We propose PressureTransferNet, a novel method for Human Activity Recognition (HAR) using ground pressure information. Our approach generates body-specific dynamic ground pressure profiles for specific activities by leveraging existing pressure data from different individuals. PressureTransferNet is an encoder-decoder model taking a source pressure map and a target human attribute vector as inputs, producing a new pressure map reflecting the target attribute. To train the model, we use a sensor simulation to create a diverse dataset with various human attributes and pressure profiles. Evaluation on a real-world dataset shows its effectiveness in accurately transferring human attributes to ground pressure profiles across different scenarios. We visually confirm the fidelity of the synthesized pressure shapes using a physics-based deep learning model and achieve a binary R-square value of 0.79 on areas with ground contact. Validation through classification with F1 score (0.911$\pm$0.015) on physical pressure mat data demonstrates the correctness of the synthesized pressure maps, making our method valuable for data augmentation, denoising, sensor simulation, and anomaly detection. Applications span sports science, rehabilitation, and bio-mechanics, contributing to the development of HAR systems.


[1] The interannual variability of the hydrological cycle is diagnosed from the Hadley Centre and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) climate models, both of which are forced by observed sea surface temperatures. The models produce a similar sensitivity of clear-sky outgoing longwave radiation to surface temperature of 2 W m 2 K , indicating a consistent and positive clear-sky radiative feedback. However, differences between changes in the temperature lapse-rate and the height dependence of moisture fluctuations suggest that contrasting mechanisms bring about this result. The GFDL model appears to give a weaker water vapor feedback (i.e., changes in specific humidity). This is counteracted by a smaller upper tropospheric temperature response to surface warming, which implies a compensating positive lapse-rate feedback.


We show that the acquisition of 3D diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) experiments can be accelerated significantly with the use of spatial encoding (SPEN). The SPEN DOSY approach is discussed, analysed with numerical simulation, and illustrated on a mixture of small molecules.


Alzheimer's disease is associated with the aggregation into amyloid fibrils of Aβ(1–42) and Aβ(1–40) peptides. Interestingly, these fibrils often do not obtain one single structure but rather show different morphologies, so-called polymorphs. Here, we compare quenched hydrogen-deuterium (H/D) exchange of a disease-relevant Aβ(1–42) fibril for which the 3D structure has been determined by solid-state NMR with H/D exchange previously determined on another structural polymorph. This comparison reveals secondary structural differences between the two polymorphs suggesting that the two polymorphisms can be classified as segmental polymorphs.


The aim of the present study was to investigate immunocytochemically the presence of S-100 protein in subcutaneous fat cells during early human embryogenesis (6–12 weeks of gestation). We found that preadipocytes in the subcutaneous tissue which were at different stages of differentiation were positive for S-100 protein. The other cells in the embryonal subcutis (mesenchymal cells differentiating into fibroblasts and fibrocytes and endothelial cells) showed a negative reaction for S-100. Our results imply that the S-100 protein is expressed from the beginning of lipidogenesis and possibly acts as a factor regulating lipid storage and body fat formation. It can be used as a reliable biochemical marker of human fat cell differentiation and for distinguishing them from the mesenchymal and the fibroblast cells in the human embryonal subcutis.


Absbact-A total of 118 time-mated CE1 white mice were exposed when their fetuses were 9, 12 or 16 days to 7.4 W forward power of 2450 MHz microwave radiation for 4 min, a sub-lethal exposure. This resulted in mean absorptions of energy from 22.4 to 27.1 J/g, the degree of absorption being roughly in an inverse ratio to weight and gestation age. When these irradiated fetal mice were delivered normally and matured at 2 months of age, they were again exposed to the same radiation as previously but continuously until death as electronically monitored on a polygraph. A parallel group of 25 2-month-old controls were similarly irradiated, and the absorbed dose in J/g and the time in min to kill were taken as the measure of radiation tolerance or radiosensitivity of the originally irradiated fetuses. Only those males initially exposed to microwave energies at 12 and 16 days gestation and females irradiated at 16 days gestation showed a slight but statistically significant reduction in the mean time to kill. Only the 12 day males showed a significant reduction in the mean absorbed dose at death. None showed mean absorbed doses greater than did the controls, hence there was no evidence of any acquired resistance to radiation effects. There were some side effects, however, in that all males initially exposed in utero had mean body weight significantly lower than did the control males at 2 months of age. Females initially irradiated at 16 days gestation were, at 2 months, statistically lighter in mean body weight than any of the other females, irradiated or controls. There was no significant difference between the sexes in J/g absorbed dose to kill at 2 months of age, but there was a significant lowering of the time to death for those males previously irradiated at 12 and 16 days gestation age; and females at 16 gestation days, compared with their respective controls.


This paper reports on the ReINTEL Shared Task for Responsible Information Identification on social network sites, which is hosted at the seventh annual workshop on Vietnamese Language and Speech Processing (VLSP 2020). Given a piece of news with respective textual, visual content and metadata, participants are required to classify whether the news is `reliable' or `unreliable'. In order to generate a fair benchmark, we introduce a novel human-annotated dataset of over 10,000 news collected from a social network in Vietnam. All models will be evaluated in terms of AUC-ROC score, a typical evaluation metric for classification. The competition was run on the Codalab platform. Within two months, the challenge has attracted over 60 participants and recorded nearly 1,000 submission entries.


Reproductive autonomy (RA) has been challenged by the availability of genetic information, disability and the ethics of selective reproduction. Utilitarian and rights-based approaches, as well as procreative beneficence (PB) fail to provide compelling reasons for infringing RA, and may even be likened to dangerous eugenics. Parents are not morally obliged to prevent the birth of a disabled child. Society should rather adopt inclusivity, recognising and providing persons with disabilities opportunities for capability and worthwhile lives.


The purpose of this study is to develop an evaluation system for integrative comfort values of Hanok residence. For this study, a mock-up located in Yongin, Gyeonggi province built by an ongoing governmental research project has been chosen. Then, SSN (Smart Sensor Network) has been utilized for monitoring quantitative factors in the environment and detailed face-to-face surveys have been performed for analyzing qualitative comfort indexes from residents in the experimental settings. Then, this study employs a combined evaluation system using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) established for estimating overall DIC (Degree of Integrative Comfort) of the Hanok residence. As a result, the evaluation system could verify the total comfort indexes of Hanok residence and suggest converged methodologies for establishing value assessment system for traditional residential facilities. The method of DIC suggested in this paper would be examined with current residents in a built mock-up to see its applicability as a comprehensive evaluation model, and it is expected that collected year-round comfort data from the facility would provide more practical information towards future strategies for the Hanok residence.


The combination of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and transmit antenna selection (TAS) techniques has recently attracted significant attention due to the low cost, low complexity, and high diversity gains. Meanwhile, random linear coding (RLC) is considered to be a promising technique for achieving high reliability and low latency in multicast communications. In this paper, we consider a downlink system with a multi-antenna base station and two multicast groups of single-antenna users, where one group can afford to be served opportunistically, while the other group consists of comparatively low-power devices with limited processing capabilities that have strict quality of service (QoS) requirements. In order to boost reliability and satisfy the QoS requirements of the multicast groups, we propose a cross-layer framework, including NOMA-based TAS at the physical layer and RLC at the application layer. In particular, two low-complexity TAS protocols for NOMA are studied in order to exploit the diversity gain and meet the QoS requirements. In addition, RLC analysis aims to facilitate heterogeneous users, such that sliding window-based sparse RLC is employed for computational restricted users, and conventional RLC is considered for others. Theoretical expressions that characterize the performance of the proposed framework are derived and verified through simulation results.


