Introduction: Stroke is more prevalent in older population, and among this demographic, older women are at a higher risk for stroke, with worse outcomes and poorer recovery. Recent advances have suggested that intestinal bacteria affect stroke outcome and cardiovascular events. Emerging evidence suggests that interactions between gut microbiota and estrogens are critical in maintaining homeostasis in healthy premenopausal individuals. However, the mechanistic link between estrogen deficiency and gut microbiome among acute brain disorders has not been well established. Methods: Fecal samples from adult (cyclic, 5 months old) and middle-aged (acyclic, 12 months old) Sprague-Dawley female rats at pre (0d) and post (5d) middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) were analyzed by Illumina-sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Animals were tested for infarct volume and sensory motor performance pre and/or post stroke. Rats were sacrificed at the early (2d) or late (5d) acute phase after MCAO to collect serum and tissue samples for histological and biochemical analyses. Results: Diversity of the gut microbiome was significantly decreased in estrogen-deficient middle-aged females at 0d (pre stroke) compared to estrogen-sufficient adult animals. Middle-aged rats at 5d post stroke had the most profound alterations in their microbiome, as significant separations were observed on PCoA plots of Unifrac distances. Middle-aged rats presented a larger infarct size as well as a significantly worse sensory motor function at 2d and 5d post MCAO as compared to adult female rats. Middle-aged rats had significantly increased gut leakiness at 5d post stroke compared to adult group. Moreover, the gut microbiome community was significantly altered by reproductive age, as evidenced by the increased members of Bacterroidates ( S24-7 and Parabacteroides ); and decreased members of the genus Akkermansia ; and decrease members of the genus Bacillus in middle-aged female rats, suggesting a role for these bacteria in estrogen deficiency and stroke severity. Conclusions: These data provide the first evidence that reproductive age induces microbiome dysbiosis and gut leakiness in middle-aged female rats and underscores the link between microbiota and stroke outcome and severity.


Synthesis of somatostatin-14 (S-14) could occur through direct enzymatic processing of precursor somatostatin (prosomatostatin) or via sequential breakdown of prosomatostatin leads to somatostatin-28 (S-28) leads to S-14. If direct processing is important, it should theoretically generate S-14 and a molecule equivalent to prosomatostatin without the S-14 sequence. In an attempt to identify such a molecule, I characterized the molecular forms of S-28(1-12)-like immunoreactivity (S-28(1-12) LI) in the rat pancreas and compared the relative amounts of these forms with those of S-14-like immunoreactivity (S-14 LI). Pancreatic extracts were chromatographed on Sephadex G-50 and Sephadex G-75 columns (Pharmacia Fine Chemicals Inc., Piscataway, NJ) under denaturing conditions and immunoreactivity in the eluting fractions was analyzed by region-specific radioimmunoassays (RIAs). For RIA of S-28(1-12) LI we used a newly developed rabbit antibody R 21 B, 125I-Tyr12 S-28(1-14), and S-28(1-12) standards. This system detects S-28, S-28(1-12), high molecular weight forms of S-28(1-12), but not S-14. S-14 LI was measured using antibody R149, which detects S-14, S-28, and higher molecular weight S-14-like substances, but not S-28(1-12). Three forms of S-28(1-12) LI were identified: Mr 9,000-11,000, Mr 1,200 (corresponding to S-28(1-12), and Mr less than 1,000, comprising, respectively, 35, 53, and 12% of total immunoreactivity. The relative abundance of the 9,000-11,000 mol wt S-28(1-12) LI material was unchanged following removal of S-14 LI from pancreatic extracts by affinity chromatography before gel filtration. Serial dilutions of fractions containing 9-11,000 and 1,200 mol wt materials exhibited parallelism with synthetic S-28(1-12). The total pancreatic concentration of S-28(1-12) LI was 1.56 pmol/mg protein, of which S-28(1-12) accounted for 0.83 pmol/mg protein and 9-11,000 S-28(1-12) LI comprised 0.55 pmol/mg protein. Pancreatic S-14 LI concentration was 2.07 pmol/mg protein, of which 98% corresponded to S-14. S-28-related peaks accounted for <1% of immunoreactivity in both RIAs. I concluded that (a) S-14 is the main form of pancreatic S-14 LI; (b) S-28 is present in very small quantities, in the pancreas; (c) S-28(1-12) LI consist mainly of S-28(1-12) and 9-11,000 mol wt S-28(1-12) LI; (d) 9-11,000 l wt S-28(1-12) LI could represent prosomatostatin without the S-14 sequence; (e) the finding of high concentrations of 9-11,000 mol wt S-28(1-12) LI suggests that S-14 synthesis can occur independently of S-28 and that direct processing of prosomatostatin is an important pathway for S-14 synthesis in the pancreas.


With respect to an increasing amount of driver assistance systems and automated driving functions, a higher chance of unappreciated action and intervention of these systems can be registered, which in turn lowers the acceptance by drivers and passengers. A reduction of unnecessary warnings and interventions can be achieved by making them adaptive to driver's intentions and maneuvers planning. In order to learn which driver behavior indicates certain maneuver intentions, a rater-based method using video recordings is proposed in this paper. Three driving maneuvers, namely turning, changing lane and braking for a pedestrian who intends to cross the road, were chosen for analyzing their predictability due to behavior observation. As a first step, a driving simulator study was conducted in order to collect behavior data of 24 drivers. Subsequently, clearly distinguishable behavior classes for each maneuver were extracted from video data, resulting in five superior behavior categories with 29 behavioral classes. Based on these classes four human observers were trained to detect at the earliest convenience maneuver intentions. Overall in 97 % of all cases the observers could predict the maneuvers. Inter-rater reliabilities showed to be between κ= 0.30 and κ = 1.00.


Objective: The association between alliance and therapy outcome is one of the most investigated factors in psychotherapy research. However, even studies using advanced methods estimate effects over a specific time period (interval) between measurement occasions. Thus, it remains unknown how the magnitude and direction of effects depend on the considered time interval, resulting in limited comparability across studies. The current study examines the influence of time on the within-person relationship between alliance and symptom severity. Method: Alliance (WAI-SR) and symptom severity (SCL-K11) were assessed every fifth session in N = 650 patients receiving up to 100 weekly sessions (mode = 55; M = 41.03; SD = 27.23) of individual psychotherapy in a German outpatient clinic. Bivariate continuous-time (CT) structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to estimate within-person cross- and auto-effects. Results: Analysis revealed significant reciprocal within-person cross-effects with stronger relative effects of SCL-K11 on WAI-SR (a₂₁) than vice versa (a₁₂). CT analysis showed that both cross-lagged effects increased for longer time intervals with strongest effects for time intervals of about 40 sessions (a₂₁ = -.47; a₁₂ = -.19). Conclusions: Alliance and symptom severity showed a reciprocal relationship. Expanding current evidence, our analysis showed how the magnitude of these effects depends on the considered time interval. Applying CT-SEM on longitudinal data of the alliance outcome association complements current cross-lagged panel analysis and allows to compare results of studies which are based on different time intervals between measurement occasions. Methodological, theoretical, and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).


Data from scanning radars, radiosondes, and vertical profilers deployed during three field campaigns are analyzed to study interactions between cloud-scale updrafts associated with initiating deep moist convection and the surrounding environment. Three cases are analyzed in which the radar networks permitted dual-Doppler wind retrievals in clear air preceding and during the onset of surface precipitation. These observations capture the evolution of (i) the mesoscale and boundary layer flow, and (ii) low-level updrafts associated with deep moist convection initiation (CI) events yielding sustained or short-lived precipitating storms. The elimination of convective inhibition did not distinguish between sustained and unsustained CI events, though the vertical distribution of convective available potential energy may have played a role. The clearest signal differentiating the initiation of sustained versus unsustained precipitating deep convection was the depth of the low-level horizontal wind convergence associated with the mesoscale flow feature triggering CI, a sharp surface wind shift boundary, or orographic upslope flow. The depth of the boundary layer relative to the height of the LFC failed to be a consistent indicator of CI potential. Widths of the earliest detectable low-level updrafts associated with sustained precipitating deep convection were ~3–5 km, larger than updrafts associated with surrounding boundary layer turbulence (~1–3 km wide). It is hypothesized that updrafts of this larger size are important for initiating cells to survive the destructive effects of buoyancy dilution via entrainment.


Gene promoter methylation causes loss of tumor suppressor genes function in human cancer. Here, we show that the CDH4 gene, a member of the cadherin family encoding for R-cadherin, contains a CpG island located at the 5′ of the first exon, which functions as a promoter element and is frequently affected by methylation in human cancer. By using methylation-specific PCR and reverse transcription-PCR in human cancer cell lines, promoter methylation could be directly linked to loss of gene expression. After treatment with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine, expression could be restored. Analysis of human primary tumors revealed that the CDH4 gene is methylated in 78% (38 of 49) of colorectal and 95% (20 of 21) of gastric carcinomas. CDH4 methylation was not detected in nonneoplastic colonic (0 of 10) and stomach (0 of 10) tissues or in peripheral blood (0 of 17). CDH4 methylation was detected in histologically normal tissues located in proximity of the neoplasms, indicating that CDH4 methylation is an early event in gastrointestinal tumor progression. We also proved that CDH4 methylation can be revealed in the peripheral blood of cancer patients. Our results indicate that CDH4 may act as a tumor suppressor gene in human gastrointestinal tumors and can potentially be used as an early diagnostic marker for gastrointestinal tumorigenesis.


