pfizer, Genentech, Elan, NFL Players Association, NFL Benefits Office, Avanir, Zinfandel, Bristol-Myers Squibb; and received honorarium or travel support from Pfizer, Forest, GlaxoSmithKline, Health Monitor.


Sand wedges in the Hexi Corridor mainly formed in an alluvial gravel stratum of the late Pleistocene and the radiocarbon ages of the eolian sand infilling wedge prove that they were a product of the last ice age. During their period of formation, the mean annual air temperature in the Hexi Corridor was about −5.3°C., i.e. about 13°C lower than that of the present. This estimated value is coincident with the decrease in air temperature predicated from mirabilite (Na2SO4 · 10H2O) sedimentary layer in study area, and also agrees with research on the estimated amplitude of air temperature lowering in middle and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere during the last glacial period. The annual precipitation in the Western Hexi Corridor at that time was probably about 100–200 mm, i.e. about 100 mm more than at present.


Mean lateral-migration rates for 18 meandering river channels in western Canada are explained statistically in terms of hydraulic and sedimentological variables. The volume of sediment eroded from the outer bank of a meander bend is shown to be largely a function of river size and grain size of sediment at the base of the outer bank. These variables explain almost 70% of the volumetric migration rate for these relatively large, sand- and gravel-bed streams. It would appear that bank erosion and channel migration are essentially problems of sediment entrainment which is dependent on total stream power and sediment size. Vegetation on the outer bank is seen to have little significant effect in controlling channel migration. Further refinements of the type of data used here should permit the development of an accurate predictive model of regional channel migration. To this effect, it is most important to develop a precise relationship between bank resistance and the size of sediment at the base of the outer bank.


The railway industry—traditionally a conservative industry with low adaption speed for innovation—is currently entering its digitization phase. The sector faces a challenge in integrating new technologies and approaches into the employed—often safety-critical—systems. Keeping the systems secure while conforming to the demanding safety norms creates previously unknown problems. In the last decades, the number of attacks on the railway system has increased. Furthermore, with standardized digital technologies, the attack surface will keep growing. Therefore, in this work, we look into the foreseeable future of the railway system and present 21 likely use cases. We analyze these use cases regarding possible threats, rate the severity of these threats, and deduce and rate necessary countermeasures. To this end, we model these use cases and the corresponding threats and countermeasures using Attack Graphs. We use a graphical solution for the risk and security analysis due to advantages over other methods, i.e., table-based solutions, like simplified presentation and an easier understanding of relationships, dependencies, and interactions between various elements. From these Attack Graphs, we extracted 14 commonly recurring attack strategies. After analyzing 49 countermeasures regarding their current maturity and further research and standardization demands, we identified 21 in need of further investigation. This implies that 21 necessary countermeasures to secure these future use cases require further research to apply to railway systems or require standardization. These results will help researchers focus on the necessary research and standardization and railway operators to ensure the security of their systems.


Geophysical data from Conception Bay and the adjacent peninsulas of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland are presented and quantitatively interpreted using two-dimensional models to interpret the geology beneath the bay. The portion of the bay underlain by mafic volcanic rocks is determined and the maximum extent of the Cambro-Ordovician rocks containing the Wabana hematite deposit is delineated. All gravity and magnetic anomalies in the area are explained in terms of density and magnetic susceptibility variations confined to the upper 12 km of the crust. The geophysical models indicate that mafic volcanics underlie a significant portion of the study area and are more extensive than indicated by the surface outcrop on land. The models also indicate significant vertical movement on the Topsail Fault and on the extension of a fault passing out into the bay near Holyrood. The Cambro-Ordovician sediments are confined to the southern portion of the block bounded by these faults. The geophysical data are unable t...


Normally off lateral GaN nanowire gate-all-around MOSFETs have been fabricated on the GaN-on-insulator substrate. The dynamic measurement proved that the devices with various nanowire heights exhibit current collapse-free characteristics implying that the electrons in the isolated nanowire channel do not suffer from trapping effects. However, the dc current level measured at high drain and gate voltage is reduced to approximately one half of the value measured in dynamic mode. This is attributed to the difficulty in heat dissipation because the suspended lateral nanowire channel is thermally isolated from the substrate. However, the heat dissipation is mitigated as the nanowire size increases.


Educators need to change their practice to adapt to a shifting educational context. By visualising learning design decisions, this article highlights the need to capture educators' "tacit" knowledge relating to course material, activity types and workload, through employing learning analytics methods in order to analyse the learning designs of courses taken by 60,000+ students, common pedagogical patterns are identified. When analysing 157 learning designs using a taxonomy of seven different learning activities, we found that the majority of educators used two types of learning activities most widely, namely assimilative activities (reading, watching videos and listening to audio) and assessment activities. Surprisingly, educators do not choose different activity types based upon function (eg, replace one type of student-activating activity by another), but patterns can be seen where educators combine assimilative, productive and assessment activities or assimilative, finding and handling information and communication tasks. While educators rely heavily on assimilative and assessment activities, no positive correlation was found between any of the seven learning design activity types and student outcomes. Our initial findings suggest that student outcomes are negatively correlated with a high proportion of assimilative activities. Further studies are needed to establish whether particular learning design decisions are related to student outcomes and whether these findings can be replicated in different research settings.


This paper studies the multi-resource-constrained unrelated parallel machine scheduling problem under various operational constraints with the objective of minimising maximum completion time among the scheduled jobs. Sequence-dependent setup times, precedence relations, machine eligibility restrictions and release dates are incorporated into the problem as operational constraints to reflect real-world manufacturing environments. The considered problem is in NP-hard class of problems, which cannot be solved in deterministic polynomial time. Our aim in this study is to develop an exact solution approach based on constraint programming (CP), which shows good performance in solving scheduling problems. In this regard, we propose a CP model and enrich this model by adding lower bound restrictions and redundant constraints. Moreover, to achieve a reduction in computation time, we propose two branching strategies for the proposed CP model. The performance of the CP model is tested using randomly generated and benchmark instances from the literature. The computational results indicate that the proposed CP model outperforms the best solutions with an average gap of 15.52%.