Single-phase full bridge rectifiers are heavily used in low voltage distribution system. It is therefore essential to predict the harmonic levels these converters produce. In this paper, a fast time domain method is presented to solve for the current and voltage harmonics injected by single-phase diode bridge rectifiers. The method is highly accurate and it does not suffer from harmonic truncation errors or aliasing effects that exist in harmonic domain analyses or brute force time domain simulation methods


Transportation costs are the second largest expenditure for a family, thus have a substantial influence on housing affordability. In an auto-oriented region like DFW, the situation is exacerbated for low-income families due to limited transportation options. This study seeks to evaluate the efficiency of major affordable housing programs for low-income people in terms of transportation affordability. This study uses a rigorous methodology that involves a solid transportation cost modeling with disaggregated data available at property level for housing assistance programs in DFW. Our findings show that about 69% of the assisted units in DFW are unaffordable in terms of transportation costs. The majority of them are spending about 17% to 20% of their income on transportation. The most affordable program is Low-Income Housing Tax Credit with 58% affordability rate and the least affordable program is the Continuum of Care with 9% affordability rate when accounting for transportation costs. We also found that almost all affordable units (regarding the transportation costs) are located in main economic hubs of the region such as Dallas and Fort Worth which have better access to jobs and public transit. In contrary, almost all housing properties in the areas between Dallas and Fort Worth are unaffordable. These are areas adjacent to the University of Texas at Arlington with a high number of transit dependent population and in Arlington, the biggest midsize city with no public transit. Our findings urge HUD to consider modifying these programs by incorporating the location-efficiency factors to ensure true affordability.


The present study investigated the effects of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on the bioavailability of Fe from ferric pyrophosphate (FP), a water-insoluble compound, in Fe-deficient anaemic rats that were subjected to a Hb repletion assay. Male Wistar rats (n 64) were fed adequate or low (8 mg/kg) Fe diets for 15 d followed by 1 or 2 weeks of Fe repletion with diets providing 35 mg Fe/kg as ferrous sulphate (FS), FP or FP that was mixed with 7·5 % FOS in the form of yacon flour or Raftilose P95 (RAF), a purified source of FOS. The effects of FOS were observed within the 1st week of the repletion period. Fe bioavailability was improved by FOS supplementation, as measured by Hb regeneration efficiency and hepatic Fe stores, which were more pronounced in the RAF group. Moreover, RAF supplementation resulted in a higher biological value relative to that of the FP group. FOS supplementation resulted in caecal enlargement, in addition to acidification and Fe species redistribution in the caecal contents relative to the control rats. These effects occurred concomitantly with decreased ferroportin (FPN)-1 expression in the caecal mucosa, which was similar in magnitude to that observed in the FS group. Caecum mucosal morphometry was influenced by FOS supplementation, whereas crypt fission and cell proliferation were highest in the caecum of the RAF group. These results reinforce the effects of FOS as Fe bioavailability enhancers in anaemic rats that are sustained by early changes in their caecal environment (decreased mucosal FPN-1 expression and increased Fe absorbability, crypt fission and cellularity).


ABSTRACT 1. Two experiments were conducted to determine the apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and standardised amino acid digestibility coefficients (SIDC) of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) for broiler chickens. 2. The BSFL contained, on a g/kg dry matter basis: crude protein, 486; crude fat, 320; ash, 58.5; neutral detergent fibre, 181; calcium, 6.8 and phosphorus, 9.1. 3. In Experiment 1, an AME assay was performed wherein broilers were fed two experimental diets (a maize-soy basal diet and a test diet containing 250 g/kg BSFL) for 4 d from d 18 posthatch. The AME of BSFL was calculated based on the difference between the AME values of basal and test diets. The AME and nitrogen-corrected AME were determined to be 19.1and 18.0 MJ/kg of dry matter, respectively. 4. In Experiment 2, the ileal amino acid (AA) digestibility of BSFL was determined using 22-d-old broilers by the direct method and the digesta was collected on d 25. The ratios between the AA and titanium in the diet and digesta were used to calculate the apparent digestibility and then standardised using previously published endogenous losses to estimate the SIDC of AA. The SIDC of Lys, Met, Thr, Val and average SIDC of AA in our BSFL sample were 0.85, 0.90, 0.91, 0.87 and 0.84, respectively. 5. The findings showed that the BSFL meal is a good source of available energy and digestible AA, and could be a potential substitute for soybean meal in broiler diets.


: As shown by cytofluorimetric technique, fluorescein anions formed in macrophages due to hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate (FDA) release into the extracellular medium through the probenecid-inhibitable transport system of organic acids. Technical procedures have been elaborated to record separately the process of FDA hydrolysis characterising the activity of intracellular esterases, and the fluorescein anion transport representing secretion of organic acids by macrophages. It has been established that the tetrapeptide tuftsin stimulates the cell esterase activity without affecting the rate of fluorescein efflux. The peptide KPR (Lys-Pro-Arg) decreases both the esterase activity and the fluorescein anion efflux.


A design process is formulated and implemented for the taxonomy selection and system-level optimization of an Efficient Multi-Mach Aircraft Current Technology Concept and an Advanced Concept. Concept space exploration of taxonomy alternatives is performed with multi-objective genetic algorithms and a Powell's method scheme for vehicle optimization in a multidisciplinary modeling and simulation environment. A dynamic sensitivity visualization analysis tool is generated for the Advanced Concept with response surface equations.


The ragged-tooth shark Carcharias taurus is a large predator of inshore coastal waters in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Born at about 1m long and attaining approximately 3m, stomach content analyses have shown that it feeds largely on teleosts and elasmobranchs, although cephalopods are taken to a lesser extent. Similar prey taxa were taken by small ≤2m) and large individuals (>2m), although the larger predators broadened their trophic niche to include a greater variety of elasmobranchs and more active prey. Maximum prey size increased with predator size. Both reefassociated and benthic fishes typical of sandy substrates were included in the diet and, in addition to inshore species, those typical of deeper shelf waters were also taken. Although C. taurus appear to prefer to swim around high relief reefs with caves and gullies by day, it is inferred that they must also hunt over soft substrates, possibly at night.


Genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is an important task in medicine, veterinary medicine and biology. Precise differentiation of SNPs can be challenging. Methods based onTaqman can lead to false positive results due to nonspecific annealing of the probe. The aim of this research was to develop a new approach for the accurate differentiation of SNPs based on real-time PCR with Taqmanprobes and their rivals.The rivals competed with the Taqmanprobes for annealing to the site. The rivals blocked the nonspecific allele so that the Taqmanprobe could not anneal to it. Thus,the Taqmanprobe only detected specific alleles.This approach madeit possible to fine-tune the diagnostic system by selecting the ratio of Taqmanprobes and rivals (in non-equimolar amounts too).The new approach was tested on several diagonally significant SNPs in veterinary medicine.Using Taqman probes and rival probes showed a significantly greater specificity and efficiency in the determination of both homozygotes and heterozygotes than when conventional systems based only on Taqmanwere used.
Keywords: SNP, allele identification, real-time PCR, fluorescent dye


Image-guided localization materials are constantly evolving, providing options for the localization of small pulmonary nodules to guide minimally invasive thoracic surgery. Several preoperative methods have been developed to localize small pulmonary lesions prior to video-assisted thoracic surgery. These localization techniques can be categorized into 4 groups according to the materials used: localization with metallic materials (hook-wire, microcoil, or spiral coil), localization with dye (methylene blue or indigo carmine), localization with contrast agents (lipiodol, barium, or iodine contrast agents), and radiotracers (technetium-99m). However, the optimal localization method has not yet been established. In this review article, we discuss the various localization techniques and the advantages and disadvantages of localization techniques as well as the available safety and efficacy data on these techniques.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

It is clear that glioblastoma (GBM) is a collection of molecular subtypes, however little is known of their oncogene signaling. To address this we are currently developing a new method to map PI3K/AKT/mTOR network activity. It uses TCGA reverse-phase protein array data and is based on correlations between active pathway members. This approach provides evidence the WNT pathway is active in the Mesenchymal subgroup and we are currently validating these results. Based on this data we hypothesize Mesenchymal patients will respond to WNT inhibitors.