Carbon monoxide (CO) at low concentrations has generated recent interest due to its ability to modulate the inflammatory response associated with chronic graft rejection, vascular injury and septic shock. Both in vivo and in vitro CO can inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory genes such as TNFα in macrophages while simultaneously increasing the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. The mechanisms by which this occurs are still unclear. To better understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of CO, we employed the Affymetrix GeneChip technology to evaluate the time-dependent expression patterns of >12,000 genes in macrophages stimulated with bacterial endotoxin (LPS) in the presence or absence of a low concentration of CO previously demonstrated to evoke an anti-inflammatory response. We were particularly interested whether CO would, by itself, modulate in a specific manner the expression of proteins that might explain the anti-inflammatory effects observed following subsequent administration of endotoxin. RAW 264.7 murine macrophages were grown to 75% confluency and then exposed to CO (250 ppm) for 3 hr prior to administration of LPS (10 ng/ml). At 0, 15, 30, 60, 120 and 240 min thereafter, total RNA was isolated by standard methods and the RNA was then labeled and hybridized to U74Av2 GeneChips. Of >12,000 genes assessed, 116 of 270 that were LPS-responsive were affected by CO treatment. CO inhibited the majority of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines and acute phase proteins including expression of early growth response-1 (Egr-1), a transcription factor that serves as a central intermediary regulating many genes. Egr-1 was nearly completely inhibited by CO as was Egr-1-dependent expression of tissue factor (TF) and PAI-1. Treatment of cells with CO alone led to a rapid early increase in PPARγ, the expression of which was essential for the anti-inflammatory effects of CO. Inhibition of PPARγ using the selective chemical inhibitor GW9662 reversed the CO inhibitory effects on LPS-induced Egr-1 and TF expression. Correlative in vivo experiments in mice showed that CO pre-treatment blocked endotoxin-induced Egr-1 expression and decreased markers of lung inflammmation the effects of which were also lost with inhibition of PPARγ. Our analyses of gene expression patterns has led to the first molecular understanding of how treatment with CO, in this case by inducing PPARγ, blocks the pro-inflammatory response. These experiments provide novel insights into the mechanisms and pathophysiology of endotoxic shock and identify cellular targets by which CO mediates these cytoprotective effects.


This paper explores some issues in representing the geographies of mayoral power in contemporary Europe. It begins by summarizing the idea of a 'Europe of the Cities' and an emerging new mayoral political class in Europe, and then discusses some of the insights offered by cultural geography in conceptualizing this new agenda in urban politics.


Privacy-Preserving Authentication (PPA) is crucial for Radio Frequency Identifcation (RFID)-enabled applications. Without appropriate formal privacy models, it is difficult for existing PPA schemes to explicitly prove their privacy. Even worse, RFID systems cannot discover potential security flaws that are vulnerable to new attacking patterns. Recently, researchers propose a formal model, termed as Strong Privacy, which strictly requires tags randomly generate their output. Adopting the Strong Privacy model, PPA schemes have to employ brute-force search in tags' authentications, which incurs unacceptable overhead and delay to large-scale RFID systems. Instead of adopting Strong Privacy, most PPA schemes improve the authentication efficiency at the cost of the privacy degradation. Due to the lack of proper formal models, it cannot be theoretically proven that the degraded PPA schemes can achieve acceptable privacy in practical RFID systems. To address these issues, we propose a weak privacy model, Refresh, for designing PPA schemes with high efficiency as well as acceptable privacy. Based on Refresh, we show that many well-known PPA schemes do not provide satisfied privacy protection, even though they achieve relatively high authentication efficiency. We further propose a Light-weight privAcy-preServing authenTication scheme, LAST, which can guarantee the privacy based on the Refresh model and realize O(1) authentication efficiency, simultaneously.


A simultaneous-equations framework is used to study the relationship between structure, conduct, and performance in US manufacturing in the 1980s and 1990s. The paper expands on earlier structure-conduct-performance studies by using a lag structure to signify that structure, conduct and performance do not affect one another contemporaneously. Findings support some aspects of the traditional structure-conduct-performance model, but challenge others. First, the data suggest that industry structure does not depend on current industry performance. Second, little evidence is found that industry conduct, proxied by advertising, is affected by industry structure. Third, results show that industry performance does not depend on industry conduct, though it is sensitive to industry structure. Thus, the main findings are that (1) concentration does not depend on firm profitability, though profitability depends on concentration, (2) advertising follows a process that is independent of the factors considered here, and (3) advertising seems to have no effect on profitability.


The physical and chemical properties of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) at z ≳ 6 have been studied successfully through the absorption in the spectra of background Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSOs) 1–3. One of the most crucial questions is to investigate the nature and location of the source galaxies that give rise to these early metal absorbers4–6. Theoretical models suggest that momentum-driven outflows from typical star-forming galaxies can eject metals into the CGM and the intergalactic medium (IGM), with the projected separation between absorbers and galaxies expected to range from 5 to 50 proper kpc at z=5–6 7–10. Deep, dedicated surveys have searched for Lyα emission associated with strong CIV absorbers at z ≈ 6, but only a few Lyα emitter candidates have been detected. Interpreting these detections is moreover ambiguous because Lyα is a resonant line11–13, raising the need for complementary techniques for detecting absorbers' host galaxies. Here, using Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), we report, for the first time, the [C II] 158µm emission and the far-infrared dust continuum associated with a strong low-ionization absorber, O I, at z = 5.978. The [C II] luminosity is 73 million solar luminosities, corresponding to a dark matter halo mass of 100 billion solar masses. This is one to two orders of magnitude more massive than typical values predicted from cosmological simulations9, 16.


Abstract In this article, it is argued that William Stern was a forerunner of human science thinking in child psychology. Stern's view of development, though widely neglected even among humanists, is consonant with human science thought on the whole as well as human science child developmental theory. Certain core characteristics of human science psychology are noted with special emphasis on how they relate to the study of child development. Stern's views are then shown to be illustrative of these characteristics. In addition, various aspects of Stern's highly humanistic approach to child development are shown to be relevant today.


This article discusses key issues and trends of foreign scientific debate on improving postgraduate study. It gives a retrospective review of the formation and development of the main trends discussed in this area. It shows that in Western countries the reasons for the reform of postgraduate study have markedly different origins in comparison with the initiation of reforms in higher education systems. Financial support for the postgraduate study has not become a generator of its reform, because of its specificity – relatively small volume and widespread use of a student's own funds, so it was not an acute problem and a matter of debate in the allocation of budget funds. Besides, many challenges of postgraduate study such as relevance of educational curricula to the requirements of employers, the diversification of academic degrees and others, which later became classic questions, were developed in the course of further research. It demonstrates basic approaches to the search and selection of managerial decisions in the organization of postgraduate study following the example of the UK and the USA. The article gives provides a logical model of postgraduate study divided into stages and separate elements that represent defined objects of study by foreign researchers. The article reviews advanced practices and organizational techniques used by foreign universities to improve the performance of postgraduate study such as selection of candidates for admission, the form and amount of candidates financial support, supervisor's support of candidate research, support in writing a thesis, tracking further career of the degree holders. The article also poses conclusions on the development of the Russian scientific debate about postgraduate study in the context of foreign experience.


The impact of training on counseling self-efficacy and state and trait anxiety was examined in this study. One hundred and thirteen undergraduate psychology students from United Arab Emirates (UAE) University participated in this investigation. The experimental group consisted of seventy-three students who were taking their first practicum (65 females; 8 males) and the control group was composed of female students who had not yet taken their practicum ( n = 40). Pre- and posttests were conducted using the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE: Larson et al., 1992) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI: Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970). Significant mean differences were found between the experimental group and the control group in both counseling self-efficacy and anxiety. Analysis of covariance revealed that training increased trainees' counseling self-efficacy and decreased their level of anxiety. These findings are discussed and directions for future research are provided.


In this paper, we present a method to divide any given surface into two regions with two properties: (1) they are visually interlocked since the boundary curve covers the whole surface by meandering over it and (2) the areas of these two regions are approximately the same. We obtain the duotone surfaces by coloring these regions with two different colors.
 We show that it is always possible to obtain two such regions for any given mesh surface. Our approach is based on a useful property of vertex insertion schemes such as Catmull-Clark subdivision: If such a vertex insertion scheme is applied to a mesh, the vertices of resulting quadrilateral mesh are always two colorable. Using this property, we can always classify vertices of meshes that are obtained by a vertex insertion scheme into two groups. We show that it is always possible to create a single curve that covers the whole surface such that all vertices in the first group are on one side of the curve while the other group of vertices are on the other side of the same curve. This single curve serves as a boundary that defines two regions in the surface. If the initial distribution of the vertices on the surface is uniform, the areas of the two regions are approximately the same.
 We have implemented this approach by appropriately mapping textures on each quadrilateral. The resulting textured surfaces look aesthetically pleasing since they closely resemble planar TSP (traveling salesmen problem) art and Truchet-like curves.


