Given the opportunity to use a new cluster computer with over a quarter million compute cores we tested the strong and weak scaling of a monodomain reaction-diffusion model of the human ventricles with Ten Tusscher-Panfilov dynamics. Element sizes down to 25 μm and a model size up to 11 billion nodes were tested with both explicit and implicit Euler integration methods. Time steps were 0.01 ms for the implicit method and were resolution-dependent for the explicit method. We found that the weak scaling (increasing model size) was good for both methods. Depending on the model size, strong scaling (speedup at a larger number of cores) was satisfactory for the explicit method, and more limited for the implicit method. The implicit solver was generally slower; only at a resolution of 25μm and on a relatively small number of cores it was as fast as the explicit solver. We conclude that whole-heart simulations at 25μm resolution are technically feasible, although not practical yet on currently available systems.


We have identified a novel gene expressed in murine embryonic stem (ES) cells and in a restricted, tissue‐specific pattern during mouse development. The gene is also expressed in blood vessels; hence, we have named it asrij (Sanskrit; asRˆij = blood). The gene encodes a novel conserved, predicted transmembrane protein of 247 amino acids, which is localized to lysosomes and endosomes. During ES cell‐derived blood vessel formation in vitro, Asrij expression precedes and partially overlaps with the vascular markers Flk‐1 and PECAM. During development, Asrij is expressed predominantly in mouse embryonic blood vessels. The asrij transcript is alternatively spliced, and its expression is regulated in a tissue‐specific manner. An asrij splice variant that is enriched in the adult mouse brain encodes a protein of 196 amino acids. Asrij can serve as an early stem cell marker that is down‐regulated in nonvascular tissues. Our data indicate that Asrij belongs to a novel class of conserved proteins with a complex developmental profile and suggests multiple functions for the gene. Development Dynamics 227:578–586, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Unbalanced phase voltages in electricity networks prevent efficient and stable delivery of power and energy services from utility companies to end-users, and vice versa. While variations in voltage magnitude and power loss have been studied extensively, little attention has been paid to the development of linearized expressions to account for the variation in voltage unbalance. Using a standard definition of the voltage unbalance factor (VUF), this study is the first, to the best knowledge of the authors, in which a VUF sensitivity matrix is mathematically developed and analyzed with respect to variations in 3-phase (3-ph) voltages and, consequently, 3-ph unbalanced load demand. To demonstrate its utility, we performed simulation case studies and compared the estimates made using the matrix to those from a power flow calculation algorithm. The VUF sensitivity matrix is expected to have a variety of practical applications for power systems, such as optimal scheduling and real-time control, which enables improvement in network power quality.


We studied the staining pattern of HMB-45 antibody in 29 compound Spitz nevi (SNs) of the epithelioid cell variety, 17 of which showed extension of nevus cells into the reticular dermis (i.e., "deep"); 20 ordinary compound nevi (CNs), all with a deep dermal component; and 22 primary cutaneous invasive malignant melanomas (MMs) (excluding the desmoplastic and spindle cell types), 12 of which extended into Clark level IV or V. Of the 29 SNs, eight (28%) stained negatively; five (17%), including two deep SNs, stained in the epidermal component only; and 16 (55%), including 10 deep SNs, stained in both the epidermal and dermal components. Of the latter 10 deep SNs, eight stained in the upper dermis only, and in the remaining two lesions, a smaller number of positively stained nevus cells were detectable in the lower dermis as well; these two SNs were not atypical histologically. Of the 20 CNs, four (20%) stained negatively, two (10%) stained in the epidermal component only, and 14 (70%) stained in the epidermal component and the upper dermis only. Of the 22 MMs, one stained negatively, and 21 (95%) stained positively in both the epidermal and dermal components. The pattern was variable in frequency of both staining and distribution, but showed no stratification. We conclude that the majority of our positively stained deep compound SNs showed a stratified pattern of HMB-45 staining, similar to ordinary CNs and different from MMs, and that this pattern might be used as an adjunct in the histopathologic differential diagnosis of compound SN and MM, in the proper clinicopathological context.


The gravitational dynamics and cosmological implications of three classes of recently introduced multi-scale spacetimes (with, respectively, ordinary, weighted and q- derivatives) are discussed. These spacetimes are non-Riemannian: the metric structure is accompanied by an independent measure-differential structure with the characteristics of a multi-fractal, namely, different dimensionality at different scales and, at ultra-short distances, a discrete symmetry known as discrete scale invariance. Under this minimal paradigm, five general features arise: (a) the big-bang singularity can be replaced by a finite bounce, (b) the cosmological constant problem is reinterpreted, since accelerating phases can be mimicked by the change of geometry with the time scale, without invoking a slowly rolling scalar field, (c) the discreteness of geometry at Planckian scales can leave an observable imprint of loga- rithmic oscillations in cosmological spectra and (d) give rise to an alternative mechanism to inflation or (e) to a fully analytic model of cyclic mild inflation, where near scale invariance of the perturbation spectrum can be produced without strong acceleration. Various properties of the models and exact dynamical solutions are discussed. In particular, the multi-scale geometry with weighted derivatives is shown to be a Weyl integrable spacetime.


Since power system is switching to smart grid, on-line monitoring technology has become necessary for underground distribution power cable. Therefore, the application of DTS(Distributed Temperature Sensing) technology using OFCPC(Optical Fiber Composite Power Cable) capable of monitoring underground distribution power cables has been developed. These can bring about reductions in faults and increases in operating capacity of underground distribution system. To date, the test-bed of optical fiber composite power cable on-line monitoring system has been constructed. Then, matters to be improved have been drawn through verification experiments. This paper presents the improvement and experiment results of the optical fiber composite power cable on-line monitoring system to apply to underground distribution lines in the field.


Monjazeb et al performed a single-institution, retrospective study of 163 patients with histologically confirmed stage I to IVa esophageal cancer to assess the utility of positron-emission tomography (PET) in delineating which patients would most likely benefit from esophagectomy after induction chemoradiation therapy. They found that patients who achieve a PET complete response after definitive chemoradiation therapy had similar outcomes to patients treated with trimodal therapy and concluded that patients who achieve a PET complete response after induction therapy may not benefit from esophagectomy. Though their study is interesting, their results should be validated by a prospective trial before they are incorporated into clinical practice.


Introduction Part I. Working Girls' Labor and Lives in the Pre-industrial and Early Industrial Eras 1. Deborah Simonton: Bringing up Girls: Work in Pre-Industrial Europe 2. Mary Jo Maynes: In Search of Arachne's Daughters: European Girls, Economic Development, and the Textile Trade, 1750-1880 3. Andreas Gestrich: After Dark: Girls' Leisure, Work and Sexuality in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Rural Southwest Germany 4. Clare Crowston: An Industrious Revolution in Late Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Paris: New Vocational Training for Adolescent Girls and the Creation of Female Labor Markets 5. Carol E. Morgan: Work for Girls? The Small Metal Industries in England, 1840-1915. II. Spaces of Socialization of Middle- and Upper-class Girls in the 18th and 19th Centuries 6. Irene Hardach-Pinke: Managing Girls' Sexuality Among the German Upper Classes 7. Rebecca Rogers: Porous Walls and Prying Eyes: Control, Discipline, and Morality in Boarding Schools for Girls in mid-19th century France. 8. Celine Grasser: Good Girls vs. Blooming Maidens: The Building of Female Middle-Class Identities in the Garden, England and France, 1820-1870. III. Redefining Girlhood: Competing Discourses on Female Adolescence, 1880 - 1950 9. Kathleen Alaimo: The Authority of Experts: The Crisis of Female Adolescence in France and England, 1880-1920. 10. Mary Lynn Stewart: Sex Education and Sexual Initiation of Bourgeois French Girls, 1880-1930. 11. Christina Benninghaus: In Their Own Words: Girls' Representations of Growing Up in Germany in the 1920s. 12. Pamela Cox: Girls in Trouble. Defining Female Delinquency, Britain 1900-1950. IV. Changing Patterns of Work and Leisure, 1880-1960 13. Anna Davin: Young Women and Clerical Work in England, 1880-1910. 14. Elizabeth Jones: Girls in Court: Magde versus their Employers in Saxony, 1880-1914. 15. Tammy Proctor: 'Something for the girls': Organized Leisure in Europe, 1890-1930. 16. Birgitte Soland: Employment and Enjoyment: Female Coming of Age Experiences in Denmark, 1880-1930. 17. Claire Langhamer: Leisure, Pleasure and Courtship: Young Women in England, 1920-1960. 18. Karin M. Schmidlechner: The Emergence of the Modern Teenage Girl in Austria after World War II.


In this work, highly porous amorphous calcium carbonate (HPACC) and mesoporous magnesium carbonate (MMC) were tested as potential phosphate (PO43-) sorbents in water. The performance of these sorbents at a PO43- initial concentration between 0 – 1000 mg/L was evaluated. These highly porous materials were found to have enhanced PO43- uptake at low concentrations (<100 mg/L) when compared with commercial CaCO3 and MgCO3. The enhanced uptake on HPACC and MMC at low concentration was due to the high surface area and the porosity of these sorbents. The presence of NaCl salt of up to 1000 mg/L had very little effect on the performance of HPACC (<10% decreased uptake capacity), but the PO43- uptake on MMC reduced to close to zero. HPACC with its high PO43- uptake at low concentration could be relevant for real life application of PO43- ions removal from water.


