– The floodplains of meandering rivers in southeastern Brazil represent places where the sedimentary record associated with the history of transition/ecotone areas and exchange of biomes accumulates, such as the Cerrado (Cerradão Forest) and Atlantic Forest (Semideciduous-Riparian Forest). The present study aims to use palynological, isotopic (δ 13 C, δ 15 N and 14 C), and anthracological indicators in cores taken from three abandoned meander bends to make inferences about environmental evolution, vegetation reconstruction, and climatic inferences. The study area is located in the Mogi Guaçu River Basin, in the countryside of São Paulo State. The studies show that ~2,730 BP (stage I), the area underwent through a more humid climatic phase compared to the current one, which allowed the expansion of the Riparian Semideciduous Forest. After that date, in stage II (1,800 to 510 BP), the percentage of the Cerrado (Cerradão Forest) increased, due to a drier period. From 510 BP to the present day (stage III), humidity has taken place with a new expansion of the Riparian Semideciduous Forest, although elements of Cerrado are present. Microscopic charcoal fragments were found in all stages and may infer the incidence of paleo-wildfires during the Late Holocene. The results indicate that both phytophysiognomies remained for the studied period, varying their expansion depending on the humidity present in each stage. Although lakes formed by abandoned meanders are not areas with the best palynological record, they are frequent environments in the interior of the continents. If properly interpreted, they may provide relevant information to vegetation and climatic changes for the areas.


'TAMBel-2' bell pepper transplants (Capsicum annuum L.) were grown in a greenhouse for 39 days in north–south (N–S) oriented trays. About 69% of the plants had monodirectional (one plane pointing either N–S, E–W, NW–SE, or SW–NE) lateral root patterns, 23% had bidirectional (two planes), and 7% had omnidirectional (all around) root patterns relative to a N–S greenhouse tray orientation. Transplants were planted with cotyledons N–S (parallel to the N–S bed), with cotyledons E–W (perpendicular to the N–S bed), and at random, without regard to orientation. These plants subsequently were cultivated either deeply (9 cm) or shallowly (3 cm) 3, 5, and 7 weeks after transplanting. Transplants planted E–W by cotyledon orientation yielded significantly more early and overall marketable pods in contrast to those planted N–S by cotyledon orientation or at random. Deep cultivation decreased productivity in contrast to shallow cultivation and negated any benefit to E–W cotyledon orientation. Root and cotyledon orientations in field-seeded peppers were determined for 'Hidalgo', 'TAM-Mild Chile-2', 'TAMBel-2', and 'Grand Rio 66' peppers ≈2 months after field-seeding. At least 95% of the populations in all cultivars had monodirectional root orientations. Generally, orientations were divided equally among N–S, E–W, NW–SE, and NE–SW directions. Cotyledon orientation highly correlated with root orientation in all cultivars.


Ultra-Dense Network (UDN) has emerged as a key enabler in enhancing the capacity of mobile networks in order to deliver super-speed connectivity and high data rates, provide seamless coverage and support diverse use cases whilst satisfying a wide range of other performance requirements, such as improved reliability, latency, energy and spectral efficiencies. However, the reduced cell size in UDNs poses serious challenges in the areas of inter-cell interference (ICI) coordination and mobility management (due to increased frequency of handovers and signaling overheads). In this study, we simulate scenarios using Network Simulator version 3 (NS-3) to study the impact of cell size on user throughput at the point of handover using pedestrian mobility (3 kmph) as case study. The simulation results show improved spectral (and energy) efficiency with small cells over macrocells but significantly shorter handover times, which translate to more frequent handovers. And since the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and next-generation cellular networks are required to support mobility without serious impact on connectivity and performance, we align with the decoupling of the user and control planes where the macro-layer manages control signals (e.g., handover signaling) while the small cell provides the users with high data rates. By allocating the small cells more bandwidth, preferably in the millimeter wave (mmWave) bands with abundant spectrum, this decoupled framework will guarantee better spectrum management to support the fifthgeneration (5G) broadband services and applications. Keywords–UDN; mobility; handover; small cells; NS-3.


: Objectives: To investigate the relationship between ALT and HCV titer detected by PCR. Since HCV infection is a widespread threat worldwide, this relationship would be very helpful in making clinical decisions in the treatment of this disease. Subjects: HCV patients with positive RNA PCR analysis. Study design: Observational descriptive study. Methods: 100 patients were included in the study. Patients with known HCV disease and HCV RNA positive PCR were included in the study. Patients with HCV RNA negative PCR were not included in this study. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 17.0. This was done from known patients with HCV positive at FMH Hospital in Lahore. The blood sample was taken by sterile technique. The sample was centrifuged and fresh serum was obtained, which was then transferred into aliquots and stored at -200 ° C until series. Results: Of the 100 samples, PCR results with high viral load did not show an increase in blood ALT, and those with low viral load did not necessarily show a decrease in blood ALT (p <0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that there is an insignificant relationship between viral load and HCV alanine transaminase PCR.


PURPOSE
Social determinants of health (SDOH) significantly impact individuals' engagement with the healthcare system. To address SDOH-related oral health disparities, providers must be equipped with knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) to understand how SDOH affect patients and how to mitigate these effects. Traditional dental school curricula provide limited training on recognizing SDOH or developing empathy for those with SDOH-related access barriers. This study describes the design and evaluation of such a virtual reality (VR)-based simulation in dental training. We hypothesize the simulation will increase post-training KSAs.

METHODS
We developed "MPATHI" (Making Professionals Able THrough Immersion), a scripted VR simulation where participants take the role of an English-speaking caregiver with limited socioeconomic resources seeking dental care for a child in a Spanish-speaking country. The simulation is a combination of 360° video recording and virtual scenes delivered via VR headsets. A pilot was conducted with 29 dental residents/faculty, utilizing a pre-post design to evaluate effectiveness in improving immediate and retention of KSAs toward care delivery for families facing barriers.

RESULTS
MPATHI led to increased mean scores for cognitive (pre = 3.48 ± 0.80, post = 4.56 ± 0.51, p < 0.001), affective (pre = 4.20 ± 0.4, post = 4.47 ± 0.44, p < 0.001), and skill-based learning (pre = 4.00 ± 0.47, post = 4.52 ± 0.37, p < 0.001) immediately post-training. There was not a significant difference between skills measured immediately post-training and in the 1-month post-training survey (p = 0.41). Participants reported high satisfaction with the content and methods used in this training.

CONCLUSIONS
This pilot study supports using VR SDOH training in dental education. VR technology provides new opportunities for innovative content design.


Two MCrAlY overlay coatings (NiCrAlYSi and NiCoCrAlYHf) were deposited on a DS superalloy of Ni-Al-Cr-Co-W-Mo-Ta-Hf system by vacuum arc deposition method. The two coatings show a good protection for the DS superalloy during the isothermal oxidation test at 1150 for 100 h. A continuous alumina-based scale was formed at the surfaces of the coated specimens after oxidation. Y2O3, NiO and SiO2 are also detectable in the oxide scale. For the Hf-bearing coating, some HfO2 particles exist at the interface between the coating and the substrate. But after the cyclic thermal oxidation at 1100°C, the Hf-free coating exhibited better oxidation resisitance than the Hf-bearing coating. The HfO2 blocks between the coat and the substrate may be the crack initiation which leads to the failure of the coating.


First, the fast ignition of compressed fusion fuel is discussed in terms of the isochoric ignition model and two-dimensional simulations. Non-spherical configurations and deuterium fuel ignited from a deuterium-tritium seed are also investigated. Experiments and simulations for laser fast ignition are also presented, in particular relativistic self-focusing, hole boring, the generation of electron beams as well as filamented electron transport and collective stopping. Finally, recent experimental and numerical work on cone-guided fast ignition and fast ignition by laser-generated proton beams is reviewed.


Objectives: To examine sociodemographic, physical, psychological and environmental factors that may be associated with vaginal bleeding (VB) in the first trimester. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted on 14,752 women by trained doctors, when pregnant women came for the first antenatal examination, including sociodemographic characteristics, prior adverse pregnancy outcomes, diseases history, life event stress, adverse environmental exposure and detailed information on VB. Results: VB occurred among 3,466 pregnant women, the prevalence of VB was 23.4% in the first trimester, 35.9% of whom did not see a doctor, 59.7% of whom went to clinic and only 4.4% of whom were hospitalized for VB. Multinomial logistic regression demonstrated that the following risk factors may be associated with VB with seeing a doctor: age >25 years, education greater than primary school, urban residence, prior spontaneous abortion, prior surgical abortion and previous stillbirth, having gynecological inflammation, chest X-ray examination and life events stress score >2 during the periconception period. Age >25 years, urban residence, prior surgical abortion, having gynecological inflammation and a life event stress score >2 during the periconception period may be related to VB without seeing a doctor. Conclusions: This epidemiologic study provided more information on predictors of VB: physical, psychological and adverse environmental exposure were all associated with VB in the first trimester.


According to many commentators, Environmental Direct Action (EDA) has become a growing political force in recent years. This paper explores the style and substance of EDA by focusing on one indicative example of EDA activity, the anti-quarry campaign at Ashton Court, Bristol, UK. The paper will argue that EDA is a political practice constituted by an imbroglio of premises, practices, identities, and modes of organisation that in a variety of ways asserts its difference to those of the liberal democratic system. The paper will go on to show that EDA is politically and geographically significant as it has been successful in taking and making space in line with its own cultural values. Through being successful in this way, EDA has entered into a dialogic relationship with the political practices of the State that can offer a useful tracing of how power struggles are played out in material and symbolic space.


This essay provides a general introduction to and foundation for the scholarly explorations of how race and ethnicity impact Sport Management. Briefly discussed are the changing portraits of racial and ethnic demography, the conceptual treatments of race and ethnicity, and the methodological challenges and research imperatives. This essay also offers a brief summary of the trends in research on race and ethnicity in Sport Management, and it provides an integrated overview of the scholarship featured in this Special Issue which (in varied ways) explicate the salience of race and ethnicity to Sport Management practices, and to the experiences of sport employees, athletes, and sport marketing and media consumers.


