TEST is an independent research and consultancy group, founded in 1972 to provide a multidisciplinary service in the fields of planning, transport, and environment. Early projects investigated the environmental impact of the movement of goods and people in modern industrial societies, for clients such as the UK Department of the Environment, OECD, and the Transport and Road Research Laboratory. Other studies analysed the energy advantages of the transfer of road freight to rail, investigated environmental and planning aspects of the Kuala Lumpur Transportation Study, and evaluated alternative alignments for a rail-link which had been proposed as part of the Maplin Airport Project. TEST involvement in this field has continued with an 18-months study for the Department of the Environment entitled 'Improving the Pedestrian's Environment'. Increasing involvement in environmental impact analysis has, however, broadened the scope of our operations. Although TEST has never exceeded a dozen full-time members, close links are maintained with the Economics, Planning, Engineering, and Biological Sciences, faculties of a number of universities, and with other research agencies in the environmental field. The basis of TEST'S approach has been the use of small, multidisciplinary teams—an approach made possible by our ability to call on a wide range of specialist advice for particular projects. From time to time, work is carried out jointly with consulting engineers, planners, and economists, which helps to maintain a greater flexibility and expertise in the face of changing needs. While the analysis of environmental impact is still a paramount concern, we are also concerned to see environmental planning mature from an essentially curative to a preventive discipline, tailoring development to suit identified environmental constraints rather than sewing patches on a damaged environmental fabric. A recent project which involved elements of both approaches was the Ismailia Master-plan Study, where TEST was a member of an international planning consortium engaged in the reconstruction and development of the Ismailia subregion, Egypt. Our Ismailia brief was to explore the possible environmental and ecological implications of proposed development. Given that a substantial area of semi-arid land was to be reclaimed for agriculture, one area of research was the possible spread of parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis, and so control measures were identified to suit different land-use policies. Accelerated eutrophication was another consideration, particularly in Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lakes. The programme for the expansion of Ismailia was monitored for any sources of water enrichment or pollution, and a sewage farm was relocated to preserve recreational areas on Lake Timsah. But our major concern was the potential impact of land reclamation projects and new agricultural techniques on Lake Manzala, the largest of the Delta Lakes, and its associated wetlands. The probable impact on fisheries and wildlife were evaluated, as far as existing data allowed, and a preliminary study was undertaken into the feasibility of improving the tradH tional lake fisheries alongside the development of intensive fish-farming projects. Support was given to the proposal that 'biosphere reserves' be established in the Manzala area—an idea advanced by Professor Maher Ali, Chairman of the Department of Plant Protection at Assiut University. Since the Ismailia Master-plan was presented to the Egyptian Ministry of Housing and Reconstruction, as well as to the United Nations Development Programme, in March 1976, TEST has continued research into pressing environmental problems in the same general region—particularly into desertification, desert reclamation, and the opportunities for (and constraints upon) economic development projects in wetland areas.


The electrochemical storage of hydrogen on a range of carbon nanotubes has been investigated using electrochemical techniques and in situ Raman spectroelectrochemistry. An aggregated, single-walled nanotube sample was found to have the highest apparent storage capacity of 0.22 wt % (3 M KOH). Raman spectroelectrochemistry confirmed that no irreversible structural changes occur upon charging. The storage was found to be primarily due to the sorption of H2 gas in the pores of the nanotube aggregate, combined with some chemisorption on the amorphous carbon impurities in the sample. It is, therefore, concluded that the observed storage capacity is due to the small pores and the presence of carbonaceous impurities.


Global trends taken for granted in recent decades - the big expansion in global financial assets compared with underlying economic activity, growing global financial integration, shrinking role of the state in financial systems, and rising share of cross-border ownership of financial institutions - may reverse over the foreseeable future. In addition, the structure of financial systems, particularly in developed countries, will likely become oriented less toward capital markets and more toward traditional (and simpler) banking activities. The impact on economic growth and overall welfare is likely to be negative - perhaps the price we have to pay for living in a brave new (and presumably safer) financial world.


The use of TCP for several Internet applications today mandates its adoption as a transport layer protocol in heterogeneous networks comprised of both wire-line and wireless links. However, the congestion control mechanisms of TCP cause the losses over the wireless channel to be perceived as an indication of congestion and the data transfer rate of TCP to be adversely impacted. The solutions that have been proposed over the years to troubleshoot the problem have their share of drawbacks. The use of adaptive link layer techniques in emerging wireless technologies opens up the possibility of a cross-layer approach for TCP performance enhancement. In our work we outline an optimization framework based on the congestion control dynamics of a bulk-transfer TCP flow. By identifying TCP window evolution patterns in the dynamics, we develop a generic optimization framework for throughput enhancement via adaptive link layer measures. We demonstrate the performance increase on application of the optimization approach. We next investigate a cross-layer multi-hop routing approach based on link connectivity assessment in mobile ad-hoc networks. We suggest a framework for proactive enhancements to the Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) protocol and implement the proposed measures within the protocol format. We finally address efficient packet scheduling for multipleinterface wireless systems. The demand for bandwidth aggregation in such systems has resulted in a pronounced need for appropriate packet scheduling measures. In this thesis we can achieve reduction in buffer lengths, packet delays, multi-user interference, and device energy consumption. KeywordsWireless Network, OLSR Protocol, TCP.


Rap music has a reputation for being misogynistic, but surprisingly little research has systematically investigated this dimension of the music. This study assesses the portrayal of women in a representative sample of 403 rap songs. Content analysis identified five gender-related themes in this body of music — themes that contain messages regarding ''essential'' male and female characteristics and that espouse a set of conduct norms for men and women. Our analysis situates rap music within the context of larger cultural and music industry norms and the local, neighborhood conditions that inspired this music in the first place.


An accelerated life testing reliability programme for miniature thermoelectric generators, fabricated using MOS processing technology, is described. From this, it is shown that the mean time to failure of a device is 5*104 h at the extreme of its normal operating range, i.e. 200 degrees C. The results of the programme also provide an insight into the failure mechanisms associated with miniature thermoelectric devices and enable the dominant mode to be detected. Consequently, the sections of the process sequence which would benefit from modification are identified.


Motivation -- If modelling is included in the requirements analysis phase of a systematic interaction design method, it mostly focuses on some kind of formalism, e.g., task modelling and requirements specification. However, when designing in collaboration with non-expert, stakeholders this will not work.
 Approach -- This workshop will allow exchange of ideas, experiences, techniques and tools for collaboration with stakeholders of interaction design early in the design process, in order to aim at a more creative as well as more user-centred requirement development.
 Limitations/Implications -- Our finding will in no way guarantee "the best design solution", but they show a type of creative collaboration between stakeholders and designers in a very early design phase, which allows considering and exploring new solutions before these need to be prototyped or implemented.
 Originality/Value -- The techniques we intend to discuss are in no way new, however their application early in design in this open ended approach is not well documented and, hence, awareness and comparing notes on successes and failure experiences will allow us to learn from each other and help us develop a general understanding among interaction designers.
 Take away message -- Non-formal modelling tools and techniques for early collaboration with stakeholders are relatively cheap and, at the other hand, uniquely stimulating techniques for identifying both the boundaries and the opportunities of the design space for interactive systems.


A cohort of women aged 14–29 in 1993 was identified from the General Practice Research Database and followed up for a period of 4 years. Patient files were searched for evidence of use of emergency contraception and regular contraception. Of the 95 007 women, 15 105 (16%) had received emergency contraception during the study period (an average of 5% per annum). There was a small year on year increase in uptake of emergency contraception between 1994 and 1997. Only 4% of emergency contraception users received emergency contraception more than twice in any year. More than 70% of those who had no previous record of use of regular contraception had used regular contraception within 1 year of using emergency contraception. Teenagers were more likely than other age groups to use emergency contraception, to be repeat users of emergency contraception and to fail to start regular contraception after first use of emergency contraception until later in the study period. These results disprove the notion of widespread repeated use of emergency contraception. They show that provision of an emergency contraception service does not result in failure to initiate regular contraception or abandonment of regular contraception; rather they show many women using regular contraception for the first time after use of emergency contraception.


Background: Lipid-lowering therapy, particularly with hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), has been shown to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with and without known coronary artery disease; however adherence is poor particularly among racial/ethnic minorities. Motivational interviewing (MINT) is a patient centered intervention that has been shown to improve self-management through behavior change.
Purpose: The aim is to determine if a call center-based motivational interviewing intervention is more effective than usual care at increasing long term adherence to statins (12 months) among minority subjects.
Methods: Using a randomized design we will compare usual care and MINT. We will include adult black and Hispanic subjects enrolled in a large health benefits company who were newly started in a statin. We will recruit diabetic and non-diabetic subjects to evaluate the impact of MINT in these two distinct populations. We will identify eligible subjects from a large administrative database using a previously validated algorithm. The primary outcome will be medication adherence measured using pharmacy claims as the medication possession ratio. We will define adequate adherence as 80% refill over a period of a year. Our goal is to recruit 800 minority subjects and to have an equal distribution of Black, Hispanics, diabetics and non-diabetics.
Conclusions: The study will evaluate a non-traditional but scalable intervention to curtail the epidemic of lack of adherence to statin therapy.


Does gastrin stimulate gastric acid secretion by direct action on oxyntic cells, by releasing histamine, or by being potentiated by histamine? Previous studies in the mouse pointed to gastrin-regulated histamine release. Guinea pig and rat are well known to vary in their sensitivity to histamine. Therefore, the effects of histamine and pentagastrin were compared quantitatively on isolated, lumen-perfused, stomach preparations from these species in the absence and presence of histamine H2-receptor blockade. The loss of potency of histamine in the rat was mirrored by a loss of potency of pentagastrin consistent with the idea that pentagastrin acts by releasing histamine. In the rat, a well-defined pentagastrin curve was obtained in the presence of histamine H2-receptor block as though pentagastrin acts both directly on the oxyntic cell and indirectly by releasing histamine. It was not necessary to invoke a potentiating interaction between histamine and pentagastrin at the oxyntic cell; the two effects appeared simply to add. Potentiation was observed, however, between other combinations of stimuli, for example, between vagal nerve and pentagastrin stimulation. The physiological consequences of these results are discussed.


