The reproductive pattern of the short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus brachyotis in a tropical dry evergreen rainforest in Thailand (13°N) is characterized by seasonal bimodal polyoestry with postpartum oestrus. The first lactation period occurred in March–April, but the timing of the second varied between years: September–October in 1998 and July–August in 1999. Females may experience reproductive delays after the second parturition. Females attained sexual maturity at 6–7 months of age and gave birth for the first time at about 11–12 months, and are able to produce two young a year. Females born in April gave birth as early as March the following year. Those born in August–September first gave birth in July–August the following year. Males attained sexual maturity when they were a year old. Testis size was significantly positively correlated with photoperiod. The body weight of mature males varied cyclically, was higher during breeding periods and was significantly correlated with testis size. The first parturition coincided with the onset of the annual rains and the second occurred in the middle of the rainy season. Both lactation and weaning periods correspond with high food availability. A significantly higher percentage of reproductive females, earlier parturition, greater synchrony of lactation, higher body mass of lactating females, more abundant, larger and heavier juveniles, and heavier mature males were recorded in 1999 compared with 1998. The El Nino Southern Oscillation resulted in a prolonged and severe drought early in 1998, and induced mast fruiting in 1999 that led to higher reproductive success. Photoperiod may regulate the reproductive rhythm in male C. brachyotis, although experimental studies are required to verify this.


The structure of the tissue from the liver, kidneys, pancreas and adrenal glands of 4-week-old chickens showing symptoms of the fatty liver and kidney syndrome (FLKS) was compared with that of normal tissue and related to the amount of biotin present in the liver tissue. These birds were reared with different levels of dietary biotin and were stressed by removal of food before being killed. Birds with less than 1-5 microgram biotin/g liver were considered to be deficient in biotin. In the stressed birds the severity of FLKS increased with decreasing levels of biotin. No lesions were found in the liver and kidney tissue of the birds with severe FLKS. Large quantities of fat were accumulated in the hepatocytes and intercellular spaces of the liver tissue, but the cell contents were not disorganized. In the kidney, conspicuous fat accumulation occurred in the proximal convoluted tubule cells and some ultrastructural disorganization of the cell contents was evident. No structural changes were found in the tissue of the pancreas or the adrenal glands of chickens suffering from severe FLKS.


The construction of models for video action classification progresses rapidly. However, the performance of those models can still be easily improved by ensembling with the same models trained on different modalities (e.g. Optical flow). Unfortunately, it is computationally expensive to use several modalities during inference. Recent works examine the ways to integrate advantages of multi-modality into a single RGB-model. Yet, there is still room for improvement. In this paper, we explore various methods to embed the ensemble power into a single model. We show that proper initialization, as well as mutual modality learning, enhances single-modality models. As a result, we achieve state-of-the-art results in the Something-Something-v2 benchmark.


Abstract Cyclodextrins (CDs) – a family of cyclic oligosaccharides – are ideal building blocks for the construction of environmentally benign materials. Herein, we reflect upon the serendipitous discovery of two classes of extended crystalline materials – referred to as cyclodextrin metal-organic frameworks (CD-MOFs) and CD-Bamboo – based on CDs which offer opportunities for potential applications in the world of industry and commerce all the way from sequestering carbon dioxide to extracting gold in an eco-friendly manner. The crucial role of serendipity in scientific research expresses itself two times over at the boundaries between coordination chemistry with materials science.


SuperIso Relic is a public computing program for the calculation of flavour observables and relic density in supersymmetry (MSSM and NMSSM). We present new extensions of the code dedicated to the calculation of dark matter direct and indirect detection constraints from the latest experimental results. Contrary to most of the existing programs, this new version allows the user to consider straightforwardly the uncertainties related to nuclear form factors, dark matter density and velocity, as well as cosmic-ray propagation through the galactic medium. The user thus finds a direct way to calculate "conservative", "standard" or "stringent" constraints according to the chosen set of uncertainties. Some examplified results showing the impact of such uncertainties are also presented.


The research purpose was to describe and analyze how far the influence of external and organization environment as independent variable to individual intellectual competence transformation process to become organization intellectual capital, as dependent variable. The research method used in this research is the survey method with quantitative approach. Research result show that exogen variable of External Environment LE) has influence of 0.565 or 56.5%, and 0,661 or 66,1 % of variable Organization Climate (IKO) to Intellectual Competence (KII) as intervening variable. Meanwhile Intervening KII variable has influence of 0.609 or 60.9% on Intellectual Capital (INO) as endogen variable.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationships between self-reported and performance-based hand function.

METHOD
Thirty participants with hand function limitations completed the Manual Ability Measure (MAM-36) and the Upper Extremity Performance Test for the Elderly (TEMPA). Participants were categorized into two groups: (1) Dominant Hand Affected and (2) Nondominant Hand Affected. Correlations between the two assessments were examined. The speed of task execution and TEMPA scores were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS
A significant correlation was found between the MAM-36 and TEMPA Total Functional Rating (p = 0.79, p < .05). Significant differences were found in the speed of execution of unilateral tasks and the Unilateral Functional Ratings between the two groups.

CONCLUSION
The MAM-36 is a promising assessment tool for measuring a client's perceived hand function. However, a performance-based assessment can supplement information about the quality and speed of hand-task performance.


This paper presents a new hierarchical scheduling method for a large scale manufacturing system based on the hybrid Petri net model, which consists of CPN (continuous Petri net) and TPN (timed Petri net). The automobile production system, which is one of a typical large scale manufacturing system, is focused. Our proposed scheduling method can macroscopically schedule the flow in entire system and can microscopically consider physical constraints, which come from real shop floor.


The effects of religion on political behavior are difficult to study for a number of reasons. One difficulty is that "religion" is not a singular entity and is thus unlikely to have a unidirectional effect on political behavior. Another difficulty is that everyone in a particular place and time might be embedded in the same set of religious practices, such that the counterfactual is difficult to assess. In response to these and other challenges, we suggest opening up the black box of religion in order to examine the influence of its component parts. Specifically, we focus on exposure to sermons. We describe a study about the impact of Christian sermons in sub-Saharan Africa on reactions to inequality. We discuss the approach's advantages and limitations and discuss how to integrate it with the study of other aspects of religion and how the approach might apply to other domains of political behavior.


Abstract From 1999 to 2001 a 724 m deep ice core was drilled on Akademii Nauk ice cap, Severnaya Zemlya, to gain high-resolution proxy data from the central Russian Arctic. Despite strong summertime meltwater percolation, this ice core provides valuable information on the regional climate and environmental history. We present data of stable water isotopes, melt-layer content and major ions from the uppermost 57 m of this core, covering the period 1883–1998. Dating was achieved by counting seasonal isotopic cycles and using reference horizons. Multi-annual δ18O values reflect Eurasian sub-Arctic and Arctic surface air-temperature variations. We found strong correlations to instrumental temperature data from some stations (e.g. r = 0.62 for Vardø, northern Norway). The δ18O values show pronounced 20th-century temperature changes, with a strong rise about 1920 and the absolute temperature maximum in the 1930s. A recent decrease in the deuterium-excess time series indicates an increasing role of the Kara Sea as a regional moisture source. From the multi-annual ion variations we deduced decreasing sea-salt aerosol trends in the 20th century, as reflected by sodium and chloride, whereas sulphate and nitrate are strongly affected by anthropogenic pollution.


A 50-GHz grid fiber distributed feedback laser wavelength-division-multiplexing transmitter source is demonstrated pumped by a single continuous-wave Yb-fiber laser source at 977 nm. Up to 21 mW of output power is achieved per channel with maintenance of key operational parameters. The performance of this single Yb-fiber laser pump configuration is also compared with that of a semiconductor pump configuration which shows no degradation for all the important parameters.


The weaver mutant mouse is characterized by degeneration of the dopaminergic mesencephalic neurons. The role of the dopaminergic system in the regulation of N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunit expression was addressed in the present study. In situ hybridization experiments were conducted to determine the expression levels of the NMDA receptor subunit mRNAs, z1, ε1 and ε2, in striatum, nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle and cerebral cortical regions of 26‐day‐, 3‐ and 6‐month‐old weaver mice. Data indicated statistically significant increases in z1 and ε2 mRNA levels in 6‐month‐old weaver striatum, whereas at the same age ε1 mRNA expression was decreased in all striatal regions, as well as in the cortex. In the 26‐day‐old weaver striatum and nucleus accumbens, statistically significant increases were observed in ε1 mRNA levels, whereas no changes were observed in the other two subunits. In the somatosensory cortex of 26‐day‐old weaver brain an increased expression of all three subunits was observed. The upregulation of NMDA receptor subunit expression observed in the somatosensory cortex can be attributed to a decreased activity of the glutamatergic thalamocortical pathway, following the degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic fibres. In the striatum, the present results demonstrate a differential control on the expression of z1 and ε2 subunits on the one hand, and ε1 subunit on the other. It is suggested that dopamine exerts a negative control on the expression of z1 and ε2 subunits, through a downregulation of transcription factors associated with the AP1 regulatory site, which is mediated by the activation of striatal dopamine D2 receptors.


