Genomic screens have identified activating somatic mutations in tyrosine kinases in a spectrum of acute and chronic hematologic malignancies. These mutations lead to increased cellular proliferation and/or impairment of apoptosis. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a common chronic leukemia of adults that is thought to result at least in part from failure of apoptosis. Recent data suggest that CLL cell turnover is higher than previously thought and may correlate with disease progression, suggesting that somatic mutations that activate signal transduction may contribute to CLL pathogenesis and/or progression. The purpose of this study was to look systematically for activating mutations in protein tyrosine kinases in CLL using high-throughput DNA resequencing. 95 CLL patients were selected to encompass the range of prognostic groups defined by somatic hypermutation of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene, ZAP-70 status and FISH cytogenetics. DNA was isolated from Ficoll separated peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and germline DNA was obtained from buccal swabs and/or saliva samples. 70 tyrosine kinases were selected for resequencing based on their involvement in lymphocyte biology, known altered gene expression in CLL, or location at a site of chromosomal gain, loss or mutation in CLL. All coding exons of ZAP-70 were included. Nested M13 tailed primers were designed to amplify and sequence the exons encoding the activation loops and JM domains. Bidirectional sequence analysis was performed using Mutation Surveyor version 2.28 (SoftGenetics). Candidate mutations were reamplified and sequenced from the original CLL DNA sample for verification; in parallel, the same exon was amplified and resequenced from the paired germline sample to assess whether non-synonymous mutations not known to be SNPs were present in the germline. A total of 178 exons were sequenced per sample. Analysis of 6.21 megabases of sequence data identified nine novel non-synonymous alterations in seven different genes; at least seven of these nine alterations are present in the germline, with the other two presently undergoing analysis. Although these non-synonymous alleles may have functional relevance to the pathogenesis of CLL, these data indicate that a significant proportion of non-synonymous alleles identified in high-throughput genomic screens are non-synonymous polymorphisms. These findings further suggest that the rate of acquired somatic mutation in the tyrosine kinome in CLL is low, and demonstrate the importance of matched germline DNA to allow assessment of candidate non-synonymous mutations in human cancer samples.


Numerical simulations of L-mode turbulence in the scrape-off layer (SOL) are used to construct power scaling laws for the characteristic decay lengths of the temperature, density and heat flux at the outer mid-plane. Most of the results obtained are in qualitative agreement with the experimental observations despite the known limitation of the model. Quantitative agreement is also obtained for some exponents. In particular, an almost linear inverse dependence of the heat flux decay length with the plasma current is recovered. The relative simplicity of the theoretical model used allows one to gain insight into the mechanisms determining the width of the SOL.


OBJECTIVE
To study the antitumour effects of sodium valproate (VPA) on the proliferation, differentiation and cell cycle of Molt-4 cell and to investigate its demethylation mechanisms.

METHODS
After Molt-4 cells trated with VPA at different concentrations, cell viability and growth curve were assessed by MTT assay. Cell cycle changes were analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression level of p15, DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT-1), DNMT3A and 3B mRNA were detected by RT-PCR and the methylation level was detected by hn-MSPCR.

RESULTS
VPA significantly inhibited the proliferation of Molt-4 cells. After 48 h culture with 5.0 mmol/L VPA, the percentages of Molt-4 cells in G(0)/G(1) phase was (66.87 ± 3.31)% and in S phase was (8.47 ± 2.56)%, while in control group, the cells in G(0)/G(1) phase increased and in S phase decreased significantly. The p15 gene in Molt-4 cells failed to express due to its hypermethylation. The expression level of p15 gene mRNA increased significantly after exposure to VPA for 48 h. As compared with control group, the expression of DNMT-1 was down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner. The expression level of DNMT3B decreased at 10.0 mmol/L concentration.

CONCLUSION
VPA has a demethylation effect on p15 INK4B gene by inhibiting the DNMT-1 and DNMT3B gene activities to recover p15 gene activity, which arrests Molt-4 cell in G(0)/G(1) phase.


In this study, the authors present a multiband time-of-arrival (TOA) positioning model and validate the performance in a practical dynamic spectrum access scenario according to results obtained from an ultra-high-frequency (UHF) spectrum occupancy measurement campaign. The statistical analysis of the measured data shows a distinguishable difference between the unoccupied and occupied portion of the UHF band. The bandwidth availability for the UHF band is shown to follow a Gaussian distribution according to the measurement results. The positioning model is verified using the non-linear least squares, linear least squares and two-step maximum-likelihood location estimation algorithms. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) performance evaluation of the proposed model revealed the advantage of utilising five discrete bands to perform TOA estimation, especially in poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions ranging from – 10 to 0 dB. At a fixed SNR of 0 dB, an average RMSE improvement of 74 and 82% was observed for a double- and triple-band system when compared with a conventional single-band TOA system. This particular positioning technique can enable improved location estimation in a dynamic spectrum access environment.


Purpose Early diagnosis as well as initiation of successful treatment are two big challenges in the management of patients with autoimmune diseases (AID). Overlap of a plethora of clinical symptoms, ranging from multi-organ involvement, fatique, inflammation to CNS-involvement make differential diagnosis quite challenging. Especially in early disease these signs are difficult to quantify, hence the lag time from start of disease until clinical diagnosis may be delayed, sometimes for years. With the growing interest in conducting clinical trials in AID, there is a need for new biomarkers that can be used to diagnose individual AIDs to reduce the inclusion of patients not carrying the intended disease, and identify clinical subsets, predict treatment outcome and assess disease activity. Methods The autoantibody reactivity pattern in serum of AID patients was analysed using a Luminex bead-based antigen array (SeroTag) and 1,600–8000 selected human protein antigens. We screened over 3000 serum samples from Sjogren's Syndrome (n=350), SLE (n≥1000), SSc (n≥250), RA (n≥1000), and several other AIDs and over 1000 healthy individuals to confirm known and to discover novel autoantibodies, create reduced autoantibody panels for differential diagnosis and disease subgrouping. Results Apart from clear confirmation of the known benchmark autoantigens known for many years we have discovered over 80 novel autoantibodies, which were detected in frequencies of 10 to >25% in selected AIDs. Some novel autoantibodies are specific for certain diseases, such as the major vault protein in SLE or BICD2 in SSc. Others are present in several diseases, indicating overlap syndromes. Multiplex panels of 50–100 AABs were generated and tested to allow for a subgroup definition of Sjogren's, SLE, and for clear segregation of SjS/SLE overlap syndrome patients. As well, subgrouping of SSc and early RA patients was achieved. Conclusions A set of 100–150 autoantigens, half of them well established, the other half novel, succeed in differential diagnosis of AID, in some diseases already at early disease stage. This panel has been used in several drug trials to subgroup SLE, Sjogrens or RA into subgroups. Especially in SLE, outliers in the range of 10%–15% of the trial population were seen which can be used to curate a trial population, eventually to arrive at a more precise assessment of trials primary objectives.


A child with hypoglycemia presents very frequently an urgent diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The main causes of hypoglycemia and the clinical approach and laboratory investigations are reviewed underlining that the relationship between the hypoglycemic event and the last meal can aid in diagnosis, in particular for metabolic diseases. Only a correct and precise diagnosis can allow adequate and appropriate treatment and prevention of future hypoglycemic events.


Two simple and accurate methods are described for the determination of clindamycin hydrochloride. The spectrophotometric method involves the oxidation of the sulfur atom in this drug with potassium iodate in acidic medium with the liberation of iodine and subsequent extraction with cyclohexane followed by measuring the absorbance at 520 nm. The titrimetric method involves direct titration of the drug with N-bromosuccinimide. The relative standard deviation for both methods was less than 1%. The proposed methods were applied to the determination of the drug in pure and capsule forms.


Many patients with major mental illness do not take their medication. This leads to repeated relapses. Some of these patients are managed by clinicians who visit the patient seven days a week long term and supervise their taking of medication. This paper explores the design and implementation of an Android telemonitoring application to supervise patients taking medication in their homes.


A method for measuring the phase of oscillations from noisy time series is proposed. To obtain the phase, the signal is filtered in such a way that the filter output has minimal relative variation in the amplitude over all filters with complex-valued impulse response. The argument of the filter output yields the phase. Implementation of the algorithm and interpretation of the result are discussed. We argue that the phase obtained by the proposed method has a low susceptibility to measurement noise and a low rate of artificial phase slips. The method is applied for the detection and classification of mode locking in vortex flow meters. A measure for the strength of mode locking is proposed.


Much research suggests that the disruption of marriage through parental death or divorce imposes a small but significant educational disadvantage on American children, although the most recent and comprehensive analysis casts serious doubt on this claim. What is the situation in Australia? Using representative national samples (n= 29,443) and OLS and logistic regression with robust standard errors, we estimate models controlling many potentially confounding variables. We find that divorce in Australia costs seven-tenths of a year of education, mainly by reducing secondary school completion. Importantly, divorce has become more damaging in recent cohorts.


A single fiber fragmentation test is performed to investigate the effects of fiber surface treatment on fiber break behavior. Single glass fiber/epoxy composites with five different surface treatments are loaded in tension in the fiber direction. In-situ observation of the fiber fragmentation process is conducted by using an optical microscope equipped with a loading device. Fiber break density is measured as a function of applied strain. The microfailure around fiber breaks is also observed. It is seen that the fiber break behavior and microdamage are different with the fiber surface treatments. To interpret the experimental data, the authors' analysis of the stress transfer between the fiber and matrix in a single fiber reinforced composite with fiber breaks is used. The analysis is based on a concentric cylinder model considering an interphase layer between the fiber and matrix. By using the stress transfer analysis, fiber break density as a function of strain is predicted. By comparing between the experimental results and the analytical predictions, the validity of the analytical prediction is discussed.