This exploratory study investigates firms' implementation of a new corporate governance code in Mauritius, a developing economy. The authors rely on annual report disclosures during a four-year period (2004-2007). The authors analyze the level of corporate engagement with the code's requirements, including corporate social responsibility initiatives, relative to a 2004 (when the code was enacted) benchmark over the three subsequent years. The study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it provides much needed evidence of longitudinal implementation within developing economies that exhibit, or have started to exhibit, a combination of ownership and control features found in more advanced economies and characterized in the literature as an "emerging governance" model. Second, the authors develop a more comprehensive assessment of implementation using a scoring system that combines trichotomous weighting of each governance component (as 1, 3, or 5) and trichotomous rating of implementation of each component (as 0, 0.5, or 1). The authors argue that this system is superior to the un-weighted, dichotomous approach typically used in the literature. The analysis of weighted assessment scores for reveals a significant implementation of the code initially after 2004; but implementation began to level off by 2007 well below maximum assignable scores. Detailed requirements regarding directors' appraisal and training, remuneration policies and remuneration information appear to be ignored by companies through 2007. A correlation analysis of the corporate governance scores and firm-based measures (level and changes) shows that the association between these different variables fluctuates significantly over the implementation window.


Intensity-based image segmentation is often plagued by the spatial intensity inhomogeneities (or non-uniformities) that are caused by the imperfection of the imaging devices and the varying operating conditions, also known as the bias field. We present a graphical model representation of the joint segmentation and bias field estimation problem and propose an iterative solver based on the Belief Propagation (BP) algorithm. The intractable joint inference problem of the original graphical model is decoupled into two MRF-MAP estimation problems and solved by a discrete-valued BP and a Gaussian BP, respectively and iteratively. We validate our method using both simulated and real data and show its connection to some of the classical filtering-based approaches.


Pancreatic cancer (PANC) is a dangerous type of cancer that is a major cause of mortality worldwide and exhibits a remarkably poor prognosis. To date, discovering anti-PANC agents remains a very complex and expensive process. Computational approaches can accelerate the search for anti-PANC agents. We report for the first time two models that combined perturbation theory with machine learning via a multilayer perceptron network (PTML-MLP) to perform the virtual design and prediction of molecules that can simultaneously inhibit multiple PANC cell lines and PANC-related proteins, such as caspase-1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R). Both PTML-MLP models exhibited accuracies higher than 78%. Using the interpretation from one of the PTML-MLP models as a guideline, we extracted different molecular fragments desirable for the inhibition of the PANC cell lines and the aforementioned PANC-related proteins and then assembled some of those fragments to form three new molecules. The two PTML-MLP models predicted the designed molecules as potentially versatile anti-PANC agents through inhibition of the three PANC-related proteins and multiple PANC cell lines. Conclusions: This work opens new horizons for the application of the PTML modeling methodology to anticancer research.


A simple screening method to detect berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) endophytic bacteria for rice plant growth-promoting agents on the basis of a root colonization bioassay and a plant growth promoting trait is characterized. Firstly, 200 isolates (80 endophytes and 120 rhizospheric isolates) isolated from berseem clover were inoculated as 10 mixtures of 20 strains each on two rice varieties under gnotobiotic conditions. Then, the reisolated endophytic strains from two rice varieties were characterized for plant growth promoting (PGP) traits. Secondly, the colonization and growth promoting effects of endophytic strains were compared in inoculated rice plantlets as single-strain inoculants. A significant relationship among indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) producing isolates, the size of root colonization, and plant growth was observed. Our results suggest that the ability of IAA production by the endophytic bacteria which may have a stimulatory effect on plant development may be the first plant growth promoting trait for screening bacteria isolated from clover plant for rice plant growth promoting agents. In addition, this study indicates that the selected bacterial isolates based on their IAA producing trait have the potential for PGP and more colonization of rice plant.


Hypergraphs allow modeling problems with multiway high-order relationships. However, the computational cost of most existing hypergraph-based algorithms can be heavily dependent upon the input hypergraph sizes. To address the ever-increasing computational challenges, graph coarsening can be potentially applied for preprocessing a given hypergraph by aggressively aggregating its vertices (nodes). However, state-of-the-art hypergraph partitioning (clustering) methods that incorporate heuristic graph coarsening techniques are not optimized for preserving the structural (global) properties of hypergraphs. In this work, we propose an efficient spectral hypergraph coarsening scheme (HyperSF) for well preserving the original spectral (structural) properties of hypergraphs. Our approach leverages a recent strongly-local max-flow-based clustering algorithm for detecting the sets of hypergraph vertices that minimize ratio cut. To further improve the algorithm efficiency, we propose a divide-and-conquer scheme by leveraging spectral clustering of the bipartite graphs corresponding to the original hypergraphs. Our experimental results for a variety of hypergraphs extracted from real-world VLSI design benchmarks show that the proposed hypergraph coarsening algorithm can significantly improve the multi-way conductance of hypergraph clustering as well as runtime efficiency when compared with existing state-of-the-art algorithms.


Tankyrases are physiological regulators of Axin, a protein involved in several cellular processes, including Wnt signaling. Here, we investigated the effect of a specific Tankyrase inhibitor (XAV939) in follicular‐luteal dynamics, and its possible relationship with ovarian vascular development. Studies were designed to analyze the effect of intrabursa administration of XAV939 in gonadotropin‐treated prepubertal rats. In particular, we examined follicle and corpus luteum development, steroidogenesis, angiogenic markers, and apoptotic parameters. We found that in vivo inhibition of Wnt signaling impaired corpus luteum development, with a decrease in the number of corpora lutea balanced by a high number of cysts; decreased circulating progesterone levels, likely due to a decrease in Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein content in the corpus luteum; and increased pro‐apoptotic parameters. In addition, Extracellular signal‐regulated kinase phosphorylation, Vascular endothelium growth factor 120 content, and endothelial cell area were diminished in corpora lutea of inhibitor‐treated ovaries. Thus, Wnt/β‐catenin signaling appears to participate in the regulation of corpus luteum development and luteal cell function.


Background: Demodex parasites are the most common ectoparasites in humans. One of the factors in the pathogenesis of an increase in parasite density is immunosuppression. In this prospective study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of phototherapy-induced immunosuppression on Demodex density. Material and Methods: Thirty-five patients receiving phototherapy were included in the study. The number of parasites in the samples taken from the right cheek, left cheek, forehead, nose and chin of the patients, by standardized skin surface biopsy method, were recorded before phototherapy and in the third month of treatment. Results: Of the 35 patients, the female-to-male ratio was found to be 2.1:1. There was no statistically significant difference between the ages of the male and female patients. The increase in the number of parasites in the right cheek, left cheek, nose and chin in the third month was statistically significant; whereas the increase in the forehead was not. Conclusion: The results of our study showed that phototherapy can cause an increase in Demodex density, and these findings are compatible with those of other studies in the literature. Since our study aims to evaluate density at the beginning and the end of the third month of phototherapy, it differs from other studies by indicating the effect of phototherapy more accurately.