Introduction: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has a poor prognosis, despite aggressive therapies and a recent expansion in the array of treatments. Treatment is often determined by mutations, which risk-stratify a patient's leukemia or can identify mutations that serve as therapeutic targets. Although common mutations in AML have been extensively studied, less research has formally characterized the order by which mutations tend to occur and how this order relates to properties of the disease.
 Methods: We leveraged published, single-cell DNA sequencing data from three institutions to model the clonal evolution of AML. Sequencing had been performed using targeted sequencing panels covering 19 to 37 genes, and driver mutations were identified using conservative filters. Mutation trees were created using Single Cell Inference of Tumor Evolution (SCITE). Clonal evolution patterns, including across clinical timepoints, were identified and compared to patient characteristics, disease phenotype, and outcomes. The BeatAML dataset was leveraged to explore associations between mutation order and gene expression.
 Results: Using 835 driver mutations from 276 samples and 209 patients, we identified 223 total unique mutation patterns. Branched evolution primarily involves FLT3 and RAS pathway mutations, whereas certain mutation pairs, such as NPM1 and FLT3, always occurred linearly in the same clone. Although some mutation pairs, such as those related to DNA methylation versus the RAS pathway, tended to occur in a specific order, several cases exhibited atypical orderings. Early signaling gene mutations were associated with younger patient age and increased signaling mutation homozygosity while NRAS-first cases were associated with increased monocyte counts. NRAS-first cases were also associated with distinct gene expression patterns in the BeatAML dataset. Paired diagnosis and relapse samples revealed novel associations between mutations gained at relapse and their clonal context, and these analyses supported a relative fitness advantage for signaling mutations in clones containing mutations in NPM1 or genes affecting DNA methylation.
 Conclusions: Clonal evolution in AML can be reconstructed at scale using single-cell DNA sequencing data, and different mutation acquisition patterns are associated with distinct leukemia and patient characteristics, despite cases having similar co-mutation patterns.
 Citation Format: Matthew Schwede, Katharina Jahn, Linde A Miles, Robert L Bowman, Jack Kuipers, Troy M Robinson, Asiri Ediriwickrema, Andrew J Gentles, Ross Levine, Niko Beerenwinkel, Koichi Takahashi, Ravindra Majeti. Characterizing the order of mutation acquisition in acute myeloid leukemia using large-scale single-cell sequencing [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome; 2023 Jan 23-25; Austin, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Blood Cancer Discov 2023;4(3_Suppl):Abstract nr A49.


The Crisis and Miss Emily's Perceptions draws an analogy between the theme and the characters in Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" and the global financial crisis. In Faulkner's story, all the characters try to deny realities, thus allowing an unstable situation to last longer than it should have. The paper briefly reviews the literature on perception biases and argues that all economic actors have, to some degree, been refusing to face realities, which helped the crisis to unfold.


For rectifier circuits with power factor correction, boost converters are generally used, and as a result the output voltage becomes limited. To expand the controlled voltage range, buck-boost or Ćuk converter types should be utilized. This paper presents and is discussed on a circuit configuration with power factor correction primarily by a third type of buck boost converter. termed a `canonical switching cell'. Firstly, various type of converter are compared in terms of the mechanisms of the power transmission and the characteristics based on the switching ripple and switching surge voltage. Such switching surge is resolved and represented by power flow chart, and as a result, CSC converter is the best choice with respect to PFC converters.


Frontal lobe dementia (FLD) is characterised clinically by personality changes and a progressive speech disorder finally leading to mutism. In the course of the disease also other neurological syndromes may occur such as parkinsonism, a partial Klüver-Bucy-syndrome or a degeneration of motoneurons (FLD + MND). The latter leads to death within about three years. The clinical diagnosis of FLD is supported by functional (SPECT) and morphological (CT, MRI) investigations. From 1988 to 1997, 9 cases of FLD (6 female, 3 male) were clinically diagnosed at our department of Gerontology, LNK Linz. In two of these cases the clinical diagnosis was confirmed histopathologically. Characteristically, all except one patients showed a presenile beginning of the disease. The clinical course was slowly progressive with a mean duration of about 10 years. Special attention was given to additional signs and symptoms of motor neuron disease, parkinsonism and hyperorality. Six patients suffered from FLD + MND; parkinsonism (rigid-akinetic type) and a partial Klüver-Bucy-syndrome were diagnosed in 5 cases each. In histopathological investigations the incidence of FLD seems to increase. This type of dementia should be considered as an important diagnosis differential of presenile dementia-syndromes.


The presence of near mergers has long been a puzzle for linguists due to the notions such as contrast, categorization as well as the postulated symmetry between production and perception (Labov 1994). The present research aims to provide a case study of tonal near merger in Dalian, a less well-known Mandarin dialect spoken in Northeast China. Using a case study of tonal near merger as a jumping off point, this paper draws on insights from the hypothesis of lexical diffusion (Wang 1969) to illustrate that sound change could indeed take a long period of time to complete its course.


A computing paradigm popularized by the search for life in outer space is now being directed at understanding life from the inside. Two recently launched programs, one independent, the other under the auspices of Stanford University, have developed SETI@home-like distributed computing programs that rely on lay participants' computing power to help them unlock the biological mystery of how proteins fold. More specifically, the Folderol and Folding@home projects are attempting to shed light on the protein-folding mystery using the screensaver-based distributed computing model popularized by the SETI@home project. Although each project takes a different approach to the folding problem, both rely on ever-increasing PC performance and the willingness of lay users to participate in solving this biological mystery.


Based on the technology of contemporary climatic statistics、diagnosis and prediction and kriging insert-value means of geo-statistic method,the temperature,precipitation and runoff date in recent 48 years from 6 weather stations in Zhang-ye region were analyzed,the change scope of temperature,precipitation and runoff showed visible.The result showed that:(1)The mean temperature of Zhang-ye region was from 3.97℃ to 8.04℃.The ascending trend of mean air temperature at Shandan was the most obvious and the tendency rate of air temperature was 0.47℃/10a;the slowest was at Gaotai and the tendency rate of air temperature was 0.19℃/10a.The warmest climate occured in 1998 and the mean air temperature was 9.06℃;the coldest was in 1956 and the mean air temperature was 2.5℃.(2)The precipitation distributing was imbalance and the range of change of precipitation was above 200mm in the different zone.The precipitation changed from 67.11mm to 193.30mm in the summer,and was from 4.69mm to 10.48 in winter.The results showed that the precipitation distributing was imbalance in different season and its variety scope was different in the winter and summer.(3)The abrupt change of air temperature in Zhang-ye started from 1991,and the air temperature ascending tendency was obvious.The abrupt change of air temperature in west branch area was same as Zhang-ye region.The abrupt change of air temperature of east branch area began in 1993,and drop behind 2 years compare with Zhangye region.The abrupt change of prediction in Zhang-ye region did not happened.The periodic phenomenon of precipitation was remarkable,and the first main period of precipitation was 15a and the second mian period was 7a,but the periodic phenomenon of air temperature was not remarkable.(4)The temperature of plain was not the impact determinant of runoff,but the impact for runoff was active.Although precipitation accorded with runoff in space-time and the trend of change was decreasing,the change scope of runoff was more great than precipitation.


Novel polymer optical sensors for detecting effective anti-inflammatory concentrations of peimine as fritillaria alkaloid drugs are successfully designed and fabricated by the metal-printing directly defined active waveguide technique. The erbium-containing cross-linked copolymer and the organic–inorganic grafting PMMA material are used as a sensing core layer and cladding window, respectively. Multi-hydrogen-bonding affinity interactions between the tested drug and the sensing polymer layer are analyzed by the molecular docking model. The multimode interference (MMI) waveguide sensor structure is optimized to design. The sensitivity included of the bulk and surface parts for the waveguide optical sensor is analyzed. The optical transmission field of the device is simulated based on the refractive indices of different peimine concentrations. The sensitivity of the device is measured as 2 × 103 RIU−1. The resolution and detection limit of the sensor are characterized to be 2.5 × 10−4 and 1.3 × 10−7 RIU, respectively. The effective anti-inflammatory concentration range (10-25 mg/L) of the peimine solution could be efficiently detected in the scope of 5 dB corresponding to the maximum output optical power change. Relative optical gain of the chip is obtained as 3 dB for achieving calibration of the sensor. The technique could realize a simple, rapid and controlled process with high sensitivity for detecting effective anti-inflammatory concentration of alkaloid drugs in traditional Chinese medicine.


Tanzania's rapid labor productivity growth has been accompanied by a proliferation of small, largely informal firms. Using Tanzania's first nationally representative survey of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)—this paper explores the nature of these businesses. It finds that these firms are located in both rural and urban areas and that they operate primarily in trade services and manufacturing. Roughly half of all business owners say they would not leave their job for a full-time salaried position. Fifteen percent of these small businesses contribute significantly to economy-wide labor productivity. The most important policy implication of the evidence presented in this paper is that if the goal is to grow MSMEs with the potential to contribute to productive employment, policies must be targeted at the most promising firms.


PURPOSE
To characterize the motor control of the masseter and temporal muscles and the morphology of the masseter muscles during mastication in individuals with normal occlusion and to verify the consistency between surface electromyography (sEMG) and ultrasound (USD).

METHODS
Participants were 22 adults, of both genders, with no alterations of the oral myofuntional system. The procedures performed included sEMG of the masseter (MM) and temporal (TM) muscles and USD of the MM, each during three tasks: resting condition and maximum voluntary dental clench with and without cotton rolls.