Citation Format: Anna M. Joy, Ivan Smirnov, Mark Reiser, Seungchan Kim, Burt Feuerstein. In silico mapping of oncogene networks implicate the WNT pathway in the glioblastoma MES subtype. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1095. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1095


Economic burdens of injuries at the country level are unknown. In the current study we tried to explore the economic burden of DALYs loss due to injuries at the country level, then distributed according to the World Bank's income groups. Methods: Data from the World Bank and the World Health Organization websites were used. Disability adjusted life year (DALY) and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita were used to estimate the economic loss for RTIs. Estimates of economic burdens were presented in tables and figures. Results: The total economic loss of the world during 2004 by means of DALYs due to injuries was 613. 144 billion USD, corresponding value of 848.205 billion USD in 2014. DALYs burden of injuries were concentrated (almost 75%) among low and lower middle income countries. Economic burdens of injuries were concentrated (over 80%) among higher middle and high income countries. Iraq had lost almost one-fifth of its GDP due to injuries. The USA had the highest amount of economic loss for injuries (169.136 billion USD) among all countries. Conclusion: Injuries are highly expensive and they account for heavy losses to GDP. Injury prevention should be prioritized in order to save such losses to life and economies.


Resilience provides a forward-looking framework to understand human–environment relations. Yet, adopted through a system-modelling approach in coupled social-ecological systems, it often reinforces a functionalist vision of the world as an interconnected whole, unable to engage with the multiplicity of people's practices navigating change. I argue for sustained engagement with resilience and propose a socionatural approach to overcome its system-modelling limitations, thinking through the world's entities as inherently social and natural. I discuss how socionatural resilience can be pluralized through assemblage ideas and reflect on the implications that an ontological politics of resilience poses for our conceptual framing and methodologies.


Bacteria of the genus  Helicobacter spp. have been identified on the gastric mucosa of different species of mammals, including canines. Infected patients have histological gastritis; however, not all the animals that carry the bacteria show clinical signs. The objective of this work was to identify the bacteria suggestive of  Helicobacter spp. by impregnation by silver and to characterize the histopathological lesions observed. Qualitative evaluation was performed for histological analysis, in which scores from absent (-) to severe (+++) were attributed, considering the density of spiral bacteria per field (400x), presence of inflammatory cells, and number of lymphoid aggregates. Of the 26 animals evaluated, 34.6% presented positivity for helicobacteriosis. Gastritis was observed in 15.38% of the animals and a higher occurrence of bacteria of the genus  Helicobacter spp. was observed in the gastric body/fundus region (23%). In nine samples, six from gastric body/fundus and three from antrum pylorus, lymphoid clusters associated with  Helicobacter spp. were observed. Fisher's Test revealed a positive association between the presence of  Helicobacter spp. and lymphoid aggregates (p<0.001). Infection by  Helicobacter spp. is associated with the presence of lymphoid aggregates in canines. Keywords:  dogs; histochemstry; intestine; spiral bacteria; stomach.


Vimentin is one of the IF proteins that undergo significant
changes both in expression, structure and subcellular location
during maturation of hematopoietic cells. The v-myb-transformed
monoblasts of the cell line BM2 can be induced to differentiate
towards macrophage-like cells using phorbol ester TPA and
histon deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA). We described
earlier that level of vimentin increases during TPA- or
TSA-induced differentiation of BM2 cells. In this study, RNAi
technology was used to explore the role of vimentin in
differentiation of BM2 cells. The cells were transfected with
vector expressing siRNA targeted to endogenous vimentin mRNA
and several independ clones of stable transfectants exhibiting
70% reduction of cellular vimentin level were obtained. The
lack of vimentin altered morphology of the cells, reduced their
phagocytic activity and production of ROS upon treatment with
TPA or TSA. Our results demonstrate that up-regulation of
vimentin is essential for formation of fully active macrophages
during terminal steps of monocyte/macrophage differentiation.


In our previous study, intercritical quenching from the dual-phase region of ferrite and austenite regions, which is called lamellarizing (L) treatment, brought a clear improvement of balance between the strength and toughness of Cu-containing low alloy steel based on American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) A707 5L grade. Moreover, the results imply that the reverse transformation behavior during L treatment is very important in order to optimize the L treatment temperature. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the mechanism by which L treatment improves the mechanical properties in terms of reverse transformation behavior. Additionally, offshore structures require good weldability, because the structures generally have a lot of weld joints. Therefore, weldability was also investigated in this study. The investigation revealed that coarse Cu precipitates are observed in the not-transformed α phase, so the strength tendency in relation to the L treatment temperature is relevant to the area ratio of the not-transformed α phase and the transformed γ phase during L treatment. From the in situ electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) results, it is believed to be possible to enhance the mechanical properties of Cu-containing low alloy steel by controlling the area ratio of the reverse-transformed gamma phase and selecting the appropriate L treatment temperature. Furthermore, the long part forging of Cu-containing low alloy steel has a good weldability, since the maximum hardness of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) is less than 300 HV, and the HAZ of steel has a good crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) property with less than 2.3 kJ/mm of heat input of GTAW.


The goal of this article is to encourage human resource (HR) leaders to think more strategically about managing workplace romances. The traditional legal-centric management approach focuses on minimizing risks of workplace romances. We advocate embedding the legal-centric approach within a broader and more strategic organizationally sensible approach that provides a balanced focus on minimizing risks and maximizing rewards of workplace romances. Drawing from the empirical workplace romance literature, we derive a set of organizationally sensible best-practice recommendations that HR leaders can adopt to manage risks and rewards of romantic relationships in organizations. Implementing our more strategic recommendations should provide the added benefit of elevating HR professionals' roles as organizational leaders. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The discovery of individual dose rules (IDRs) in personalized medicine is a challenging statistical problem. Most of existing methods for estimating the optimal IDR will suffer the curse of dimensionality as the dimension of covariates gets higher, especially IDRs are nonlinear. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel dimension reduction framework for estimating the optimal IDR. Underlying this framework, the covariates' information is composited into one or a few linear combinations and these combinations are used to infer the nonlinear IDRs. We propose a Direct-learning and semi-Direct learning approach based on a smooth semiparametric value function, which can be solved by an efficient orthogonality-constraints optimization algorithm. Under minimal regularity assumptions, the asymptotic normality is derived for the obtained dimensionality reduced subspace estimator and also we obtain the consistency and convergence rate of the estimated optimal IDR. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated by comparing to existing methods via extensive simulation studies and real data analysis.


The 25 kV AC traction system, distributed along the length of a railway, generates strong electromagnetic fields longitudinal to the railway line. It is a major source of interference to modern electronics based railway signal and control equipment. The design of a signal system thus needs to take into consideration the various sources of interference and must be immune from these undesirable disturbances. This paper summarises the various interference phenomenon and the interaction between systems, and highlights the practical approach to mitigate these undesirable effects on the systems operations.


