In this paper, an improved method of fault indicator generation algorithm in FRTUs is proposed for the present Distribution Automation System. In order to find fault area, correct FI information should be generated. But when a single line-to-ground fault occurs, FI information is generated in downside of the fault in some circumstance because existing FI algorithm considers only magnitude. It is found that the upside fault current direction if different from the downside fault current direction. Therefore, in order to prevent to generate the wrong fault indication information for FRTU at the downside of the fault, an improved fault indication generation method is developed. Not only the basic conditions are taken into account, but also the directions from the angle difference between zero and positive sequence currents are considered to generated the fault indication information. In case study, the proposed method has been testified and shown the reasonability in generating correct the fault indication information. for many kinds of faults according to conditions.


In this article, we analyze the spread of political disinformation in events of discursive struggles on Twitter, during the 2018 presidential election in Brazil. These were disputes for the hegemonic narrative between two stories based on opposed hashtags: one based on news from mainstream media and the other, based on disinformation, mostly from hyperpartisan outlets. Our goal was to understand how hyperpartisan outlets created and shaped these discursive struggles and the strategies used to spread disinformation to create an "alternative narrative" to the facts. Our case study is focused on two discursive struggles, for which we will use critical discourse analysis and social network analysis. Our findings suggest that (1) the structure of the hashtag wars was very polarized and right-wing groups had higher exposure to hyperpartisan content and disinformation, while traditional media discourse circulates more among other different ideological clusters; (2) right-wing hyperpartisan media mostly used biased framing and polarized ideological discourse structure as manipulative strategies to reframe the events and create a counter-narrative (and thus, to create the dispute); and (3) opinion leaders were major spreaders of disinformation among far-right users, as they reinforced hyperpartisan content and became key actors in the discursive struggles (and thus, reinforced the dispute).


— Vannamei shrimp is a species of shrimp that has high economic value. In the process of trading vaname shrimp, there are different price classes. Determination of the price class of vaname shrimp is based on the size of the shrimp. But in the post-harvest process, the sorting of vaname shrimp is still done manually, namely by placing the white shrimp on a flat table and then separating it by size so that it takes a long time and the level of accuracy of the sorting process also becomes imprecise, as is done by cultivating in the coastal area of Madura, this is due to the limitations of available shrimp post-harvest processing equipment. In addition, the limited supply of electrical energy for the coastal area of Madura is also another factor that hinders the post-harvest process of vanname shrimp. The purpose of this study is to design and create a vannamei shrimp sorting system based on image processing. In processing this shrimp image using the Background Subtraction method. The Background Subtraction method is used as a separator between the object and the background. The sorting process is based on the size detection of shrimp by using the blob detection algorithm. BLOB (Binary Large Object) detection is an image segmentation method based on region growing. The goal is to analyze textures specifically and accurately. Because blob detection distinguishes colors that have thin gradations. Based on the tests that have been carried out, the average accuracy of the system in sorting vannamei shrimp is in the range of 90%.


Abstract The paper presents the results of an analysis of interactions which appeared during group storytelling. One of two methods was used for the storytelling: the Storyline method or the Associations Pyramid method. Seventy five-year-old children took part in the study. The results show that children are able to use different strategies to create a story together, the language and communication competence of the children is already well developed, and the children are ready for effective cooperation


We describe two adolescent patients in whom a disorder of the vocal cords associated with emotional factors resulted in acute episodes of stridor. Adduction of the vocal cords on inspiration and abduction on expiration was found on indirect laryngoscopy. The problem responded to either palcebo treatment or psychotherapy. The similarity between vocal cord dysfunction presenting as stridor and that presenting as asthma is discussed. The importance of diagnosing these functional problems in children is emphasized in order to avoid unnecessary diagnostic procedures and hazardous treatment.


The paper aims to show where ubiquitous sensor environments in combination with multimodal user interfaces can be used to enhance further the user (and usage) experience. The challenge in multimodal user interface design is to combine the available user input modalities with the available sensor data in a meaningful way. A conceptual framework for sensorised modality input composition and semantically controlled output decomposition in ubiquitous sensorised environments is introduced and its individual components, the ubiquitous sensorised environment, the input processing component, the situation aware application component and the output preparation component, are described. The paper also illustrates the functionality by means of an example, namely user mood awareness, and its application. Finally, considerable focus is put on the sensor nodes, classed into independent, parasitic and viral sensors, and some examples of what sensor payloads need to be employed to facilitate mood sensing are given.


The paper substantiates the author's proposal to amend the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which is explained by the gradual creation of a digital economy in the Russian Federation. In particular, the author has examined and solved the following problems of the legal regulation of civil law relations in the context of digitalization: the problem of identifying the object of digital rights, the problem of legal qualification of the electronic form of the transaction, the problem of using a smart contract in civil transactions, the problem of using blockchain technology to create mixed payment systems. The paper proposes a non-standard solution to each of these problems—the author has prepared a draft federal law "On Amendments to Parts One and Two of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in terms of legal relations arising in cyberspace." In particular, the author proposes to define digital rights as the absolute and relative rights to digital property named in this capacity, the content and conditions of implementation of which are determined by the law and the rules of the information system (protocol) that meets the characteristics established by the law. In the author's opinion, an electronic document can exist in the form of a machine information file of any format or a computer program that meets the characteristics of an electronic document.


This comment points out some papers published before the paper of Vitetta and Taylor (see ibid., vol.43, no.11, p.2750-58, 1995). These early papers have dealt with the general problem of maximum-likelihood sequence estimation of coded/uncoded phase-shift keying (PSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals in correlated Rician and Rayleigh-fading channels. These publications did not assume use of interleaving or use of optimal codes, designed for interleaved systems. The statistical properties of the multiplicative fading process have been included in the design of the receivers which were proposed, analyzed, and evaluated. The research contributions documented in these papers have also shown for the first time in the open literature the link between conventional detection techniques and the maximum-likelihood detection of signals in this type of fading channels.


The invention discloses a multi-degree-of-freedom controllable moving type welding robot. One end of a stand column is connected with a vehicle body; the other end of the stand column is respectively connected with one end of a main arm and the first connection end of a first rocker arm; the second connection end of the first rocker arm is connected with one end of a first connecting rod; the other end of the first connecting rod is connected with the second connection end of a second rocker arm; the first connection end of the second rocker arm is connected with the other end of the main arm; the third connection end of the second rocker arm is connected with one end of a second connecting rod; the other end of the second connecting rod is connected with the third connection end of the first rocker arm; one end of a third connecting rod is connected with the fourth connection end of the second rocker arm; the other end of the third connecting rod is connected with one end of a fourth connecting rod; the other end of the fourth connecting rod is connected with a tail end welding executor; one end of a sliding block is connected with the vehicle body via a moving pair; the other end of the sliding block is connected with one end of a fifth connecting rod; the other end of the fifth connecting rod is connected with one end of a sixth connecting rod; the other end of the sixth connecting rod is connected with the middle of the main arm. The multi-degree-of-freedom controllable moving type welding robot has the advantages of large working space, high rigidity, high bearing capability and high execution precision.


Global warming presents a threat for human and nature systems. For a few decades, sustainable food consumption behaviors have been considered remarkable to protect environmental sources. Changes in food consumption behaviors can benefit in improving environmental quality. While consumers are trying to reduce their environmental impact, it is needed to study what consumers think about the environmental impact of their consumption preferences. Earlier studies reported that sustainable conditions can bias judgments, since when an unsustainable plus a sustainable condition is thought as less environmentally impactful than the sustainable condition alone called "negative footprint illusion". In line with this, the current study aimed to examine negative footprint perceptual biases regarding sustainable food consumption. A within-subjects design was used with a total of 165 pre-service teachers studying at the department of science education in a mid-sized university in Turkey. Data were collected through a series of scales developed by Gorissen and Weijters (2016). The scales include three-meal menu food types including 'standard menu condition', 'sustainable-addition condition', and 'unsustainable-addition condition'. Participants were asked to evaluate the environmental impact of these menu conditions independently. The results of the study indicated that the participants believed that 'sustainable-addition condition' has a lower environmental impact than 'standard menu condition', even though 'sustainable-addition condition' indicates higher environmental impact- indicating a negative footprint illusion. It can be concluded that pre-service science teachers have perceptual biases related to sustainable food consumption even when they have enough knowledge related to environmental issues.


What has to be rememberedis that much of this compulsion should only be temporary, an expedient adopted, like the army doctor'sexpedient,of grim necessity. In all their present activities, in all their planning for the future, whether such planning has to do with the general reconstructionof society or with the future practice of medicine which is after all but part of the general reconstruction, medical practitioners must keep before them a vision of the individual as the responsibleand sentient unit of society. This is medicine's peculiar role. But apart from medicine the individual must be consideredin every possibleway. In the future he must be unshackled both in mind and in body-in his aspirationsand strivings, as well as in his comings and goings-but with one proviso. The place in modern life of what we have called the family or herd is very real. In the years to come it is destinedto increasein importance. The freedom of the individual from shacklesmust not be of such a degreethat it will prevent him from taking his full share in the life of the herd. The man with understandingwill be prepared to sink his own individuality to that extent, knowing that his greatest freedom and satisfaction will arise in the service of his fellow man. Compulsion will have to be applied to those not possessedof such understandingand willingness to cooperate. The result will depend on the intelligenceand impartiality of those who accept the task of leadership, who are given the authority to use compulsion. But that opens up a vast subject which must be left for a future occasion.