RESULTS
The following statistical tests were used: Kolmogorov-Smirnov, paired t-test and Spearman correlation (significance level of 5%). The sEMG data indicated a significant difference between the MM and TM during the maximum voluntary clench with and without cotton rolls, and the TM was more active than the TM in both clenching tasks. No significant difference was observed between the sides of the face when assessed with sEMG or USD. A significant positive correlation between the exams was observed for the left maximum voluntary dental clench with and without cotton rolls, and a trend toward significance was found for the right maximum dental clench without cotton rolls.

CONCLUSION
The comparison of sEMG to USD for the investigation of muscle function reveals important information about the physiology of skeletal muscles. The results of the present study suggest a correlation between sEMG and USD, i.e., between increased electrical activity and the corresponding increase in muscle thickness.


Transfer RNAs anticodon post-transcriptional modifications are responsible to the high fidelity of protein synthesis. In eubacteria, two genome-encoded transfer RNA (tRNA) species bear the same CAU sequence as the anticodons, which are differentiated by modified cytidines at the wobble positions. We have determined the structure model of the hypothetical protein. The structure unexpectedly reveals an idiosyncratic RNA helicase module fused with a GCN5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) fold, which intimately cross interact. The stereo chemical quality of the protein model was checked by using in silico analysis with SWISS- MODEL, PyMol, PROCHECK, ProSA and QMEAN servers. These results may be helpful for further investigations for determining crystal structure of the hypotheitical protein and developing target molecules to inhibit Enterobacter aerogenes.


ABSTRACT In many fungi, transcriptional responses to alkaline pH are mediated by conserved signal transduction machinery. In the homologous system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the zinc-finger transcription factor Rim101 is activated under alkaline conditions to regulate transcription of target genes. The activation of Rim101 is exerted through proteolytic processing of its C-terminal inhibitory domain. Regulated processing of Rim101 requires several proteins, including the calpain-like protease Rim13/Cpl1, a putative protease scaffold Rim20, putative transmembrane proteins Rim9, and Rim21/Pal2, and Rim8/Pal3 of unknown biochemical function. To identify new regulatory components and thereby determine the order of action among the components in the pathway, we screened for suppressors of rim9Δ and rim21Δ mutations. Three identified suppressors—did4/vps2, vps24, and vps4—all belonged to "class E" vps mutants, which are commonly defective in multivesicular body sorting. These mutations suppress rim8, rim9, and rim21 but not rim13 or rim20, indicating that Rim8, Rim9, and Rim21 act upstream of Rim13 and Rim20 in the pathway. Disruption of DID4, VPS24, or VPS4, by itself, uncouples pH sensing from Rim101 processing, leading to constitutive Rim101 activation. Based on extensive epistasis analysis between pathway-activating and -inactivating mutations, a model for architecture and regulation of the Rim101 pathway is proposed.


In order to determine the impact of the application of the American Thyrold Associations (ATA) criteria for the diagnosis of hypothyroidism in pregnant women in the health district of Vigo, Spain, concentrations of serum thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (T4L) and anti-thyroid antibodies were analyzed, comparing the frequency of pregnant women diagnosed with hypothyroidism and applying the criteria used in the hormone laboratory at Xeral Hospital and referential criteria established by ATA. The application of ATA referential criteria increased by 29.6% the number of female patients diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The application of ATA guidelines had an impact on the measurement of TSH concentrations in pregnant women, which calls for an evaluation of referential values of TSH based on the population and the local diagnostic methods.


We analyze the dynamics of soliton creation in a frequency-shifted feedback ring laser with injected continuous wave seed. We show that for an active cavity the soliton buildup time may be estimated analytically. The soliton emission from the CW-pumped laser is analogous to the generation of cavitons by the resonant absorption of laser beams in inhomogeneous plasmas. We study the dynamics of optical cavitons by means of perturbation theory and numerical simulations.


Driven by gravity, galaxies are expected to continuously grow through the merging of smaller systems. To derive their past merger history is challenging, as the accreted stars disperse quickly; yet, it is a needed step to test the theory of hierarchical evolution. The merger histories of the most massive Local Group spirals, the Milky Way and M31, have been re- cently uncovered by using the motion and chemistry of their individual stars. On the other hand, the details of the merger history of galaxies at larger distance have so far remained hidden. Here we report the discovery of an ancient, massive merger event in the lenticu- lar galaxy NGC 1380 in the Fornax cluster. By applying a recently developed population-orbital superposition model (Zhu at al 2020) to NGC 1380's surface brightness as well as stellar kinematic, age, and metallicity maps from VLT/MUSE IFU data (Sarzi et al 2018), we obtain the stellar orbits, age and metallicity distributions of this galaxy. The highly radial orbits which make up an inner stellar halo are ∼ 13 Gyr old with metallicity Z/Z⊙ ∼ 1.2 and comprise a stellar mass of M∗,halo(r<2Re)∼3.4×10^10 M⊙. By comparing to analogues from the cosmological galaxy simulation TNG50 (Pillepich 2019), we find that the formation of the inner stellar halo of NGC 1380 requires a merger with a massive satellite galaxy with stellar mass of ∼ 3 × 10^10 M⊙ that occurred roughly ∼ 10 Gyr ago. Moreover, we infer the total accreted stellar mass of NGC 1380 to be ∼ 6 × 10^10 M⊙. The massive merger in NGC 1380 is the first major merger event found in a normal phase-mixed galaxy beyond the Local Volume, and it is the oldest and most massive one identified in nearby galaxies so far. Our chemo-dynamical method, when applied to extended deep IFU data and in combination with cosmological galaxy simulations, can quantitatively unravel the merger history of a large number of nearby galaxies.


Global positioning system (GPS) born in the US is used in the US defense for land, sea, air and all field. It is also widely used in navigation and positioning, military matters, geography and other fields. In the present paper, we design an antenna with a right-handed circular polarization (RHCP). Additionally, other techniques are employed to reduce its size, at the same time improve the overall performances. The property of radiating and receiving electromagnetic wave of the circularly polarized antenna is much stable than that of the linearly polarized antenna. So its scope of application is very wide in complex environment.


During impactful weather events, television broadcast meteorologists act as high-profile risk communicators by interpreting complex weather information for viewers. However, the specific language choices broadcast meteorologists make in these situations have rarely been studied. This qualitative study investigates how meteorologists used figurative and emotionally intense language to interpret threats and impacts during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, using 24 h of live broadcasts from KHOU, a Houston CBS affiliate. The results of this inductive, thematic analysis suggest that KHOU meteorologists framed Harvey as an all-encompassing monster and as a heat-seeking machine. The meteorologists also relied on emotionally intense language to emphasize Harvey's extreme threat and to express their concern and disbelief about Harvey's impact. This study indicates the specific and multifaceted ways broadcast meteorologists communicate risk and science during high-impact events and identifies key questions for future research.


In this paper, we investigate the problem of radar signal waveform design under the small signal power conditions for detecting a doubly spread target in a colored noise environment. The doubly spread target spans multiple range bins (range-spread) and its impulse response is time-varying due to fluctuation (hence also Doppler-spread). Instead of adopting the conventional assumption that the target is wide-sense stationary uncorrelated scattering, we assume that the target impulse response is both wide-sense stationary in range and in time to account for the possible correlation between the impulse responses corresponding to close range intervals. The locally most powerful detector is then derived for detecting such targets. The signal waveform is optimized to maximizing the detection performance of the detector or equivalently maximizing the Kullback-Leibler divergence (KLD). Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed waveform design for the small signal power conditions and performance of optimum waveform design are shown in comparison to the frequency modulated waveform.


At a density near a few ×10 g cm, the subsonic burning in a Type Ia supernova enters the distributed regime (high Karlovitz number). In this regime, turbulence disrupts the internal structure of the flame, and so the idea of laminar burning propagated by conduction is no longer valid. The nature of the burning in this distributed regime depends on the turbulent Damköhler number (DaT ), which steadily declines from much greater than one to less that one as the density decreases to a few ×10 g cm. Classical scaling arguments predict that the turbulent flame speed sT , normalized by the turbulent intensity ǔ, follows sT/ǔ = Da 1/2 T for DaT <∼1. The flame in this regime is a single turbulentlybroadened structure that moves at a steady speed, and has a width larger than the integral scale of the turbulence. The scaling is predicted to break down at DaT ≈ 1, and the flame burns as a turbulently-broadened effective unity Lewis number flame. This flame burns locally with speed sλ and width lλ, and we refer to this kind of flame as a λ-flame. The burning becomes a collection of λ-flames spread over a region approximately the size of the integral scale. While the total burning rate continues to have a well-defined average, sT ∼ ǔ, the burning is unsteady. We present a theoretical framework, supported by both 1D and 3D numerical simulations, for the burning in these two regimes. Our results indicate that the average value of sT can actually be roughly twice ǔ for DaT >∼1, and that localized excursions to as much as five times ǔ can occur. We also explore the properties of the individual flames, which could be sites for a transition to detonation when DaT ∼ 1. The λ-flame speed and width can be predicted based on the turbulence in the star (specifically the energy dissipation rate ε) and the turbulent nuclear burning time scale of the fuel τ nuc . We propose a practical method for measuring sλ and lλ based on the scaling relations and small-scale computationally-inexpensive simulations. This suggests that a simple turbulent flame model can be easily constructed suitable for large-scale distributed supernovae flames. These results will be useful both for characterizing the deflagration Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, MS 50A-1148, Berkeley, CA 94720 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064


Degradation and destruction of articular cartilage is the etiology of osteoarthritis (OA), an entity second only to cardiovascular disease as a cause of disability in the United States. Joint mechanics and cartilage biochemistry are believed to play a role in OA; an optical tool to detect structural and chemical changes in articular cartilage might offer benefit for its early detection and treatment. The objective of the present study was to identify the spectral changes in intrinsic ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence of cartilage that occur after proteolytic digestion of cartilage. Bovine articular cartilage samples were incubated in varying concentrations of collagenase ranging from 10ug/mL up to 5mg/mL for 18 hours at 37°C, a model of OA. Pre- and post-incubation measurements were taken of the UV excitation-emission spectrum of each cartilage sample. Mechanical tests were performed to determine the pre- and post-digestion force/displacement ratio associated with indentation of each sample. Spectral changes in intrinsic cartilage fluorescence and stiffness of the cartilage were associated with proteolytic digestion. In particular, changes in the relative intensity of fluorescence peaks associated with pentosidine crosslinks (330 nm excitation, 390 nm emission) and tryptophan (290 nm excitation, 340 nm emission) were found to correlate with different degrees of cartilage digestion and cartilage stiffness. In principle, it may be possible to use UV fluorescence spectral data for early detection of damage to articular cartilage, and as a surrogate measure for cartilage stiffness.