This article is a philosophical and clinical investigation of the existential meaning of immobility which takes as its starting point Erwin Straus 's writings on upright posture and movement. Physical restriction due to prolonged bed rest, traction, or confinement in an intensive care unit has long been recognized to have detrimental effects on the patient's overall physical well being ( Asher , 1947; Olson , 1967; Pollard et al., 1976; and Zubek et al., 1969). Nevertheless, the adverse psychological and existential results of immobilization for the hospitalized patient have received little attention until recent times (Hammer and Kenan , 1980, p. 124). Even today, more research has focused on psychological aspects of sensory deprivation than on those of immobilization. This essay is both a philosophical and clinical inquiry which will investigate the existential meaning of immobility; that is, perception of one's own body on the part of patients who are living through the experience of immobility due to traction. The "lived-body" is more than an "image" or "picture": it is also a means of perceiving the world, an instrument for action, a means of interacting with others, and a medium for expressing one's individuality ( Shontz , 1974, p. 465). In short, as Straus observes, the body is that "here" which is the ground for our ability to act in the world which is "there" ( Spicker , 1976, p. 149). These latter considerations will prove useful in an examination of the experience of immobility. This article is divided into four parts. First, currently held assumptions about movement and sensation will be outlined and their philosophical origins will be traced. Second, Straus 's own definitive writings on upright posture and movement will be discussed. Third, a clinical study involving immobilized orthopedic patients is described and its findings reviewed. Fourth, some ways of alleviating some of the concerns of immobilized patients are suggested.


Diastolic dysfunction is a recognized complication in heart transplant (HTx) recipients that limits exercise capacity and is a risk factor for mortality. We investigated the ability of echocardiography to detect elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (mean PCWP>15 mmHg) in HTx recipients. This retrospective study comprised HTx recipients with echocardiography and right heart catheterization within 24 hours (n = 100, 113 investigations). Echocardiographic assessment was performed using mitral inflow (E/A ratio, deceleration time [DT], isovolumic relaxation time [IVRT]), tissue Doppler (E/E′ lateral) parameters, and the Doppler‐estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (Doppler PASP). The right atrial pressure (RAP) was estimated based on size and the effect of respiration or sniffing on the inferior vena cava diameter. Cutoff values were determined from a derivation group (n = 57, receiver operator characteristic curve analysis) and evaluated in a test group (n = 56). Elevated PCWP were found in 38%. The RAP and PCWP were both normal in 58 investigations and elevated in 39 investigations (concordance rate of 86.6%). The presence of signs of increased RAP by echocardiography or with three of five parameters (E/A, DT, IVRT, E/E′ lateral, and Doppler PASP) reaching the cutoff values ruled in elevated PCWP with positive likelihood ratios ranging from 15.3 to 9. With normal RAP by echocardiography or none of the other parameters reaching cutoff values elevated PCWP can be ruled out with negative likelihood ratios ranging from 0.07 to 0.19. In conclusion, elevated PCWP in HTx recipients can be assessed using echocardiography.


An extended asynchronous switching model is investigated for a class of switched stochastic nonlinear retarded systems in the presence of both detection delay and false alarm, where the extended asynchronous switching is described by two independent and exponentially distributed stochastic processes, and further simplified as Markovian. Based on the Razumikhin-type theorem incorporated with average dwell-time approach, the sufficient criteria for global asymptotic stability in probability and stochastic input-to-state stability are given, whose importance and effectiveness are finally verified by numerical examples.


This article explores the complicated relationship between narratives of working-class America and formations of national Otherness. Arguing that class, sex, and ethnicity are deeply relational, it seeks to map the symbolic terrain and emotional depth of class difference as it circulates in the American imaginary. It ask how we might think about the cultural poetics of class difference in ways that make a difference—in ways that register class narratives as participants in constructions of the Nation and the "normal," the irregular and the queer? Attending to the kinds of emotional and conceptual services stories of class perform, it locates "class" as part of a discursive imaginary topography that structures and turns narratives of working men and women into spaces of encounter, contest, and containment.


Protein ubiquitination has been historically associated with protein degradation, but recent studies have demonstrated other cellular functions associated with substrate ubiquitination. Among the RING‐type ubiquitin E3 ligase enzymes present in the human genome, RNF167 is a transmembrane protein located in endosomes and lysosomes and is implicated in controlling the endolysosomal pathway. Substrates of RNF167 have been identified, but the ubiquitin‐conjugating E2 enzymes involved in the mechanism remain unknown. In this study, we describe the interaction between RNF167 and conjugating E2 enzymes. By means of in vitro autoubiquitination and binding assays, we show that RNF167 functionally interacts with many conjugating E2s, while fluorescence microscopy illustrates that these interactions occur in endosomes and lysosomes. Kinetic analyses of the interaction between RNF167 and selected conjugating E2 enzymes reveal submicromolar dissociation constants. The computed model of interaction between the RING domain of RNF167 and conjugating enzymes gives us insights on how RNF167 could interact with conjugating E2 enzymes. Furthermore, the results reveal that in vitro polyubiquitination of the AMPA‐type glutamate receptor subunit GluA2, one of the RNF167's known substrates, is possible by the conjugating E2 enzyme UBE2N only after GluA2 has been primed by ubiquitin subsequent to the action of an initiating conjugating E2 enzyme functionally binding RNF167. Pharmacological inhibition of UBE2N in cultured hippocampal neurons diminishes AMPA‐induced GluA2 ubiquitination. This study characterizes interacting partners of RNF167 and constitutes an initial step toward the identification of functional pairs assembled from RNF167 and ubiquitin‐conjugating E2 enzymes involved in the ubiquitination of RNF167's substrate.


Abstract The article is a critical commentary on Peter Singer's thesis that the brain death definition should be replaced by a rule outlining the conditions permitting organ harvesting from patients who are biologically alive but are no longer persons. Largely agreeing with the position, I believe it can be justified not only on the basis of utilitarian arguments, but also those based on Kantian ethics and Christianity. However, due to the lack of reliable methods diagnosing complete and irreversible loss of consciousness, we should refrain from implementing upper brain death into medical practice. Organs also should not be harvested from people in a persistent vegetative state or from anencephalic children, for similar reasons. At the same time, patients who suffered from whole-brain death should not be artificially sustained; in light of current knowledge they can be declared dead and become organ donors.


Evelyn Martin Lansdowne Beale was a talented mathematician at school and university. He became a pioneer in the development of linear programming methods at the Admiralty Research Laboratory (A.R.L.), Teddington. He then joined the Corporation for Economic and Industrial Research (C.E.I.R.) in 1961 in response to the challenge of applying operational research and mathematical programming to industrial problems. C.E.I.R. became Scicon (Scientific Control Systems Ltd) but Martin remained there, being its 'Scientific Adviser' finally, a title that reflected his strong preference for advancing his subject in a benevolent way despite the commercial pressures of industry. Regularly on Mondays from 1967 he attended the Mathematics Department at Imperial College as a visiting professor. There, at conferences and in his published work, he communicated his extraordinary skill at extracting useful results computationally from mathematical models of real problems. Most of his papers on particular calculations and on particular techniques are substantial contributions to knowledge, but probably he will be remembered best for his constant and active interest in the development of mathematical programming systems for applying optimization algorithms painlessly in practice. He wrote (1961c)* that 'The most important part of operational research is educated common sense, and computers have absolutely no common sense', but he planned his systems so well that this defect of computers was negligible. There are no secrets of his success as he believed in open publication of useful discoveries. In all ways he was generous and kind, subject to high standards of honesty and academic integrity. He was devoted to his family and to the Christian faith.


Antiseptic drug "Decasan" due to its bactericidal, fungicidal, viricidal and sporicidal action is a highly effective medicine for the prevention of postoperative complications in an orthopedic and trauma hospital. Its use can significantly reduce the frequency of complications, and thus reduces the need for systemic antibiotics and slows down the development of antibiotic resistance.


Protein O-GlcNAcylation (N-acetylglucosamine modification) plays a critical role in cell-cycle regulation, apoptosis and signal transduction. Most serine (Ser) and threonine (Thr) sites for O-GlcNAcylation are on or near to phosphorylation sites, which creates a system of mutual elimination. O-GlcNAcylation of p53, a tumor suppressor protein, at Ser-149 prevents p53 degradation and stabilizes p53 proteins expressed in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells whereas phosphorylation of the p53 at Thr-155 induces ubiquitin-dependent degradation, which decreases p53 levels. Accumulation of the p53 protein in cancer cells induces arrest of cell growth and apoptosis in response to DNA damage. Ser-149 site-specific anti-peptide antibodies have been produced using KLH conjugated with p53 peptides with and without O-GlcNAcylation at Ser-149 by immunization of rabbits for polyclonal and mice for monoclonal antibodies. Whereas polyclonal antibodies and hybridoma media for O-GlcNAcylated p53 cross-reacted with BSA conjugated with Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53 peptides in ELISA or Western blot analysis, the antibodies did not cross-react with BSA conjugated with p53 peptides without O-GlcNAcylation. Anti-peptide polyclonal antibodies produced for the unmodified p53 peptides did not cross-react with BSA conjugated with Ser-149 O-GlcNAcylated p53 peptides. Using the hybridoma media for Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53, Western blot analysis was carried out with nuclear lysates and cytosol-containing supernatant obtained from MCF10A (normal breast cancer cell line) and MCF-7 cells. It was found that, in MCF-10A cells, Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53 proteins (∼55 kDa) were minimally expressed in the nuclear fraction but highly expressed in the cytosolic fraction whereas, in MCF-7 cells, the level of cytosolic Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53 protein was low compared with the level in MCF-10A cells. MCF-7 cells were treated for 24 hr with 1% DMSO or 2 mM β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (O-GlcNAcase) inhibitor, acetazolamide, dissolved in DMSO and levels of Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53 were determined by Western blot analysis using antibodies for the Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53. Whereas the level of O-GlcNAcylated p53 did not increase after 1% DMSO treatment, the level dramatically increased after treatment of acetazolamide in 1% DMSO and induced cell death. Our results showed that acetazolamide treatment increased Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53 level and induced cell death in MCF-7 cells, which may decrease invasiveness of the breast cancer cells. Supported by NCI SBIR Phases I and II Contracts No. N261201100073C and N261201300058C. Citation Format: Hyesook Kim, So Hee KIm, Aby Joiakim, David Kaplan, Sung Hun Bae, David Putt. Detection of increased O-GlcNAcylated p53 levels in MCF-7 cells after O-GlcNAcase inhibitor treatment using antibodies specific for Ser-149-O-GlcNAcylated p53 proteins. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1230. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1230


Globalization shows its effect neorly all around the world. Advertising is one of these fields. While advertising is responsible for explaining the characteristics of a product, global world advertising does different thing. The individual wants to show satisfaction with the product he needs. By using this stragety, brands give individuals not only brand but also emotions wanted. While advertisers present the product, they can do this accoding to the condition of the crociety. Unlike many brands that advertise on topicality, Magnum deals with the issues of more globalization. Magnum uses the realites of global world such as the vanily of consumption, the body of women as materiel Since it is seen that ads have different languages, semiotics analysis can reveal these differences. In this study, some concepts will be explained at the beginning, their interrelations will be examined and semiotics will be analyzed.