A new solution of the field equations of the generalized field theory, constructed by Mikhail and Wanas in 1977, has been obtained.
The geometric structure used, in the present application, is an absolute parallelism (AP)-space with spherical symmetry (type FIGI). The solution obtained represents a generalized field outside a charged massive central body. Two schemes have been used to get the physical meaning of the solution: The first is related to the metric of the Riemannian space associated with the AP-structure. The second is connected to a covariant scheme known as {\it{Type Analysis}}. It is shown that the dependence on both schemes for interpreting the results obtained, is more better than the dependence on the metric of the Riemannian space associated with the AP-structure.
In General, if we consider the solution obtained as representing a geometric model for an elementary charged particle, then the results of the present work can be summarized in the following points. (i) It is shown that the mass of the particle is made of two contributions: The first is the gravitational contribution, and the second is the contribution due to the existence of charge. (ii) The model allows for the existence of a charged particle whose mass is completely electromagnetic in origin. (iii) The model prevents the existence of a charged massless particle. (iv) The electromagnetic contribution, to the mass, is independent of the sign of the electric charge. (v) It is shown that the mass of the electron (or a positron) is purely made of its charge.


Arsenic resistance is commonly clustered in ars operons in bacteria; main ars operon components encode an arsenate reductase, a membrane extrusion protein, and an As‐sensitive transcription factor. In the As‐resistant thermophile Thermus thermophilus HB27, genes encoding homologues of these proteins are interspersed in the chromosome. In this article, we show that two adjacent genes, TtsmtB, encoding an ArsR/SmtB transcriptional repressor and, TTC0354, encoding a Zn2+/Cd2+‐dependent membrane ATPase are involved in As resistance; differently from characterized ars operons, the two genes are transcribed from dedicated promoters upstream of their respective genes, whose expression is differentially regulated at transcriptional level. Mutants defective in TtsmtB or TTC0354 are more sensitive to As than the wild type, proving their role in arsenic resistance. Recombinant dimeric TtSmtB binds in vitro to both promoters, but its binding capability decreases upon interaction with arsenate and, less efficiently, with arsenite. In vivo and in vitro experiments also demonstrate that the arsenate reductase (TtArsC) is subjected to regulation by TtSmtB. We propose a model for the regulation of As resistance in T. thermophilus in which TtSmtB is the arsenate sensor responsible for the induction of TtArsC which generates arsenite exported by TTC0354 efflux protein to detoxify cells.


In order to solve the problems of information sharing, tampering and leaking in mechanical operation data acquisition, an abnormal data acquisition system for mechanical operation based on block chain technology was designed. The system takes Beihang Chain as the prototype and designs the overall architecture of the system. Data acquisition module uses data acquisition card, CPU, programmable logic device, A/D conversion chip and other equipment to collect and process abnormal data in mechanical operation. The alarm module divides the abnormal data collected by the data acquisition module into five levels: P1-P5. After the implementation of the alarm module, the abnormal information and alarm information in the process of mechanical operation are transmitted to the abnormal data management module for storage. The system adopts the method of mechanical operation anomaly data acquisition based on sparse sampling, and adopts hierarchical clustering method to establish the data acquisition tree of mechanical operation anomaly. The block chain technology is used to design the process of storing and monitoring abnormal data of mechanical operation. The experimental results show that the system has high accuracy of fitting curve for abnormal data acquisition, low real-time energy consumption, and the minimum energy consumption is only 0.01/10-3 J.


In acute biliary pancreatitis, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and cholecystectomy should be considered to reduce the complications of gallstones including recurrent biliary pancreatitis. If biliary pancreatitis is accompanied by cholangitis or evidence of obvious biliary obstruction, removal of the common bile duct stone via early ERCP (within 24 to 72 hours) is necessary. Less or non-invasive imaging modalities such as endoscopic ultrasound, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography can be considered to avoid unnecessary ERCP if suspected biliary obstruction in the absence of cholangitis in patients with biliary pancreatitis. Cholecystectomy in patients with biliary pancreatitis requires a strategy that varies the timing of surgery depending on the severity of pancreatitis. In mild acute biliary pancreatitis, cholecystectomy can be performed safely at the time of initial admission. In moderate to severe biliary pancreatitis, cholecystectomy should be delayed until about 6 weeks when active inflammation subsides and fluid collections resolve or stabilize. Endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) can be helpful in reducing recurrent pancreatitis in patients who unfit for cholecystectomy. However, even if EST is performed, additional cholecystectomy will further reduce the risk of recurrent pancreatitis, if possible, it is recommended to undergo a cholecystectomy.


N-oxides possessing the pyridine framework are strong Lewis bases that can activate the C–Si bond of allylhalosilanes to such an extent that they catalyze reactions with aldehydes. N-oxides embedded in chiral scaffolds are usually capable of highly selective chirality transfer to the derived products. Our goal was to develop a general synthetic method allowing the preparation of structurally varied N,N'-dioxides suitable for enantioselective organocatalysis. The underlying synthetic strategy was based on [2 + 2 + 2]-cyclotrimerization of suitably substituted diynes with nitriles catalyzed by Co-complexes to generate the desired bipyridines, their further oxidation and resolution of which furnished the corresponding chiral N,N'-dioxides. The prepared compounds were used in catalytic allylation of aromatic aldehydes to homoallyl alcohols with high enantioselectivity (up to 96 % ee). Enantioselectivity, enantiodiscrimination, and the reaction mechanism are controlled by the choice of solvent.


Objectives
This study examined the associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and diabetes within a social-ecological framework, incorporating personal and environmental unfavorable conditions during childhood from family, school, and community contexts.

Methods
Data were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2014 life history survey and 2015 survey), including 9179 participants aged ≥45 years. ACEs were collected through self-report questionnaires, and participants were categorized based on the number of distinct ACEs experienced (0, 1, 2, 3, or ≥4 ACEs). Diabetes was defined by biomarkers, self-reported diagnosis, and treatment status. Logistic regression was conducted to explore the associations between ACEs and diabetes. Subgroup analyses were conducted by gender, age, and obesity status.

Results
Compared with participants without ACEs, those exposed to any ACE (odds ratio [OR], 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.40), 3 ACEs (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.07-1.62) and ≥4 ACEs (OR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.07-1.56) had an increased risk of diabetes. For each additional ACE, the risk of diabetes increased by about 5%. Regarding the source of ACEs, those originating from the family (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.08-1.41) were associated with diabetes. In terms of specific ACE types, family members with substance abuse (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.01-1.52), emotional abuse (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.12-1.46), and poor parental relationship (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.09-1.43) were associated with diabetes.

Conclusion
ACEs, particularly those originating from the family, were associated with diabetes. Interventions aimed at preventing and mitigating ACEs are essential for the early prevention of diabetes.


A high-voltage power supply with an output of 80 kV/200 A has been built with pulse step modulation (PSM) technology to energize the gyrotrons of the electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system on HL-2A Tokamak. To improve the performance of the control system of the PSM system, a fully digital controller based on digital signal processor and field-programmable gate arrays has been developed. This controller has many advantages and is successfully applied to the operation of the PSM system in ECRH experiment.


Understanding the physical realities and social attitudes concerning incarceration in the ancient world provides a fuller context to the New Testament's unadorned and ambiguous references to people's experience of being held in custody. The context is crucial for interpreting biblical passages that commend caring for prisoners, that reaffirm God's strength and nullify the ignominy associated with incarceration, and that declare God's power over the means and motives of imperial coercion. Such passages also compel the contemporary church to advocate on behalf of prisoners and to denounce the systems that regularly victimize them.


We present the results of 3D lattice Monte Carlo simulations of protein folding in the framework of a model taking into account the dependence of the energy of interaction of amino acid residues on their orientation and the rigidity of the polypeptide chain. For the model parameters corresponding to the formation of ideal β sheets (such flat fragments of proteins are stabilized by hydrogen bonds), the folding time of chains of length n is found to scale as tf ∝ nα with α = 6.8 ± 0.6.


The effects of human versus mouse EGF on cell growth and culture duration were studied to optimize a human limbal stem cells culture method for therapeutical autologous transplantation. Limbal cells were obtained by trypsin digestion and transferred to a culture medium. The time needed to reach full confluence in culture was determined. Specific antibodies to corneal stem cell marker (P63) versus corneal epithelial differentiation marker (K3) were used for histochemical determinations. A high proportion of P63 positive cells (85 +/- 4.6%), and a correspondingly low proportion K3 positive cells (15 +/- 3.8%) indicated that most cultured cells remained undifferentiated and were considered as stem cells (mean +/- SE, n=10). Cultures reached full confluency after 17.3 +/- 1.2 days when the medium was supplemented with human EGF, while 21.7 +/- 1.5 days were needed when the medium was supplemented with mouse EGF. The results showed that limbal stem cells proliferate more easily and reach to full confluency in a shorter time if the medium is supplemented with hEGF rather than with mEGF.


The effect of the decapeptide cerulein on exocrine pancreatic function was compared with pancreozymin by means of intraindividual double stimulation. 100 ng/kg bw/45 min of synthetic cerulein led to a greater enzyme excretion than 2 U/kg bw pancreozymin. This increase in enzyme secretion was independent of whether the pancreas function was normal or disordered. In the selected experimental procedure, cerulein increased the excretion of enzymes (chymotrypsin, trypsin, lipase, amylase) whether it was infused in connection with or before an injection of pancreozymin. Cerulein can therefore completely replace pancreozymin in the diagnosis of pancreatic function.