An 83-year-old woman presented with a six month history of exertional breathlessness. Physical examination revealed a heart rate of 90 beats/min, blood pressure 140/80 mm Hg, and an immediate diastolic murmur. An ECG demonstrated sinus rhythm with right bundle branch block. Her chest …


A gram-negative bacterium, Edwardsiella ictaluri, is the cause of enteric septicemia of catfish (ESC), which is one of the most prevalent bacterial diseases in farm-raised catfish. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors associated with ESC mortalities and are reported by farm personnel. To identify risk factors a catfish management database was developed. The odds ratios (OR) of the final multivariable logistic regression model were: (1) volume of the pond (OR, 0.56), (2) interval from harvest until a mortality event (OR, 1.49), (3) interval from stocking until a mortality event (OR, 0.52), (4) nitrite measured within 14 d of a mortality (OR, 3.49), (5) total ammonia measured within 14 d of a mortality (OR, 20.48), and (6) sum of feed fed for 14 d prior to the disease outbreak (OR, 1.02), all of which were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) associated with ESC occurrence. This study showed that some commonly recorded production variables were associated with ESC outbreaks and if monitored could help identify "at risk" ponds prior to disease outbreaks.


Volatility plays a key role in asset and portfolio management and derivatives pricing. As such, accurate measures and good forecasts of volatility are crucial for the implementation and evaluation of asset and derivative pricing models in addition to trading and hedging strategies. However, whilst GARCH models are able to capture the observed clustering effect in asset price volatility in-sample, they appear to provide relatively poor out-of-sample forecasts. Recent research has suggested that this relative failure of GARCH models arises not from a failure of the model but a failure to specify correctly the 'true volatility' measure against which forecasting performance is measured. It is argued that the standard approach of using ex post daily squared returns as the measure of 'true volatility' includes a large noisy component. An alternative measure for 'true volatility' has therefore been suggested, based upon the cumulative squared returns from intra-day data. This paper implements that technique and reports that, in a dataset of 17 daily exchange rate series, the GARCH model outperforms smoothing and moving average techniques which have been previously identified as providing superior volatility forecasts. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The problem of tracking through singular sub-manifolds is extended to include regions of uncontrollability. A special, pragmatic class of nonlinear systems with uncontrollable, singular points is analyzed. The unique behavior of these systems is compared to systems with controllable, input singularities such as the well-known ball and beam system that has enjoyed considerable attention throughout the literature. Analysis reveals the deficiency of existing control solutions to properly handle an input singularity that is also uncontrollable. A sufficient condition for successfully maneuvering through an uncontrollable, singular submanifold is derived providing a basis for reference trajectory design. An illustrative example of practical applicability is presented for a disk drive, commutational ramp load actuator


An electrical structure of a variable-speed wind turbine based on an externally excited synchronous generator; a passive diode rectifier; and a boost converter is discussed in this study. The clear advantage of such a system is its lower-semi-conductor devices count. A brief theoretical explanation of such a system is included. A boost converter normally utilies an inductor (energy storage) to boost the voltage level from its input to a higher output value. This study analyses the possibility of using the generator inductance as a boost inductor. It is discussed and verified in the study that for the given switching frequency of the boost converter (fs=1  kHz), the generator sub-transient inductance (not the synchronous inductance) appears as an equivalent inductance seen by the boost converter. The parasitic capacitors present in the generator terminals are often neglected from design issues. It is presented in the study that such capacitors can be a major issue when high-frequency switching is applied to the voltage at the generator terminals. Some major results from the experimental work are included. The experimental setup used in this work is a scaled down 7.5 kVA system.


Benzoxazinoids, secondary metabolites of several Poaceae, and some benzoxazinoid downstream metabolites are bioactive compounds that act as allelochemicals and natural pesticides. Since a short lifetime of the substances is crucial to avoid long-term environmental effects, total degradation by microorganisms is of exceptional importance. We performed a screening with cultivable microorganisms (Species names and strain numbers: Mycobacterium fortuitum, 7; Bacillus aryabhattai, 34; Bacillus cereus, 59; Bacillus megaterium, 21, 48; Bacillus methylotrophicus, 58; Lysinibacillus xylanilyticus, 56; Paenibacillus polymyxa, 51; Aminobacter aminovorans, 49; the fungi Papulaspora sepedonioides, 12 and Trichoderma viride, 47) isolated from soil previously used for wheat and Persian clover mixed-culture systems to assess their behavior in the presence of the compounds. The microorganisms were exposed to glucosylated benzoxazinones, the benzoxazinones HBOA, DIBOA, and DIMBOA, the benzoxazolinones BOA, BOA-6-OH, and MBOA, and to several downstream products (AP, AAP, oHPMA, glucoside carbamate) in liquid culture to avoid interferences with soil minerals and other organisms. The microorganisms differed strongly in their metabolic activities in terms of growth, compound modification, and degradation. We observed degradation with DIBOA and GDIMBOA but rarely with DIMBOA, whereas BOA and MBOA showed almost no degradation when directly applied. Hydroxylation of BOA and demethylation of MBOA by the plant, resulting in BOA-6-OH, activated the benzoxazolinones for bacterial nitration. The resulting NBOA-6-OH was short-lived but could function temporarily as an allelochemical by inhibiting photosynthesis, e.g., in young seedlings of cress and kohlrabi. The BOA downstream products AP and oHPMA were converted to AAP, which can be nitrated to N-(2-OH-5-nitrophenyl)-acetamide and then degraded by A. aminovorans (49) and P. polymyxa (51). Only P. sepedonioides (12) and P. polymyxa (51) failed in the conversion of HBOA into AAP. While DIBOA, DIMBOA, MBOA, NBOA-6-OH, AP, AAP, and oHPMA reduced the growth of most microorganisms, glucoside carbamate promoted their growth. GDIMBOA had a stimulatory effect toward the fungi and three bacterial species. These findings lead to the hypothesis that in a natural habitat, such as the root surface, microorganisms may cooperate, perhaps by involving the plant, for the successful elimination of benzoxazinoids and their downstream metabolites.


ABSTRACT Cheng, B., 2020. Promotive effect of port trade on the international economy considering the effect of industrial clusters. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 221–224. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. China's foreign trade mainly relies on marine transportation, and the port trade develops rapidly and synchronously with the economy. With the continuous increase of the number of port-based enterprises, the effect of industrial clusters of port enterprises is becoming increasingly obvious, and its promotive effect on the international trade is getting stronger. With Shanghai Port as an example and taking the effect of industrial clusters into consideration, this paper explores the promotive effect of port trade on the international economy and conducts related analysis. The research results show that with the progress of foreign trade, industries that are closely related to port industrial clusters are also developing continuously. The economic effects of port industrial clusters are divided into two aspects: the micro-aspect and the macro-aspect. As an example, the industrial cluster effect of the Yangtze River Delta Region and the industrial clusters of port-based enterprises would enhance the promotive effect of Shanghai Port on the international economy. The study in this paper aims to provide a theoretical basis for promoting the effect of port industrial clusters.