Two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), isoelectric focusing (IEF) and agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) were used to examine cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sera from 22 patients with confirmed multiple sclerosis, 11 patients with probable multiple sclerosis and 20 control patients with non-inflammatory neurological diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). All of the 22 patients with confirmed multiple sclerosis showed abnormal patterns of oligoclonal IgG in all three methods. In the CSF from patients with probable multiple sclerosis, oligoclonal IgG was detectable in 18 percent with AGE, in 72 percent with IEF and 90 percent with 2-DE. No oligoclonal IgG was observed in subjects with non-inflammatory neurological diseases. Many artefacts in IEF, which lead to misinterpretation, are eliminated in the 2-DE system. Based on our observations and this study in particular, it is evident that some patients have IgG changes which can be detected only by 2-DE. The application of research-oriented 2-DE for routine clinical purposes is still limited by its cost and technical complexity.


A nanoscale biosensor chip surface for the detection of trinitrotoluene (TNT) was fabricated using dinitrophenylated-keyhole lympet hemocyanin (DNP-KLH) protein conjugate as ligand supported by an underlying 11-amino 1-undecanethiol hydrochloride (AUT) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and bis sulfo-succinimidyl suberate (BS3) as crosslinker. Bioactive thin films were fabricated over gold chip via layer-by-layer self-assembly methods. The biomolecular interaction between substrate-specific TNP glycine-KLH mouse lg antibody and DNP-KLH conjugate surface was monitored using a surface plasmon resonance-based optical sensor. The quantitation of (TNT) on this bioactive surface was carried out using the solution-based competitive inhibition assay. The DNP-KLH surface biosensor has shown a detection limit of 0.15 ng/ml (150 ppt) and was sensitive up to the 0.005 ng/ml (5 ppt) level for the TNT molecule. This TNT specific biosensor holds the promise to be one of the most sensitive, fast TNT detecting sensor surfaces under indirect competitive assay format. A 12 s injection pulse of 10 mM glycine-HCI solution was sufficient for the regeneration of the DNP-KLH surface for repeated use. The DNP-KLH sensor platform was checked for its reproducibility and storability.


Our young narrator is a joint-custody kid, staying sometimes with her mom and sometimes with her dad, but her dog, Fred, always stays with her. Wonderful companion though Fred may be, he's a bit of a nuisance, barking and messing up houses until both parents forbid his presence. Our girl takes a firm stand, however, and with parents pitching in on the problem-solving, Fred is soon an improved canine citizen. Some of the underlying implications are a little sadder than the story (and one wonders why nobody thought to involve Fred and his mistress in a little obedience training), but this is both truthful and understatedly touching in its attestation to the importance of a loyal pet; the matter-of-fact text makes the most of simple parallel structures to convey the narrator's parallel existences. Tusa's art is unobtrusively, thoughtfully excellent: pudgy, grinning Fred would be a comedy turn in another setting, but here his cheerful presence lifts the book as it does his mistress' days; the meticulously subdued palette, in a rich range of earthtones from ochre to rust, adds a serious undertone to the cavorting of girl and dog; compositions cleverly keep the adults obscured and focus even more firmly on the two comrades. Even kids with just one home will recognize the importance of Fred's loyal support, and they'll appreciate anew the company of their own animal—perhaps even toy—friends. DS


Inhalation therapy is the cornerstone of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management. However, for many COPD patients who are managed at home, nebulization therapy offers an effective alternative treatment and fulfills the gap of catering to the specific population of patients who are unable to use handheld inhaler devices appropriately. The present review highlights key aspects, namely selection of the right beneficiaries for home nebulization, available drugs in nebulized formulations for the treatment of COPD, and the importance of care, cleaning, and maintenance, which are prerequisites for ensuring successful nebulization therapy.


Background Meaningful nurse-patient interaction is crucial to achieving better health outcomes. A nurse should understand the importance of tailored effective communication to understanding how each patient prefers to be treated. Nurse-patient interaction is a potential resource to promote hope, meaning and purpose in life, which results in harmony and healing environment. Previous studies have shown a variety of aspects of nurse-patient interaction, however the process of interaction have not been thoroughly investigated from the patients' viewpoint. This qualitative study aimed to investigate patients' perceptions of their interactions with nurses in the hospital wards. Method A phenomenological approach was undertaken in one public hospital in Indonesia. 10 participants were recruited from general wards by purposeful sampling method. The data were collected through observations of nurse-patient interaction, the ward atmosphere as well as the activities by semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were then examined and analyzed by Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach. Result Three themes were extracted from data analysis including saying sorry for neglecting me, calming the atmosphere for nurses' openness and feeling surrender to destiny. Discussion and Conclusion Based on the results, issues such nurses' openness and positive atmosphere in the hospital wards are shown to be important in maintaining the best quality of nurse-patient interactions. Nurses should be aware of these factors during interactions with patients


BACKGROUND
Percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) is used to treat cystic or mixed benign thyroid nodules. This treatment can result in rare complications, and three cases of Graves' disease (GD) without Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) have been reported after PEI treatment of toxic thyroid adenomas. Here we present a 55-year-old male patient who developed GD and severe GO after PEI treatment of a mixed cystic-solid, nontoxic thyroid nodule.

PATIENT FINDINGS
Six months after PEI, the nodule volume had decreased from 8.9 to 3.0 mL, but we observed severe hyperthyroidism with elevated serum free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, and thyrotropin receptor antibody levels. We also observed ophthalmopathy with symmetrical orbit and soft tissue involvement (grade b/c) and a clinical activity score of 4/7. The diagnosis of GO was confirmed by bilateral corneal damage, increased intraocular pressure on upgaze, and inconstant diplopia. A computed tomography scan showed that the inferior, medial, and superior extraocular muscles were bilaterally enlarged, the perineural space at the orbital cone was slightly reduced and the ophthalmic vein was congested.

SUMMARY
A cause-effect relationship between PEI and GD/GO was likely in this patient because of the temporal sequence. Although the mechanism was unknown, we speculated that the thyroid tissue damage caused by PEI released a large amount of antigenic materials from follicular thyroid cells, including thyrotropin receptor protein, which triggered the autoimmune inflammatory response against the thyroid itself and the orbital soft tissues. The patient did not have any risk factors for either GD or GO.

CONCLUSIONS
This observation raises the concern, therefore, that unpredictable and severe complications, such as GD and GO, may occur in a few patients treated with PEI.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of inter-organizational networks in the emergence of a disruptive technology by taking a snapshot view of the UK market for mobile voice over internet protocol (mVoIP) technologies. By delineating the technologies required for an mVoIP call to occur, the role of incumbents, technology and inter-organizational networks is explored.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a case study approach using secondary data from a variety of sources including company websites, newspapers, technical press and users to form a picture of the current situation.

Findings

The authors show that inter-organizational networks can act both to enable and delay disruptive technologies. They discuss the difference between collaborative and collective actions and the way in which these can slow or even prevent a new emerging technology.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is based on secondary data and the research results may lack generalizability to other technologies.

Practical implications

The need for new business models for mVoIP is discussed.

Originality/value

Disruptive technologies are difficult to predict or map until after the market disruption has occurred. This paper aims to map a disruptive technology at a point in time when the technology is still emerging. The study is based on a comprehensive analysis of technology and market actions and is also based on secondary data: it is limited at the detailed level to one geographic market but provides a unique snapshot of an emerging disruptive technology.


Efficient data compression is becoming increasingly critical for storing scientific data because many scientific applications produce vast amounts of data. This paper presents an end-to-end algorithmic and software pipeline for data compression that guarantees both error bounds on primary data (PD) and derived data, known as Quantities of Interest (QoI).We demonstrate the effectiveness of the pipeline by compressing fusion data generated by a large-scale fusion code, XGC, which produces tens of petabytes of data in a single day. We demonstrate that the compression is conducted by setting aside computational resources known as staging nodes, and does not impact the simulation performance. For efficient parallel I/O, the pipeline uses ADIOS2, which many codes such as XGC already use for their parallel I/O. We show that our approach can compress the data by two orders of magnitude while guaranteeing high accuracy on both the PD and the QoIs. Further, the amount of resources required by compression is a few percent of the resources required by simulation while ensuring that the compression time for each stage is less than the corresponding simulation time.This pipeline consists of three main steps. The first step decomposes the data using domain decomposition into small subdomains. Each subdomain is then compressed independently to achieve a high level of parallelism. The second step uses existing techniques that guarantee error bounds on the primary data for each subdomain. The third step uses a post-processing optimization technique based on Lagrange multipliers to reduce the QoI errors for data corresponding to each subdomain. The Lagrange multipliers generated can be further quantized or truncated to increase the compression level. All of the above characteristics of our approach make it highly practical to apply on-the-fly compression while guaranteeing errors on QoIs that are critical to the scientists.


This article draws on a corpus-based study of translations of Shakespeare in
Afrikaans in order to contribute to the debate on what CTS (corpus-based translation
studies) can offer the translation researcher. Corpus linguistic methodologies are
versatile and therefore it was possible to apply aspects of Douglas Biber's (1988)
multi-dimensional approach to register variation to a parallel corpus of Shakespeare's
The merchant of Venicel/Ig in Afrikaans. In particular, the focus is on an investigation of
the manifestation of linguistic features of involvement in different registers of
Shakespeare translation. `Features of involvement' refer to those linguistic features
which reflect that speaker and listener typically interact with one another (i.e., private
verbs, contractions, 1st and 2nd person pronouns, analytic negation, demonstratives,
emphatics, discourse markers, causative subordination, amplifiers, questions, time
and place adverbials). The overall finding is one of a statistically highly significant
difference between the two registers with the stage translation displaying more
features of involvement than the page translation. Despite production constraints, the
dialogue of a Shakespearean stage translation does indeed exhibit more features of
involvement than a page translation.