For quicker healing of vast long-standing wounds the authors propose a specially developed device-wound contractors accelerating processes of contraction. Experimental investigations have shown that processes of concentric contraction depend on the shape and are most typical of wounds having the appearance of extended rectangle. Promising clinical results were obtained in treatment of 17 patients with vast defects of tissues of different localization (trunk--10, femur--3, shoulder--2, head--2).


A 74-year-old man visited our hospital with complaints of anorexia, weight loss, and impaired activities of daily living. He presented mild consciousness disturbance at the first visit, but specific causes were identified. The IgD level was>2,000 mg/dl and bone marrow biopsy was performed after aspiration failed due to excessive density. He was diagnosed with IgD/λ multiple myeloma (MM). He lapsed into a coma with an extremely high ammonia level of 484 μg/dl on day 8 after admission. His diagnosis was established as hyperammonemic encephalopathy (HE). He was treated with dexamethasone (Dex) pulse therapy and continuous hemodiafiltration. Minor improvement of hyperammonemia was achieved. Combination therapy with bortezomib and Dex was commenced. His ammonia level rapidly decreased and his mental state improved. HE accompanied by MM is rare and further studies are needed to clarify outcomes in response to treatment using the novel agent Bor. Although HE is potentially fatal, we found Bor to be rapidly effective against HE.


The nearly ubiquitous consumption of cereals all over the world gives cereals an important position in international nutrition. Kumru is a traditional fermented cereal food made with flour and chickpea yeast. The aim of the present study was to investigate some chemical properties of kumru. Ten samples of kumru supplied from different manufacturers in Izmir were analyzed for the first time to determine total dry matter content, total ash content, salt content and mineral content. Total ash content of samples changed from 0.69 to 1.94 g/100 g. Total dry matter content of samples changed from 63.36 to 69.71 g/100 g. Salt content of samples changed from 0.73 to 1.64 g/100 g. Cd content of samples changed from 0.01 to 0.02 mg/kg. Pb content of samples changed from non-detectable levels to 0.018 mg/kg. Cu content of samples changed from 1.71 to 10.7 mg/kg. Zn content of samples changed from 5.73 to 13.18 mg/kg. Ca content of samples changed from 236 to 396 mg/kg. P content of samples changed from 1027 to 1410 mg/kg. Statistically significant differences were obtained between total dry matter contents, total ash contents and salt contents of kumru samples (P l 0.05).


This paper, in accordance with the authors' continuing research investigates the effect of adding extra servers in Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) signaling network on session setup delay in the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). The effect of applying more than one server in reducing waiting time in each of the nodes of the system is previously investigated by the authors in [3] and applying more servers as a way of overcoming overload in IMS is addressed in [4]. In this contribution, the delay analysis is explored by describing the SIP signaling traffic with M/M/r notation. Then the SIP servers overload problem is addressed and the effect of adding servers on network throughput and call loss probability is investigated. Finally, the total waiting time probability distribution is derived.


The shock-induced combustion of methane-air mixtures in hypersonic flows is investigated using a new reaction mechanism consisting of 19 reacting species and 52 elementary reactions. This reduced model is derived from a full kinetic mechanism via the Detailed Reduction technique. Zero-dimensional computations of several shock-tube experiments are presented first. The reaction mechanism is then combined with a fully implicit NavierStokes CFD code to conduct numerical simulations of two-dimensional and axisymmetric shock-induced combustion experiments of stoichiometric methane-air mixtures at a Mach number of M = 6.61. Applications to the ram accelerator concept are also presented.


Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disorder of joints, which characterized with periarticular bone resorption. Recently cross-disciplinary field osteoimmunology was established because of reciprocal interactions between the immune and skeletal systems. To date, it is well known that inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF stimulate bone resorption directly or through RANKL pathway. Recently semaphorins are thought to be new players in osteoimmunology. Sema4D that is produced by osteoclasts inhibits osteoblastgenesis and Sema3A that is produced by osteoblasts inhibits osteoclastgenesis. We previously reported Sema4D activate not only B cells, but also macrophage/monocytes, and induce proinflammatory cytokine production. These findings suggest that Sema4D plays an important role in the pathogenesis of RA and become a promising therapeutic target of RA. Objectives To investigate the role of Sema4D in RA patients. Methods The soluble Sema4D levels in sera and synovial fluid from patients with RA and osteoarthritis (OA) were measured by ELISA. Synovial fluid cells and peripheral blood cells from patients with RA were analyzed by flow cytometry. Sema4D expression of synovium were also observed by histological and immunohistochemical methods. Results Serum levels of soluble Sema4D were increased in RA in comparison to healthy individuals (11.1±8.5 ng/ml and 5.7±2.7 ng/ml, respectively; p<0.0001). Serum levels of soluble Sema4D in OA and other diseases were slightly increased but it's not significant. In synovial fluid, soluble Sema4D were detected similarly in sera of RA (11.8±7.0 ng/ml). In contrast, Sema4D was not detected in synovial fluid of OA. The levels of serum soluble Sema4D was correlated with disease activities of RA such as DAS28 (r=0.383, p<0.01), CRP (r=0.346, p<0.01), rheumatoid factor (r=0.328, p<0.01), and urinary deoxypyridinoline (r=0.318, p<0.05). The change of serum soluble Sema4D was correlated with the change of DAS28 in RA patients treated with bologics. The infiltrations of Sema4D expressing cells were observed in RA synovium. Compared to healthy individuals, the cell surface expression of sema4D was decreased in CD3+ cells and CD14+ cells in peripheral blood and synovial fluids of RA patients. The treatment with ADAMTS14, which is upregulated in RA patients reduce the expression of cell surface Same4D. In addition soluble Sema4D stimulates IL-6 and TNF-alpha production from PBMC. Conclusions Soluble Sema4D was shown to be elevated in RA and is derived from T cells and monocytes in peripheral blood and synovial fluid by shedding from cell surface. Increased soluble Sema4D may play an important role in immune activation and bone resorpotion in RA. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.3513


Markers for eight new microsatellite DNA or simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci were developed and characterized in trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) from a partial genomic library. Informativeness of these microsatellite DNA markers was examined by determining polymorphisms in 38 P. tremuloides individuals. Inheritance of selected markers was tested in progenies of controlled crosses. Six characterized SSR loci were of dinucleotide repeats (two perfect and four imperfect), and one each of trinucleotide and tetranucleotide repeats. The monomorphic SSR locus (PTR15) was of a compound imperfect dinucleotide repeat. The primers of one highly polymorphic SSR locus (PTR7) amplified two loci, and alleles could not be assigned to a specific locus. At the other six polymorphic loci, 25 alleles were detected in 38 P. tremuloides individuals; the number of alleles ranged from 2 to 7, with an average of 4.2 alleles per locus, and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.05 to 0.61, with an average of 0.36 per locus. The two perfect dinucleotide and one trinucleotide microsatellite DNA loci were the most informative. Microsatellite DNA variants of four SSR loci characterized previously followed a single-locus Mendelian inheritance pattern, whereas those of PTR7 from the present study showed a two-locus Mendelian inheritance pattern in controlled crosses. The microsatellite DNA markers developed and reported here could be used for assisting various genetic, breeding, biotechnology, genome mapping, conservation, and sustainable forest management programs in poplars.


We consider quantile regression processes from censored data under dependent data structures and derive a uniform Bahadur representation for those processes. We also consider cases where the dimension of the parameter in the quantile regression model is large. It is demonstrated that traditional penalized estimators such as the adaptive lasso yield sub-optimal rates if the coecients of the quantile regression cross zero. New penalization techniques are introduced which are able to deal with specic problems of censored data and yield estimates with an optimal rate. In contrast to most of the literature, the asymptotic analysis does not require the assumption of independent observations, but is based on rather weak assumptions, which are satised for many


An aldehyde oxime O-methyl ether, phenylacetaldehyde O-methyloxime, was detected using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in the headspace above grapefruit leaves infected with Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri, the causal agent of citrus bacterial canker disease (CBCD). This disease is a major phytosanitary concern, and an eradication campaign against it is currently underway in Florida. Phenylacetaldehyde O-methyloxime has been reported to be produced by other plants and fragrant flowers, but it was not observed in the headspace above uninfected grapefruit leaves, the pathogenic bacterium X. axonopodis pv. citri itself, or grapefruit leaves infected with another closely related bacterial pathogen, X. axonopodis pv. citrumelo, which causes citrus bacterial spot, a disease of no phytosanitary significance. It was also not detected from CBCD infected fruits, including orange, lemon, grapefruit, and lime. We conclude that phenylacetaldehyde O-methyloxime may potentially be used to identify CBCD infestations. However, more intensive studies will be required to fully evaluate the potential of phenylacetaldehyde O-methyloxime as a diagnostic compound for CBCD. Using SPME and GC-MS to measure phenylacetaldehyde O-methyloxime may provide an easy and feasible tool to complement current methods used to detect X. axonopodis pv. citri in environmental samples.