Pediatric palliative care deals with the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual concerns of patients and their families. And to do this, clinicians must use all the tools at their disposal, including pharmacological and nonpharmacological modalities. Virtual reality is quickly becoming a useful tool in many areas of medicine, including surgical planning, simulation training, rehabilitation, and pain prevention and treatment. Recently it has been used in the adult palliative care population, for symptom management, and memory and legacy creation. We present a case report for, what we believe to be, the first time in the pediatric palliative care population.


Shear wave elastography (SWE) has been demonstrated to be a useful tool in the differential diagnosis of ectopic thymus tissues (ETs), providing quantitative values of the shear wave stiffness (SWS) of both ETs and adjacent thyroid tissue. However, no data are available on the potential influence of the imaging plane (transverse vs. longitudinal) on the obtained SWS and shear wave ratio (SWR) values in SWE of these tissues. Moreover, no reports on the interobserver repeatability of SWE were published in regard to ETs. The aim of this study has been to evaluate the potential influence of the examination plane—transverse vs. longitudinal—on the SWS and SWR results, as well as to determine whether SWE of ETs is subjected to interobserver variability. SWE was demonstrated to have high inter- and intraobserver agreement in the evaluation of ETs and adjacent thyroid tissue. Significant differences between SWS values, but not SWR values, obtained in the transverse and longitudinal planes were observed. This phenomenon is probably a result of anisotropy-related artifacts and does not reduce the reliability of the method. SWE operators should be aware of the presence of plane-dependent artifacts to properly interpret the obtained results.


The inflammatory process in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is active mainly in the airways, but little is known about the properties of the inflammatory cells in this compartment. We have studied leucocytes in induced sputum of COPD patients compared to controls in order to uncover what types of macrophages might be involved in the disease. Sputum induction was performed by inhalation of nebulized sodium chloride solution. Leucocytes were isolated and stained with specific monoclonal antibodies for analysis in flow cytometry. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that a major portion of CD14+ macrophages in COPD has lower forward scatter, i.e. they are small macrophages. While in control donors these small macrophages accounted for 6·9% of all macrophages, the percentage of these cells in COPD was 45·7%. CD14 and HLA‐DR expression was high on these small sputum macrophages while the large sputum macrophages expressed only low levels of these surface molecules, both in control donors and COPD patients. Small sputum macrophages of both control donors and COPD patients showed higher levels of constitutive tumour necrosis factor (TNF) compared to the large macrophages. TNF was inducible by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) preferentially in the small sputum macrophages in the control donors but there was no further induction in COPD patients. These data show that the small sputum macrophages are a major macrophage population in COPD and that these cells exhibit features of highly active inflammatory cells and may therefore be instrumental in airway inflammation in COPD.


This paper presents a novel method for video-based traffic state detection on motorways performed on smart cameras. Camera calibration parameters are obtained from the known length of lane markings. Mean traffic speed is estimated from Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) optical flow method using a robust outlier detection. Traffic density is estimated using a robust statistical counting method. Our method has been implemented on an embedded smart camera and evaluated under different road and illumination conditions. It achieves a detection rate of more than 95% for stationary traffic.


The three-body recombination rate at threshold for distinguishable atoms with large negative pair scattering lengths is calculated in the zero-range approximation. The only parameters in this limit are the 3 scattering lengths and the Efimov parameter, which can be complex-valued. We provide semianalytic expressions for the cases of 2 or 3 equal scattering lengths, and we obtain numerical results for the general case of 3 different scattering lengths. Our general result is applied to the three lowest hyperfine states of 6Li atoms. Comparisons with recent experiments provide indications of loss features associated with Efimov trimers near the 3-atom threshold.


I revisit the 2017 French Presidential election which opposed the far right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen against the center candidate Emmanuel Macron. While voting intentions for Le Pen stuck below 50\% and polls kept predicting her failure, I warned on the emergence of a novel phenomenon I defined as unavowed abstention, which could suddenly reverse the ranking at Le Pen benefit on the voting day. My warning got a massive media coverage. She eventually lost the runoff at a score worse than predicted by the polls. Using a quantitative mathematical framing, which reveals the existence of tipping points in respective turnouts, I show that the predicted phenomenon of unavowed abstention did happen. But instead of shattering the expected outcome, against all odds it occurred at Le Pen expense, therefore without impact on the final outcome. The results shed a new light on other national cases such as Obama and Trump victories in the US.


We present a full-range complex spectral domain optical coherence tomography with an ultra-broadband light source based on sinusoidal modulation. For the sinusoidal modulation strategy, a lead zirconate titanate stack actuator is employed to achieve the sinusoidal vibration of a mirror and therefore to get a series of spectral interferogram with different phase delays. The purpose of this strategy is to get higher performance complex-conjugate artifact elimination. Bessel separation of the signal sequence at each wavelength of the spectrometer was used to reconstruct the real and imaginary components of interference fringes; however, the sinusoidal modulation method is independent of light source wavelength. The experimental results demonstrated that the method had an excellent performance in a complex-conjugate suppression of 50 dB for a full width at half maximum bandwidth of 236 nm, and it has better anti-artifact ability and more flexible range in phase shifting than the conventional wavelength-dependent phase-shifting method on a full-range complex spectral optical coherence tomography system. Furthermore, the effect of the hysteresis error of lead zirconate titanate actuators on the performance of complex-conjugate artifact elimination was investigated and the solution of lead zirconate titanate positioning performance for both conventional phase-shifting and sine-modulation methods was suggested.


BACKGROUND
In murine chronic graft-versus-host disease, an experimental model for lupus nephritis, autoantibodies against renal tubular epithelium can be found. Part of these antibodies are directed against a constituent of renal tubular epithelium, the enzyme Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV). DPP IV is present on the cell membrane of glomerular epithelial and endothelial cells, and plays an important role in cell-extracellular matrix interactions. In mice and rats, administration of heterologous anti-DPP IV antibodies can induce proteinuria and podocyte effacement.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
In this study, the glomerular DPP IV enzyme activity was investigated in the course of graft-versus-host disease in (C57BL/10 x DBA/2) F1 hybrids both by light- and electron microscopy using a DPP IV-specific substratum.

RESULTS
Light microscopical examination revealed an overall reduction of DPP IV activity and an altered distribution pattern in glomeruli as early as 4 weeks after induction of graft-versus-host disease. Immunofluorescence studies using anti-DPP IV antibodies showed actual redistribution, excluding antibody-mediated enzyme inactivation. Enzyme electron microscopy revealed an irregular deposition of reaction product characterized by a patchy, "moth eaten" appearance of the endothelial and epithelial membranes. This process occurred simultaneously with the development of albuminuria and preceded the effacement of epithelial foot processes. In control mice, DPP IV showed a continuous distribution along endothelial and podocyte membranes.

CONCLUSIONS
In view of these findings we postulate that impairment of the function of DPP IV as a non integrin adhesion molecule may be one of the causative factors underlying the structural and functional lesions observed in this model for lupus nephritis.


Two-dimensional model of sintering Ti and Cu powders substrate under controlled heating, taking into account the kinetic and thermal phenomena are proposed and studied. The base is ceramic. The system of chemical reactions is written according to the phase diagram of Ti-Cu. The model takes into account that the chemical reactions are slowed layer product. The problem is solved numerically. The temperature distribution and concentration of elements or compounds at different times for different synthesis conditions are determined. It is shown that at any process organization the synthesized material becomes chemically heterogeneous.


The ever-increasing world population has created two major problems: more mouths to feed and less land to farm. While classical breeding has enormously helped in providing more food, a lot still needs to be done. Transformation biotechnology can also help especially where classical breeding lacks solution (e.g. limited availability of stable and durable genetic source of resistance). However, plant transformation technologies require selectable marker genes to produce transgenic plants but such genes are of no value thereafter; in fact, marker genes in transgenic plants are perceived to pose potential bio-safety problems. In all genetic transformation technologies based on direct gene transfer (electroporation of protoplasts, particle bombardment etc) the selectable marker genes generally cointegrate with the gene of interest(s) in one Mendelian locus in the plant genome; hence, their removal is highly desirable. This may also help in the acceptability of transgenic plants by society. Transgenic plants that contain the desired gene of interest but lack the selection marker gene used in its production are termed "clean" and the methods utilized in their production are referred to as "clean gene" technology. There are several proved methods of eliminating selectable marker genes and these include: (A) Marker gene excision consisting of (1) intra-genomic relocation of transgenes via transposable elements, (2) site-specific recombination systems and (3) intra-chromosomal recombination. (B) Gene replacement or Targeted gene replacement; and (C) transformation with multiple T-DNAs, which could result in linked and/or unlinked co-integration of transgenes. Unlinked transgenes are then segregated out during meiosis.