Acquisition of a 'quiescence programme' by naive T cells is important to provide a stress‐free environment and resistance to apoptosis while preserving their responsiveness to activating stimuli. Therefore, the survival and proper function of naive T cells depends on their ability to maintain quiescence. Recently we demonstrated that by preventing chronic unresolved endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, Schlafen2 (Slfn2) maintains a stress‐free environment to conserve a pool of naive T cells ready to respond to a microbial invasion. These findings strongly suggest an intimate association between quiescence and stress signalling. However, the connection between ER stress conditions and loss of T‐cell quiescence is unknown. Here we demonstrate that homeostasis of cholesterol and lipids, is disrupted in T cells and monocytes from Slfn2‐mutant, elektra, mice with higher levels of lipid rafts and lipid droplets found in these cells. Moreover, elektra T cells had elevated levels of free cholesterol and cholesteryl ester due to increased de novo synthesis and higher levels of the enzyme HMG‐CoA reductase. As cholesterol plays an important role in the transition of T cells from resting to active state, and ER regulates cholesterol and lipid synthesis, we suggest that regulation of cholesterol levels through the prevention of ER stress is an essential component of the mechanism by which Slfn2 regulates quiescence.


Previous studies show that total knee replacement (TKR) patients have difficulty performing certain tasks involving deep knee flexion which are part of activities of daily living (ADL). Muslims' lifestyles heavily depend on the ability to fully flex the knee, and many daily activities, such as praying, social encounters (attending the Sheikh's majlis), dining or even using the hole bathroom, are carried out on the ground. The LPS Flex implant has been designed to accommodate this by giving up to 165 degrees of flexion. One-thousand and thirty-two (1032) TKRs were performed on patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis using the LPS Flex mobile bearing implant over a five year period with a minimum of 1 year post-operative follow up. The results were then compared to a series obtained from the Zimmer Feedback database which is managed independently by the Audit and Research Office, Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. 44% of pre-op cases had full flexion as per our set criteria. There were no apparent differences in patello-femoral pain levels, complications or Knee Society score despite the fact that our patients had, on average, an increase in maximum flexion along with an increase in functional ability. The knee score failed to assess this improved functionality of patients who had full flexion; a new diagnostic method is therefore needed. The results indicate that the implant allows patients to maintain a high degree of flexion and function post-operatively, with few complications.


Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major cause of chronic infections in cystic fibrosis patients. The nucleotidyl cyclase toxin ExoY is a virulence factors injected by the pathogen and associated with severe damage to lung tissue. ExoY-like cyclases are also found in other Gram-negative pathogens and shown to contribute to virulence, although they remained poorly characterized. Here we demonstrate that filamentous actin (F-actin) is the hitherto unknown co-factor that activates P. aeruginosa ExoY within host target cells. Highly purified actin, when polymerized into filaments, potently stimulates (>10,000 fold) ExoY activity. ExoY co-localizes in vivo with actin filaments in transfected cells and, in vitro, it interferes with the regulation of actin assembly/disassembly-dynamics mediated by important F-actin-binding proteins. We further show that actin also activates an ExoY-like adenylate cyclase from a Vibrio species. Our results thus highlight a new sub-class within the class II adenylyl cyclase family, defined as actin-activated nucleotidyl cyclase (AA-NC) toxins.


Backgroud This study aimed to measure the knowledge and awareness of COVID-19 among Chinese dental students during the global outbreak recently. Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed among dental students and nonmedical college students in China. All the participants were required to anonymously answer a reliable online questionnaire, which covered 3 different fields of COVID-19. Average scores of dental students (D group), including junior (JD group) and senior dental students (SD group), and nonmedical college students (N group) were compared respectively. Chi-square test and independent sample T test were taken for statistical analysis with SPSS.12. Results Totally 497 questionnaires were collected, including 224 from dental students and 273 from non-medical students. The overall average score was 57±19.2. The average scores of dental students were 64.5±18. The D group had significantly higher scores on the total score, section scores, and 20 questions respectively than with the N group. No significant differences were found on 5 questions. Compared with the N group, the SD group won on all three sections while JD group failed to win on the diagnose section. Conclusion Although the dental student showed good awareness regarding the clinical aspects of COVID-19 than non-medical students, there are still some weakness in the part of treatment and prevention, which need to be strengthened for better prepare during work. Besides, the low accuracy rate of lower grade dental students is also worth noting.


Property security management is a crucial problem in keeping tangible and intangible assets safe. Its solution using technical means and mobile detention groups ensures assets preservation and reduces security activities risk. Classical definition of a risk, which relates the probability of damage to the protected object to the amount of damage, is proposed to use. For determining the probability, an assumption, where only arrival time of the detention group at secured facility is recorded by the alarm signal, is introduced.
In order to minimize the total risk of security activities the task of finding the location of the detention group on the ground with dispersed objects is formulated. As a solution to the formulated problem, a search for the location of the detention groups which takes into account the magnitude of the damage and the current coordinates of the object on the plane is proposed. Examples of calculating locations of detention groups on the plane are presented.
An objective function Ф of the effectiveness of security activities implementation, linking the financial and economic indicators of security organization with the value of security activities risk is introduced and substantiated. The analysis of function Φ behavior with a change in the number of detention groups is shown, the presence of function extremum is shown, the interval of finding the extremum is determined.
It is proposed to calculate the distances between objects on a map and to use it to determine the coordinates in a new auxiliary plane. Coordinates are calculated using Gram matrices. A computational example is presented.
A step-by-step algorithm for secured facility allocation between detention groups with minimization of the total risk of security activities is developed; an example of its use is presented.
A search procedure for the location of the detention group on the ground by the determined coordinates on the plane is defined; a search process is illustrated. A general location search algorithm is proposed and the results are presented.


Combining condition-based maintenance (CBM) with large-area power-failure, an N-k contingency on-line identification method based on CBM is proposed in this paper. According to real-time data of CBM, a failure possibility model for equipments is built, and the online searching and screening of N-k contingency path are implemented by use of the theory of functional group and modified searching approach; based on utility theory and monitoring results of CBM, risk assessment model of N-k contingency is established. Finally, the proposed method is realized by C++ language. Taking three substations in Anyang power grid for example, the correctness of the proposed method is verified.


UNLABELLED
104 patients with hepatic cirrhosis and esophageal varices were treated between 1979 and 1996 using the modified Sugiura (Hirashima) procedure. In 60 cases (18 F, 42 M) portal hemodynamics (portal blood velocity (PBV) and portal blood flow (PBF)) were investigated using Doppler-USG method. In 40 cases a prospective study before operation, 2 weeks, 3 months after operation and then in 6-month intervals was completed. In 20 patients the study was done 18 months to 7 years after operation only. The control group comprised 20 healthy volunteers. Mean PBV before operation was 17.5 +/- 1.2 cm/s, 2 weeks after surgery-14.2 +/- 1.0 and 3 months after operation 15.1 +/- 0.9 cm/s, mean PBF: 1211 +/- 124 ccm/min, 987 +/- 97 ccm/min and 1179 +/- 92 ccm/min respectively. The observed decrease of PBV and PBF was not significant. In the late postoperative period mean PBV was 14.0 +/- 1.2 cm/s and PBF 1077 +/- 99 ccm/min. We observed portal vein thrombosis in 4 cases before the operation and 7 new cases after operation. In 3 of them the recanalization of portal vein trunk was noted in further investigations.

CONCLUSION
Extended gastroesophageal devascularization, splenectomy and esophageal transection (Hirashima procedure) does not result in significant decrease of portal blood velocity and portal blood flow. The hemodynamic effect of this operation is stabile in the observation period 1.5 to 7 years.


The purpose of this study was to develop a Framework that can be used to implement an online Competency-based education (CBE) program using a Learning Management system such as Moodle CBE refers to a system of instruction, assessment, grading, and academic reporting that is based on students demonstrating that they have the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn as they progress through their educational path However, little is known regarding how an online supported CBE program can be planned, designed, and implemented, to ensure learners complete activities and thus develop competency This study advances theoretical perspectives of CBE as steps taken towards the development of an online CBE Framework suitable for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Kenya The study found that: Planning (Technology Infrastructure, organization and program design and development);Design (competency standards, instructional design, content development, LMS installation and customization);Implementation (learning activities, Moodle competency framework, assessments, and discussion forums);Improvement (Moodle Analytics) and Achieving (attainment of competency) were the most influential factors in determining the successful implementation of an Online CBE program in HEIs


This study has three main objectives namely: (1) examine the existence of the persistence of unemployment in Indonesia; (2) examine the factors that cause the persistence of unemployment in Indonesia and in some sample areas, and (3) formulate strategies and policy measures needed to reduce the level of unemployment. To achieve these objectives the activities we do is an empirical analysis through the modeling of Econometrics, unemployment accounting, and descriptive statistics. Meanwhile, the data used are secondary data and regional macroeconomic and primary data collected through interviews with workers, the unemployed, firms, bureaucrats, and unions. The study concludes that the persistence of unemployment in Indonesia is disequilibrium persistent unemployment without self correcting mechanism, which means that the persistence occurred outside the labor market equilibrium and has no automatic mechanism to get to the point of equilibrium. In addition, persistence is the result of the slow process of capital accumulation, wage rigidity, the length of job search, and the inertia caused by institutional factors of labor market. The main implication of this study are: (1) the need to improve the quality of growth through hands-on strategy; (2) banking policy and capital markets can lead to acceleration of capital accumulation; (3) monetary policy is more focused on inflation targeting, (4) increased total factor productivity; (5) special incentives for labor-intensive sectors; (6) strengthening vocational education, and (7) antiunemployment programs that are regionally specific. Keywords : Persistent unemployment, Disequilibrium, Wage rigidity, Job search, Indonesia. JEL Classification : J23, J31


Porous carbons suffer from low specific capacitance, while intercalation-type active materials suffer from limited rate when used in asymmetric supercapacitors. We demonstrate that nanoconfinement of intercalation-type lithium titanate (Li4Ti5O12) nanoparticles in carbon nanopores yielded nanocomposite materials that offer both high ion storage density and rapid ion transport through open and interconnected pore channels. The use of titanate increased both the gravimetric and volumetric capacity of porous carbons by more than an order of magnitude. High electrical conductivity of carbon and the small size of titanate crystals allowed the composite electrodes to achieve characteristic charge and discharge times comparable to that of the electric double-layer capacitors. The proposed composite synthesis methodology is simple, scalable, and applicable for a broad range of active intercalation materials, while the produced composite powders are compatible with commercial electrode fabrication processes.