The family life cycle concept developed by Meyer Fortes is tested using data from the 1970 Mexican census. The results indicate that this concept is not wholly applicable because of the wide prevalence of extended family households and because childbearing in Mexico is spread over an extended period with the result that childbearing periods for mother and older daughters may overlap. (ANNOTATION)


In 1918 many countries, but not Spain, were fighting World War I. Spanish press could report about the diffusion and severity of a new infection without censorship for the first-time, so that this pandemic is commonly defined as "Spanish flu", even though Spain was not its place of origin. "Spanish flu" was one of the deadliest pandemics in history and has been frequently compared with the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic. These pandemics share similarities, being both caused by highly variable and transmissible respiratory RNA viruses, and diversity, represented by diagnostics, therapies, and especially vaccines, which were made rapidly available for COVID-19, but not for "Spanish flu". Most comparison studies have been carried out in the first period of COVID-19, when these resources were either not yet available or their use had not long started. Conversely, we wanted to analyze the role that the advanced diagnostics, anti-viral agents, including monoclonal antibodies, and innovative COVID-19 vaccines, may have had in the pandemic containment. Early diagnosis, therapies, and anti-COVID-19 vaccines have markedly reduced the pandemic severity and mortality, thus preventing the collapse of the public health services. However, their influence on the reduction of infections and re-infections, thus on the transition from pandemic to endemic condition, appears to be of minor relevance. The high viral variability of influenza and coronavirus may probably be contained by the development of universal vaccines, which are not easy to be obtained. The only effective weapon still remains the disease prevention, to be achieved with the reduction of promiscuity between the animal reservoirs of these zoonotic diseases and humans.


This paper describes how current transport systems and transport planning methods and models are not necessarily compatible with the requirements of sustainable transport development. Adequate transport systems can only be obtained by the use of a sustainable transport paradigm and an accompanying analytical framework. Therefore, this paper presents a theoretical framework, which is based on a paradigm for sustainable transport development. This paradigm advocates a comprehensive decision-making that anticipates and manages scarce resource use, including environment and finance, while developing the transport system in terms of quality of access and/or person throughput. Furthermore, a simplified version of a dynamic optimization model that can assist in the complex and political decision-making process with respect to sustainable transport development is introduced, based on the conceptualization and characterization of the sustainable urban transport development problem as a constrained optimization problem. Based on Pontryagin's Maximum Principle, the dynamic model reveals control paths for achieving a sustainable and developed transport system. The model in its present form can be applied directly to strategic networks of limited numbers of (aggregated) zones and (aggregated) links.


SUMMARY: We describe imaging findings of a 45-year-old man with a 6-month history of gradually increasing diffuse swelling of the neck. CT showed diffuse thickening and infiltration of the superficial and deep soft tissues bilaterally. On further investigation of his history, the patient stated that he had injected mineral oil into his neck to clean out his body from drugs. Biopsy results showed multinucleated giant cells and inflammatory infiltrates confirming the diagnosis of lipogranulomatosis.


Neurodegenerative disorders are significantly increasing in incidence as the age of the global population continues to climb with improved life expectancy. At present, more than 30 million individuals throughout the world are impacted by acute and chronic neurodegenerative disorders with limited treatment strategies. The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), also known as the mammalian target of rapamycin, is a 289 kDa serine/threonine protein kinase that offers exciting possibilities for novel treatment strategies for a host of neurodegenerative diseases that include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, epilepsy, stroke and trauma. mTOR governs the programmed cell death pathways of apoptosis and autophagy that can determine neuronal stem cell development, precursor cell differentiation, cell senescence, cell survival and ultimate cell fate. Coupled to the cellular biology of mTOR are a number of considerations for the development of novel treatments involving the fine control of mTOR signalling, tumourigenesis, complexity of the apoptosis and autophagy relationship, functional outcome in the nervous system, and the intimately linked pathways of growth factors, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-K), protein kinase B (Akt), AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK), silent mating type information regulation two homologue one (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (SIRT1) and others. Effective clinical translation of the cellular signalling mechanisms of mTOR offers provocative avenues for new drug development in the nervous system tempered only by the need to elucidate further the intricacies of the mTOR pathway.


Results of 470 bone marrow transplants from related donors other than genotypically HLA-identical siblings (alternative related donors) were analysed to identify factors associated with transplant outcome and to determine whether T cell depletion improved results. As compared to 3648 transplant from HLA-identical siblings, alternative related donor transplants were associated with increased graft failure, increased acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and lower disease-free survival. The likelihood of adverse outcome correlated with increasing donor-recipient HLA-disparity. In multivariate analysis of alternative related donor transplants, donor age greater than or equal to 30 years, (relative risk [RR] 1.7, p less than 0.006), intermediate and advanced leukemia (RR 1.5 and 1.6, p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.003), infection pretransplant (RR 1.7, p less than 0.005) and 2- and 3-locus donor-recipient HLA-disparity (RR 1.3, p less than 0.04) were associated with increased risks of treatment failure. The 2-year probability of leukemia-free survival after alternative related donor transplants (n = 43) with none of these adverse prognostic features was 44% (95% confidence interval 28-59%) compared to 56% (95% confidence interval 52-59%) for similar patients receiving HLA-identical sibling transplants (n = 868, univariate p less than 0.03). T cell depletion increased graft failure and decreased acute GVHD after alternative related donor transplants but did not improve leukemia-free survival.


Nowadays, wireless network technology is booming and becoming more popular. It is convenience for people to access information from Internet. In this paper, we propose a novel model on free WLAN service. It has a high enough value to advertisers, because users are forced to view advertisements before being given access. Moreover, user's privacy is also considered. The concern of user's privacy is particularly signified in roaming network, user should keep anonymous to service provider. The free WLAN service provider can make money enough to keep and maintain free wireless service. The goal of profit-making comes from the advertisement impression will be workable in our scheme. This scheme, profit-making comes from advertisement impression by forcing user to browse advertisements before using network service, and still guarantee that user identity is anonymous, non-traceable and non-forgeable.


Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) has global economic and environmental importance, but has often not been considered in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] breeding programs. Knowing the genetic diversity and structure of a population within a germoplasm represent a key step for breeding programs. This study aimed at determining the structure of the population and diversity of soybean with regard to BNF and protein content in grain. In total, 191 accessions were evaluated, including 171 commercial soybean cultivars, developed and released by public institutions and private companies in Brazil, and 20 ancestral lines. The genotypes were chosen to represent four genetic groups: 128 Brazilian public genotypes, 20 exotic, and 43 genotypes from private companies. Soybeans were genotyped with 22 SSR markers, previously described as associated with BNF and protein content. Genetic diversity was evaluated using the DARwin 5.0 software. Population structure was inferred by principal component analysis and by the STRUCTURE software. The accessions were distributed in two groups: one clustering approximately 50 % of the accessions, from Brazilian public and private companies; the other one clustering 45 % of the accessions, including Brazilian, exotic and private germoplasms. Some accessions (5 %) were not grouped in any cluster. Principal component analysis explained 29 % of the total variance and there was a tendency to cluster the accessions into two groups. Similar results were obtained with the STRUCTURE, clearly showing two subpopulations. There is variability for BNF and protein content amongst both modern germoplasms cultivated in Brazil and ancestral lines. This variability could be better explored in soybean breeding programs to improve these traits.


The waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recovery can be categorised into two types, i.e. recycling at the material level and remanufacturing at the component level. However, the WEEE recovery is facing enormous challenges of diversified individuals, lack of product knowledge, distributed location, and so forth. On the other hand, the latest ICT provides new methods and opportunities for industrial operation and management. Thus, in this research digital twin and Industry 4.0 enablers are introduced to the WEEE remanufacturing industry. The goal is to provide an integrated and reliable cyber-avatar of the individual WEEE, thus forming personalised service system. The main contribution presented in this paper is the novel digital twin-based system for the WEEE recovery to support the manufacturing/remanufacturing operations throughout the product's life cycle, from design to recovery. Meanwhile, the international standard-compliant data models are also developed to support WEEE recovery services with high data interoperability. The feasibility of the proposed system and methodologies is validated and evaluated during implementations in the cloud and cyber-physical system.


Hematology and serum chemistry profiles for giraffes are presented. Values for 39 blood samples, collected from 14 giraffes, were analyzed and evaluated for variations relating to differences in sex, age, and restraint mode. Sex-specific variations were found in WBC and neutrophil numbers, total protein, and alkaline phosphatase concentrations. Age-specific variations were found in hematocrit, hemoglobin, erythrocytes, banded neutrophil and basophil numbers, and in calcium, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, and creatinine concentrations. Variations relating to differences in restraint mode used to collect the blood samples were found in calcium and uric acid concentrations.


The Bengal famine of 1943 is arguably the worst economic disaster of 20th century south Asia. This paper traces the background of the famine and analyses the role of the land market in fuelling food price rise. It appears that in a monetised, already famished, agrarian economy, during situations of subsistence crisis, interlinking of food and land markets has the potential to cause an exponentially high degree of disaster. The role of a universal public distribution system, which carries over food from a surplus to a deficit year, and insulates the food market, thus becomes paramount.


Abstract Rural development policy of Agricultural Property Stock (APS) of the State Treasury in Poland is run by the National Support Centre for Agriculture (until 31.08.2017 Agricultural Property Agency). In the article, on the example of the Braniewo municipality, the size and spatial distribution of land transferred from the Agricultural Property Stock (APS) of the State Treasury to the municipality was analysed. One of the most important goals associated with this was activities related to social aspects, often part of the revitalization and renewal of the rural areas. After Poland's accession to the European Union, it was possible to obtain subsidies that allowed the rural population to apply for financing projects, such as: road construction, creating school playgrounds or socio-cultural facilities. Authors also analysed examples of good practices in this area in the municipality of Braniewo, as a recommendation for other municipalities. Attempts have also been made to indicate the role of the National Support Centre for Agriculture in the transformation of the Polish countryside, with particular emphasis on the areas of former State Agricultural Farms.