In order to maintain a high level of security in areas where vessel traffic services operate, there is a great use of industrial cameras, which transmit information to the VTS controllers. Two very important elements of the video image transmission are speed and confidentiality of the transmitted data. Currently, one of the major problems in front of such systems is to choose an appropriate method for safe image transmission that meets the requirements of speed and confidentiality. There is the possibility of using the tools of computer science known as fingerprints. There are two ways to protect multimedia copyright. First way is to encrypt the data. Encryption provides that only privileged receivers with correct decryption keys will be able to decrypt information. Unfortunately, encryption isn't sufficient protection, because after decryption, privileged user may easily violate copyright by sharing decrypted data with public. Second way is called a digital fingerprinting, which rely on embedding of some additional binary sequence into image. This sequence, called a fingerprint, is unique for each receiver and it's unnoticeable for the human eye. With fingerprinting there is a possibility of further analysis of a intercepted copy which is suspected of being illegally shared. The paper presents the theoretical basis for the use of fingerprinting methods to protect the media sent in VTS systems, as well as a description of the most promising methods, in terms of safety and cost, called Joint Fingerprinting and Decryption methods. Approach proposed by the authors can enhance the security of the video image transmission in VTS systems.


BACKGROUND & AIM
The aim of this systematic review was to quantify the association between frailty and COVID-19 in relation to mortality in hospitalised patients.

METHODS
Medline, Embase, Web of Science and the grey literature were searched for papers from inception to 10th September 2020; the search was re-run in Medline up until the 9th December 2020. Screening, data extraction and quality grading were undertaken by two reviewers. Results were summarised using descriptive statistics, including a meta-analysis of overall mortality; the relationships between frailty and COVID-19 mortality were summarised narratively.

RESULTS
2,286 papers were screened resulting in 26 being included in the review. Most studies were from Europe, half from the UK, and one from Brazil; the median sample size was 242.5, median age 73.1 and 43.5% were female. 22/26 used the Clinical Frailty Scale; reported mortality ranged from 14 to 65%. Most, but not all studies showed an association between increasing frailty and a greater risk of dying. Two studies indicated a sub-additive relationship between frailty, COVID-19 and death, and two studies showed no association.

CONCLUSIONS
Whilst the majority of studies have shown a positive association between COVID-19 related death and increasing frailty, some studies suggested a more nuanced understanding of frailty and outcomes in COVID-19 is needed. Clinicians should exert caution in placing too much emphasis on the influence of frailty alone when discussing likely prognosis in older people with COVID-19 illness.


Two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) are powerful imaging techniques in bio-molecular science. The need for elaborate light sources for TPEF and speed limitations for FLIM, however, hinder an even wider application. We present a way to overcome this limitations by combining a robust and inexpensive fiber laser for nonlinear excitation with a fast analog digitization method for rapid FLIM imaging. The applied sub nanosecond pulsed laser source is synchronized to a high analog bandwidth signal detection for single shot TPEF- and single shot FLIM imaging. The actively modulated pulses at 1064nm from the fiber laser are adjustable from 50ps to 5ns with kW of peak power. At a typically applied pulse lengths and repetition rates, the duty cycle is comparable to typically used femtosecond pulses and thus the peak power is also comparable at same cw-power. Hence, both types of excitation should yield the same number of fluorescence photons per time on average when used for TPEF imaging. However, in the 100ps configuration, a thousand times more fluorescence photons are generated per pulse. In this paper, we now show that the higher number of fluorescence photons per pulse combined with a high analog bandwidth detection makes it possible to not only use a single pulse per pixel for TPEF imaging but also to resolve the exponential time decay for FLIM. To evaluate the performance of our system, we acquired FLIM images of a Convallaria sample with pixel rates of 1 MHz where the lifetime information is directly measured with a fast real time digitizer. With the presented results, we show that longer pulses in the many-10ps to nanosecond regime can be readily applied for TPEF imaging and enable new imaging modalities like single pulse FLIM.


Extrusion of aluminium is an efficient manufacturing process which allows long continuous production. The heated billet (aluminium material) is squeezed through the opening of a metal die in order to shape the desired aluminium profile. A long continuous production increases aging of the die and hampers its capability to yield homogeneously shaped profiles. Hence the dies are usually removed from production lines before their breaking point and only go back into production after receiving a layer coat for protection of the metal. This paper consists of a preliminary analysis of the extrusion amounts between consecutive maintenance procedures of the dies. A maintenance procedure in its whole encompasses an immersion bath of the die in caustic soda, a polishing operation and possibly a subsequent coat layering process in a nitriding chamber. The main goal here is to find the optimal life cycle for a die, in the sense that we are looking for a risk level (an extrusion amount) above which die-damage occurs with a certain high probability. We shall rely on extreme value statistics to answer the question of how long can we go on at each continuous operation of aluminium extrusion.


This study deals with the deformation and mechanical response of a shape-control plate which consists of an aluminum alloy plate and a pre-strained NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) wire. The shape-control plate exhibits reciprocating bending deformation by heating and cooling. Bending deformation tests of the plate are carried out by electric heating and natural cooling of the SMA wire, and then mechanical response of the bent plate under electric heating is examined by three-pointbending. The experimental results exhibit that the bending deformation of the plate is considerably stable over more than two thousand heating-coolig cycles, and that the load-deflection relation of the bent plate is almost linear. Furthermore, the bending deformation and mechanical response of the plate are analyzed by a simple beam theory for the aluminum alloy plate and Brinson's one-dimensional constitutive model for the SMA wire. The numerical results describe well the deformation behavior and mechanical response of the shape-control plate observed in the experiments. The proposed numerical model can be useful in the design and estimation of the shape-control plate.


Two dioxidomolybdenum(VI) complexes, [MoVIO2(L1)(MeOH)] (1) and [MoVIO2(L2)(MeOH)] (2) and their corresponding oxidoperoxidomolybdenum(VI) complexes, [MoVIO(O2)(L1)(MeOH)] (3) and [MoVIO(O2)(L2)(MeOH)] (4) with ONO tridentate ligands, 4-[3,5-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl]benzoic acid (H2L1, I) and 3,5-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-1,2,4-triazole (H2L2, II) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic techniques (infrared, UV-Vis, 1H and 13C NMR) and thermogravimetric analysis. Structures of 1a (DMSO coordinated) and 2 (methanol coordinated) confirmed by single crystal X-ray study reveal that the tridentate ligands bind to the metal center through two oxygen atoms and a ring nitrogen atom. These complexes have been tested as catalysts for the homogeneous oxidation of bicyclic (isoborneol and fenchyl alcohol), aromatic (benzyl alcohol and cumic alcohol) and cyclic (cyclohexanol) alcohols, using 30% H2O2 as an oxidant. Various parameters such as amounts of catalyst, oxidant, solvent and temperature of the reaction mixture have been taken into consideration for the maximum conversion of substrates. Effect of N-based additive (NEt3) on the conversion of substrates as well as selectivity of the corresponding product(s) under the optimized reaction conditions has also been checked and obtained results suggest that addition of an additive reduces time to achieve equilibrium and increases conversion of alcohols.


Introduction. The paper presents results from an exploratory study with the overall purpose of gaining knowledge of various aspects related to support at information behaviour that Icelandic elderly people, still living in their homes, receive from their relatives. The paper will focus on the viewpoints of the relatives and how they describe their own situation as informal information supporters of the elderly information needs. Method. A qualitative study was conducted. Open-ended interviews were taken with 14 relatives, nine women and five men, aged 37 to 74. Their backgrounds varied as to education, work experience and residence. Analysis. Analysis of the data was conducted according to grounded theory as described by Strauss and Corbin and the themes that emerged interpreted in terms of the context relating to each participant. Results. The relatives provided divers support. In addition to monitoring the condition and situation of the elderly, it involved considerable information seeking, mediating and interpreting information. As well as information management and making arrangements for everyone involved with the support to be kept informed. Conclusions. Three main topics of information needs were identified: health information health, information about formal support from the state or municipality, and financial information. The relatives further provided information about the elderly housing. The relatives expressed complex feelings about their role as informal information supporters. The findings presented, together with previous findings, suggest that the connection between the elderly experience of dependency for support and the relatives providing the support is complicated and needs further investigation.


Background/Context This study deals with an intersection of educational history, queer history, and labor history involving the activities of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) teachers. The history of LGBT teachers, particularly before the 1990s, has been addressed by only a handful of historians. The prior research most relevant to this study is Jackie Blount's Fit to Teach: Same-Sex Desire, Gender, and School Work in the Twentieth Century (2006) and Karen Graves's And They Were Wonderful Teachers (2009). Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study focuses on the activities of the Gay Teachers Association of New York City (GTA) between 1974 and 1985 as they related to teachers' job security and the safety of LGB students in NYC public schools. It aims to illustrate the sense of responsibility toward LGB students developed by members of the GTA and how they acted on that responsibility. Research Design This is a historical study, relying primarily on archival research and secondarily on interviews conducted by the author. Conclusions/Recommendations The teachers of the GTA developed a comprehensive concept of their responsibility as LGB educators. They came to believe that they had a particular responsibility to LGB students. Finally, GTA members actively pursued equity for LGB students in New York City's public schools through counseling, community outreach, political lobbying, and public debate.


Parallel and distributed simulation is concerned with the efficient execution of large-scale discrete event simulation models on multiprocessors and distributed platforms. After the development of WWW, many efforts in the parallel and distributed simulation have been made for modeling particularly building simulation languages and creating model libraries that can be assembled and executed over WWW. However, web-based parallel and distributed simulation is restricted by heterogeneous computing environments. Recently, the advent of XML and web services technology has made these efforts enter upon a new phase. Especially, the web services as a distributed information technoligy have demonstrated powerful capabilities for scalable interoperation of heterogeneous systems. This paper aims to develop and evaluate the parallel and distributed simulation using the web services technology. In particular, a prototype multi-pass simulation framework is
implemented using Java-based web services technology. It focuses on the efficiency of multi-pass simulation used for optimization through the distribution of simulation replication to several
simulation service providers. The development of parallel and distributed simulation using web services will help solve efficiently large-scale problems and also guarantee interoperability among heterogeneous networked systems.