Parameters for SGS models within the variational multiscale method for the Stokes equations are determined using two different methods. Both linear and nonlinear models are considered. Firstly, optimal parameters are found using a goal-oriented model-constrained technique minimising L2 error. Secondly, parameters are obtained using the variational Germano identity. Using the goal-oriented results as reference values, it is shown that the performance of the Germano approach is sensitive to the form of the SGS model.


Lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia was covalently attached to magnetite nanoparticles coated with a thin polydopamine film, and employed in the enzymatic conversion of soybean oil into biodiesel, in the presence of methanol.  The proposed strategy explored the direct immobilization of the enzyme via Michael addition and aldolic condensation reactions at the catechol rings, with no need of using specific coupling agents. In addition, a larger amount of enzymes could be bound to the magnetic nanoparticles, allowing their efficient recycling with the use of an external magnet. In the biodiesel conversion, the transesterification reaction was carried out directly in soybean oil by the stepwise addition of methanol, in order to circumvent its inactivation effect on the enzyme. A better yield was  obtained in relation to the free enzyme, achieving 90% yield at 37 oC.  However, the catalysis became  gradually less effective after the third cycle, due to its prolonged exposition to the denaturating methanol medium.


The news is not all bad on the science funding front. Despite the fact that many U.S. researchers face increasing competition in chasing after federal support that has not kept pace with inflation (see the News special section on p. 24), private support is on the rise. Of course, such investments are not a new phenomenon: Nobel, Carnegie, and many others attached their names to major gifts to science more than a century ago. Today, a growing number of billionaires are likewise investing in scientific research as their personal philanthropy, choosing areas that reflect their deeply held passions. These patrons of science bring a refreshing new perspective to the projects they support, because they are typically unafraid to take risks, abhor bureaucracy, and nimbly cross disciplinary boundaries. Many are directly involved in the foundations they support, putting their personal imprimatur on the direction and operation of the ventures that bear their names. With all of this good news, it is somewhat surprising that this influx of private money has been viewed with some skepticism.*


This paper further studies orderings based on fuzzy quasi-order relations using fuzzy graph. Firstly, a fuzzy relation on a finite set is represented equivalently by a fuzzy graph. Using the graph, some new results on fuzzy relations are derived. In ranking those alternatives, we usually obtain a quasi-order relation, which often has inconsistencies, so it cannot be used for orderings directly. We need to remake it into a reasonable partial order relation for orderings. This paper studies these inconsistencies, and divides them into two types: framework inconsistencies and degree inconsistencies. For the former, a reasonable and feasible method is presented to eliminate them. To eliminate the latter, the concept of complete partial order relation is presented, which is more suitable than partial order relation to rank the alternatives. A method to obtain a reasonable complete partial order relation for a quasi-order relation is given also. An example is given as well to illustrate these discussions. Lastly, the paper discusses the connection between quasi-order relations and preference relations for orderings and some other related problems.


It remains a major challenge to simultaneously achieve bone regeneration and prevent infection in the complex microenvironment of repairing bone defects. Here, we developed a novel ECM-mimicking scaffold by coaxial electrospinning to be endowed with multibiological functions. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were loaded into the poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid/polycaprolactone (PLGA/PCL, PP) sheath layer of coaxial nanofibers, and deferoxamine (DFO) nanoparticles were loaded into its core layer. The novel scaffold PP-LPA-ZnO/DFO maintained a porous nanofibrous architecture after incorporating three active nanoparticles, showing better physicochemical properties and eximious biocompatibility. In vitro studies showed that the bio-scaffold loaded with LPA nanoparticles had excellent cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation for MC3T3-E1 cells and synergistic osteogenesis with the addition of ZnO and DFO nanoparticles. Further, the PP-LPA-ZnO/DFO scaffold promoted tube formation and facilitated the expression of vascular endothelial markers in HUVECs. In vitro antibacterial studies against Escherichia Coli and Staphylococcus aureus demonstrated effective antibacterial activity of the PP-LPA-ZnO/DFO scaffold. In vivo studies showed that the PP-LPA-ZnO/DFO scaffold exhibited excellent biocompatibility after subcutaneous implantation and remarkable osteogenesis at 4 weeks post-implantation in the mouse alveolar bone defects. Importantly, the PP-LPA-ZnO/DFO scaffold showed significant antibacterial activity, prominent neovascularization, and new bone formation in the rat fenestration defect model. Overall, the spatially sustained release of LPA, ZnO, and DFO nanoparticles through the coaxial scaffold synergistically enhanced biocompatibility, osteogenesis, angiogenesis, and effective antibacterial properties, which is ultimately beneficial for bone regeneration. This project provides the optimized design of bone regenerative biomaterials and a new strategy for bone regeneration, especially in the potentially infected microenvironment.


The iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm is an accurate approach for the registration between two point sets on the same scale. However, it can not handle the case with different scales. This paper proposes a fast and robust ICP algorithm for isotropic scaling point sets registration (FRISICP). In order to accurately and directly estimate the scale factor without any constraints, we introduce a bidirection distance measurement method into the least square (LS) problem. Then to keep computational efficiency when the number of points in the set increasing, we further introduce a sparse-to-dense hierarchical model in ICP algorithm to speed up the isotropic scaling point set matching process. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed FRISICP method outperforms other algorithms on both 2D and 3D point sets.


Association between long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use and increased risk of breast cancer is still under debate. Functionally relevant genetic variants within the estrogen metabolic pathway may alter exposure to exogenous sex hormones and affect the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. We investigated the associations of common polymorphisms in 4 genes encoding key proteins of the estrogen metabolic pathway, duration of HRT use and their interactions with breast cancer risk. We studied 530 breast cancer cases and 270 controls of the same age and ethnicity participating in a case-control study of postmenopausal women. Duration of HRT use was ascertained through a postal questionnaire. Genotyping was conducted for CYP1B1 (rs1056836), COMT (rs4680), GSTP1 (rs1695) and MnSOD (rs4880) polymorphisms by PCR-based RFLP and TaqMan® allelic discrimination method. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using logistic regression analysis. HRT use was significantly associated with decreased breast cancer risk (p<0.001). None of the polymorphisms studied was associated with breast cancer risk. A significant interaction was observed between MnSOD 47T>C and HRT use (pinteraction=0.036); the risk of breast cancer associated with long-term vs. short-term HRT use was decreased in women homozygous for the wild-type allele and increased in women with at least one variant allele of the MnSOD 47T>C polymorphism. Our results suggest that MnSOD 47T>C polymorphism in interaction with long-term HRT use may modify the risk of breast cancer.


By using geo-statistics methods, an investigation was conducted on the spatial variability of soil pH, organic matter, total N, P, and K, and available N, P, K, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn and their relations with rice yield in Wenxing Village, Anshun City of Guizhou Province, Southwest China. The C0/(C0 + C) ratios for the soil pH, total P, and available N, P, K, and Cu and the rice yield components were lower than 25%, indicating their strong spatial correlations, while the C0/ (C0 + C) ratios for the soil organic matter, total N and K, and available Zn, Fe, and Mn and the rice yield were 25%-75%, showing a medium spatial correlation. Of all the soil nutrients, the soil available K had the closest relation with rice yield (r = 0.4669, P < 0.0001). The direct path coefficients of the soil available N, K and P to the effective panicle and thousand-grain mass were positive, in line with the partial correlation analysis. The Kriging interpolation showed that the soil organic matter, total N, and available N, K, Cu, and Zn contents presented a decreasing trend from the southwest to northeast, but the rice yield was higher in the northwest and southeast of the Wenxing Village.


This article provides an empirical assessment of a German 'job export' through foreign direct investment (FDI). To do this it highlights the rather problematic statistical registration of FDI. A theoretical framework is given, whereafter home country employment effects are derived from different motivations for FDI. While 'cost oriented' FDI are substitutive in nature and have a negative effect on home country employment, 'market oriented' FDI are supposed to strengthen the export basis, hence home production and employment. Statistically the structure of German FDI by industry and host regions indicates a predominance of 'market orientation'. Exploring the motivation for German FDI by an error correction model 'market orientation' and 'cost orientation' are pervasive but with some differences in industries. In a cross-sectional analysis of FDI and employment in Germany FDI-intensive industries show a better employment performance than less FDI-intensive industries. All in all, the empirical basis for a German 'job export' is weak. German FDI seem to have a rather positive net employment effect. Finally, policy conclusions are drawn.