Task illuminance is one of the most used parameters in office lighting design and is often used as a 'single number criterion' to verify that a lighting design meets the requirements. Although other parameters, such as wall luminance, are often highly correlated with task illuminance, not taking these explicitly into account means critical user criteria such as comfort and satisfaction are left to chance. In this study, we investigated the effect of varying desk illuminance(150 lux to 1500 lux) while keeping wall luminance constant, isolating the effects of illuminance on the desk and eye on office users' overall perception of the space, their mental state and their performance (visual and cognitive). While both visual acuity (paper-based) and perceived brightness increased significantly with higher desk illuminance, the room's attractiveness did not. Even though illuminance at the eye increased considerably with desk illuminance (from 118 lux to 796 lux), only minor effects were found on subjective alertness and cognitive performance. This suggests that focusing on horizontal task illuminance as a design parameter is appropriate in view of visual acuity but has little to no effect on the space's attractiveness, nor on cognitive performance or mental state of the office worker.


There is a new method of calculating the trajectory of sound waves (rays) in layered stratified speed of sound in ocean without dispersion. A sound wave in the fluid is considered as a vector. The amplitudes occurring at the boundary layers of the reflected and refracted waves are calculated according to the law of addition of vectors and using the law of conservation of energy, as well as the laws that determine the angles of reflection and refraction. It is shown that in calculating the trajectories, the reflected wave must be taken into account. The reflecting wave's value may be about 1 at certain angles of the initial wave output from the sours. Reflecting wave forms the so-called water rays, which do not touch the bottom and the surface of the ocean. The conditions of occurrence of the water rays are following. The sum of the angles of the incident and refracted waves (rays) should be a right angle, and the tangent of the angle of inclination of the incident wave is equal to the refractive index. Under these conditions, the refracted wave amplitude vanishes. All sound energy is converted into the reflected beam, and total internal reflection occurs. In this paper, the calculation of the amplitudes and beam trajectories is conducted for the canonical type of waveguide, in which the speed of sound is asymmetric parabola. The sound source is placed at the depth of the center of the parabola. Total internal reflection occurs in a narrow range of angles of exit beams from the source 43° - 45°. Within this range of angles, the water rays form and not touch the bottom and surface of ocean. Outside this range, the bulk of the beam spreads, touching the bottom and the surface of the ocean. When exit corners, equal and greater than 77°, at some distance the beam becomes horizontal and extends along the layer, without leaving it. Calculation of the wave amplitudes excludes absorption factor. Note that the formula for amplitudes of the sound waves applies to light waves.


A central tenet of theoretical cryptography is the study of the minimal assumptions required to implement a given cryptographic primitive. One such primitive is the one-time memory (OTM), introduced by Goldwasser, Kalai, and Rothblum [CRYPTO 2008], which is a classical functionality modeled after a non-interactive 1-out-of-2 oblivious transfer, and which is complete for one-time classical and quantum programs. It is known that secure OTMs do not exist in the standard model in both the classical and quantum settings. Here, we propose a scheme for using quantum information, together with the assumption of stateless (i.e., reusable) hardware tokens, to build statistically secure OTMs. Via the semidefinite programming-based quantum games framework of Gutoski and Watrous [STOC 2007], we prove security for a malicious receiver, against a linear number of adaptive queries to the token, in the quantum universal composability framework, but leave open the question of security against a polynomial amount of queries. Compared to alternative schemes derived from the literature on quantum money, our scheme is technologically simple since it is of the "prepare-and-measure" type. We also show our scheme is "tight" according to two scenarios.


This essay is an attempt to examine the reshaping effect of secularism from a temporal perspective. The time-image that undergirds secularism as a political doctrine is inextricably linked with the question of modernity's time consciousness. This essay explores the question of what is secular time, how is it constructed and to what extent does it sufficiently account for the complex experience of time? If the homogeneous and sequential time-image of secularism emerges out of a particular Christian and European context, one of the questions it raises is, to what extent can it be applied to and interrogated by a particular Islamic perspective that emphasizes renewal? In order to explore the image of time that structures secularism as a political doctrine, I begin by examining Charles Taylor's image of secular time as 'profane' time, as homogeneous, sequential, structured by progress and emptied of its metaphysical connection to the divine. I ask, to what extent is it possible to speak of the secular age, of a homogeneous experience of time in which we can universally participate? This argument takes on an interesting hue when it is juxtaposed with the contemporary discourse of the West's relationship with the Islamic world. In recent years, the Islamic world has been characterized as a monolithic whole, that is anti-modern by dint of what is perceived to be a broad rejection of secularism, that yearns for a fossilized past and remains hopelessly anachronistic in its refusal or inability to experience and inhabit secular time. In order to explore this temporal tension, I examine the writings of Sayyid Qutb, who was not only shaped by the complex legacy of Egypt's colonial experience, but who also wrote his famous text Milestones, at least in part, as a response to the modernizing and secularizing initiatives undertaken by Nasser. Qutb provides a complex temporal perspective by arguing for a renewal of the Islamic tradition and by mounting a critique of the idea of progress that sustains secular time, insisting instead on the revival of the past to energize the present in order to open up the possibility of a Utopian future. By reading Qutb alongside Taylor's account of homogeneous secular time, I aim to explore the insufficiency of such an image of time for a complex and interdependent world of difference.


OBJEcTIVE: The study was planned to investigate the interventions of patients to protect themselves at home after kidney transplantation. MATERIAL and METhODS: This descriptive study was conducted at a university hospital. The data were collected from 87 patients that came to the clinic for follow-up after having kidney transplants. After obtaining an approval from the Scientific Ethics Committee for the study, written permission was obtained from the institution where the study was going to be conducted RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 40.34±1.18 years; 55.2% were male and 73.6% were married. It was determined that 29.9% had three people living in their houses, 67.8% had their own rooms, 58.6% separated the toilette they used, 97.7% were careful about hand hygiene, 37.9% were always using masks at home, and 90.8% followed hygiene measures. cONcLUSION: It was determined that most of the patients were following the hand hygiene measures and hygiene measures while carrying out their daily living activities. kEY wORDS: Kidney transplantation, Postoperative, Nursing care Çalışma, 13 15 Ekim 2016 tarihleri arasında Konya'da gerçekleştirilen Türkiye Organ Nakli Kuruluşları Koordinasyon Derneği XI. Kongresi'nde poster bildiri olarak sunulmuştur.


Abstract. We consider the class of meromorphic univalent functions having a simple pole at p ∈ (0, 1) and that map the unit disc onto the exterior of a domain which is starlike with respect to a point w0 6= 0, ∞. We denote this class of functions by Σ∗(p, w0). In this paper, we find the exact region of variability for the second Taylor coefficient for functions in Σ∗(p, w0). In view of this result we rectify some results of James Miller.


This research aimed to find the use of Cue Card Method improves the students writing skill at Eight Grade Students of SMP Bajiminasa Makassar. The method of this research was classroom action research consisted of two cycles. One cycle consisted of four meeting. it meant that were eight meetings for two cycles. This classroom action research was done at SMP Bajiminasa Makassar for English subject. As a subject in this research was class VIII.A  Junior High School in the 2012-2013 academic year with student' number as about 36 students'. Those consisted of 26 women and 10 men. the instrument was writing test and observation. The research findings indicated that the application of cue card method was effective and significant in improving the students' writing skill, especially it focuses on students content and vocabulary. It was proved that the mean score of D-Test was 5.64, Cycle I 6.13 and after conducted Cycle II improved to 8.23 and based two cycle researcher found percentage improvement that is from D-Test to Cycle I is 13.24 % and from Cycle I to II is 29.70 and D-T to Cycle II 46.35 %.  Based on the result of the research, it can be concluded that the use of cue card method improves students' writing skill and class condition. Therefore, it is recommended that the teachers use cue card media in teaching writing. Keywords : Writing Skill , Cue Card Method


— According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the most common neurological diseases is epilepsy with over 50 million people globally diagnosed to date. Epilepsy is defined as a chronic noncommunicable disease of the brain that affects the central nervous system and can result in sudden seizures. The early detection of seizures would allow suffering patients an opportunity to better manage their seizures and improve overall quality of life. In this paper, we aim to detect seizures using different machine learning (ML) algorithms using non-invasive EEG data of epilepsy patients through a publicly available database. We evaluated different signal pre-processing methods to allow for extraction of optimal features that include descriptive statistical parameters, frequency-based trend changes, power spectrum density, and entropy. For some classifiers, optimal features were passed through a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm to minimize the number of features used and to reduce the dimensionality of the ML model. ML models evaluated for seizure detection included Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, SVM, KNN, Naïve Bayes, and Neural Networks. A confusion matrix was generated for optimal models to compare accuracy, precision, and specificity. Results demonstrated the models were promising but the top three models with highest accuracy were DT, SVM, and NN. Given these results, ML models such as SVM or Neural Networks, can be utilized to create seizure detecting systems that are portable and use EEG data to detect the onset of seizures. Even though the highest accuracy observed was approximately 82.5%, the value of machine learning models show merit for solving seizure detection challenges. In future research studies, we plan to evaluate additional open databases to enhance these ML models further and increase accuracy to a minimum level of 95% to be evaluated in real-world applications.


This work is focused on advanced differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) techniques for the generation of deformation time series from sequences of SAR images. We first present the basic rationale of these techniques providing some details of the most well known algorithms. Subsequently, through the analysis of selected case studies focused on the available C‐band SAR data archives, we show the relevance of the retrieved spatially dense deformation time series for the comprehension of several geophysical phenomena. We finally introduce, again via a real case study, the advances brought in by the new generation X‐band space‐borne SAR sensors, highlighting new investigation possibilities for fast varying deformation phenomena.