Objective: Label-free quantitative proteomics was applied to analyze differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with encephalitis. The database was used to screen for possible biomarkers in encephalitis, followed by validation and preliminary investigation of the role of some DEPs in the pathogenesis of encephalitis using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Methods: We performed label-free quantitative proteomics on 16 cerebrospinal fluid samples (EM group, encephalitis with mental and behavioral disorders patients, n = 5; NED group, encephalitis without mental and behavioral disorders patients, n = 6; N group, healthy individuals, n = 5). The extracted CSF proteins were examined by mass spectrometry and enzymatic digestion and detected using protein profiling and data analysis. Interproscan was used to perform Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of the DEPs. ELISA was used to verify the changes in the levels of some DEPs in the CSF. Results: A total of 941 proteins were found to be significantly differentially expressed, including 250 upregulated DEPs and 691 downregulated DEPs. GO analysis suggested that there were six enriched functions that intersect among the EM, NED, and N groups, including synapse organization, membrane, integral component of membrane, membrane part, G-protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway, and transmembrane signaling receptor activity. KEGG analysis revealed that there were three signaling pathways that intersect among the EM, NED, and N groups, including fructose and mannose metabolism, inositol phosphate metabolism, and Jak-STAT signaling pathway. Furthermore, four downregulated encephalitis-related neurological synapse proteins were identified after screening for differentially expressed proteins, including NRXN3, NFASC, LRRC4B, and NLGN2. The result of ELISA further verified that the expression of NLGN2 and LRRC4B was obviously higher in the NED group than in the N group. Conclusions: These findings demonstrated that NLGN2 and LRRC4B proteins were upregulated in the NED group and could be potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of encephalitis, but still needs a lot of multiomics studies to be used in clinical.


The main purpose of this paper is to explore the structure of local and regular Dirichlet forms associated with symmetric linear diffusions. Let $(\mathcal{E},\mathcal{F})$ be a regular and local Dirichlet form on $L^2(I,m)$, where $I$ is an interval and $m$ is a fully supported Radon measure on $I$. We shall first present a complete representation for $(\mathcal{E},\mathcal{F})$, which shows that $(\mathcal{E},\mathcal{F})$ lives on at most countable disjoint `effective' intervals with corresponding scale function on each interval, and any point outside these intervals is a trap of the linear diffusion. Furthermore, we shall give a necessary and sufficient condition for $C_c^\infty(I)$ being a special standard core of $(\mathcal{E},\mathcal{F})$ and identify the closure of $C_c^\infty(I)$ in $(\mathcal{E},\mathcal{F})$ when $C_c^\infty(I)$ is contained but not necessarily dense in $\mathcal{F}$ relative to the $\mathcal{E}_1$-norm. This paper is partly motivated by a result of [Hamza, 1975], stated in [FOT, Theorem 3.1.6] and provides a different point of view to this theorem. To illustrate our results, many examples are provided.


Objective: We investigated the patterns of expression of HOXB5, cyclin D1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) proteins in human congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) to establish the molecular basis of its etiology. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed on frozen archival specimens of CCAM and normal lung tissue as controls using antibodies against HOXB5, cyclin D1 and PCNA proteins. Results: Immunohistochemistry revealed a higher level of expression of HOXB5, cyclin D1 and PCNA predominantly in mesenchymal cells of the CCAM tissues as compared to normal adjacent control lung tissues. Conclusion: Elevated levels of immunohistochemical detection of HOXB5, cyclin D1 and PCNA were characteristic properties of lung tissue cells in CCAM. This elevated HOXB5 expression may correlate with the aberrant cellular differentiation observed in the CCAM disorder. Elevated expression of cyclin D1 and PCNA further suggests that increased cellular proliferation contributes to the overgrowth of lung tissue in CCAM.


The design and simulation of a new low temperature Niobium radio frequency superconducting quantum interference devices (RF-SQUID) flux measurement architecture concept that uses N = 3 RF-SQUID rings (or channels) to significantly extend the range of the flux measurement capability beyond ±Φ0/4 is presented. A resonant detection method based on a robust symmetrical number system (RSNS) preprocessing technique is shown to provide a large increase in the flux measurement range while producing a high-resolution representation of the input magnetic field. The RSNS preprocessing is a modular scheme in which a modulus number of comparators is used at the output of each RF SQUID. The number of comparators with logic 1 in each channel represents the integer values within each RSNS modulus sequence. When considered together, the integers within each sequence change one at a time at the next code position, resulting in an integer Gray code property. We show that the RSNS preprocessing has the feature that the maximum nonlinearity is less than a least significant bit.


This paper proposes an advanced substation communication system for supporting the latest development in power system protection - integrated protection. Recent developments in power system protection are firstly outlined, and then a description of a substation integrated protection system supported by an advanced communication network is given. Based on the proposal, there are 3 major components within the network: the CVD communication unit; the optical network; and the central integrated protection unit. The research will focus on the concept, evaluation and design of the optical network communication system.


Personal anecdotes suggest that ascent to high altitude can cause mood changes such as depression, apathy, and drowsiness. Observed behaviors at high altitude indicate that people can become more euphoric, irritable, or argumentative. Since there are few systematic and quantitative studies assessing the effects of altitude on mood, this study compared moods measured at two different altitudes and times of day (morning-evening) using a standardized scale. Self-rated moods were determined twice daily in 19 males and 16 females with the Clyde Mood Scale. Baseline values were determined at 200 m; moods were then assessed at 4300 m with one group and at 1600 m with a second group. Friendliness, clear thinking, dizziness, sleepiness, and unhappiness were affected at 4300 m but only sleepiness changed at 1600 m. At 4300 m, the altered moods differed from baseline on the day of arrival (1-4 hours), differed even more after one day (18-28 hours), and returned to baseline by day 2 (42-52 hours). Morning and evening values were similar at each altitude. Therefore, changes in mood states at altitude have a distinct and measurable time course.


Spx is a Bacillus subtilis transcription factor that interacts with the alpha subunits of RNA polymerase. It can activate the thiol stress response regulon and interfere with the activation of many developmental processes. Here, we show that Spx is a central player orchestrating the heat shock response by up‐regulating relevant stress response genes as revealed by comparative transcriptomic experiments. Moreover, these experiments revealed the potential of Spx to inhibit transcription of translation‐related genes. By in vivo and in vitro experiments, we confirmed that Spx can inhibit transcription from rRNA. This inhibition depended mostly on UP elements and the alpha subunits of RNA polymerase. However, the concurrent up‐regulation activity of stress genes by Spx, but not the inhibition of translation related genes, was essential for mediating stress response and antibiotic tolerance under the applied stress conditions. The observed inhibitory activity might be compensated in vivo by additional stress response processes interfering with translation. Nevertheless, the impact of Spx on limiting translation becomes apparent under conditions with high cellular Spx levels. Interestingly, we observed a subpopulation of stationary phase cells that contains raised Spx levels, which may contribute to growth inhibition and a persister‐like behaviour of this subpopulation during outgrowth.


Mexico is facing an unprecedented epidemic of obesity and overweight, especially among children. This paper seeks to identify the main social representations related to school meals present in the discourse of different actors within the schools. Twenty interviews with school staff and ten discussion groups with boys and girls from 12 schools were conducted. Three main conceptions were identified in relation to school meals: 1) junk food vs. homemade food; 2) different perspectives on the importance of eating fruit; and 3) the enjoyment experienced while eating at school. The contribution of this information towards a better understanding of the mealtime supply of the schools and the demand of the students is discussed. This study also permits the identification of certain elements which profoundly structure the relationships of different school actors to school feeding, which are based on: 1) Ideas about nutrition generated by different and sometimes contradictory fields of knowledge, demonstrating the dynamicity and complexity of the practice of eating: 2) children's understandings about how to classify and prioritize foods; and 3) the connections between food and cultural identity.


BACKGROUND
Non-surgical periodontal treatment (NSPT) is widely employed for the treatment of periodontal disease and yields significant clinical improvements. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) can be used to profile health and disease, and recent technological advances, such as multiplex bead immunoassays, are promising in identifying a wider array of GCF factors with the ultimate aim to predict the treatment response.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this systematic review was to compare the expression of GCF markers using multiplex bead immunoassays before treatment and during early, average, or late healing period, following non-surgical periodontal treatment (NSPT).

METHODS
An electronic literature search was conducted by two independent examiners (VK and NC) in MEDLINE, EMBASE, OpenGrey, LILACS, and Cochrane Library up to January 2020. The PICO question formulated was as follows: "In patients with periodontal disease, does the expression of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) markers detected using multiplex bead immunoassay differ at baseline compared with early (≤30 days), average (6-8 weeks), or late (≥3 months) healing after intervention?"

RESULTS
A total of 366 publications were obtained and reviewed for eligibility for inclusion. Of these, 12 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. Data for a total of 31 different GCF markers were extracted and summarized for early, average, or late healing after NSPT. Early healing following NSPT (≤ 30 days) indicated an increase in IL-1β, TNFα, and IL-10. At the average healing period (6-8 weeks), IL-1β, IL-1α, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, MCP-1, and MIP-1α were all reduced, compared to their respective baseline values. Three months after NSPT, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ were detected at reduced levels, compared to pre-treatment levels. Overall, the changes following treatment indicated a reduction of inflammation present at baseline.