The very unusual black backings of two paintings by the Spanish master Murillo (1617-1682) representing Passion Scenes, on display at the Louvre museum, have been analyzed by PIXE with the AGLAE facility of the C2RMF. The support proved to be obsidian, a natural volcanic glass widely employed to produce archeological artefacts, in particular in South and Meso-America. Five archeological artifacts with similar shape to the paintings called "obsidian mirrors", originating from Mexico and belonging to the collections of the Mus´ee de l'Homme in Paris, have been analyzed and the composition of four of them showed to be very similar to Murillo's obsidians. The comparison with the results obtained on reference obsidian samples from Mexican sources and with data from the literature by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) suggested that the Ucareo/Zinap´ecuaro, Michoac´an, Mexico is the source of the obsidian employed for the paintings. A field trip to this area was therefore organized to collect samples whose natural slab shape and chemical composition confirmed the Ucareo provenance hypothesis. The rectangular backing of Murillo's paintings are unlikely archaeological artefacts but rather objects specially made after the Spanish conquest by Mesoamerican craftsmen, among which some were exported to Europe where Murillo spent all his life. The observation, in the walls of the church and other Christian monuments in Ucareo, of obsidian inlays, a material of particular significance in the pre-Hispanic culture, underlines the complex intrication of native culture and European influences which are also carried by Murillo's paintings. Meanwhile, a third painting on obsidian by Murillo as been identified in the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, Texas, U.S.A. This study also points out that even if the ranges of elements dosed by PIXE and INAA do not fully overlap, the measurements obtained by both techniques can be efficiently used for provenancing obsidians objects.


PURPOSE
To compare patient adaptation to and satisfaction with new complete dentures fabricated with a duplication construction protocol (DCP) using two different occlusal schemes, bilateral balanced (BBO) and lingualized (LO).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty complete denture wearers who received replacement DCP dentures participated in this study. Ten participants received complete dentures with a BBO scheme, and the other 10 received DCP dentures with an LO scheme. All of them evaluated their prostheses subjectively through the Oral Health Impact Profile-20 (OHIP-20) and the Complete Denture Satisfaction (CDS) questionnaires before treatment and at 3- and 6-month posttreatment intervals. The new prostheses were also normatively evaluated by recording the location and number of sore spots present at the scheduled early adjustment visits. Data were analyzed with nonparametric tests to identify differences in patient responses between groups and within each group at each evaluation interval point (α = .05).

RESULTS
The within-group comparisons revealed statistically significant improvement for both denture groups (P < .05), while the between-group comparisons did not record statistically significant differences at the overall evaluation period (P > .05). Significant within-group differences were recorded in the pain, functional limitation, and psychologic disability domains of the OHIP-20 questionnaire and the comfort, esthetics, and stability domains of the CDS questionnaire.

CONCLUSION
The patients' adaptation to and satisfaction with newly constructed DCP dentures improved significantly for both BBO and LO denture groups throughout the evaluation period. The mean number of early adjustment visits was equal for both the BBO and LO denture groups.


Purpose: to define model characteristics of technique-tactical preparedness of the Ukrainian First League football championship with the aim of further improvement and correction of the training process. Material and Methods: the research was conducted using the method of expert evaluation. Results: average meanings of the registered values for 13 games were determined. Different technique-tactical actions and their percentage proportions in the total structure of the team game, statistics for 30 games as well as separate indices of the team play of «Gelios» Kharkov were analyzed. Conclusions: quantitative and qualitative indices (coefficient of defect) both for team technique-tactical actions and separately for each technique-tactical action


Recent studies have shown that the inhibitory effects of disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) (to which disulfiram is rapidly reduced in vivo) on the liver mitochondrial low-Km form of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) may be mediated by a reactive metabolite(s) of these compounds. In order to investigate the nature of such electrophilic intermediates in vivo, the present study was carried out with the goal of detecting and identifying their respective glutathione (GSH) conjugates in the bile of rats dosed ip with either disulfiram (75 mg kg-1) or sodium DDTC (114 mg kg-1). By means of highly selective screening strategies based on coupled liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry techniques, one major and four minor GSH adducts were identified as common biliary metabolites of disulfiram and DDTC. The major conjugate, whose excretion into bile over 4 h accounted for ca. 1% of the dose of either precursor, was identified as S-(N,N-diethylcarbamoyl)glutathione (SDEG). In vitro experiments with synthetic SDEG demonstrated that this carbamate thioester derivative is chemically stable in aqueous media under physiological conditions and does not carbamoylate nucleophiles such as cysteine. Consistent with these findings, SDEG failed to inhibit yeast ALDH in vitro. The minor GSH conjugates in bile were identified as S-(N,N-diethylthiocarbamoyl)glutathione, S-(N-ethyl-carbamoyl)glutathione, S-(N-ethylthiocarbamoyl)glutathione, and S-[N-(carboxymethyl)-N- ethylcarbamoyl]glutathione, the structures of which indicate that metabolic oxidation takes place at the thiono sulfur group and at each of the carbon atoms of disulfiram and DDTC.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Energy harvesting generators are attractive as inexhaustible replacements for batteries in low-power wireless electronic devices and have received increasing research interest in recent years. Ambient motion is one of the main sources of energy for harvesting, and a wide range of motion-powered energy harvesters have been proposed or demonstrated, particularly at the microscale. This paper reviews the principles and state-of-art in motion-driven miniature energy harvesters and discusses trends, suitable applications, and possible future developments.


This research engaged in the epistemological development from interpretive phenomenology into what is my implemented method of inquiry, which is Black diasporic interpretive phenomenology. This approach grounds itself in Black diasporic thought and the theorizing and work of Black authors, scholars, and activists to understand and describe the sensibilities, intimacies, struggle and resistance of Black people within the diaspora, often stemming from a hyper/invisibility created by the state, society, and institutions (Walcott, 2016). It takes seriously concerns around ethics and care while also being investigative by making connections between our present moment as Black people to the long history of subjugation and our continued fight for freedom.

Three Black participants of various identities were engaged to answer the overall research question of "what are the resistive strategies deployed by Black child welfare survivors?" The term Black child welfare survivor refers to Black people who at some point in their lives have been engaged by or taken under state guardianship, or experienced adoption. The methodology used allowed for participants' narratives to expose the anti-Black racism and continuity of slavery and coloniality in child welfare, as well as the rigourous, sustainable, and effective methods Black child welfare survivors deploy in order to maintain themselves, their families, and their communities.

Key words: anti-Black racism, child welfare, resistance, Black diaspora, Black family


Spitzer's final Infrared Array Camera observations of SN 1987A show the 3.6 and 4.5 μm emission from the equatorial ring (ER) continues a period of steady decline. Deconvolution of the images reveals that the emission is dominated by the ring, not the ejecta, and is brightest on the west side. Decomposition of the marginally resolved emission also confirms this, and shows that the west side of the ER has been brightening relative to the other portions of the ER. The infrared morphological changes resemble those seen in both the soft X-ray emission and the optical emission. The integrated ER light curves at 3.6 and 4.5 μm are more similar to the optical light curves than the soft X-ray light curve, though differences would be expected if dust is responsible for this emission and its destruction is rapid. Future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope will continue to monitor the ER evolution, and will reveal the true spectrum and nature of the material responsible for the broadband emission at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. The present observations also serendipitously reveal a nearby variable source, subsequently identified as a Be star, that has gone through a multiyear outburst during the course of these observations.


In pipeline production, there is a considerable distance between the moment when the operation principle of a biosensor will be verified in the laboratory until the moment when it can be used in real conditions. This distance is often covered by an optimization and packaging process. This article described the packaging and optimization of a SARS-CoV-2 biosensor, as well as the packaging of its electronic readout circuit. The biosensor was packed with a photosensitive tape, which forms a protective layer and is patterned in a way to form a well in the sensing area. The well is meant to limit the liquid diffusion, thereby reducing the measurement error. Subsequently, a connector between the biosensor and its readout circuit was designed and 3D-printed, ensuring the continuous and easy reading of the biosensor. In the last step, a three-dimensional case was designed and printed, thus protecting the circuit from any damage, and allowing its operation in real conditions.


Neutron single crystal diffraction provides an experimental method for the direct location of hydrogen and deuterium atoms in biological macromolecules, thus providing important complementary information to that gained by X-ray crystallography. At the FRM II neutron source in Garching near Munich the neutron single crystal diffractometer BIODIFF, a joint project of the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the FRM II, is dedicated to the structure determination of proteins. Typical scientific questions address the determination of protonation states of amino acid side chains, the orientation of individual water molecules and the characterization of the hydrogen bonding network between the protein active centre and an inhibitor or substrate. This knowledge is often crucial towards understanding the specific function and behaviour of an enzyme. BIODIFF is designed as a monochromatic diffractometer and is able to operate in the wavelength range of 2.4 Å to about 5.6 Å.This allows to adapt the wavelength to the size of the unit cell of the sample crystal. Data collection at cryogenic temperatures is possible, allowing studies of cryo-trapped enzymatic intermediates. Some recent examples will be presented to illustrate the potential of neutron macromolecular crystallography.


Robert Hertz' s foundational contribution to the sociology of death is as strikingly fresh today as when ® rst published in 1907 when Hertz, born in 1881 and killed in active service in 1915, was but 26 years old. It remained largely unknown to English speaking social science for some 50 years and increased in signi® cance only after its English translation of 1960. It now stands as a basic historical and key theoretical reference point for sociological work on death. It appeared ® rst in the Anne e Sociologique, a journal established to propagate the theoretical perspective of a small number of sociologists associated with Emile Durkheim, including Marcel Mauss, Henri Hubert and Hertz. They emphasised `collective representations' , i.e., patterns of ideas, values, beliefs and behavioural expectations that emerged from the interplay of many individuals over time and provided the distinctive domain of and for sociology. Because collective representations could not be reduced to any single emotion of individuals they could not be appropriately studied by psychology, only by sociology. This means that, while we may, quite legitimately, expect the Anne e scholars to refer to emotions, we will expect to ® nd the emotions interpreted sociologically, in terms of collective representations, and not psychologically. In other words, they are interested in what the emotions mean to people within a social world and not what the emotions mean within the private domain of an individual self. The way sociological and psychological disciplines relate continues to be discussed to the present day. Hertz focused on social values as they were grounded in the human body and, in a later generation, his work would have fallen under the broad category


Due to their mass occurrence in some environments and high aggressiveness, blackflies (Simulium spp.) represent the most bothersome arthropods attacking humans. In this study, we describe the medical effects of blackfly infestations in humans in southeastern Poland. Local and systemic reactions to blackfly bites were monitored in 418 patients (61.24% of females and 38.76% of males) of medical centers. Only skin lesions at the site of the bites were found in 88.52% of the patients, whereas accompanying systemic reactions were diagnosed in 11.48%. The most common signs observed in the area of the bites were pruritus (94.74%), burning (55.02%), edema (44.02%), and erythema (40.91%). The skin lesions, which were most often grouped small papules and papular and purpuric lesions with a varied range, typically persisted for several days, or for several weeks in some patients. Statistical analyses confirmed that the persistence of the skin lesions did not depend on the sex of the patients and the number of blackfly infestations. The systemic reactions to the components of the blackfly saliva were manifested by headache, increased body temperature, arthralgia, lymphadenopathy, and menstrual disorders in the females. The patients were most often attacked simultaneously by many blackflies on exposed parts of the body, mainly the upper limb, lower limb, head, and neck areas. The investigations indicate that blackflies are an important etiological factor of dermatitis and other symptoms in humans; hence, they should be considered in clinical diagnosis.