The literature on hallucinatory experiences of hostage victims is reviewed. The phenomenology is examined in 30 case studies involving 31 persons, including ex-prisoners of war and victims of rape, kidnapping, terrorism, robbery, and "UFO abductions." The victims were subjected to conditions of isolation, visual deprivation, restraint on physical movement, physical abuse, and the threat of death. For eight victims, these conditions were sufficient to produce a progression of visual hallucinations from simple geometric images to complex memory images coupled with dissociation. The other 23 victims, subjected to similar conditions but without isolation and life-threatening stress, resulting from the threat of death, did not experience hallucinations. The hostage hallucinations are compared to those resulting from sensory deprivation, near fatal accidents, and other states of isolation and stress. A common mechanism of action based on entoptic phenomena and CNS excitation and arousal is suggested.


Managerial attitudes play an important role in facilitating the championship of innovation adop-tion. However, there are few empirical studies which show the mediating role of managerial attitudes as a link between innovation determinants and adoption. Based on innovation theory (Rogers, 1983), we posit a conceptual model to show how managers evaluate internal (relative advantage and compatibility of adopting an innovation) and external (competitive pressure and partner conflict) determinants that affect the intention to adopt technological innovations. We focus on empirical tests conducted on B2C e-commerce. Data collected from 109 differ-ent enterprises indicate that managerial attitudes, through perceived relative advantage and compatibility of adopting a technological innovation, have indirect effects on the intention to adopt the innovation. In addition, competitive pressure has a direct influence on the adoption of an innovation.


Patients suffering from bronchogenic and gastrointestinal cancer without, as well as with metastases, were investigated to provide more information on the number of morphology of lymphocytes in their peripheral blood particularly in respect to the frequency of various nucleolar types in these cells. The decreased number of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of the cancer patients was due to the decline of lymphocytes with ringshaped nucleoli representing resting cells which can be stimulated in respect to the RNA synthesis and blastic transformation. The decreased number of such cells was apparently more pronounced in the peripheral blood of the patients suffering from gastrointestinal cancer with metastases. The increased frequency of lymphocytes with compact nucleoli or nucleoli with nucleolonemas representing immature or stimulated cells was noted in most patients suffering from bronchogenic cancer without, and with metastases in lymph nodes, as well as in some patients with gastrointestinal cancer and, without metastases. On the contrary, the decreased number of these cells was observed in the peripheral blood of patients suffering from gastrointestinal cancer with metastases. All these changes provide further information on the changes of the lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of the patients suffering from malignant disease. The possible interpretation of these changes presented in the discussion is in accordance with the present conception on the relationship between the malignant growth and lymphocytes.


With a view to road safety education and accident prevention, the study of the interaction between autonomous cars and pedestrians cannot be postponed until actual introduction in the public space. In this study, we proactively investigate road-crossing decisions in virtual reality. The objective is to determine the influence of message content displayed by autonomous cars on road crossing decisions and feeling of safety. Focus groups resulted in two different message contents: information about the speed of the car and advice about desired behaviour (pedestrian traffic light). In a virtual reality study, the two message contents were compared to a gear-only control condition and to a human-operated car. The procedure involved 24 crossing decisions in road configurations varying in the likelihood of crossing according to traffic rules. The results showed that road crossing behaviour in virtual reality complied with the likelihood of crossing according to traffic rules (pedestrian rule compliance). Furthermore, as expected, we found an interaction between the type of car and message content in underdetermined road crossing situations. Positive crossings decisions were the least frequent in front of autonomous cars in the pedestrian traffic light (advice) condition. Thus, advice as message content generates cautious pedestrian road crossing behaviour. Finally, the results show a high feeling of safety except when pedestrian traffic lights were absent (present neither as object in the road configuration nor as message content). The results and implications for road safety education are discussed.


Cell death is crucial to human health and is related to various serious diseases. Therefore, generation of new cell death regulators is urgently needed for disease treatment. Nanoparticles (NPs) are now routinely used in a variety of fields, including consumer products and medicine. Exhibiting stability and ease of decoration, gold nanoparticles (GNPs) could be used in diagnosis and disease treatment. Upon entering the human body, GNPs contact human cells in the blood, targeting organs and the immune system. This property results in the disturbance of cell function and even cell death. Therefore, GNPs may act as powerful cell death regulators. However, at present, we are far from establishing a structure–activity relationship between the physicochemical properties of GNPs and cell death, and predicting GNP-induced cell death. In this review, GNPs' size, shape, and surface properties are observed to play key roles in regulating various cell death modalities and related signaling pathways. These results could guide the design of GNPs for nanomedicine.


ABSTRACT Today's employees work longer hours and face constraints from nonstandard, rotating, or unpredictable schedules. Even when they are home, employees are often tethered to their jobs by technology and expected to be available. Higher demands on an employee's time can lead to burnout and greater job-related stress, impacting work-family conflict. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we analyze how women in dual-income heterosexual partnerships make sense of and manage their family relationships in light of the competition between work-imposed demands and family time. Our study shows how women attempt to control their time by setting boundaries, scheduling, and allowing work and family time to blur as a way to address hectic work and family lives; however, this is often not successful, leading to paradoxical outcomes, particularly for those with children. Nevertheless, our participants make their limited time meaningful as a source of connection within their relational lives by ritualizing meals, accomplishing tasks, and sharing space. This study extends our theorizing on how work and family demands shape perceptions and meanings of the structure of time.


R ecent trends in the surgical education literature have focused on the acquisition of technical skills during resident training. Indeed, in the current era of evidence-based medicine and reduced work hours in training, a proper assessment and validation of technical skills is increasingly important. However, studies of adverse events during surgical care have shifted attention to the importance of nontechnical skills by demonstrating that improved technical abilities are necessary but not sufficient on their own. Whereas the emphasis was previously on technical ability, knowledge, and diagnostic acumen, we are now mindful that nontechnical skills (eg, communication, leadership, and teamwork) contribute significantly to patient safety and outcomes. The author draws a parallel between the organizational model of the surgical team and that of the jazz band. Jazz bands are uniquely equipped for innovation and rely on a commitment to a mind-set, culture, and leadership framework that is strikingly similar to what takes place within the surgical team. Like jazz musicians, surgeons will simultaneously discover and aim at new targets during an operation and know when to lead their team in a different direction. Their activity is controlled but not predetermined. Once more, musicians and surgeons both rely on precise communication, remarkable dexterity, and the ability to solve problems through improvisation. Surgery, like jazz music, relies on improvisation to advance the principles of surgical care and the management of surgical errors. And yet, as the author contends, improvisation does not materialize out of thin air. Instead, it emerges around a simple melody that provides the pretext for real-time composing. Improvisation is a mixture of the precomposed and the spontaneous, just as the surgical action incorporates some proportion of control with innovation, exploitation with exploration, routine with nonroutine, and automatic with controlled. Notably, improvisation cannot exist without experience and knowledge. Surgeons spend countless hours tying knots with one hand, practicing with a piece of string over the back of a chair, or looking for other creative modalities to learn surgical tricks. Once these skills have become deeply ingrained in practice, they can be drawn on without having to think. This is the basis of improvisation. Surgery, like jazz music, is more than just a series of tones set in time, and although rules are established before each performance, each patient presents different challenges and requires unique considerations. For the performer (ie, surgeon), improvisation lies on a continuum whereby various degrees may be employed to enrich the outcome and benefit patient care. Going forward, faced with the apparent paradox between evidence-based medicine and tailored surgery, the best treatment for patients will likely require a continuous mixture of improvisation and established principles to be effective.