CONCLUSION
Following non-surgical periodontal treatment, an upregulation of inflammation markers is noted early post-operatively and a subsequent reduction of their levels three months following treatment. The investigation of levels of GCF markers associated with inflammation and regeneration, especially using multiplex bead immunoassay technologies, is a valuable tool to better understand the processes associated with healing following periodontal treatment.


I reflect on my experience working with David Y. Mason in the Leukaemia Research Laboratories in the Nuffield Department of Pathology at the University of Oxford in the early 1980s. This was soon after the first monoclonal antibodies had been produced, which led to an exciting and productive time in biological discovery and pathology diagnostics. A specific focus in the laboratory was the development of immunoenzymatic staining methods that would enable monoclonal antibodies to be applied in diagnostic practice. This paper describes the work that led to the performance of immuno-alkaline phosphatase staining on blood and bone marrow smears, the success of which changed leukaemia diagnosis.


The human population is exposed to both the ultraviolet A (UVA) and B (UVB) regions of the solar spectrum. UVB induces mainly dipyrimidine photoproducts in DNA by a direct photochemical mechanism, whereas UVA is absorbed by other cellular constituents and induces mainly oxidative damage indirectly. The proportions of the different dipyrimidine photoproducts, and the ratio of dipyrimidine to oxidative damage depend on the exact spectral output of a UV source. Irradiation of human epidermal keratinocytes induces release of cytokines, with cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers playing a significant role in the process. These cytokines may then modulate the activity of cells of the immune system. Freshly isolated human lymphocytes are exquisitely sensitive to UVB irradiation, because of their low deoxyribonucleotide pools. They also have a separate defect in removal of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers from their DNA. We have observed that frequencies of mutations at the hprt locus in human T-lymphocytes and translocations involving the bcl2 locus in B-lymphocytes appear to be associated with sunlight levels over the period before the blood sample was taken. This may be an indirect cytokine-mediated effect, and may be relevant to the possible link between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and sunlight. On the other hand, sunlight can have beneficial effects, and may protect against autoimmune diseases including type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis.


There are two concurrent paths in a typical cache access -one through the data array and the other through the tag array. In most cases, the path through the tag array is significantly longer than that through the data array. In this paper, we propose a new scheme that exploits this imbalance in the tag and data paths to improve overall cache performance. Under this scheme, an additional tag directory, the full-map block directory, is used to provide an alternate tag path to speed up cache access for almost all the memory requests. This scheme is based on the observation that spatial locality exists on a cache line basis i.e. cache lines near one another tend to be referenced together. Performance evaluation using the TPC-C benchmark and the SPEC92 benchmark suite demonstrates that this scheme has the potential to improve overall system performance by more than 20%.


This paper reports a novel strategy for analysing a single phase power system feeding a non-linear load. This strategy is based on a new theory to transform the traditional single phase power system into an equivalent two-axis orthogonal system. This system is based on complementing the single phase system with a fictitious second phase so that both of the two phases generate an orthogonal power system. This would yield a power system which is analogous to the three phase power system but with the phase shift between successive phases equal to π/2 instead of 2π/3. Application of this novel approach makes it possible to use the complex or Gauss domain analytical method in a similar way to the well known method of instantaneous reactive power for the three phase power system instigated by Akagi et al in 1984. Thus, for the fictitious two-axis phase power system, the concept of instantaneous active and reactive power could be instigated. Moreover, the concept of instantaneous power factor could be defined. The novel strategy of power system analysis outlined in this paper is applied to a single phase power system feeding a non-linear load in conjunction with an active power filter. The latter serves the purpose of compensating for either of the instantaneous reactive power or the harmonic current distortion in the single phase power system under investigation or for compensating of both. Experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the novel single phase power system analysis reported in this paper.


The sudden change of moving the majority of teaching online at Universities due to the global Covid-19 pandemic has caused an increased amount of workload for academics. One of the contributing factors is answering a high volume of queries coming from students. As these queries are not limited to the synchronous time frame of a lecture, there is a high chance of many of them being related or even equivalent. One way to deal with this problem is to cluster these questions depending on their topic. In our previous work, we aimed to find an improved method of clustering that would give us a high efficiency, using a recurring LDA model. Our data set contained questions posted online from a Computer Science course at the University of Bath. A significant number of these questions contained code excerpts, which we found caused a problem in clustering, as certain terms were being considered as common words in the English language and not being recognised as specific code terms. To address this, we implemented tagging of these technical terms using Python, as part of preprocessing the data set. In this paper, we explore the realms of tagging data sets, focusing on identifying code excerpts and providing empirical results in order to justify our reasoning.


In this paper, the temperature of a pilot-scale batch reaction system is modeled towards the design of a controller based on the explicit model predictive control (EMPC) strategy. Some mathematical models are developed from experimental data to describe the system behavior. The simplest, yet reliable, model obtained is a (1,1,1)-order ARX polynomial model for which the mentioned EMPC controller has been designed. The resultant controller has a reduced mathematical complexity and, according to the successful results obtained in simulations, will be used directly on the real control system in a next stage of the entire experimental framework.


The review deals with the existing industrial chemical methods for the manufacture of aminoacids as well as new methods and new versions of the existing methods for their synthesis. Much attention has been devoted to methods of asymmetric synthesis of aminoacids, including homogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation. Enzymatic methods for the synthesis of certain aminoacids from chemical raw materials are examined. The literature of the last 7–8 years is mainly considered. The bibliography includes 385 references.


Right after the overthrow of dictatorial military regime since 1991, Ethiopia underwent a remarkable change of political system. It has restructured the society based on federal state arrangement which creates nine self-administered regional government taking linguistic, settlement pattern, and consent of the governed into consideration. Addis Ababa and although not mentioned in the constitution, Dire Dawa become autonomous city administration outside regional sphere of competence but administered and responsible to the federal government. The federal arrangement further creates Bi-cameral federal institutions, House of People Representatives and House of Federation for the site of regional people representatives and minorities that are found within the regional government, respectively. Under the house of people representative, out of 548 seats, 20 are lefts and reserved for minority groups. Under house of federation, this is commonly understood as the house of minorities in which every nation, nationality and people of Ethiopia have representative that reflect the interests of their minority groups. Every nation, nationality and people has a minimum of one representative and possibly to have additional representative based on their population number. The house with its entrusted power to interpret constitution, enables safeguarding the constitutionally granted minority rights. Such recognition of cultural diversity and the institutionalization of minority rights is a critical factor that acts as the viability of ethnic based federalism in Ethiopia.

 Key words: Ethiopian federalism, house of federation, minority rights, minority rights protection.


Reasoning is the foundation of learning mathematics. If students' mathematical reasoning abilities are not well-constructed, students who learn mathematics will consider these abilities only as material based on a series of procedures and imitate examples without knowing their meanings. The purpose of this research is to produce an effective product used in the classroom learning process, in this case, Web-Based Two-Tier Multiple-Choice questions. The TTMC questions to be used are specified to the mathematical problems of two-variable linear equations with complex mathematical situations for concluding. At the first tier of the TTMC, students are asked to choose answers to questions related to the context being discussed, in this case, the SPLDV concept, while at the second tier, students choose the reasons from the answers they have chosen at the first-tier questions. At the first tier, students are expected to use their understanding in solving various problems, while the second tier is more appropriate to be used as a benchmark for the extent of student reasoning in solving problems at the first tier. Utilization of the JFC cultural festival as a context in learning mathematics based on ethnomathematics is expected to help students in Jember and its surrounding areas to obtain an optimal understanding of mathematical concepts because culture plays an important role to be integrated into mathematics learning. This research is categorized as valid (3.85 out of 4.00) based on the assessment from the validators. The problem of two-tier multiple-choice mathematical reasoning in this study is categorized practical (90.3%) based on observation on teacher activities and suggestions from practitioners. The problem of two-tier multiple-choice mathematical reasoning in this study is categorized effective based on student test results (77.27%), observation on student activities (88.02%), and student response results (84.5%).


Abstract Introduction :  This paper compares preferences in mate selection criteria for permanent marriage and temporary marriage. Methods: The research population participants consisted of single persons in Tehran who were in the age range between "22 - 40" and being educated and having at least Diploma.In addition, they have not been diagnosed any of psychological problems.The samples available and interested in participating in the study included 122 (61 girls and 61 boys). The researcher set up a program that mate choice is a computer program written in the C programming language and is comprised of two parts; 1) Demographic characteristics of participants 2) Testing mate selection Inventory. Measures of central tendency and parameters of dispersion were used to describe the data. Binomial test, correlation test, the median difference distribution, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for inferred statistical. Results: The results showed that only 23% of participants (12% women and 45% men), agree with temporary marriage. The criteria of "education" and "loyalty" were more important in permanent marriage than the temporary marriage with amount of 0.551 and 0.912, respectively. "Pleasant mood" and "being obedient" had higher priority in temporary marriage than the permanent marriage. Conclusion: Our study showed that criteria for permanent and temporary marriage differ based on their relation's duration and its expectations. In fact, understanding of reasons for agreement and disagreement regarding temporary marriage, can provide a more accurate and expertise reference for reading possible in the Muslim world. Key words : mate selection criteria, short term mates, marriage, muslim culture.