The Syriac version of the Hexaemeron by St. Basil of Caesarea survives in Ms no. 9 of the Syriac collection in the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai (written before 734 AD), and in fragments, of which the earliest dates from the fifthe century. It predates the surviving Greek manuscripts by four centuries. It is not a literal translation, but expands the text in a discursive manner - as is not uncommon in Syriac. The Armenian version was made from this Syriac text by the seventh century. The Syriac version of the Hexaemeron is thus valuable as a witness to the original, as a text of importance for Syriac literature, and as the intermediary for the wide diffusion of the Hexaemeron in Armenia.


A 16-year-old boy presented with asymptomatic progressive symmetrical thickening of the soft tissue around the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints of both hands of 2 years' duration. His medical history was remarkable for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, for which he was prescribed methylphenidate hydrochloride. For the past 2 to 3 years, he and his psychiatrist had noted the development of a nervous tic consisting of stretching out the arms, grasping his fingers tightly across the PIP joints, and pushing externally. There was no other notable medical history, and his development was otherwise normal. No family members were similarly affected. Physical examination revealed symmetric soft-tissue swelling of the second through fifth fingers at the location of the PIP joint bilaterally (Figure 1). Healing abrasions from prior accidental trauma were evident on the distal third and fourth digits. There were no joint effusions, and the range of motion across all joints was normal. Findings from radiographs of the hands were normal, aside from the evident soft-tissue swelling overlying all PIP joints. A skin biopsy specimen was taken from an involved site and histopathologically analyzed (Figure 2 and Figure 3). What is your diagnosis?


Abstract:Falconer's The Shipwreck (1762) contains substantial passages in which the poet surveys the Greco-Roman cities and ruins visible to sailors as they sail past landmasses in the Mediterranean. This survey of past and present is a reminder of the changing fortunes—the rise and fall—of powerful city-states and empires. The poem's primary theme is the peril faced by sailors on trading voyages, on which they provide the labor, face the dangers, but earn few of the profits. By invoking the Greco-Roman past, however, Falconer also warns his readers of the human costs of commercial and imperial ambition.


Broad scope of functionality and controllable degree of functionalization are intriguing goals for the development of polar-group-functionalized polyethylene materials. Herein, we propose a generic strategy of using widely available starting materials (i.e., poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate), EVA) and mild Mitsunobu functionalization conditions to prepare over 30 polyethylene derivatives. No noble transition metal catalysts (e.g., Ru, Mo, Pd, etc.) or corrosive/explosive reagents (e.g., HBr, NaN3, C2H4, H2, etc.) are used in the synthesis, while functional groups such as azide, aldehyde, norbornene, and thiol can be easily installed, with tunable content as high as 18 mol %. Using this practical method, we successfully prepared polyethylene-derivatized membranes with excellent antimicrobial and fluorescent properties.


SUMMARY

The use of radar Doppler velocimetry for the observation of volcanic activity is new. We used this method to continuously observe the activity of one vent of Stromboli volcano, Italy, from the end of 2000 April until early May. During this period we recorded 702 eruptions, 132 of which occurred before a strong rain storm passed over the island on April 29. In order to interpret the recorded Doppler data we developed a program that simulates different strombolian eruption scenarios, for which we then calculate the theoretical Doppler spectra. Comparing our theoretical data with the observed data we are able to show that most of the eruptions are nearly vertical, although we did observe only one component of the eruption vector with our Doppler radar. One of the most interesting features of the data set is a significant change in eruptive behaviour that correlates with the occurrence of the rain storm: we find that on average the eruption duration increased by a factor of 2, eruptive velocities were much higher and indirect evidence indicates that the average particle diameter of the erupted material decreased. This change may have several causes, but the coincidence with the rain storm may be evidence of magma–water interaction and feedback on the volcanic activity. If the fluid source (rain) changing the eruptive style is at the surface and in near-surface layers then the main control on final eruption dynamics at Stromboli volcano must also be in rather shallow regions.


A diode-laser-based ultraviolet absorption sensor was successfully demonstrated for both in situ and extractive sampling atomic mercury measurements in a laboratory-scale 29.3 kWt (100 000 BTU/h) coal combustor and in situ measurements in a flow reactor at Texas A&M University. Laser sensor measurements were compared to measurements from a commercial mercury analyzer (CMA). A 375 nm single-mode laser and a 784 nm distributed feedback (DFB) laser are sum-frequency-mixed in a nonlinear {beta}-barium borate crystal to generate a 254 nm beam. By tuning the frequency of the DFB laser, the ultraviolet beam frequency was tuned across the transition frequency of mercury at 253.7 nm. The tuning range was large enough that an off-resonant baseline was clearly visible on both sides of the Hg transition. No pretreatment is required for elemental mercury measurements, and the effects of broadband absorption can be effectively eliminated during data analysis. Extractive sampling was demonstrated to improve the detection limit of the sensor and demonstrate the feasibility of total mercury concentration measurements in the future through extractive sampling. Significant variation in the atomic mercury concentration of coal-combustion exhaust was observed over short time periods during our in situ measurements. The sensor detection limits for in situ andmore » extractive sampling are 0.3 and 0.1 parts per billion over a 1 m path length, respectively. 34 refs., 11 figs., 2 tabs.« less


High solubility of Aluminium (Al) and toxic on post coal mined land cause low level of growth plant. Soil analysis used to ensure toxic level, thus the plant growth failure can be minimized. On the other hand, soil analysis is time consuming and costly. A simple and effective method to detect the existence of Al in the soil is needed. Bridelia monoica is a dominant pioneer tree which grow around mine location. This plant can survive on the dry land with low fertility, has many utility and easily found around mining area. It is expected that B. monoica can be used as biologic indicator of Al toxicity. The aim of this research was to determine the B. monoica response to Al toxicity on the post coal mined land at PT. Jorong Barutama Greston. This research conducted at four different colours of soil (three colours from post coal mined and original soil as control) with three replication. The data observed were root length, shape of root, amount of leaf, leaf colour, and dry weight. This research resulted Al toxicity can decrease root length, amount of leaf, and dry weight, and changing the root shape on B. monoica. The research concluded B. monoica can be used as biologic indicator of Al toxicity. Key words: Aluminium, Bridelia monoica, post coal mined soil


The negative consequences of job insecurity on the well-being of individuals are well known. However, the perceptions of job insecurity over time and how some factors such as social support may affect them have received limited attention. This study follows precarious schoolteachers for three weeks before the end of their contract to explore how their perceptions of job insecurity evolve over time.,The participants were 47 precarious schoolteachers who first completed a general questionnaire, then a diary survey on nine occasions over the course of the three weeks. Data was analysed with MPLUS 7.3.,The results suggest intra-individual differences regarding the way job insecurity was perceived over time. An additional discovery was that support provided by the school principal was negatively related to changes in job insecurity over time.,The relatively small sample size, which includes only precarious schoolteachers, and the methodology complexity of the diary are limitations of this study.,This study highlights the subjective nature of the perceptions of job insecurity. It also shows the importance of the school principal's social support towards precarious schoolteachers; therefore, practitioners should propose interventions to enhance the quality of principal–teachers relationships.,This study contributes to the literature by investigating how perceptions of job insecurity evolve over time and the role of social support.