Equatorially trapped vertically propagating Rossby-gravity waves have been observed in the Gulf of Guinea. Analyses of their kinematics, dynamics, and energetics are presented. The particular packet considered had band central values for period, zonal wavelength, and vertical wavelength of 31 days, 1220 km, and 990 m respectively. The phase propagation was westward and upward while the energy flux was eastward and downward. The calculated trapping (efolding) scale was 210 km. Therefore, the waves were unaffected by the zonal African coast situated some 500 km to the north. The waves were linear, energetic, and persistent showing that the equator is a waveguide for planetary scale oscillations.


In May 2005, an epidemic of the cestode Triaenophorus crassus occurred in the Salvelinus umbla population of Lake Grundlsee, an oligotrophic Austrian Alpine Lake. Based on catches with a standardized multi-mesh gillnet survey 53% of S. umbla were infected with up to 17 cysts of T. crassus per fish. This is the first documented record of an epidemic of this tapeworm in S. umbla.


Electrochemical dissolution (in hydrofluoric acid) of p-type polycrystalline silicon layers deposited on crystalline silicon substrates has been studied. Some properties of the porous silicon (PS) layers obtained are described. The dissolution occurs via two processes that take place simultaneously, at close rates. The first one is the formation of macropores, which results in the development of a columnar structure; the second is the transformation of the columns into a mesoporous medium. The PS layers obtained have a smooth surface, a sufficiently high porosity and a high etching rate in aqueous KOH solutions, which is important for the use of PS as sacrificial layers. Valuable information on the process is obtained by in situ capacitance measurements during electrochemical dissolution.


Venous thoracic outlet syndrome (VTOS) is a manifestation of venous symptoms that occurs when the subclavian vein is compressed and it may present clinically with acute venous thrombosis of the axillo-subclavian vein. Evidence for the optimal approach to the management of this condition is sparse and actually anticoagulation alone is not considered an option. Herein we reported our experience with direct oral anticoagulants in patients with upper extremities deep vein thrombosis, due to VTOS, who refused endovascular approach or surgery.


Research activity and results obtained within the European project ARISTOTEL (2010-2013) are presented. It deals with anatomy, modelling and prediction of Rotorcraft Pilot Coupling (RPC) phenomena, which are a really broad and wide category of events, ranging from discomfort to catastrophic crash. The main topics concerning piloted helicopter simulation that are of interest for designers are examined. These include comprehensive rotorcraft modelling suited for Pilot Assisted Oscillations (PAO) prediction, modelling of pilot biodynamics behaviour in the PAO frequency range of interest, definition and application of criteria for detection of RPC instabilities of aeroservoelastic nature. The numerical investigation considers Bo105 and IAR330 Puma helicopter models, as representatives of two different rotorcraft categories (small-size and medium-size helicopters, respectively). Factors affecting aeroservoelastic RPC prediction are investigated (like, for instance, pilot modelling, system modelling, number of controls on which the pilot exerts forces, control chain gearing ratios), with the aim of defining design guidelines for prevention of adverse RPCs occurrence.


Aflatoxins are a group of closely related heterocyclic compounds produced predominantly by two filamentous fungi, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Recent studies have shown that some A. nominus and A. tamarii strains are also aflatoxin producing, of which A. nominus is phenotypically similar to A. flavus (Kurtzman et al, 1987; Goto et al., 1997). Ito et al. (2001) isolated one more strain, A. pseudotamarii, which can produce aflatoxin. These fungi belong to the class Hyphomycetes, subdivision Deuteromycotina and family Aspergillaceae. They contaminate a vast array of food and agricultural commodities. Aspergillus species are capable of growing on a variety of substrates and under a variety of environmental conditions. Therefore, most foods are susceptible to aflatoxigenic fungi at some stage of production, processing, transportation, and storage. The outbreak of aflatoxicosis (famous as Turkey ろXわ disease) in England in 1960 caused the death of a large population of livestock (Blount, 1961) and led to the discovery of aflatoxin in groundnut meal contaminated by A. flavus (Hesseltine, 1979). Subsequently, aflatoxins were found in other feeds, especially maize (Chakrabarty, 1981) and cottonseed meal (Sharma et al., 1994). Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk and milk products is considered to pose certain hygienic risks for human health. Mammals that ingest aflatoxin B1 contaminated diets eliminate into milk amounts of the principal 4-hydroxylated metabolite known as "milk toxin" or aflatoxin M1 (Figure. 1). The economic impacts attributed to aflatoxin are incurred directly by loss in crops, livestock, and dairy and indirectly by a recurring expenditure in quality-control programs, research and education, lower foreign exchange earnings, and increased storage and packaging costs of vulnerable commodities. The potential hazard of aflatoxins to human health has led to worldwide monitoring programs for the toxin in various commodities as well as regulatory actions by nearly all countries.


The search for topological states in strongly correlated electron systems has renewed the interest in the Kondo insulator SmB6. One of the most intriguing previous results was an anomalous electron spin resonance spectrum in Gd-doped SmB6. This spectrum was attributed to Gd2+ ions because it could be very well decribed by a model considering a change in the valence from Gd3+ to Gd2+, a dynamic Jahn-Teller effect and a 4f7 5d1 ground state in the Hamiltonian. In our work, we have revisited this scenario using electron spin resonance and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements. Our results suggest that the resonance is produced by Gd2+ ions; however the resonance stems from an extrinsic oxide impurity phase that lies on the surface of the crystal.


Surface/subsurface flow interactions concern a wide range of applications, from beach morphodynamics (swash zone), coastal aquifers (seawater intrusion and tidal effects), to harbour engineering and hydrology (e.g., man-made structures such as porous dykes and earth dams). The aim of this paper is to study numerically and experimentally the oscillatory flow in a sandy beach under tidal/low frequency forcing. In this short paper, we only describe the principle of the experiments, and then we focus on numerical simulations and analysis. For the numerical simulation, we use Richards's equation for variably saturated/unsaturated flow in a 1D porous column, with oscillatory pressure boundary conditions at the bottom of the column. Numerical simulations and analyses are conducted for the following cases: (1) homogeneous column, (2) heterogeneous 2-layer column (currently being extended to other heterogeneities).


OBJECTIVE
To direct the relationship between the activity of glutathione S-transferases(GSTs) and susceptibility to trinitrotoluene cataract (TC).

METHODS
KMSL method was used to test the activity of GSTs in 154 cases of TC(group A), 41 cases of non-trinitrotolune cataract (group B), and 40 normal subjects (group B).

RESULTS
The activity of GSTs in group TC was significantly lower than that in the two control groups (P < 0.01). The differences in GSTs activity were highly significant between the four stages of TC (P < 0.01), in which the sequence of GSTs activity levels from high to low was the stage of observation, stage I, stage II, and stage III. Compared to the persons with gst mu gene, the persons without gst mu gene had significantly lower GSTs activity (P < 0.01). It was found that the GSTs activity of the persons without gst mu gene in TC group was significantly lower than that of the persons without gst mu gene in the two control groups (P < 0.01), but the differences in GSTs activity between the persons with gst mu gene among the three groups were not significant (P > 0.05). The most noticeable correlation was observed between GSTs activity gst mu gene deletion (r = 0.702, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
TC and its stages are closely correlated with the activity of GSTs.


In a previous study, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and stool characteristics were found to be influenced by menstrual cycle phase. The current study was designed to replicate initial work regarding GI symptoms and stool characteristics and to explore the relationships between GI symptoms, stool characteristics, ovarian hormone levels, and indicators of psychophysiological arousal. Fifty women (dysmenorrheic, N = 22; nondysmenorrheic, N = 28) maintained a daily dairy for recording stool characteristics, GI symptoms, and daily anxiety level. First morning void urine specimens for catecholamine assays and serum samples for ovarian hormone and cortisol determinations were obtained at menses, follicular, and luteal phases. Results showed menstrual cycle-related differences in stool characteristics and report of GI symptoms, with the greatest changes occurring at menses in the total sample. Dysmenorrheic women reported higher levels of all GI symptoms at menses as compared to nondysmenorrheic women. In addition, cycle-related differences in serum cortisol, urine catecholamines, and report of anxiety were also noted, particularly in dysmenorrheic women. However, looser stools and GI symptoms at menses were not correlated with absolute levels of ovarian hormones or indicators of psychophysiological arousal.


Smoluchowski's method of evaluating the fundamental f requency factor for the rate of a reaction like the coagulation of colloid suspension by employing a purely diffusional treatment is extended to include the electrostatic effects arising from the presence of net charges. The introduction of the concept of a diffuse ionic cloud and the potential calculated therefrom leads to the following results: (a) The wellestablished /3ronsted-Debye pr imary salt effect formula is derived. (b) The so-called "solvent" term of the Christiansen-Scatchard equation arising from the self potential of the ions is also derived but appears as the linear approximation of an exponential expression. The conspicuous absence of quantum theory in evaluating the absolute rate of a kinetic reaction merits attention. V. K. LaM. The customary way followed in order to answer the question how reaction rates are influenced by electric charges which may be carried by the reacting particles is that proposed by G. Scatchard a following a derivation of the Bronsted~-Bjerrum 3 activitv relationship given by J. A. Christiansen. 4 On the other hand, the method followed by Smoluchowski 5 for the calculation of the rate of coagulation of colloid suspensions (within the range of rapid coagulation) can certainly be considered as a calculation of reaction rates in a special case. The fundamental question answered by Smoluchowski's treatment is: How many times per second will one of a number, n, of particles per cc. suspended in a liquid be hit by one of the others as a result of their Brownian motion? Smoluchowski obtains the desired number of collisions v per sec. by stating that it can be calculated by solving a diffusion problem in which particles are supposed to diffuse steadily into a hole surrounding the particle in question. At the boundary of this hole the concentration is supposed to be kept 0 and at large dis* Manuscr ip t received July 20, I942. t Professor of Physical Chemistry, Cornell Univers i ty , I thaca, N . Y . a G. Scatchard, J . Am. Chem. Soc. $2, 52 (1930) ; Chem. Rev. 10, 229 (1931). 2 j . N. Bronsted, Z. physik. Chem. 102, 109 (1922); 115, 337 (1925). s N. Bje r rum, Z. physik. Chem. 108, 82 (1924). 4 j . A. Chris t iansen, Z. physik. Chem. 113, 35 (1924). 5 Smoluchowski, Physik. Z. 17, 557, 585 (1916); Z. physik. Chem. 92, I29 (1917).