In the reading of Pynchon's novels, the focus has not been on the study of the artistic peculiarities of the writer as much as it has been on the novelist's view of the Western male identity, which is the product of historical, political, psychological and stylistic changes that the postmodern masculine selfhood had experienced. The learning of Pynchon's novels provides an obvious understanding of how this postmodern identity was twisted and deformed on several occasions, at times asserted and at others subverted. This paper deals most explicitly with how the project of analyzing the different aspects of identity fails to pave the way for a conspicuous recognition of the main dilemma. In this sense, Pynchon seems to be incompatible with the classical trend. He satirizes the superiority of masculine identity. In this process, no one can deny that postmodernism is devised to subvert the inculcated values about manhood which were inherited from ancient artistic background. The subversion foreshadows the loss of the assumption that the Western male identity is superior to the female one. Therefore, Pynchon's deconstruction is meant to give voice to the female selfhood.


Aphelenchoides besseyi Christie, 1942 is recorded for the first time on rice in Mali and Upper Volta, the morphology is discussed and the description of the species emended. Boehmeria nivea Gaud. (Ramie) is reported as a new host for A. besseyi. A. siddiqii n.sp. is described from Foeniculum vulgare Mill, in Sudan. A key is given to the species of Aphelenchoides with a star tipped tail.


This bibliography contains 154 selected abstracts of research reports retrieved using the NTIS on-line search system--NTISearch. The report is divided into two sections. The section on solar energy contains 100 abstracts dealing with solar heating for buildings, solar electric power generation, solar cells for terrestial use, solar energy as a national resource, and solar stoves. The following 54 abstracts concerning wind power cover such topics as its future, conversion systems, energy storage, propeller design, and its uses. Many of these reports on wind power are recent NASA translations of European and Russian research conducted from 1934 to 1959.


Objective:
To determine the frequency of the types of common major connector designs in removable partial dentures provided to patients.
Materials and Methods:
A cross-sectional study was done at Khyber College of Dentistry. Participants fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were invited to take part in the study. The information was collected using a single interviewer-administered questionnaire. The demographic information of the patient was recorded. Information related to the design of major connector wasrecorded after it was drawn on the cast, before it was sent to the laboratory. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.
Results:
Data from 207 subjects were collected over a period of 24 months. The mean age of subjects was 41.21 ± 9.13 (SD) years. Out of 207 subjects, 41.1% were males and 59.9% were females. Female to male ratio was 1.43:1. Out of total, 49.3% were maxillary and 50.7% were mandibular removable partial dentures.Removable partial dentures constructed from cobalt-chromium accounted for 152 of the observed cases.Of the 152 observed cases of removable partial dentures made of cobalt-chromium, 81 were in the mandibular arch and 71 were maxillary. The remaining 55 were made of acrylic resin, out of which 31 were maxillary and 24 belonged to the mandibular arch.The study concluded that the horse shoe shaped connector is the most common type of connector used in the maxillary removable partial dentures (both cast partial and acrylic RPD's) and the lingual plate is the most frequent type of connector given in the mandibular removable partial dentures.
Conclusion:
The studyshowed that common maxillary cobalt-chromium major connectorwas the horseshoe shape, and that of mandibular cobalt-chromium major connector design was the lingual plate. Additionally, common acrylic RPD were horseshoe shape in maxilla and lingual plate in mandible.


This article provides time series evidence on the effects of fiscal policy on profits and investment in the US. In addition to neoclassical models of investment and profits we also consider Keynesian models. Our findings provide some support for the neoclassical views. However, Keynesian explanations, which allow for the effects of the real interest rate, receive strong support from the data.


The article presents the results of studies of the physical, mechanical, thermal and electrical characteristics of composite materials based on polyurethane as a binder and mineral fillers from fine powders AlN, Al(OH)3, SiO2, CaSiO3 with a content of up to 70 wt.%. These composite materials are used to create modern sealants and dielectric coatings that meet special requirements for strength, elasticity, heat resistance, including those that do not support combustion (by using flame retardants). Dependences of tensile strength, coefficient of elasticity, modulus of elasticity under compression and hardness of samples, electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity on the mass content of the filler were determined. It was found that in terms of the combination of physical and mechanical characteristics, the compositions based on the applied polyurethane are more durable, elastic and resilient than compositions based on a silicone binder with the same fillers previously studied by the authors.


The paper presents a physical (PHY) layer simulation of the low voltage powerline communication (LV PLC) system in accordance with the PRIME standard. The simulation concept is based on the transmission line and two port network theory. The simulator PrimeSim is implemented within the Matlab and introduces a graphical user interface for the network setup and results management. Furthermore, the simulator represents a generic framework for the development of broad spectrum of powerline network simulators and investigation of the applicability of PLC technology for smart grid applications. Performance of the PrimeSim simulator was validated in the pre-built LV PLC network consisting of eight nodes. Results for the probability of the bit error obtained within the simulation represents a good match of those obtained measurement within test network.


Abstract Pregnant adolescent females face nutritional challenges. The nutritional demands of a growing fetus, when added to the requirements for growing adolescent bodies, are risk factors for undernutrition. An adolescent expectant mother's nutritional status therefore affects both the mother's and the child's future growth, development, and potential development of diseases later in life. In Colombia, the rate of female adolescent pregnancies is higher than neighboring countries and the global average. The most recent data suggest that approximately 21 % of all pregnant adolescent females in Colombia are underweight, 27 % suffer from anemia, 20 % suffer from vitamin D deficiency, and 19 % suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency. Contributing factors to these nutritional deficiencies during pregnancy may be the region in which the female lives, the female's ethnicity, and the female's socioeconomic and educational status. In rural parts of Colombia, limitations regarding access to prenatal care and food choices that include animal source proteins may also contribute to nutritional deficiencies. To help remedy this, recommendations include encouraging nutrient dense food sources with higher protein content, eating one additional meal per day, and taking a prenatal vitamin throughout the pregnancy. Making healthy eating choices can be difficult for adolescent females with limited resources and education; therefore, it is recommended that discussions about nutrition begin at the first prenatal visit for optimum benefits. These factors should be considered for the development of future health policies and interventions in Colombia and other low-income and middle-income countries where pregnant adolescent females may be experiencing similar nutritional deficiencies.


Radio Frequency Universal Smart Cards (RF-UCard) open up the possibility for various attacks violating user privacy. In this paper, we propose a strong and lightweight role-based mutual authentication protocol. By employing the mutual authentication and the reader-role validation, the protocol can effectively defend against both passive and active attacks, including the invalid data access from the unauthorized readers. Through the protocol implementation, we observe that the proposed protocol is feasible and practical in RF-UCard systems.


Lectins are a diverse group of carbohydrate-binding proteins. Each lectin has its own specificity profile. It is believed that lectins exist in all living organisms that produce glycans. From a practical viewpoint, lectins have been used extensively in biochemical fields including proteomics due to their usefulness as detection and enrichment tools for specific glycans. Nevertheless, they have often been underestimated as probes, especially compared with antibodies, because of their low affinity and broad specificity. However, together with the concept of glycomics, such properties of lectins are now considered to be suitable for the task of 'profiling' in order to cover a wider range of ligands. Recently there has been rapid movement in the field of proteomics aimed at the investigation of glycan-related biomarkers. This is partly because of limitations of the present approach of simply following changes in protein-level expression, without paying sufficient attention to the fact and effects of glycosylation. The trend is reflected in the frequent use of lectins in the contexts of glycoprotein enrichment and glycan profiling. However, there are many aspects to be considered in using lectins, which differ considerably from antibodies. In this article, the author, as a developer of two unique methodologies, frontal affinity chromatography (FAC) and the lectin microarray, describes critical points concerning the use of lectins, together with the concept, strategy and means to achieve advances in these emerging glycan profiling technologies.


In recent years, several cameras have been introduced which extend depth of field (DOF) by producing a depth-invariant point spread function (PSF). These cameras extend DOF by deblurring a captured image with a single spatially-invariant PSF. For these cameras, the quality of recovered images depends both on the magnitude of the PSF spectrum (MTF) of the camera, and the similarity between PSFs at different depths. While researchers have compared the MTFs of different extended DOF cameras, relatively little attention has been paid to evaluating their depth invariances. In this paper, we compare the depth invariance of several cameras, and introduce a new camera that improves in this regard over existing designs, while still maintaining a good MTF. Our technique utilizes a novel optical element placed in the pupil plane of an imaging system. Whereas previous approaches use optical elements characterized by their amplitude or phase profile, our approach utilizes one whose behavior is characterized by its scattering properties. Such an element is commonly referred to as an optical diffuser, and thus we refer to our new approach as diffusion coding. We show that diffusion coding can be analyzed in a simple and intuitive way by modeling the effect of a diffuser as a kernel in light field space. We provide detailed analysis of diffusion coded cameras and show results from an implementation using a custom designed diffuser.


we find a minimal differential graded (dg) operad whose generic representations in ${\mathbb r}^n$ are in one-to-one correspondence with formal germs of those endomorphisms of the tangent bundle to ${\mathbb r}^n$ which satisfy the nijenhuis integrability condition. this operad is of a surprisingly simple origin: it is the cobar construction on the quadratic operad of homologically trivial dg lie algebras. as a by-product we obtain a strong-homotopy generalization of this geometric structure and show its homotopy equivalence to the structure of contractible dg manifolds.