Background Chagas disease affects an estimated 300,000 individuals in the US. Diagnosis in the chronic phase requires positive results by two different IgG serological tests. Three ELISAs (Hemagen, Ortho, Wiener) and one rapid test (InBios) are FDA-cleared, but comparative data in US populations are sparse. Methods We evaluated 500 seropositive and 300 seronegative blood donor plasma samples. Country of birth was known for 255 seropositive specimens and grouped into regions: Mexico (n=94), Central America (n=88) and South America (n=73). Specimens were tested by the four FDA-cleared IgG serological assays. Test performance was evaluated by two comparators and latent class analysis. Results InBios had the highest sensitivity (97.4-99.3%), but lowest specificity (87.5-92.3%). Hemagen had the lowest sensitivity (88.0-92.0%), but high specificity (99.0-100.0%). Sensitivity was intermediate for Ortho (92.4-96.5%) and Wiener (94.0-97.1%); both had high specificity (98.8-100.0% and 96.7-99.3%, respectively). Antibody reactivity and clinical sensitivity was lowest in donors from Mexico, intermediate in those from Central America and highest in those from South America. Conclusions Our findings provide an initial evidence base to improve laboratory diagnosis of Chagas disease in the US. The best current testing algorithm would employ a high sensitivity screening test followed by a high specificity confirmatory test.


Mast cells are known to play an active role as effector cells in allergic inflammation and in diverse immunological and pathological processes. Activated mast cell-derived pro-inflammatory cytokines are important pathologic factors of progression of allergic inflammation. In this study, we investigated whether pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha and IL-8) can be induced by calcium stimulation in HMC-1 cells, and high molecular weight water-soluble chitosan (WSC) can inhibit the production of these cytokines. We provided evidence that the secretion of TNF-alpha and IL-8 from HMC-1 cells was induced by Ca2+-ionophore A23187 or Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor TSG. Treatment of WSC (10 microg/ml) prior to stimulation with calcium agonists significantly blocked the secretion of TNF-alpha by 65.1% for A23187 and 87.7% for TSG. IL-8 secretion in response to A23187 or TSG was inhibited by 49.2% for A23187 and 34.1% for TSG, respectively, compared to absence of WSC. These results suggest that WSC has potential regulatory effects on allergic inflammatory diseases by down-modulating Ca2+-induced mast cell activation.


This article focuses on some features of typographic layout and design and the possible impact of typography on comprehensibility and reader preferences. Reference is made to works by several authorities on the matter who deal with these issues and also to surveys of reader preference and reader performance conducted in various parts of the world. Some of the findings from these surveys are compared with the outcome of a local survey among in-service teachers studying at a distance whose first language is not English. Reader preference for specified typographical aspects of page layout and design was investigated in this survey, including font type, font size, headings, line justification and margin width. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15(3) 2001: 111-118


The bio-active materials were isolated from prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola) by using several extraction solvents. The contents of general compounds, vitamins, polyphenols and flavonoids of prickly lettuce were analysed. In addition, nitrite scavenging activity, anti-oxidative activity and anti-microbial activity of methanol extracts were measured. The ethylacetate (EtOAc) fraction of methanol extracts of prickly lettuce showed the best on the nitrite scavenging ac-tivity, anti-oxidant activity and anti-microbial activity. And also, the contents of polyphenols and fla-vonoids were the highest among all fractions. The subfraction 2 (EtOAc:MeOH=3:1) of EtOAc fraction showed the strongest anti-oxidative activity among 5 subfractions. The subfraction 2 was identified as