Objectives: To compare uterine-sparing treatment options for fi broids in terms of reintervention risk and quality of life. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis according to PRISMA guidelines. Setting: Not applicable. Patient(s): Women with uterine fi broids undergoing a uterine-sparing intervention. Interventions(s): Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s): 1) Reintervention risk after uterine-sparing treatment for fi broids after 12, 36, and 60 months; and 2) quality of life outcomes, based on validated questionnaires. Two separate analyses were performed for the procedures that used an abdominal approach (myomectomy, uterine artery embolization [UAE], artery ligation, high-intensity focused ultrasound [HIFU], laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation [RFA]) and for the procedures managing intracavitary fi broids (hysteroscopic approach, including hysteroscopic myomectomy and hysteroscopic RFA). Result(s): There were 85 articles included for analysis, representing 17,789 women. Strati fi ed by treatment options, reintervention riskafter 60 months was 12.2% (95% con fi dence interval Q2 5.2% – 21.2%) for myomectomy, 14.4% (9.8% – 19.6%) for UAE, 53.9% (47.2% – 60.4%) for HIFU, and 7% (4.8% – 9.5%) for hysteroscopy. For the other treatment options, no studies were available at 60 months. For quality of life outcomes, symptoms improved after treatment for all options. The HIFU procedure had the least favorable outcomes. Conclusion(s): Despite the substantial heterogeneity of the study population, this meta-analysis provides valuable information on relative treatment ef fi cacy of various uterine-sparing interventions for fi broids, which is relevant when counseling patients in daily practice. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that long-term data, particularly for the newest uterine-sparing interventions, are urgently needed. (Fertil Steril (cid:1) 2017; - : - – - . (cid:3) 2017 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.) Data regarding the ef fi cacy of uterine-sparing interventions are limited. Sixty months after therapy, reintervention risks were 12.2% for myomectomy, 14% for embolization, 53.9% for high-intensity focused ultrasound, and 7% for hysteroscopic myomectomy.


Coherent radio emission via electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) from hot magnetic stars was discovered more than two decades ago, but the physical conditions that make the generation of ECME favourable remain uncertain. Only recently was an empirical relation, connecting ECME luminosity with the stellar magnetic field and temperature, proposed to explain what makes a hot magnetic star capable of producing ECME. This relation was, however, obtained with just fourteen stars. Therefore, it is important to examine whether this relation is robust. With the aim of testing the robustness, we conducted radio observations of five hot magnetic stars. This led to the discovery of three more stars producing ECME. We find that the proposed scaling relation remains valid after the addition of the newly discovered stars. However we discovered that the magnetic field and effective temperature correlate for Teff ≲ 16 kK (likely an artefact of the small sample size), rendering the proposed connection between ECME luminosity and Teff unreliable. By examining the empirical relation in light of the scaling law for incoherent radio emission, we arrive at the conclusion that both types of emission are powered by the same magnetospheric phenomenon. Like the incoherent emission, coherent radio emission is indifferent to Teff for late-B and A-type stars, but Teff appears to become important for early-B type stars, possibly due to higher absorption, or, higher plasma density at the emission sites suppressing the production of the emission.


Goal. To study the role of polymorphic variants of genes encoding proteins of the signaling pathway of the nuclear transcription factor kappa-B, NF-kB (TNFAIP3 (rs610604), TNIP1 (rs17728338), TYK2 (rs12720356) and REL (rs702873)) in the predisposition to psoriasis among the Caucasian population of the Russian Federation. Materials and methods. The authors studied markers of the predisposition to the development of psoriasis such as TNFAIP3 (rs610604), TNIP1 (rs17728338), TYK2 (rs12720356) and REL (rs702873) using Real-Time PCR methods and allele-specific oligonucleotide probes and PFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) assay in whole blood samples taken from psoriatic patients (n = 301). To compare the frequency of genotypes, the authors used data obtained as a result of the genotyping of DNAs taken from healthy volunteers (n = 109). Results. The authors analyzed particular features of the distribution of polymorphic variants of TNFAIP3 (rs610604), TNIP1 (rs17728338), TYK2 (rs1272035) и REL (rs702873) genes in a sample of 301 psoriatic patients and 109 healthy volunteers from the Russian Federation. They revealed reliable differences in the frequency of registration of genotypes of these genes. The authors also determined genotypes considered as risk factors with regard to the development of psoriasis (TNFAIP3-A/C, TNIP1-A/G, TNIP1-A/A and TYK2-T/T) as well as protector genotypes (TNFAIP3-A/Ä, REL-A/A and TYK2-T/G)


COPD exacerbations worsen lung function, quality of life and prognosis. We investigated the relationship between characteristics of COPD exacerbations and lung pathologic changes as assessed by quantitative CT. 133 COPD outpatients underwent clinical examination, whole pulmonary function and CT scan. Frequency, severity and clinical presentation of exacerbations occurring within the year prior to visit were collected by standardized questionnaire. Hospitalization or access to emergency department indicated more severe events. We considered "frequent exacerbators" patients with ≥2 episodes/year and distinguished exacerbations with only dyspnea and only sputum from those with both symptoms. From original CT scan values of parenchymal destruction (%LAA-950) and airway wall thickness (AWT-Pi10) we derived by principal component analysis two novel parameters, CT1 and CT2, which are the expression of COPD phenotype and severity, respectively (ERJ 2013;42:626-635). Phenotypic characteristics range progressively from airway predominant (CT1-) to emphysema predominant (CT1+). Severity of disease increases progressively from CT2- to CT2+. Characteristics, frequency and severity of exacerbations did not differ between patients with predominant airway disease (CT1-) and those with predominant emphysema (CT1+). Patients with more severe lung CT changes (CT2+), more severely impaired function, and higher BODE score had more frequent and severe exacerbations. In conclusion, frequency and severity of exacerbations could be a reliable index of COPD severity, but not of the predominant pathophysiologic mechanism of airflow limitation as determined by CT quantitative analysis.


The European Union has since the 1970s shifted their focus towards environmental policies and today they aim at the adequate implementation of environmental sustainability initiatives across all member states. The process of the implementation of sustainability reporting and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the achievement of the SDGs require a multilevel governance paradigm-shift, provides a framework for all involved parties to act and perform accordingly. The Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial and diversity reporting is an incentive to achieve higher environmental, social and economic sustainability and transparency amongst European corporations. However, deriving from the nature of a directive, it does not offer a clear guideline to follow nor actual legislative guidance. Even though directives are mandatory to be implemented in national legislation, the way and form of it may vary to a great extent due to the fact that it is sufficient for the EU if the directive is translated into the countries' law. This, however, results in different levels of efficiency and performance in different countries. This research contributes to the understanding of the implementation of environmental EU directives with the goal of achieving sustainable development within the EU member states. Throughout a multilevel governance and deductive approach, the comparative case study highlights the differences and identifies leverage points for policy makers and future research to develop common best practices for such purposes. In order to answer the research question Why do countries perform in significantly different ways within the field of sustainability, given they are all following the same directives issued by the EU?, the comparison of the two selected countries, Hungary and Sweden was conducted through two sub-questions, which aimed at identifying the differences and similarities in their governance framework to reach the SDGs and legislation following the Directive 2014/94/EU. In conclusion, clear differences can be identified between the countries' political commitment, integrational and holistic approach of sustainability into policy-making and; and the "extra mile" and commitment that Sweden manifested to improving the sustainability and transparency level of corporations in applying stricter measures in national legislation following the Directive 2014/95/EU and handling sustainability as a concept as a crucial, essential and integrated part of life.


This paper considers the interpretation of section 25(2)(c) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, on the relevance of subsequent inconsistent behaviour by the maker of an advance decision. Consideration of the very few cases, and analysis of how existing rules of statutory interpretation could be applied, identifies a particular problem in relation to those who appear to contradict their own prior decision, but do so after they have lost capacity. This highlights an issue which has already been raised in the philosophical literature where there has been some discussion of the relevance and moral authority of our own prior decisions over our future selves, particularly where our future self appears content with a situation which would have been intolerable to our prior self. The incidence of cases of this type is not confined to the realms of philosophy; indeed these kinds of situations are likely to increase, given predictions of the rise in cases of dementia over the next 30 years, and so we will require an unambiguous legal framework to deal with assessing the validity of an individual's advance decision, and the ramifications of acting upon it. The law, as currently stated, is not clear in respect of these types of cases, and should be revised to provide clarity, and with it the greater confidence and uptake in advance planning desired by central government.


