Nowadays more and more Web sites generate Web pages containing client-side scripts such as JavaScript and Flash instead of ordinary static HTML pages. These scripts create dynamic HTML pages and provide modern interfaces to Web applications such as AJAX applications. Unfortunately, for partial information extraction of Web pages, existing methods cannot extract dynamic Web contents.

In this paper, we present a new partial information extraction method which can deal with not only static Web contents but also dynamic Web contents created by client-side scripts. As applications, we present personal mashup construction examples based on our extraction method. Our implementation shows that our extraction method is efficiently applicable to various types of Web sites such as news sites, country profile sites and weather sites.


Multiinstitutional research collaborations now form the most rapid and productive project execution structures in the health sciences. Effective adoption of a multidisciplinary team research approach is widely accepted as one mechanism enabling rapid translation of new discoveries into interventions in human health. Although the impact of successful team‐based approaches facilitating innovation has been well‐documented, its utility for training a new generation of scientists has not been thoroughly investigated. We describe the characteristics of how multidisciplinary translational teams (MTTs) promote career development of translational research scholars through competency building, interprofessional integration, and team‐based mentoring approaches. Exploratory longitudinal and outcome assessments from our experience show that MTT membership had a positive effect on the development of translational research competencies, as determined by a self‐report survey of 32 scholars. We also observed that all trainees produced a large number of collaborative publications that appeared to be associated with their CTSA association and participation with MTTs. We conclude that the MTT model provides a unique training environment for translational and team‐based learning activities, for investigators at early stages of career development.


Background: Low back pain (LBP) is a major health issue affecting millions of people world-wide (Pope et al., 2002a) and common disorder involving the muscles, nerves, and bones of the back. The goal of ergonomics is to ensure a good fit between the workers and their job, thereby maximizing worker comfort, safety and health, productivity and efficiency. Due to vibration, blood circulation is improved to have a thermal effect. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Theragun in low back pain and ergonomics advice among bus drivers. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trail. Method: The study population consisted of thirty participants who had undergone low back pain. The subjects were randomly allocated into two groups: An Experimental Group (n-15) and A Control Group (n-15). The participants who allocated to an experimental group was completed fifteen sessions of classic PT for 3 weeks (5 sessions per week) Study setting in OPD, Nootan College of Physiotherapy at Sankalchandpatel University. Outcome Measure: NPRS (numeric pain rating scale), Oswestry low back pain disability. Result: In group A Experimental (Thergun and ergonomic advice) and group B Control, all data was expressed as mean ± SD and was statistically analyzed using paired 't' test and independent 't' test to determine the statistical difference among the parameters at 0.5% level of significance. Statistical data of NPRS & Oswestry low back pain disability scores showing that, the Theragun showed more significant effect in the low back pain subjects, with the significant value of p < 0.01 for the post treatment data. Conclusion: In this study we conclude that Theragun machine and ergonomic advice to give greater improvement in pain and functional performance in low back pain among bus drivers


Diatoms, single-celled photosynthetic algae, are a great source of intricate natural porous silica materials. The whole diatom cell is confined within a 3-dimensional ordered nanopatterned silica cell wall, called a frustule. The unique features of diatom frustules, such as their large specific surface area, biocompatibility and non-toxicity due to the silica composition, easily modifiable surface, high mechanical resistance, and thermal stability, make them suitable for drug delivery applications. Moreover, the easy cultivation of diatoms in an artificial environment, the huge availability of diatom frustules as fossil material (diatomite) in several areas of the world and its peculiar properties further confirm the advantages of using diatom porous silica as an alternative to synthetic materials for biomedical applications. In this chapter, the possible use of diatoms as microfrustules or reduced to nanoparticles as drug vectors is described. The processing of diatom frustules for drug delivery carrier preparation, biocompatibility tests, surface chemical modifications, cellular uptake and capability to transport therapeutic molecules inside cells is also discussed.


Basic dosimetric properties of 6 MV and 18 MV photon beams from a Varian Clinac 21EX accelerator operating without the flattening filter have been measured. These include dose rate data, depth dose dependencies and lateral profiles in a water phantom, total scatter factors and transmission factors of a multileaf collimator. The data are reviewed and compared with measurements for the flattened beams. The unflattened beams have the following: a higher dose rate by factors of 2.3 (6 MV) and 5.5 (18 MV) on the central axis; lower out-of-field dose due to reduced head scatter and softer spectra; less variation of the total scatter factor with field size; and less variation of the shape of lateral dose profiles with depth. The findings suggest that with a flattening filter free accelerator better radiation treatments can be developed, with shorter delivery times and lower doses to normal tissues and organs.


Two new thick-tail scorpions in the genus Parabuthus Pocock, 1890 are described from the gravel plains of the Central Namib Desert, Namibia: Parabuthus glabrimanus sp. nov.; Parabuthus setiventer sp. nov. The two new species occupy discrete distributional ranges, allopatric with the closely related species Parabuthus gracilis Lamoral, 1979 and Parabuthus nanus Lamoral, 1979. The distributions of the four species are mapped and a key provided for their identification. Revised diagnoses are provided for P. gracilis and P. nanus. The two new species are added to a previously published morphological character matrix for Parabuthus species and their phylogenetic positions determined in a reanalysis of Parabuthus phylogeny. Parabuthus setiventer sp. nov. is found to be the sister species of P. nanus, whereas P. glabrimanus sp. nov. is sister to a monophyletic group comprising P. gracilis, P. nanus, and P. setiventer sp. nov. The discovery of two new scorpion species endemic to the Central Namib gravel plains contributes to a growing body of evidence that this barren and desolate region is a hotspot of arachnid species richness and endemism.

© 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 159, 673–710.


Gas sensing properties of different carbon nanotube (mostly multiwall, MWCNT) mats, based on electrical resistance measurement were investigated in a simple arrangement and found that the sensitivity for different gases or vapors highly depends on the pre-treatment and functionalization of nanotubes. The selectivity of the sensing was demonstrated by building a vapor recognition system based on an array of multitube sensors made of differently functionalized MWCNTs.


The aim of this study is to establish whether a comparative morphologic-ultrasonic analysis is able to identify acoustical parameters for mammary lesions characterization. Breast specimens from radical mastectomy have been selected by frozen sections and then analyzed by nonconventional techniques based on ultrasonic attenuation measurements. After histologic examination of the fixed specimens, both ultrasonic and morphologic appearances have been compared. Our results suggest that the slope index is able to differentiate breast lesions on the basis of the amount of cells and collagen fibers they contain. The slope increases with increasing collagen fibers content while necrosis reduces the overall attenuation of the specimen. On the basis of the above results, it appears possible to differentiate both malignant breast tumors characterized by productive fibrosis and breast dysplasia. Malignant breast tumors without productive fibrosis cannot be distinguished from benign tumors.


Efficient and controlled nanoscale propulsion in harsh environments requires careful design and manufacturing of nanomachines, which can harvest and translate the propelling forces with high spatial and time resolution. Here we report a new class of artificial nanomachine, named magneto-acoustic hybrid nanomotor, which displays efficient propulsion in the presence of either magnetic or acoustic fields without adding any chemical fuel. These fuel-free hybrid nanomotors, which comprise a magnetic helical structure and a concave nanorod end, are synthesized using a template-assisted electrochemical deposition process followed by segment-selective chemical etching. Dynamic switching of the propulsion mode with reversal of the movement direction and digital speed regulation are demonstrated on a single nanovehicle. These hybrid nanomotors exhibit a diverse biomimetic collective behavior, including stable aggregation, swarm motion, and swarm vortex, triggered in response to different field inputs. Such adaptive hybrid operation and controlled collective behavior hold considerable promise for designing smart nanovehicles that autonomously reconfigure their operation mode according to their mission or in response to changes in their surrounding environment or in their own performance, thus holding considerable promise for diverse practical biomedical applications of fuel-free nanomachines.


Dynamic reconfiguration of photovoltaic arrays is one of the effective ways to decrease partial shading effects. In this paper, by using auxiliary modules and after a suitable fixed reconfiguration, an optimizer and economic method based on dynamic reconfiguration is presented. In this method, Auxiliary modules are arranged next to the photovoltaic array and replaced with shaded modules to maximize the energy delivery. The best connection between the auxiliary modules and the array is determined by an optimal decision process. The objective function for this decision process is energy delivery of the solar array in shadow conditions which is maximized by the genetic algorithm. Significant improvement in the output power of the photovoltaic array and smaller number of switches than the other dynamic reconfiguration methods are the main advantages of the proposed method. Benefits and effectiveness of this method are compared with other recently dynamic configuration approaches, and the results confirm power enhancement of the photovoltaic arrays in various shadow patterns.


A concise and effective ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of β-substituted α-oxobutyrolactones has been developed, delivering a series of cis-β-substituted α-hydroxybutyrolactone derivatives with excellent yields, enantioselectivities, and diastereoselectivities. Two consecutive stereogenic centers were constructed in one step through dynamic kinetic resolution under basic conditions. The reaction could be conducted on a gram scale without loss of activity and enantioselectivity. The reductive products could be easily transformed into useful building blocks.


Adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity in membrane particles of corpora lutea (CL) from humans and cynomolgus monkeys was examined at various stages of the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. AC activity was monitored by the conversion of [alpha-32P]ATP into [32P]cAMP under basal conditions and in the presence of several activators: NaF (10 mmol/L) plus forskolin (100 mumol/L); hCG (10 micrograms/mL); guanyl 5'-yl-imidodiphosphate [GMP-P(NH)P; 100 mumol/L]; and hCG (10 micrograms/ml) plus GMP-P(NH)P (100 mumol/L). The groups of human CL were midluteal (n = 10), late luteal (n = 4), following cycle (old CL; n = 5), and early pregnancy (6-11 weeks; n = 10). The groups of monkey CL were early luteal (n = 4), midluteal (n = 5), and pregnancy at term (n = 3). Luteal AC activity changed significantly during the menstrual cycle. In newly (less than 48 h after ovulation) formed CL, the enzyme was unresponsive to hCG, and total AC activity, as determined by NaF plus forskolin, averaged 86.5 +/- 28.9 (+/- SE) pmol cAMP/min.mg protein. As the CL developed, AC activity increased. Thus, in the midluteal phase, maximal hCG responsiveness in the presence of guanine nucleotide was 125 +/- 27 and 232 +/- 15 pmol/min.mg in human and monkey CL, respectively. No hCG responsiveness was detected in the late luteal phase or in the old CL. Maximal AC activity was also high in the midluteal phase (382 +/- 56 and 256 +/- 28 pmol/min.mg in human and monkey CL, respectively); the activity remained fairly high during the late luteal phase and then declined to less than 100 pmol/min.mg in the follicular phase of the next cycle. During early pregnancy, luteal AC was unresponsive to hCG stimulation, yet basal levels, maximal activity, and the characteristics of stimulation by nonhormonal activators were similar, if not identical, to those at the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle. At term pregnancy, the enzyme remained unresponsive to hCG. However, basal activity and stimulation by NaF and forskolin were remarkably elevated, being between 2- and 7-fold higher than corresponding stimulations in the midluteal phase. We conclude that 1) AC activity in human luteal membranes is highly dependent on hormonal changes and functional state of the ovary, 2) the activity of luteal AC is similar in the CL of humans and cynomolgus monkeys, and 3) the AC system in the primate CL is functionally active during and at the end of pregnancy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


importance and relationship structure from the systematic ability of a process led by Managing By Values within a public company. Within these elements important factors that fluctuate with the ethical principles of professional profile that must exist within a public employee, circumstances are established as a tool for public servants have a guide, are addressed in a standard linking business, without losing the effect and reason for it, that is to satisfy its customers, and build lines based on the values of a state institution processes


Questions of the holomorphic and the pluriharmonic continuation of functions in a fixed direction are considered. It is shown that in the continuation of pluriharmonic functions from a boundary system of lines one usually confronts many-valued extensions. This phenomenon is directly related to a counterexample of Levenberg and Slodkowski demonstrating that there exists no potential for a pseudoconvex set in the general case.


Systolic and diastolic blood pressures have been evaluated in 645 school children aged 1 to 4 years old. Mercury-gravity manometer was used, and diastolic pressure was assessed taking Korotkoff is fifth phase. Blood pressure with sex, age, body height and body weight was correlated. There was no significant difference of tension values between both sexes. Diastolic blood pressure increased progressively and notoriously for each age interval (12 months) in both sexes. Systolic blood pressure increased notoriously only in the 3 and 4 years girls group. The partial correlation and stepwise regression analyses of variables age, body height and body weight with blood pressure showed that body weight was the only variable significantly related to systolic in both sexes, while body weight and age in boys and none of them in girls with the diastolic.


Brain capillary perfusion was evaluated in the different states of the wake–sleep cycle—quiet wakefulness (QW), quiet sleep (QS), and active sleep (AS)—in rats. The extent of the perfused capillary network was determined by intravascular distribution of a fluorescent marker, Evans blue (EB); it remained unchanged across the three behavioral conditions, QW, QS, and AS. The anatomical network was assessed by alkaline phosphatase (AP) endothelial staining, which is known to underestimate the number of existing capillaries. The resulting number of AP profiles were, therefore, significantly lower than the number of EB profiles, but the percentage of AP-stained capillaries that were perfused (96%) was also unchanged across the behavioral conditions. The results indicate that no capillary recruitment accompanies the wake–sleep cycle. Capillary surface area is a relevant factor in determining exchanges across the blood–brain barrier. In the absence of capillary recruitment (relative constancy of the surface area), the CBF changes during sleep should preferentially affect flow-limited with respect to diffusion-limited transport.


India being a highly populated country, the number of people using vehicles for commuting everyday is also high. With this there are a lot of accidents that takes place everyday. These accidents tend to effect a family very adversely with risk of lives or to endure the expense after it happens. This paper is to try and figure out ways to find accident prone regions and warn daily commuters regarding the accidents happening in that particular area. Accidents are something that happen without any prior intimation, but if we being a user of this interface we can be more careful when it comes to areas where accidents happen majorly. The user interface will notify a user regarding the accident prone regions being high medium and low. We will be using different algorithms in Machine learning to process the data to train and test a model. We are using data from a couple of years regarding accidents as datasets to divide them into these specific areas. This paper of ours follows the saying "It's better safe than sorry", and we see to help the users to avoid any accident that they might face


The objectives of this study were to (1) quantitatively summarize the early yield responses of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) to forest vegetation management (FVM) treatments through a meta-analytical review of the scientific literature, and (2) given (1), estimate the rotational consequences of these responses through model simulation. Based on a fixed-effects meta-analytic approach using 44 treated-control yield pairs derived from 12 experiments situated throughout the Great Lakes—St. Lawrence and Canadian Boreal Forest Regions, the resultant mean effect size (response ratio) and associated 95% confidence interval for basal diameter, total height, stem volume, and survival responses, were respectively: 54.7% (95% confidence limits (lower/upper): 34.8/77.6), 27.3% (15.7/40.0), 198.7% (70.3/423.5), and 2.9% (−5.5/11.8). The results also indicated that early and repeated treatments will yield the largest gains in terms of mean tree size and survival. Rotational simulations indicated that FVM treatments resulted in gains in stand-level operability (e.g., reductions of 9 and 5 yr for plantations established on poor-medium and good-excellent site qualities, resp.). The challenge of maintaining coniferous forest cover on recently disturbed sites, attaining statutory-defined free-to-grow status, and ensuring long-term productivity, suggest that FVM will continue to be an essential silvicultural treatment option when managing black spruce plantations.


Results concerning the effect of using a spatially smoothed forward-backward covariance matrix on the performance of state space methods/ESPRIT for the direction of arrival (DOA) estimation using a uniformly spaced linear sensor array (ULA) are presented. Compact expressions for the asymptotic mean squared error in the estimates of the signal zeros and the DOA estimates are derived. Some general properties of the estimates are derived which lend insight into the effect of spatial smoothing and the forward-backward approach on state space methods/ESPRIT. An optimally weighted state space method/ESPRIT algorithm is also presented. The results indicate that by properly choosing the number of subarrays used for spatial smoothing, the performance of the method can be greatly enhanced.<<ETX>>


We present FailAmp, a novel LLVM program transformation algorithm that makes programs employing structured index calculations more robust against soft errors. Without FailAmp, an offset error can go undetected; with FailAmp, all subsequent offsets are relativized, building on the faulty one. FailAmp can exploit ISAs such as ARM to further reduce overheads. We verify correctness properties of FailAMP using an SMT solver, and present a thorough evaluation using many high-performance computing benchmarks under a fault injection campaign. FailAmp provides full soft-error detection for address calculation while incurring an average overhead of around 5%.


In order to alarm the fire and analyze the material burned, the high efficiency imaging system is designed to monitor the fire. The system selects the high performance CMOS image sensor, utilizing real-time DSP with higher computing power, it is designed based on DSP C6748 by IIC serial port flame detectors video camera's registers, and the generated image data sent to DSP by VPIF interface, the image algorithm is transplanted to DSP, at last, the system will alarm the fire and output spectral characteristics of the burning material via Ethernet interface. This system completes algorithm hardware realization, and the algorithm can detect image in real-time and extract the effect of spectral characteristics of burning material, so that the algorithm processing can speed up from minute level on the PC to the sub-second level.


Intrinsic disorder in proteins plays important roles in transcriptional regulation, translation, and cellular signal transduction. The experimental annotation of the disorder lags behind the rapidly accumulating number of known protein chains, which motivates the development of computational predictors of disorder. Some of these methods address predictions of certain types/flavors of the disorder and recent years show that consensus-based predictors provide a viable way to improve predictive performance. However, the selection of the base predictors in a given consensus is usually performed in an ad-hock manner, based on their availability and with a premise that more is better. We perform first-of-its-kind investigation that analyzes complementarity among a dozen recent predictors to identify characteristics of (future) predictors that would lead to further consensus-based improvements in the predictive quality. The complementarity of a given set of three base predictors is expressed by the differences in their predictions when compared with each other and with their majority vote consensus. We propose a regression-based model that quantifies/predicts quality of the majority-vote consensus of a given triplet of predictors based on their individual predictive performance and their complementarity measured at the residue and the disorder segment levels. Our model shows that improved performance is associated with higher (lower) similarity between the three base predictors at the residue (segment) level and to their consensus prediction at the segment (residue) level. We also show that better consensuses utilize higher quality base methods. We use our model to predict the best-performing consensus on an independent test dataset and our empirical evaluation shows that this consensus outperforms individual methods and other consensus-based predictors based on the area under the ROC curve measure. Our study provides insights that could lead to the development of a new generation of the consensus-based disorder predictors.