Local averaging techniques, which are used to postprocess discrete flux or stress approximations of low-order
finite element schemes for elliptic boundary value problems, are applied for error control and adaptive mesh
refinement. We put particular emphasis on the explicit calculation of all constants, arising in the proofs of
reliability and efficiency, in terms of the known data and quantify the equivalence of local averaging
techniques. We highlight and discuss a wide selection of applications for which averaging-based estimators
provide highly accurate error control.


A frequency-domain approach to the absolute stability analysis of multivariable time-invariant discrete-time linear quadratic regulators is developed in the paper. An imbedding form of a fundamental equality relating the return-difference and the open-loop transfer matrices is the key for the application of the Popov criterion in the analysis. This imbedding form also establishes a necessary condition for a closed-loop matrixtransfer function to have been obtained through an LQ design.


High peak capacity was obtained for the separation of a HSA tryptic digest through the serial connection of three LC columns packed with shell material (C18, 15 cmx4.6 mm, 2.7 mum particle size). A major benefit of these particles, consisting of a 1.7 mum solid core and a 0.5 mum porous shell, is the small diffusion path, which reduces axial dispersion of solutes and minimizes peak broadening allowing for higher resolving power to be obtained. Increase in the temperature decreases the viscosity and the backpressure on the columns and in this way allowed to couple multiple columns. Single and multicolumn systems were first evaluated for the separation of a standard sample mixture in the isocratic mode; afterwards three columns could be coupled at 60 degrees C, generating more than 90,000 effective plates (200,000 plates/meter) for the separation of HSA in gradient mode on a conventional HPLC instrument. Peak capacity ratios were found in good accordance with the theoretical gain in resolution, i.e. values of 1.37 and 1.67 were measured, when doubling and tripling the length of stationary phases, respectively (the highest measured peak capacity on three coupled columns was 367).


As part of a study of the detailed abundance patterns in extremely metal-poor stars, we have compared our samples of giants and dwarfs with two samples of dwarfs measured by different teams. For most elements the abundances are in good agreement, but for C, Na, and Al we show that the atmospheric abundances are different in dwarfs and in giants. For C the difference could be explained by "atmospheric effects" or by the influence of the first dredge-up, but for Na and Al deep mixing inside the stars must be invoked. Until now, such deep mixing has not been observed in metal-poor field stars. An excess scatter in [Mg/Fe] in giants remains unexplained.


Onsite and in-person experiential education has been well established to prepare practice-ready healthcare professionals, such as pharmacists. From COVID-19, the integration of remote educational delivery has occurred. As healthcare disciplines adjust to new experiential styles and innovate traditional methods, this paper highlights key areas for remote experiential education that can influence student experiences. Factors that are of importance to continuous quality improvement are described. A survey, utilizing the cloud-based software platform Qualtrics® headquartered in the United States, was developed to evaluate whether remote rotation delivery was comparable to traditional onsite experiential education, to assist with quality improvement for virtual experiential education, and to ensure the redesigned educational model meets accreditation standards for two schools of pharmacy. Numerous factors including work, time zone, Office of Experiential Education and preceptor responsiveness, and technology, were examined. Chi-Square test, t-test for proportions and odds ratios were utilized to evaluate results. Students with technology concerns throughout a remote rotation had a more than two-fold increase in identifying the virtual experience as worse than most/all other in-person rotations (p = 0.01). Preceptor responsiveness to questions and concerns significantly impact student perceptions of educational quality (p < 0.05). The majority of students perceived remote experiential education is equal to onsite experiences. Since continuous quality improvement is required by pharmacy accreditors and many other healthcare programs offering clinical opportunities, identifying factors is of importance to make future interventions in the remote experiential education delivery. This type of experiential learning became essential with COVID-19 impacting onsite clinical placements, and information can be used across health science disciplines at large.


Between 1978 and 1983 fifty-two abdominal abscesses in 44 patients were drained percutaneously. 79% of the abscesses occurred as postoperative complications. The overall success rate was 60%, whereas only 42% of left subphrenic abscesses were cured. Complications were encountered in 4.5%. Reasons for drainage failures were: liver sequestration, loculation, fistulae and recurrences. Percutaneous abscess drainage is an alternative, and valuable addition, to surgery.


Transits in the WASP-57 planetary system have been found to occur half an hour earlier than expected. We present 10 transit light curves from amateur telescopes, on which this discovery was based, 13 transit light curves from professional facilities which confirm and refine this finding, and high-resolution imaging which show no evidence for nearby companions. We use these data to determine a new and precise orbital ephemeris, and measure the physical properties of the system. Our revised orbital period is 4.5 s shorter than found from the discovery data alone, which explains the early occurrence of the transits. We also find both the star and planet to be larger and less massive than previously thought. The measured mass and radius of the planet are now consistent with theoretical models of gas giants containing no heavy-element core, as expected for the subsolar metallicity of the host star. Two transits were observed simultaneously in four passbands. We use the resulting light curves to measure the planet's radius as a function of wavelength, finding that our data are sufficient in principle but not in practise to constrain its atmospheric properties. We conclude with a discussion of the current and future status of transmission photometry studies for probing the atmospheres of gas-giant transiting planets.


Systemic amyloidosis is a life-threatening and frequently unrecognized cause of dysautonomia. Autonomic neuropathy is a common manifestation of AL amyloidosis (caused by deposition of an immunoglobulin free light chain produced by an underlying plasma cell clone) and of autosomal dominant hereditary ATTR amyloidosis (caused by a transthyretin mutation). The following review aims to alert clinicians to look out for signs and symptoms of amyloidosis to enable the bioptic diagnosis at an early stage. Suspicion of systemic amyloidosis is usually raised by the systemic, multi-organ character of the disease. An interdisciplinary approach is needed in the individual patient in order to establish the diagnosis and to obtain a clear overview of the actual multitude of organ problems. This overview is necessary for risk management and for making a well-considered treatment choice. Collaboration of all medical specialists involved is necessary to deliver optimal treatment and care to the patient with this systemic disease.


Despite the popularity and high quality of machine-made products, handmade products have not disappeared, even in product categories in which machinal production is common. The authors present the first systematic set of studies exploring whether and how stated production mode (handmade vs. machine-made) affects product attractiveness. Four studies provide evidence for the existence of a positive handmade effect on product attractiveness. This effect is, to an important extent, driven by perceptions that handmade products symbolically "contain love." The authors validate this love account by controlling for alternative value drivers of handmade production (effort, product quality, uniqueness, authenticity, and pride). The handmade effect is moderated by two factors that affect the value of love. Specifically, consumers indicate stronger purchase intentions for handmade than machine-made products when buying gifts for their loved ones but not for more distant gift recipients, and they pay more for handmade gifts when purchased to convey love than simply to acquire the best-performing product.


BACKGROUND
Women with histories of childhood trauma tend to score higher on recidivism risk/needs assessment tools, such as the Level of Service Inventory-Revised: Screening Version (LSI-R: SV). These may affect their chance of leaving custody, but risk scores may be inflated by reliance on additional items which reflect other fixed childhood events.

AIMS
We hypothesised that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) would be related to immutable risk measures according to the LSI-R: SV, such as juvenile arrest history, rather than more mutable factors, such as criminal attitudes.

METHODS
Two interviewer-administered questionnaires-one about ACEs and one about criminogenic risk and needs-were given to a cohort of women just after release from jail. Phi coefficients were used to test for associations between ? ACE scale scores and scores on the risk tool-the LSI-R: SV.

RESULTS
ACE scale items were related to static risk item scores from the LSI-R: SV, but not to any of the dynamic risk items except psychological health.

CONCLUSIONS
Risk reduction is an important task in the criminal justice system, for which systematic risk assessment is an integral part of decision making. Self-reported experience of psychological health apart, only fixed historical variables were related to estimated recidivism risk. There was no relationship between the mutable constructs of attitudes towards crime or employment status and estimated risk. This raises the question of whether the risk of recidivism is increased when there is a background of childhood trauma. Implications for using risk reduction tools to inform the need for trauma-informed correctional care are discussed. Longitudinal research assessing recidivism is needed to test this further.


Solid-state Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing has recently gained attention as a result of its capacity to fabricate large-scale parts while preserving the mechanical properties of the feedstock material. However, the correlation between the quality of layer-by-layer bonding of the deposited metal and processing parameters has remained unknown. Neutron imaging techniques, with 90% total transmission per cm, are employed for Al6061 parts fabricated by MELD® Technology as a non-destructive evaluation approach for the first time to investigate the layer-by-layer structure of a stadium-shaped ingot in different sections. The post-processed results show the fabricated parts with an optimized set of processing parameters are void-free. However, the hydrocarbon-based feedstock lubricant segregates between the layers, which consequently may lead to non-uniform weaker mechanical properties along the build direction and stimulate crack initiation during mechanical loading. The tensile test results show 14% lower strain-to-failure values in alleged contaminated areas in transmission imaging results. Additionally, layer bonding is significantly impacted by hot-on-hot and hot-on-cold layer deposition schemes, especially for larger layer thicknesses.