Hamster ovary (CHO) and lung (CHL and V79) cells and the mouse lymphoma cell line L5178Y are the non-human mammalian cells most frequently used for in vitro micronucleus experiments, and are those recommended in regulatory test guidelines (e.g. OECD test guideline 487). Because these cells are readily available and relatively easy to handle, they have been used for more than 25 years for the detection of both clastogens and aneugens. This chapter summarizes their main characteristics, the key steps of the in vitro micronucleus test when conducted with these non-human mammalian cells, the parameters and criteria required for a valid study, and the points to consider when interpreting the results.


While the existing work on technology innovation is abundant, the innovation process largely remains a "black box," shrouded in mystery. Energy models that incorporate innovation concepts, such as experience curves, fail to consider the fundamental processes that drive innovation. This dissertation research establishes a set of methodological approaches to better break in to this innovation black box, aiding in the quantification of the more qualitative approaches to innovation. These methods are applied to better examine low-carbon technology innovation in transportation. Specifically, this dissertation looks at biofuel innovation and the more recent diffusion of electric vehicles. Patent trends, one traditional approach for quantifying innovations, are used to provide a point of comparison for the novel methodologies employed. This research shows that the innovation narrative and conclusions that can be drawn from patent data are largely dependent on how patents are classified. Employing statistical models in conjunction with computational linguistics and machine-learning algorithms, it is possible to classify large bodies of text. This methodology is applied to a large selection of patents to better classify biofuel technologies. Additionally, this method is applied to a large repository of textual media, such as newspaper articles and trade journals, to select for specific technologies, and to classify articles by the type of information they convey. This Technology Innovation System (TIS) database is believed to adequately proxy the flow of information over time, due to the large number of documents collected. The innovation trends captured in the TIS database align well with the biofuel narrative established in literature. There is also good alignment between patent data classified through this methodology and the TIS database. Through use of the TIS database in conjunction with deployment data and policy data, this dissertation demonstrates several applications for assessing technology innovation. Results can be used to provide suggestions, supported by the data, which may foster improved innovation outcomes for low-carbon transportation technologies


Lovastatin (Mevinolin), a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, has been used effectively as a hypocholesterolemic agent in man. As an inhibitor of endogenous cholesterol synthesis, a potentially serious side effect of therapy with this drug is interference with adrenocortical function. The effect of lovastatin on adrenal function was evaluated in a 6-month, randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study involving 24 type II hyperlipoproteinemic patients. Despite significant lowering of total and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by lovastatin, no statistically or clinically significant differences were seen in free cortisol excretion or in plasma cortisol response to intravenous ACTH infusion between baseline, placebo, and lovastatin-treated patients. We conclude that lovastatin does not adversely affect adrenocortical reserve in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) or non-FH type II hyperlipoproteinemia.


Currently the demand for pediatric patients with disabilities in the city of Quito is high,
but the city does not have a specific space that meets the needs required, that is why
a design program that aims to create proposed a place specifically directed to
children with disabilities, in which through the activities, infrastructure, spaces and the
distribution thereof, contribute to development, welfare, happiness and success in the
recovery of special children.
A Children's Rehabilitation Center is a place where by physical process seeks to
promote the quality of life of people with disabilities, strengthening their potential
through a corresponding to their individual needs comprehensive care.
The proposed design is realized in the current Canine Training Center of the National
Police, located in the area of Ponciano Bajo, a place that is intended for pediatric
physical area of the institution. The center takes in children with congenital or
acquired physical disabilities from 0-14 years of police personnel dependents
(children and relatives).
The idea is to create spaces that provide wellness for children who will use the space
using spatial fluidity, integration of spaces and volumes to create a different
experience, to provide different perceptions during the tour, explore playfulness
through color, rhythm, movement, senses and play.


Dielectric elastomers offer the promise of energy harvesting with few moving parts. Power can be produced simply by stretching and contracting a relatively low-cost rubbery material. This simplicity, combined with demonstrated high energy density and high efficiency, suggests that dielectric elastomers are promising for a wide range of energy harvesting applications. Indeed, dielectric elastomers have been demonstrated to harvest energy from human walking, ocean waves, flowing water, blowing wind, and pushing buttons. While the technology is promising, there are challenges that must be addressed if dielectric elastomers are to be a successful and economically viable energy harvesting technology. These challenges include developing materials and packaging that sustains long lifetime over a range of environmental conditions, design of the devices that stretch the elastomer material, as well as system issues such as practical and efficient energy harvesting circuits. Progress has been made in many of these areas. We have demonstrated energy harvesting transducers that have operated over 5 million cycles. We have also shown the ability of dielectric elastomer material to survive for months underwater while undergoing voltage cycling. We have shown circuits capable of 78% energy harvesting efficiency. While the possibility of long lifetime has been demonstrated at the watt level, reliably scaling up to the power levels required for providing renewable energy to the power grid or for local use will likely require further development from the material through to the systems level.


BACKGROUND
Mammalian bites are a significant public health problem in Australia, with the majority of bites coming from dogs. Complications include tissue damage from the bite itself, infection and post-traumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE
This article describes the assessment and management of mammalian bites in the Australian general practice setting based on a PubMed search of the English language literature from the years 1966 to present.

DISCUSSION
General practitioners need to be familiar with the treatment of animal bites, pitfalls in management, and the need to educate patients on ways to avoid future bite injuries. Meticulous wound cleaning, irrigation, exploration and debridement is essential to bite wound healing. Recognition of complicating fractures with imaging is important. Risk of infection differs among animal species, although most infected bite wounds are polymicrobial.


The scalability of multiwavelength switching networks with respect to bit rate, number of wavelength channels per fiber, and number of inputs/outputs per optical node is examined. High bit rates will require use of dispersion compensation, a large number of channels per fiber will require low-loss wavelength demultiplexing and multiplexing, and many input/output fibers per node will require corresponding large space switching stages. These requirements implemented at the same time seem feasible from the power budget point of view to give networks with very high data capacity (3000 Tb/s/spl middot/km). The limits considered here are those imposed by optical noise accumulation, static and dynamic gain saturation in the optical amplifiers, and dispersion in the transmission fibers.


Abstract The article discusses the problem of the linguistic status of the varieties of Old French used within the Jewish communities of medieval northern France. On the basis of evidence drawn from graphemics, phonology, inflectional morphology and the lexicon, several distinct linguistic registers, corresponding to the various discursive traditions reflected in the Jewish vernacular texts, are identified. These registers are characterized essentially by a number of lexical features, including phenomena pertaining to inherited Romance vocabulary, loan words, morphological calques and phono-semantic matching. While the existence of an autonomous Judeo-French language or dialect is not corroborated, the Jewish vernacular sources are interpreted as the expression of a distinctly Jewish linguistic repertoire shaped by the cultural dynamics of Jewish life in the French Middle Ages.


Background There are valid tools to measure disease activity and damage in JSLE, but to date there is no gold standard. Objectives To test the correlation between two activity indices, the M-SLEDAI-2K and ECLAM, and their respective correlation to the Pediatric SLICC/ACR Damage Index (Ped-SDI) during standard care of JSLE patients. Methods M-SLEDAI-2K is a variant of the original SLEDAI-2K where a-DNA and complement testing is suppressed for feasibility of standard approach (Uribe et al., 2004). It has not been previously tested in JSLE. The tools were retrospectively scored during follow up and summarized by adjusted means and area under the curve (AUC). The Pediatric SLICC/ACR Damage Index (Ped-SDI) was scored during the last visit and only after the first year of follow up. Pearson correlation between the M-SLEDAI-2K and ECLAM and Spearman correlation between the M-SLEDAI-2K and ECLAM, respectively to Ped-SDI were calculated. ROC analysis tested discriminating properties of both activity indices in relation to Ped-SDI damage scores. Results Thirty seven patients with 11.2 years median age at diagnosis and 2.7 years median follow up were scored during 781 visits. The M-SLEDAI-2K and ECLAM adjusted means were highly correlated (r Pearson =0.78 and p<0.0001; Figure 1). Similarly, a strong correlation was found for both at disease presentation and throughout disease course (r Spearman >0.7 and p<0.001). Correlation between the M-SLEDAI-2K and ECLAM respectively to Ped-SDI was moderate. Their respective ROC AUC were 0.74 and 0.73, and cutoff points of 3.62 and 1.28, discriminating Ped-SDI. Figure 1 Conclusions The strong correlation between the M-SLEDAI-2K and ECLAM on retrospective approach indicated that both tools may be equally useful for JSLE activity measure in clinical practice. References Uribe AG, Vilá LM, McGwin G Jr, Sanchez ML, Reveille JD, Alarcόn GS. The Systemic Lupus Activity Measure-revised, the Mexican Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), and a modified SLEDAI-2K are adequate instruments to measure disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol 2004; 31: 1934-40. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.4135


We find a positive relationship between individual stocks' implied variance asymmetry, defined as the difference between upside and downside risk-neutral semivariances extracted from out-of-money options, and future stock returns. The high-minus-low hedge portfolio earns the excess return of 0.90% (0.67%) per month in equal-weighted (value-weighted) returns. We show that implied variance asymmetry provides a neat measure of risk-neutral skewness and outperforms the standard risk-neutral skewness in predicting the cross-section of future stock returns. Risk-based equilibrium asset pricing models can not explain such a positive relationship, which instead can be potentially explained by information asymmetry and informed trading.


The Z-notation is a powerful tool for the formal speciication of software systems, based on a model theoretic approach. Transition speciications are an extension of algebraic data type speciications to dynamic abstract data types, based on the idea of states as environments. Our aim in this paper is to deene an (informal) translation between an algebraic core of the Z-notation and transition speciications. This allows to compare the approaches, relate their mutual beneets as well as to clarify how some main concepts { locality, compositionality, and separation of concerns { that are realized in transition speciications, could be carried over Z.