BACKGROUND
The most frequent complications of transfemoral aortic valve implantation are vascular (15-25%) and are related to an increase in mortality. We sought to assess the rate of vascular complications, its treatment and outcomes using a surgical approach for transfemoral implantation of Edwards-SAPIEN (Edwards Lifescience, Irvine, CA, USA) aortic valve.

METHODS
We have conducted a multicenter registry including 4 hospitals using a systematic surgical exposure approach. Vascular complications have been collected following the definitions of the Valve Academic Research Consortium.

RESULTS
From 2008 to 2013 a total of 312 consecutive patients have been included. Vascular complications were reported in 22 (7%), among those 6 (1.9%) were major whereas 16 (5.1%) were minor. Patients suffering vascular complications had significantly more previous history of peripheral vascular disease. All but one major complications occurred in women, aged 82-88 and with chronic renal failure. Hospital stay was longer in cases suffering complications (17.8±11 days vs. 9±7 days; P<0.0001). The 30 days mortality was 13.6% in patients with vascular complications, 33.3% in patients with major complications and 5.5% in patients with no complications (P=0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
In this registry, the systematic use of a surgical exposure of the femoral artery for TAVR has been associated with a lower rate of vascular complications.


High surface area, active catalysts containing dispersed catalytic platinum nanoparticles (dp ∼11.6 nm) on a cordierite substrate were fabricated and characterized using TEM, XRD, and SEM. The catalyst activity was evaluated for methanol oxidation. Experimental results were obtained in a miniature-scale continuous flow reactor. Subsequent studies on the effect of catalyst loading and reactor flow parameters are reported. Repeat tests were performed to assess the stability of the catalyst and the extent of deactivation, if any, that occurred due to restructuring and sintering of the particles. SEM characterization studies performed on the postreaction catalysts following repeat tests at reasonably high operating temperatures (∼500°C corresponding to ∼0.3Tm for bulk platinum) showed evidence of sintering, yet the associated loss of surface area had minimal effect on the overall catalyst activity, as determined from bulk temperature measurements. The potential application of this work for improving catalytic devices including microscale reactors is also briefly discussed.


To provide information regarding the anthropometric and fitness profile of young karatekas and to study its evolution with age. Data from top-level karatekas were included in the analysis: 97 athletes in the U14 category (12–13 years old), 238 in cadet (14–15 years old), 261 in junior (16–17 years old) and 177 in U21 (18–20 years old), which makes a total of 773 athlete data sets. Karatekas underwent anthropometric (weight, height, body mass index and body fat percentage) and fitness (sit and reach, 20-m shuttle run, standing long jump, overhead 3-kg ball throw, 10x5-m shuttle run, and plate-tapping) assessments during the training camps organized by the Spanish National Karate Federation between 1999 and 2016. Male karatekas were taller and heavier, and performed better than females in all the fitness dimensions assessed, except for flexibility and speed of upper limb movements. The obtained cardiovascular and lower-body muscular values indicated that karatekas in this study were placed between the 80th and the 90th percentile when compared with the general population. The results of the agility, coordination and speed of upper limb movements, and flexibility tests showed that the karatekas obtained much higher scores than those observed in age-matched populations. Young karatekas show a high fitness level in comparison with the general population, especially with regards to aerobic performance, lower-body muscular power and upper-limb movement speed. Reference values of anthropometric and fitness dimensions are provided in order to be used by coaches, conditioning trainers and sport scientists when testing young male and female karatekas.


The production and distribution of digital content over electronic communications networks to a wide range of digital devices is experiencing exponential growth. This global media phenomenon has significant ramifications for development but there is insufficient understanding about the dynamics of the process, and uncertainty about many outcomes. Many factors attempted to determine the process of economic development. Political and economical factors are two factors paying the major influence. While not denying the potential importance of these aforementioned factors, this paper contend that the role of media in developing institutions that facilitate economic progress has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves. Emphasize to the role of media to the development process this paper is discuss the importance of media in overcoming public choice. It is also important to look up for every aspects of media that can influence the government to make their policy and its impact on government transparency and accountability.


A model has been made to predict performance of a calciner in a cement plant for the use of rice husk as partial substitution of coal. The calciner was assumed as a plug flow reactor with no-mass and heat transfer limitations. The model was composed of three equations of calcination, coal and rice husk combustions with kinetic parameters obtained from literature. Two of 20 sets of operation data were used as base-lines for simulations, namely: Case-A from operation at a capacity of 532 ton h of kiln feed (KF) with coal as a fuel; and Case-B at 530 ton h with 20% rice husk in a mixed fuel. Two simulations were executed at constant total fuel mass flow-rate (21.94 ton h of Case-A and 27.39 ton h of Case-B) and at constant total energy supplied (0.946 and 1.188 GJ ton KF for Case-A and Case-B respectively). Our simulation showed that a target CaCO3 conversion could be obtained using mixed fuel with maintaining constant total energy supplied instead of constant total fuel mass flow-rate. In Case-A as base-line, the use of mixed fuel with 20% rice husk with maintaining constant supplied energy would give a coal saving of 11.8%. This operation however would require an increase in specific fuel consumption from 0.0412 to 0.0455 ton ton of KF. In Case-B as base-line, the CaCO3 conversion of 95% could be obtained with a mixed fuel with rice husk mass fraction up to 40%.


In this paper, a 300[W] class boost type single-phase inverter system which can compensate voltage sag on source side is designed and implemented. This system is a two-stage conversion system composed of a boost converter and a PWM inverter. If the voltage sag has appeared at the point of common coupling, the boost converter would be operated to compensate it. The boost converter and the inverter were constructed on single smart power module(SPM) to implement low cost system. The system is designed for that the THD of ouput voltage is below 5[%]. Finally, the validity of the design for the inverter system is verified by both simulations and experiments.


George, the hero of Mortal Divide, is in the throes of a middle-life crisis: "I was pushingforty and forty was pushing back."1In desperate need of solace, he goes to Perth, the placewhere his immigrant father lived and died. Meanwhile in Sydney, his wife Alys and hisdaughter Toto are facing their own dilemmas: Alys because of a lesbian affair with Zoe,her husband's ex-girlfriend, Toto because of her teenage amorewith Snake. The familytension is recorded in George's telephone calls to Alys and his letters to Toto. Eventually, prompted by his analyst, Dr Nemerov's advice, George embarks on a journey to Egypt andGreece in search of his ancestral roots.2After a number of 'metaphysical' adventures,George returns to Sydney, where Alys announces that she is pregnant and Toto readsfairy-tales to welcome him. This is not quite a happy-ending but, at least George seems tohave emerged intact from his nightmare.


Cold-formed steel (CFS) channel section is a construction material that often been used in the building and still in the research for utilizing in structural element. The advantages of the CFS channel section such as lightweight, anti-corrosion and etc are becoming so interesting in selecting it as a roof purlin, roof truss system and storage rack. For having the structural element with the strong, safe and stable condition, the study of the CFS with the notch is carried out to determine the behavior. The parametric study is taking place to determine the suitability of notch pattern whether the notch depth and spacing are affecting the ultimate load of the CFS channel section column and beam. The study of the CFS channel section is divided into two parts, the first part is to examine the ultimate load of the column in varies of notch depth and the second part is to determine the ultimate load of the beam in varies of notch spacing. By referring the study of the notch depth on CFS channel column section, the result of the ultimate load is obtained to have the reduction about 19-80% of the variation of notch depth when compared with the normal section. Although, the CFS channel beam section with variation notch depth is influenced by approximately 4-14% when compared with CFS channel normal beam section.


Fuzzy logic modeling is a powerful tool in representing nonlinear systems. Moreover, inverse fuzzy model can be used as a controller in an open loop fashion to produce perfect control. However, in the case of modeling mismatches and disturbances that might occur on the system, open loop control would not be sufficient. In that case, the modeling errors and disturbances could be compensated by internal model control (IMC) with an on-line model adaptation scheme. The on-line adaptation is usually accomplished via recursive least square algorithm. In this study, big bang-big crunch (BB-BC) optimization method, which has a low computational time and high convergence speed, has been used as an on-line adaptation scheme. The inverse fuzzy model based IMC and the BB-BC optimization method based adaptation have been implemented and tested on a real time heating process system.


Elevation of intra-cellular organelle DNA levels due to preferential synthesis of organelle DNAs before cell multiplication is generally observed in meristematic cells of higher plants, such as those in apical meristems and cultured cells. We analyzed the physiological significance of this phenomena using cultured tobacco cell BY-2 as a model system for cell multiplication in plants. Cultured tobacco cell BY-2 multiplied approximately 50-fold in a week in normal culture medium. However, when nalidixic acid, which inhibits prokaryotic DNA gyrase, was added to the culture, synthesis of organelle DNA was selectively inhibited and cell multiplication was arrested. This indicates that the synthesis of organelle DNAs is a prerequisite for cell multiplication. To quantitatively clarify the effect of the elevation of organelle DNA levels on the capacity for cell proliferation, cells with various organelle DNA levels were prepared by preculturing cells for various lengths of time in culture medium which contained aphidicolin, a specific inhibitor of eukaryotic DNA polymerase a, and then transferring them to culture medium which contained nalidixic acid. Their growth rates in the absence of further organelle DNA synthesis were monitored. A correlation was observed between intra-cellular organelle DNA levels and the capacity of the cells to proliferate, indicating that intra-cellular organelle DNA levels limited the capacity for cell proliferation.