The pigmentation of skin, hair and eyes is genetically controlled and varies significantly among and within human populations. Some aspects of this variation are clearly due to selection that optimizes benefits from solar radiation. However, one cost of this adaptation is the well established link between pigmentation and skin cancer risk in Caucasians. While some features of human pigmentation genetics are established, it has been clear that many genes affecting pigmentation remain to be discovered. Over 100 genes controlling coat color pigmentation in mice have been identified, roughly half of which have human homologues. About 30 of these genes have been associated with rare human pigmentation disorders. Until recently only six genes were known to harbor relatively common polymorphisms that affect 'normal' human pigmentation. These genes include the melanocortin receptor 1 (MC1R), its antagonist the agouti signaling protein (ASIP), tyrosinase (TYR), the P-gene mutated in oculocutaneous albinism type II (OCA2), and ion exchange proteins of the solute carrier family SLC24A5, and SLC45A2 (MATP). That situation has changed dramatically within the last several months with the publication of five papers that double the list of highly polymorphic pigmentation loci, provide new details on specific pigmentation effects of some previously known loci, and ascribe cancer risk to a subset of the loci (Sulem et al., 2007, Sulem et al., 2008, Gudbjartsson et al., 2008, Han et al., 2008, Brown et al., 2008). The new information comes from genome wide association studies (GWAS) in which single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) distributed across the genome are examined in thousands of individuals to determine if any are associated with specific phenotypic characteristics. A positive finding of association for a particular SNP does not mean that that sequence variant causes the phenotype, just that the causal variation is somewhere nearby in the genome. In aggregate, the studies assessed skin, hair, and eye color, tanning ability, freckling, and risks for melanoma and basal cell carcinoma in populations of European ancestry living in Australia, Iceland and Northern Europe. The phenotypes and the associated loci are summarized in the Table. There is encouraging consistency in the results since previously known pigment genes were rediscovered and novel players co-discovered among the different studies. Not all studies found all associations due to assessment of different phenotypes and use of different sets of SNPs. A total of five novel loci, most close to or within attractive candidates for the causal gene, were found, two of which (SLC24A4 and IRF4) being identified in two independent studies. SLC24A4 will be familiar to those who follow this field, as its close relative SLC24A5 was previously discovered to be involved in pigmentation in zebra fish and humans (Lamason et al., 2005). By contrast, the interferon regulatory factor IRF4 or MUM1 is a new and somewhat unexpected player, as it was hitherto mostly known to be involved in the inflammatory response in hematopoietic cells. However, IRF4 ⁄ MUM1 has been demonstrated to be strongly expressed in melanocytic neoplasms (Sundram et al., 2003). Two of the studies investigated loci associated with melanoma and basal cell carcinoma (Gudbjartsson et al., 2008; Brown et al., 2008). Both identified a region of chromosome 20q11.22 near the gene ASIP as affecting risk for both types of malignancies, but they disagreed on whether ASIP itself was the likely causative gene. Resolution of this disagreement, possibly due to the use of somewhat different sets of SNPs, may reveal additional details about the complexity of the relationship of this genomic region to skin cancer risk (Brown et al., 2008). ASIP is an attractive candidate because of its interaction with MC1R, whose variants are well established risk factors for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. ASIP inhibits the interaction between MC1R and a-melanocyte stimulating hormone. This suggests that the riskassociated ASIP variant would exhibit a gain of function, which would phenocopy the effects of loss-of-function MC1R alleles. The possible role of ASIP in melanoma risk may have been missed by prior studies, which analyzed the ancestral major allele in which the two-SNP haplotype linked to skin cancer arose. The common polymorphism in tyrosinase (R402Q), also was also found to be strongly associated with increased risk for melanoma and basal cell carcinoma, but another polymorphism in this gene was not. A weaker association with melanoma risk, but not risk for basal cell carcinoma, was found for a SNP at the TYRP1 locus. It is noteworthy that the only associations with skin cancer risk that were discovered involved some, but not all, loci that also affected pigmentation. Since these studies (Gudbjartsson et al., 2008; Brown et al., 2008) employed hundreds of thousands of SNPs selected across the genome without regard to specific gene functions, they could have found other associations if they were strong enough. This Coverage on: Brown et al. (2008) Common sequence variants on 20q11.22 confer melanoma susceptibility. Nat. Genet. 40: 838–840.


In the haemolymph of 4 th and 5 th instar larvae of the Eri Silkworm (Philosamia ricini) five types of haemocytes have been identified. Changes in the Differential Haemocyte Counts (DHCs) have been assessed in relation to application of graded concentrations of Dimethoate 30EC solution. The haemocyte count was done on 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd days of post-treatment of sub lethal doses of dimethoate (i.e. 0.5% and 1%) on 4 th and 5 th instar larvae. Different types of haemocytes registered a dose-dependent response by either exhibiting increase or decrease in their relative proportions. The adipohaemocytes and prohaemocytes were the most sensitive cells to the pesticidal stress. The plasmatocytes showed least damage on low concentration (0.5%) of dimethoate. Furthermore, the treated insects apparently responded by releasing more granulocytes, into the circulation as evident by increase in the percentage of these cells in treated blood smears compared to the normal.


This Structure Data File (SDfile) is associated with the thesis: Kim, S.-H. "Titanium-mediated cyclization reactions: I. New synthetic methods for alkaloids; II. [1,3]- and [3,3]-Sigmatropic rearrangements of vinylcyclobutanols." and http://library.ua.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1556448 It is distributed by the University of Alabama Libraries. The SDfile is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Chemical Structure Data Files can be viewed/processed with most cheminformatics toolkits and stand-alone software packages: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheminformatics_toolkit. Note that this is the archived non-standardized chemical substance data. If you are looking for the standardized data" see the UA Libraries PubChem Data Source: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/source/15645. The specific substances associated with this data set are indicated by the local DATSOURCE_REGID identifiers within the SDfile. These identifiers can be used to cross-reference the data within PubChem. Moreover, additional information about the structure data compiling workflow is available on the UA Libraries GitHub Chemical Structures Project Page: https://github.com/ualibweb/UALIB_ChemStructures


Research on the acceptance behaviour of technology is sizeable, yet it is relatively heterogeneous and fragmented in the context of developing economies like Jordan. The paper tries to offer insights about two critical factors in acceptance behavior of Jordanian customers, namely, security and trust. This article puts together an integrated conceptual model for acceptance behavior of Jordanian Corporate customers that includes these two critical issues. Hypotheses are developed from extant literature, these indicate possible associations among the constructs of the model. Based on input received from 353 corporate customers, the proposed model is empirically tested using structural equation modeling. Of the hypothesized associations examined, five were found to be statistically significant and in the right direction. The results confirm most of the findings of previous research on the subject, while some fresh insights on the interrelationships of the constructs used are also revealed. The results of the study have serious implications for bankers, corporate online users, and business educators, who may use the empirically tested model as a diagnostic and monitoring tool in explaining the acceptance behavior of Jordanian business users of online banking. This paper concludes that security and trust should be integrated to perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in explaining acceptance behaviour of corporate customers.


This study mainly focuses on the performance of historical stone-timber structures. The finite element method (FEM) is used to analyse structural performance of such buildings in order to predict possible damage mechanisms and seismic vulnerability. Traditional Şirince houses in Izmir (Turkey) were selected for the analysis. Results obtained show that the critical section of such combined structures is the transition zone between the ground level and upper floors. Furthermore, the results indicate that the "rubble stone masonry and timber frame" of these combined structures is highly vulnerable to seismic action.


In Europe, the computer in which the stack principle was most highly developed was the English Electric KDF9 (first delivered in 1963). This machine had two hardware stacks–onr for return addresses, the other a work stack with arithmetic and logic facilities. Regrettably, the experience gained on this machine was never embodied in a successor. It is worthwhile to look at the origins of its design.