"The article looks in detail at the population development in China since the 1950s, highlighting some dramatic changes. In the late 1950s the country was hit by widespread famine, which resulted in increased mortality and decreased fertility. Infant mortality climbed to almost 300/1,000. During the 1960s fertility began to increase again and mortality declined. From the beginning of the 1970s fertility started to decline, dropping from about six to just over two children per woman in the late 1980s. Today, fertility is thought to be below replacement level. The main reason for this fertility decline lies in the highly efficient family planning programmes implemented in China since the 1950s and particularly since the 1970s. The decline in infant mortality and the favourable socio-economic development have also been important factors in the decline in fertility. Although fertility in China is currently at a low level, the country's population is still set to grow." (SUMMARY IN ENG)


This paper recommends implementation of the mental health indication for legal abortion to help reduce high rates of death and injury from unsafe abortion. Legal abortion to preserve a women's mental health is explicitly recognized in the laws of 23 countries. However, the law is implemented in different countries in varied ways, giving rise to a range of access to safe abortion among countries with similar laws. In this paper, I propose the enactment of guidelines for implementing the mental health indication to improve access to safe abortion. Such guidelines should enable providers to consider a woman's social and economic circumstances in determining the risk of pregnancy to her mental health. This approach is supported by global health authorities and psychological research. I also present empirical and legal support for the notion that abortion can lead to favorable mental health outcomes, as is implicit in the mental health indication.


B lymphopoiesis arrests in rabbits by 16 weeks of age, and data suggest that the bone marrow (BM) environment is responsible for this. We hypothesize that this arrest is due to differences in the BM stroma of young and adult rabbits. Using limiting dilution analysis to quantify the number of CFU in BM of 2 to 6 wk-old rabbits, we found an 8-10 fold decrease in the number of stromal progenitors by 6 wk-of-age. This decrease in stromal progenitors is reflective of the age-related decline in progenitor B cells in BM. Histology of BM sections reveals trabecular bone formation in young rabbits but not in adults; in contrast, BM from adults shows large amounts of adipose tissue. We tested the capability of stromal progenitors to differentiate into adipocytes or osteoblasts in vitro , and found that stromal progenitors from BM of young rabbits displayed a higher propensity to form oseoblastic colonies than do stromal progenitors from BM of adults, which more readily formed adipocytic colonies. We conclude that with aging, the number of BM stromal progenitors decreases dramatically, and further, that these progenitors from adults more readily differentiate into adipocytes than into osteoblasts. We suggest that these changes in BM are responsible for the arrest of B lymphopoiesis.


The present day approach is value addition of convenience foods by incorporating strengthful ingredients, which offer either therapeutic or preventive medicinal health benefits, in addition to provision of their basic nutrition. Flaxseed is one of the nutritional crops as it is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, dietary fiber and phytochemicals. Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was used to optimize process parameters for development of flaxseed and defatted flaxseed based pasta products, by response surface methodology with three variables at five levels. The low and high levels of the variables were 70 to 90g for semolina; 10 and 30g for flaxseed or defatted flaxseed; 15 and 20% water (% of amount of semolina and flaxseed) for flaxseed based pasta, and 20 and 30% water (% of amount of semolina and flaxseed) for defatted flaxseed based pasta. Pasta was made by extrusion using a spiral die in pilot plant pasta making machine (D-35, La Parmigiana), followed by convective dehydration to a final moisture content of 7-8% (w.b) to make it shelf stable product. The optimum values for process variable for maximum possible gelatinization, color parameter (L*), overall acceptability, minimum free fatty acid, and color parameter (a*) are semolina 90g, flaxseed 15g and water* 20 for flaxseed based pasta, and semolina 87.79g, flaxseed 15g and water* 30 for defatted flaxseed based pasta.


Modification of the acute toxicity of sodium sulphate to Hyalella azteca and Daphnia magna was investigated using exposure water with different levels of water hardness (expressed as CaCO3 equivalents) and calcium–magnesium molar (Ca:Mg) ratios. The influence of Ca:Mg ratios on the toxicity of sodium and potassium chloride to D. magna also was investigated. For both species, the mean lethal concentrations that resulted in mortality of 50% of the sample population (LC50s), expressed as mg SO42–/L, were increased significantly in harder water and in water with higher Ca:Mg ratios. The LC50s for H. azteca increased from 569 to 5,259 mg/L with a change in water hardness from 25 to 250 mg/L. Furthermore, modifying the Ca:Mg ratio from 0.7 to 7.0 at a constant hardness of 100 mg/L significantly increased LC50s from 2,101 to 2,725 mg/L. The LC50s for D. magna were also significantly higher in harder water with LC50s increasing from 1,194 to 3,203 mg/L with a change in water hardness from 25 to 100 mg/L. In addition, modifying the Ca:Mg ratio from 0.7 to 7.0 significantly increased LC50s from 1,194 to 1,985 at a constant hardness of 25 mg/L, and from 3,203 to 4,395 mg/L at a constant hardness of 100 mg/L. No significant change in the toxicity of potassium or sodium chloride to D. magna was observed in waters with higher Ca:Mg ratios.


Synchronization instability issue and the corresponding low-frequency power oscillation phenomenon between synchronous generators were already found in electric power systems and addressed by various solutions. However, the grid-synchronization behaviors and the potential instabilities between multi-paralleled power electronic inverters have not been well-understood due to the different synchronization mechanisms. This paper presents a set of small-signal modeling methodologies to predict the low-frequency behaviors of the grid-synchronization loops in multi-paralleled inverter systems. The proposed model can predict the low-frequency unstable oscillation in large-penetrated renewable-energy systems as well as assess the effectiveness of frequency-based islanding-detection under multi-paralleled inverter conditions.


We report three cases of polycythaemia with no evidence of clinical splenomegaly and normal splenic red cell pool on isotope spleen scan. In each case, however, a diagnosis of primary proliferative polycythaemia (PPP) was suggested by in-vitro erythropoietin-independent growth of peripheral blood erythroid colonies. In one of these cases two possible causes of secondary polycythaemia were also identified. The use of investigations such as isotope spleen scanning and erythroid cell culture in helping to establish a diagnosis of PPP is discussed.


Historical cost is currently perceived as less suitable to the current business development because it does not reflect the real value. Fair value comes to overcome the weaknesses of historical cost. In order to achieve the harmonization of international accounting standards, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) developed International Accounting Reporting Standards (IFRS) with the concept of fair value. Some countries have begun to adopt IFRS as their accounting standard. One of the controversial issues in the implementation of IFRS is its relevance in fair value. This paper will review the concept of fair value and its impact on relevance. This article uses literature study method. The result of theoretical review in this paper is fair value in financial statements of the company more reflect the actual value or condition of the earnings company when its reporting so that investors and creditors can predict future results or confirm and improve the previous expectations based on actual company conditions. This makes the accounting information of company relevant to support decision-making by investors and creditors. Several previous studies have also shown that fair value is relevant in helping investors to make decisions. This paper expand the literature on theoretical studies of fair value in the context of IFRS implementation.


Specialized advancement is firmly associated with the social and regular solace of society, with the degree of the necessities of present day society, however the interruption of creation cycles, the low degree of ecological administration culture, the garbled outcomes of its control over the encompassing scene, devastate the concordance of nature and people. The reason for the paper is coordinated to improve the expert preparing of alumni of higher instructive organizations, fit for taking care of creation issues with limiting ecological dangers. The creators uncovered academic ways to deal with natural instruction and proved the quintessence of the idea "biological culture of understudies". Instructive conditions that add to the arrangement of natural culture of college understudies are created, presented and test tried. The paper is planned for educators, heads of instructive associations, scientists managing natural security issues.


Gettier cases are scenarios conceived by philosophers to demonstrate that justified true beliefs may not be knowledge. Starmans and Friedman (2020) find that philosophers attribute knowledge in Gettier cases differently from laypeople and non-philosophy academics, which seems to suggest that philosophers may be indoctrinated to adopt an esoteric concept of knowledge. I argue to the contrary: Their finding at most shows that philosophical reflection is fallible, but nevertheless able to clarify the concept of knowledge. I also suggest that their experiments could be modified to help determine when philosophical reflection might yield plausible results.


The membrane-bound CD4 glycoprotein has been proposed to act like a co-receptor along with the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR/CD3) during ligand recognition and cell activation. Due to its association with the protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) p56lck, CD4 is believed to transduce a signal and support CD3 activation of T cells. In this study we have shown that CD3 ligation on murine T-cell hybridomas induces tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins, including phospholipase C-gamma 1 (PLC gamma 1), both in the presence as well as in the absence of CD4-linked p56lck. Furthermore, using HPB clones deficient in CD3/PTK association, it has been found that the presence of CD4/p56lck does not overcome the defect in signalling. Not even co-aggregation of CD4 with CD3 triggers tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins in these cells. Together, the present results indicate that CD3-linked PTK(s) plays a primary role in the induction of signalling through TCR/CD3, and the presence of CD4/p56lck is neither necessary nor sufficient to elicit these events. In the light of these results a possible role for CD4 in antigen presentation has been proposed.