This case study was conducted to investigate the relationship between strategies used by EFL learners in writing process and their writing proficiency in two phases. In the preliminary phase, the intention was to elicit the students' writing strategies, using "think aloud" technique. To this end, five MA TEFL students were asked to write a composition while loudly reflecting everything going on in their minds as they were going through the processes of writing. Having recorded their reports, the researcher transcribed them to be analyzed, and developed a questionnaire based on the elicited strategies. The questionnaire contains 52 items and is classified, into four categories: cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies, affective strategies, and compensatory strategies. In the second stage, larger samples were asked to answer a 52-items questionnaire. The results of the present study shows that there is a positive correlation (r=49) between students' scores in their advanced writing course and their levels of strategy use. As the results showed the metacognitive strategy was the most frequently strategy used and affective strategy was the least frequent one.


Background: Local anaesthesia (LA) forms the backbone of pain control techniques in dentistry and has a major role in dentistry for children. Inferior Dental Nerve Block (IDNB) has been the LA technique of choice for treatment of carious mandibular primary molars in children. However, several disadvantages have been associated with the IDNB. Buccal Infiltration (BI) with 4% Articaine have been proposed as more comfortable and pleasant alternative LA techniques to IDNB which became widely used in paediatric dentistry especially for the treatment of carious mandibular primary molars in children above the age of 4 years.

Aim: To explore children and carer`s experience and satisfaction of their child's dental treatment under LA and compare their acceptance of two LA techniques; BI with 4% Articaine and IDNB with 2% lidocaine for the treatment of mandibular carious primary molars in children under ten years of age.

Method: A prospective study design was used to explore patient and carer`s acceptance of the two local anaesthetic techniques. 96 patients aged 5-9 years and their carer`s completed two questionnaires on treatment acceptance.

Result: A total of 49 (50%) participants received BI with 4% Articaine and 49 (50%) had IDNB with 2% lidocaine. Two patients had IDNB but no dental treatment was performed as patients could not cope with dental treatment, thus these participants did not complete the questionnaires. The majority of the children (84.7%) and their carers (91%) were happy with their experience at the dentist including the administration of the LA (61.5% for BI and 64% for IDNB), delivery of the dental treatment (87.8% for BI and 81.6% for IDNB) and dentist management including dental teamwork (over 90%).

Conclusion: Both local anaesthetic techniques; BI with 4% articaine and IDNB with 2% lignocaine were accepted among patients and carers. Dental team attitude can significantly impact the treatment outcome in children. Establishing a clear communication between the dentist, the child patient and his/her carer as well as implementing good behaviour management techniques contribute significantly to treatment acceptance among children and carers.


Objectives Interpretation of CIs in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) with treatment effects that are not statistically significant can distinguish between results that are 'negative' (the data are not consistent with a clinically meaningful treatment effect) or 'inconclusive' (the data remain consistent with the possibility of a clinically meaningful treatment effect). This interpretation is important to ensure that potentially beneficial treatments are not prematurely abandoned in future research or clinical practice based on invalid conclusions. Design Systematic review of RCT reports published in 2014 in Annals of Internal Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, JAMA Internal Medicine and The Lancet (n=247). Results 85 of 99 articles with statistically non-significant results reported CIs for the treatment effect. Only 17 of those 99 articles interpreted the CI. Of the 22 articles in which CIs indicated an inconclusive result, only four acknowledged that the study could not rule out a clinically meaningful treatment effect. Conclusions Interpretation of CIs is important but occurs infrequently in study reports of trials with treatment effects that are not statistically significant. Increased author interpretation of CIs could improve application of RCT results. Reporting recommendations are provided.


The paper solves the 0-1 knapsack problem with the modified adaptive genetic transform algorithm which combined with greedy transform algorithm. By means of mixing adaptive crossover and mutation with diversity-guided mutation and modifying adaptive crossover strategies, an adaptive genetic algorithm with diversity-guided mutation was developed and repaired the infeasible solution with greedy transform algorithm. New algorithm will converge to the global optimum and do not lead to premature convergence. Experimental results show that the new algorithm has faster convergent speed, higher robustness and more reliable stability, and it is very effective for 0-1 knapsack problem.


Background: The subthalamic nucleus is the preferred target for deep brain stimulation in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. The site of permanent stimulation is the subject of ongoing debate, as stimulation both within and adjacent to the subthalamic nucleus may be effective. Objective: To assess the position of active electrode contacts in relation to the dorsal margin of the subthalamic nucleus as determined by intraoperative microrecordings and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: In 25 patients suffering from severe levodopa sensitive parkinsonism, deep brain stimulating electrodes (n = 49) were implanted following mapping of the subthalamic nucleus by microrecording and microstimulation along five parallel tracks. Postoperative stereotactic radiography and fusion of pre- and postoperative MRI studies were used to determine the stereotactic position relative to the midcommissural point of the most effective electrode contacts selected for permanent stimulation (n = 49). Intraoperative microrecordings were analysed retrospectively to define the dorsal margin of the subthalamic nucleus. In cases where the dorsal margin could be defined in at least three microrecording tracks (n = 37) it was correlated with the position of the active contact using an algorithm developed for direct three dimensional comparisons. Results: Stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus resulted in marked improvement in levodopa sensitive parkinsonian symptoms and levodopa induced dyskinesias, with significant improvement in UPDRS III scores. In several instances, projection of the electrode artefacts onto the T2 weighted MRI visualised subthalamic nucleus of individual patients suggested that the electrodes had passed through the subthalamic nucleus. When the actual position of active electrode contacts (n = 35) was correlated with the dorsal margin of the subthalamic nucleus as defined neurophysiologically, most contacts were located either in proximity (± 1.0 mm) to the dorsal border of the subthalamic nucleus (32.4%) or further dorsal within the subthalamic region (37.8%). The other active contacts (29.7%) were detected within the dorsal (sensorimotor) subthalamic nucleus. The average position of all active contacts (n = 49) was 12.8 mm (± 1.0) lateral, 1.9 mm (± 1.4) posterior, and 1.6 mm (± 2.1) ventral to the midcommissural point. Conclusions: Subthalamic nucleus stimulation appears to be most effective in the border area between the upper subthalamic nucleus (sensorimotor part) and the subthalamic area containing the zona incerta, fields of Forel, and subthalamic nucleus projections.


Abstract Faced with the precariousness of social policies, which impacts the conditions of the family to exercise its protective function, the judicialization of mental health demands becomes one of the mechanisms used to guarantee rights. In view of this, we aimed to discuss the sharing of responsibilities between the family of the subject in psychological distress and the State, based on the demands of compulsory internment that reach the Brazilian judiciary. This is a documental research in which 23 judgments were analyzed, which were processed between 2001 and 2017, in the second instance of the Paraná State Court of Justice. As results, we highlight that by individualizing and reducing collective demands, the judiciary configures itself as a functional apparatus to the capital in crisis, based on the discourse of legal equality. The primacy of the individual is also evident in the few mentions of families, taken as informants of the condition of the user, their inclusion in the service offered by the network is superficial.


Purpose of this evaluation is to estimate the magnitude and effects of irradiation and creep induced fuel bundle deformations in the developmental plant. This report focuses on the trends of the results and the ability of present models to evaluate the assembly temperatures in the presence of bundle deformation. Although this analysis focuses on the developmental plant, the conclusions are applicable to LMFBR fuel assemblies in general if they have wire spacers.


Objective: A long-term study of the prehepatic portal hypertension model by triple stenosing ligation of the portal vein in the rat. Method: A cluster analysis of the animals in the different evolutive stages of portal hypertension (1 ½, 6, 12 and 14 months) has been carried out. This analysis has made it possible to identify three homogeneous groups (A, B and C) in relationship to the liver weight. Results: The animals with liver atrophy (group C) show a decrease of body, splenic and testicular weights as well as a higher development of the portosystemic collateral circulation in relation to the A and B groups. Conclusion: The percentage of animals belonging to the group C decrease progressively during the evolution of portal hypertension and those animals corresponding to the group A, in which is superior the liver weight, increase, while the B group does not change.


Over the past 15 years, an increasing number of researchers have become aware of what the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan's work can contribute to management and organization studies. The number of publications on the subject has significantly risen, at the risk of leading to some apparent heterogeneity of the topics covered and a potential distortion of the Lacanian concepts when used in management and organization studies. In this article, we aim to map this emerging field of research, bring to light the theoretical basis common to those works so as to make the Lacanian theory used to study management and organization more legible, and discuss the limitations and opportunities implied by such a Lacanian approach. We organize the published works around two main orientations, each helping to address specific issues: a clinical orientation, within organizational psycho-dynamics, and a critical orientation, related to critical management studies.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Gastric cancer still ranks among the top ten most common cancer in the world, despite a declining trend in incidence. The multifunctional protein Y Box Binding Protein-1 (YB-1) is known to regulate transcription, translation, DNA repair and cellular response to drug treatment. This study evaluated the correlation between YB-1 protein expression levels with clinico-pathological characteristics in the intestinal type of gastric cancer, which was further validated with in vitro experimentation. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) were constructed from specimens obtained from 167 patients diagnosed with intestinal gastric cancer. Immunohistochemical analysis of the YB-1 protein was performed on the TMAs . The intensity of YB-1 staining in the intestinal type of gastric cancer was scored as absent to strong staining and the percentage of YB-1 immunostained cells was determined. YB-1 immunoreactivity was based on the weighted average intensity (WAI) for each specimen, which was calculated as the sum of percentages of stained cells for each intensity divided by the total percentage of stained cells. siRNA-mediated silencing of the YB-1 gene in MKN7 intestinal gastric cancer cells was verified by RT-PCR. Cell migration and invasion assays were carried out using commercially available kits. YB-1 immunostaining was present in all the cancer tissue samples examined. The YB-1 protein was observed to be predominantly expressed in the cytoplasm of the gastric cancer cells. Univariate analysis revealed that YB-1 immunohistochemical expression was significantly correlated with lymph node status and perforation. However, multivariate analysis showed that only YB-1 protein expression is an independent predictor of lymph node spread. Down-regulation of the YB-1 gene expression in MKN7 cells significantly inhibited cell migration and invasion, processes which are important in the metastatic cascade. The findings suggest that YB-1 expression is associated with metastasis in the intestinal type of gastric cancer and is a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in this subtype of gastric cancer.