This article discusses how sequential sampling models can be integrated in a cognitive architecture. The new theory Retrieval by Accumulating Evidence in an Architecture (RACE/A) combines the level of detail typically provided by sequential sampling models with the level of task complexity typically provided by cognitive architectures. We will use RACE/A to model data from two variants of a picture-word interference task in a psychological refractory period design. These models will demonstrate how RACE/A enables interactions between sequential sampling and long-term declarative learning, and between sequential sampling and task control. In a traditional sequential sampling model, the onset of the process within the task is unclear, as is the number of sampling processes. RACE/A provides a theoretical basis for estimating the onset of sequential sampling processes during task execution and allows for easy modeling of multiple sequential sampling processes within a task.


This article considers the provisions of section 97 of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (NCA), which are vitally important to credit providers and consumers alike and which entrench the obligation of a credit consumer who is subject to the Act to disclose to the credit provider the location of the goods financed under a credit agreement. Against a backdrop of similar provisions in the NCA's predecessors (the Hire-Purchase Act 36 of 1942 and the Credit Agreements Act 75 of 1980), the article seeks to evaluate what changes, if any, the NCA has brought in this context and to make appropriate recommendations relating to the scope and application of section 97 of the NCA. The discussion of the disclosure measures in the NCA and its predecessors is preceded by a brief overview of the Acts' fields of application insofar as the latter are relevant to the disclosure provisions. We conclude that the legislature needs to intervene and amend section 97 of the NCA (and regulation 34, which must be read with section 97), failing which these provisions will be a very limited tool in the hands of the credit provider to keep track of the goods that serve as security and their effectiveness will be greatly diminished.


Change has always been a delicate and complex process for people, groups, and organizations that experience it. This work, starting with a reorganization process that involved a Lombard penitentiary, analyzes resistance to change in a group of 15 supervisors and their evolution throughout a training program in which they participated. The purpose of this study is to carry out an exploratory investigation of the role of the group in training, as an instrument capable of accompanying and helping to evolve resistance to change. In order to understand whether and how the temporary micro-organization created during the training was able to help the subjects to deal with emerging defenses triggered by the change process, an analysis was done of the written content of the transcripts of seven training sessions. The analysis made it possible to highlight some types of resistance in the group like shifting the problems, individual understandings of the problems, the preponderance of complaints, and the messianic expectation of a management figure deciding how to intervene. The evolution of the training program, through specific activities and actions implemented by the instructor, allowed the group to make a progressive step toward freeing the project mindset and a more active and proactive attitude. The resistance was welcomed and supported, providing a way for emotions (frustration, anger, tiredness, etc.) to be expressed in words and to be released and then leave space for a new group project mindset.


One of the most crucial areas in which information and technologies need to be managed in our information-rich society is in schools. Whilst information overload is often associated with organisations or social communication, schools represent the intersection of several stakeholders for whom information and communication must be managed effectively. Using a case study of a school in a Gulf State, this chapter analyses how mismanagement and miscommunication relating to the use of ICT is hindering the educational progress of children by examining school/ teacher-pupil interaction; home-school communication, and; the application of ICT in the curriculum. It presents a professional and parental perspective on how the use and management of information technologies and effective communication are critical in maintaining acceptable levels of educational achievement. It draws on the experiences of both pupils and parents and uses a framework of participant observation to illustrate the problems of information overload as mismanagement and miscommunication. S. T. Ahmed UAE University, UAE Managing Information, Communication and Technologies in Schools


Aflatoxins (AFs) are biologically active toxic metabolites, which are produced by certain toxigenic Aspergillus sp. on agricultural crops. In this study, five edible mushroom-forming fungi were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD) for their ability to remove aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), one of the most potent naturally occurring carcinogens known. Bjerkandera adusta and Auricularia auricular-judae showed the most significant AFB1 removal activities (96.3% and 100%, respectively) among five strains after 14-day incubation. The cell lysate from B. adusta exhibited higher AFB1 removal activity (35%) than the cell-free supernatant (13%) after 1-day incubation and the highest removal activity (80%) after 5-day incubation at 40 °C. In addition, AFB1 analyses using whole cells, cell lysates, and cell debris from B. adusta showed that cell debris had the highest AFB1 removal activity at 5th day (95%). Moreover, exopolysaccharides from B. adusta showed an increasing trend (24–48%) similar to whole cells and cell lysates after 5- day incubation. Our results strongly suggest that AFB1 removal activity by whole cells was mainly due to AFB1 binding onto cell debris during early incubation and partly due to binding onto cell lysates along with exopolysaccharides after saturation of AFB1 binding process onto cell wall components.


This paper proposes an effective framework of human-humanoid robot physical interaction. Its key component is a new control technique for full-body balancing in the presence of external forces, which is presented and then validated empirically. We have adopted an integrated system approach to develop humanoid robots. Herein, we describe the importance of replicating human-like capabilities and responses during human-robot interaction in this context. Our balancing controller provides gravity compensation, making the robot passive and thereby facilitating safe physical interactions. The method operates by setting an appropriate ground reaction force and transforming these forces into full-body joint torques. It handles an arbitrary number of force interaction points on the robot. It does not require force measurement at interested contact points. It requires neither inverse kinematics nor inverse dynamics. It can adapt to uneven ground surfaces. It operates as a force control process, and can therefore, accommodate simultaneous control processes using force-, velocity-, or position-based control. Forces are distributed over supporting contact points in an optimal manner. Joint redundancy is resolved by damping injection in the context of passivity. We present various force interaction experiments using our full-sized bipedal humanoid platform, including compliant balance, even when affected by unknown external forces, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the method.


Background: MP-470 is an orally bioavailable multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor specifically designed to be a potent inhibitor of mutant c-Kit and PDGFRα. MP-470 is also active as an inhibitor of DNA repair protein Rad51 following chemotherapy. MP-470 has shown synergistic activity with DNA damaging chemotherapy in several xenograft models and in a phase Ib combination study. Presented herein are final results from a MP-470 single agent first-in-man study. Methods: Adult pts with unresectable or metastatic solid tumor cancer refractory to standard therapies or for which no standard therapy exists, adequate bone marrow, renal and hepatic function, and KPS 70 were eligible. The study followed an Accelerated Titration Design. Starting dose was 100 mg/day and dose escalation was based on the modified Fibonacci sequence. Objectives of the study include evaluating the safety profile of MP-470, estimating the therapeutic response rate, and characterizing its pharmacokinetic (PK) profile. Results: Twenty-two pts with a median age of 56 yrs (range, 18-86); 13 M/9 F were enrolled and received MP-470 100-1500 mg/day of the dry powder (DP) formulation for 1-6 (median, 2) 28-day cycles. Median number of prior chemotherapies was 3 (range, 0-11). A positive FDG-PET response was observed on Day 15 in a GIST pt (900 mg/day) who previously failed imatinib and sunitinib. Notably, the percent change in SUVmax from baseline in the pelvis, retrocrural and left lower lobe was reported at 32% (21.3 vs 14.5), 32% (10.5 vs 7.1), and 14% (7.8 vs 6.7), respectively. Related G1/G2 AEs included nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, diarrhea, dysgeusia, dyspnea, anorexia, hyperkalemia, fatigue, anxiety, heartburn, and alopecia. Related G3/4 AEs included hyponatremia and anxiety. The highest dose reached was 500 mg TID with no DLTs observed. PK evaluation using non-compartmental analysis revealed lower Cmax and AUC with increasing dose. As a result, a lipid suspension (LP) formulation was developed and compared to the existing DP formulation in a single dose randomized, two-way cross-over study in HV. The objective of the study was to determine the relative bioavailability and safety of these two formulations. The LP formulation demonstrated a 6- and 2-fold increase in Cmax and AUC, respectively as compared to the DP formulation (AACR-NCI-EORTC, B209, 2009). Both formulations were well tolerated. Conclusions: The MP-470 DP formulation was well tolerated at doses up to 500 mg TID. A transient response in a highly refractory GIST patient was observed and as such warrants further investigation as a single agent in refractory GIST tumors. A phase 1b study is ongoing in combination with chemotherapy as an inhibitor of DNA repair protein Rad51. An LP formulation in a tocopherol-based vehicle provided improved overall exposure and will be further evaluated in future MP-470 clinical trials. 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 2749.


Zealandia is a largely submerged, continental fragment in the southwest Pacific, generally considered to be derived from East Gondwana, but whose origins, age, structure, and relationships with other continental masses are poorly known. To explore the development of this microcontinent, a suite of mantle xenoliths was assembled from 12 localities throughout New Zealand, an emergent part of Zealandia. The 187 Re- 188 Os isotopic systematics of the xenoliths yield model ages (T RD2 ) between 0 and 2.3 Ga. Six samples from the newly defined Waitaha domain, South Island, have a narrow range of T RD2 ages from 1.6 to 1.9 Ga, in agreement with an aluminochron model age for this mantle domain of ca. 1.95 Ga, and with a three-point Re-Os isochron age of 2.26 ± 0.10 Ga. These ages are >500 m.y. older than T RD2 ages preserved in other regions of mantle lithosphere from the eastern margin of Gondwana (e.g., southeastern Australia and Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica) and >1 b.y. older than the oldest crustal rocks exposed in New Zealand. Thus, the lithospheric mantle of Zealandia has a complex age structure, including a region of Paleoproterozoic cratonic mantle with a minimum extent of ∼45,000 km 2 . This ancient mantle resided at the margins of several supercontinents during the past ∼2 b.y., attesting to the durability of subcontinental lithospheric mantle domains, even when decoupled from overlying contemporaneous crust and in an oceanic setting distanced from stable cratonic nuclei.