Only 20-30% of patients with gallstones have symptoms and the probability of a patient with silent gallstones developing biliary-related pain is 1-2%, while the risk of developing a serious complication (e.g. empyema, perforation, peritonitis etc.) is less than 0.1% per year. Imaging techniques are important in establishing the diagnosis and evaluating the patient. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the golden standard for the management of symptomatic gallstones and there are two surgical treatment options: early cholecystectomy (same hospital admission) and interval (delayed) cholecystectomy (6-8 weeks after resolution of acute attack). Early LC has medical and socioeconomic advantages over interval LC. LC can be undertaken for the majority of patients with AC and in some high risk groups the postoperative mortality can even be reduced. LC in AC is associated with longer operating time, a higher rate of conversion and bile damage. Early diagnosis and early operation can prevent the development of complications associated with AC.


A triple hydrophilic block copolymer composed of poly(ethylene oxide), poly(sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonate), and poly(methacrylic acid) (PEO-PAMPS-PMAA) does not form a micelle by itself when it is dissolved in water. However, if the anionic PAMPS and/or PMAA blocks are electrically neutralized with a cationic surfactant, such as cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC), micelle-like nanoaggregates are obtained, where the core is formed by the insolubilized PAMPS and/or PMAA blocks. Formation of the nanoaggregates was confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the binding of CTAC to PEO-PAMPS-PMAA was monitored by electrophoresis measurements. The aggregates were characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy as well as DLS and SEM. It was found that the nanoaggregates have a spherical structure, and the hydrodynamic diameter ranges from 125 to 193 nm depending on the concentrations of the PEO-PAMPS-PMAA and CTAC. The critical aggregate concentration is on the order of 10-4 g L-1 when the ionic blocks of PEO-PAMPS-PMAA are fully neutralized with CTAC.


Historians and social scientists confronted with pasts imagined differently from history have resorted to one of two strategies: converting oral traditions into the equivalent of archival sources and then writing histories that adhere to the norms of western professional history writing; or by denying any significant traffic between history and otherfroms of conceiving pasts, sbsuming the latter under the rubrics of myth or more recently, memory. This article argues that the Dangi's 'vadilcha goth' or tales about ancestors are an engagement with modernity and its paradigmatic trope, history. The subaltern practice of anomalous and hybrid histories, in the Dangs, produces a multiplicity of pasts quite differentfrom those multiple histories which historians conceive of and increasingly call for.


Abstract Vitamin D plays an important role in skeletal muscle function and metabolism. The aim of this review was A) to discuss the clinical evidence of vitamin D supplementation either alone or combined with other strategies in the prevention of sarcopenia in non-sarcopenic individuals and B) to critically discuss the clinical evidence on the effect of vitamin D combined with other strategies on muscle strength, mass and function in sarcopenic individuals without vitamin D deficiency. Sparse clinical data on non-sarcopenic individuals indicate that vitamin D alone has a subtle beneficial effect on knee extensor strength at doses 880–1600 IU/day without improving handgrip strength or muscle mass. When co-administered with other supplements such as protein, mixed effects appear to prevent the decline of muscle mass, possibly delaying the onset of sarcopenia in non-sarcopenic individuals, at doses of 800–1,000 IU/day over 6–12 weeks. In sarcopenic individuals, vitamin D 100–1,000 IU/day co-supplementation with protein results in increased handgrip strength between 9.8–40.5%. However, there is no strong clinical evidence that vitamin D dosage correlates with changes in muscle strength or mass. Potential sources of discrepancy among studies are discussed. Future studies with appropriate experimental design are essential to dissect the net effect of vitamin D on sarcopenia.


The present study aims to determine the prevalence of Salmonella sp. in pigs in slaughterhouses under Federal Inspection at Mato Grosso, Brazil. Samples of mesenteric lymph nodes and tonsils were collected in three abattoirs from different regions. Three hundred samples were processed; fifty (16.6%) were positive for Salmonella sp. and belonged to fourteen different serological types. The most common serotypes were Derby (16%), Typhimurium (14%), London (12%) and Give (12%). The epidemiological results obtained show a low prevalence of this bacterium when compared to studies in other Brazilian states.


Pattern matching is a powerful tool for querying sequence patterns in the biological sequence databases. The remarkable increase in the number of DNA and proteins sequences has also stimulated the study of many pattern matching algorithms. To further raise the performance of the pattern matching algorithm, a fast exact algorithm (called BRFS) is presented. It bases on the method of FS algorithm and absorbs the idea of BR algorithm during the pattern matching, thus reaches the best shift distance and improves the performance. The best, worst and average cases in time complexities of the new algorithm are also discussed. The experimental results show that the new algorithm is faster than other compared algorithms for small alphabets and long patterns, so the proposed algorithm is quite applicable for pattern matching in biological sequences.


The main objective of the thesis has been the design and implementation of a complete UDP/IP Ethernet stack that allow us the connection and use of networks by any FPGA device. The stack has been designed around Ethernet, IPv4 and UDP protocols as it was wanted a fast and scalable way of distant communication. Other protocols have been added as a complement in order to improve its operation like ARP and DHCP. The project has focused around the implementation of this stack as a generic IP core, but it has been extended further on with the implementation of an initial data acquisition interface (DAQ) that would allow us to transmit the information of its channels to the network. At the end, the project has been successfully implemented in a real FPGA system. And all the tests have been passed with minimum packet loss, from simple operational test to more final ones like the test of a DAQ service interface.


Lignin, one of the main structural polymer of plant cell walls, varies in amount and monomeric composition among tissue and cell types, as well as among plant species. However, few analytical methods are available that can conveniently and accurately determine the morphological distribution of lignin units at the cellular level. In this report, we used time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) to directly map guaiacyl (G) and syringyl (S) lignin units in several successive growth rings of the maple xylem. TOF-SIMS imaging and a semiquantitative approach revealed clear difference in the annual distribution of lignins between the fiber and vessel. While the vessel walls were constantly G-rich with varied S/G ratios through a growth ring, the fibers showed fairly regular annual distribution of lignins in which the earlywood was S-rich with an almost constant S/G ratio and the latewood was G-rich resulting from a decrease of the S unit. The reliability of TOF-SIMS results was demonstrated by its high correlation with the results of thioacidolysis on radial distribution of the S/G ratio in several contiguous tree rings and also in the latewood and earlywood of each ring. These results indicate that TOF-SIMS allows direct visualization of lignin composition in plant tissues.


Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is an inexorably fatal disorder characterized by connective tissue deposition within the terminal air spaces resulting in loss of lung function and eventual respiratory failure. Previously, we demonstrated that foci of activated fibroblasts expressing high levels of fibronectin, procollagen, and smooth muscle actin and thus resembling those found in healing wounds are responsible for the connective tissue deposition and scarring in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, we now demonstrate the presence of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), a potent profibrotic cytokine, in the foci containing these activated fibroblasts. These results suggest that matrix-associated TGF-beta 1 may serve as a stimulus for the persistent expression of connective tissue genes. One potential source of the TGF-beta 1 is the alveolar macrophage, and we demonstrate the expression of abundant TGF-beta 1 mRNA in alveolar macrophages in lung tissue from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.


Traditional methods of identifying fungal exposures in occupational environments, such as culture and microscopy-based approaches, have several limitations that have resulted in the exclusion of many species. Advances in the field over the last two decades have led occupational health researchers to turn to molecular-based approaches for identifying fungal hazards. These methods have resulted in the detection of many species within indoor and occupational environments that have not been detected using traditional methods. This protocol details an approach for determining fungal diversity within air samples through genomic DNA extraction, amplification, sequencing, and taxonomic identification of fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. ITS sequencing results in the detection of many fungal species that are either not detected or difficult to identify to species level using culture or microscopy. While these methods do not provide quantitative measures of fungal burden, they offer a new approach to hazard identification and can be used to determine overall species richness and diversity within an occupational environment.


Abstract Analytical ultracentrifugation studies on proteins in solutions of the nonionic detergent Triton X-100, by means of a UV scanning system, can be conveniently performed by the following procedure: (1) Scanning of the cells is done at a wavelength of 246 nm. (2) The sedimentation of the deter gent is prevented by appropriate adjustment of the solvent density. (3) The reference cell is filled with water. Reliable molecular weight determinations can be performed at detergent concentrations up to 0.4% (w/w) in cells of path-length d = 12 mm and at correspondingly higher concentrations for d - 3 mm. Approx. 10 μg of protein are sufficient for a determination. The method should be useful for studies of membrane proteins.


G-protein-coupled receptors are integral membrane proteins that respond to environmental signals and initiate signal transduction pathways, which activate cellular processes. Rhodopsin, a well known member of the G-protein-coupled receptor family, is located in the disk membranes of the rod outer segment, where it is responsible for the visualization of dim light. Rhodopsin is the most extensively studied G-protein-coupled receptor, and knowledge about its structure serves as a template for other related receptors. We have gained detailed structural knowledge from the crystal structure (1), which was solved by x-ray crystallography in 2000 using three-dimensional crystals. Here we report a three-dimensional density map of bovine rhodopsin determined by electron cryomicroscopy of two-dimensional crystals with p22121 symmetry. The usage of relatively small and disordered crystals made the process of structure determination challenging. Special attention was paid to the extraction of amplitudes and phases, since usable raw data were limited to a maximum tilt of 45°. In the refinement process, an improved unbending procedure was applied. This led to a final resolution of 5.5 Å in the membrane plane and ∼13 Å perpendicular to it, making our electron density map the most accurate map of a G-protein-coupled receptor currently available by electron microscopy. Most important is the information we gain about the center of the membrane plane and the orientation of the molecule relative to the bilayer. This information cannot be retrieved from the three-dimensional crystals. In our electron density map, all seven transmembrane helices were identified, and their arrangement is in agreement with the arrangement known from the crystal structure (1). In the retinal binding pocket, a density peak adjacent to helix 3 suggests the position of the β-ionine ring of the chromophore, and in its vicinity several of the bigger amino acids can be identified.