Citation Format: TianTian Guo, Yingnan Yu, George Wai-Cheong Yip, Gyeong Hun Baeg, Aye Aye Thike, Puay-Hoon Tan, Ken Matsumoto, Boon Huat Bay. Y-box binding protein 1 is correlated with lymph node metastasis in intestinal type of gastric cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 47. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-47


The turbine volute is a complex flow device, about which a few papers on both measurements and CFD predictions have appeared. The main reasons for the difficulties being the complicated geometry which hinders measurements to be taken by both intrusive and non-intrusive techniques, and makes the numerical predictions difficult.In this paper, the complex three-dimensional flow through a turbine volute with non-symmetric circular cross-section is studied by using a 3-D Navier-Stokes solver which has been developed by the authors. In this solver, the fully 3-D Reynolds averaged N-S equations coupled with high Reynolds number k-e turbulence model together with the wall function under arbitrary curvilinear coordinate system are solved. The Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations (SIMPLEC algorithm) with the non-staggered grid arrangement is used. In order to eliminate the decoupling between the velocity and pressure under non-staggered grid system, the physical covariant velocity component is selected as dependent variable in momentum equations and a momentum interpolation approach is employed.The validity of the free-vortex assumption is reviewed. The computation results are compared with a set of experiments performed previously by one of the authors. The flow features in the volute are discussed.Copyright © 1996 by ASME


Petroleum material studied at class XI senior high school. This material is considered by the teacher to be studied independently by giving reading assignments and exercises. T he teaching materials used are a summary of the material and don't contain images, videos, audio, or questions, and aren't scientifically derived. Needed are teaching materials per the curriculum and technological advances, which are one through e-modules. This study aimed to develop a petroleum e-module based on gdl for class xi high school and determine its validity and practicality. The research type is design research with plomp's model. This method consists of three stages of preliminary research, prototyping phase, and assessment phase. This study was limited to small groups at the prototype stage iii. The validity test was carried out by five validators. The practicality test was carried out by two chemistry teachers and twelve students. The data collection instruments were validity questionnaires and practicality questionnaires. The results of the validity questionnaire were analysed by the aiken's v formula and the practical results using descriptive statistical formula. The results of the study show that the content validity of the e-module based on gdl- is valid (0.88), Then the construct validity was in the valid category (0.89). The practicality of teachers is in the practical category (79.86%), And students are in the very practical category (84.91%). Further research is needed, namely field tests to determine practicality and effectiveness on a broad scale.


The magnetic properties of arrays of electrodeposited Co nanowires have been studied by ferromagnetic resonance as a function of the electrolytic bath acidity and the plating current intensity. It is observed that by adjusting the pH or the plating current it is possible to find appropriate electrolyte-deposition conditions which lead to the deposition of Co nanowires with a c-axis orientation either parallel or perpendicular to the wires. At relatively high plating currents, systems containing a dominant fraction of grains having the c-axis oriented perpendicular to the wires are favoured. Such wires show a significant decrease of the effective anisotropy due to the competition between the magnetocrystalline and the shape anisotropy that can be as low as 4.3 kOe. In contrast, at low plating currents the c-axis is aligned parallel to the wires and an effective anisotropy field, that can be as high as 12 kOe, is observed.


We hypothesized that myocardial stunning would be reversed through increased cyclic GMP caused by nitroprusside, and that this would be accomplished through a decreased proportion of regional work during diastole. Hearts were instrumented to measure left ventricular pressure, and regional myocardial mechanics were recorded using a miniature force transducer and ultrasonic dimension crystals in eight open-chest anesthetized dogs. Following baseline (CON), the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) was occluded for 15 min, followed by a 30-min recovery (STUN). Then intracoronary LAD infusion of sodium nitroprusside (NP) (4 microg/kg/ min) was begun. The time delay (msec) to regional shortening increased significantly from 18+/-13 to 73+/-13 following stunning, but was reduced to 49+/-18 by NP. Total regional work (g*mm/min) at baseline (1368+/-401 CON) was unchanged with stunning (1320+/-333 STUN), but reduced (961+/-240) following NP. Time to peak force development (msec) increased significantly with stunning from 284+/-13 (CON) to 333+/-11 (STUN), but was reduced to 269+/-12 following NP. The percentage work during systole was reduced from 96%+/-2% (CON) to 77%+/-7% (STUN), but returned to 98%+/-1% with NP. Regional O2 consumption was unaffected by either treatment. Cyclic GMP was unchanged by stunning (2.9+/-0.3-2.9+/-0.4 pmol/g) but increased significantly with NP (4.6+/-0.6). These data indicated that regional myocardial stunning could be attenuated by nitroprusside, which increased cyclic GMP, decreased contractile delay, increased the proportion of work done during systole, and reduced time of shortening.


It has been proposed that the stomatal response to humidity relies on sensing of the transpiration rate itself rather than relative humidity or the saturation deficit per se. We used independent measurements of stomatal conductance (g s ), transpiration (E), and leaf-to-air vapour pressure difference (V) in a hybrid poplar canopy to evaluate relationships between g s and E and between g s and V. Relationships between E, V and total vapour phase conductance or crown conductance (g c ) were also assessed. Conductance measurements were made on exposed and partially shaded branches over a wide range of incident solar radiation. In exposed branches, g, appeared to decline linearly with increasing E and increasing V at both high and low irradiance. However, in a partially shaded branch, a bimodal relationship between g s and E was observed in which g s continued to decrease after E had reached a maximum value and begun to decrease. The relationship between g s and V for this branch was linear. Plots of g c against E always yielded bimodal or somewhat variable relationships, whereas plots of g c against V were invariably linear. It was not possible to derive a unique relationship between conductance and E or V because prevailing radiation partially determined the operating range for conductance. Normalization of data by radiation served to linearize responses observed within the same day or type of day, but even after normalization, data collected on partly cloudy days could not be used to predict stomatal behaviour on clear days and vice versa. An additional unidentified factor was thus also involved in determining operating ranges of conductance on days with different overall radiation regimes. We suggest that the simplest mechanism to account for the observed humidity responses is stomatal sensing of the epidermal or cuticular transpiration rate rather than the bulk leaf or stomatal transpiration rate.


Abstract : Both web browsers and email clients provide records of user activity, the former as part of the history mechanism for revisitation purposes, and the latter as part of each message. Both are highly valuable from a forensic perspective, with elements such as visited site, mail contact, and event timestamp revealing a wealth of information about the user's browsing and communication behavior. The ability of the forensic analyst to quickly and efficiently explore and understand this volume of information and reconstruct the user's online activity is important, and can contribute to the progress of the investigation. The objective of this thesis is the design and construction of a set of tools to transform this textual history into a visual format, thus facilitating the analysis, interpretation and identification of trends and relationships that may exist. The result of transforming textual histories into visual images and presenting them in a single summary report is the effective distillation of large amounts of information into minimal space, thereby enabling the analyst to form a high-level profile of the user who generated the data. This allows him to better understand the user's online activity in the context of the specific investigation, and effectively prioritize his limited time and attention.


Melanoma a common skin tumor induced by excessive hyperplasia of abnormal melanocyte. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play critical roles in various diseases and presented as the prognostic markers of melanoma. The present study was designed to confirm the effect of circ 0001591 on human melanoma cell growth and to elucidate its mechanism. Patient with melanoma was obtained from Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital. Cell viability of A2058 cell was detected by MTT assay. The expression of circ 0001591 in serum of patients with melanoma was increased. Up-regulation of circ 0001591 promoted cell growth and cell invasion, and reduced apoptotic rate of melanoma. Down-regulation of circ 0001591 reduced cell growth and cell invasion, and promoted apoptotic rate of melanoma. Up-regulation of circ 0001591 induced PI3 K and p-Akt protein expressions in melanoma through induction of ROCK1 by suppression of miR-431-5p. Over-expression of circ 0001591 suppressed PI3 K and p-Akt protein expressions via suppression of ROCK1 in melanoma by induction of miR-431-5p. MiR-431-5p reduced the effects of circ 0001591 down-regulation on cell growth of melanoma through PI3K/AKT signal pathway. ROCK1 reduced the effects of circ 0001591 on cell growth of melanoma through PI3K/AKT signal pathway. Our findings demonstrated that circ 0001591 inhibits the progression of human melanoma through ROCK1/PI3K/AKT signal pathway by targeting ROCK1 by miR-431-5p.