Abstract Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring has been used to detect split formation during room temperature low blow Charpy impact testing of high strength thick strip steels. The AE signal analysis identified separate signals originating from hammer impact, plastic deformation (verified using Charpy impact testing on mild steel with no splits) and split initiation/growth. The presence of splits was confirmed by sectioning and fractography, and the splits were brittle in nature. A possible correlation between the AE signal features and fracture mode is presented.


Statistical classification models are commonly used to separate a signal from a background. In this talk we face the problem of isolating the signal of Higgs pair production using the decay channel in which each boson decays into a pair of b-quarks. Typically in this context non parametric methods are used, such as Random Forests or different types of boosting tools. We remain in the same non-parametric framework, but we propose to face the problem following a Bayesian approach. A Dirichlet process is used as prior for the random effects in a logit model which is fitted by leveraging the Polya-Gamma data augmentation. Refinements of the model include the insertion in the simple model of P-splines to relate explanatory variables with the response and the use of Bayesian trees (BART) to describe the atoms in the Dirichlet process.


This essay explores the original meaning and understanding of the concept of ubuntu. It evaluates the strengths and limitations of this cherished African anthropological and philosophical notion. By bringing the anthropology of ubuntu in conversation with the anthropology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer possibilities for the re-valuation of ubuntu are opened. Attention to the anthropology of Bonhoeffer will help ubuntu to affirm community without falling into the trap of collectivism. It will also prevent ubuntu from overestimating the capabilities of humans through the under-estimation of the reality of sin. Where ubuntu is also open to the transformative power of the gospel its redeeming potential on a broken continent is enhanced.


The resistance to water at 100 ºC of unsaturated polyester coatings is evaluated by determining the kinetics of absorption of water. The process is controlled by Fickian diffusion as found from experiments and thus two parameters are necessary to characterize the stage of absorption, the diffusivity and the amount of water absorbed at equilibrium. The state of cure, expressed by the heat evolved by the cure reaction in the mould as a fraction of the total cure enthalpy, is correlated with the resistance to water at 100 ºC for thermosets. The state of cure of the resin is calculated by using a numerical model taking into account heat conduction and heat evolved by the cure reaction. Good correlation is obtained, showing that a high value of the state of cure for a thermoset is associated with a lower diffusivity and lower amount of water absorbed, or in other words with a higher resistance to water. However, an increase in the state of cure is calculated during the test at 100 ºC.


The purpose of this study was to determine whether hepatocellular function is altered following hepatic ischemia and whether ATP-MgCl2 has any effect on it. To study this, total hepatic ischemia in rats was produced for 60 minutes by placing a ligature around the hepatic artery, portal vein, and the common bile duct. At the end of the ischemic period, the ligature was removed, reestablishing blood flow to the liver. The animals then received IV either 0.25 ml saline (nontreated) or 0.25 ml ATP-MgCl2 (12.5 mumoles each) (treated). Three hours following the end of ischemia, indocyanine green (ICG) clearance was determined by infusing ICG at a concentration of either 5 mg/kg body wt (low) or 25 mg/kg body wt (high). Following infusion of ICG blood samples were taken at five, six, eight, ten, 12, 15, 18, and 20 minutes thereafter to determine the ICG concentration. The clearance of ICG at low as well as at high ICG concentration was markedly depressed in the nontreated animals, suggesting that significant depression in hepatic blood flow as well as hepatocellular function was evident even three hours after ischemia. Administration of ATP-MgCl2 following hepatic ischemia, however, resulted in ICG clearance values similar to sham-operated animals when ICG was given at low as well as high concentration. Thus, ATP-MgCl2 treatment following hepatic ischemia not only seemed to restore hepatic blood flow but also active membrane transport toward normal.


I n an era of budgetary and deficit pressures, food-assistance programs are headed for change as part of an overall effort to scale back on Government-funded welfare programs. Most agree that the U.S. welfare system needs reform to reduce costs, improve the effectiveness of the programs, reduce dependency, and provide incentives for recipients. Proposals from the Executive and Legislative branches, as well as the States, offer modifications to current programs, including those providing food assistance. There is much discussion on how to make the programs more efficient while continuing to assist the needy. The major proposals would reduce funding and eligibility for some Federal programs and transfer control of others to the States under a block grant with a fixed spending limit. Impacts of changes in the Nation's food and nutrition assistance programs will extend beyond the programs' 45 million recipients to the rest of the food sector and the larger economy. With reductions in food assistance, national food spending would decrease, as would the demand for agricultural commodities (particularly meats), commodity prices, and farm income. Nonfood sectors would also be affected. The extent of these changes depends on the size of the program cuts, the form of the new programs, and whether the savings are used to reduce the Federal budget deficit or to cut taxes.


The Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has for several years funded research at the Road Accident Prevention Research Unit at the University of Western Australia aimed at quantifying the value of reducing injuries by improving vehicle safety design. An injury cost database was developed using claims data from the Motor Accidents Authority of NSW (MAA) and additional cost data from other sources. These costs were used together with the measurements from the test instruments in the ANCAP crash tests to estimate the cost of injuries to front seat occupants in the ANCAP-tested vehicles. The aim of this study was to use the injury cost information from this previous research to estimate the safety benefits of improvements in vehicle design in cars entering the passenger vehicle fleet in Western Australia since the introduction of the ANCAP crash test program in 1992. The results of the study show significant safety benefits from the design and equipment changes introduced in new models of ANCAP-tested cars manufactured between 1992 and 1997. In crashes occurring in 1997 that involved these models and variants with a similar design, the safety benefits from improvements in vehicle design amounted to $42.6 million. Over the assumed 20-year lifetime of these vehicles, the benefits from vehicle safety improvements introduced in successive models was estimated to be $890.0 million. These findings show the considerable impact of improvements in vehicle safety design on the cost of road injuries to the community.


Almost all conventional CD8+ CTL and their CD8+ precursors are inhibited by anti-CD8 mAb. This requirement for CD8 function reflects both an avidity-augmentation role and a signal-transduction role for CD8 on T cells. We have, however, previously identified and partially characterized a novel functional population of CD8+, but anti-CD8-resistant, MHC class I-allospecific CTL. These CTL have unusual activation requirements in that their efficient generation in vitro requires inhibition of the CD8 avidity contribution (but not the CD8 signaling contribution), by anti-CD8 mAb. In this study, we have investigated the relationship of anti-CD8-sensitive and anti-CD8-resistant CTL by several criteria. These CTL populations share the phenotypic markers we have tested to date, they have similar but not identical Ag-specific repertoires, and they both appear to be generated from naive unprimed T cells. However, anti-CD8-sensitive and anti-CD8-resistant CTL populations exhibit important functional differences. They differ in their kinetics of activation in vitro, their dependence on exogenous cytokines, their use of lytic effector mechanisms, and their tissue distribution during ontogeny. Based on these results, we favor the hypothesis that these CTL populations represent distinct T cell lineages or subsets, and not merely different TCR avidity ranges within a single T cell lineage or subset.


Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have shown great success on the task of monocular depth estimation. A fundamental yet unanswered question is: how CNNs can infer depth from a single image. Toward answering this question, we consider visualization of inference of a CNN by identifying relevant pixels of an input image to depth estimation. We formulate it as an optimization problem of identifying the smallest number of image pixels from which the CNN can estimate a depth map with the minimum difference from the estimate from the entire image. To cope with a difficulty with optimization through a deep CNN, we propose to use another network to predict those relevant image pixels in a forward computation. In our experiments, we first show the effectiveness of this approach, and then apply it to different depth estimation networks on indoor and outdoor scene datasets. The results provide several findings that help exploration of the above question.


Background: Injury of growth plate may lead to serious complications such as bone bridge formation, deformity, growth disturbance, and limb length discrepancy. Stem cell therapy is one of the fields studied to mitigate this problem. There are various types and techniques which can be implemented. Objective: This systematic review aims to review the most common techniques used in the experimental animal study about the application of stem cells to treat growth plate injury. Methods: This study was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. The following strategy was used. The terms used on the search engine were "stem cell growth plate injury" in PubMed database. A bibliometric evaluation was done on all the search results. Results: The initial PubMed search yielded 74 results, but 5 articles were eliminated because they could not be accessed. From the remaining 69 articles, 50 were excluded after abstract and full-text review. Further, 7 articles were eliminated because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Most studies are experimental animal studies, and there is no human trial regarding this matter. Conclusion: There are still a few studies evaluating the application of stem cell in treating growth plate injuries, but the present results are generally satisfactory. Hopefully, clinical trials could be conducted in the near future.


We explored the effects of curing and smoking conditions on the shelf life of Dombaeki (shark meat). Dombaeki cured for 12 h in an aqueous solution containing (per 100 ml) salt 5.6 g, sugar 14 g, and garlic powder 0.6 g, showed the best sensory quality among various samples cured for 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 or 24 hours. The optimum conditions for preparation of smoked Dombaeki (SD) were drying at for 30 min, followed by cooking at for 30 min and smoking at for 40 min, as judged by sensory evaluation of taste, color, flavor, texture, and overall acceptability. The volatile basic nitrogen content of air- or vacuum-packed unsmoked Dombaeki (NSD) was above 20 mg% after storage for either 12 days or 5 weeks. However, the nitrogen contents of air- and vacuum-packed SD were less than 20 mg% after either 21 days or 10 weeks of storage at . The DPPH free radical-scavenging ability of SD (73.9%) was significantly higher than that of unsmoked meat (4.54%). The total polyphenol content of SD (745.6 g/g) was about 4-fold greater than that of unsmoked meat (179.5 g/g).The viable bacterial count of air- or vacuum-packed unsmoked meat was over after storage for either 12 days or 5 weeks. However, air- or vacuum-packed SD had counts under at all storage times tested. Changes in coliform bacterial levels paralleled those of total viable cells. The sensory quality (taste, color, flavor, appearance, texture, and overall acceptability) of SD was significantly better than that of NSD.