INTRODUCTION : Ear is the most important sensory organ concerned with the perception of hearing. Infections are the leading causes of deafness worldwide. CSOM is a chronic Suppurative inflammation of mucoperiosteal layer of the middle ear cleft (Plate1). Incidence of CSOM higher in developing than developed countries particularly in India. The global burden of illness from CSOM involutes 65-330 million individuals with draining ears, 60% of whom 38-200 million suffer from significant hearing impairment CSOM accounts for 28000 deaths and a disease burden of over 2 million disability adjusted life years. Over 90% of the burden is borne by countries in south East Asia (WHO 2004). It shows the importance of controlling the infections effectively by for preventing the hearing loss all over the world. In developed countries the incidence of CSOM had come down to 0.04% of all cases of suppurative otitis media. In a rural area of India it was found to be 4.26%. Chronic suppurative otitis media is considered to be major problem in developing countries with relatively high mortality and morbidity (Glass cock et al; 1990). Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunist pathogen that can infect almost any body site given the right predisposing conditions. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a significant pathogen among gramnegative organisms infecting ear (Brobby Gwetal ; 1987, Brook I et al., 1996). Infections caused by pseudomonas aeruginosa are often severe and life threatening and are difficult to treat because of the limited susceptibility to anti microbial agents. (Carmeli; Y; et al ; 1999). The problem of antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is on the increase. Accumulation of resistance after exposure to various antibiotics and cross-resistant among agents may result in multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES : a) Isolation of aerobic causative organisms from chronic suppurative otitis media. b) Identification of pseudomonas aeruginosa from chronic suppurative otitis meida and their characterization. c) Determination of minimum Inhibitory concentration of selected expanded 3rd and 4th generation, for pseudomonas aeruginosa isolation from CSOM. d) Detection of group I inducible β – Lactamase production by the test isolates and their prevalence. e) Detection of extended spectrum of β –Lactamases (ESBLs) producers among the pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from CSOM and their prevalence. f) To evaluate synergy effects of selected antibiotics. g) Comparative study of Multidrug resistant between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other isolates from CSOM. h) To isolate plasmids from CSOM strains of Multidrug resistant pseudomonas aeruginosa.
MATERIALS AND METHODS : All the Ear Swab specimens obtained from CSOM patient were processed in the Department of microbiology Government medical college hospital Coimbatore, South India from October 2005 to September 2006 were considered for the study, A total of 43 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from chronic suppurative otitis media patients were cultured and they were stored as suspensions in a 10% (wt/vol) skim milk solution (STGG medium) containing 10% (Vol / Vol) glycerol at 80oC until additional tests were performed. The other swab was inoculated immediately to blood Agar, chocolate Agar, Macconkey Agar, Potato dextrose Agar, Cetrimide Agar and Brain heart infusion broth for bacteria isolation. "C" shaped streaks in a row were made with spatula while inoculating solid media in order to obtain inoculums in decreasing gradation. Inclusion Criteria: 1) Recurrent or persistent ear discharge over 2-6 wks through a perforation of tympanic membrane who had not received Topical or systemic antibiotic therapy for the previous five days. 2) Patients age ranged from 1 month to 80 years. Their pathogenic potential was confirmed by correlating with clinical findings and repeat isolations. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Acute otitis media, 2. Chronic otitis media with effusion, 3. Cases having purely sanguineous or CSF otorrhoea, 4. Antibiotic therapy (Topical or systemic) with in previous five days. RESULTS : During the study period from October 2005 to September 2006 a total of 110 Ear Swabs were collected from 100 Patients with CSOM attending ENT OP, Coimbatore Medical College hospital and Ear swabs were processed in the laboratory of microbiology department Coimbatore Medical College Hospital Coimbatore. Out of 100 patients with CSOM 10 patients were suffering from bilateral CSOM (Fig.1). About 114 Organisms were isolated from 110 specimens. Among 110 specimens 105 numbers showed positive cultures (95.45%) This study showed that most common isolates obtained from CSOM patients were pseudomonas aeruginosa (37.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (32.4%), Proteus sp (12.2%), Klebsiella sp (7.8%), Coagulate negative staphylococcus aureus (2.6%), Streptococcus pyogens (1.7%), E. Coli (0.8%), Moraxella catarrhalis (0.8%), Candida Sp (2.6%), Aspergillus (0.8%). In total of 105 positive cultures 9 cultures showed mixed growth. SUMMARY : 110 Specimens were collected from 100 CSOM patients attending ENT OP at Government Medical College Hospital, Coimbatore during October 2005 to September 2006. 43 strains of pseudomonas aeruginosa were collected during the study period. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done for these strains by Kirby -Bauer disc diffusion method. MIC for all 43 strains were detected using Hicomb test (E-TEST). Antibiotic susceptibility of the strains were correlated with their MIC value. Inducibility of beta lactamases were detected for the 20 sensitive trains isolated, by double disc diffusion test and it was observed that all 20 strains were induced to produce betalactamases with disc approximation at 20 mm apart. Only 8 (40%) were induced to produce betalactamases when the discs were 25 mm apart. ESBLs were detected for the resistance strains by double disc diffusion test. Presence of ESBL was detected in 4.3 % strains through 20mm disc approximation, 34.7% of strains through 15mm of disc approximation, 78.2% through 10 mm disc approximation.


The thermal treatment of the silica-zirconia montmorillonite K10 and silica-ferri oxide montmorillonite K10 nanocomposites at 300 and 500 °C has been carried out, respectively as part of a study of their function as the catalyst. The heating effect on the crystallinity and the lattice parameter calculation of both nanocomposites was studied using XRD and FTIR instruments. The results showed that the nanocomposite silica-zirconia montmorillonite K10 has a thermal resistance and the crystallinity better than the silica-ferri oxide montmorillonite K10, and both have values varying lattice parameters.


In this study, the pool and weir fishway which is the most commonly used fishway in the world and in our country, was investigated experimentally. The experiments were conducted in an open channel system. The velocity area of the flow in five pools created by using weirs was measured by using aquistic doppler velocimeter. The orifices on the weirs were reduced in the ratio of ½ that of given in the literature for the grayling ( Thymallus thymallus ) or the brown trout ( Salmo trutta ) to pass. In the experiments for a discharge value of Q=6.2 L/s, the difference between the height of the water surface of downward and upward side of the first weir was found to be 2 cm and 1 cm for the others. For Q=12.2 L/s, these differences between the water surface heights were 5.5 cm for all weirs. The maximum velocities were obtained next to downward of the orifices. Moreover, far from the high velocity areas near the orifices, lower velocity areas in the pools that fishes could rest during the passes were determined. Keywords: Pool and weir fishway, aquistic doppler velocimeter, open channel, orifice


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) typically presents with obesity; however, obesity is not a requisite characteristic for MetS classification and related vascular risk. We tested the hypothesis that MetS, independent of excess adiposity, is associated with impaired endothelial vasodilator dysfunction. Thirty-two sedentary, middle-aged adults were studied: 11 normal weight (9 male and 2 female; body mass index (BMI), 24.0 ± 0.3 kg/m2); 11 normal weight with MetS (9 male and 2 female; BMI, 24.7 ± 0.3 kg/m2); and 10 obese without MetS (8 male and 2 female; BMI, 31.4 ± 0.5 kg/m2). MetS was established according to National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Forearm blood flow (FBF) responses to intra-arterial infusions of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside were measured via strain-gauge plethysmography. FBF responses to acetylcholine were ∼20% lower (P < 0.05) in the normal-weight subjects with MetS (from 4.0 ± 0.3 to 13.0 ± 1.0 mL/(100 mL tissue·min)) and obese subjects (from 4.8 ± 0.2 to 12.2 ± 1.1 mL/(100 mL tissue·min)) compared with the normal-weight subjects (from 4.6 ± 0.4 to 15.8 ± 0.7 mL/(100 mL tissue·min)). Of note, FBF responses to acetylcholine were similar between the normal-weight adults with MetS and the obese adults. There were no differences among groups in FBF response to sodium nitroprusside. These data indicate that the presence of MetS, independent of obesity, is associated with diminished endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Endothelial vasodilator dysfunction may underlie the increased cardiovascular risk in normal-weight adults with MetS.


This study considers variability in phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacterial abundances and production rates, in one of the most oligotrophic marine regions in the world–the Levantine Basin. The temporal dynamics of these planktonic groups were studied in the coastal waters of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea approximately every two weeks for a total of two years. Heterotrophic bacteria were abundant mostly during late summer and midwinter, and were positively correlated with bacterial production and with N2 fixation. Based on size fractionating, picophytoplankton was abundant during the summer, whereas nano-microphytoplankton predominated during the winter and early spring, which were also evident in the size-fractionated primary production rates. Autotrophic abundance and production correlated negatively with temperature, but did not correlate with inorganic nutrients. Furthermore, a comparison of our results with results from the open Levantine Basin demonstrates that autotrophic and heterotrophic production, as well as N2 fixation rates, are considerably higher in the coastal habitat than in the open sea, while nutrient levels or cell abundance are not different. These findings have important ecological implications for food web dynamics and for biological carbon sequestration in this understudied region.