An innovative approach for realization of broadband 4 times 4 Butler matrices, in which broadband symmetrical multisection 3-dB/90deg directional couplers are used as basic elements, has been presented. A new technique for realization of center crossover together with 45deg phase shifters is proposed where phase correction networks, consisting of a number of coupled-line sections, are applied. The use of the proposed phase correction networks allows to achieve equal-ripple 45deg differential phase characteristics in a wide frequency range. Numerical results for the design of broadband 4 times 4 Butler matrices consisting of multisection symmetrical 3-dB/90deg directional couplers having three, five, seven, and nine coupled-line sections in conjunction with phase correction networks having an appropriate number of coupled-line sections are given in a tabular form. A method of performance improvement for broadband Butler matrices by the combinatory use of directional couplers consisting of different number of coupled-line sections is also proposed. To verify the presented analysis a broadband 4 times 4 Butler matrix consisting of six 3-dB/90deg three-section symmetrical coupled-line directional couplers and two single-section coupled-line phase correction networks has been designed, manufactured, and measured. Results of measurements of the designed Butler matrix fully confirm the validity of the proposed technique of broadband 4 times 4 Butler matrix realization.


When a system is driven across a second-order quantum phase transition, the number of defects which are produced scales with the speed of the variation of the tuning parameter according to a universal law described by the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. We study a possible breakdown of this prediction proving that the number of defects can exhibit another universal scaling law which is still related only to the critical exponents 𝑧 and 𝜈 , but diers form the Kibble-Zurek result. Finally we provide an example, the deformed Fredkin spin chain, where this violation of the standard adiabatic dynamics can occur.


Objective To determine the relative stability of three fixation methods for displaced capitellum fractures. Design Twelve matched pairs of embalmed humeri were divided into two equal groups and simulated capitellum fractures created. The first group compared cancellous lag screws placed in an anteroposterior direction to screws placed in the posteroanterior direction. The second group compared the Acutrac compression screw, inserted anteroposteriorly, to the more stable construct from the first test group. Methods All specimens were cyclically tested with simulated physiologic loading. Both displacement of the capitellum over a range of cycles and the number of cycles to failure were recorded. Results Fixation with posteroanteriorly directed cancellous lag screws was significantly more stable than anteroposteriorly directed screws at 2000 cycles (p = 0.007); loads to failure were not statistically different. Fixation by the Acutrac screws was significantly more stable than posteroanterior cancellous screws at 2000 cycles (p = 0.03). The Acutrac fixation had a higher failure load; however, this was not statistically significant. Conclusion The headless screws tested in this biomechanical study provided more stable fixation of capitellum fractures in the cadaveric specimens than four-millimeter partially threaded cancellous lag screws and may do so in the clinical setting. When the cancellous lag screws were tested, insertion in the posteroanterior direction provided more stable fixation than the anteroposterior direction and has clinical benefit of not violating the articular surface. Ultimately, the decision of which method to use lies with the attending surgeon and the technique with which he or she feels most comfortable.


Exposure science is fundamental to the field of occupational safety and health. The measurement of worker exposures to hazardous agents informs effective workplace risk mitigation strategies. The modern era of occupational exposure measurement began with the invention of the personal sampling device, which is still widely used today in the practice of occupational hygiene. Newer direct-reading sensor devices are incorporating recent advances in transducers, nanomaterials, electronics miniaturization, portability, batteries with high-power density, wireless communication, energy-efficient microprocessing, and display technology to usher in a new era in exposure science. Commercial applications of new sensor technologies have led to a variety of health and lifestyle management devices for everyday life. These applications are also being investigated as tools to measure occupational and environmental exposures. As the next-generation placeable, wearable, and implantable sensor technologies move from the research laboratory to the workplace, their role in the future of work will be of increasing importance to employers, workers, and occupational safety and health researchers and practitioners. This commentary discusses some of the benefits and challenges of placeable, wearable, and implantable sensor technologies in the future of work.


Problem statement: Pullulanase is one of the important enzymes in starch industry. Search for the pullulanase with distinct features, possibly from easily grown bacterium, is of interest for industrial applications Approach: The extracellular pullulanase produced by Bacillus cereus HI.5 was purified by chromatographic method of DEAE-Sepharose, followed by Superdex gel filtration. The enzyme was characterized in terms of the optimal pH and temperature for activity as well as substrate specificity. Results: The enzyme showed optimal activity at 55°C and pH 6.0. The thermostability and the thermoactivity of the enzyme were increased considerably in the presence of Ca2+. In the present of 2 mM Ca2+, the enzyme had half-life duration of more than 2 h at 50°C. Almost all metal ions had a strong inhibitory effect, except Ca2+ and Mn2+. The Ca2+ had a very strong stimulating effect on the enzyme, increasing its activity by 170%. The enzyme was activated by 2-mercaptoethanol and dithiothreitol, where as N-bromosuccinimide and Schardinger dextrins were inhibitors, suggesting that tryptophan and thiol residues may be important for the activity. The apparent Km and Vmax value for pullulan was 1.1 mg mL-1 and 0.275 μmol min-1, respectively. A relative substrate specificity for hydrolysis of pullulan, amylopectin and soluble starch by this pullulanase was 100%, 28.5% and 20.4%, respectively. Conclusion: The enzyme was able to attack specifically the α-1,6 linkages in pullulan to generate maltotriose as the major end product, as well as the α-1,4 linkages in amylopectin and soluble starch leading to the formation of a mixture of maltose and glucose and therefore be classified as a type II pullulanase or an amylopullulanase.


The purpose of this paper is to illuminate some issues regarding mixedEnglish proficiency classes for English Language Teaching in the context of Teaching English as a Foreign Language. The existing literatures reveals that there are pros and contras of this class in the forms of ways in grouping the students which lead to students' different learning styles and interest, and teachers' teaching and learning materials and methodology. Indeed, this English heterogeneous type of class brings potential risks for the students' achievement. This paper also proposes three most common Differentiated Instruction strategies to engage mixed-English students in EFL teaching and learning processes more effectively.


Introduction The aim of this study was to determinate the outcome of indeterminate liver lesions on computed tomography (CT) in patients with a background history of colorectal cancer (CRC) and to identify clinicopathological variables associated with malignancy in these lesions. A secondary aim was to devise a management algorithm for such patients. Methods Patients referred to our institution with indeterminate liver lesions on CT with a background history of CRC between January 2012 and December 2014 were included in the study. Clinicopathological factors, surveillance period and histological findings were analysed. Results Fifty‐six patients with indeterminate liver lesions were identified. Fifty‐three (94.6%) of these required further imaging (magnetic resonance imaging [MRI; n=50] and positron emission tomography combined with CT [n=3]). For the patients who had MRI, the underlying diagnosis was benign in 19 and colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM) in 8 while 23 patients and an indeterminate lesion. In cases that remained indeterminate following MRI, liver resection was performed in 2 patients for a high suspicion of CRLM while the 21 remaining patients underwent interval surveillance (median: 9 months, range: 3‐52 months). Of these 21 patients, 14 had benign lesions while CRLM was noted in 6 patients and an incidental hepatocellular carcinoma in a single patient. Age ≥65 years was the only statistically significant clinicopathological factor in predicting an underlying malignancy in patients with indeterminate liver lesions on CT. Conclusions Over a third of the patients diagnosed with indeterminate liver lesions on CT subsequently showed evidence of CRLM. These indeterminate lesions are more likely to be malignant in patients aged ≥65 years.


Information on work stress and mental health status of industrial workers was required for optimum staffing and health care management. This study dealt with the relationship between mental health status examined by PSI(psychiatric symptom index) and socio-demographic variables. Especially this study attempted to find relevant determinants of the stress and mental health through multiple stepwise regression analysis based on data obtained from 687 occupational workers. The findings of this study were as follows; Mean scores of symptom dimension were higher in youth, female, more educated, unmarried and divorced, and workers in the noisy condition and short duration in job. And it showed high scores in long duration in job for anxiety; college educated for anger; unmarried for cognitive disturbance. The factors affecting the mean scores of psychiatric symptom index were varied according to the types of symptom: age, sex and duration in job for anxiety; age, sex, living with parent, education and marital status for anger; sex and marital status for depression; noisy condition and sex for cognitive disorder.


Presbycusis (age-related hearing loss) is one of the principal communicative and chronic medical disorders of our aged population. Preventative and curative biomedical interventions provide us with an understanding of the basis of this neural and molecular sensory deficit. The cochlear nucleus (CN) receives the outputs of the auditory portion of the inner ear, and sends these outputs to the centres where critical sound and perception analyses are conducted in parallel processing pathways of brainstem. This location plays a key role to process the sound. This location is an important place to investigate the structural and functional changes related to aging occuring in cochlear nucleus. Our goal is to reveal the neurophysiologic bases of functional changes which occur in mammalian CN related to aging.


Background/introduction Our clinic performs routine oral and anal CT and GC NAATs following disclosure during sexual history of oral or receptive anal sex. Specimens are analysed using the Abbott M2000 assay, costing £4.50 per dual NAAT. Aim(s)/objectives We report the findings of this practice, focusing on clinical and partner notification outcomes, and the cost per diagnosis. Methods We included all non-MSM patients with isolated extra-genital CT or GC infection from 1/8/14 to 31/7/15. We excluded contacts of either infection, plus those without GC confirmed by culture or second NAAT platform. Retrospective case note review was performed for identified cases. Results In total 8796 NAATs were processed in non-MSM patients, of which 3813 (43%) were extra-genital. In heterosexual men we identified 3 pharyngeal GC cases and one contact, and one pharyngeal CT case with one contact. In women there were 2 pharyngeal GC cases, one pharyngeal CT case and one rectal CT case with no additional contacts. The spend per pharyngeal diagnosis was £1519 in males and £3138 in women. The spend per rectal diagnosis in women was £1665. Discussion/conclusion Our screening practice has picked up only a small number of cases which would otherwise have been missed. 25% (2/8) of those cases had verified contacts identified. The cost implication of such screening is high, meaning that ongoing routine screening is not viable. In our relatively low-prevalence setting we now intend to target our screening in line with BASHH CEG guidance which will provide significant cost savings.