Recently there are many attempts that IT convergence has been studied together with very different sector like art and music. If it is possible to make a formal model with combination of engineering with strong creative sector like music, there will be some advantages to analyze its contents easily. In this study, the model has been provided to utilize music analysis and compose algorithm through the formal model research of Sonata. To this end, this study has been provided a formal model of Sonata with the Petri net model being widely used and verify the effectiveness of the proposed model on the case of Piano Sonata K. 332.


We describe a novel method to identify a large number of two-dimensional (2-D) sinusoids from very limited data. Starting with the noiseless exponential superposition model, we derive the 2-D linear prediction equations for the data, and present a general 2-D exponential identification algorithm based on one-dimensional (1-D) rooting techniques. Then we enhance this general algorithm for the special case of 2-D sinusoid identification by using conjugate-reverse data to increase the number of identifiable sinusoids and by using FFT to avoid polynomial rooting. Noise is handled by least-squares solutions of the linear prediction equations and the polynomial equations. Numerical simulations demonstrate that our algorithm provides a competitive alternative to existing algorithms


We analyze the short-time dynamics of 'cyclic' and 'branched' water tetramers after an ionization event, with the aid of a scheme that partitions the kinetic energy of a solute plus solvent system into separate solute and solvent (or bath) contributions, using instantaneous internal coordinates and atomic velocities. The analysis supports the partitioning of the tetrameric systems into two subsystems, a 'reactive trimer' and a 'solvent' molecule. The partitioned kinetic energy exhibits two features, a broad peak assigned to the interaction between the two sub-systems and a sharper peak arising from the proton transfer that occurs upon ionization. It is found that the stability of the hydroxyl radical formed upon ionization is sensitive to the configuration of the water molecules around the ionized water at the moment of the ionization event.


A transient, spatially distributed mathematical model is developed describing the exchange of materials (fluid and solute) across the capillary membrane into the interstitial space. The formulation includes a lymphatic sink which drains both fluid and solute from the tissue. This can be located anywhere within the tissue. The model is constructed in cylindrical coordinates and consist of the capillary lying along the z axis and the tissue envelope surrounding the capillary. The driving force for fluid motion is the fluid chemical potential. This is equal to the difference between the local fluid hydrostatic pressure and the local colloid osmotic pressure. Starling's hypothesis governs fluid flow across the capillary wall. This states that the amount of fluid that crosses the capillary membrane is due to the transmembrane potential difference. The fact that solute may leak across the membrane promotes the use of a capillary membrane reflection coefficient. In the tissue, the fluid motion is found from a modified Darcy's law which makes use of the gradient in the fluid potential rather than the hydrostatic pressure. In addition, a tissue reflection coefficient is used. The study consists of an evaluation of the effect the physiological parameters have on the system. This is presented in the form of a sensitivity analysis for steady state results only. It is shown that the strength of the lymphatic sink is important in promoting fluid reabsorption back into the capillary and negative hydrostatic pressures (subatmospheric) throughout the tissue. Transient test are performed to evaluate the regulating mechanisms for capillarytissue fluid balance. The capillary membrane, the colloid osmotic pressure, and the lymphatic sink are examined for their roles in maintaining fluid balance. It is found that the colloid osmotic pressure acts as a negative feedback signal regulating the cycle of solute concentrations and fluid hydrostatic pressures throughout the tissue. The lymphatic sink is important as it provides a mechanism for lowering tissue pressures and removing solute from the interstitial space, thus lowering the tissue colloid osmotic pressure. The trends indicated in the results compare well with results from Manning et al. (1983) and Taylor et al. (1973).


This study investigates the effects of changes in non-agricultural sectors in India on investments in children's education. By using data from the Census of India (1981, 1991, and 2001) and the India Human Development Survey 2005 (IHDS), this study seeks to capture changes in Indian economic situation for the two decades between 1981 and 2001 and examine the effects of those changes on children's educational attainments in 2005. The results of empirical analysis suggest that changes in the first and second decades have different characteristics in terms of expansion among the non-agricultural sectors. In addition, estimation results imply that the expansion of non-agricultural sectors in the 1990s have had positive effects on investments in girls' education, leading to the alleviation of gender disparity in education. However, it should be noted that such expansion may aggravate income inequality in the future because it adversely affects children from poor households.


This paper evaluates the inter-regional impacts of CAP measures implemented in the rural town of Archanes (Crete, Greece), an area which received considerable EU Agricultural Guarantee and rural development funds during the 1990s. A hybrid, three-area Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) with three groups of households defined by income level is constructed to describe interlinkages between three rural–urban localities, namely the rural area of Archanes, the less-developed, agriculturally dependent, neighbouring rural area of N. Kazantzakis, and the adjacent urban centre of Heraklion. Results are reported on the diffusion patterns of economic impacts generated by three types of CAP measure: farm income support; aids to increased agricultural productivity; aids to economic diversification. These show that the diffusion of policy-induced economic impacts from Archanes is lower than might be expected for a small open local economy, and that benefits leak primarily to Heraklion and marginally to rural N. Kazantzakis. Finally, generated income benefits seem to accrue mostly in favour of high-income households, especially in the case of Guarantee subsidies.


An apparent time dependence of the Hubble constant was deduced from the linear correlation between the recession velocity of galaxies and the traveled distance of their photons under the assumption of the space expansion being homologous. The time dependence of the space expansion velocity at early era implied that the currently used relativistic Doppler equation, invalid for accelerating/deaccelerating reference frames, would lead to inaccurate measurement of the cosmological recession velocity for highly redshifted galaxies/quasars. PACS Nos. 98.80.Es, 98.80.Jk


Next generation accelerators demand sophisticated beam sources to produce ultra-low emittances with large gradients. The subsequent beamline optics are equally critical to transporting these beams between accelerating stages or to interaction points. Capillary discharge plasmas may address each of these challenges. Capillaries have been demonstrated as sources capable of increasing the peak energy and beam quality of laser wakefield accelerators, and as active plasma lenses featuring orders-of-magnitude increases in peak magnetic field. These systems are sensitive to energy deposition, heat transfer, ionization dynamics, and magnetic field penetration; therefore, improved modeling will enable advances in capillary design. We present simulations of capillary discharge waveguides and active plasma lenses in using FLASH, a publicly-available multi-physics code in development at the University of Chicago. We report on the implementation of a 2D, cylindrically symmetric capillary model for capturing plasma density and temperature evolution with realistic conductivities and magnetic fields. We then illustrate the use of laser energy deposition to model low density channel formation for the matching and guiding of intense laser pulses. Lastly, we discuss simulations of active capillary plasmas with different fill species, which show agreement with experimental observations of nonlinearities in the current density profile and magnetic field.


Metronidazole combined with dehydroemetine cured 13 of 15 children with amoebic liver abscess. An alternative combination of niridazole with dehydroemetine produced cure in 13 of 14 children. No relapses were observed. Electrocardiographic changes were noted in 2 of the first group and in 5 of those who received the second regimen. The results are similar to those obtained with emetine preparations combined with chloroquine. Either metronidazole or niridazole are effective substitutes for chloroquine and of these preparations metronidazole is preferred.


A total of 295 children (127 White boys, 15 Black boys, 133 White girls, and 20 Black girls) participated in reactivity examinations in 1987 (all were in 3rd grade; age, M = 9.1 years), 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1993 (all were in 9th grade; age, M = 15.1 years). An analysis of residualized reactivity change values indicated consistent and significant ethnicity effects (Blacks greater than Whites) for systolic and diastolic blood pressure and for heart rate. Gender effects were also apparent for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (boys greater than girls). These data suggest that the transition from childhood to adolescence is associated with a significant pattern of ethnic differences in reactivity, although the association of this pattern with the development of cardiovascular risk and disease remains to be ascertained.