Background The effect of extreme physical exercise on joint effusions is unclear. Previous data are controversial concerning the impact of physical exercise on joint structures. Objectives An ultrasound (US) evaluation was performed to investigate if long distance running causes effusion of knees and ankles and enthesitis or tendovaginitis of the patellar tendon or of the tendons around the ankles. Methods 119 participants of the Munich Marathon, performing a full distance or half distance marathon in October 2012 were included in the study. Ultrasound examination of both knees and ankles was performed with a gray scale grading from 0-3 between 48 and 16 h before the event (baseline (BL)). In addition, the medial and lateral tendons of the ankles were examined for tendovaginitis and both patellar tendons were examined for enthesitis with power-doppler. The participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire about age, bodyweight, workout and arthralgia or joint swelling. Immediately after the longdistance run a second ultrasound examination of the same structures was performed (follow-up (FU)) and the participants were asked to fill out a second questionnaire about their complaints during the run. Results 105 runners completed both ultrasound examinations and questionnaires (61 marathon and 44 half marathon runners). 210 knees were examined, 98 joints (47%) showed an effusion at BL. At follow-up 98 joint effusions were found (p > 0.05). No changes were seen in 135 knees (64%) between BL and FU. In 75 knees (36%), an alteration was detected at FU with 39 knees showed a new or progressive (3 knees) joint effusion, and 36 knees with effusion at BL showed regressive (2 knees) or no effusion any more. Enthesitis of the patellar tendon was detected by power-doppler in one knee at BL and persisted at FU, while new enthesitides at this location were found in 20 examinations (p < 0.001). Of 210 examined ankles, 38 showed an effusion at BL. At FU, 32 ankles with effusion were counted (p > 0.05). 173 (82%) ankles showed a stable finding at BL and FU, while in 37 an alteration was detected. 15 joints showed a new or progressive (1 ankle) effusion, 22 ankles with effusion at BL showed regressive (3 ankles) or dissolved effusion at FU. Only one medial tendovaginitis was detected at FU. Conclusions Long distance running does not cause joint effusion in knees or ankles or tendovaginitis of the ankles´ tendons, but a significant increase of enthesitides of the patellar tendons. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Mesophotic ecosystems (MEs) are characterized by the presence of light-dependent organisms, found at depths ranging from ~30 to 150 m in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. These communities occasionally create massive reef structures with diverse but characteristic morphologies, which serve as the framework builders of those ecosystems. In many localities, MEs are physically linked with shallow and deep-sea habitats, and while taxa from both environments share this space, a unique and endemic biodiversity is also found. The main MEs studied to date are the mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) and the temperate mesophotic ecosystems (TMEs), which have received increased attention during the last decade. As shallow coral reef ecosystems are among the most threatened habitats on Earth, the potential of MEs to act as refugia and contribute to the resilience of the whole ecosystem has been a subject of scrutiny. New technologies and methods have become more available to study these deeper parts of the reef ecosystems, yielding many new discoveries. However, basic gaps in knowledge remain in our scientific understanding of the global diversity of MEs, limiting our ability to recognize biogeographic patterns and to make educated decisions for the management and conservation of these ecosystems.


An alkaliphilic amylase producing bacterium, Bacillus sp. strain L1711, was selected among 13 soda lakes isolates. When grown at pH 10.5 and 370 C, strain L1711 produced multiple forms of amylases in the culture broth. One of these, BAA, was purified from the culture supernatant by QAE column chromatography and preparative native gel electrophoresis. The molecular weight of BAA was determined to be 51 kDa by denaturing gel electrophoresis. The pH optima for activity below and above 40 C were 9.5-10.0 and 7.0-7.5 respectively. BAA was stable in the pH range 6-11 and was completely inactivated at 55?C. The thermostability was not increased in the presence of Ca(2+). The enzyme was strongly inhibited by Ca(2+), Zn(2+), Mg(2+), Mn(2+), Ba(2+) and Cu(2+), whereas the presence of Na(+), Co2+ and EDTA (10 mM) enhanced enzymatic activity. The K(sub m) and specific activity of BAA on soluble starch were 1.9 mg/ml and 18.5 U/mg respectively. The main end products of hydrolysis were maltotetraose, maltose and glucose .


The authors examine the recent literature on psychological factors and sudden cardiac death and explore the mediating psychophysiological processes by which these variables may be associated. Direct evidence that psychosocial stressors and their correlates may be causally linked with sudden cardiac death in humans is not conclusive, but there is abundant convergent evidence that several physiological precursors of sudden death may be promoted by psychological challenge, especially in persons with coronary heart disease. The authors call for increased attention to the acute effects of psychological events on cardiovascular health.


China's economy has become more globalized in the twenty-first century. English has become the primary means of communication and trade between people and other countries as the economy has rapidly developed. As a result, colleges and universities have increased the English proficiency and teaching quality criteria for college students. The success of college instructors' English instruction is judged using teaching quality as a primary metric. The procedure of assessing the quality of English instruction is complicated. Using appropriate assessment indexes and procedures, a scientific and sensible evaluation system for English education should be developed. This study uses the AHP and fuzzy decision tree algorithms to investigate the quality of teaching (preferably English) and gives teaching evaluation data to university administrators, which is useful to enhance the quality of teaching (preferably English) in colleges. First, a hierarchical analysis-based evaluation index system (EIS) for English teaching is established, followed by a detailed description of the decision tree algorithm's calculation process and the application of the fuzzy decision tree algorithm to the evaluation of teaching (preferably English) quality. Finally, the practical application effect of the algorithm is tested. The results show that the accuracy of this algorithm is higher than other algorithms, and it is helpful to improve the efficiency of evaluating English teaching quality.


Deep-learning-based systems are becoming pervasive in automotive software. So, in the automotive software engineering community, the awareness of the need to integrate deep-learning-based development with traditional development approaches is growing, at the technical, methodological, and cultural levels. In particular, data-intensive deep neural network (DNN) training, using ad hoc training data, is pivotal in the development of software for vehicle functions that rely on deep learning. Researchers have devised a development lifecycle for deep-learning-based development and are participating in an initiative, based on Automotive SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination), that's promoting the effective adoption of DNN in automotive software. This article is part of a theme issue on Automotive Software.


Background: Neutrophil-platelet complexes (NPCs) readily migrate into tissues and induce tissue damage via cytokine or other pathogenic factors release. These actions are involved in onset and progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Thus, simultaneous removal of cytokines and activated neutrophils that includes NPCs by blood purification may prevent development of ARDS and enhance drug effects. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of a newly developed adsorption column (NOA-001) that eliminates cytokines and activated neutrophils in a lung injury model.Results: Adsorption of cytokines such as IL-8, IL-6 and HMGB-1, and NPCs was first measured in vitro. Lung injury was induced by HCl and lipopolysaccharide intratracheal infusion in rabbits ventilated at a low tidal volume (7-8 mL/kg) and PEEP (2.5 cmH2O) for lung protection. Arterial blood gas, hematologic values, plasma IL-8, blood pressure and heart rate were measured, and lung damage was evaluated histopathologically in animals treated with 8-hour direct hemoperfusion with or without use of NOA-001. The in vitro adsorption rates for IL-8, IL-6, HMGB-1, activated granulocytes and NPCs were 99.4 ± 0.0164%, 63.6 ± 0.367%, 59.0 ± 1.58%, 7.05 ± 9.63% and 55.7 ± 12.7%, respectively. Absorption of NPCs onto fibers was confirmed microscopically. These adsorption effects were associated with several improvements in the rabbit model. In respiratory function, the PaO2/FIO2 ratios at 8 h were 314 ± 55.3 mmHg in the NOA-001 group and 134 ± 40.8 mmHg in the sham group. The oxygenation index and PaCO2 also differed significantly between the two groups (p<0.05). Acidosis was observed in the sham group, whereas blood pH was maintained within the normal range in the NOA-001 group (p<0.05). In lung histopathology, fewer hyaline membrane and inflammatory cells were observed in the NOA-001 group.Conclusion: A column for simultaneous removal of cytokines and NPCs showed efficacy for improvement of pulmonary function in an animal model. This column may be effective in support of treatment of ARDS.


Background: In this study, we aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of removing a single-stage, retrograde, endoscopic common bile duct stone in patients with mild and moderate acute cholangitis associated with choledocholithiasis.Methods: We enrolled 196 endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)-naïve patients diagnosed with acute cholangitis and choledocholithiasis between September 2018 and February 2020 at a single hospital. For eligible patients, single-stage treatment involved stone removal at initial ERCP. Early ERCP was defined as ERCP performed ≤ 72 hours following diagnosis in the emergency room.Results: The final analysis included 138 patients. The success rate of complete stone extraction was similar in patients with mild and moderate cholangitis (88.5% vs. 91.7%; p = 0. 536). Complication rates were also comparable between the two groups. In the moderate cholangitis group, the length of hospitalization declined significantly among patients who underwent early single-stage ERCP (10.6 ± 6.1 vs. 18.7 ± 12.5 days; p = 0.001) compared with patients treated with delayed ERCP. In the multivariate analysis, early ERCP indicated shorter hospitalization times (≤ 10 days) (odds ratio (OR), 7.689; p = 0.030), while endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage, for acute cholangitis only, indicated longer hospitalization times (OR, 0.358; p = 0.030). A stone size larger than 1.5 cm was an independent risk factor for stone extraction failure (OR, 24.507; p = 0.009).Conclusions: Single-stage, retrograde, endoscopic common bile duct stone removal may be safe and effective for patients with mild and moderate cholangitis. The benefit of early single-stage ERCP (≤ 72 hours) was reflected mainly by reduced hospitalization time and costs.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03754491.