Global climate change and associated adverse abiotic and biotic stress conditions affect plant growth and development, and agricultural sustainability in general. Abiotic and biotic stresses reduce respiration and associated energy generation in mitochondria, resulting in the elevated production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are employed to transmit cellular signaling information in response to the changing conditions. Excessive ROS accumulation can contribute to cell damage and death. Production of the non-protein amino acid γ-aminobutyrate (GABA) is also stimulated, resulting in partial restoration of respiratory processes and energy production. Accumulated GABA can bind directly to the aluminum-activated malate transporter and the guard cell outward rectifying K+ channel, thereby improving drought and hypoxia tolerance, respectively. Genetic manipulation of GABA metabolism and receptors, respectively, reveal positive relationships between GABA levels and abiotic/biotic stress tolerance, and between malate efflux from the root and heavy metal tolerance. The application of exogenous GABA is associated with lower ROS levels, enhanced membrane stability, changes in the levels of non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants, and crosstalk among phytohormones. Exogenous GABA may be an effective and sustainable tolerance strategy against multiple stresses under field conditions.


Significant work has been initiated on trust in e-commerce settings, but little research has addressed distrust. Because of its connection to the insecurities that are found in risky situations, disposition to distrust is particularly suited to addressing issues of high risk, while disposition to trust is better suited for low risk issues. High risk issues include: a) perceptions that the Web is risky; and b) a willingness to depend on a specific unknown Web vendor in light of that risk. This theoretical position serves as the basis of a model of what causes consumers to initially decide to trust/distrust the Web and to explore and trust a Web site. The model includes three dispositions to trust constructs and one disposition to distrust construct. As proposed, the study found that disposition to trust predicted the low risk Web constructs, while disposition to distrust predicted the high risk Web constructs. This suggests that disposition to distrust has greater potential for predicting high-risk outcome constructs in e-commerce. This article contributes by showing how various aspects of disposition to trust/distrust affect consumer Web perceptions in different ways, depending on their level of risk. For e-commerce research, the findings of this article suggest that perhaps scholars have been studying a less effective factor for addressing risk - disposition to trust - instead of what may be a more effective factor - disposition to distrust.


Background and purpose: Postoperative whole breast external radiotherapy remains the current standard of care for patients with early operable breast cancer. In the elderly, the low crude numbers of recurrence and the frequency of comorbidities urged teams to investigate the feasibility and the results of intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) delivered in one fraction during the surgical procedure. Material and methods: 94 patients (> 65 years old) accepted to be included in this phase II trial according to clinical and histopathology criteria and signed the informed consent. Among them, 42 presented all the inclusion criteria, namely pT0-1 pN0, non lobular invasive unifocal carcinoma, margin ≥ 2 mm (assessed during the surgical procedure) and estrogen receptors positivity. All patients were operated upon in a dedicated IORT facility (linear accelerator) located centrally among six operated rooms. After tumor removal, the surgical bed was approximated by sutures to bring the tissue within the radiation target volume. The tumor beds were completely encompassed by 4 to 6 cm circular fields using flattened applicators at a 110 cm distance. One fraction of 21 Gy was prescribed and specified at the 90% isodose using electron with energies ranging from 6 to 10 MeV. In vivo dosimetry was performed for all patients using real-time in vivo semiconductor detectors (PTW) fixed by the surgeon within the surgical bed. A 5 year adjuvant hormonotherapy was prescribed according to the recommendations. Primary end-point was the quality index [QI] - ratio between the prescribed dose and the in vivo measured dose-. Secondary endpoints corresponded to quality of life, local recurrences, cosmetic results, specific and overall survival. Results: Median follow-up is now 54 months [range 12–62]. Median age was 72 years [66-80] and median tumor diameter was 10 mm [3-19 mm]. 36 tumors were grade 1 or 2 and 100 % of the tumors expresses estrogen receptors. All patients received the total prescribed dose. No external postoperative radiotherapy was delivered. Intraoperative dosimetry demonstrated a good accordance between the delivered and the prescribed doses for 97% of the 37 evaluable patients. No acute grade 2 or greater toxicities were observed. Scores for quality of life were collected for all patients and showed no modification between pre and posttreatment evaluations. Late cosmetic result was good to excellent. All patients are still alive and the 4 year-disease-free-survival is currently 97%. Two patients recurred: (i) one infracentimetric superficial recurrence in the border of the surgical bed and close to the skin (at 18 months) (ii) a second primary tumor in another quadrant (at 6 months). These two patients underwent salvage mastectomy and are free of disease at the time of analysis. Conclusion: For a very selected population, these results confirm that partial breast IORT with electrons may be considered as an interesting alternative to the standard 6-weeks radiotherapy, offering therefore a safe one-step procedure treatment. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-13-12.


The study aimed at the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in 73 children with malignancy; 31 with lymphoma (22 with Hodgkin's and 9 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) and 42 with leukemia (34 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 8 with acute myelogenic leukemia). In positive cases toxoplasmosis was manifested by any of the following; fever, lymph node enlargement, neurological manifestations and/or hepatosplenomegaly. The indirect hemagglutination test (IHA) for toxoplasmosis detected 4 (5.4%) positive cases with malignancy, 2 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, one with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and one with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The immunoglobulin M enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IgM ELISA) detected only one (1.4%) case with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) ELISA detected 6 (8.2%) positive cases, 3 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, one with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 2 cases with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Polymerase chain reaction for detection of parasite DNA in blood (PCR) was the most useful in diagnosing toxoplasmosis with malignancy, as it was able to detect 9 (12.3%) positive cases; 5 (6.8%) with Hodgkin's lymphoma, one (1.4%) with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 3 (4.1%) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. No positive toxoplasmosis cases were detected with acute myelogenic leukemia by any of the above methods.


This paper examines the links between firm age, firm size and the ability to obtain capital in a sample of European SMEs. The results indicate that age and size are positively linked to debt capacity. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that it is crucial to distinguish between bank debt financing and trade credit. Young and small firms are more subject to denial due to the higher moral hazard they represent for a bank. Only very young firms are more constrained for trade credit. The results of simultaneous analysis show that trade credit is positively related to bank credit financing, thus providing empirical support for the complementarity of these forms of financing.


ABSTRACT 2016. Lisa Suci Kusuma Wardhni. Introdusction of this work , entitled is Interior Design of Ngloram Airport with Eco Airport Concept Approach in Cepu. Design aims to facilitate mobility in Blok Cepu become easier. Blora, a growing city with potential in oil & gas, has an opportunity in becoming a developed city with air transportation access. The location of Lapter Ngloram is chosen because it will be the right momentum with increasing economic and educational sectors in the area of oil rig, Blok Cepu. Issues to be discusses are (1) How to create an interior design to support aspects of the economy and education in Blok Cepu. (2) How to realize the concept of Eco Airport into the design. (3) How to create an interior design of Ngloram airport in order to accommodate the needs of the main and supporting the consideration of pessenger with high mobility activities. The general purpose of this paper is overcome the problems of high mobility activity in the economy and education in Blok Cepu. In particular, this paper aims to (1) Designing the interior of Ngloram airport in order to support the economy and education in Blok Cepu. (2) Realizing the concept of Eco Airport with a focus on environmental issues in the energy component, noise and air quality (3) Creating a design space airports with consideration safety and convenience to accommodate the needs of both major and supporting. The method used in the discussion is interactive analysis by simplifying and focusing data. In this case the data used in the focusing of an approach. From this analysis it can be concluded that by using the Eco Airport approach in interior design can be done with energy components, noise and air quality. The application of these components in the selection of materials, layout, zoning-grouping and construction.


A Stackelberg game between three players; spectrum owner, primary users and secondary users is presented under the opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) model, where the secondary users share the channel with primary users in time and secondary user access is performed through a non- perfect listen-before-send scheme. It is shown through simulations that the spectrum owner can enhance her revenue by allowing OSA with a non-zero interference probability to the primary users. The subscription fee of the primary users is lowered in exchange of the non-zero interference probability. The revenue enhancement results from the subscription fees of the secondary users and better utilization of the spectrum. It is also shown through simulations that the enhancement is available for a large range of user preferences such as the value of primary service relative to the secondary, and optimal action of the spectrum owner is robust against estimation errors in these preferences.


Objective. To examine the importance of having a regular provider in community health centers (CHCs) for high quality care. Methods. Analyses of a national survey—the Commonwealth Fund 2006 Health care Quality Survey—among patients with a private doctor's (PMD) office (n=1,743) or CHC (n=275) as their regular source of care. Outcomes include prevention measures, and measures of patient experience. Results. Patients at CHCs are less likely than patients who use a PMD to report having a regular doctor (53% vs. 95%, p≤.001). They also report lower rates for all the preventive care and patient experience measures. However, the differences in quality are eliminated when CHC patients have a regular provider. Conclusions. When CHC patients have a regular provider, they receive higher quality care. Policymakers should support expansions of the CHC health care workforce to ensure patients have access to a regular provider, which leads to higher quality care.