In developed societies road safety skills are taught early and often practiced under the supervision of a parent, providing children with a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge. At some point children will attempt to cross a road unsupervised, at that point in time their safety depends on the effectiveness of their road safety education. To date, various attempts to supplement road safety education with technology were made. Most common approach focus on addressing declarative knowledge, by delivering road safety theory in an engaging fashion. Apart from expanding on text based resources to include instructional videos and animations, some stakeholders (e.g.: Irish Road Safety Authority) attempt to take advantage of game-based learning [1]. However, despite the high capacity for interaction being common in Virtual Environments, available game-based solutions to road safety education are currently limited to delivering and assessing declarative knowledge. With recent advancements in the field of Virtual Reality (VR) Head Mounted Displays, procedural knowledge might also be addressed in Virtual Environments. This paper describes the design and development process of a computer-supported learning system that attempts to address psycho-motor skills involved in crossing a road safely, changing learners' attitude towards road safety best practices, and enabling independent practice of transferable skills. By implementing game-based learning principles and following best practice for serious game design (such as making educational components essential to successful game-play, or instructional scaffolding) we hope to make it not only more effective, but also engaging, allowing us to rely on learners' intrinsic motivation [2], to increase their independent practice time and provide them with feedback that will help to condition safe behaviour and increase retention. Presence in Virtual Reality might evoke responses to Virtual Environment as if it was real (RAIR) [3] and enable learners to truly experience learning scenarios. In consequence leading to formation of autobiographical memories constructed from multisensory input, which should result in an increased knowledge retention and transfer [4].


The evolutionary process of interspecific hybridization in cladocerans is reviewed based on ecological and population genetic data. The evolutionary consequences of hybridization, biogeographic patterns and fitness comparisons are analyzed within the conceptual framework of theories on hybridization. Among species of the D. longispina complex no interpopulational transition zones (hybrid zones) have been detected, but rather patchy distributions of hybrids and parentals have been found. Hybrids occur across broad geographic ranges and can be more abundant than parental species. Due to asexual reproduction (ameiotic parthenogenesis), hybrid breakdown can be avoided, and hybrids can even (temporarily) combine advantageous traits of both parental species. Evolutionary consequences may arise from repeated backcrossing, which in some cases results in introgression and patterns of reticulate evolution.


Water balance depends on an intact regulating mechanism for volume and osmolality. While thirst has a very important function in osmoregulation, in repletion of volume deficits it is of little importance. A thirst deficit is common in old persons and often a cause of dehydration in geriatric patients. Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of dehydration are discussed.


Forest and agriculture landscapes dominate across Southeast Asia. Agricultural systems are highly diverse ranging from traditional swidden and agroforestry, to the more recent intensive industrial oil palm plantations. These management approaches have fabricated distinct fragmented landscapes that could yield significantly varying impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Our systematic styled review compares fragmentation in industrial oil palm (IOP) and smallholder agroforestry (SH) landscapes, and how this influences biodiversity (soil fauna, avifauna, and vegetation) and ecosystem services in Southeast Asia. Two literature searches were carried out capturing fragmentation studies in IOP and SH settings. After devising a selection criteria, we identified relevant studies, assessed the type of landscape metrics used, and synthesized research findings. After screening 2301 studies, 26 passed our selection criteria; avifauna was the most widely studies group for biodiversity outcomes (n=9), and isolation was the most popular landscape measure (n=13). 50% of studies focused on IOP in Malaysia and none focused on IOP in Indonesia despite being the world's largest oil palm producer. We found too few studies on interactions between ecosystem services and landscape dynamics to draw meaningful comparative findings. Studies in SH systems provided cases of well-connected and diverse forest-agriculture mosaics that successfully supported all biodiversity. In IOP landscapes, we found mixed effects, which depended on the dispersal range of species, their adaptive ability along habitat gradients, and how actors managed forest fragments. Land use research is dominated by land use level comparisons, and rarely do studies measure landscape interactions, which is evident in the lack of studies in our review. Few studies addressed more complex, yet important measures, such as the permeability and pattern of the landscape matrix1. Assessing fragmentation processes over time addresses the resilience of landscapes to different agricultural practices1, and the critical threshold that determines the recoverability of forests and biodiversity². Understanding these underlying recovery mechanisms contributes to supporting sustainable restoration efforts and agroforestry intensification programs. The current Southeast Asian trend in which landscapes are moving away from swidden and agroforestry practices to industrial plantations could significantly impact biodiversity and ecosystem health. We recommend the following for future research: i) Greater accountability of landscape metrics in assessing spatial interactions with biodiversity and ecosystem services, particularly in smallholder agroforestry systems, and how this can facilitate integrated management of agricultural landscapes. ii) Review threshold studies in the context of landscape dynamics to increase our understanding of resilience in fragmented landscapes, and what role this has for restoration efforts.


We present a color-video-based augmented reality (AR) system that is designed to be self-tracking that is, it requires no separate tracking subsystem. Rather, tracking is performed strictly from the video images acquired through the lens of the camera also used to view the real world. The methods for tracking are rooted in prior research in photogrammetry and computer vision. This approach to tracking for AR systems enables a variety of new applications in assembly guidance that are not feasible with current AR technology. Our initial application is in aircraft manufacturing. We outline our approaches to feature detection, correspondence, pose determination, and system calibration. The results obtained thus far are summarized along with the problems we encountered.


Abstract: Combined actions of native and prolonged thrombolytics allow the use of lower doses and simplified schemes of administration, thus yielding significant results in experimental therapy regarding the efficacy and safety of thrombolysis. Development of prolonged forms of plasminogen activators and testing their effect in combination with the thrombolysis trigger are well founded and of current interest. Thrombolytic compositions on the basis of short‐ and long‐term‐acting plasminogen activators appear to be promising and potentially eligible for bolus administration.


Summary

In this study, the aim was to determine the bioaccessibilities of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) in yoghurt samples produced using enriched skim milk with different coenzyme Q10 preparations. First, emulsified coenzyme Q10, γ-cyclodextrin/coenzyme Q10 complex and nanoparticle coenzyme Q10 were prepared with the reference coenzyme Q10 standard. These coenzyme Q10 preparations were added into the milk to produce coenzyme Q10 enriched yoghurt samples. Nanoparticle coenzyme Q10 was obtained as in spherical shape with 176.00 ± 50.62 nm diameter. Coenzyme Q10 bioaccessibility was found as 50.59 ± 1.88% in control yoghurt. The yoghurt enriched nanoparticle coenzyme Q10 had the highest coenzyme Q10 bioaccessibility (73.81 ± 1.61%) among the produced yoghurts (P < 0.01). Coenzyme Q10 bioaccessibilities were also found as 63.75 ± 0.91% and 46.83 ± 1.27% in yoghurts enriched with emulsified coenzyme Q10, and γ-cyclodextrin/coenzyme Q10 complex, respectively.


The paper provides an intelligent multiagent approach to incorporate human temperaments into the filtering process of an information recommendation service. Our approach is to devise a new filtering mechanism, which addresses segmentation, learning, classification, and filtering techniques based on Keirsey's temperament theory (D. Keirsey and M. Bates, 1978), probability theory, the distributions of temperaments, and statistical reasoning. By presenting information units that are consistent with user interests as well as user temperament, the accuracy and precision of the recommendation service may be improved.


Two different Earth-pointing missions dealing with attitude control and dynamics changes illustrate concerns with correlated error sources and coupled effects that can occur. On the OrbView-2 (OV-2) spacecraft, the assumption of a nearly-inertially-fixed momentum axis was called into question when a residual dipole bias apparently changed magnitude. The possibility that alignment adjustments and/or sensor calibration errors may compensate for actual motions of the spacecraft is discussed, and uncertainties in the dynamics are considered. Particular consideration is given to basic orbit frequency and twice orbit frequency effects and their high correlation over the short science observation data span. On the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft, the switch to a contingency Kalman filter control mode created changes in the pointing error patterns. Results from independent checks on the TRMM attitude using science instrument data are reported, and bias shifts and error correlations are discussed. Various orbit frequency effects are common with the flight geometry for Earth pointing instruments. In both dual-spin momentum stabilized spacecraft (like OV-2) and three axis stabilized spacecraft with gyros (like TRMM under Kalman filter control), changes in the initial attitude state propagate into orbit frequency variations in attitude and some sensor measurements. At the same time, orbit frequency measurement effects can arise from dynamics assumptions, environment variations, attitude sensor calibrations, or ephemeris errors. Also, constant environment torques for dual spin spacecraft have similar effects to gyro biases on three axis stabilized spacecraft, effectively shifting the one-revolution-per-orbit (1-RPO) body rotation axis. Highly correlated effects can create a risk for estimation errors particularly when a mission switches an operating mode or changes its normal flight environment. Some error effects will not be obvious from attitude sensor measurement residuals, so some independent checks using imaging sensors are essential and derived science instrument attitude measurements can prove quite valuable in assessing the attitude accuracy.