Modern, tide‐dominated and tide‐influenced coastlines are characterized by a range of environments, including deltas, estuaries and lagoons. However, some tide‐dominated basins and related sedimentary units in the rock record, such as the semi‐enclosed, shallow, Utah–Idaho Trough foreland basin of the Jurassic Curtis Sea, do not correspond to any of these modern systems. Persistent aridity caused the characteristic severe starvation of perennial fluvial input throughout this basin, in which the informal lower, middle and upper Curtis, as well as the underlying Entrada Sandstone, and the overlying Summerville Formation were deposited. Wave energy was efficiently dissipated by the shallow basin's elongated morphology (approximately 800 × 150 km), as its semi‐enclosed morphology further protected the system from significant wave impact. Consequently, the semi‐enclosed, shallow‐marine system was dominated by amplified tidal forces, resulting in a complex distribution of heterolithic deposits. Allocyclic forcing strongly impacted upon the system's intrinsic autocyclic processes as the lower Curtis was deposited. Short‐lived relative sea‐level variations, along with uplift and deformation episodes, resulted in the accumulation of three parasequences, each separated by traceable flooding and ravinement surfaces. The subsequent transgression, which defines the base of the middle Curtis, allowed for the shallow‐marine part of the system to enter into tidal resonance as a consequence of the flooded basin reaching the optimal configuration of approximately 800 km in length, corresponding to an odd multiple of the quarter of the tidal wavelength given an average minimum water depth of 20–25 m. This resonant system overprinted the effects of allocyclic forcing and related traceable stratigraphic surfaces. However, the contemporaneous and neighbouring coastal dune field sedimentary rocks of the Moab Member of the Curtis Formation, characterized by five stacked aeolian sequences, as well as the supratidal deposits of the Summerville Formation, lingered to record allocyclic signals, as the Curtis Sea regressed. This study shows that a tide‐dominated basin can enter into tidal resonance as it reaches its optimal morphological configuration, leading to the overprinting of otherwise dominant allocyclic processes by autocyclic behaviour. It is only by considering the sedimentological relationships of neighbouring and contemporaneous depositional systems that a full understanding of the dynamic stratigraphic history of a basin alternatively dominated by autocyclic and allocyclic processes can be achieved.


Abstract Ferroptosis is a type of iron-dependent, non-apoptotic cell death, which is typically induced by the suppression of phospholipid hydroperoxide-glutathione peroxidase (GPX4) activity and a corresponding elevation in lipid peroxidation products. While the inhibition of the xCT-mediated uptake of cystine commonly causes ferroptosis, the sensitivity of cells to the inhibition of the glutathione (GSH) synthesis by buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) varies considerably. The objective of this study was to clarify the underlying mechanism responsible for these differential responses to the targeted inhibition of either the cysteine (Cys) supply to or GSH synthesis in the cells. While intracellular GSH levels were depleted when mouse hepatoma Hepa 1-6 cells were treated with BSO, intracellular Cys levels rather increased and viability of the cells remained unchanged, suggesting that Cys has a role in this resistance to ferroptosis under conditions of GSH depletion. When the cells were treated with pioglitazone (PGZ), a potent inhibitor of CDGSH iron sulphur domain-containing proteins (CISDs), PGZ alone had no effect on either cell viability or GSH levels but induced ferroptosis under conditions of GSH depletion by the BSO treatment. In the case of the co-treatment with PGZ and BSO, ferrous iron and the levels of lipid peroxides were robustly increased in the cells, but neither endoplasmic reticulum stress nor apoptosis was evident. Collectively, CISDs appeared to exert an anti-ferroptotic function by suppressing free iron toxicity and the subsequent lipid peroxidation with assistance provided by Cys.


Recent feedback obtained while applying Model-based diagnosis (MBD) in industry suggests that the costs involved in behavioral modeling (both expertise and labor) can outweigh the benefits of MBD as a high-performance diagnosis approach. In this paper, we propose an automatic approach, called ANTARES, that completely avoids behavioral modeling. Decreasing modeling sacrifices diagnostic accuracy, as the size of the ambiguity group (i.e., components which cannot be discriminated because of the lack of information) increases, which in turn increases misdiagnosis penalty. ANTARES further breaks the ambiguity group size by considering the component's false negative rate (FNR), which is estimated using an analytical expression. Furthermore, we study the performance of ANTARES for a number of logic circuits taken from the 74XXX/ISCAS benchmark suite. Our results clearly indicate that sacrificing modeling information degrades the diagnosis quality. However, considering FNR information improves the quality, attaining the diagnostic performance of an MBD approach.


Objective Hypoglycemia increases the risk of adverse neurological outcomes in neonates. Adequate glucose monitoring requires repetitive and painful blood sampling. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) using factory-calibrated sensors to improve glucose monitoring and decrease the frequency of blood samples in neonates. Material and Methods A methodological study was conducted to investigate a correlation of CGMS values with blood glucose measurements. Results Factory-calibrated CGMS sensors were placed on 21 infants at risk of hypoglycemia after delivery. CGMS values were compared with blood glucose concentrations. Thirty-seven pairs of CGMS and blood glucose values were obtained. There was a good correlation between CGMS and blood glucose values (R=0.67, p<0.01) with a mean difference (2 standard deviations) of 9.78 (−24.68 to 44.25) mg/dL. The mean differences at <3 hours and ≥3 hours after sensor placement were 17.35 (−4.54 to 39.21) mg/dL and 0.88 (−37.62 to 39.38) mg/dL, respectively. CGMS values were significantly higher than blood glucose concentration at <3 hours after sensor placement (p<0.01), whereas no significant differences in glucose values were observed between the CGMS and blood glucose values at ≥3 hours after sensor placement (p=0.852). Conclusion The factory-calibrated CGMS was a safe and feasible modality for glucose monitoring. However, it has a tendency to overestimate the blood glucose concentrations. Therefore, this system should be used cautiously for neonates at risk of hypoglycemia, especially within 3 hours after sensor placement.


Coconuts show a remarkable yield drop due to long dry periods caused by global climatic changes. Thus, breeding for drought tolerance has become a priority in coconut breeding in Sri Lanka. Five coconut varieties indigenous to Sri Lanka, namely Ran thembili, Gon thembili, Porapol, Bodiri and Red dwarf were screened for their drought tolerance potential in vitro. Mature zygotic embryos collected from self pollinated nuts of each variety were germinated and developed into plants with one photosynthetic leaf in Y3 medium. Water stress condition was induced by application of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) into the culture medium. The level of PEG in culture medium was gradually increased from 2% to 7% until the plants showed water stress symptoms in leaves; yellowing and necrosis. More than 75% of zygotic embryos of all tested coconut varieties successfully germinated in vitro and developed into plants. Plants of all tested coconut varieties survived water stress caused by 4% to 6% PEG and the percentages of plant survival at different levels of PEG varied among different coconut varieties. Variety Ran thembili showed the highest survival rate (27%) at 6% PEG and overall best plant growth performances at 4% PEG among the five coconut varieties tested. Red dwarf showed the lowest survival rate at 4% to 6% PEG indicating its susceptibility to water stress. Among the coconut varieties tested, zygotic embryos of Ran thembili showed the highest drought tolerance potential.


Purpose

– During the late 1980s New Zealand, in common with a number of other nations, underwent a controversial restructuring of its public sector, including education. The radical nature of education reform was to be epitomised in the documents Administering for Excellence (the Picot report), and the Labour Government's official response, Tomorrow's Schools. The publication of these documents, however, tended to polarize New Zealand's education sector and the public at large into opposite and opposing camps. This paper aims to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– In producing a step‐by‐step analysis of the techniques of persuasion employed during a crucial period of New Zealand's educational history, it will be shown how many of the arguments presented during this time have continued to shape the way we view the educational reforms and their impact more than 20 years later.

Findings

– It will be demonstrated that the nature and style of propaganda on both sides was highly sophisticated, expressly aimed at building a constituency that was either supportive or hostile to reform.

Originality/value

– This paper is perhaps the first to critically examine the nature and role of propaganda in both promoting the educational reforms and in galvanizing resistance to them. In utilising the very considerable amount of hitherto un‐cited documentary material now available, this paper makes a major contribution to education policy research.


Human migration inhibitory factor (MIF), obtained from supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with concanavalin A, was analyzed by gel filtration, isoelectrofocusing, and CsCl density gradient centrifugation. A distinct pattern of heterogeneity was determined on the basis of its harvesting time and biochemical criteria. Supernatants from cells cultured for 1 day contained a single peak of MIF activity with an isoelectric point of 4.3 to 5.2, an apparent m.w. of 23,000, and a density of 1.314 g/ml, the same as the density of the marker protein, 125I-HSA (1st day pH 5-MIF). Furthermore, this species of human MIF was sensitive to treatment with trypsin, strongly suggesting its being a protein, but not to treatment with neuraminidase and corresponds therefore to guinea pig pH 5-MIF. However, when 2nd day supernatants were analyzed under the same conditions, 2 MIF species were found. One species with an isoelectric point of 2.4 to 3.3 had an apparent m.w. of 65,000 (2nd day 3-MIF). The other species with an isoelectric point of 4.3 to 5.6 had an apparent m.w. of 23-43,000 (2nd day pH 5-MIF). Upon centrifugation in CsCl density gradients, the density (rho 25 of 1.314 to 1.414 g/ml) of both species was found to be greater than that of the pure protein, 125I-HSA. In addition, both species were chymotrypsin and neuraminidase sensitive but not trypsin sensitive, further suggesting their glycoprotein nature.


The geo-referencing accuracy of the images acquired by a UAV based multi-sensor system is affected by the accuracy of the mounting parameters involving the relationship between a camera and a GPS/INS system as well as the performance of a GPS/INS system. Therefore, the estimation of the accurate mounting parameters of a multi-sensor system is important. Currently, we are developing a low altitude multi-sensor system based on a UAV, which can monitor target areas in real time for rapid responses for emergency situations such as natural disasters and accidents. In this study, we suggest a system calibration method for the estimation of the mounting parameters of a multi-sensor system like our system. We also generate simulation data with the sensor specifications of our system, and derive an effective flight configuration and the number of ground control points for accurate and efficient system calibration by applying the proposed method to the simulated data. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can estimate accurate mounting parameters using over five ground control points and flight configuration composed of six strips. In the near future, we plan to estimate mounting parameters of our system using the proposed method and evaluate the geo-referencing accuracy of the acquired sensory data.


A total of 211 complete and published genomes from anaerobic bacteria are analysed for the presence of secondary metabolite biosynthesis gene clusters, in particular those tentatively coding for polyketide synthases (PKS) and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS). We investigate the distribution of these gene clusters according to bacterial phylogeny and, if known, correlate these to the type of metabolic pathways they encode. The potential of anaerobes as secondary metabolite producers is highlighted.