This research was an experiment—instigated by the lack of students' activeness in the teaching learning process. This research aimed at informing that Predict Observe Explain (POE) learning model effected students' Chemistry learning activity on Electrolyte and Non-Electrolyte Solution material at State Islamic Senior High School of Kuok. The samples were 29 students of class X.1 (Experimental group) and 31 students of class X.3 (Control group). Interview, normality test of observation sheets, and documentation were the techniques of collecting the data. T-test was used to analyze the data. Based on the data analysis, tobserved was 2.200 and ttable was 2.00 (tobserved ≥ ttable). It revealed that Ho was rejected. In other words, it showed that there was students' Chemistry learning activity enhancement on Electrolyte and Non-Electrolyte Solution material at State Islamic Senior High School of Kuok. The influence is counted by using Influence Coefficient (IC) Predict Observe Explain (POE) learning model it is 7,7%.


Abstract A 7-mo-old female cougar (Puma concolor) was presented with a 2-wk history of anorexia and a 1-wk history of regurgitation. Barium contrast esophagogram and gastroesophagoscopy revealed the presence of a segmental intraluminal esophageal stricture in the middle third of the esophagus. The stricture was potentially secondary to a previous anesthetic episode. Three endoscopic balloon dilations allowed increasing the luminal diameter to a size that enabled the cougar to eat food softened with water without any signs of discomfort or regurgitation. Two months after being discharged, the cougar was doing well, had gained weight and was eating horsemeat softened with water.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a cytokine of the TNF ligand superfamily that is constitutively expressed by many immune cell types including monocytes/macrophages, DC, neutrophils, natural killer cells, and also T cells. The only known signaling receptor for TWEAK, FGF-inducible molecule 14 (Fn14), is a highly inducible molecule in epithelial cells (EC), endothelial cells, and other mesenchymal cell types wherein TWEAK signals through Fn14 to promote the canonical and noncanonical NF-κB, MAPK and potentially other pathways. We previously reported that TWEAK promoted colitis in mice by enhancing production of inflammatory mediators by EC. TWEAK also induced EC damage in the presence of IL-13, which is known as a pathogenic profibrotic T helper 2-type cytokine. In our current study of chronic colitis induced by repeated rectal injection of a hapten, we found that inflammation, fibrosis, and T helper 2-type immunity were significantly reduced in Fn14 knockout (KO) mice when compared with wild type (WT) control mice. Expression of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) was lower in Fn14 KO colon EC than in WT EC. TWEAK/Fn14 was required for the induction by IL-13 of TSLP in colon explants. TWEAK and IL-13 synergistically promote embryonic fibroblast proliferation. Thus we propose an IL-13-TWEAK/ Fn14-TSLP axis as a key mechanism underlying chronic colitis with fibrosis.


Acute inflammation is an important component of the pathogenesis of hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (HIRI). Magnesium lithospermate B (MLB) has strong neuroprotective and cardioprotective effects. The purpose of this study was to determine whether MLB had underlying protective effects against hepatic I/R injury and to reveal the potential mechanisms related to the hepatoprotective effects. In this study, we first examined the protective effect of MLB on HIRI in mice that underwent 1 h ischemia followed by 6 h reperfusion. MLB pretreatment alleviated the abnormal liver function and hepatocyte damage induced by I/R injury. We found that serum inflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, were significantly decreased by MLB during hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, suggesting that MLB may alleviate hepatic I/R injury via inhibiting inflammatory signaling pathways. Second, we investigated the protein level of p-Jak2/Jak2 and p-Stat3/Stat3 using Western blotting and found that MLB could significantly inhibit the activation of the Jak2/Stat3 signaling pathway, which was further verified by AG490 in a mouse model. Finally, the effect of MLB on the Jak2/Stat3 pathway was further assessed in an in vitro model of RAW 264.7 cells; 1 µg/ml LPS induced the secretion of inflammatory mediators, including IL-6, TNF-α, and activation of the Jak2/Stat3 signaling pathway. MLB significantly inhibited the abnormal secretion of inflammatory factors and the activation of the Jak2/Stat3 signaling pathway in RAW264.7 cells. In conclusion, MLB was found for the first time to reduce inflammation induced by hepatic I/R via suppressing the Jak2/Stat3 pathway.


Abstract Parametric or nonparametric density estimators from a mixture of K distributions can be used to estimate the non-error rate of an arbitrary classification rule—and to construct a rule which maximizes estimated probability of correct classification. (For two multivariate normal distributions with common covariance matrix, this general criterion yields the usual linear discriminant.) Such a sample-based rule is asymptotically optimal under very general conditions. Often its "apparent" non-error rate exceeds its true rate and is even optimistically biased as an estimator of the (unknown) optimal rule's non-error rate; but the apparent rate converges to this optimum.


This paper introduces the measure of information as a new criterion for the performance analysis of routing algorithms in wireless sensor networks. We argue that since the objective of a sensor network is to estimate a two dimensional random field, a routing algorithm must maximize information flow about the underlying field over the lifetime of the sensor network. We develop two novel algorithms, MIR (maximum information routing) and CMIR (conditional maximum information routing) designed to maximize information flow, and present a comparison of the algorithms to a previously proposed algorithm-MREP (maximum residual energy path) through simulations. We show that the proposed algorithms give significant improvement in terms of information flow, when compared to MREP.


: We report the case of a mature newborn infant, which aroused attention 8 hours after birth due to an unexplainable paroxysmal tachypnea together with subsequently prolonged apnea. The combination of tachypnea, athetoid movement patterns, apraxia of the tongue, nystagmus and dysplasia of the cerebellum with dilation of the 4th ventricle, led to the diagnosis of Joubert-Syndrome. The child also showed a variation of a connatal unilateral facial nerve palsy, which has not previously been described in connection with a Joubert-Syndrome.


Experimental and theoretical recurrence spectra of Rydberg electron wave packets are presented. Fractional revivals up to the seventh order are observed. In addition we observe a new interference effect: a forerunner wave packet in the first full revival, due to second-order dispersion. Also it is shown that the quantum defect of rubidium shifts the peaks in the interference pattern by the quantum defect modulo one times the classical orbiting period, while it leaves the envelope of the recurrence spectrum unaffected. All these quantum mechanical effects are explained by a Taylor expansion of the phase factors of the stationary states of which the wave packet is composed.


The nucleotide sequence of the SV40 genome region between the Hind K fragment and the Eco RI cleavage site has been determined by a combination of three different approaches : analysis of RNA products obtained by transcription with Escherichia coli DNA dependent RNA polymerase, partial degradations with snake venom exonuclease and base-specific chemical degradation of 5'-terminal labeled restriction fragments. This nucleotide sequence shows only one open reading frame and allows the deduction of a small segment of the amino acid sequence of VP1, the major structural protein.


This paper links and extends the time series and price innovation literature by introducing empirical models that allow the conditional mean and variance of returns to vary asymmetrically in response to price innovations of all sizes. There is strong evidence, from both the US and UK markets, that conditional returns do depend on previous price innovations. The models developed also allow a number of well-known hypotheses concerning the equity markets to be examined. In broad terms we find support for the leverage effect, the existence of time varying risk premiums and for the supposition that the market tends to overreact to large price innovations.


Aims and objectivesEmpathy is an important key driver of any therapeutic relationship. It is beneficial not only to the patients, but also to physicians. Enhancing physician's empathy should be an important goal of medical education. As there is a literature gap regarding the topic of empathy among medical students in Greece, this study aims to contribute to filling this gap.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted. The (validated in Greece) Greek version of Toronto 52‐item empathy 6-point Likert-scale was administered to all the medical students in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece. In addition, participants were asked to provide information regarding their socio-demographics. A demographic comparison was conducted.ResultsThe preliminary validation of the Greek version of the Toronto Composite Empathy Scale (TCES) demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability among medical students and could be further tested in larger samples of medical students. The overall reliability analysis of the TCES questionnaire is high (Cronbach's α = 0.895, Sig. from Hotelling's T-Squared Test < 0.000). The mean total score of empathy showed that students have a moderately high empathy. The 52‐item TCES, 26 for the personal (Per) setting and another 26 for professional (Pro) life, equally divided into cognitive (Cog) and emotional (Emo) empathy in each case. It was found that there is a statistically significant difference in means between the Per-Cog and Per-Emo settings (Sig < 0.001), the Pro-Cog and Pro-Emo (Sig < 0.001), the Per-Cog and Pro-Cog (Sig = 0.004), and the Per-Emo and Pro-Emo (Sig < 0.001). Females had significantly higher empathy scores (mean score 208.04) than males (mean score 192.5) on the Per-Cognitive, Per-Emo and Pro-Emo subscales. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between empathy and factors such as love for animals, interest in medical ethics, belief in God, having an ill person in the family, class year or carrier intention.ConclusionsThe Toronto Composite Empathy Scale (TCES) is applicable to medical students. For the most part our findings were consistent with previous literature. However, we identified some nuances that might draw researchers' attention.


Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values of eight types of subprimal cuts were examined across a wide range of foodservice cooking methods and external fat thickness levels to evaluate factors affecting the accumulation of TBA-reactive substances (a measure of oxidative rancidity) in foodservice beef. Fat trim level did not affect TBA values in cooked roasts. Postmortem storage time did not change ribeye or gooseneck TBA values (P > 0.05), the only roast-types to which that postmortem-treatment was applied. Lower internal temperature endpoints resulted in higher TBA values (P < 0.05). A slow cooking rate slightly increased (P < 0.05) TBA values in shoulder clods, ribeye rolls, top rounds, and gooseneck rounds. Longer post-cooking holding periods (either 3 or 8 h at 54.5C) generally resulted in higher TBA values (P < 0.05), while roasts held for 1 h had lower values. However, all mean TBA values were below. 6.