The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) stands pars pro toto for how the EU and the Member States have confronted what allegedly started out as a sovereign debt crisis and has turned into an existential crisis of the EU. Attempts to get Europe back on track rely too heavily on technocratic governance and abandon some of the EU's core values. This paper proposes an alternative, more legitimate route. It argues that ESM-like financial assistance should be integrated into the framework of the EU's legal order, by using the legal instrument of enhanced cooperation under Article 20 TEU.A critical analysis is given of economic governance under the ESM, addressing and assessing its shortcomings in terms of human rights protection, the rule of law ideal and lack of input legitimacy. The feasibility of using enhanced cooperation for the ESM is examined.


The debate over sexuality education reveals important issues regarding government regulation of personal behavior and the role of values in social welfare policy. While often regulated to the realm of public health, the promotion of effective approaches to sexuality education is closely aligned with social work's mission to empower clients and increase their access to resources and information. This article will cover historical trends in sexuality education, the current federal policy and alternatives, and discuss the limitations and subsequent consequences for future policy. Additionally, this article will highlight the important implications of the sexuality education debate for the social work profession.


Among the essential elements of knowledge management is the use of information and data, as well as the knowledge, skills, and abilities inherent within communities, as well as their ideas, commitments, and motivations for making good decisions as emerging technologies become more prevalent. Numerous leading social scientists in this field have asserted that organizational knowledge should be regarded as a strategic asset. There is a growing awareness of the importance of gathering, locating, capturing, and sharing collective knowledge and expertise of societies, and societies are urged to develop effective and efficient methods of gathering, locating, capturing, and sharing that knowledge in order to deal with problems and to benefit from opportunities. People living in many countries and regions are interested in implementing knowledge management processes and technologies, and many of them have included knowledge management as an integral part of their overall development strategies. The management of knowledge plays an increasingly important role in global economic development (Bell, 1973, 1978). In order to remain relevant in the modern world, organizations should not ignore knowledge management and emerging technologies.


Research focused on identification and collection of a suitable database, identification of parametric representation of the time series seismic waveforms, and the training and testing of neural networks for seismic event classification. It was necessary to utilize seismic events that had a high degree of reliability for accurate training of the neural networks. The seismic waveforms were obtained from the Center for Seismic Studies and were organized into smaller databases for training and classification purposes. Unprocessed seismograms were not well suited for presentation to a neural network because of the large number of data points required to represent a seismic event in the time domain. The parametric representation of the seismic events in some cases provided adequate information for accurate event classification, while significantly reducing the minimum size of the neural network. Various networks have achieved classification rates ranging from 88 percent classification of three class problem to 75 percent for the 5 class problem. The results vary dependent on the number of classes and the method of parametric transformations utilized. Multiple tests were performed in order to statistically average the training and classification rates. Test summaries presented and individual test results are given in the appendix.


This book is representative of the study and practice of speech pathology and therapy in the United Kingdom and is used by students in their first and second years of study in normal speech development, anatomy (especially of the vocal tract and the articulators), and physiology (phonetics, linguistics, and acoustics) and in their second and third years of study in neurology. Acoustics is not taught as extensively as in the United States speech pathology departments. The book aims to show how these essential background subjects are involved in and applied to the clinical study (diagnosis and assessment) and the treatment of disorders of speech in childhood. It is most useful for mature students (who have already acquired knowledge of the background subjects) and clinicians in practice. I have used this book as a text when teaching in the speech pathology departments in many universities between 1960 and 1970, including Syracuse University, and I have found it useful. M. E. Morley


We present lilGym, a new benchmark for language-conditioned reinforcement learning in visual environments. lilGym is based on 2,661 highly-compositional human-written natural language statements grounded in an interactive visual environment. We introduce a new approach for exact reward computation in every possible world state by annotating all statements with executable Python programs. Each statement is paired with multiple start states and reward functions to form thousands of distinct Markov Decision Processes of varying difficulty. We experiment with lilGym with different models and learning regimes. Our results and analysis show that while existing methods are able to achieve non-trivial performance, lilGym forms a challenging open problem. lilGym is available at https://lil.nlp.cornell.edu/lilgym/.


: There is already a lot of technical knowledge about air quality, both regarding the effects and the causes of air pollution, as well as useful measures (Urban agenda, 2017). Enhancing the transfer of scientific knowledge on air quality management is significant for policy making in order to effectively control the levels of air pollution. Decision Support Tools (DSTs) are undeniably an important mechanism for transfer of knowledge from researchers to decision makers (Liu et al, 2012). They are also a valuable opportunity to foster synergies in urban planning between different policies (air quality, energy, mobility, housing, health etc.) (Urban agenda, 2017). Policymakers and the stakeholders who influence their decisions can access and use knowledge on air quality and related areas more effectively to further policy development activities (Clean Air Asia). In air quality management, several DSTs are used: monitoring, modeling, GIS and public information. Integrated, they contribute for maintenance of air pollution in tolerable levels. Hence, this paper elaborates the importance of Decision Support Tools for transfer of knowledge, used for decision making at various levels and by various stakeholders in the process of air quality management.


Following a brief discussion of the meanings of constructivism an argument is made to the effect that Q methodology is a constructivist methodology in a sense that is compatible with the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. A brief comparison of the ideas of Stephenson and Whitehead is followed by a section outlining Whitehead's notion of the 'event' or 'actual occasion' as the core of a radically constructivist approach to nature. It is argued that a comparable conception of the event is at play in Stephenson's conception of Q methodology, and that this is key to understanding the quantum theoretical aspects of Q. Some of the procedures of Q methodology are then 'interpreted' in the light of this conception. The conclusion shows the relationship between the experience / expression aspects of an actual occasion and William James' distinction between transitive and substantive thought. Introduction: constructing constructivism Why am I so upset? (Stephenson, 2005 : 114). In approaching the concept of constructivism, it seems to me that William Stephenson would take the view that if we are to avoid entering into fruitless discussion at crosspurposes, it would be wise to recognise that the meaning of 'constructivism' has first to be 'constructed'. On its own the word is a mere pattern of ink on paper, or a momentary flicker of air-born sound. One can find it written and defined in a dictionary, for sure, but the word acquires living importance only as a more or less carefully wrought concept that


British historian Henry Thomas Buckle (1821-1862) concentrated on writing about social and intellectual history, his best-known work being "The History of Civilisation". As an admiring disciple of J.S. Mill, he was also convinced that empirical methods can and should be applied to the study of history. Apart from "The History of Civilisation", Buckle published little during his lifetime. These shorter published works, including his review of Mill's "On Liberty" and his public lecture, "The Influence of Women on the Process of Knowledge", can be found in Volume One of these miscellaneous works, along with fragments of other work on a wide range of subjects. It includes Buckle's reflections on Voltaire and Rousseau, on toleration and religious persecution, on beggars and the poor laws, on the influence of women (always, for Buckle, a measure of civilization), on the decline of superstition and gradual improvement in manners over the ages. Volume Two and Three contain Buckle's "Commonplace Books", the fruit of his extensive reading. They document the emergence of a new perspective on English history, with the emphasis always on the social, intellectual, religious and moral changes that characterize each period.