AbstractAmoeboid microglial cells (AMC) in the developing brain are active macrophages. The macrophagic nature of these cells has been demonstrated by many methods, such as the localization of various hydrolytic enzymes and the presence of complement type 3 surface receptors in them. More importantly is the direct visualization of these cells engaged in the phagocytosis of degenerating cells at the ultrastructural level. Further evidence of them being active macrophages is the avid internalization of tracers administered by the intravenous or intraperitoneal routes in developing rats. The potential involvement of AMC in immune functions is supported by the induced expression of major histocompatibility complex class I and II antigens on them when challenged by lipopolysaccharide or interferon-γ. Immunosuppressive drugs, such as glucocorticoids and immune function-enhancing drugs like melatonin, affect the expression of surface receptors and antigens and the release of cytokines by AMC. Recent studies in our laboratory have shown the expression of insulin-like growth factors, endothelins, 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase, and N-methyl-D-asparate receptors. This along with the release of chemokines, such as stromal derived factor-1a and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, suggests multiple functional roles of AMC in early brain development.


Asan wetland is a rich, diverse and a well notified conservation reserve for sustaining a large migratory avian diversity. Migratory birds are an important biotic component of the wetland ecosystem as they occupy several trophic levels in the food web of wetland. Habitat ecological study of migratory and local birds in Asan wetland has been done during the winter season. The Asan wetland provides an optimum suitability of natural habitats for breeding, roosting, feeding etc. to rich repository migratory avifaunal population and supports them for their annual migratory behaviour. The 21 migratory species in different flocks from four zones of wetland were observed during the study period. The maximum number of flocks were recorded in morning in Zone I but the high abundance was observed in Zone IV. Mostly the birds are carnivorous and feed mainly on Insects, Zooplanktons, Crustaceans, Water bugs, flies etc. The wetland is quite rich in nutrients and contributed significantly to enhancement of ecosystem productivity as a distinct food web cycle provides a substantial food spectrum to the avian fauna. The ecological characteristics of wetland were studied as dissolved oxygen in the range of (5.6-7.2 mg/l), Sulphate (1.321.36 mg/l), Calcium (24.17-25.43mg/l), Magnesium (12.83-13.27mg/l). The nitrate (0.29 mg/l -0.33 mg/l) and the phosphate (0.659-0.76 mg/l ) were recorded in all zones. The nitrate and phosphate are the limiting factor to denote the present trophic status of wetland in relation to productivity and status of species richness of biotic communities. The present study revealed that the availability of nutrients in wetland play a significant role in the selection of particular ecological niche by the migratory avifauna.


The impact of the type of vascular access on the outcomes in the elderly haemodialysis patients is still unclear. The goal of the present study was to compare survival outcomes in elderly haemodialysis patients who received either arteriovenous graft (AVG) or arteriovenous fistula (AVF). A systematic literature search was performed in EMBASE, Cochrane, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases for papers published from January 1954 until January 2022. Risk of bias in the selected publications was assessed by Newcastle Ottawa scale or Cochrane risk of bias tool depending on the study design. Meta-analysis was carried out using the random-effects model. Data were reported as pooled odds ratio (OR) or hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). A total of 12 studies were included in the analysis. The majority of the studies had poor quality. Elderly patients receiving AVG had significantly worse survival rate compared with patients that received AVF for the haemodialysis access, with a pooled HR of 1.38 (95% CI, 1.24-1.53; I2=79.9%). Pooled HR for access survival was 1.60 (95% CI, 1.54-1.66; I2=0%). Pooled OR for primary patency rate, maturation failure and infections were 1.81 (95% CI, 0.73-4.49; I2=79.2%), 0.33 (95% CI, 0.12-0.91; I2=70.4%) and 9.74 (95% CI, 2.60-36.49; I2=52.4%), respectively. These results suggested that in elderly patients undergoing haemodialysis, AVG was associated with reduced overall survival and access survival, and higher infection rate, compared with AVF. Notably, AVG was also associated with a lower risk of maturation failure, presenting a potential advantage in specific patient populations (study registration: PROSPERO, no. CRD42022313199).


The structures and stabilities of three RNA duplexes that differed only in the position of 5-fluorouridine (FUrd) substitution were elucidated using NMR spectroscopy and UV hyperchromicity studies to determine if FUrd substitution altered the structure or stability of RNA duplexes that contained G-U base pairs. The duplexes investigated corresponded to the region of the U4-U6 snRNA complex that contained the 5' terminus of U4 snRNA. The control duplex contained a G-U wobble base pair and also a G-A mismatched base pair. FUrd was substituted in one duplex at the G-U wobble base pair and in the second duplex at an A-U base pair adjacent to the wobble base pair. FUrd substitution slightly destabilized the duplex that contained a G-FU base pair but stabilized the duplex that contained an A-FU base pair. NOESY spectra were used to determine interproton distances, and these distance constraints were used in a restrained molecular dynamics protocol to determine the three-dimensional structures of these RNA duplexes. Analyses of helical parameters, backbone torsion angles, and rms deviations between the final structures revealed no systematic differences due to FUrd substitution in RNA duplexes that contained G-U base pairs. The G-FU base pair adopted wobble geometry, while the G-A mismatch formed a sheared base pair. NOESY spectra in H2O solution revealed the imino 1H from FUrd exchanged more rapidly with solvent than did the Urd imino 1H but did not show the G-FU base pair adopted an ionized structure. Reduced stacking occurred for the G-FU base pair relative to the G-U base pair in the time-averaged structure, and this, rather than ionization of the base pair, was responsible for the slight destabilization of the duplex that contained the G-FU base pair.


Young male obese mice and their lean litter mates (strain ob/ob) were compared. Serum cholesterol levels were higher in obese than in lean animals. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity was lower in brown adipose tissue and liver of obese mice than in tissue from their lean litter mates. However, activity of this enzyme was found to be the same or higher in white adipose tissue of obese animals than in their lean litter mates. During complete starvation, blood cholesterol levels in obese mice decreased and attained the lower level of lean ones after 48 h. After 24 h of starvation, enzyme activity decreased in white fat of obese mice only. Simple calculations indicate that white fat from obese mice produces about fourfold more cholesterol per day per unit body weight than does the same tissue from lean mice.


The process of peacemaking in Aceh is based on the acceptance of the peace agreement signed by the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki on August 15, 2005. While the signing of the peace agreement were mainly determined by the negotiations between the two sides, the establishment of the Aeh Governance Law is entirely a different political process in the Indonesian parliament. The contestation of political and economic interests among political parties in the deliberative process of the law is inevitable. Thus, the content of the law should be seen as the result of a political compromise. Aceh's transition from the current negative peace into positive peace will depend on the implementation of this law and the continous transformation of social and economic conditions in Aceh in the post-conflict period. In the final analysis, it is the political elite of Aceh themselves who will determine the success of the peacebuilding.


Objective: The purpose of this study was to define risk factors and their predictive value for hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Methods: A total of 246 patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis were included. Subjects were divided into HRS and non-HRS groups according to the presence or absence of concurrent HRS or not. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics or various biochemical parameters were compared between both groups, including gender age etiology and international normalized ratio (INR) level, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartateaminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), potassium ion (K+), chloride ion (Cl ),sodium ion (Na+), Calcium (Ca2+) urea, nitrogen(BUN), total bilirubin (TBil), albumin (Alb), prothrombin time (PT), uric acid (UA), creatinine (Scr) and CysC. Results: The levels of CysC ,Scr,AST, ALP and Na+ were statistically significant between two groups (P 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that CysC,Scr,AST,ALP and Na+ were the significant factors for predicting the occurrence of HRS. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that CysC and Scr were independent risk factors affecting HRS.The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of CysC, Scr and BUN were 0.756, 0.673 and 0.661, respectively. Conclusion: CysC and Scr seem to be independent risk factors for the development of HRS.While CysC shows better clinical predictive value for patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis complicated with HRS when comparing with Scr and BUN.