This article argues that the widespread hypothesis stating that intra-party democracy has declined since the glory days of the mass party is too sweeping and, largely, empirically groundless. In order to test it the article draws on a comparison between two internal policy-making processes within the Swedish social democratic party (SAP), one concerning an expansion of welfare benefits in the 1950s and the other concerning a retrenchment in the 1990s. If intra-party democracy is in a state of decline, the results of the comparison most likely should confirm this tendency. Yet the article concludes that party leaders exercised considerably less control, while activists were much more influential in the 1990s than in the days of mass party mobilization in the 1950s. Therefore, drawing on a single case study, the article casts doubts over the influential decline hypothesis and proposes new venues for research on the fate of intra-party democracy.


The aim of this study was  evaluate the quality of electronic services of Parsian Insurance using E-S-QUAL tools for customers using electronic services. This research in dimension of time is sectional and in view of method is Survey Study .  In this research was statistical society of the customers of Parsian Insurance's branches in Tehran City of which 170 persons are selected as sample based on Cochran Formula. Sampling method used in this research was cluster sampling method. So, at first, among branches of Parsian Insurance in Tehran City, four branches are selected accidentally and it is requested from different customers used electronic services of Parsian Insurance in Tehran City to fill up the questionnaire. The results of this research show that there is meaningful difference between expectations and services rendered by the customers used electronic services of Parsian Insurance in dimension of efficiency and execution. Research findings may help the insurance company to obtain the overall image from its services' quality and compare it with expectations and comprehensions of the customers. Undoubtedly, recognition of challengeable and critical factors cause crack which may open the insurance programs conductance and compilation of strategies for limiting the quality crack. Such research findings may submit the proposals for improving the quality of services in insurance company for the managers. It seems that using suitable equipment in insurance company, holding educational courses while service, improving human resources management, progress of motivation and organizational obligation of the personnel and compilation of such insurance system protocols may decrease the crack of services' quality and increase the customers' satisfaction. Also, this research supplies good leader to similar studies for other insurance companies. Whatever we can conclude this research is that the services' organizations such as insurance companies shall make effort to recognize correctly the requirements of the customers. Sometimes such organizations recognize that whatever is critical for the customers. Incorrect recognition cause dissatisfaction of the customers and increase the distance between real satisfaction of the customer and appropriate consent. By using E-S-QUAL model and quality evaluation in view of the customer and correct planning, amendment of the disorders and improvement of services' quality will be possible.


Free intraperitoneal air is thought to be pathognomonic for perforation of a hollow viscus. Here, we present a patient with pain in the upper left quadrant, a mild fever and leukocytosis. Free air was suggested under the left diaphragm but during the explorative laparotomy no signs of gastric or diverticular perforation were seen. Further exploration and revision of the computed tomography revealed a perforated splenic abscess. Splenic abscesses are a rare clinical entity. Presenting symptoms are often non-specific and include upper abdominal pain, recurrent or persistent fever, nausea and vomiting, splenomegaly, leukocytosis and left lower chest abnormalities. Predisposing conditions can be very divergent and include depressed immunosuppressed state, metastatic or contiguous infection, splenic infarction and trauma. Splenic abscess should therefore be considered in a patient with fever, left upper abdominal pain and leukocytosis. Moreover, our case shows that splenic abscess can present in an exceptional way without clear underlying aetiology and should even be considered in the presence of free abdominal air.


Understanding lava flow processes is important for interpreting existing lavas and for hazard assessments. Although substantial progress has been made for basaltic lavas our understanding of silicic lava flows has seen limited recent advance. In particular, the formation of lava flow breakouts, which represent a characteristic process in cooling limited basaltic lavas, but has not been described in established models of rhyolite emplacement. Using data from the 2011–2012 rhyolite eruption of Puyehue-Cordon Caulle, Chile, we develop the first conceptual framework to classify breakout types in silicic lavas, and to describe the processes involved in their progressive growth, inflation, and morphological change. By integrating multiscale satellite, field, and textural data from Cordon Caulle, we interpret breakout formation to be driven by a combination of pressure increase (from local vesiculation in the lava flow core, as well as from continued supply via extended thermally preferential pathways) and a weakening of the surface crust through lateral spreading and fracturing. Small breakouts, potentially resulting more from local vesiculation than from continued magma supply, show a domed morphology, developing into petaloid as inflation increasingly fractures the surface crust. Continued growth and fracturing results in a rubbly morphology, with the most inflated breakouts developing into a cleft-split morphology, reminiscent of tumulus inflation structures seen in basalts. These distinct morphological classes result from the evolving relative contributions of continued breakout advance and inflation. The extended nature of some breakouts highlights the role of lava supply under a stationary crust, a process ubiquitous in inflating basalt lava flows that reflects the presence of thermally preferential pathways. Textural analyses of the Cordon Caulle breakouts also emphasize the importance of late-stage volatile exsolution and vesiculation within the lava flow. Although breakouts occur across the compositional spectrum of lava flows, the greater magma viscosity is likely to make late-stage vesiculation much more important for breakout development in silicic lavas than in basalts. Such late-stage vesiculation has direct implications for hazards previously recognized from silicic lava flows, enhancing the likelihood of flow front collapse, and explosive decompression of the lava core.


In this thesis, a multi-scale approach is provided to a pharmacokinetic and a pharmacodynamic problem.

The first part of this research provides a realistic mathematical physiological model of the liver to predict drug drug interactions (DDIs). The model describes the geometry of a lobule (liver unit) and integrates the exchange processes, diffusion and active transport, between the hepatocytes and the blood and possible drug-drug interactions such as; reversible inhibition, mechanistic based inhibition (MBI) and enzyme induction. The liver model is subsequently integrated into a PBPK model with 7 compartments (artery blood, venous blood, gut, liver, kidney, lung, rest of the body). To assess the efficiency of the model to predict DDIs, 77 clinical DDI studies were compared to the model. These 77 clinical studies represent 5 victim drugs (midazolam, simvastatin, triazolam, cerivastatin and nifedipine) and 30 perpetrator drugs. The reversible inhibition, MBI and induction parameters for the majority of the perpetrators were estimated with in vitro experiments and adjusted for the human liver size. The PK parameters, such as clearance and absorption rate, and the physiological parameters were obtained from the literature. The DDIs were measured as the ratio of the AUC (Area Under the Curve of the blood concentration) or the ratio of the maximum concentration Cmax of the victim drug administered with and without the perpetrator drug. The predicted ratios were compared with the clinical observation by calculating the geometric fold error GMFE. The GMFE for AUCratio and Cmax,ratio were calculated to be 1.54 and 1.34, respectively. Moreover, the PBPK model excluding the gut compartment under-predicts both inhibition (lower AUCratio) and induction (higher AUCratio) which strongly suggests that the gut DDI component can not be neglected for accurate clinical prediction. However, the static combined model by Fahmi et al. [1, 2] without the gut component fortuitously predicts the clinical AUCratio better than inclusion with the gut component. To conclude, the model predicts DDIs relatively well as it is in the lower range of errors reported in the literature (1.47-2.00 [1, 2]). Moreover, the model is able to predict the pharmacokinetics of drugs and provides a dynamic description of the DDIs, such as the enzyme level and spatial distribution within a lobule. Furthermore, the perpetrator dose regimen can be changed or the error in the in vitro parameters can be integrated to observe their influences on the AUC ratio.

The second part of this research explored the Warburg effect in a avascular tumour growth model incorporating a cell shedding term to account for tumour shrinkage. The tumour model was based on an extension of the Ward and King model [3], where two sub-populations; living cells and dead cells are considered. Three diffusion equations for glucose, lactate and the drug are considered and included into the model for growth rate, natural death rate and a death rate due to the drug. The simulation of the model without a drug shows similar behaviour to the original model by Ward and King despite the presence of the shedding term and predicts an extracellular pH of 6.8. However, when a drug treatment is added, the model is able to simulate the shrinkage of the tumour unlike the original model. Moreover, two scenarios with a basic, neutral and acidic drug were explored, assuming similar efficiency at physiological pH to assess the effect of changes in the extracellular pH. Acidic or weak base drugs seem to be more efficient in low pH environment as the fraction of neutral form is greater and therefore more drug is available to cross the cell membrane to reach its target.


We study shadows cast by a certain class of rotating wormholes and point out the crucial role of a rotating wormhole throat in the formation of a shadow. Overlooking this crucial role of a wormhole throat has resulted in incomplete results in the previous studies on shadows of the same class of rotating wormholes. We explore the dependence of the shadows on the spin of the wormholes. We compare our results with that of the Kerr black hole. With increasing values of the spin, the shapes of the wormhole shadows start deviating considerably from that of the black hole. Such considerable deviation, if detected in future observations, may possibly indicate the presence of a wormhole. In other words, the results obtained here indicate that, through the observations of their shadows, the wormholes which are considered in this work and have reasonable spin can be distinguished from a black hole.