The reasons for moistening of the mucous membranes are several. Ciliary action is dependent on a supply ofmucus, of the right viscosity and in correct amount; in this blanket of mucus are carried lysozymes, described by Fleming (1928), of considerable bacteriostatic and bactericidal importance. The alveoli of the lung must be kept moist, for otherwise respiratory exchanges cannot be carried on; the origin of this necessity is to be found in fish which left the sea to pass part of their lives on land, as for example the climbing perch. The olfactory area must have a supply of moisture to dissolve the particles which convey the sensation of smell; the vocal folds must be lubricated with mucus, for otherwise they will not vibrate. The pharynx must not be dry if deglutition is to be efficient; here saliva helps, but not continuously. Transudation helps to some degree in the respiratory tract, but not by itself, since evaporation would be excessive if the inspired air were charged with insufficient moisture; there would be consequent damage to the mucosa and deleterious effects, to be considered later.


A preclinical investigation has been made of the effects of microwave heating in enhancing the response of pig skin to X-rays. Areas on the flanks of Large White English pigs were treated with X-rays alone or with X-rays followed by heating at 42°C for 1.5 hours. The treatment was given as a single dose or as three fractions over six days. Heating was produced with a microwave direct-contact applicator operating at 2.45 GHz. The early skin reaction was scored quantitatively by an arbitrary numerical system. For all treatments, microwave heating was shown to have little effect in enhancing the response of pig skin to ionizing radiation.


Cancer immunotherapy, including the inhibition of immune checkpoints, improves the tumor immune microenvironment and is an effective tool for cancer therapy. More effective and alternative inhibitory targets are critical for successful immune checkpoint blockade therapy. The interaction of the immunomodulatory ligand B7 family with corresponding receptors induces or inhibits T cell responses by sending co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory signals respectively. Blocking the glycosylation of the B7 family members PD-L1, PD-L2, B7-H3, and B7-H4 inhibited the self-stability and receptor binding of these immune checkpoint proteins, leading to immunosuppression and rapid tumor progression. Therefore, regulation of glycosylation may be the "golden key" to relieve tumor immunosuppression. The exploration of a more precise glycosylation regulation mechanism and glycan structure of B7 family proteins is conducive to the discovery and clinical application of antibodies and small molecule inhibitors.


Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.) is a species that generally grows in the Mediterranean region and coasts and has been consumed as food since ancient times. Its fruits are mostly used in alcoholic beverages and various jams and desserts. Its fruits and leaves contain different phenolic compounds, because of this it is used in traditional folk medicine. They have different biological properties like, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, urinary antiseptic, antihypertension, astringent, anti-diarrheal due to their high quantity of tannins. In this study, we aimed that to determine the total antioxidant capacity of fruits and leaves and trace element contents of Arbutus unedo L. which were collected in Yalova (TURKEY). The antioxidant activities of samples were examined by ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) method, cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) method and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay with ABTS radical cation. In the samples of the amount of total phenolic and tannins contents were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) method. In adddition to, we determined the concentrations of Al, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn in the samples by using ICP-MS. As a result, Arbutus unedo L. is a good source of antioxidants and minerals, it was stated that single antioxidant activity test would present limited information about the power of the antioxidant capacity and it was emphasized that use of combination of various methods should be used in assessing the antioxidant activities in vitro. It has been determined that the trace elements are within the determined limits.


Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanorods with anatase phase were successfully fabricated by electrospinning and followed calcination. The TiO2 nanorods were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and UV-visible spectroscopy. The diameter of the TiO2 nanorods was about 60–150 nm and the length was 200 nm–2 μm. Electrical properties under bending were investigated by fixing the device to a curved surface with different curvatures, and the device showed a fast and stable resistance response to curvature changing. Photoelectric properties were studied by irradiation with different light intensities. The device exhibited a short response time (∼10 s) and a high sensitivity (∼103) which increased with the light intensity increasing. These results indicate that electrospun anatase TiO2 nanorods have potential applications in flexible photodetectors and solar cells.


LMs derived from AA and related FAs exert diverse biological activities during inflammation. However, although discovered several decades ago, the knowledge about the regulation of the enzymes involved in LM biosynthesis remains far from completion. This thesis aimed at investigating the molecular mechanism of bacteria-induced LT formation and unveiled exotoxins secreted from pathogenic bacteria as determining factors for in cellulo 5-LOX activation. In case of S. aureus, a human commensal associated to infections of diverse severity, we identified PSMs and their receptor FPR2 as critical factors capable to induce LM biosynthesis in neutrophils. Activation of FPR2, phosphorylation of ERK1/2 as well as an increase of intracellular Ca2+ are clearly involved in PSM-mediated 5-LOX activation. Together, we here present the release of LMs and the stimulation of 5-LOX as novel biological properties of PSMs. Moreover, our findings might encourage ongoing efforts to develop alternative anti- microbial strategies focusing on exotoxin secretion, since the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria is becoming a relevant threat to humans. In addition, we here addressed structural elements of the integral membrane protein FLAP that acts as unique helper for cellular 5-LOX product formation. Our results uncover the second cytosolic loop of FLAP as crucial domain for sufficient assembly of the LT-synthetic protein complex at the nuclear membrane. Prospective studies and the development of FLAP inhibitors should therefore consider this loop as novel binding site, since previous compounds solely target lipid-exposed domains of FLAP, resulting in highly lipophilic drugs and thus inappropriate pharmacokinetic properties. Taken together, our results significantly contribute to the expansive field of LM research and provide novel insights into the signaling and molecular determinants of LT biosynthesis upon bacterial stimulation as well as its dependency on FLAP.


We randomized 122 premenopausal women to receive tamoxifen or to undergo a surgical oophorectomy. Of 54 evaluable women treated with tamoxifen, 24% had an objective response, as compared with 21% of 53 women having an oophorectomy. The median duration of response for tamoxifen (20 months) was longer than that for surgical oophorectomy (7 months), but this did not achieve statistical significance (P = .056). Overall median survival was 15 months for 58 patients receiving tamoxifen and 25 months for 53 patients undergoing oophorectomy (P = .18). Toxicity was greater in those undergoing oophorectomy, though both treatments were well tolerated. In those premenopausal women for whom hormonal therapy is indicated, tamoxifen is a suitable alternative to surgical oophorectomy.


Reduction in the supply of indigenous wood from natural forest called for investigation into the properties of plantation grown Leucaena leucocephala wood. Density of the treated samples reduced with treatment time. Water absorption, shrinkage and swelling values decreased with increase in treatment time using the same temperature. At a treatment time of 3hrs for thermal wax and 6hrs for thermally treated samples, higher values of 879.50 and 916.22 g/m3 were obtained for density compared with the untreated which is 874.21 g/m3 was obtained. Lower values of 2.13, 12.13% were obtained for water absorption at 180°C. Values of 2.78 and 8.73% were obtained for swelling. Values of 5.65 and 3.08% were obtained for shrinkage at 180°C which was lower to the untreated values. Treatments resulted in improved dimensional stability as indicated by the reduction in water absorption, swelling and shrinkage of treated materials. Mechanical properties as measured by modulus of rupture were significantly reduced while there were significant effects on the modulus of elasticity as a result of heat treatment.


C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and its cognate guanylyl cyclase receptor, the natriuretic peptide receptor B (NPR-B) together constitute a regulatory system that controls cell function via the generation of intracellular cyclic GMP. In this report we have examined the role of cAMP signaling in the regulation of CNP and NPR-B activity in the FRTL-5 rat thyroid follicular cell line. As had been observed earlier with TSH, the cAMP mimetic, dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP; 1 mM) induced a significant reduction in CNP-stimulated cGMP generation that was first apparent after 6 h of treatment. The inhibitory effect of dbcAMP on NPR-B was dose dependent, with an EC50 of 0.2 mM. Pretreatment of FRTL-5 cells with either of two protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitors, KT-5720 and H-89, failed to curtail the dbcAMP reduction in NPR-B activity, suggesting that the cAMP pathway leading to inhibition of NPR-B is PKA independent. Whereas either a 30-min or a 24-h treatment with the protein kinase C-activator phorbol myristate acetate failed to alter maximal levels of CNP-stimulated cGMP, a 24-h exposure to the calcium ionophore A23187 reduced CNP-stimulated cGMP to about one-third of control. Pretreatment of FRTL-5 cells with the cell-permeable calcium chelator 1,2 bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N1,N1-tetraacetic acid, tetraacetoxymethyl ester completely abrogated the cAMP-induced reduction of CNP-stimulated cGMP. Real-time PCR showed no effect of dbcAMP on NPR-B transcript at 3 and 6 h, but indicated a 40% reduction in transcript by dbcAMP at 24 h. In contrast, real-time PCR indicated a 5-fold increase in CNP transcript at 3 h, reaching 15.4-fold above control at 6 h in cells treated with dbcAMP. In addition, immunofluorescence staining of FRTL-5 cells with a specific antibody for CNP-22 showed the presence of cytoplasmic CNP that was up-regulated by incubation with either TSH or dbcAMP. These results suggested that cAMP signaling regulates the natriuretic peptide system in rat thyroid cells by increasing CNP expression, and reducing NPR-B activity. This latter action of cAMP appears to be both PKA independent and calcium dependent, and provides support for a dominant role for calcium in the regulation of NPR-B in the rat thyroid.


The complement fixation test was applied to assess antibody responses in cattle infected with T. brucei, T. congolense, and T. vivax which had been treated and re-infected. After the first infection, the specificity of the results was low in T. congolense, fair in T. brucei, and high in T. vivax infected animals. After re-infection with the same trypanosoma species as used for previous infections, the specificity of CF results was high in all cases. After a foregoing T. vivax infection, specific titres of T. congolense and to a lesser degree of T. brucei infections were frequently masked by residual T. vivax titres. After treatment of trypanosoma-infected cattle the fasted drop of CF antibody titres occurred in T. congolense cases, followed by T. brucei infections. T. vivax titres persisted over prolonged periods.