The type-III secretion system (T3SS) is an export machine used by pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria to deliver proteins straight into the eukaryotic cytosol with the aim to subvert the host cell defense. After the discovery of T3S in 1990, significant progress has been made in the understanding of its structure, assembly and function. The basic structure consisting of the membrane-embedded basal body, the needle and the tip structure has been analyzed in more details. In the last years, the structure of several structural components has been solved and important insights into the assembly process have been gained. Furthermore, comparing the T3SS of pathogenic bacteria with the flagellum the relationship between these two structures becomes obvious. Besides the structural similarities, the assembly of these two nanomachines shows some commonalities like for example the length control of external structures like the T3 needle and the flagellar hook. In addition to the export machine the complete T3SS also includes the pore forming translocator proteins, effector proteins and a set of specific chaperones. Here, we review different aspects of the T3SS focusing on the structure and assembly of this fascinating nanomachine.


We consider the problem of decomposing a Banach lattice Z as a direct sum Z = X @ Y where X and Y are complemented subspaces satisfying a condition of incomparability (e.g. every operator from Y to X is strictly singular). We treat both the atomic and nonatomic cases. In particular we answer a question of Wojtaszczyk by showing that L1 fflL2 has unique structure as a nonatomic Banach lattice. One of the most important problems in the theory of Banach lattices, which is still open, is whether any complemented subspace of a Banach lattice must be linearly isomorphic to a Banach lattice. The main difficulty seems to lie in the fact that most of the criteria for a Banach space to be isomorphic to a lattice do not really distinguish between lattices and their complemented subspaces. We do not actually treat this question in the present paper but rather consider the situation Z = X d3 Y, where Z is a Banach lattice and X and Y two complemented subspaces which are assumed to satisfy different conditions that make them "distinct" in some or another sense. This line of research was initiated by P. Wojtaszczyk 128] (and also by I. S. Edelstein and P. Wojtaszczyk [3]) who proved that if Z has a normalized unconditional basis {Zn}n=l (i.e. it is a separable atomic lattice) so that every linear operator from Y into X is compact then {zn}n=l splits into two disjoint parts which are respectively equivalent to bases of X and Y. In particular, both X and Y have unconditional bases. The proof of this result is based on a fundamental theorem from [28 and 3], which is mentioned below as Theorem A. We give here a different proof which does not make use of Theorem A but instead is based on a simple "change of signs" result from [2], which is described below as Theorem B. We also consider the case when the compactness assumption above is replaced by the total incomparability of X and Y for which we prove a similar result provided X and Y have unconditional bases. Unfortunately, the most interesting case when every operator from Y into X is assumed to be strictly singular (which was raised as an open problem in [28]) remains unsolved. We conclude the section devoted to the atomic case with a simple theorem on block bases of a space with unconditional basis {zn}°°=1 whose span is complemented. Such a block basis splits into two disjoint parts, the first equivalent to a subsequence of {zn}n= Received by the editors September 5, 1986. 1980 Mathematics Subject Classification (1985 Revision). Primary 46B30, 46B15; Secondary 46A40. This research was supported by Grant No. 84-00210 from the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), Jerusalem, Israel. The research of the first author was also supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 8500938. The research of the second author was also supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 8601401. (r) 1987 American Mathematical Society OOO2-9947/87 $1.00 + $.25 per page


This paper examines how a social investment approach can be applied in a comparative analysis of childcare arrangements. We compared changes in Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, Japan and Korea during the 2000s, focusing on four dimensions of social investment: activation, gender equality, quality of care, and the degree of state`s intervention in the family. We considered leave systems and the number of children enrolled in formal care and education facilities as indicators for labour market activation. For gender equality, women`s position in employment is considered with respect to labour market participation rates, proportion of permanent employment, and wage-sex ratio. Quality of care concerns child-to-staff ratio and care provided with government quality control. The state`s intervention was measured as social spending on families as proportions of GDP and total social spending. Our analysis provides empirical evidence that Sweden and France are pioneers in this arena and that the UK, Germany, Korea, and Japan are path-shifters in their care paradigms, albeit to varying degrees. Is the social investment approach an adequate paradigm for care? In a normative sense, this approach has potential. However, the following issues remain unaddressed: gender equality should be achieved through an expansion in good-quality jobs, fathers should be encouraged to take on childcare duties, and families should have universal access to good-quality childcare services controlled by the government.


Brinton et al. report an inverse relationship between oral contraceptive (OC) use and benign breast disease. Their contention that the association is real and not due to selective bias, as has been suggested by Janerich et al., is difficult to accept from the data that are reported. Adequate control for both selection bias and confounding factors influenced by physicians' prescribing practices and the benign breast disease patients' choice of contraception has not been carried out in the majority of studies reported. In the study conducted by Brinton et al., careful control of influencing factors such as reason for discontinuing OC use, prior breast disease and social class was carried out, but there is a strong possibility of a selection bias affecting the results. Cases and controls were selected from participants in the Oxford-FPA study who were restricted to married women 25-39 years of age and who were currently using OCs, an IUD, or a diaphragm without previous OC use. Thus, women who, prior to 25 years of age, elected to discontinue OC use because of breast discomfort related to benign breast disease, or women whose physician discontinued prescribing OCs because of benign breast disease, would have been entirely selected out of the Oxford-FPA study. Such women would have no opportunity of being included in Brinton's study, reducing the overall likelihood that OC ever users and longterm users would be found among the women with benign breast disease. This could account for some or all of the deficit of OC ever users and longterm users among the benign breast disease cases found in Brinton's study. Brinton's thorough analysis has contributed to the understanding of several factors related to the risk of benign breast disease such as obesity and fertility factors. The association between parity and late age at 1st birth and benign breast disease must be sorted out before the interpretation of a "protective effect" of OCs on benign breast disease can be accepted.


This paper considers whether political business cycles existed in East European accession countries during the period 1990-9. Based on the Mundell-Fleming model expanded in Clark and Hallerberg (2000), we argue that the type of exchange rate regime and the relative independence of the central bank affects the instruments governments use to influence the economy before elections. In our empirical analysis, we find that accession countries with dependent central banks and flexible exchange rates have looser monetary policies in electoral periods than in non-electoral periods. If a country has a fixed exchange rate regime, it manipulates its economy in election years through running larger budgets instead of through looser monetary policy. The presence of such cycles in Eastern Europe has implications for the introduction of the euro in EU accession countries.


Collective representations of "time" do not passively reflect time, but time and space are mediated by society. By our social practices, such as making music and dancing, we create time. Different cultural groups may experience and perceive time in different ways, and also within one cultural group the quality of time is not always experienced in the same way. Anthropological studies have shown that in each cultural group different perceptions of time co-exist. For instance, time generally tends to be perceived as both a linear flow and as repetitive. We should not confuse metaphysical and sociological arguments about time: time in music and other performing arts operates at the social and not at the metaphysical level. The essay discusses a variety of social qualities of time and space as it becomes manifest in some performing arts of West Java and the implications for their safeguarding.


Intra-aortic balloon pump counterpulsation (IABP) was used to treat two patients with symptomatic vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. One could not tolerate triple H therapy (hypertensive hypervolemic hemodilution) because of poor cardiac function and another suffered acute myocardial infarction after aneurysm surgery followed by cardiac failure. IABP increased cerebral blood flow and prevented cerebral infarction in the former case but this could not reverse cerebral ischemia in the latter. IABP may be one choice for patients with vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage.


The essential, conserved Tel2 protein plays a role in the response to DNA damage and replication stress in a wide range of eukaryotes. Tel2 interacts physically with multiple members of the PI3-kinase related protein kinase (PIKK) family in mammalian cells and fission yeast. In mammalian cells, loss of Tel2 leads to destabilization of PIKKs. Our previous work in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed that Tel2 interacts with the PIKK Tel1 (yeast ATM kinase), and that this interaction is abrogated by the only known non-lethal TEL2 mutation in S. cerevisiae, tel2-1. We showed that this mutation specifically disrupts the function of Tel1 and not the function of the closely related protein Mec1 (yeast ATR kinase) in DNA damage responses. Here we show that Tel2 and Mec1 interact in S. cerevisiae, and that surprisingly, this physical interaction is also disrupted by the tel2-1 mutation. Although the tel2-1 mutation leads to moderately lower Mec1 levels, the ability of Mec1 to localize to a site of DNA damage and to function in DNA damage signaling remains intact. These results suggest that the model of Tel2 as solely a global regulator of PIKK stability is insufficient. Rather, Tel2 can specifically and differentially regulate the function of individual PIKKs.


In this paper we provide a framework to cope with two problems: (i) the fragility of reinforcement learning due to modeling uncertainties because of the mismatch between controlled laboratory/simulation and real-world conditions and (ii) the prohibitive computational cost of stochastic optimal control. We approach both problems by using reinforcement learning to solve the stochastic dynamic programming equation. The resulting reinforcement learning controller is safe with respect to several types of constraints and it can actively learn about the modeling uncertainties. Unlike exploration and exploitation, probing and safety are employed automatically by the controller itself, resulting real-time learning. A simulation example demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed approach.


Drug transporters typically move substrates, including drugs, in an intracellular to extracellular direction and thus are efflux transporters. There is a small subset of transporters that move substrates in the opposite direction and are classified as influx transporters. Collectively, drug transporters contribute to the pharmacokinetic profile of a wide variety of drugs and other molecules including xenobiotics, metabolites, and endogenous solutes. Identification of genetic variants in the genes that encode these transporters is an emerging area of pharmacogenomics. Many polymorphisms of the multitude of genes that code for the transporters within the 2 major superfamilies (ATP-binding cassette transporters and solute carrier transporters) have been identified. Studies have shown that many single-nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with changes in protein expression, functionality, and drug exposure; however, there are limited data for most single-nucleotide polymorphisms and impact on clinical end points. Preliminary data suggest that patients with CKD may have reduced transporter function that may have effects on exposure and toxicity profiles. Additional research translating the functional significance of polymorphisms on clinical pharmacokinetics and relevant disease-specific end points will provide further understanding of the role of genetic variations in transporter genes.