A statistical analysis of observed oblique sounder median maximum observed frequencies (MOF) and predicted maximum usable frequencies (MUF) was used to assess the accuracy of high-frequency MUF prediction. A data base of 13,054 hours of oblique sounder MOFs measured on 70 paths was compared with the predicted MUF values from MINIMUF-3.5, MINIMUF 85, and an unrelated MUF model, the HF Broadcast WARC model (HFBC84). The data were screened into subsets to determine the effect of particular paths, path length and orientation, season, month, latitude, sunspot number, diurnal trends, geographic region, and sounder type. The accuracy of all three models was very close, with the MINIMUF-3.5 model having the lowest RMS error of 4.44 MHz. MINIMUF 85 was next, with an RMS error of 4.58 MHz, and HFBC84 was last, with an error of 4.67 MHz, and MINIMUF 85 last, with 1.28 MHZ. Correlation was good for all three models. Correlation coefficients were .824, .819, and .827 for MINIMUF-3.5, MINIMUF 85, and HFBC84, respectively. Future improvements to the MINIMUF model are discussed- and current MUF computer algorithms are included in the appendices.


DEAD-box proteins are ubiquitous regulators of RNA biology. While commonly dubbed "helicases," their activities also include duplex annealing, adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-dependent RNA binding, and RNA-protein complex remodeling. Rok1, an essential DEAD-box protein, and its cofactor Rrp5 are required for ribosome assembly. Here, we use in vivo and in vitro biochemical analyses to demonstrate that ATP-bound Rok1, but not adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-bound Rok1, stabilizes Rrp5 binding to 40S ribosomes. Interconversion between these two forms by ATP hydrolysis is required for release of Rrp5 from pre-40S ribosomes in vivo, thereby allowing Rrp5 to carry out its role in 60S subunit assembly. Furthermore, our data also strongly suggest that the previously described accumulation of snR30 upon Rok1 inactivation arises because Rrp5 release is blocked and implicate a previously undescribed interaction between Rrp5 and the DEAD-box protein Has1 in mediating snR30 accumulation when Rrp5 release from pre-40S subunits is blocked.


ABSTRACT Environmental metagenomic samples and samples obtained as an attempt to identify a pathogen associated with the emergence of a novel infectious disease are important sources of novel microorganisms. The low costs and high throughput of sequencing technologies are expected to allow for the genetic material in those samples to be sequenced and the genomes of the novel microorganisms to be identified by alignment to those in a database of known genomes. Yet, for various biological and technical reasons, such alignment might not always be possible. We investigate a frequency analysis technique which on one hand allows for the identification of genetic material without relying on alignment and on the other hand makes possible the discovery of nonoverlapping contigs from the same organism. The technique is based on obtaining signatures of the genetic data and defining a distance/similarity measure between signatures. More precisely, the signatures of the genetic data are the frequencies of k-mers occurring in them, with k being a natural number. We considered an entropy-based distance between signatures, similar to the Kullback-Leibler distance in information theory, and investigated its ability to categorize negative-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) viral genetic data. Our conclusion is that in this viral context, the technique provides a viable way of discovering genetic relationships without relying on alignment. We envision that our approach will be applicable to other microbial genetic contexts, e.g., other types of viruses, and will be an important tool in the discovery of novel microorganisms. IMPORTANCE Multiple factors contribute to the emergence of novel infectious diseases. Implementation of effective measures against such diseases relies on the rapid identification of novel pathogens. Another important source of novel microorganisms is environmental metagenomic samples. The low costs and high throughput of sequencing technologies provide a method for the identification of novel microorganisms by sequence alignment. There are several obstacles to this method, as follows: our knowledge of biology is biased by an anthropomorphic view, microbial genomic material could be a minuscule fraction of the sample, the sequencing and enrichment technologies can be a source of errors and biases, and finally, microbes have high diversity and high evolutionary rates. As a result, novel microorganisms could have very low genetic similarity to already known genomes, and the identification by alignment could be computationally prohibitive. We investigate a frequency analysis technique which allows for the identification of novel genetic material without relying on alignment. Multiple factors contribute to the emergence of novel infectious diseases. Implementation of effective measures against such diseases relies on the rapid identification of novel pathogens. Another important source of novel microorganisms is environmental metagenomic samples. The low costs and high throughput of sequencing technologies provide a method for the identification of novel microorganisms by sequence alignment. There are several obstacles to this method, as follows: our knowledge of biology is biased by an anthropomorphic view, microbial genomic material could be a minuscule fraction of the sample, the sequencing and enrichment technologies can be a source of errors and biases, and finally, microbes have high diversity and high evolutionary rates. As a result, novel microorganisms could have very low genetic similarity to already known genomes, and the identification by alignment could be computationally prohibitive. We investigate a frequency analysis technique which allows for the identification of novel genetic material without relying on alignment.


Reversible encapsulation complexes are applied to the reaction of isonitriles with carboxylic acids. Encapsulation facilitates these reactions by amplifying the concentration of reactants, arranging the acid and isonitrile in the appropriate orientations, isolating intermediates from bulk solution, and providing an organized solvent cage.


Abstract:  We report the case of a 29‐year‐old man, who was examined in our hospital for infertility. After complete evaluation, the patient was found to be azoospermic with normal follicle‐stimulating hormone levels, whereas his testes were slightly smaller than normal. Thus, there was an indication for testicular biopsy, which showed bilateral testicular intratubular germ‐cell neoplasia, unclassified. The patient was informed about his status, and when the staging was completed and the possibility of distant or lymphatic metastases was excluded, the therapeutic choices were discussed. In this case, bilateral orchiectomy was recommended and carried out, followed by hormone replacement therapy.


I am sad. Professor Sergey Maleyev (PNPI, Russia) died about 2 months ago. He was the first to derive the equations describing the behaviour of the neutron beam polarisation vector upon scattering. With his collaborators, he has triggered a series of projects worldwide to exploit the neutron beam polarisation at continuous neutron sources. This permits today to study and model very complex compounds like quantum systems and spin liquids. There is still a lot to accomplish to exploit polarised neutron beams, especially at pulsed sources, and the series continues with extremely challenging R&D projects launched worldwide. Thank you Professor. In this first issue of 2021, after the article in memoriam of Prof. Maleyev, you will find the second article of a series dedicated to McStas, one of our most beloved tool for simulating neutron scattering instruments and experiments. With the authors, Kim Lefmann and Peter Willendrup, we hope that you will enjoy reading this review series and find lots of inspiration and useful information for your own simulations. I personally thank the publisher IOS Press for having accepted to publish it in Open Access for free to ensure its large widespread. The next article presents a rare exhaustive experimental study of the multiple Bragg reflections accompanying allowed as well as forbidden reflections. After a very comprehensible introduction to multiple Bragg scattering, the authors present the techniques used to identify and observe multiple Bragg reflection effects. They then demonstrate how these effects can be used as a source of highly monochromatic and collimated beams for carrying out experiments requiring extremely high resolution. I would not be surprised to discover an instrument exploiting this discovery in the future. The following article presents a complete description of the new detector of the PLATYPUS reflectometer (ANSTO, Australia). This detector is based on the successful mono-block aluminium multi-tube detector design already in use on several reflectometers and SANS instruments at the ILL (France). Installed into the 'recycled' PLATYPUS vacuum tank, this new detector improves very much the signal to background ratio and provides a spatial resolution of almost 1.5 mm in the vertical direction. This issue ends with an article investigating the distribution of low counting statistics. As reminded by the authors, the gaussian approach adopted by most of us is robust but imprecise on all levels of count. They propose a Multinomial distribution to produce unbiased fits which, to my opinion, should be appended to the data analysis toolbox of all neutron experts willing to analyse their data rigorously.


At the beginning of the 21st Century a research-to-operations program was initiated to design and develop operational systems to support local forecasters in their challenging task to provide advance warning for flash floods worldwide. Twenty some years later, the Flash Flood Guidance System with global coverage provides real-time assessment and guidance products to more than 60 countries, serving nearly 3 billion people. The implementation domains cover a wide range of hydroclimatological, geomorphological and land-use regimes worldwide. This flexible and evolving system combines meteorology and hydrology data and concepts as well as supports product utility for flash-flood disaster mitigation on very large scales with high spatial and temporal resolution. Through quality control procedures, it integrates remotely-sensed data of land-surface precipitation and of land-surface properties from geostationary and polar orbiter satellite platforms, reflectivity data from a variety of weather radar systems, as well as asynchronous precipitation data from ground-based automated precipitation gauges, in order to produce assessments and short-term forecasts that support forecasters and disaster managers in real time. For each region, it also integrates mesoscale meteorological model forecasts with land-surface model response to produce longer-term guidance products. It contains components and interfaces that allow real-time forecaster adjustments to products based on local last-minute field information and relevant forecaster experience. Assessments of utility for flash flood warning operations by national forecasting agencies worldwide are positive. The article exemplifies the process of realization and evolution of the FFGS from research in interdisciplinary fields to operations in diverse environments, and discusses lessons learned.


Amiodarone, an antiarrhythmic agent, is known to induce pulmonary toxicity in some patients. Previously described radiographic findings include alveolar and interstitial infiltrates. We report a patient who developed biapical infiltrates on chest X-ray film and demonstrated an unusual, symmetric appearance on CT. Correlative postmortem histologic findings are presented. Amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary parenchymal infiltrates seen on CT of patients receiving this medication.


Double Orifice Mitral Valve (DOMV) is a rare congenital abnormality. Reports of 4 patients with DOMV are presented. As associated anomalies, one had ostium primum atrial septal defect (ASD). Second one had Ebstein's anomaly. Third one had grade IV tricuspid regurgitation, thickened tricuspid valve and right atrial mass. Fourth one had sinus venosus ASD. Echocardiography is the gold standard investigation. Surgical treatment depends upon the mitral valve function and associated anomalies.