Dysregulation of DNA repair signaling after genotoxin exposure contributes to genomic instability and carcinogenesis. Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a genotoxin of occupational and environmental concern. Protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) inhibitors (i.e., sodium orthovanadate (SOV)) activate key survival pathways. We reported that SOV enhances clonogenic survival after Cr(VI) exposure by overriding Cr-induced growth arrest in human lung fibroblasts (HLFs). PTP inhibition with SOV increased expression of DNA damage/repair genes as determined by microarray analysis. Kinetic analysis of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) by comet assay showed equal DSB formation 15 min after Cr(VI) exposure in the absence and presence of SOV. However, PTP inhibition significantly decreased DSBs 0.5-24 hr after Cr(VI) treatment. Aim of the present study was to determine the molecular mechanism(s) by which PTP inhibition affects DNA damage response during genotoxic stress. Gene expression was examined by DNA Damage Signaling Pathway PCR Array after 1 μM Cr(VI) treatment for 24 hr in the absence or presence of SOV. The PTP inhibitor reversed Cr-mediated changes in expression of several unique genes. Interestingly, the sema4a gene, known to be involved in T cell activation and endothelial cell proliferation and migration, was strongly induced by co-treatment of SOV and Cr(VI). Gene expression correlated with increased sema4a protein expression after co-treatment of SOV and Cr(VI). A potential role of sema4a in Cr-induced DNA DSB formation/repair in the absence or presence of SOV was assessed after sema4a siRNA transfection. Silencing of sema4a did not alter the effect of SOV on Cr-induced DSBs. However, sema4a silencing completely blocked Cr-induced DSBs 4 hr after exposure. These results suggest a novel role of sema4a in DNA DSB formation/repair in normal HLFs. Taken together, these data shed light on the emerging role of semaphorins as mediators of cell survival as well as potential therapeutic targets in carcinogenesis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-101.


Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) tumor microenvironment (TME) is a highly heterogeneous and complex system, which in addition to cancer cells, consists of various resident brain and immune cells as well as cells in transit through the tumor such as marrow-derived immune cells. The TME is a dynamic environment which is heavily influenced by alterations in cellular composition, cell-to-cell contact and cellular metabolic products as well as other chemical factors, such as pH and oxygen levels. Emerging evidence suggests that GBM cells appear to reprogram their the TME, and hijack microenvironmental elements to facilitate rapid proliferation, invasion, migration, and survival thus generating treatment resistance. GBM cells interact with their microenvironment directly through cell-to-cell by interaction mediated by cell-surface molecules, or indirectly through apocrine or paracrine signaling via cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular vehicles. The recent discovery of neuron–glioma interfaces and neurotransmitter-based interactions has uncovered novel mechanisms that favor tumor cell survival and growth. Here, we review the known and emerging evidence related to the communication between GBM cells and various components of its TME, discuss models for studying the TME and outline current studies targeting components of the TME for therapeutic purposes.


The authors report 5 cases of rupture of hydatid cyst into the pleural cavity observed among 336 patients operated for hydatid cyst of the lung during a 13-year period. Three cases were spontaneous ruptures and two were the result of repeated pleural tappings. One case among the spontaneous ruptures was presented with a picture of acute surgical abdomen. There were no death among the five patients.


The goals of R&D Budgeting are to provide the outlays of government R&D budget allocation and adjustment for the strategic investment in government R&D programs, and it is directly followed by establishing the directions and the standards in overall government R&D investments and related budget deliberation.R&D investment follows the policy coordination, in particular. Policy coordination provides guidelines to program coordination. Policy coordination will provide R&D programs with S&T goals and proper budget estimates. It must ensure that the goals are reached through the most efficient ways. Thus, it is important not only to follow the strategy plan and to track the development in reaching the objectives, but also to continuously monitor changes in the R&D environment and eventually to adapt the activities to new circumstances. In other words, the detailed investment strategies in association with S&T policies and technology development status which are subject to global environment changes are investigated. There can be many ways to deal with it. Here, Korea?s case study will be introduced and it has been evolved for finding effective and efficient way to invest at this moment. This paper will cover the concepts of R&D program coordination and budget allocation, their roles in future growth engine in KOREA. First, Korea?s case of establishing government R&D direction and standards will be introduced. It let us to share the main ideas and procedures of S&T policy/technology priority setting. Second, budget allocation in program point of view and detail procedure will be presented. Also, brand new results of Korea?s R&D program coordination and budget allocation will be introduced in practical sense.


The properties of the exciton in the surface layer of crystals influence the properties of crystals very remarkably. In recent years,a lot of authors studied the surface polaron and the surface exciton. The properties of the exciton have been studied by many theoretical method by many investigators.Sumi et al. studied self-trapping of excitons (or electrons)interacting with phonons via short-range potential and found that the self-trapping depends strongly on the degree of lattice freedom.Chen et al. calculated the ground state energy of the strongly bound exciton-phonon system by using a concise variational approach.The influence of the interaction between phonons of different wave vectors in the recoil process on the effective potential between electron and hole, the self-trapping energy, and the self-trapping condition of the exciton in polar crystals has been discussed by using a perturbation method by present authors.Using the nearest-neighbor tight-binding approximation Luban et al. calculated the lowest bound-state energy of the effective 1D electron Hamiltonian and the exciton binding energy is obtained.The results for the exciton binding energy are in very good agreement both with experiment and the results of other theoretical calculations.Kasapoglu et al. calculated the binding energy of the exciton in the symmetric and asymmetric quantum wells by using a variational approach.The third-order nonlinear optical absorptions in hyperbolic quantum wires are studied by Guo et al., with most emphasis devoted to the influence of excitons on the third-order nonlinear optical absorptions. The analytic form for the third-order nonlinear optical absorption coefficient of this system is derived by means of density matrix treatment.A variational calculation of the ground-state energy of neutral excitons and of positively and negatively charged excitons (trions) confined in a single-quantum well is presented by Riva et al. They studied the dependence of the correlation energy and of the binding energy on the well width and on the hole mass.By using the method of few-body physics, the binding energy spectra of the second bound state of a negatively charged exciton X - in a GaAs quantum dot with a parabolic confinement have been calculated as a function of the electron-hole mass ratio and of the dot radius by Xie. The properties of the exciton have been investigated by many methods. Many of these mainly concentrated attention on the weak-and intermediate-coupling cases and on the ground state energy. However, the exciton in strong-coupling polar crystals and the excited state energy of the exciton has not been studied so far. Recently we study the internal excited state of the weak-coupling surface magnetopolaron by means of Huybrechts's linear combination operator method. In this paper,the properties of internal excited state of the strong-coupling surface exciton in polar crystals are investigated by using the linear combination operator and the unitary transformation method and the excited state energy, the excitation energy and the mean number of phonon of the strong-coupling surface exciton are calculated. The results show that the self-energy of ground state and excited state, the excitation energy and the mean number of phonon of the strong-coupling surface exciton could be written as a series in α -1 s,the first term being proportion to,the coupling constant α s for Wannier surface exciton.


BACKGROUND
Sarcoidosis is a multisystem inflammatory disorder characterized by the presence of noncaseating granulomas in involved organs. Prior research has found that sarcoidosis imposes a significant economic burden to U.S. payers. However, the drivers of high health care costs among sarcoidosis patients are unknown.

OBJECTIVE
To characterize sarcoidosis patients who were among the top 20% of total health care costs.

METHODS
Patients with a first diagnosis of sarcoidosis between January 1, 1998, and March 31, 2015 (index date) were selected from a deidentified privately insured administrative claims database. Study patients must have at least 12 months of continuous health plan enrollment prior to the index date. High-cost patients were those in the top 20% of total health care costs during the 12 months following the index date (follow-up period), and the remaining patients were classified as lower-cost patients. Patient characteristics, comorbidities, health care resource use, and health care costs in the study period were compared between the high-cost and lower-cost patients. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between patient characteristics and being a high-cost sarcoidosis patient.

RESULTS
A total of 7,173 sarcoidosis patients met the selection criteria. The 20% of patients classified as high-cost patients accounted for approximately 72% of the total health care costs in the 12-month follow-up period. Compared with lower-cost patients, high-cost patients were slightly older (50.6 vs. 49.1 years) and had a higher comorbidity burden at baseline (Charlson Comorbidity Index = 1.8 vs. 0.7). Mean annual total health care cost for high-cost sarcoidosis patients was 10 times that of their lower-cost counterparts ($73,345 vs. $7,073). Mean annual health care cost was $119,878 for patients in the 95th-99th percentile and $375,436 for patients in the top 1% of spend. High-cost patients had greater medical resource use and costs across all places of service (i.e., inpatient, emergency department, outpatient, and other) compared with lower-cost patients. Findings showed that higher total health care cost resulted in a larger proportion of inpatient spend and a smaller proportion of outpatient and pharmacy spend. Adjusting for baseline characteristics, high-cost patients were associated with a number of factors with high ORs: the presence of comorbidities such as deficiency anemia (OR = 1.606; P < 0.001), depression (OR = 1.504; P < 0.001), or cardiac arrhythmia (OR = 1.493; P < 0.001); having an inpatient admission (OR = 9.771; P < 0.001); and use of biologic therapies adalimumab and/or infliximab (OR = 31.821; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
This study described the characteristics of high-cost sarcoidosis patients and identified several high-cost indicators using contemporary administrative data. The health care cost distribution for sarcoidosis patients is highly skewed, making it a worthwhile endeavor to focus improvement efforts on patients in the top quintile. The study findings can help population health decision makers identify a subset of patients for targeted interventions aimed at improving quality of care and reducing overall costs.

DISCLOSURES
This study was funded by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Rice, White, and Lopez are employees of Analysis Group, which received funding from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals to conduct this research. Nelson is an employee of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Study concept and design were contributed by Rice, White, and Nelson, along with Lopez. Lopez took the lead in data collection, with assistance from Rice and White. Data interpretation was performed by all of the authors. The manuscript was written by Rice, Lopez, White, and Nelson and revised by Rice, along with White and Nelson.