It is commonplace to see references to parties' manifestos as their written issue "profiles," and changes in such documents as constituting changes in the parties' "images" or "identities," with the latter terms often used interchangeably to capture the role of platforms. This article argues, however, that projection of a party's "image" and its "identity" are two different functions for a manifesto, not just one, and that it is important for the building and testing of theory that this distinction be maintained. Parties are, after all, addressing two audiences simultaneously with one document, and the two dimensions provide two alternative objects of change which can be used strategically to please both audiences at once. The article employs existing manifesto-based measures of parties' relative issue emphases and their positions on a range of issues as indicators of image and identity, respectively, and finds that the two are indeed empirically distinct. Then, an earlier test of the electoral performance hypothesis as applied to emphasis change is replicated with data designed to capture change in issue positions. The test provides evidence for the prudence of maintaining the distinction between emphasis and position as two different dimensions of party profile change.


Coordination in collective wage setting can constrain potential monopoly gains to unions in non-traded-goods industries. Countries with national wage coordination can thus stabilize overall employment against fluctuations and shocks in the world economy. We test this theory by exploring within-country variation in exposure to competition from China in 13 European countries. Our causal estimates demonstrate that in countries with uncoordinated wage setting, regions with higher import exposure from China experienced a marked fall in employment, while countries with wage-coordination experienced no such employment effects. We test our main mechanism against other explanations, and show that our findings are robust to alternative measures of wage coordination, industry classifications, and trade exposure.


The oxidative study has always been particularly topical in poultry science. However, little information about the occurrence of cellular apoptosis and autophagy through the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signal pathway was reported in the liver of broilers exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). So we investigated the change of growth performance of broilers exposed to H2O2 and further explored the occurrence of apoptosis and autophagy, as well as the expression of NF-κB in these signaling pathways in the liver. A total of 320 1-day-old Arbor Acres male broiler chickens were raised on a basal diet and randomly divided into five treatments which were arranged as non-injected treatment (Control), physiological saline (0.75%) injected treatment (Saline) and H2O2 treatments (H2O2(0.74), H2O2(1.48) and H2O2(2.96)) received an intraperitoneal injection of H2O2 with 0.74, 1.48 and 2.96 mM/kg BW. The results showed that compared to those in the control and saline treatments, 2.96 mM/kg BW H2O2-treated broilers exhibited significantly higher feed/gain ratio at 22 to 42 days and 1 to 42 days, ROS formation, the contents of oxidation products, the mRNA expressions of caspases (3, 6, 8), microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3)-II/LC3-I, autophagy-related gene 6, Bcl-2 associated X and protein expressions of total caspase-3 and total LC3-II, and significantly lower BW gain at 22 to 42 days and 1 to 42 days, the activities of total superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, the expression of NF-κB in the liver. Meanwhile, significantly higher feed/gain ratio at 1 to 42 days, ROS formation, the contents of protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde, the mRNA expression of caspase-3 and the protein expressions of total caspase-3 and total LC3-II, as well as significantly lower BW gain at 22 to 42 days and 1 to 42 days were observed in broilers received 1.48 mM/kg BW H2O2 treatment than those in control and saline treatments. These results indicated that oxidative stress induced by H2O2 had a negative effect on histomorphology and redox status in the liver of broilers, which was associated with a decline in growth performance of broilers. This may attribute to apoptosis and autophagy processes triggered by excessive ROS that suppress the NF-κB signaling pathway.


Amic acids, consisting of carboxylic acids and amides, are often utilized as intermediates that can further undergo a dehydration-cyclization step to yield polymeric cyclic imides. Compared with imide-based materials, the presence of Brønsted acidic groups and multiple hydrogen-bond donors and acceptors in materials incorporating amic acids opens up the possibility for a variety of host-guest interactions. Here we report a facile and catalyst-free synthesis of a Brønsted acidic porous poly(amic acid) (PAA) and present its NH3 uptake properties using gas adsorption and breakthrough measurements. Simple addition of water as a cosolvent to a mixture of tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)methane and pyromellitic anhydride resulted in the formation of PAA in almost quantitative yield. Further mechanistic studies with model compounds revealed the importance of additive water to generate amic acid species selectively without forming cyclic imides at high temperatures. Gas adsorption isotherms and breakthrough curves obtained under dry and humid conditions demonstrate the enhanced NH3 uptake in the case of PAA compared with the related polycyclic imide at both low and high pressures. Furthermore, the results of adsorption/desorption cycling experiments provide insights into the strength of the interaction between ammonia and the polymers.


A complete document analysis system involves multiple techniques and indifferent processing steps. Even a character recognition or word recognition module (subsystem) needs techniques combining a few algorithms. To exemplify how the techniques are practically used and how they are performing, some concrete examples of using multiple techniques to build practical recognition systems are presented, and experimental results on real image data are showed. In the paper, evolutionary generation of pattern recognizers will be discussed and a co evolution algorithm in the image recognition system will be researched. This result shows that competitive co evolution and camouflage are expected to aid in the problem of over fitting and reliability without expert tuning, and also in the generation of a larger and more diverse data set.


Adhesion is pivotal for most leukocyte functions, and the β2 integrin family of adhesion molecules plays a central role. The integrins need activation to become functional, but the molecular events resulting in adhesion have remained incompletely understood. In human T cells, activation through the TCR results in specific phosphorylation of the T758 on the β2 chain of LFA-1. We now show that this phosphorylation leads to downstream binding of 14-3-3 proteins, followed by engagement of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor protein Tiam1 and Rac1 activation. Downregulation of the signaling molecules inhibits LFA-1 activity. Activation by the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1α also results in T758 phosphorylation and integrin activation. Thus, TCR and chemokine activation converges on LFA-1 phosphorylation, followed by similar downstream events affecting adhesion.