Tools to predict the throughput of basic blocks on a specific microarchitecture are useful to optimize software performance and to build optimizing compilers. In recent work, several such tools have been proposed. However, the accuracy of their predictions has been shown to be relatively low. In this paper, we identify the most important factors for these inaccuracies. To a significant degree these inaccuracies are due to elements and parameters of the pipelines of recent CPUs that are not taken into account by previous tools. A primary reason for this is that the necessary details are often undocumented. In this paper, we build more precise models of relevant components by reverse engineering using microbenchmarks. Based on these models, we develop a simulator for predicting the throughput of basic blocks. In addition to predicting the throughput, our simulator also provides insights into how the code is executed. Our tool supports all Intel Core microarchitecture generations released in the last decade. We evaluate it on an improved version of the BHive benchmark suite. On many recent microarchitectures, its predictions are more accurate than the predictions of state-of-the-art tools by more than an order of magnitude.


OBJECTIVES
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has seriously affected people's health. Recent studies have found that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation is involved in the lipid metabolism process of the body, but the study on the level of m6A modification in NAFLD is still not available. This study aims to explore the changes in the level of RNA m6A methylation modification in NAFLD liver tissues, and to provide experimental and theoretical basis for in-depth study on the role of RNA m6A methylation in the occurrence and development of NAFLD.

METHODS
Changes in the m6A level in NAFLD liver tissues were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Total RNA was extracted from liver tissues of NAFLD patients or normal control individuals and subjected to methylated RNA immunoprecipitation (MeRIP) with microarray analysis (including 44 122 mRNAs and 12 496 lncRNAs) to determine the changes in m6A modification levels across the entire transcriptome. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were performed to annotate the differentially modified mRNAs. Finally, 4 mRNAs and 4 lncRNAs were randomly selected to verify the microarray results by MeRIP and real-time transcription polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
A total of 176 mRNAs and 44 lncRNAs were found to be differentially m6A-modified in the NAFLD group compared with the control group. Among them, 15 mRNAs and 7 lncRNAs were hypermethylated in NAFLD, while 161 mRNAs and 37 lncRNAs were hypomethylated in NAFLD. GO and pathway analysis showed that the differentially modified mRNAs were enriched mainly in biological processes such as carboxylic acid metabolism and transcriptional regulation.

CONCLUSIONS
The m6A modification profile is changed in NAFLD liver tissues compared with normal liver tissues, which may functionally impact the pathophysiological progress in NAFLD.


Purified alpha and beta globin complementary DNAs (cDNAs) have been separated from total radioactively labeled human globin cDNA using mRNA purified from liver of a hydrops fetalis (alpha thalassemia). The beta cDNA hybridizes to the hydrops fetalis mRNA while the alpha cDNA remains single-stranded. the purified alpha and beta cDNAs were assayed for their purity by their hybridization to mRNA prepared from reticulocytes of nonthalassemia, alpha thalassemia, and beta thalassemia subjects. The results indicate that the separated cDNAs are selective in hybridization to alpha or beta globin mRNAs, respectively. The previously reported deficiency of globin mRNA in thalassemia cells has been confirmed with these purified cDNAs. The purified alpha and beta cDNAs were hybridized to cellular DNA to non-thalassemia, beta+ thalassemia, and hydrops fetalis (alpha thalassemia) DNA. The alpha cDNA hybridized to hydrops fetalis liver DNA to a much lower extent that beta cDNA, confirming the previously reported deletion of alpha globin genes in hydrops fetalis. By contrast, both the alpha and beta DNA probes hybridized to the same extent to spleen DNA from non-thalassemia and from beta+ thalassemia patients. Between two and five globin genes in non-thalassemia and beta+ thalassemia DNA hybridize to beta cDNA and one to five to alpha cDNA. These studies indicate that in beta+ thalassemia, there is no detectable deletion in beta globin genes. The genetic defect in beta+ thalassemia appears to be due to either repression of transcription of beta globin genes or abnormal processing of beta globin mRNA.


hospitality and largesse during writing; Julio Cotler (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Lima) for his commentary; Gil Joseph and two anonymous HAHR readers; and colleagues and helpers in the larger research project behind this essay. And our new son, Danyal Natan Sainz-Gootenberg (b. 1/2000), for allowing some needed sleep to put this all together. 1. And largely unknown: this essay is part of a larger archival project to unveil this hidden history. For the United States itself, we now have the superb study by Joseph F. Spillane, Cocaine: From Medical Marvel to Modern Menace in the United States, 1884–1920 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1999); for global views, see Paul Gootenberg, ed., Cocaine: Global Histories (London: Routledge, 1999); as background, Steven B. Karch, M.D., A Brief History of Cocaine (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1998). A strong source on transnational issues is William Walker III's Drug Control in the Americas (Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press, 1981).


The general metric containing non-null electromagnetic field plus perfect fluid solutions which possess a metric symmetry not inherited by the electromagnetic field which was given in a previous paper is further generalised to include an additional class of solutions. One member of this class is the generalised Godel solution.


We explicitly calculate the orientation-dependent second virial coefficient of short charged rods in an electrolytic solvent, assuming the rod-rod interactions to be a pairwise sum of hard-core and segmental screened-Coulomb repulsions. From the parallel and isotropically averaged second virial coefficient, we calculate the effective length and diameter of the rods, for charges and screening lengths that vary over several orders of magnitude. Using these effective dimensions, we determine the phase diagram, where we distinguish a low-charge and strong-screening regime with a liquid crystalline nematic and smectic phase, and a high-charge and weak-screening regime with a plastic crystal phase in the phase diagram.


Wireless sensor network applications in healthcare and biomedical technology have received increasing attention, while associated security and privacy issues remain open areas of consideration. The relevance of this technology to our growing elderly population, as well as our increasingly over-crowded and attention-drained healthcare systems, is promising. However, prior to the emergence of these systems as a ubiquitous technology, healthcare providers and regulatory agencies must determine an acceptable level of security and privacy. This paper will review biomedical applications of wireless sensor networks, identify security and privacy issues to be addressed, and note some of the proposed methods for securing these systems.


One of the major components of a photoresist formulation is polymer resin. Well-defined diblock and random copolymer of tert-butyl acrylate (tBA) and 4-acetoxystyrene (StyOAc), as well as triblock and random tertpolymer of tBA, StyOAc, and Sty were prepared by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) process. The polymers all possess Mw about ten thousand and PDI less than 1.23. After hydrolysis under basic condition, the hydroxystyrene (StyOH) analogs are obtained and then are formulated as photoresist. Lithographic evaluation under KrF excimer laser shows that random copolymer based photoresist exhibits better S/L patterns according to SEM images. However, the lithographic performance of the terpolymer based resists is similar. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010


Multisystemic inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) is an inflammatory condition temporally associated with COVID-19 in children; nevertheless, the clinical and immunologic spectrum of MIS-C is heterogeneous, and its long-term effects are unknown. During the period of August 2020 to December 2021, a total of 52 MIS-C cases were confirmed in pediatric patients from the Hospital del Niño DIF Hidalgo, diagnosed using criteria from the World Health Organization. All patients had serologic IgG confirmation of SARS-CoV2, the mean age of the patients was 7 years, and 94% of the patients did not have a previous underlying disease. In addition to the presentation of lymphopenia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia, elevations in D-dimer and ferritin levels were observed in all patients. There was clinical improvement with intravenous gamma globulin and corticosteroid treatment.


Lung capacity and maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) were measured directly in 167 healthy males, from all the main races in Malaysia. Their ages ranged from 13 to 59 years. They were divided into five age groups (A to E), ranging from the second to the sixth decade. Lung capacities were determined using a dry spirometer and VO2max was taken as the maximum rate of oxygen consumption during exhaustive exercise on a cycle ergometer. Mean forced vital capacity (FVC) was 3.3 +/- 0.5 l and it correlated negatively with age. Mean VO2max was 3.2 +/- 0.2 l.min-1 (56.8 +/- 3.5 ml.kg-1.min-1) in Group A (13-19 years) compared to 1.7 +/- 0.2 l.min-1 (28.9 +/- 2.9 ml.kg-1.min-1) in Group E (50-59 years). Regression analysis revealed an age-related decline in VO2max of 0.77 ml.kg-1.min-1.year-1. Multiple regression of the data gave the following equations for the prediction of an individual's VO2max: VO2max (l.min-1) = 1.99 + 0.035 (weight)-0.04 (age), VO2max (ml.kg-1.min-1) = 67.7-0.77 (age), where age is in years, weight in kg. In terms of VO2max as an index of cardiopulmonary performance. Malaysians have a relatively lower capacity when related to the Swedish norms or even to those of some Chilean workers. Malaysians were, however, within the average norms of the American Heart Association's recommendations. Age-related decline in VO2max was also somewhat higher in the Malaysians.


Climate Change represents a priority, due to the large variety of implications and importance that it has reached throughout the last decades. In an effort to address this global and local challenge and in order to restrict temperature rise to 2 °C over the next century, it will need to address this topic from several angles, as confirmed by the last COP meetings in Paris and in Marrakech. In this context, the paper presents the modelling and assessment of ventilative cooling applicability in the future of the Mediteranean area under the effects of climate change. Results show that natural ventilation will continue to be of paramount importance in the Mediterranean climate but its highest effectiveness will be displaced from summer to spring and autumn.