Treatment of (DME)Cl2Mo(=NR)2 (R=tBu, (1-tBu), tAmyl (1-tAmyl)) with 2 equiv of tBu3SiOH (siloxH) and 1 equiv of HCl produced (silox)2Cl2Mo=NR (R=tBu, (3-tBu), tAmyl (3-tAmyl)); subsequent reduction by Na/Hg afforded the Mo(V) chloride, (silox)2ClMo=NtBu (4-tBu), and the Mo(IV) mercury derivatives, [(silox)2Mo=NR]2Hg (R=tBu ((5-tBu)2Hg), tAmyl ((5-tAmyl)2Hg)). Reductions of 3-tBu and 3-tAmyl in the presence of L (L=PMe3, pyridine, 4-picoline) led to the isolation of adducts (silox)2(Me3P)Mo=NR (R=tBu (6-tBu), tAmyl (6-tAmyl)) and (silox)2L2Mo=NtBu (L=py (7-py), 4-pic (7-4-pic)). Single-crystal X-ray structural investigations of pseudo-tetrahedral 4-tBu, Hg-capped, pseudo-trigonal planar (5-tBu)2Hg, pseudo-tetrahedral 6-tBu, and trigonal bipyramidal 7-4-pic reveal that all possess a closed O-Mo-O angle when compared to the N=Mo-O angles. A molecular orbital rationale and supporting calculations suggest that this is a manifestation of the greater pi-donating ability of the imido relative to that of the siloxides. While the D(Mo-Hg) of [(HO)2Mo=NH]2Hg ((5')2Hg) was calculated to be 22.4 kcal/mol, (5-R)2Hg (R=tBu, tAmyl) are remarkably stable; (5-tBu)2Hg degraded in a first-order fashion with DeltaG=31.9(1) kcal/mol. In the presence of strong (L=PMe, pyridine, S8) or weak (L=2-butyne, ethylene, N2O, 1,4,7,10-tetrathiacyclododecane, 1,4,7,10,13,16-hexathiacyclooctadecane) nucleophiles, an enhanced rate of Mo-Hg bond cleavage was noted, with some of the former group generating adducts in <5 min; the products were 6-tBu, 7-py, (silox)2(S)Mo=NtBu (10-tBu), (silox)2Mo=NtBu(C2Me2) (8-tBu), (silox)2(C2H4)Mo=NtBu (11-tBu), (silox)2(O)Mo=NtBu (9-tBu), and a mixture of 10-tBu and 11-tBu, respectively. Some of these were independently prepared via substitution of 6-tBu. According to calculations and a molecular orbital rationale, dissociation of the Mo-Hg bond in (5-R)2Hg (R=tBu, tAmyl) is orbitally forbidden, and the addition of a nucleophile to the terminus of the Mo-Hg-Mo linkage mitigates the symmetry requirements. The mechanism of thermal degradation was studied with mixed success. NMR spectroscopy revealed imido exchange between (5-tBu)2Hg and (5-tAmyl)2Hg during an initial induction period and a subsequent rapid exchange period that implicated free 5-R (R=tBu, tAmyl). Further crossover studies revealed siloxide exchange as an additional complication.


A 64-year-old woman had the syndrome of inappropriate ADH secretion (SIADH) after surgical repair of a ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery. SIADH began while the intracranial pressure was elevated, and resolved when the pressure returned to normal. Whether this syndrome was caused by direct hypothalamic lesions, local pressure on the hypothalamus secondary to enlargement of the third ventricle, or some other mechanism cannot be ascertained. The occurrence of intracranial pressure changes with SIADH is described.


Text classifiers are regularly applied to personal texts, leaving users of these classifiers vulnerable to privacy breaches. We propose a solution for privacy-preserving text classification that is based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Secure Multiparty Computation (MPC). Our method enables the inference of a class label for a personal text in such a way that (1) the owner of the personal text does not have to disclose their text to anyone in an unencrypted manner, and (2) the owner of the text classifier does not have to reveal the trained model parameters to the text owner or to anyone else. To demonstrate the feasibility of our protocol for practical private text classification, we implemented it in the PyTorch-based MPC framework CrypTen, using a well-known additive secret sharing scheme in the honest-but-curious setting. We test the runtime of our privacy-preserving text classifier, which is fast enough to be used in practice.


This is a work focused on remote browsing of JPEG2000 image sequences which takes advantage of the spatial scalability of JPEG2000 to determine which precincts of a subsequent image should be transmitted, and which precincts should be reused from a previously reconstructed image. The results of our experiments demonstrate that the quality of the reconstructed images can be significantly increased by using motion compensation and conditional replenishment on the client side. The proposed algorithm is compatible with standard JPIP servers.


A numerical simulation is reported of a one-pass system for suppression of dynamic distortions, which is based on four-wave mixing of optical fields in photorefractive crystals. A study is made of the reaction of such a system to various types of noise and it is shown that the system efficiency can be enhanced significantly by mixing an additional coherent field to a distorted signal.


We present a higher-order numerical model for compositional two-phase flow in fractured media in 2D and in 3D unstructured gridding. The model accommodates all types of finite elements; in particular, quadrangular and triangular elements in 2D, and hexahedra, prisms and tetrahedra elements in 3D.
 We apply for the first time the fracture cross-flow equilibrium (FCFE) concept in compositional two-phase flow in 3D. FCFE is combined with the hybridized form of the mass conservative mixed finite element (MFE) and the higher-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method. We have developed an interface that connects computer-aided-design (CAD) software to the mesh generator. The interface enables us to generate the most complicated fracture shapes. The application is intended for fracking simulation. To the best of our knowledge the complexity of fractures that we generate/simulate is not reported in the past. Our algorithm allows flow simulation in fractures in all range of permeability values as opposed to other models where low permeable fractures affect the accuracy of the results. We demonstrate the efficiency, accuracy, and strengths of our model in comparison to alternatives including the embedded discrete fracture approach in different examples. This work covers generation and simulation of two-phase compositional flow in complex fractured media in 3D unstructured gridding.


Background and Objective : Young people are the major group at risk of acquiring AIDS worldwide. It is one of the health problems in the world and in the developing countries in particular. We aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of students of the Islamic Azad University, Saveh Branch, about HIV/AIDS. Materials and methods : This cross-sectional study was conducted on 666 students selected by cluster random sampling in 2009-2010. Instrument was a research-made questionnaire including three parts: demographic, knowledge and attitude toward AIDS. Data were analyzed by Chi-Square and Fisher ' s Exact Test using SPSS -15. Results : Most of the subjects (48.9%) are in 20-25 age bracket and 54.4% are females. The knowledge of 14.9% is good and 68.8% moderate; 63.1% of them have negative attitude. Most students (80.6%) indicate that they have been informed about AIDS via mass-media (TV, radio) and 54.4% have not had any contact with AIDS. There is significant relation between knowledge level and sex and information sources (P<0.001); attitude level and sex, and also knowledge and attitude level (P<0.001). Conclusion : Overall, the majority have not adequate knowledge and positive attitude of basic HIV/AIDS. Since mass-media have the most effect on AIDS, paying attention to quantity and quality of programs and any other sources is an educational necessity.


Purpose: Mass spectrometry–based serum peptidome profiling is a promising tool to identify novel disease-associated biomarkers, but is limited by preanalytic factors and the intricacies of complex data processing. Therefore, we investigated whether standardized sample protocols and new bioinformatic tools combined with external data validation improve the validity of peptidome profiling for the discovery of pancreatic cancer–associated serum markers. Experimental Design: For the discovery study, two sets of sera from patients with pancreatic cancer (n = 40) and healthy controls (n = 40) were obtained from two different clinical centers. For external data validation, we collected an independent set of samples from patients (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20). Magnetic beads with different surface functionalities were used for peptidome fractionation followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). Data evaluation was carried out by comparing two different bioinformatic strategies. Following proteome database search, the matching candidate peptide was verified by MALDI-TOF MS after specific antibody-based immunoaffinity chromatography and independently confirmed by an ELISA assay. Results: Two significant peaks (m/z 3884; 5959) achieved a sensitivity of 86.3% and a specificity of 97.6% for the discrimination of patients and healthy controls in the external validation set. Adding peak m/z 3884 to conventional clinical tumor markers (CA 19-9 and CEA) improved sensitivity and specificity, as shown by receiver operator characteristics curve analysis (AUROCcombined = 1.00). Mass spectrometry–based m/z 3884 peak identification and following immunologic quantitation revealed platelet factor 4 as the corresponding peptide. Conclusions: MALDI-TOF MS-based serum peptidome profiling allowed the discovery and validation of platelet factor 4 as a new discriminating marker in pancreatic cancer.


Aluminum particles have been shown to enhance the performance in propellant systems by reacting and releasing significant chemical energy that contributes to the overall heat release. However, the heat transfer characteristics from a propellant to a target are not well understood. In this study, impinging flow geometries of a simulated propellant flame seeded with aluminum particles were investigated. Although the contribution of aluminum was the main focus of this study, inert powders of alumina-titania and yttria stabilized zirconia were also used to compare and quantify the heat flux contributions of reacting, melting, and nonmelting powders, respectively. An oxygen-acetylene torch seeded with aluminum, alumina-titania, or yttria stabilized zirconia was used to analyze the different heat transfer characteristics from each material. Copper coupons captured and quenched reacting particulates from the flame. A scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy and a differential scanning calorimeter were used to examine the degree of completion of aluminum oxidation. Results show that yttria stabilized zirconia experience a 1.9% increase in heat flux compared with gas-only flames. Flames seeded with alumina-titania showed an 80.2% increase in heat flux, whereas aluminum particles provide a 232.7% gain over gas-only flames. Results from the differential scanning calorimeter show that aluminum consumption percentages for flames with a 2.5 oxygen-fuel ratio are an average of 8.6% higher than those for a 1.5% oxygen-fuel ratio. The percent of aluminum consumed in the reaction generally increases with standoff distance.