Despite recent advances in natural language understanding and generation, and decades of research on the development of conversational bots, building automated agents that can carry on rich open-ended conversations with humans"in the wild"remains a formidable challenge. In this work we develop a real-time, open-ended dialogue system that uses reinforcement learning (RL) to power a bot's conversational skill at scale. Our work pairs the succinct embedding of the conversation state generated using SOTA (supervised) language models with RL techniques that are particularly suited to a dynamic action space that changes as the conversation progresses. Trained using crowd-sourced data, our novel system is able to substantially exceeds the (strong) baseline supervised model with respect to several metrics of interest in a live experiment with real users of the Google Assistant.


Multilevel models are increasingly used in sociology and other social sciences to analyze variation of tie outcomes in egocentrically sampled network data, particularly in studies of social support. Existing research assumes that the personal networks in the data do not overlap (i.e., they do not have actors in common), which makes standard hierarchical models suitable for analysis. This assumption is unrealistic in certain sampling designs, including the case of egos sampled from higher level groups or via link-tracing methods. We describe different types of ego-network overlap and propose a method to detect overlapping actors and analyze the resulting data with cross-classified multilevel models. The method is demonstrated with an application to research on personal networks and social support among Hispanic immigrants in rural U.S. destinations. Overlap detection and modeling result in better model fit, more correct partition of tie variation among different sources, and the ability to test new substantive hypotheses.


Energy-efficient wireless communication is important for wireless devices with a limited battery life and cannot be recharged. In this study, a bit allocation algorithm to minimise the total energy consumption for transmitting a bit successfully is proposed for a two-way orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing relay system, whilst considering the constraints of quality-of-service and total transmit power. Unlike existing bit allocation schemes, which maximise the energy efficiency (EE) by measuring 'bits-per-Joule' with fixed bidirectional total bit rates constraint and no power limitation, their scheme adapts the bidirectional total bit rates and their allocation on each subcarrier with a total transmit power constraint. To do so, they propose an idea to decompose the optimisation problem. The problem is solved in two general steps. The first step allocates the bit rates on each subcarrier when the total bit rate of each user is fixed. In the second step, the Lagrangian multipliers are used as the optimisation variants, and the dimension of the variant optimisation is reduced from 2N to 2, where N is the number of subcarriers. They also prove that the optimal point is on the bounds of the feasible region, thus the optimal solution could be searched through the bounds.


A note 1 on the entrance of pyramidon in the "patent medicine" field, under the name of Midol, recalled to my mind the following interesting case, on file among my records: The patient, a man aged 52, with a tabes dorsalis of fifteen years' duration and a marked accentuation of the lightninglike pains, had been taking acetanilid for several years. He claims to have taken at times as much as 40 grains in the twenty-four hours. He has also occasionally taken morphin, but finds that acetanilid gives him more relief. For some weeks there occurred a considerable amelioration in the pains, during which time all medication was discontinued. Several weeks later and about a week before the case came under observation, the pains recurred with increased severity. After taking one or two doses of acetanilid with little or no relief, he began taking Midol in full doses for four days,


An entirely computerized ambulatory medical record system is operational in a large health maintenance organization. A unique subsystem was designed for use in prenatal care, in which the provider's completion of a single encounter form at the time of visit meets all the information requirements of care delivery, administration, and quality assurance. Instead of using a conventional paper chart, computer-generated summaries and flow charts are automatically provided for scheduled visits and for use as a hospital preadmission record, significantly reducing the provider effort expended on record keeping. On-line inquiry function is also available using terminals at the ambulatory center and the hospital. The computer data base has been used for quality assurance studies in prenatal care. The system is well accepted by providers, is reliable, and is cost effective.


Abstract Background PI3K/mTOR inhibition leads to apoptosis of NOTCH1-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cells. We tested the efficacy of the PI3K/mTOR inhibitor bimiralisib in patients with NOTCH1-mutant HNSCC. Methods Patients with recurrent/metastatic NOTCH1-mutant HNSCC who had progressed during chemotherapy and immunotherapy received bimiralisib until unacceptable toxicity or progression. To assess whether NOTCH1 mutations can be detected in blood, we measured circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). To assess activated NOTCH1 protein levels, we quantitated cleaved NOTCH1 (cl-NOTCH) by immunohistochemistry. Results Eight patients were treated, and 6 were evaluable for response. The objective response rate was 17%. For all 8 patients, median progression-free and overall survival was 5 and 7 months, respectively. Bimiralisib was well tolerated, with expected hyperglycemia. Pharmacokinetic values were consistent with published studies. NOTCH1 mutations were detected in 83.3% of ctDNA. Staining for tumor cl-NOTCH1 was negative. The trial closed early due to sponsor insolvency. Conclusion Although the trial was small, outcomes with bimiralisib were better than the historical standard of care; Results will need to be confirmed in a larger trial. The lack of cl-NOTCH1 was consistent with loss-of-function mutations and validated our mutation function algorithm. The ability to detect NOTCH1 mutations in blood will help future studies. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03740100).


For many services, customers subscribe to long-term contracts. Standard economic theory suggests that customers evaluate a contract on the basis of its overall net benefits. The authors suggest that rather than evaluating multiperiod service contracts at the contract level, customers use period-level bracketing. Customers evaluate the distinct per-period loss or gain they incur from choosing this contract. This has important consequences when benefits vary over the course of the contract—for example, due to "hassle costs." If customers use period-level bracketing, they will value a lower price more in periods during which they have hassle than in other periods. The authors explore this using data from a field experiment for web hosting services. They find that a lower price in the initial period is more attractive to customers when they expect their hassle costs to be high at setup. In five lab experiments, the authors support and extend the field experiment's findings. They find evidence for period-level bracketing when customers have hassle costs, independently of whether hassle costs occur in the first, an intermediate, or the last period of a contract. They also rule out alternative explanations, such as hyperbolic discounting. The findings suggest that in setting prices, firms should consider the timing of hassle costs customers face.


Nowadays, the environmental risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have received widespread attention. Two major amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) variants, Aβ42 and Aβ40, play a pivotal role in the etiology of AD and the concentration ratio of which (i.e., Aβ42%) has been suggested to be the superior biomarker for AD. In this study, an "aggregation-based colorimetric sensor array" for the simultaneous identification and detection of Aβ40 and Aβ42 with structural similarity was established based on gelsolin-modified silver nanotriangles (Ag NTs) and silver nanorods (Ag NRs). Different aggregation behaviors of gelsolin-modified Ag NTs and Ag NRs in the presence of Aβ42 and Aβ40 resulted in different color and spectral changes, which could be quantitatively analyzed in terms of unique spectral patterns by principal component analysis. With the colorimetric sensor array employed here, the fluctuation of Aβ42% in different brain regions of rats exposed to Cd2+ could be directly monitored. The downward trend of Aβ42% accompanied by variations of other biochemical indicators suggested that subchronic Cd2+ exposure possibly triggered the onset of AD through the intervention of lipid peroxidation pathway. Furthermore, in vivo monitoring the downtrend of Aβ42% in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could also be realized, which offers a great opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment of AD that may be induced by environmental factors with CSF Aβ42% as a reliable indicator.


Objective: We examined the white-matter microstructure of the left arcuate fasciculus, which has been associated with reading ability, in beginning readers with or without reading disability. Method: Groups were typically reading children (n = 26) or children with reading disability (n = 26), Ages 6–9, and equated on nonverbal cognitive abilities. Diffusion-weighted images were collected and TRACULA was used to extract fractional anisotropy measures from the left arcuate fasciculus. Results: White-matter microstructure was altered in children with reading disability, who exhibited significantly reduced fractional anisotropy in the left arcuate fasciculus. Among typically reading children, lower fractional anisotropy of the left arcuate fasciculus was associated with superior pseudoword reading performance. Both the group differences and variation in reading scores among the children with reading disability were associated with radial diffusivity (but not axial diffusivity), whereas variation in reading scores among typically reading children was associated with axial diffusivity (but not radial diffusivity). Conclusions: The paradoxical findings that lower fractional anisotropy was associated both with reading disability and also with better phonological awareness in typical reading development suggest that there are different maturational trajectories of white-matter microstructure in typical readers and children with reading disability, and that this difference is unique to the beginning stages of reading acquisition. The finding that reading disability was associated with radial diffusivity, but that variation in ability among typically developing readers was associated with axial diffusivity, suggests that different neural mechanisms may be associated with reading development in children with or without reading disability.


Abstract This paper aims to outline the importance of the employer-employee relationship and describes the role this relationship plays towards the growth of a business. The paper also highlights the role job satisfaction plays towards stimulating good relationships between these two parties and provides guidelines to business owners on how the relationship can be managed. A relationship survey was designed for the study. The survey aimed to determine the business owners' opinions about relationships, and whether they believed these play a significant role towards the success of their businesses. The survey further aimed to measure job satisfaction of the employees. In the study, job satisfaction was identified as an accurate indicator of good relationships between employers and employees. The study found that business owners shared a positive notion that relationships play an important role towards their business as these contribute to the growth of their business. The employees indicated high levels of satisfaction with their jobs. The study concludes by outlining the key factors and benefits of managing employer-employee relationships.


This paper proposes a reputation mechanism that selects trustworthy nodes for forwarding packets in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). The proposed method combines an existing reputation scheme with a reinforcement learning technique called the on-policy Monte Carlo (ONMC) method in the node selection process during the execution of a path search. The objective is to find a decision rule for selecting neighboring nodes which maximizes the long-term average reward. This paper extends a recent work by employing a finite buffer M/M/1/K queuing model to produce packet drops that in turn characterize the reputation values at each node in the MANET. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve up to 71% and 61% increase in throughput over the existing reputation scheme under both static and dynamic topology cases, respectively