Considering the total amount of energy consumed in the world, energy used in lighting is of utmost importance. For this reason, systems used in lighting should be energy efficient, and mıre efficient lighting elements should be preferred. LED, as a solid-state lighting system, is more energy efficient than the lighting systems with conventional lighting elements. Some of the LEDs used in solid-state lighting systems are named as standard 5mm LEDs and power LEDs. Because power LEDs have more light efficiency than standard 5 mm LEDs, they are produced as an alternative to conventional light sources. Power LEDs draw much more current than standard 5 mm LEDs. LEDs need LED drivers that provide them with constant current to run efficiently, and have a long life. The present research studies 10 W DC-DC converter based current limited LED driver circuits. Simulations were created for these LED driver circuits, and they are analysed through their simulations. Efficiency, input current, total circuit loss, output current and power values are measured. In this context, output current and efficiency values of the driver circuits are analysed in terms of energy efficiency, and optimised in accordance with energy efficiency.


This thesis aims to examine whether government policies in the early years are likely to influence health inequalities, using information derived from a range of sources to contribute to the 'jigsaw of evidence', and focussing on two case studies featuring high on the Labour government agenda: the first a measure of health (unintentional injury) and the second a policy (childcare). Scoping reviews were used to map areas requiring further research for each case study. A review of policy documents helped set the policy context, and secondary datasets were utilised to describe prevalence, trends and inequalities. Following this some of the less researched associations identified in the scoping reviews were explored, using data from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS).
An analysis investigating whether the home environment lay on the causal pathway between socio-economic circumstances (SECs) and unintentional injuries found that controlling for a number of proxy measures for housing quality and safety equipment use did not alter the social gradient in injuries occurring in the home. A second analysis exploring a measure of main childcare use in relation to injuries found that infants (aged 9 months) from more advantaged SECs were less likely to have been unintentionally injured (anywhere) since birth if they were looked after in formal childcare (compared to those looked after only by a parent). In contrast, those from less advantaged SECs appeared to be at greater risk of injury. Informal childcare was associated with an increased risk of injury between 9 months and 3 years, overall and in less advantaged SECs. Two further analyses explored breastfeeding and overweight in relation to childcare use. Informal and formal childcare were both associated with a reduced likelihood of breastfeeding, and whilst this remained the case for informal childcare across all social groups, for formal childcare the reduced likelihood of breastfeeding was only observed in those from more advantaged groups. Children who were looked after in informal childcare appeared to be more likely to be overweight at 3 years than those only looked after by a parent, particularly if they were from more advantaged SECs. These results were then synthesised in light of current and potential policy.
The analyses were conducted with observational data and using proxy measures for the home environment and main childcare use, therefore further research is required. Findings imply that improvements to the home environment may not necessarily influence inequalities in injuries (although are likely to benefit other areas of health and wellbeing). Main childcare type appeared to be associated with better health outcomes for some social groups but not for others; further research is required to ascertain how these benefits can be recognised for all groups, for example through improved training and guidance for childcare professionals. This thesis demonstrates the use of epidemiological information for contributing to the 'jigsaw of evidence', but also the complexities of considering policy impacts on health inequalities.


Acknowledgment Support for this report, part of the ECS Remedial Education Reporting Project, was generously provided by Lumina Foundation. The conclusions presented are those of ECS, which receives the majority of its funding from the member states it serves.


Organic mechanochromic luminescent (ML) materials have attracted extensive interest due to their potential uses in displays, sensing, bioimaging and data storage. ML materials that distinctively respond to different mechanical stimuli are especially fascinating. A simple pyridinium-based white-light emitter (P1-PF6) exhibiting this sort of ML with room-temperature fluorescence-phosphorescence dual emission (rFPDE) was found to possess a 3.66% quantum yield. Interestingly, mechanical grinding induced phosphorescence disappearance owing to a collapse of the crystalline ordering. Grinding followed by adding a drop of ethanol resulted in an extraordinary tricolor emission switching between white, blue and pinkish orange. More interestingly, mechanical pressing induced phosphorescence enhancement, resulting in the emission color changing from white to pinkish orange. This novel phenomenon may be due to the fact that pressure facilitates a closer arrangement between adjacent molecules, thereby enhancing the intermolecular interactions. In sum, a very scarce example is herein reported. Moreover, because the pure organic pyridinium with rFPDE achieves reversible two-channel ML over a wide wavelength range, this material has potential applications in multi-dimensional sensors.


Performance limit of Tri-Gate (TG) and Double Gate (DG) SOI FinFETs have been compared in terms of ballistic current which is calculated using a modified model shown for conventional MOSFET. Such a simple model for calculating ballistic current in nanoscale multigate MOSFETs is yet to be reported. Comparison of the ballistic current for different Si fin thicknesses reveals that for decreasing fin thickness, strong quantum mechanical confinement degrades the ballistic current. The simulation result presented here contradicts with the previously reported result that TG FinFETs show better performance than DG FinFET and reveals that DG FinFET shows slightly better performance below 5nm fin thickness. This result indicates that in terms of ballistic drive current the tri-gate device is not always favorable than double gate device especially when the device dimension is scaled down deeply.


PURPOSE Despite mandated reporting laws that require physicians to report elder abuse, physicians have low rates of reporting. The purpose of this study was to identify physician's perspectives on mandated reporting of elder abuse. METHODS Individual, semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 primary care physicians practicing in a variety of settings and caring for a diverse patient population in the Los Angeles area. Interviewers collected information on physicians' perspectives about factors that may influence physicians' likelihood to report elder abuse. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach based on the constant comparative method and the emergence of the core category of paradox to best account for the most problematic elder abuse situations faced by physicians. RESULTS During the interviews 3 paradoxes were expressed by physicians about the mandatory reporting of elder abuse. Specifically, mandatory reporting was related to both perceptions of increases and decreases in physician-patient rapport, patient quality of life, and physician control or ability to decide what is in the best interest of the patient. These paradoxes appear to be primarily hidden or unconscious, yet they influence the conscious decision process of whether to report. CONCLUSIONS Primary care physicians appear to be subject to paradoxes of reporting that contribute to the underreporting of elder abuse. These paradoxes and alternative modes of managing paradoxes are important and should be addressed in educational and training programs for physicians, and systematic evaluation of these issues may help to inform future legislation in this area. Further studies are needed to assess the generalizability of these findings to other groups of clinicians.


Opioid overdose and mortality have increased at an alarming rate prompting new public health initiatives to reduce drug poisoning. One initiative is to expand access to the opioid antidote naloxone. Naloxone has a long history of safe and effective use by organized healthcare systems and providers in the treatment of opioid overdose by paramedics/emergency medicine technicians, emergency medicine physicians and anesthesiologists. The safety of naloxone in a prehospital setting administered by nonhealthcare professionals has not been formally established but will likely parallel medically supervised experiences. Naloxone dose and route of administration can produce variable intensity of potential adverse reactions and opioid withdrawal symptoms: intravenous administration and higher doses produce more adverse events and more severe withdrawal symptoms in those individuals who are opioid dependent. More serious adverse reactions after naloxone administration occur rarely and may be confounded by the effects of other co-intoxicants and the effects of prolonged hypoxia. One component of the new opioid harm reduction initiative is to expand naloxone access to high-risk individuals (addicts, abusers, or patients taking high-dose or extended-release opioids for pain) and their close family or household contacts. Patients or their close contacts receive a naloxone prescription to have the medication on their person or in the home for use during an emergency. Contacts are trained on overdose recognition, rescue breathing and administration of naloxone by intramuscular injection or nasal spraying of the injection prior to the arrival of emergency medical personnel. The safety profile of naloxone in traditional medical use must be considered in this new context of outpatient prescribing, dispensing and treatment of overdose prior to paramedic arrival. New naloxone delivery products are being developed for this prehospital application of naloxone in treatment of opioid overdose and prevention of opioid-induced mortality.


The citizens of Bangladesh are currently the 10 th largest immigrant group in Italy and the 3 rd largest group in the Municipality of Rome. After London, the Bangladeshis living in Rome represent the second largest and complex community in Europe. It was only in the late 1980s when first Bangladeshis arrived in Rome and since then the city has become the principal destination of Bangladeshis arriving to Italy. To compensate the lack of adequate statistical data regarding this immigrant group, we had organized a pilot study focused on wide variety of demographic, economic and social characteristics. Overall 314 detailed interviews were collected, capturing both the regular and the irregular Bangladeshi citizens. The study aims to present the preliminary results of the pilot study and to analyze different aspects of their life in the Roman area. What are their living conditions like? How do the living conditions vary according to the legal status of the respondent? How different is the situation of those who came in Rome alone, leaving their nuclear families in Bangladesh and those, who managed to bring their families to Rome? These are only few questions that we would like to answer using the results of the pilot study.


General anesthesia is a drug-induced, reversible condition comprised of five behavioral states: hypnosis (loss of consciousness), amnesia (loss of memory), analgesia (loss of pain sensation), akinesia (immobility), and hemodynamic stability with control of the stress response. The mechanisms by which anesthetic drugs induce the state of general anesthesia remain one of the biggest mysteries of modern medicine. We have been using three experimental paradigms to study general anesthesia-induced loss of consciousness in humans: combined fMRI/EEG recordings, highdensity EEG recordings and intracranial recordings. These studies are allowing us to establish precise neurophysiological, neuroanatomical and behavioral correlates of general anesthesia. We will discuss the relation between our findings and two other important altered states of arousal: sleep and coma. Our findings suggest that the state of general anesthesia is not as mysterious as currently believed.


This study explored the Turkish language teaching curriculum (TLTC, Grades 1–8) outcomes through an interactionist framework. Two points framed the analysis of the outcomes: learning demand and social discussions of the meanings. This study concluded that particularly for the learning areas such as reading, speaking, and writing, sixthto eighth-grade outcomes downgrade the opportunities of teachers to engage students in social discussion of meaning when teaching Turkish language due to lower learning demand compared with firstto fifth-grade outcomes. Firstto fifth-grade outcomes were found to provide Turkish language teachers more chances to create social discussions of meaning by enhancing the learning demand.