In this paper we present a class of detection filters based on variations of the spectral screening. Spectral screening is a technique used in reducing the multispectral / hyperspectral data to a representative subset of spectra. The subset is formed such that any two spectra in it are dissimilar and, for any spectrum in the original image cube, there is a similar spectrum in the subset. Spectral screening is performed in a sequential manner, at each step, the subset being increased with a spectrum dissimilar from all the spectra already selected. The procedure, using the spectral angle as similarity measure is employed in a variety of algorithms for linear unmixing and data compression. We modified the algorithm such that at the selection step the spectrum with the largest distance from the set is selected. While not introducing additional computational complexity, the Maximum Spectral Screening (MSS) algorithm ensures that the overlap among the representatives is minimized. MSS is further improved by choosing as first spectra the one with the largest distance to the diagonal, thus transforming the screening into a deterministic process. Second, we investigated the alternative approach where at each step the spectra with the smallest distance (but larger than a threshold value) is selected (Minimum Spectral Screening mSS). The detection filters were obtained as the classification projector matrices based on the spectral subset. The developed algorithms were tested on HYDICE hyperspectral data using the spectral angle and the spectral information divergence. The results indicate that MSS outperforms regular spectral screening detection and mSS.


Abstract Primary malignant melanoma arising in the oesophagus is a rare condition with a dismal prognosis. The diagnosis is often made following surgical resection even though the endoscopic features may be pathognomonic. The classical treatment is oesophagectomy even though the advanced disease stage at the time of presentation and aggressive biological behaviour of the tumour usually results in a fatal outcome. We report the case of a male patient initially diagnosed with squamous oesophageal carcinoma and treated with conventional neo-adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy. Poor clinical and radiological response resulted in a review of the original histology confirming a diagnosis of primary malignant melanoma of the oesophagus. The subsequent alteration in management conferred the patient an improved quality of life. A short review of the literature on primary malignant melanoma of the oesophagus supplements this case report.


This paper examines the central role of ethnology, the science of race, in the administration of colonial India. This occurred on two levels. First, from the late eighteenth century onwards, proto-scientists and administrators in India engaged with metropolitan theorists through the provision of data on native society and habits. Second, these same agents were continually and reciprocally influenced in the collection and use of such data by the political doctrines and scientific theories that developed over the course of this period. Among the central interests of ethnographer-administrators was the native criminal and this paper uses knowledge developed about native crime and criminality to illustrate the way science became integral to administration in the colonial domain.


Output harmonic minimization in standard pulse width modulation (PWM) pattern generators is based on the assumption that the input DC bus voltage is ripple-free. However, in a practical converter system, a nonideal DC bus deteriorates the quality of the inverter output voltage by introducing undesirable low-order harmonics that may be difficult to filter. The existing compensation techniques often use additional and complex circuitry to eliminate the effect of this ripple on the output voltage. This paper presents an online PWM pattern generator that inherently takes into account the DC bus ripple and generates gating signals required to produce high-quality sinusoidal output voltages. The technique is based on integrating the output voltage at a constant frequency on a pulse-by-pulse basis to ensure a sinusoidal volt-sec (V/s) distribution, irrespective of the input DC bus. The principles of operation are explained, and design equations are derived. The features of the proposed PWM pattern generator are illustrated. Comparison of the output voltage waveforms of those standard sinusoidal PWM (SPWM) techniques illustrate, in particular, the effectiveness of the ripple-rejection mechanism. Experimental results obtained on a 3-kVA laboratory prototype confirm the feasibility and features of the proposed pattern generator.


INTRODUCTION
One of the mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease in patients with juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the hyperhomocysteinemia. Our aim was to follow patients with juvenile SLE and to identify the presence and the persistence of hyperhomocysteinemia.

METHODS
We studied 18 patients with juvenile SLE (median age 13.5 y). A survey of demographic and clinic data was performed based on patients records. The plasma homocysteine concentration was performed twice with a median interval of 1.5 years (1.3-2.5) and association with nutritional status, disease activity, renal involvement and use of methotrexate was sought. The plasma homocysteine concentration was also evaluated in 59 healthy controls, sex and age-matched to the patients.

RESULTS
Of the 18 patients with juvenile SLE, 16 (88.9%) were female and 13 (72.2%) had renal involvement. Five out of 18 patients (27.8%) persisted with increased concentration of plasma homocysteine (above the 90th percentile of the healthy group). The elevated concentration of homocysteine did not show statistically significant association neither with renal involvement (in the first dosage, p=0.676 and in the second, p=0.500), disease activity (in the first dosage, p=0.630 and in the second, p=0.182), overweight/obesity (in the first dosage, p=0.485 and in the second, p=0.288) nor with short stature (in the first dosage, p=0.202 and in the second, p=0.500).

CONCLUSION
This study emphasizes the persistence of elevated concentration of homocysteine in some patients with juvenile SLE and the need for evaluations of therapeutic strategies and nutritional education aiming to reduce risk factors of cardiovascular disease.


The effect of some beta-adrenoceptor agonists, such as clenbuterol, salbutamol, isoprenaline and formoterol on the NA turnover (estimated on the basis of NA disappearance after inhibition of its synthesis by FLA-63) in various regions of the rat brain was examined. All the used beta-agonists (given ip) accelerated the FLA-63 induced disappearance of NA in the cortex, limbic system and brain stem. That effect of the beta-agonists was antagonized by propranolol. The obtained results indicate that beta-adrenoceptors are involved in regulation of the NA turnover. After chronic treatment with salbutamol (5 mg/kg, twice a day for 10 days, the last dose--10 mg/kg), tolerance to acute affects of that substance developed. In turn, salbutamol given chronically prevented the clonidine-induced deceleration of NA disappearance. The effects observed after chronic salbutamol treatment may be due to developed adaptive changes in beta-, as well as in alpha 2-adrenoceptors.


Probabilistic evidence graphs can be used to model network intrusion evidence and the underlying dependencies to support network forensic analysis. The graphs provide a means for linking the probabilities associated with different attack paths with the available evidence. However, current work focused on evidence graphs assumes that all the available evidence can be expressed using a single, small evidence graph. This paper presents an algorithm for merging evidence graphs with or without a corresponding attack graph. The application of the algorithm to a file server and database server attack scenario yields an integrated evidence graph that shows the global scope of the attack. The global graph provides a broader context and better understandability than multiple local evidence graphs.


In the molecular nanomagnet Fe8 tunneling can occur from a metastable state to an excited state followed by a transition to the ground state. This transition is accompanied by an energy release with an equivalent frequency of 109.5 GHz. We constructed an experimental setup to measure whether this energy is released thermally or in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Contrary to a previous publication we find no evidence for release of electromagnetic radiation and place an upper limit of 5% on the total radiative energy released during the transition. The transitions between the first and second excited states to the ground state are consistent with a release of thermal energy alone. We also observe that the energy release extends for a longer time for the second excited state than for the first excited state.


The effect of piperacillin administration on the dispositions of netilmicin and tobramycin was assessed in 12 chronic hemodialysis patients. Six subjects each received netilmicin (2 mg/kg) or tobramycin (2 mg/kg) alone and in combination with piperacillin (4 g every 12 h for four doses). Subjects also received a single dose of piperacillin (4 g) on a separate occasion. The serum concentration-versus-time profiles of netilmicin and tobramycin were biexponential. The terminal elimination half-life (t1/2 beta) of tobramycin was markedly reduced (59.62 +/- 25.18 [mean +/- standard deviation] versus 24.71 +/- 5.41 h) and total body clearance (CLP) was significantly increased in the presence of piperacillin (3.45 +/- 1.61 versus 7.16 +/- 1.64 ml/min). In contrast, the t1/2 beta (41.80 +/- 13.24 versus 40.07 +/- 10.37 h) and CLP (5.11 +/- 2.15 versus 5.55 +/- 2.32 ml/min) of netilmicin were not significantly altered when netilmicin was administered in combination with piperacillin. No change in the central or steady-state volume of distribution of netilmicin or tobramycin was observed. The disposition of piperacillin in hemodialysis patients was not altered in the presence of either aminoglycoside antibiotic. Although no adjustment in netilmicin dosing is required, tobramycin should be administered more frequently when given concomitantly with piperacillin to hemodialysis patients to avoid prolonged periods of subtherapeutic concentrations.


ABSTRACT The partition operon of P1 plasmid encodes two proteins, ParA and ParB, required for the faithful segregation of plasmid copies to daughter cells. The operon is followed by a centromere analog, parS, at which ParB binds. ParA, a weak ATPase, represses the par promoter most effectively in its ADP-bound form. ParB can recruit ParA to parS, stimulate its ATPase, and significantly stimulate the repression. We report here that parS also participates in the regulation of expression of the par genes. A single chromosomal parS was shown to augment repression of several copies of the par promoter by severalfold. The repression increase was sensitive to the levels of ParA and ParB and to their ratio. The increase may be attributable to a conformational change in ParA mediated by the parS-ParB complex, possibly acting catalytically. We also observed an in cis effect of parS which enhanced expression of parB, presumably due to a selective modulation of the mRNA level. Although ParB had been earlier found to spread into and silence genes flanking parS, silencing of the par operon by ParB spreading was not significant. Based upon analogies between partitioning and septum placement, we speculate that the regulatory switch controlled by the parS-ParB complex might be essential for partitioning itself.