Liver diseases impose a substantial health problem. Female hormones play a crucial role in the protection against chronic inflammatory diseases. Fifty female rats were allocated into five groups (n = 10). Group I comprised sham-operated rats. The remaining groups underwent ovariectomy at the beginning of the experiment. Group II served as the ovariectomy-control group. Groups III, IV & V received thioacetamide (TAA; 300 mg/kg; i.p.) to induce liver injury 6 weeks after ovariectomy. Group III served as the TAA-control group. Groups IV & V received panax ginseng (100 and 300 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for 6 weeks post TAA administration. All groups were investigated for liver function tests along with total antioxidant capacity (TAC), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Histopathological examination of liver tissues was performed followed by immunohistochemical staining for nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kβ p65) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Ovariectomized-rats showed a non-significant change in the measured parameters while TAA administration resulted in significant liver damage. Panax ginseng at both dose levels significantly improved the serum liver function tests and TAC along with decreasing the AGEs and TNF-α. It also restored the histopathological picture of liver tissue and decreased hepatic tissue inflammation via reduction of MPO and NF-kβ p65 immunoreactivity. The current study is the first to elucidate the effect of panax ginseng against TAA-induced liver injury in ovariectomized rats which mimic aged post-menopausal estrogen-deficient females. The study demonstrates the crosstalk between AGEs, NF-kβ and MPO in the modulation of inflammation. Panax ginseng possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.


Abstract This paper argues that the Integrated Reporting (IR) framework developed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) is double-edged from a critical sustainability perspective. The paper is based on qualitative content analysis of public documents from four leading non-financial reporting organisations: the IIRC, the Accounting for Sustainability Project, the Global Reporting Initiative and the King Committee on Corporate Governance in South Africa. This analysis shows that IR moves away from three key tenets of prior social and environmental reporting frameworks by privileging: (i) communication over holding organisations accountable, (ii) organisational over social sustainability and (iii) the entitlements of providers of financial capital over other stakeholders. Yet, IR is also a practical attempt to shift financial capital from a short-term to long-term investment horizon. As critical social and accounting theorists have argued, extensive short-term investment is a threat to environmental and social sustainability. Hence, IR has the potential to progress sustainability goals if it forms part of a broader re-organisation of capital markets to reward longer term perspectives.


A review of the history of cardiac surgery around the world is made divided into three stages, the first since the beginning of humanity until 300 years BC; the second moment shows how comes the platform that would give the anatomical and functional bases of the cardiovascular system. This historic moment includes: 1. the description and analysis of the function of blood and its components; 2. the description of the normal and abnormal Anatomy of the human heart and its vessels; 3. the anatomic and functional correlation: Foundation of the deductive thinking, and 4. the anatomic and functional integration with the clinic. Finally, the third wave, which is living today, is the stage of the technological explosion that begins with procedures as thoracoscopic surgery with the concept of reducing surgical trauma through minimum approach surgery. Also the use of robotics to solve some of the alterations in the CC, another is hybrid procedures and finally the use of fetal cardiac surgery.


Naming and describing provide referential labels for entities. They seem to have much in common, but they also seem to be distinct. The social communication task developed by Robert M. Krauss (Krauss, Garlock, Bricker and McMahon, 1977; Krauss and Blucksberg, 1977; Krauss and Weinheimer, 1964, 1966) provides a functional model of how naming and describing are related and yet distinct modes of reference. Eighteen of Krauss's original dialogue transcripts were reanalyzed in order to characterize both the sequential relation between naming and describing (i.e., how a referential description is shortened into a name through use) and the structural relation between the two reference types (i.e., what parts of antecedent descriptive phrases are abbreviated and composed to form the consequent name).


The maximum walking speed, the stability of standing balance, and isokinetic strength for knee extension on the both sides were examined in 7 hemiparetic stroke patients before and 10-20 min after intravenous administration of 2-mg TRH. The maximum walking speed, the stability of standing balance and the strength of the affected side increased significantly with TRH but the strength of the non-affected side did not change. It seems that TRH enables functionally depressed areas to resume activity.


In 2003–2005, systematic studies in four contrasting hydrogeologic settings were undertaken to improve understanding of source and transport controls on nitrate movement to public supply wells (PSW) in principal aquifers of the United States. Chemical, isotopic, and age tracer data show that agricultural fertilizers and urban septic leachate were the primary sources of large nitrate concentrations in PSW capture zones at Modesto, California (Central Valley aquifer system) and York, Nebraska (High Plains aquifer). Urban septic leachate and fertilizer (possibly nonfarm) were the primary sources of large nitrate concentrations in PSW capture zones at Woodbury, Connecticut (glacial aquifer system), and Tampa, Florida (Floridan aquifer system), respectively. Nitrate fluxes to the water table were larger in agricultural settings than urban settings, indicating that it would be beneficial to reduce PSW capture zone areas in agricultural regions. Mixing calculations indicate that about 50 to 85% of the nitrate in water from the PSW could be from those modern anthropogenic sources, with the remainder coming from sources in old (>50 years) recharge or sources in young recharge in undisturbed settings such as forests. Excess N2 concentrations and age tracers showed that denitrification at Modesto occurred gradually (first‐order rate constant of 0.02/a) in a thick reaction zone following a ∼30‐year lag time after recharge. Denitrification generally was not an important nitrate sink at Woodbury. At York and Tampa, denitrification occurred rapidly (0.5 to 6/a) in thin reaction zones in fine‐grained sediments that separated the anoxic PSW producing zones from overlying oxic, high‐nitrate ground water. Particle tracking showed that a major pathway by which anthropogenic nitrate reached the York and Tampa PSW was by movement through long well screens crossing multiple hydrogeologic units (York) and by movement through karst features (Tampa), processes which reduced ground water residence times in the denitrifying zones. These results illustrate how PSW vulnerability to nitrate contamination depends on complex variations and interactions between contaminant sources, reaction rates, transit times, mixing, and perturbation of ground water flow in contrasting hydrogeologic settings.


Recently, in my paper on the Paradoxosomatidae of Borneo (JEEKEL, 1963), I discussed the taxonomy of the genus Pratinus Attems, 1937, and showed that the species of this genus in the wide sense as conceived by ATTEMS (1937, 1953) in majority belong to three other genera, viz., Orthomorpha Bollman, 1893, Leiozonius Jeekel, 1963, and Gigantomorpha Jeekel, 1963. Pratinus itself was restricted to a concept largely conforming to the idea held by POCOCK when he established this genus under the preoccupied name of Prionopeltis in 1895. Furthermore, attention was drawn to the fact that the two species of Euphyodesmus Attems, 1931, described from Ceylon, for which CHAMBERLIN (1941) created a separate subgenus Ceylonesmus, actually belong to Pratinus. In recapitulation, Pratinus was emended to embrace the following species: P. planatus (Poc., 1895), P. taurinus (Poc., 1895), P. cervinus (Poc., 1895), P. greeni (Att., 1936), and P. vector (Chamb., 1941). A re-examination of the type-species of the genus, P. cervinus, the study of the two new species described in the present paper, and a review of the pertinent literature now has convinced me that the concept of Pratinus must still undergo a slight alteration to the effect that the Indochinese species which ATTEMS (1937, 1953) described in the genus Centrodesmus Pocock, 1894, should be reallocated in Pratinus. The type-species of Centrodesmus, C. typicus Pocock, 1894, from Sumatra is known only in the female sex. The other Sumatran species, C. discrepans Silvestri, 1895, also was based on a female. As regards the development of the lateral keels, these species bear a certain resemblance to some species of Pratinus and some of the Indochinese species which ATTEMS referred to Centrodesmus. However, such a similarity might as well be a case of evolutionary parallelism and not necessarily signifies congenerity. Moreover, POCOCK already considered the species of Pratinus generically distinct from Centrodesmus, and since he is probably still the only one who has seen the type-species of both genera, it seems better to follow tentatively his usually sound opinion. At any rate, the species referred to Centrodesmus by ATTEMS, on account of their gonopod structure cannot be kept separate from Pratinus.


The authors described case of 27 years old female patient treated due to infertility of unknown etiology. The female was pregnant after series of intrauterine insemination. During caesarean section due to pelvic longitudinal lie the chocolate cyst and endometriosis of the ovary were found. The authors did not find any information in the literature about coincidence of endometriosis of female reproductive organs and full-term pregnancy.


Congenital chondrodystrophy of unknown origin (CCUO) has been reported in beef cattle worldwide. A trace mineral deficiency in pregnant dams has been suggested as causing the deformities seen in CCUO calves. An extended outbreak of CCUO in Australia between 2002 and 2009 provided an opportunity to examine the pattern of trace mineral status in gestating cows and the effect of parenteral trace mineral supplementation on a herd at risk of CCUO calves. A property with a strong history of CCUO was identified from a previous case-control study. A randomly selected sample of multiparous (8 to 10 years old) Angus and Angus cross cows (n = 20) was assigned to control (no injection) or supplement group given three injections at the recommended dose rate of chelated mineral supplement (Mn, Zn, Cu and Se) at 6-week intervals in mid- to late gestation. Liver biopsies were performed to measure liver Mn, Zn, Cu and Fe at each injection time and 1 month post-calving. Pasture samples were also collected for analysis. Supplemented cows had higher liver Cu levels compared to control cows (p < 0.001), but there was no difference between supplement and control cows for liver Zn, Fe or Mn. Liver Cu (p < 0.001), Fe (p < 0.001) and Zn (p < 0.001) fell during gestation and liver Mn increased after calving (p < 0.001). Three cows from the control group and two from the supplement group had liver zinc levels below the normal values at the end of the trial. Two cows from the control group and one from the treatment group gave birth to cows with signs of CCUO including superior brachygnathia. All cows except one from the control group had rough dry coats with excessive dander. The role of trace mineral status in the birth of CCUO calves, especially the role of zinc deficiency, requires further investigation.