Laparoscopy, a subfield of endoscopy [3], is a minimally invasive surgical procedure used to examine and operate on the internal organs of the abdomen through a small incision in the abdominal wall. The term "laparoscopy" is derived from two Greek words: laparo, meaning the soft space between hips and ribs, and skopie, meaning to examine. Today laparoscopy has broad clinical applications including for diagnosis, fertility procedures, visual representation, and surgery.


Background Longitudinal association studies of atrial fibrillation (AF) and cognitive functions have shown an unclear role of AF-type and often differ in methodological aspects. We therefore aim to investigate longitudinal changes in cognitive functions in association with AF-type (non-paroxysmal vs. paroxysmal) and comorbidities in the Swiss-AF cohort. Methods Seven cognitive measures were administered up to five times between 2014 and 2022. Age-education standardized scores were calculated and association between longitudinal change in scores and baseline AF-type investigated using linear mixed-effects models. Associations between AF-type and time to cognitive drop, an observed score of at least one standard deviation below individual's age-education standardized cognitive scores at baseline, were studied using Cox proportional hazard models of each cognitive test, censoring patients at their last measurement. Models were adjusted for baseline covariates. Results 2,415 AF patients (mean age 73.2 years; 1,080 paroxysmal, 1,335 non-paroxysmal AF) participated in this Swiss multicenter prospective cohort study. Mean cognitive scores increased longitudinally (median follow-up 3.97 years). Non-paroxysmal AF patients showed smaller longitudinal increases in Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Cognitive Construct Score (CoCo)and Trail Making Test part B (TMT-B) scores vs. paroxysmal AF patients. Diabetes, history of stroke/TIA and depression were associated with worse performance on all cognitive tests. No differences in time to cognitive drop were observed between AF-types in any cognitive test. Conclusion This study indicated preserved cognitive functioning in AF patients, best explained by practice effects. Smaller practice effects were found in non-paroxysmal AF patients in the DSST, TMT-B and the CoCo and could indicate a marker of subtle cognitive decline. As diabetes, history of stroke/TIA and depression—but not AF-type—were associated with cognitive drop, more attention should be given to risk factors and underlying mechanisms of AF.


Abstract Purpose To evaluate the analgesic effect of esmolol in patients submitted to laparoscopic gastroplasty. Methods Forty patients aged between 18 and 50 years with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status scores of II and III who underwent gastric bypass were allocated to two groups. Group 1 patients received a 0.5-mg/kg bolus of esmolol in 30 mL of saline before induction of anesthesia, followed by an infusion at 15 µg/kg/min until the end of surgery. Group 2 patients received 30 mL of saline as a bolus and then an infusion of saline. Anesthesia included fentanyl (3 µg/kg), propofol (2-4 mg/kg), rocuronium (0.6 mg/kg), and 2% sevoflurane, with remifentanil if necessary. The following parameters were evaluated: pain intensity over 24h, remifentanil consumption, the first analgesic request, morphine consumption, and side effects. Results Pain intensity was lower in the esmolol group except at T0 (after extubation) and 12h postoperatively. Remifentanil supplementation, recovery time, and postoperative morphine supplementation were lower in the esmolol group. No differences in the time to the first analgesic request or side effects were found between the groups. Conclusion Intraoperative esmolol promotes reductions in pain intensity and the need for analgesic supplementation without adverse effects, thus representing an effective drug for multimodal analgesia in gastroplasty.


Transparent plastic films are widely used in agriculture as greenhouses covering and in the food industry as packaging films. The films are usually prepared by hydrophobic low polarity thermoplastics such as polyethylene (PE). In a greenhouse, the temperature and humidity are usually higher than the outside temperature and fog will appear on the inner surface of the PE film. Anti-fogging (AF) additives are tensoactive materials, mainly nonionic surfactants, equalizing the PE and water surface tensions, thus creating a thin, continuous film of water rather than discrete droplets. In the present work, a new method of controlled migration of AF is described, by grafting AF molecules to the surface of submicron inorganic particles. Glycerides and fatty acids are used as AF. During the grafting reaction two fractions are formed: attached AF fraction to the inorganic particles' surface, a fraction which cannot be detached by extraction, and an unreacted, thus unattached AF fraction. Solvent extraction, FTIR and TGA measurements have confirmed the existence of the grafted AF molecules to the inorganic particle's surfaces. Aging tests, developed in the present work, have shown a significant decrease of the AF migration rate, thus confirming an extended duration of the anti-fog's activity. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2023–2028, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers


A 48-year-old man was admitted to our hospital due to multiple cranial neuropathy such as vertigo, hearing loss of the left ear, visual loss of the left eye, left ptosis and total ophthalmoplegia of the left eye. Brain MRI revealed no abnormalities. After 10 days, he suddenly showed hemophagocytic syndrome with high fever, liver dysfunction, jaundice and pancytopenia. In spite of the treatment, he died of multiple organ failure after 26 days. At autopsy, malignant lymphoma cells of T cell origin directly invaded into the liver, spleen, intraperitoneal lymph nodes and other organs. Reports that direct invasion of lymphoma cells could be detected at the cranial nerves in the cavernous sinus are very rare.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the clinical and pathological characteristics of true histiocytic lymphoma.

METHODS
The clinical and pathological data of 10 true histiocytic lymphoma patients admitted between 1986 and 1996 to our hospital was retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS
True histiocytic lymphoma accounted for 0.6% of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma(NHL) admitted in this period to our hospital. Enzymes associated with true histiocytic lymphoma were detected in all the 10 cases. The tumor cells were excluded from T/B lymphoid origin in 6 cases by immunohistochemistry. Eight cases received chemotherapy + irradiation +/- excision of primary lesion, 1 simply received irradiation and 1 received bone marrow transplantation. The response rate was 100%, with a 1, 3 and 5 year survival rate of 100%, 90% and 70%, respectively. The expected 10 year disease free survival rate is 40%.

CONCLUSION
True histiocytic lymphoma is a rare subset of NHL. Those originated from lymph node are sensitive to chemotherapy and irradiation with a favorable prognosis.


The power efficiency of hardware circuits is of paramount importance for constructing embedded electronic devices, as it is one of the major design constraints in today's embedded systems, limiting performance, battery life, etc. This thesis targets the power efficiency in hardware circuits with symbolic discrete control. In the research proposed in this thesis, we consider hardware circuits, described using the popular Hardware-DescriptionLanguage (HDL), Verilog, at the Register-transfer Level (RTL) abstraction, as hierarchical compositions of sub-circuits. We achieve power-efficiency by switching-off the clock of each sub-circuit according to some clock-gating logic, where the technique applied is known as RTL clock-gating, which is one of the best low-power technique applied on synchronous hardware circuits. We advance the following approaches in order to produce a clock-gating logic: to switchoff the clock signal of a sub-circuit in the idle status, which is a set of values of the circuit signals when the values of the memory components do not change; to apply power-aware scheduling policies for data-flow hardware circuits implemented as Kahn-Process-Networks (KPNs), using the clock-gating logic as used to selectively filter the clocks of the sub-circuits involved; and to employ an energy-efficient configuration manager for choosing the optimal configuration, by means of the clock-gating logic, among the alternatives on data-flow hardware circuits implemented as KPN, with parallel synchronous processes. We devise a tool-supported framework for achieving power-efficiency of hardware circuits for each approach. Our approaches rely on formal control techniques, where the goal is to compute a strategy that can be used to drive a given model so that it satisfies a set of control objectives. More specifically, we give an algorithm that derives abstract behavioral models directly in a symbolic form from original designs, and for formulating suitable constraints and objectives. We encode the computation of the latter as several small symbolic Discrete-ControllerSynthesis (DCS) problems, and use the resulting controllers to derive power-efficient versions from original circuit designs. Finally, we show how a resulting strategy can be translated into a piece of synchronous circuit that, when paired with the original design, ensures the aforementioned objectives. We detail and illustrate our approaches using various hardware designs and objectives, and validate them experimentally by deriving a low-power version of the original hardware designs.


This paper investigates a discrepancy concerning resilience. International institutions such as ISDR try to promote resilience as a notion useful for preventing disasters. And some searchers, mainly coming from ecology, such as Resilience Alliance group, found the notion relevant enough to promote it as a brand for their studies on disaster prevention. Yet, the second part of the paper will verify how other searchers are still not convinced by the relevance of the notion. Territorial managers are reluctant as well, in line with the poor number of policies trying to bring resilience to reality, be it in Columbia or in France. How can we make sense of this discrepancy? The paper will stress on various political, institutional and cultural conditionings hidden behind the notion. It will also enlighten the contradictions embedded within the notion, because resilience, as disaster, depends on the scales and the actors the analysis relies on first. Which resilience to whom and at what scale? These are critical questions that should be addressed in order to give sense to these contradictions. Resilience has no absolute meaning. However, it helps identifying trends towards future disasters. This is one of the main reasons why it may be found useful.