PURPOSE
To determine the effect of charged moieties within the outflow pathway on aqueous outflow facility in human eyes.

METHODS
After baseline facility measurement in human eye bank eyes (n = 10 pairs), one eye of each pair received anterior chamber exchange and continued perfusion with medium containing 10 mg/ml cationic ferritin. Contralateral eyes were treated in a similar manner with anionic ferritin (10.0 or 102 mg/ml). Eyes were fixed by anterior chamber exchange and perfusion with universal fixative at 8 mm Hg (corresponding to a physiologic pressure of 15 mm Hg in vivo) and examined by transmission electron microscopy. In a second series of human eyes (n = 8 pairs), facility was measured before and after anterior chamber exchange, with a solution containing 0.1 U/ml neuraminidase.

RESULTS
Perfusion of eyes with anionic ferritin at either 10.0 or 102 mg/ml caused a negligible 2% increase in facility, whereas cationic ferritin perfusion reduced facility by 66% (P < 0.00001). Perfusion with fixative reduced facility by approximately 60% in both cationic and anionic ferritin-perfused eyes, relative to facilities after perfusion with ferritin. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the distribution of ferritin was segmentally variable. Cationic ferritin consistently labeled the luminal surface of the inner wall of Schlemm's canal, and variably labeled the juxtacanalicular connective tissue (JCT) and trabecular beam surfaces. Anionic ferritin was more prominent in the JCT and intertrabecular spaces and less so on the luminal surface of Schlemm's canal. By scanning electron microscopy, cationic ferritin was seen to accumulate at intercellular margins of the inner wall. Neuraminidase perfusion had no significant effect on outflow facility.

CONCLUSIONS
Cationic ferritin reduces outflow facility, presumably by binding to negatively charged sites in the outflow pathway. A possible mechanism is partial or complete blockage of intercellular clefts in the inner wall of Schlemm's canal by the ferritin that accumulates on the luminal surface of the inner wall. Although they are possible targets for ferritin binding, sialyl residues themselves seem to have little direct effect on outflow facility. Our data indicate that positively charged molecules, especially if they can interact with inner wall pores, have the potential to markedly alter outflow facility.


Under the auspices of its 'Education Revolution', the Federal Labor Government is currently implementing a national curriculum for schools. Representing an important intervention into educational practice and governance, the Australian Curriculum offers a unique research opportunity, providing substantial scope for the examination of the changing systems and school-level practices entailed in large-scale curriculum reform. Research into the Australian Curriculum also presents a valuable opportunity to develop educational research methodologies that attend to the complex and multifaceted processes of curriculum reform, from systems to classrooms. Taking two of the disciplinary towers of modern curricula (English and mathematics) and Australia's two largest jurisdictions (New South Wales and Victoria) as the focus, this article draws on a three-year Australian Research Council Linkage Project to outline an approach to researching major curriculum reform.


Objectives To compare the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes according to infants who are born small for gestational age (SGA; <10th centile) or large for gestational age (LGA; >90th centile), as defined by birthweight centiles that are non-customised (ie, standardised by sex and gestational age only) and customised (by sex, gestational age, maternal weight, height, parity, and ethnic group). Design Comparative, population based, record linkage study with meta-analysis of results. Setting Denmark, Finland, Norway, Wales, and England (city of Bradford), 1986-2019. Participants 2 129 782 infants born at term in birth registries. Main outcome measures Stillbirth, neonatal death, infant death, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, and low Apgar score (<7) at 5 minutes. Results Relative to those infants born average for gestational age (AGA), both SGA and LGA births were at increased risk of all five outcomes, but observed relative risks were similar irrespective of whether non-customised or customised charts were used. For example, for SGA versus AGA births, when non-customised and customised charts were used, relative risks pooled over countries were 3.60 (95% confidence interval 3.29 to 3.93) versus 3.58 (3.02 to 4.24) for stillbirth, 2.83 (2.18 to 3.67) versus 3.32 (2.05 to 5.36) for neonatal death, 2.82 (2.07 to 3.83) versus 3.17 (2.20 to 4.56) for infant death, 1.66 (1.49 to 1.86) versus 1.54 (1.30 to 1.81) for low Apgar score at 5 minutes, and (based on Bradford data only) 1.97 (1.74 to 2.22) versus 1.94 (1.70 to 2.21) for admission to the neonatal intensive care unit. The estimated sensitivity of combined SGA or LGA births to identify the three mortality outcomes ranged from 31% to 34% for non-customised charts and from 34% to 38% for customised charts, with a specificity of 82% and 80% with non-customised and customised charts, respectively. Conclusions These results suggest an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes of a similar magnitude among SGA or LGA term infants when customised and non-customised centiles are used. Use of customised charts for SGA/LGA births—over and above use of non-customised charts for SGA/LGA births—is unlikely to provide benefits in terms of identifying term births at risk of these outcomes.


Genetic progress depends on accurate knowledge of the genetic composition of a population or herd including level of inbreeding and parentage. However, in many circumstances, such as at an individual property level, the relationships between animals may be unknown, or at best, only partly known. In this study, we used DNA from 938 animals and genotypes from ~54 000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) to determine the genetic structure of a stud from Central Queensland. Animals on the study were bred using multi-sire mating in mobs of composite tropically adapted cattle of the Senepol, Belmont and Bonsmara breeds. Following genotyping using an array of 54 000 SNP, we were able to separate animals into breed groups using principal components and show that ~400 SNP were sufficient to separate animals into stable groups if the sample was genetically diverse. However, precise principal component values were only achieved when a few thousand SNP were used. We characterised the pedigree relationships between individuals using a genome relationship matrix. At least 3000 SNP were required to calculate accurate relationship coefficients between individuals. Around 19% of paired comparisons between animals showed similarity equivalent to sharing a great-grandparent or 1/64 shared ancestry. Approximately 8% of the individuals showed more than 10% inbreeding. To demonstrate the utility of calculating the relationship coefficients, we counted the tick burden on each animal at more than one time and then calculated the heritability of tick burden of h2 = 0.46 (±0.08). There was no significant genetic difference in tick burden between Belmont and Bonsmara cattle compared with Senepol on this property once a genetic relationship matrix was included to account for co-ancestry of individuals.


Abstract Bowman-Birk inhibitors (BBIs) are a well-studied family of canonical inhibitor proteins of serine proteinases. In nature, the active region of BBIs possesses a highly conserved Thr at the P2 position. The importance of this residue has been reemphasized by synthetic BBI reactive site loop proteinomimetics. In particular, this residue was exclusively identified for active chymotrypsin inhibitors selected from a BBI template-assisted combinatorial peptide library. A further kinetic analysis of 26 P2 variant peptides revealed that Thr provides both optimal binding affinity and optimal resistance against enzymatic turnover by chymotrypsin. Herein, we report the H-NMR spectroscopic study of a 5-membered sub-set of these reactive site loop peptides representing a stepwise elimination of the Thr side-chain functionalities and inversion of its side-chain chirality. The P2 Thr variant adopts a three-dimensional structure that closely mimics the one of the corresponding region of the complete protein. This validates the use of this template for the investigation of structure-function relationships. While the overall backbone geometry is similar in all studied variants, conformational changes induced by the modification of the P2 side chain have now been identified and provide a rational explanation of the kinetically observed functional differences. Eliminating the γ-methyl group has little structural effect, whereas the elimination of the γ-oxygen atom or the inversion of the side-chain chirality results in characteristic changes to the intramolecular hydrogen bond network. We conclude that the transannular hydrogen bond between the P2 Thr side-chain hydroxyl and the P5′ backbone amide is an important conformational constraint and directs the hydrophobic contact of the P2 Thr side chain with the enzyme surface in a functionally optimal geometry, both in the proteinomimetic and the native protein. In at least four canonical inhibitor protein families similar structural arrangements for a conserved P2 Thr have been observed, which suggests an analogous functional role. Substitutions at P2 of the proteinomimetic also affect the conformational balance between cis and trans isomers at a distant Pro-Pro motif (P3′-P4′). Presented with a mixture of cis/trans isomers chymotrypsin appears to interact preferably with the conformer that retains the cis-P3′ Pro-trans-P4′ Pro geometry found in the parent BBI protein.


Using a high-frequency expansion in periodically driven extended Hubbard models, where the strengths and ranges of density–density interactions are arbitrary, we obtain the effective interactions and bandwidth, which depend sensitively on the polarization of the driving field. Then, we numerically calculate modulations of correlation functions in a quarterfilled extended Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor interactions on a triangular lattice with trimers after monocycle pulse excitation. We discuss how the resultant modulations are compatible with the effective interactions and bandwidth derived above on the basis of their dependence on the polarization of photoexcitation, which is easily accessible by experiments. Some correlation functions after monocycle pulse excitation are consistent with the effective interactions, which are weaker or stronger than the original ones. However, the photoinduced enhancement of anisotropic charge correlations previously discussed for the three-quarter-filled organic conductor α-(bis[ethylenedithio]-tetrathiafulvalene)2I3 [α-(BEDT-TTF)2I3] in the metallic phase is not fully explained by the effective interactions or bandwidth, which are derived independently of the filling.


Today, the news reports by the mainstream media in Britain and the United States play an important role in the international arena. As a research area of critical discourse analysis, news discourse has attracted much attention. This study selected research materials from a series of reports by The Economist, a well-known international business and finance magazine, on China's economic development. The appraisal theory and its three subsystems are used as the analysis framework. The study explores the discourse resource choices and the characteristics of the magazine's evaluation resources in its economic reports on China. By analyzing and understanding the evaluation resources of foreign media on China's economy reports, the study attempts to demonstrate the implicit messages behind the discourse resources so as to help the readers better understand the evaluation of foreign media on China's economy, and analyze the channels for their realization, so as to improve readers' critical reading ability.