ABSTRACT The French phase 3 trial (OS 2006) testing zoledronic acid, an osteoclast inhibitor, with chemotherapy and surgery did not improve the outcome of patients with osteosarcoma (OS). To understand this unexpected result, the presence of infiltrating immune cells was investigated in 124 pre-therapeutic biopsies of patients enrolled in the trial. The percentage of CD68/CD163 tumor-infiltrating macrophages (TAMs), CD8+ lymphocytes, osteoclasts, and the PD1/PDL-1 checkpoint were assessed by immunohistochemistry. M1/M2 macrophage polarization was characterized by pSTAT1/CMAF staining. The expression of these biomarkers was correlated with clinical outcome. No statistical correlations were found with response to chemotherapy. High CD163 levels (>50% of cells per core; 43.8% of patients) were associated with CMAF nuclear expression and significantly correlated with better overall survival (p = 0.0025) and longer metastasis progression-free survival (MPFS, p = 0.0315) independently of metastatic status (p = 0.002). Only a trend was observed for patients with high CD68-positive cells (p = 0.0582). CD8+ staining was positive in >50% of cases with a median staining of 1%. Lower CD8+ levels were associated with metastatic disease at diagnosis and the presence of CD8-positive cells significantly correlated with improved overall survival in zoledronate-treated patients (p = 0.0415). PD1/PDL-1 staining was negative in >80% of cases and was not correlated with outcome. Finally, CD163-positive TAMs and CD8 positive cells are crucial prognostic biomarkers in OS, whereas PD1/PDL-1 checkpoint plays a minor role. For the first time, we described a correlation between CD8 positive cells and survival in zoledronate-treated patients. The immunohistochemical analysis of the microenvironment in biopsies may represent a novel tool for therapeutic stratification.


It may make sense to reduce gasoline taxes in Britain and substitute higher income taxes to raise revenue. But this must be weighed against other benefits of high gasoline taxes in reduced pollution and traffic congestion.


This study about the Mangrove Plantation in San Juan, Batangas, Philippines aimed to identify the potential of mangrove plantation as a tourist attraction; to describe the status of mangroves, the programs offered by the government; to determine the level of support given by the government; to determine the benefits of the mangroves; and to propose an action plan that will develop the mangrove plantation as a tourist attraction. The study used descriptive method in order to determine the needed information regarding the current status of mangrove plantation as tourist attraction. The study concluded that the status of the mangroves in the coastal areas of San Juan, Batangas is continuously propagating and the local government does not neglect the mangrove plantations in the said community, as such, it is properly protected; the government's level of support given to the mangrove plantation in terms of policies, management and planning and budget are highly implemented while in terms of promotion is implemented only; mangroves are beneficial to the residents of San Juan particularly in terms of environmental/ecological, economic and health, and ; proposed an action plan regarding development of Mangrove Plantation was designed by the researchers.


Summary Experiments were conducted to determine the effects of 50 mg l–1 and 100 mg l–1 indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), each of three strains of non-pathogenic Agrobacterium rubi (A1, A16 and A18), a non-pathogenic strain of Bacillus subtilis (OSU-142), and radicle tip-cutting (RC) alone, or a combination of bacteria and RC on the number of lateral roots, plant height, stem diameter, root length, and fresh and dry root weights of Pistacia vera seedlings. Treatment of germinated seeds of P. vera with IBA, bacteria, RC, or bacteria plus RC, caused significant increases in lateral root formation in seedlings. Treatments with 50 mg l–1 and 100 mg l–1 IBA, RC, A. rubi A1, A16, A18, B. subtilis OSU 142, RC+A1, RC+A16, RC+A18 or RC+OSU-142 increased average lateral root numbers from 2.1 in untreated controls, to 8.4, 10.3, 5.3, 7.8, 6.9, 6.2, 5.4, 8.1, 7.8, 5.9 and 5.4, respectively. IBA (100 mg l–1) gave the highest number of lateral roots. Agrobacterium rubi strain A1 was found to be more effective than the other bacterial strains, RC or control treatments in increasing the numbers of lateral roots.


An investment in people is vital to transforming businesses in Nigeria so a vibrant and entrepreneurially-driven agricultural sector can flourish. Previous failures in large private-sector projects in Nigeria have resulted from the low-level investment into human capital development of agricultural businesses; economic instability and security. The development of the agricultural sector and smallholder farmer requires collaboration among governmental policymakers, educational institutions and private industry. The talent gap in science must be closed in order for a new generation of agricultural business entrepreneurs to transform the numerous challenges into opportunities.


Aim. The aim of the study was to carry out the clinoco-roentgenological and functional assessment of the alveolar bone regeneration in the region of the extraction sockets in the nearest postoperative period. Materials and methods. Two observation groups were formed. After the surgery for extraction of a tooth, a new treatment-and-prophylactic complex was used in 16 patients of the main group for stimulation of regeneration and prevention of alveolar bone atrophy. In 25 patients of the comparison group, healing of sockets was going on traditionally without osteoplastic materials. During 3 months clinical, roentgenological and functional studies were used to investigate the state of regional hemodynamics and morphometric parameters in the region of the extraction molar sockets. Results. The obtained data permitted to establish that a new technique for prevention of alveolar bone and gum atrophy allows to improve tissue regeneration. At the same time, in the main group the degree of alveolar bone atrophy did not exceed 2 mm and was two times less than in the comparison group. Conclusions. Thus, the proposed technique permits to form an adequate support for dental implant and to receive a good result of orthopedic treatment in the future.


After 20 years of research to improve oral rehydration salts (ORS), a new formula has been developed and is now recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The new formula that contains slightly less sodium and glucose than previously not only decreases the volume of diarrhea and vomiting in children presenting acute non-cholera-related diarrhea but also, and above all, significantly reduces the need for intravenous fluid treatment. This new so-called reduced osmolarity formulation has been included in the WHO's list of essential drugs.


The present study investigated the role of aminoguanidine in the prevention of harmful effects in astroglioma F98 cells induced by β‑amyloid treatment. MTT assay was used to analyze cell viability. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was analyzed using western blot analysis. Treatment of the F98 cells with a 15 µM concentration of β‑amyloid for 12 h reduced cell viability to 18% compared with the control cells. However, pretreatment with a 30 µM concentration of aminoguanidine for 12 h completely prevented the β‑amyloid‑induced reduction in cell viability. The production of ROS and the expression of iNOS were significantly (P<0.005) higher in the β‑amyloid‑treated F98 cells. Aminoguanidine pre‑treatment inhibited the β‑amyloid‑induced increase in the expression of ROS, with increased mRNA and proteins levels of iNOS12 h following treatment at a 30 µM concentration. The β‑amyloid treatment also resulted in a marked increase in the expression of cyclooxygenase‑2 (COX‑2) in F98 cells. By contrast, pre‑treatment with aminoguanidine for 12 h led to reduction in the mRNA and protein expression levels of COX‑2. Pre‑treatment of the F98 cells with aminoguanidine at a 30 µM concentration for 12 h prior to incubation with β‑amyloid significantly (P<0.002) reduced the expression of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Aminoguanidine pre‑treatment also caused the inhibition of β‑amyloid‑induced translocation of nuclear factor (NF)‑κB p65 into the cytosol. Thus, aminoguanidine prevented β‑amyloid‑induced Alzheimer's disease through reductions in the expression levels of NO, iNOS, PGE2 and COX‑2, and the inactivation of NF‑κB. Therefore, aminoguanidine offers potential for use in the treatment of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease.


In 1970 there were 8,088 cases of food poisoning notified and ascertained in England, and 38 people died, due mainly or in part to food poisoning or infection with food poisoning organisms. Nowadays nearly all food poisoning is due to contamination of food with disease‐producing bacteria, usually due to faulty hygiene or bad handling practices — but food may be inherently poisonous or poisons may find their way into it. Poisoning from inherently poisonous food is rare in England, although people do occasionally eat toadstools instead of mushrooms, and chemical food poisoning, although relatively common 50 years ago, is very rare now. Interest in chemical poisons in food has revived, however, because of concern over food additives and contaminants such as pesticide residues, although it is the long‐term effect over many years rather than acute poisoning incidents which is the main object of study now.


Issues addressed in the Core Curriculum and General Education track at this year's conference are more important than ever. With the release of Academically Adrift (Arum and Roksa 2011), increasing budget shortfalls as a result of the economic recession, and calls for assessment and accountability, higher education and its usefulness have come under scrutiny. While this increasing scrutiny is a concern that others besides those in political science should address, our field's expertise within the political arena would suggest that we have insight into political decision-making and can act as experts that translate information from the classroom to the real world in a variety of ways.


Khat is an evergreen plant and its fresh green leaves and buds are chewed for several hours a day for its psychostimulant response. This study aimed to review the effects of khat chewing on the body. PubMed was searched for literature on the different aspects of khat chewing to summarize its effects on different body systems. The major effects of khat chewing are those on the cardiovascular system including increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, and increased risk of myocardial infarction. It causes insomnia, stress, depression, hallucination, and increased risk of brain stroke. It causes dental caries, bad oral hygiene, periodontitis, increased oral mucosal ulcers, and increased gingival bleeding and recession. Khat chewing causes loss of appetite, gastritis, constipation, and hemorrhoids, and increased risk of hepatotoxicity and liver cirrhosis. Ultimately, it causes weak micturition, decreased sperm motility and count, and low birth-weight offspring in khat chewing mothers. The published articles about khat chewing in journals indexed in the PubMed was reviewed. Inclusion criteria involved each article available with English language and have a reported new effect of khat chewing.


This tutorial provides an overview of the design, operation and materials of magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) with emphasis from a reliability engineering perspective. The speaker provided background information on MRAM architectures and discussed novel reliability problems inherent to MRAM. Reliability issues and concerns were discussed and illustrated with examples wherever possible. The intention of the tutorial gave attendees a basic and broad introduction to the reliability challenges raised by this novel memory form.


mathematics for engineers and applied scientists is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our digital library hosts in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the mathematics for engineers and applied scientists is universally compatible with any devices to read.