Although the patho-physiological mechanism is currently considered to be different between Meniere's disease (MD) and migraine, the clinical overlap of vestibular-cochlear symptoms in patients meeting criteria for migrainous vertigo (MV) and MD remains an important unsolved issue. In the past three years, 53 patients (33 women and 20 men) were diagnosed with definite MD. Among them, two patients' (one man and one woman) vertigo also fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of definite MV. The first patient, MD developing from MV, which was associated with migraine without aura; and the second patient, MD as auras of basilar-type migraine. Both disease courses contained both definite MD and definite MV, and neither could be excluded. We hope to address whether definite MD with definite MV can be ascribed to "migrainous MD" on account of the diagnostic particularity, which is not attributable to another type of central vertigo. (Rawal Med J 2011;36:322-325).


Ethylene is a hormone involved in numerous aspects of growth, development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. Ethylene is perceived through its binding to endoplasmic reticulum-localized receptors that function as negative regulators of ethylene signaling in the absence of the hormone. In Arabidopsis thaliana, five structurally and functionally different ethylene receptors are present. These differ in their primary sequence, in the domains present, and in the type of kinase activity exhibited, which may suggest functional differences among the receptors. Whereas ethylene receptors functionally overlap to suppress ethylene signaling, certain other responses are controlled by specific receptors. In this review, I examine the nature of these receptor differences, how the evolution of the ethylene receptor gene family may provide insight into their differences, and how expression of receptors or their accessory proteins may underlie receptor-specific responses.


Climate change, human activities and other perturbations (like, e.g., fires, earthquakes) are influencing existing patterns of weathering, erosion, transport and deposition of material across defined landscape components and units. While it is still a challenge to develop an improved scientific understanding of how such changes interact and affect hillslope and fluvial processes, the connectivity between hillslope and fluvial systems and within landscapes, as well as contemporary denudation rates, source-to-sink fluxes and sedimentary budgets, this kind of quantitative analyses promise to be an efficient framework to assess the impact of environmental changes and disturbances to sediment dynamics and to evaluate landscape sensitivity. Our current knowledge on drivers and quantitative rates of contemporary sediment dynamics and denudation forms the basis for understanding and predicting the consequences of ongoing and accelerated environmental changes.

Ongoing GFL research activities on the current morphoclimate, on sediment sources, sediment storage, and on drivers, the spatiotemporal variability and rates of chemical and mechanical hillslope and fluvial denudation in three selected Mediterranean catchment systems in eastern Spain are presented. The Quisi, Pou Roig and Mascarat catchment systems in the Calpe region in eastern Spain are located in a mostly mountainous and/or anthropogenically affected environment. The three selected catchment system have a similar lithology (mostly limestone) but show significant differences with respect to catchment morphometry, sedimentary covers and the degree of anthropogenic modification. The activation of relevant sediment sources, sediment transfers, the intermittent runoff, and fluvial processes and transport are almost entirely controlled by pluvial events. During pluvial events of defined magnitudes, defined parts of the catchment areas and defined sediment sources are activated. Our year-round investigations include detailed geomorphological mapping combined with detailed statistical analyses of existing meteorological high-resolution data and the continuous observation and monitoring of atmospherical inputs, runoff events, and of sediment mobilisation and transfers on slopes and in stream channels using a combination of different automatic and manual observation, monitoring and sampling techniques. Our quantitative results on drivers and the spatiotemporal varianility of atmospheric solute and sediment inputs, of chemical and mechanical denudation, and on sediment storage and sedimentary budgets within the three different catchment systems contribute to an advanced understanding of key drivers and rates of contemporary sediment dynamics and denudation in this Mediterranean environment, and provide the basis for improved predictions of possible effects of climate change and anthropogenic impacts on contemporary denudation rates and hazardous earth surface processes in this morphoclimatic region.


We present a 62-year-old female patient who had an anatomic variation in the median nerve of the left hand. During surgery for releasing the left carpal tunnel, an abnormally high level of origin of the thenar muscular branch of the median nerve was detected, at 2.5 cm above the proximal border of transverse carpal ligament. It traveled between the medial side of the flexor carpi radialis tendon and median nerve and entered the carpal tunnel. After exiting the carpal tunnel distally, the nerve, was noted to course towards the thenar area. Such variations in the median nerve should be kept in mind while performing carpal tunnel release.


The role of The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) in predicting relapse is limited. We aimed to assess whether this model can be utilised to predict relapse during the action stage. The participants included 120 smokers who had abstained from smoking for at least 24 hours following two Malaysian universities' smoking cessation programme. The smokers who relapsed perceived significantly greater advantages related to smoking and increasing doubt in their ability to quit. In contrast, former smokers with greater self-liberation and determination to abstain were less likely to relapse. The findings suggest that TTM can be used to predict relapse among quitting smokers.


Background: Studies on moderator effects of dyadic coping with daily hassles on relationship quality and health have yielded inconsistent findings. As shown for empathy, the perception of one's partner's efforts might be more important than the actual efforts. Therefore, the present study aims at examining potential moderating effects of perceived similarity versus actual similarity of dyadic coping on the relation between stress and relationship quality.
Methods: 147 couples completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires, including the dyadic coping inventory (DCI), a partnership questionnaire (PFB-K) and the multidimensional stress questionnaire for couples (MDS-P). Based on the DCI two discrepancy scores (for perceived similarity: equity index EI; for actual similarity: reciprocity index RI) were calculated and applied as moderators of the relation between stress and relationship quality. Moderator hypotheses were tested with the PROCESS tool.
Findings: EI of positive and negative dyadic coping moderates the influence of stress on relationship quality in men (β=-.12, p=.01 and β=-.18, p=.004, respectively), but not in women (β=-.16, p=.15 and β=-.05, p=.47). RI of positive and negative dyadic coping moderates the influence of stress on relationship quality neither in men (β=-.03, p=.70 and β=-.05, p=.45, respectively) nor in women (β=.02, p=.77 and β=-.004, p=.95).
Discussion: The negative impact of stress on relationship functioning is buffered by perceived, but not actual similarity of dyadic coping. This moderating effect occurs only in men, pointing to important gender differences. Strengthening the visibility of one's own coping efforts may help the partner to perceive them and can thus improve relationship functioning and health.


Scholars often take purification (κάθαρσις) to be a concept that persists the same throughout Plato's dialogues. Generally, they take it to mean the separation of the soul from the body, picking up on Socrates's account at Phaedo 67c–d. I do not find that this account of purification endures throughout the dialogues. In this paper, I argue that in Symposium Diotima describes purification differently. I argue that her account of purification emphasizes preparedness for encountering the forms, not the eradication of the corporeal. I present this account in three steps. First, I discuss Diotima's lower and higher mysteries, focusing on the lower mysteries. Next, I examine Diotima's use of the Eleusinian mysteries as an analogy for her own mysteries. Here, I overview the historical rites at Agrai and the Eleusinian Mysteria. I argue that, mirroring the Agrai rites, Diotima's lower mysteries are purificatory, and therefore provide an account of purification. Finally, I explain the account of purification Diotima presents in the lower mysteries as the desire to possess the deathless deathlessly. Diotima's account of purification is importantly distinct from the Phaedo account. In the former, the separation of the soul from the body is in no way important for purification. We must confront the discrepancies between these accounts and recognize that purification is not a doctrine that persists throughout the dialogues.


An all speed scheme for the Isentropic Euler equations is presented in this paper. When the Mach number tends to zero, the compressible Euler equations con- verge to their incompressible counterpart, in which the density becomes a constant. In- creasing approximation errors and severe stability constraints are the main difficulty in the low Mach regime. The key idea of our all speed scheme is the special semi- implicit time discretization, in which the low Mach number stiff term is divided into two parts, one being treated explicitly and the other one implicitly. Moreover, the flux of the density equation is also treatedimplicitly and an elliptic type equation is derived to obtain the density. In this way, the correct limit can be captured without request- ing the mesh size and time step to be smaller than the Mach number. Compared with previous semi-implicit methods (11,13,29),firstly, nonphysical oscillations can be sup- pressed by choosing proper parameter, besides, only a linear elliptic equation needs to be solved implicitly which reduces much computational cost. We develop this semi- implicit time discretization in the framework of a first order Local Lax-Friedrichs (or Rusanov) scheme and numerical tests are displayed to demonstrate its performances. AMS subject classifications: 65M06, 65Z05, 76N99, 76L05


Distributed monitoring plays a crucial role in managing the activities of cloud-based datacenters. System administrators have long relied on monitoring systems such as Nagios and Ganglia to obtain status alerts on their desktop-class machines. However, the popularity of mobile devices is pushing the community to develop datacenter monitoring solutions for smartphone-class devices. Here we lay out desirable characteristics of such smartphone-based monitoring and identify quantitatively the shortcomings from directly applying existing solutions to this domain. Then we introduce a possible design that addresses some of these shortcomings and provide results from an early prototype, called MAVIS, using one month of monitoring data from approximately 3,000 machines hosted by Purdue's central IT organization.