Abstract This article examines the recent growth of culinary tourism in the Basque Country (Hegoalde or Southern Basque Country), and how its effects have shaped the use of Euskara (the Basque language) and multilingual practices through concepts of materiality. Derived from my research, which looks at how Euskara is used to promote gastronomic products, this analysis relies upon the two concepts of geosemiotics and language materiality to reveal how materiality influences value and language use in touristic settings. We can analyze language as it is materially placed in the world by studying the physical substances on which an inscription is made. This materiality also exists as part of a stratigraphy of non-neutral forms that include a wide range of presentations that influence how we interact with text, while also providing a lens through which consumption and material culture studies emerge. Derived from interviews, the examination of beverage labels, and observations of the linguistic landscape, the findings of this research illustrate how Euskara is used – despite some producers' reluctance – alongside more dominant languages as culinary tourism increases. In doing so, it highlights emergent opposing reactions to tourism that express concern for the changing social, economic, linguistic, and political environment. Through the examples illustrated, the materiality of Euskara can increase the value of both the language and marketed products. However, the added or even decreased value of a language is contingent on the physical and social landscape in which gastronomy is promoted. By developing ideas of how and where language materiality, commodification, and value are produced, advocates of minoritized languages such as Euskara can better strategize the promotion of their gastronomic and tourist sectors without losing the cultural and linguistic identity that contributes to these sectors' value.


In the recent decades, women have rapidly involved in career development. Thus, the average age they seek pregnancy to be well over 40years. In light of the inverse relationship between fertility and age, a significant number of these women seekin-vitrofertilisation (IVF) to achieve pregnancy. The concept of IVF has established that postmenopausal women can get pregnant and give birth to children. However, seen as a variant reproductive norm. The practice has triggered concerns and criticisms about pressure on the limited donated oocytes and the various clinical challenges associated with postmenopausal motherhood and their offspring's. Also, failure to have children at the appropriate time isseen as anact of selfishness. Arguably, most of the concerns are not peculiar to postmenopausal women. In the context of reproductive rights, this could be seen as anact of discrimination because the postmenopausal woman has the right to personal discretion.Keywords: Postmenopausal, IVF, ethics


In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy control scheme is introduced for permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs). The adaptive control strategy consists of a Lyapunov stability-based fuzzy speed controller that capitalizes on the machine's inverse model to achieve accurate tracking with unknown nonlinear system dynamics. As such, robustness to modeling and parametric uncertainties is achieved. Moreover, no explicit currents loop regulation is needed, which simplifies the control structure and unlike other control strategies, no a priori offline training, weights initialization, parameters knowledge, voltage, or current transducer is required. The system's convergence and stability are proved by Lyapunov stability theory, which yields an improved performance. Simulation results for different situations highlight the performance of the proposed controller in transient, steady-state, and standstill conditions. Furthermore, the adaptive fuzzy systems inherent parallelism makes them a good candidate for implementation in real-time PMSM drive systems.


A consomic rat strain is one in which an entire chromosome is introgressed into the isogenic background of another inbred strain using marker assisted selection. The development and initial physiologic screening of two inbred consomic rat panels on two genetic backgrounds (44 strains) is well underway. The primary uses of consomic strains are: (1) to assign traits and quantitative trait loci (QTL) to chromosomes by surveying the panel of strains with substituted chromosomes; (2) to rapidly develop congenic strains over a narrow region using several approaches described in this review and perform F2 linkage studies to positionally locate QTL in a fixed genetic background. In addition, consomic strains overcome many of the problems encountered with segregating crosses where, even if linkage is found, each individual in the cross is genetically unique and the combination of genes cannot be reproduced or studied in detail. Consomic strains provide greater statistical power to detect linkage than traditional F2 crosses because of their fixed genetic backgrounds, and can produce sufficient numbers of genetically identical rats to validate the relationship between a trait and a particular chromosome. These strains allow studies to be performed in a replicative or longitudinal manner to elucidate in greater detail the sequential changes responsible for the observed phenotypes of these animals, and they enable one to assess the impact of a causal gene region in a genome by allowing comparisons of the effect of replacement of a specific chromosome upon a disease susceptible or resistant genomic background. Consomics can be used to quickly develop multiple chromosome substitution models to investigate gene–gene interactions of complex traits or diseases. Finally, they often provide the best available inbred control strain for particular physiological comparisons with the inbred parental strains. Consomic rat strains are proving to be a unique scientific resource that greatly extends our understanding of genes and complex normal and pathological function.


According to a common opinion, if all designs produce proportional likeliLoods, one sbonld make an identical inference about a parameter from the data d irrespective of the design which yields d. This thesis is not surprising in Bayesian approach. In fact, Bayesians support that inference is made in terms of the posterior alone and it is independent of design. On the contrary, the corrected Bayes formula sbows that the posterior depends on the sampling rule s. Namely, in principle, the piece of information about s is relevant for the purpose of inference. Besides, the paradoxical consequences of the irrelevance of sampling rule in statistical inference (both in general and in the case of sampling from finite populations) can be considered as counter-examples against this thesis. In conformity with the sampling rule, a hypothesis h is supported rather than another. In other words, the equiprobability assumption is to be linked to the idea of the impartiality of sampling with respect to the set of the considered hypotheses. In line with such a conception, prior probabilities are determined in an objective way according to the original version of Jeffreys' prior, and the use of Bayes formula as an inductive tool is confirmed (in sampling from finite/infinite populations).


This study used semantic network analysis to investigate the themes of JUUL electronic cigarette-related messages on Instagram posted by three account types (commercial, vape community, and organic users) and explore the function of hashtags in the JUUL-related discourse across these groups. Posts were collected from 1 March 2018 to 15 May 2018. We conducted network analyses for each user group, with separate analyses to examine texts with and without inclusion of hashtags. Network statistics determined which words occurred most frequently, which words co-occurred or clustered together, and what communication function hashtags perform. Analyses of message content with hashtags included revealed that the largest cluster of terms by account type was brand promotion (commercial), brand engagement (community), and youth social use of JUUL and other substances, such as marijuana (organic users). On removal of hashtags, the largest cluster for each group was online and offline retailer promotion (commercial), JUUL promotion or shares of existing promotional content (community), and youth social use (organic users). Commercial accounts used hashtags to increase brand visibility and engage with vape communities present on Instagram. Community accounts served as discursive intermediaries between commercial accounts and organic users, fostering organic user engagement with brands. Social media serve as an extension of real-life peer groups among youth and young adults. Community accounts, which likely have greater credibility among users compared to commercial accounts, may help enhance the effects of targeted promotion and normalize vaping comprehensive regulation of commercial digital tobacco marketing is necessary to reduce the amount of commercial content youth and other consumers are exposed to through overt commercial and influential community accounts.


An attempt is made to relate the structure and properties of the principal extensor muscles and bones of the frog leg, to their performance in jumping and swimming. The following data are presented in turn. First, the muscles are described and their dimensions, and moment arms about the joints, are given. Secondly, the maximum isometric tension of each muscle, measured in tests with excised muscles, is reported. Stresses are calculated from these forces and the dimensions previously given. Thirdly, measurements are presented of the changing angle of each joint as the leg extends in jumping, and of the magnitude and direction of the forces exerted on the ground (measured by means of a force platform). The angles are used, in conjunction with the moment arms, to calculate the range and rate of shortening of each muscle, and hence the strain and rates of strain of their component fibres. The forces are used, with the moment arms, to calculate the forces and stresses exerted by the muscles. Fourthly, measurements taken from film of frogs swimming are used to estimate the force exerted on the water during the propulsive stroke. Muscle performance in swimming and jumping is compared. Finally, measurements of the stiffness and strength in bending of the femur and tibiofibula are presented, and related to the forces which act in jumping.

The Discussion section of the paper includes an attempt to define the optimal working conditions for a muscle subjected to inertial loading.


We present Tails, an open-source deep-learning framework for the identification and localization of comets in the image data of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), a robotic optical time-domain survey currently in operation at the Palomar Observatory in California, USA. Tails employs a custom EfficientDet-based architecture and is capable of finding comets in single images in near real time, rather than requiring multiple epochs as with traditional methods. The system achieves state-of-the-art performance with 99% recall, a 0.01% false-positive rate, and a 1–2 pixel rms error in the predicted position. We report the initial results of the Tails efficiency evaluation in a production setting on the data of the ZTF Twilight survey, including the first AI-assisted discovery of a comet (C/2020 T2) and the recovery of a comet (P/2016 J3 = P/2021 A3).


Ngosong, C., Halpern, M. T., Whalen, J. K. and Smith, D. L. 2013. Purslane ( Portulaca oleracea L.) has potential for desalinizing greenhouse recirculation water. Can. J. Plant Sci. 93: 961-964. Recirculating fertigation solutions improves the environmental sustainability of hydroponics-based vegetable production in Canada. Purslane is an edible halophyte with proported medicinal benefits that could absorb excess salts from recirculation water. It grew well in hydroponic solutions with up to 1000 mg NaCl L-1. Greatest Na absorption occurred during earlier vegetative growth.


Probability discounting, a subset of behavioral economic research, has a rich history of investigating choice behavior, especially as it pertains to risky decision making. Gambling involves both choice behavior and risky decision making which makes it an ideal behavior to investigate with discounting tasks. With proximity to a casino being one of the biggest risk factors, studies into the American Indian population have been a neglected population of study. Using outcome measures from a pre-scan probability discounting task, the current study equated the scan task to evaluate behavioral and neurobiological differences in gamblers vs. non-gamblers. Gamblers showed differences in behavioral tasks (lower discounting rates) but not in patterns of neural activation.