Background: Incentives play a role in introducing health-related benefits, but no interventions using mixed incentives, i.e. a combination of individual and group incentives, have been tested in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We evaluated the feasibility of implementing individualand mixed-incentives, with and without a supportive partner, on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) control and weight loss among patients with T2DM. Methods: This is a feasibility, sex-stratified, single-blinded, randomized controlled study in individuals with T2DM. All participants received diabetes education and tailored goal setting for weight and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). Participants were randomly assigned into three arms: individual incentives (Arm 1), mixed incentivesaltruism (Arm 2), and mixed incentives-cooperation (Arm 3). Participants were accompanied by a diabetes educator every other week to monitor targets, and the intervention period lasted 3 months. The primary outcome was the change in HbA1c at 3 months from baseline. Weight and change body mass index (BMI) were considered as secondary outcomes. Results: Out of 783 patients screened, a total of 54 participants, 18 per study arm, were enrolled and 44 (82%) completed the 3-month follow-up. Mean baseline HbA1c values were 8.5%, 7.9% and 8.2% in Arm 1, Arm 2, and Arm 3, respectively. At 3 months, participants in all three study arms showed reductions in HbA1c ranging from -0.9% in Arm 2 to -1.4% in Arm 1. Weight and BMI also showed reductions. Open Peer Review


Background: Anopheles stephensi Listen (1901) is the major malaria vector in the Asia, and recently in some regions of Africa. This species includes three biological forms, namely "type", "intermediate" and "mysorensis" with varying degree of vector competence for malaria parasites. To recognize these siblings of An. stephensi lab strain, we used the morphological features of eggs and several genetic markers i.e. Obp1 (odorant binding protein), mitochondrial oxidases subunit 1 and 2 (COI and COII), nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 locus (ITS2). Methods: Eggs were collected from individual mosquito (n = 50) and observed for the number of ridges under stereomicroscope. DNA was extracted from female mosquitoes. After amplifying fragments by using different genetic markers (Obp1, COI, COII and ITS2), the PCR products were purified and sequenced using Sanger Sequence Technology. Phylogenetic analysis was performed after aligning query sequences against the submitted sequences in GenBank using bioinformatics software. Results: The range of ridges number on each egg float was 12-13 that corresponds to the mysorensis form. Sequence analysis for COI, COII and ITS2 demonstrated 100%, 99.46% and 99.29% similarity of our species with other Chinese, Indian and Iranian strains of An. stephensi. All the sequences of Obp1 intron I region matched 100% with the previously submitted sequences for An. stephensi sibling C (mysorensis form) from Iran and Afghanistan.Conclusion: The current study elaborately describes the morphological and molecular details (sequence data) of the 'mysorensis' form of An. stephensi that could be helpful in elucidating its classification and also in its differentiation from other biotypes of the same and other similar anophelines species. Our findings confirmed OBP1 as the only genetic marker that successfully recognized our lab strain (mysorensis form/ sibling C). Thus using OBP1 (alone) may be very phenomenal in similar studies in the future. Future studies should involve the development of appropriate and reliable molecular keys (for sibling species identification) complementary to morphological keys.


From the Netherlands to the Ottoman Empire, to Japan and India, this groundbreaking volume confronts the complex and diverse problem of the formation of fiscal states in Eurasia between 1500 and 1914. This series of country case studies from leading economic historians reveals that distinctive features of the fiscal state appeared across the region at different moments in time as a result of multiple independent but often interacting stimuli such as internal competition over resources, European expansion, international trade, globalisation and war. The essays offer a comparative framework for re-examining the causes of economic development across this period and show, for instance, the central role that the more effective fiscal systems of Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries played in the divergence of east and west as well as the very different paths to modernisation taken across the world.


A striking finding of the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) in recent years has concerned the emergence in Sydney of a number of different forms of potent methamphetamine. This paper demonstrates the operation of the IDRS in detecting and documenting an increase in both the availability and use of these forms of methamphetamine in Sydney, and Australia more widely, since 1998. Data from different components of the IDRS are utilized to propose that there are currently at least three forms of methamphetamine available in Sydney that are considered by the market to be distinct commodities: methamphetamine powder ('speed'), base methamphetamine ('base') and crystalline methamphetamine ('ice'/'shabu'/'crystal meth'). Base and ice are more potent forms of methamphetamine than speed, and international experience, along with preliminary data obtained from the IDRS, suggest that their use is associated with harms in a number of domains.


In the race to Net Zero by 2050, organisations including universities are under pressure from governments and stakeholders to reduce carbon emissions. The University sector in the UK has significant social, environmental, and economic impacts alongside a leadership role in the society and is not exempt from challenging carbon reduction aspirations. Carbon management is gaining attention in academia, however, research in this area from an organisational perspective is in early phase. This paper explores barriers to carbon management in UK universities and highlights key challenges to be addressed. This research adopted a mixed-methods approach including a content analysis of eighteen universities' carbon management plans (CMPs) and seventeen semi-structured interviews with middle and senior managers in UK universities and other stakeholder organisations. The study found that UK universities are facing major barriers, namely, lack of funding, lack of stakeholder engagement - staff and student engagement, lack of human resources, lack of senior management leadership, complex buildings stock, estate development & business growth, potential conflicts & core business priorities and energy & carbon intensive research. The acknowledgement of these barriers could help senior and middle managers responsible for implementing carbon management strategies to achieve net zero by 2050 at the very latest.


In order to develop the ultra high strength concrete over 400Mpa at 28 day, Low-heat portland cement, ferro-silicon, silica-fume and steel fiber were mixed and tested under the special autoclave curing conditions. Considering the influence of Ultra high strength concrete. normal concrete is used as a comparison with low water-cement ratio possible Low-heat portland cement. Additionally, as a substitution of aggregates, we analyzed the compressive strength of Ferro Silicon by making the states of mixed and curing conditions differently. In addition, SEM films testified the development of C-S-H hydrates of Type III & Type IV, and tobermolite, zonolite due to the high temperature, high pressure of autoclave curing. Fineness of aggregate, filler and reactive materials in concrete caused 420Mpa compressive strength at 28day successfully.


The incidence of CHD increases by 137% in men and 120% in women. Pathophysiology of CHD is preceded by the presence of cholesterol which forms plaque / atheroma in the intima of coronary arrests that cause atherosclerosis. Statins are the first line drugs used in the treatment of hyperlipidemia and primary prevention of atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of statins by adjusting the dose of statins based on FRS, ACC / AHA Blood Cholesterol Guidelines and Ministry of Health RI No. HK 02.02 / MENKES / 137/2016. This research was conducted with descriptive non analytic design that was explorative with retrospective qualitative and quantitative data collection. The sample population is all CHD patients. Data showed 292 patients included in the inclusion criteria. From the results of the study, most male patients were 192 patients with a percentage of 65.75%. The largest patient for Old Myocardial Infarction is 174 patients with a percentage of 50.59%. Based on the suitability of the FRS and the Ministry of Health in accordance with the drug atorvastatin 105 patients with a percentage of 58.99% and simvastatin 114 patients with a percentage of 100%. Based on the ACC / AHA Blood Cholesterol Guideline 2013 which is suitable for the drug atorvastatin of 178 patients with a percentage of 100% and simvastatin drug for 114 patients with a percentage of 100%.
Keywords: CHD, simvastatin, atorvastatin


Abstract Surveillance is a key aspect of contemporary industrialized Western societies. The now extensive literature on the dynamics of surveillance has, however, curiously overlooked how nonhuman phenomena have been incorporated into quite different surveillance-related agendas. This paper provides a general overview of some of the ways that such surveillance operates, pointing to some of the social and political consequences that flow from recognizing the broad dynamics of surveillance and/of nature.


The guide is designed for students in RELI 1301 and 1301H and for persons with general interest in the major faith traditions of the world. Describes resources related to major world religions in a variety of media.


A non-contact surface topography measurement system based on white light interferometry was used to quantify the surface morphology of the UHMWPE, PTFE, HDPE, and polyacetal liners before and after wear testing. We investigated the hypothesis that the wear rate of four polymeric materials in the hip simulator was related to quantitative metrics of the surface morphology (i.e., surface roughness). Nine common roughness parameters (PV, Ra, Rrms, Rsk, Rku, Rtm, Rz, R3z, and H) were evaluated in 28 acetabular liners. The surface morphology within a given material was reproducible from insert to insert. Statistical relationships were observed between the surface roughness of the acetabular liners and the volumetric wear rate (p < 1 × 10−6). However, the power law relationships accounted for less than 50% of the variability in the data, based on r2.


Interleaver plays a critical role in turbo codes on weight distribution, distance characteristic and error floor performance, different decoding algorithms can also influence error floor and bit error rate (BER) performance of turbo system. In this paper, we give a comparative study on error floor performance of turbo codes with different interleavers as well as decoding algorithms. The results show that appropriate choosing of interleavers and decoding methods could lower the error floor of turbo codes. Moreover, the results provided here can be used as a reference for adopting turbo codes in different application scenarios with different error floor requirements.


ABSTRACT Recent characterization of the bacterial community structure in beach sands has revealed patterns of biogeography similar to those observed in aquatic environments. Studies to date, however, have mainly focused on subtidal sediments from marine beaches. Here, we investigate the bacterial diversity, using Illumina-based sequencing of the V5-V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene, at 11 beaches representing those next to the Great Lakes, Florida, and the Pacific Ocean. The alpha diversity differed significantly among regions (P < 0.0001), while the within-region diversity was more similar. The beta diversity also differed by region (P < 0.001), where freshwater sands had significantly higher abundances of taxa within the Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia than marine environments. In contrast, marine sands harbored greater abundances of Gammaproteobacteria and Planctomycetes, and those from Florida had more Deltaproteobacteria and Firmicutes. Marine beaches had significantly different phylogenetic community structures (P ≤ 0.018), but freshwater and Florida beaches showed fewer within-region phylogenetic differences. Furthermore, regionally distinct patterns in taxonomic variation were observed in backshore sands, which had communities distinct from those in nearshore sands (P < 0.001). Sample depth minimally influenced the community composition. The results of this study reveal distinct bacterial community structures in sand on a broad geographic scale but moderate regional similarity and suggest that local variation is primarily related to the distance from the shoreline. This study offers a novel comparison of the bacterial communities in freshwater and marine beach sands and provides an important basis for future comparisons and analyses to elucidate factors affecting microbial ecology in this underexplored environment. IMPORTANCE This study presents a large-scale geographic characterization of the bacterial communities present in beach sands. While previous studies have evaluated how environmental factors influence bacterial community composition, few have evaluated bacterial communities in freshwater sands. Furthermore, the use of a consistent methodology to characterize bacterial communities here allowed a novel comparison of communities across geographic regions. We reveal that while the community composition in sands at individual beaches is distinct, beach sands within the same region harbor similar assemblages of bacteria and these assemblages differ greatly between regions. In addition, moisture, associated with distance from the shoreline, strongly influences the bacteria present in sands and more strongly influences the bacteria present than sample depth does. Thus, the data presented here offer an important basis for a broader characterization of the ecology of bacteria in sands, which may also be relevant to public health and resource management initiatives.