Sows on two commercial farms were assigned to have their pigs weaned after a 3-week lactation (control, n=160) or after a 3-week lactation that included a 48-hr period of interrupted nursing before weaning (alteredsuckling, n=122). Sows in the altered-suckling groups were paired, and each member of a pair was separated from both litters during the alternate 12-hr periods. Thus during the final 48 hr before weaning, each SOW in the altered-suckling group had two 12-hr periods when no litters were present and two 12-hr periods when two litters were present. On farm 1, interval from weaning to estrus was 12.8 5 0.8 days for control sows compared to 8.4 i 1.0 days for sows in the altered-suckling group (Pc.01). On farm 2, interval from weaning to estrus did not differ between sows in the control group and those in the altered-suckling group (6.2 vs 6.1 days, P>.O5). Thus altered-suckling was effective in reducing the interval from weaning to estrus only when the normal rebreeding interval was prolonged (farm 1). Conception rates at first breeding and subsequent litter sizes did not differ between treatments. Altered-suckling may improve reproductive performance of sows in situations where prolonged postweaning anestrus is a problem.


Modernization of health services is a priority in the UK requiring changes in the working practices of all staff, and improved teamworking is a prerequisite of effective service delivery. This study evaluates a short teambuilding course delivered to health professionals. A longitudinal survey design was used to assess the feasibility of the course and the change in individual perceptions of team roles and team functioning, and communication skills by questionnaires immediately after the course (time 1), at 3 months (time 2) and at 6 months (time 3). Three questionnaires (Team Development Measure, Teambuilding Questionnaire and Teambuilding Questionnaire‐II) were administered over this period, and telephone interviews were conducted with team members and managers at time 3. Combined results suggest that the teambuilding programme lead to an apparent slight improvement in perceived teamworking at 3 months but this had disappeared at 6 months. Although the development of individual teamworking skills is important, interventions must consider the impact of individual, team and organizational level factors on successful translation of learning into practice. Several limitations to the study are discussed.


Introduction: Brain vascular pathology, aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), cavernomas, dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVF), venous angiomas and capillary telangiectasia, represents a serious health problem worldwide.
Aim: The aim of this article is to perform an analysis of patients with brain vascular pathology and to analyze costs of health services, a research market for an entrepreneurial project, in order to design guidelines for patients' selection and treatment.
Material and methods: We performed an observational, descriptive study of patients with vascular pathology, from 2018 to 2019.
Results: A total of 153 patients with brain vascular pathology were admitted in our department. Mean age was 49.53 ± 13.997 years. Sex ratio was 0.86. Mean hospital stay was 11.33 ± 13.724 days. Seventy-four patients (48.37%) underwent surgery. Seventy-eight patients (50.98%) had cerebral aneurysms. Complications were seen in 24 patients (30.77%) and vasospasm in 32 cases (41.03%). Thirty-six patients underwent surgery. Outcome was favorable, according to mRS(p=0.001) and Karnofsky score(p=0.006).Thirty-three patients (21.57%) had brain AVMs. Twenty patients underwent surgery. Complications were seen in 4 cases (12.12%). The outcome was favourable, according to mRS(p=0.001) and Karnofsky score (p=0.002). Thirty-nine patients (25.49%) had cavernomas. Surgery was performed in 18 cases. The outcome was favourable, according to Engel Epilepsy Surgery Outcome Scale, mRS (p=0.000) and Karnofsky score (p =0.000). Costs of health services were correlated with longer hospitalization, higher mRS, lower Karnosfsky score, presence of complications and presence of vasospasm.
Conclusions: Proper treatment of brain vascular pathology ensures a favourable outcome. Adequate patients' selection and choosing the best treatment can reduce costs. Surgery is the treatment of choice in ruptured aneurysms, AVMs and cavernomas. Early surgery, with specific treatment of the vascular lesion and removal of intracranial blood ensures a better outcome, with lower medical costs. Prevention of complications, aggressive treatment of vasospasm reduces medical costs.


High-dynamic range imaging permits to extend the dynamic range of intensity values to get close to what the human eye is able to perceive. Although there has been a huge progress in the digital camera sensor range capacity, the need of capturing several exposures in order to reconstruct high-dynamic range values persist. In this paper, we present a study on how to acquire high-dynamic range values for multi-stereo images. In many papers, disparity has been used to register pixels of different images and guide the reconstruction. In this paper, we show the limitations of such approaches and propose heuristics as solutions to identified problematic cases.


The individual variations of pericentromeric heterochromatin in human chromosome 18 were analysed using the C-banding techniques and nonradioactive fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with chromosome 18 alpha-satellite DNA probe. FISH analysis shows heteromorphisms almost undetectable by C-banding and which regularly segregate in a family.


A novel liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) procedure was investigated for preparation of peptide and protein samples for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS). LLE using ethyl acetate as the water-immiscible organic solvent enabled segregation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic polypeptides in mixtures, thereby reducing the complexity of mass spectra obtained by MALDI MS. The LLE technique was optimized for rapid and sensitive in situ (on-target) sample preparation for MALDI MS analysis of proteins and peptides at low-picomole and subpicomole levels. Addition of MALDI matrix to the organic solvent enhanced the efficiency of the LLE-MALDI MS method for analysis of hydrophobic peptides and proteins. LLE-MALDI MS enabled the detection of the hydrophobic membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin as a component in a simple protein mixture. Peptide mixtures containing phosphorylated, glycosylated, or acylated peptides were successfully separated and analyzed by the in situ LLE-MALDI MS technique and demonstrate the potential of this method for enhanced separation and structural analysis of posttranslationally modified peptides in proteomics research.


This paper presents findings from research conducted in Northern Uganda into the organisation of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). It is a modest attempt to situate the LRA within the existing literature on intra-state war. The LRA is a group that sits uncomfortably with popular theoretical approaches to armed groups and insurgents, including the greed-grievance debate and related theories of rebel recruitment. In the absence of economic and social endowments with which to reward membership, the LRA abducts potential fighters from the civilian population in a way that is analogous to resource exploitation. The group has used its forcibly recruited combatants to accrue rents in the form of military aid from the Sudanese government in Khartoum. The civilian population has proved an exploitable resource in other ways, because as the target of aggression, it is the only means through which the leadership has been able to assert its influence in the region. The paper concludes that the group's leader, Joseph Kony, acts as rentier, by using this self-sustaining conflict to maintain his only source of political capita – the continued threat posed by the LRA.


Summary Heparin and its derivatives have been shown to inhibit angiogenesis and metastasis formation. Accordingly, we investigated the effect of heparin fragments containing 4 to 22 monomers on human melanoma cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro as well as on the in vivo metastatic potential in a SCID mouse model. Only oligosaccharide dp18 had significant inhibitory effect on cell proliferation. In contrast, cell migration was inhibited by all oligosaccharides studied except dp8 and dp22. Anti CD44v3 antibody stimulated cell migration and invasion, and this effect could be attenuated by oligosaccharides dp4 and dp18. These fragments also inhibited the catalytic activity of myosin light chain phosphatase as well. Moreover, oligosaccharides dp4 and dp18 reduced the number of lung colonies formed in SCID mice intravenously injected with human melanoma cells, while dp22 proved to be ineffective in this respect.These studies revealed that fragments of heparin have an antimigratory and antimetastatic potential. These fragments lack the haemostatic effect of heparin, suggesting that they are potential specific antimetastatic agents in anticancer therapy.


Purpose : The purpose of this paper is to contribute to understanding the impact of entrepreneurial team composition on new venture performance. Different types of entrepreneurship motivation among founding team members are defined. Using a relatively recent theory as a framework (i.e. self-determination theory), the authors group these motives into two categories: autonomous and controlled motivation. The business impact of the level of each type of motivation within the team, as well as the impact of having team members with different motivational drivers, is examined. New venture performance is modelled in two different ways: financial performance (i.e. return on assets) and innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach : The analyses are based on 66 founding teams active in diverse activity sectors. The teams represent a total of 142 business founders. Data was collected through structured interviews, a company questionnaire and a secondary data source (i.e. certified financial statements). Findings : The results confirm that the level of autonomous motivation within the team contributes to start-up financial performance, whereas the level of controlled motivation hampers innovation performance. No direct effects of diversity of team member motivation on start-up performance were discovered. Originality/value : This is one of the first papers to study multiple firm performance effects of the composition of entrepreneurial founding teams in terms of motivation.


Mobile multihop relay (MMR) networks based on the IEEE 802.16j standard are able to extend the service area as well as improve the performance of mobile WiMAX networks. We present an optimization framework for jointly optimizing the placement and bandwidth reservation for a relay station in an MMR network. The objective of this framework is to maximize utility of the MMR network service provider. The decision on the placement of the relay corresponds to finding the best location for the relay station under uncertainty about the number of active users in the extended service area of the MMR network. This uncertainty could be due to random connection initiation and termination by the users or due to the random arrivals and departures of the mobile subscriber stations in the extended service area. However, this decision on relay placement may not achieve the highest utility when the users dynamically adapt their decisions on whether to transmit directly to the base station or transmit through the relay station. In this scenario, optimal decision on bandwidth reservation by the relay station needs to be made (over a relatively shorter period of time) which takes the dynamics of users' decision into account. The placement of the relay station (over a relatively longer period of time) can then be optimized based on the optimal bandwidth reservation. A stochastic programming formulation and a Markov decision process formulation are used to obtain the long-term and short-term optimization solutions, respectively.


Education policy is a very important government policy document to promote basic to higher-level education in the whole country. The government of India has implemented two education policies yet now. The central government has announced his latest third education policy 2020 recently for implementation. This education policy is the first complete policy of the present 21st century, which has replaced the previous policy after 34 years. Under this article country's all three education policies have been deeply analysed in special reference to libraries. The article provides consolidated information on all three Indian education policies and their recommendations in special reference to libraries. This analytical approach provides useful insights into the positivity and drawback of education policies. Given the country's present expectations realistic suggestions and recommendations have been made for the development of a community-oriented library system. This article will provide useful insight and significant outlines to library professionals, educationalists, planners, and policymakers that how the country's libraries can be made more vibrant through new education policy.