This thesis explores how English primary school senior leaders create the conditions for teachers' professional learning, associated with improvements to their practice, as part of the process of school-based change. It further explores how knowledge about this might be developed with reference to transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1991), which is a 'theory of adult learning addressed to those involved in helping adults learn' (Mezirow, 1991, p.33) within the context of change. A small-scale study of nine leaders (heads and deputies) was conducted. The qualitative research was undertaken using a constructivist-interpretive approach. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant; questions related to leaders initiating change, leaders' views about teachers as learners, and leaders supporting teacher resilience. Electronic analysis software, NVivo, was utilised for thematic analysis to identify themes within the data. The themes related to: senior leaders developing teachers' understanding about the need for changes to their practice by sharing a rationale; senior leaders organising teachers' professional learning through practical activities, related to school improvement initiatives promoting internal and external collaborations; and leaders supporting teachers' resilience. The themes emerging from the data analysis were related back to literature on the leadership of change and teacher learning. They were further interpreted, where relevant, against key areas of transformative learning theory and the ten stages of the theory. The research methodology had several limitations which contributed to too much unfocused data or prevented richer data from being obtained. Nevertheless, the research develops links between the context and culture of leadership and conditions senior leaders create for the teacher learning associated with change. It also interprets the conditions created by leaders for teacher learning against transformative learning theory, which I consider could benefit senior leaders, who might use this knowledge to strengthen their leadership of change.


It is a well-known fact that the societal conditions have changed. We also know that as a consequence the demands for professional skills will change, especially of those professions which depend to a large extent on societal circumstances. In this context the profession of a teacher is among the most sensitive ones. We notice that more and more teachers of children and youth are begining to view adult education as a form of their professional work. However, the question remains if this is more something added, a source of additional income and the opportu- nity to overcome turbulent times or we can speak about a new career opportunity and a serious professional encoun- ter with the coherent field which demands new specific knowledge and approaches. In this article we present the versatility of expectations of teachers to be, who get included in education from vary different professional fields.


Remission is synonymous within cancer care and with other physical disorders, but less known and utilised in relation to people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Following work by Andreasen et al (2005) the idea of remission in schizophrenia became more widely utilised as symptomatic remission and was employed as an outcome measure primarily addressing medication efficacy. Whilst remission may or may not be a useful concept, the language, perception and social construction of remission for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia is also of high importance. To date, there has not been any published material with respect to consultation with service users who have a diagnosis of schizophrenia regarding their personal interpretations and possible concern of the concept of remission. This study explores and conceptualises the possible introduction of the concept of remission into the process of recovery for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Therefore raising the question; "Is remission a useful concept to facilitate transition back into primary care for people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia?"


The evolution of ischemic brain damage is strongly affected by an inflammatory reaction that involves soluble mediators, such as cytokines and chemokines, and specialized cells activated locally or recruited from the periphery. The immune system affects all phases of the ischemic cascade, from the acute intravascular reaction due to blood flow disruption, to the development of brain tissue damage, repair and regeneration. Increased endothelial expression of adhesion molecules and blood-brain barrier breakdown promotes extravasation and brain recruitment of blood-borne cells, including macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells and T lymphocytes, as demonstrated both in animal models and in human stroke. Nevertheless, most anti-inflammatory approaches showing promising results in experimental stroke models failed in the clinical setting. The lack of translation may reside in the redundancy of most inflammatory mediators, exerting both detrimental and beneficial functions. Thus, this review is aimed at providing a better understanding of the dualistic role played by each component of the inflammatory/immune response in relation to the spatio-temporal evolution of ischemic stroke injury.


This paper examines motivations for, and paths to, entrepreneurship among immigrants in Turkey based on interviews with 22 immigrant entrepreneurs in Istanbul. Findings suggest that immigrant entrepreneurs in a developing economy may be different from their counterparts in well‐established economies. First, immigrant entrepreneurs rely on their unique human and social capital in the process of starting businesses thanks to their ability to identify opportunities based on insider knowledge of the market in their home and host countries. Second, their ability to foster trusting relationships thanks to language, cultural, and religious knowledge permits immigrant entrepreneurs in an emerging economy to engage in less economically marginal activities.


{\alpha}-particle irradiated single-crystal isostructural oxide lattices (CmO2, AmO2, CeO2, UO2, NpO2, PuO2, ThO2) were modeled by molecular dynamics simulation method. Lattice parameter changes with IFP cation defects displayed exponential increases. These data were compatible with the available lattice parameter changes with {\alpha}-particle dose experiments. Pre- and post- peaks emerged around principal peaks of irradiated oxide cation-cation radial distribution functions, which indicate obstruction and distortion type defects, respectively. Dependence of lattice dilatations on the number of obstruction type cation defects was examined. In a previous study, obstruction type uranium defects were found to be directly responsible for the UO2 lattice swelling and there was a linear relationship between them. It was also determined that this linear equation has two different slopes at low and high defect concentrations. In this paper, it was found that these phenomena were not specific to UO2 and applicable to all fluorite-structured actinide and lanthanide dioxides studied here. These findings provide clues about the existence of more general law.


In this studies, conducted studies about decolorization of textile industry wastewater have been explained and treatability using the method of electrocoagulation of textile industry wastewater have been investigated. To this end, using monopolar parallel connected aluminum electrodes, performance of electrocoagulation method was investigated. In the method of electrocoagulation has been worked through on decolorization efficiency. Acquired data in result of experimental studies have been analysed and positive results of electrocoagulation have been observed. As a result, electrocoagulation method has been demonstrated to be an effective method in decolorization of textile industry wastewater.


Numerical simulation of a deterministic model of HIV transmission between major cities in Kenya is carried out. The model considered two closed patches connected by the commuter movements of truck drivers being the agents of HIV transmission. The transmission kernel being the function of distance between the patches is ignored. The numerical algorithms are applied in the solution of a nonlinear first-order differential equations. The algorithms are implemented with the aid of MATLAB solver which has an in- built mechanism of Runge Kutta method of fourth order. Numerical simulation indicated the population dynamics of the patches, effect of migration on female sex workers and model reproduction number. The findings of the study were that the migration of the truck drivers between two closed patches contributed significantly to the spread of HIV. In this regard, it was recommended that, stakeholders should target the truck driving population and towns along the transport corridors to mitigate the growing HIV infections and integrate the truck drivers in the national health strategy


In order to evaluate tbe keratinolytic activity of saprophytic microfungi the following values were determined, the percentage keratin substrate decomposition (native feathers). the changes of pH of medium the liberation of peptidic substances in this process, as well as the liberation of amine nitrogen and cystein. The presence of keratinase was examined in culture filtrates and the proteolytic activity in the presence of casein. It was noted that among the above mentioned indices the percentage decrease of substrate mass was the most useful criterion of keratinolytic activity evaluation.


Gardner's syndrome, a hereditary affection of the bastoderm layers, is rarely recognized though it is seen in 8-16% of cases of colorectal polyposis. Seven cases (4 female and 3 male) of Gardner's syndrome in 3 families are presented. Six of the patients belonged to 2 families, several members of which suffered from familial polyposis; the seventh case was an isolated case of Gardner's syndrome without a family history of polyposis. Because of the high risk of malignancy in the presence of polyps, the treatment of Gardner's syndrome is identical to that of familial polyposis. Four patients underwent total colectomy and 2 simple polypectomy. One refused all treatment or monitoring. From these patients, one of the polyps excised from the rectum was found to be undergoing malignant transformation. The extracolic symptoms of this condition precede polyposis within the gut; they attract attention and thus permit early diagnosis.


. In 2012, Italy was struck by a seismic crisis characterized by two main shocks (ML 5.9 and 5.8) and relevant liquefaction events. Terre del Reno (Emilia-Romagna Region) is one of the municipalities that experienced the most extensive 15 liquefaction effects due to its complex geo-stratigraphic and geo-morphological setting. Thus, it was chosen as case study for the PERL project, devoted to defining a new integrated methodology to assess the liquefaction susceptibility in complex stratigraphic conditions through a multi-level approach. About 1800 geotechnical, geophysical and hydrogeological investigations were collected and stored in a publicly available dataset named PERL that is here presented.


This paper describes ongoing research concerning the effective development of gamified learning arrangements. It shows the necessity for more standardization of the design of such arrangements and reveals potential ways in order to support this need with the use of a domain-specific modeling language. The latter is used by lecturers for designing and exchanging models of gamified learning arrangements and provides the possibility to automatically generate a working learning management system using a language specific generator. The generated learning management system can directly be used by learners and furthermore allows to track the individual learning process for both learners and lecturers.


The photoinduced switch of the current through a single molecule is studied theoretically by including plasmon excitations of the leads. A molecule weakly linked to two spherical nanoelectrodes is considered resulting in sequential charge transmission scheme. Taking the molecular charging energy (relative to the equilibrium lead chemical potential) to be comparable to the molecular excitation energy, an efficient current switch in a low voltage range becomes possible. A remarkable enhancement of the current is achieved due to simultaneous plasmon excitations in the electrodes. The behavior is explained by an increased molecular absorbance due to oscillator strength transfer from the electrode plasmon excitations and by a net excitation energy motion from the electrodes to the molecule.


The existing ATLAS trigger consists of three levels. The level 1 (L1) is an FPGAs based custom designed trigger, while the second and third levels are software based. The LHC machine plans to bring the beam energy to the maximum value of 7 TeV and to increase the luminosity in the coming years. The current L1 trigger system is therefore seriously challenged. To cope with the resulting higher event rate, as part of the ATLAS trigger upgrade, a new electronics module is foreseen to be added into the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger electronics chain: the topological Processor (TP). Such a processor needs fast optical I/O and large aggregate bandwidth to use the information on trigger object position in space (e.g. jets in the calorimeters or muons measured in the muon detectors) to improve the purity of the L1 triggers streams by applying topological cuts within the L1 latency budget. In this paper, an overview of the adopted technological solutions and the R&}D activities on the demonstrator for the TP ("GOLD") are presented.