This paper presents DDDoolz, a desktop-VR three-dimensional voxel sketchtool. DDDoolz is developed in the Design Systems Group to explore the use of Virtual Reality technology in the early design stage. The aim is to offer a sketch-like environment in VR with an unobtrusive interface. The paper presents DDDoolz, how it is used in education and with partners in architectural practice, and some future developments.


We consider the problem of testing isomorphism of groups of order n given by Cayley tables. The trivial nlogn bound on the time complexity for the general case has not been improved over the past four decades. Recently, Babai et al. (following Babai et al. in SODA 2011) presented a polynomial-time algorithm for groups without abelian normal subgroups, which suggests solvable groups as the hard case for group isomorphism problem. Extending recent work by Le Gall (STACS 2009) and Qiao et al. (STACS 2011), in this paper we design a polynomial-time algorithm to test isomorphism for the largest class of solvable groups yet, namely groups with abelian Sylow towers, defined as follows. A group G is said to possess a Sylow tower, if there exists a normal series where each quotient is isomorphic to a Sylow subgroup of G. A group has an abelian Sylow tower if it has a Sylow tower and all its Sylow subgroups are abelian. In fact, we are able to compute the coset of isomorphisms of groups formed as coprime extensions of an abelian group, by a group whose automorphism group is known. The mathematical tools required include representation theory, Wedderburn's theorem on semisimple algebras, and M. E. Harris's 1980 work on p′-automorphisms of abelian p-groups. We use tools from the theory of permutation group algorithms, and develop an algorithm for a parameterized version of the graph-isomorphism-hard setwise stabilizer problem, which may be of independent interest. 1998 ACM Subject Classification I.1.2 Algorithms


"Concussion" is all over the news, and—yes—it has implications for combating chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Many parents are pushing their children away from collision sports such as football, hockey, and lacrosse because they fear the risk of chronic neurodegenerative problems later in life. However, there is good logic in emphasizing the importance of physical activities such as collision type sports, during the developmental years. Physical educators, researchers, policy makers, and coaches must work together to encourage safe play and rules changes that can keep youth and adolescents active in sports that build character, discipline, and teach teamwork. Understanding the complexity of the highly adaptable adolescent brain both prior to and following sport-related concussion is critically important in accomplishing this goal.


This article draws attention to the changing concepts of risk and security after 9/11 and the consequences that these changes have for political constructions of the state/market relation. By focusing on how the concept of partnership designates a certain understanding of risk and security, the article questions the construction of the role of private companies in US security policy after 9/11, as well as the construction of a politics of security in the private market of insurance. The article argues that, in political texts, the private company is constructed as an agent in the provision of national security; the private company is constituted as a political actor with political responsibilities that exceed respect for the law. Additionally, the article demonstrates the ways insurance businesses strive to uphold a classical understanding of the private insurance market and its responsibility. Keywords: Counterterrorism, partnerships, risk, security, private business, TRIA


Reactive power plays an important role in maintaining voltage stability, supporting real power transmission and overall system reliability. Thus, developing an accurate and feasible method for reactive power pricing is very significant in a deregulated electricity market. In this paper, the reactive power production cost of generator is represented as a nonlinear model that considers the corresponding economic loss if active power is not generated; that cost is the opportunity cost and the cost of reactive power production of the static capacitors are included in the objective function of total system operation cost. The methodology has been implemented using a modified optimal power flow is presented for calculation of the pricing of active and reactive power at each bus in competitive electricity markets. IEEE-14 bus system has been used for the computer study and the case studies done, shows the effects of various factors on the reactive power marginal price. Results demonstrate that the active and reactive power marginal prices give economical signals that could impel even more the participation of agents of competitive reactive power markets.


Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) buffer layers have been sputter deposited onto various substrates including silicon and nickel alloy using ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD). This technique resulted in the formation of buffer layers which exhibit strong (100) phase growth as well as in-plane orientation as evidenced by X-ray diffraction measurements. Subsequent YBCO depositions on these films exhibit Tc values of 86 K and strong biaxial texture with the c axis normal to the surface. With further refinement, this technique may be used to fabricate the multilayer substrate structure needed for superconducting multichip modules.


In this paper, we propose an unsupervised variational two-phase image segmentation model based on Fuzzy Region Competition. This model uses probability density functions to design image regions and to set a homogeneity criterion for the competition between regions. The key idea of the proposed model is to optimize the probability distribution parameters while the segmentation procedure takes place. The experiments in natural and noisy images showed that the proposed model is robust in relation to noise and presents better segmentation results using texturized images than the unsupervised piecewise constant case of Fuzzy Region Competition method.


Severe acute respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation is one of the most frequent reasons for admi ssion to the intensive care unit. Among the most frequent causes for admission are exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute respiratory failure with acute lung injury (ALI) or with criteria of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). These patients have a high risk of malnutrition due to the underlying disease, their altered catabolism and the use of mechanical ventilation. Consequently, nutritional evaluation and the use of specialized nutritional support are required. This support should alleviate the catabolic effects of the disease, avoid calorie overload and, in selected patients, to use omega-3 fatty acid and antioxidant-enriched diets, which could improve outcome.


The use of range images has become prominent in the field of computer vision. Due to the irregular nature of range image data that occurs with a number of sensors, edge detection techniques for range images are often based on scan line data approximations and hence do not employ exact data locations. We present a finite element based approach to the development of gradient operators that can be applied to both regularly and irregularly distributed range images. We have created synthetic irregularly distributed range images for each edge type, and the gradient operators developed are evaluated with respect to their performance in edge detection across varying levels of data irregularity.


Administration of insulin to severely diabetic rats leads to marked proliferation of liver cells. The activity of DNA polymerase and the incorporation of thymidine-3H into hepatic DNA in vivo are increased within 24 hr after insulin injections are started and reach peak levels between 48 and 72 hr. Total liver DNA increases approximately 70% during the period from 36 to 72 hr of insulin treatment. The increase in DNA is accompanied by cell division rather than being due to an increase in ploidy, and is comparable in magnitude to the proliferation of liver cells which follows surgical removal of between 43 and 68% of the liver. Hypophysectomy reduces but does not prevent cell proliferation in response to insulin. The relationship of this response to the regulation of hepatic biosynthetic activities by insulin is discussed.


An integrated quasioptical receiver consisting of a planar double-dipole antenna, SIS mixer and superconducting Flux-Flow Oscillator (FFO) with matching circuits has been designed, fabricated and tested in the frequency range 420-530 GHz. The integrated receiver is very suitable for space applications because of its low size, mass and power consumption. All components of the receiver are integrated on a 4 mm/spl times/4 mm/spl times/0.2 mm crystalline quartz substrate using a single Nb-AlO/sub x/-Nb trilayer. The successful operation of the integrated receiver comprising a number of new crucial elements has been demonstrated. A DSB noise temperature as low as 140 K at 500 GHz and a tuning range of more than 100 GHz have been obtained. A comparison of the FFO with conventional external LO has been performed.


CMS will be used to study the reaction products from nuclear collisions of lead with lead at energies of 1100 TeV and also collisions between lighter elements. CMS is a huge detector array at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), now under construction at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The emphasis in this work will be on the far-forward angles (close to the beam line) which has the highest density of products and for which the Univ. of Iowa group has made major contributions to the design and construction of the detectors (CMS-HF, CMS-ZDC). With a detailed knowledge of all of the forward detectors, this group is uniquely prepared to distinguish real physics from effects caused by peculiarities of the detectors. The work included finishing the detectors and getting them into operation and preparing to study data after the LHC restarts in 2010. The Iowa group also continued to develop improved detectors for use with upgrades to CMS and for other applications. The available energy is almost 30 times that from gold + gold at the present RHIC facility. The new energy regime will open a new window on hot and dense matter physics. The higher energy lengthens the lifetime of amore » quark gluon plasma and provides additional probes for studying this new form of matter. For example, there is abundant production of jets and heavy quarks with a large cross section for J/{Psi} and {Upsilon} production. The three states of the {Upsilon} are clearly resolved by CMS. The different 'melting' for members of the {Upsilon} family provides information about the nuclear medium. The much wider range of Q{sup 2} and x allow a major extension of the measurements at RHIC. This large increase in energy provides more than just an extension of RHIC results to higher energy. It is expected to reveal a wealth of new phenomena. This will be the first time that sufficient energy is available to produce in the laboratory the strange and poorly understood objects found in high-energy cosmic ray events. The largest system available in cosmic rays is iron on oxygen. Lead on lead is totally new. It is only possible to record a small fraction of the output of CMS. With its intimate knowledge of the forward detectors, the Iowa group needs to have a part in decisions about the selection of events to be saved. Otherwise, events that should have the highest priority may be discarded at the trigger level and lost forever.« less


Khuri (A new approach to Bratu's problem, Applied Mathematics and Computation, 147(2004), 131-136) applied Adomian decomposition method to study the problem, the procedure is tedious though the expression is a lovely closed-form, furthermore the procedure can only locate one branch of the solutions. The problem, however, can be solved with easy to find the two branch solutions and identify the bifurcation point by the variational method.


Introduction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is currently regarded as a general disease with pulmonary starting point. Extra-thoracic manifestations are associated with the disease such as cachexia, skeletal muscle dysfonctionnment, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and anemia. Very few studies have focused on evaluating the frequency of peripheral neuropathy in patients with COPD.

Methods

Eighty subjects were included in the study. The COPD group comprised 40 male smokers with stable disease and 40 age-matched healthy, non smokers, male volunteers served as the control group. All subjects underwent pulmonary function testing and electroneuromyography. Individual patients in the COPD group having abnormal amplitude and/or conduction velocity in any one or more nerves beyond the range of mean ± 2 standard deviations were selected as having the significant peripheral neuropathy.

Results: Seven out of 40 COPD patients had peripheral nerve impairment on electrophysiological evaluation. In these patients, only one patient reported sensory symptoms of tingling kind to members. Peripheral neuropathy was often sensitive and predominated in the lower members. Its occurrence is correlated with the degree of smoking intoxication, the length of COPD and the depth of hypoxemia.

Conclusion

Peripheral neuropathy is frequent in COPD patients and it is often subclinical.


........... ..............................................................................................................vii Chapter 1 The Introduction .................................................................................................1 Definition of Terms.......................................................................................................14 Chapter 2 The Connection .................................................................................................16 Research Related to Student Access to Print ................................................................23 Research Related to Adult Child Shared Storybook Reading ......................................27 Research Related to Literacy Enriched Play Areas ......................................................30 Implications for Teaching Practices and Emergent Literacy........................................31 Peer Coaching ..............................................................................................................32 Peer Coaching as a Viable Professional Development Process....................................32 Peer Coaching as Professional Development ...............................................................35 Functions and Principles of the Peer Coaching Process ...............................................36 Types of Peer Coaching ................................................................................................38 Research Related to Peer Coaching ..............................................................................39 Implications of Peer Coaching and Early Childhood Education ..................................43 Further Discussion ........................................................................................................44 Chapter 3 The Interpretation..............................................................................................47 Qualitative Research .....................................................................................................51 Autoethnography...........................................................................................................52 Autoethnographic Coding and Themes ........................................................................55 Purpose.......................................................................................................................57 Participants..................................................................................................................57


SUMMARY The problem of the constrained motion of robot end-effector is discussed. The redundant robot is considered, redundancy being added in order to improve robot working characteristics. In the phase of free motion towards the constraint the errors of basic non-redundant configuration are corrected by means of redundancy. During the constrained motion redundancy plays the role either of active or passive compliance. Between these two phases, the collision with the constraint occurs, and the impact can be absorbed by using redundancy.


The paper proposes a new wavelet-based Bayesian approach to image deconvolution, under the space-invariant blur and additive white Gaussian noise assumptions. Image deconvolution exploits the well known sparsity of the wavelet coefficients, described by heavy-tailed priors. The present approach admits any prior given by a linear (finite of infinite) combination of Gaussian densities. To compute the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimate, we propose a generalized expectation maximization (GEM) algorithm where the missing variables are the Gaussian modes. The maximization step of the EM algorithm is approximated by a stationary second order iterative method. The result is a GEM algorithm of O(N log N) computational complexity. In comparison with state-of-the-art methods, the proposed algorithm either outperforms or equals them, with low computational complexity.


Background Approximately 4% of European patients are diagnosed with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC), a clinical condition commonly associated with poorer prognosis. Systemic therapy is the recommended initial treatment and when inoperability criteria prevails, radiotherapy (RT) should be used for tumour downstaging. This study intends to evaluate the impact of neoadjuvant radiotherapy (NART) in the treatment of inoperable LABC. Methods A retrospective study of female patients, submitted to the NART between January 2014 and December 2018 at our institution. The evaluation of pathological response (pR) was made based on Pinder criteria. Primary endpoint: pR. Secondary endpoints: overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). OS and PFS were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Differences between groups were compared using Student's t-test, ANOVA (Analysis of variance) and χ2 test. The statistical analyses were performed using Stata (V.13). Results A total of 76 patients were included, 18% with breast complete response. The 5 years OS was 54% and PFS was 61%. Subgroup analysis showed that pR >90% is correlated with a better OS (p=0.004). Basal-like intrinsic subtype is correlated with worse OS and PFS (p<0.05). No relation was found between response and age, intrinsic subtype, treatment performed and clinical T stage. Conclusion Our study confirms that NART is an effective downsizing treatment in inoperable LABC, allowing for a surgical resection regardless of the systemic treatment performed. Response to NART is independent of the intrinsic subtype and pR >90% is correlated with a better OS. Prospective studies to explore predictive response biomarkers are necessary in order to improve patient selection and optimisation of the treatment.


A procedure is presented for the synthesis of a network to yield a prescribed magnitude versus frequency characteristic. The given characteristic is replaced by a sequence of straight line segments of arbitrary slope. Each line segment is associated with a zero-pole pair properly placed on the real p axis, where p is the complex frequency variable. In this manner a real, rational network function is obtained whose magnitude variation approximates the given one. Methods for predicting the realizability of the approximating function are discussed in the application to the design of two terminal and two-terminal pair networks. To illustrate the methods outlined in the paper, a complete procedure is given for the design of attenuation equalizers using constant-resistance ladder sections.


Abstract In Part I of this study it was shown that air–sea coupling had a positive impact on some aspects of the simulation of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) by a GCM. However, errors in the basic-state climate of that GCM appeared to be preventing the MJO-related convection from propagating into the west Pacific. In this paper, the actual impact of these errors will be addressed. An integration of a flux-adjusted version of the coupled model has been performed, which has reduced basic-state errors in the west Pacific. In this version of the coupled GCM the MJO does propagate into the west Pacific. The simulation of the MJO by a coupled model with the same atmospheric component but a different ocean GCM is also analyzed. This coupled GCM has similar systematic errors in low-level zonal wind and precipitation to the model studied in Part I, but with warmer SSTs. Results from this experiment, together with the other available evidence, suggest that it is the errors in the low-level zonal wind component...


Mixed-signal or analog chips often require a wide range of biasing currents that are independent of process and supply voltage and that are proportional to absolute temperature. This paper describes CMOS circuits that we use to generate a set of fixed bias currents typically spanning six decades at room temperature down to a few times the transistor off-current. A bootstrapped current reference with a new startup and power-control mechanism generates a master current, which is successively divided by a current splitter to generate the desired reference currents. These references are nondestructively copied to form the chip's biases. Measurements of behavior, including temperature effects from 1.6 and 0.35 μ implementations, are presented and nonidealities are investigated. Temperature dependence of the transistor off-current is investigated because it determines the lower limit for generated currents. Readers are directed to a design kit that allows easy generation of the complete layout for a bias generator with a set of desired currents for scalable MOSIS CMOS processes.


It is shown that the discrete Hartley transform (DHT) of length N = 4 can be used to perform an integer-to-integer transformation. This behavior of the DHT can be used to compute a 2-D separable lossless Hartley like transform (L-HLT). The performance of the L-HLT is found to be better than the DCT for near lossless image compression and wavelet-based filter bank approach for lossless compression.


We report a method of staining nurse cell and follicle cell nuclei in Drosophila ovaries and nuclei in Drosophila embryos with the fluorescent dye propidium iodide. This technique was used to replace more commonly used 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) and Hoechst staining as a method of visualizing nuclear material in Drosophila. Propidium iodide has its maximum excitation at about 530 nm and maximum fluorescence at 615 nm, and therefore it can be used as a fluorescent marker with confocal microscopes that do not have a UV excitation source. Another advantage of the described method is the convenience of simultaneous use of fluorescein as a second fluorophore in multicolor fluorescence. We show that the nuclear material in Drosophila ovaries and early embryos can be visualized with propidium iodide using both confocal and conventional fluorescence microscopy. We also test the combination of two fluorophores-propidium iodide for nuclear staining and fluorescein-labeled phalloidin for membrane-bound actin--in the same tissue.


Facilitators and barriers to recess physical activity are not well understood. To date, research on recess physical activity has predominantly focused on quantitative measures typically focusing on a narrow set of predefined factors, often constructed by adults. To really understand the factors affecting recess physical activity it is crucial to observe and listen to children to know how they engage in and perceive recess physical activity. The aim of this paper was to gain knowledge on children's perceptions and experiences of factors influencing their physical activity behaviour during recess. Data were collected in three separate studies using different qualitative approaches: participant observation; go-along group interviews and participatory photo interviews. The studies were conducted among 10–13-year-old children (grades 4–6) in 17 Danish schools and in five New Zealand schools among 11–12-year-old children. The socio-ecological model was used as the overall theoretical framework. Twelve factors were identified as influencing the children's recess physical activity: bodily self-esteem and ability; gender; gendered school culture; peer influence; conflicts and exclusion; space and place experiences; lack of play facilities; outdoor play policy; use of electronic devices; recess duration; organised activities; and weather. These factors were located within different layers of the socio-ecological model, but were interdependent. The findings speak for implementing a combination of actions addressing factors from different layers in the socio-ecological model to increase recess physical activity.