Co-salient object detection (CoSOD) is a newly emerging and rapidly growing branch of salient object detection (SOD), which aims to detect the co-occurring salient objects in multiple images. However, existing CoSOD datasets often have a serious data bias, which assumes that each group of images contains salient objects of similar visual appearances. This bias results in the ideal settings and the effectiveness of the models, trained on existing datasets, may be impaired in real-life situations, where the similarity is usually semantic or conceptual. To tackle this issue, we first collect a new high-quality dataset, named CoSOD3k, which contains 3,316 images divided into 160 groups with multiple level annotations, i.e., category, bounding box, object, and instance levels. CoSOD3k makes a significant leap in terms of diversity, difficulty and scalability, benefiting related vision tasks. Besides, we comprehensively summarize 34 cutting-edge algorithms, benchmarking 19 of them over four existing CoSOD datasets (MSRC, iCoSeg, Image Pair and CoSal2015) and our CoSOD3k with a total of ∼61K images (largest scale), and reporting group-level performance analysis. Finally, we discuss the challenge and future work of CoSOD. Our study would give a strong boost to growth in the CoSOD community. Benchmark toolbox and results are available on our project page.


The northern coast of Central Java Province – Indonesia is considered as the critical area of flood path. The area always suffers from flood due to heavy rainfall and/or sea level rise. As the consequence, people are suffering, properties are damaged and lost. A number of efforts have been carried out to manage the flood problem, although the achievement is incomplete. It is realized that infrastructures capacity for flood control, community awareness, and other multi-factors significantly contribute in solving the flood problem. This research aimed to outline the strategies of flood adaptation and mitigation. Quantitative and qualitative method ware employed to analyze the data. The results of this study indicated that the level of vulnerability the Central Java to flood was in the medium category. The exposure and adaptive capacity variables were significantly contributed in determining the vulnerability level. Flood adaptation can be carried through anticipation and reactive adaptation, in which each type could be practiced by public and private. Flood mitigation can be carried out through structural, non-structural and community roles.


The present investigation was undertaken to determine if a candidate live vaccine virus, influenza A/Hong Kong/68-ts-1 [E] (H3N2), induced heterologous interference against an interferon-sensitive, wild-type, parainfluenza type 1 challenge virus. The parainfluenza virus was administered 7 days after Hong Kong/68-ts-1 [E] virus infection. The clinical response, daily quantitative virus shedding, interferon production, and serum and nasal wash antibody responses were determined in an experimental group (influenza A virus followed by parainfluenza virus) and 10 volunteers in a control group (parainfluenza virus only). The volunteers were selected on the basis of susceptibility to the two viruses, i.e. serum hemagglutination-inhibition antibody titer of is less than or greater to 1:8 for influenza virus and low nasal wash antibody titer (is less than or greater to 1:8) for parainfluenza virus. Despite a 100% infection rate in the Hong Kong/68-ts-1 [E] vaccinees, no heterologous interference was induced against the parainfluenza type 1 virus challenge.


The homogeneous reactions of carbonyl sulfide (COS) with OH and oxygen radicals have been studied thoroughly. However, the heterogeneous chemical processes involving COS and atmospheric particles are still not well understood. The reactivity of COS with atmospheric mineral oxides such as A12O3, CaO, SiO2, Fe2O3 and MnO2 has been explored. The gaseous and solid products of the reaction were identified by in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy respectively. The mechanism and kinetics of the heterogeneous reaction are also discussed in detail. The results showed that COS can be catalytically oxidized on the surfaces of different atmospheric mineral oxides with the products of CO2, S and SO42−. The reactivity of the oxides with COS differs widely. A12O3 exhibits excellent reactivity, and Fe2O3 is inferior to it. CaO shows weak reactivity, while SiO2 and MnO2 nearly have no activity for the oxidation of COS. The absorbed oxygen and hydroxyls on the surfaces of the oxides are the main active sites in the conversion of COS. When O2 in the experimental system was much excessive, the catalytic oxidation on the surface of A12O3 is a pseudo first order reaction with respect to COS. The acidity of A12O3 influences the reactivity significantly. The rate constants of the catalytic oxidation of COS on the surface of basic, neutral and acidic A12O3 are respectively 1.51×10−4, 9.81×10−5 and 3.06×10−66 s−1.


Excessive bacteria and nutrient malabsorption are the two major events need to clarify small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Clinically, SIBO is defined as a condition with the existence of > 106 colony-forming units (CFU) bacteria in the human intestine. It is the only generally accepted criteria to diagnose the SIBO in clinical practice. The main problem is that several clinical disorders are happening in patients with SIBO; thus actual discrimination will be relatively difficult. Exploration of the current status of SIBO management and suggesting rifaximin as a main clinical target is our optimal goal. Although the quality of performed randomized clinical trials needs to be re-evaluated, rifaximin seems the only suitable option for treatment of SIBO. Undoubtedly, new treatment should include the correction of ongoing small intestinal microflora with proper antibiotic therapy. Personalized medicine is another option that should be studied thoroughly before entering the area of SIBO treating using proton pump inhibitors. Finally, we have to focus on the available option to have better management of patients with SIBO.


Two dimensional velocity fields have been an important tool for nearly 30 years and are instrumental in understanding galactic mass distributions and deviations from an ideal galactic disk. Recently a number of new instruments have started to produce more detailed velocity fields of the disks and nuclear regions of galaxies. This paper summarizes some of the underlying techniques for constructing velocity fields and deriving rotation curves. It also urges to simulate observations from the data-cube stage to reject subtle biases in derived quantities such as rotation curves.


In this paper, we review those pathologic entities that may mimic papillary thyroid carcinoma. These include specimen preparation and handling issues such as decalcification, frozen section, and artifacts occurring following fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Also discussed are true disease entities, including chronic lymphocytic thyroidits, benign papillary hyperplastic lesions, hyalinizing trabecular neoplasm, and post-FNA changes. Both the cytologic and histopathologic preparations containing these changes are reviewed and illustrated; guidelines for distinctions among these entities are provided.


During the past several years, the Jurassic Norphlet formation in offshore Alabama has been the focus of active exploration and development operations. Since the 1979 discovery of deep gas [greater than 6096 m (20 000 ft)] in Norphlet sandstones which contain estimated reserves of several trillion cubic feet, six Norphlet fields have been established in Alabama state waters and an additional six fields have been established in Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters in offshore Alabama.We describe, using seismic data, the structural style associated with the Norphlet formation in offshore Alabama. More than 563 line-kilometers (350 line-miles) of multifold common-depth-point (CDP) seismic reflection data in Mobile Bay and offshore Alabama have been analyzed, interpreted, and mapped. The Lower Mobile Bay-Mary Ann natural gas field provides an excellent seismic case study for the structural style in the deep Norphlet play. The field may be used as a geophysical exploration model for other Jurassic structures in offshore Alabama and the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico. Interpretation of the seismic data and maps indicates that Norphlet structures in offshore Alabama are predominantly east-west trending, low-relief, broad, elongate anticlines. The Lower Mobile Bay fault trend associated with the anticlines consists of pull-apart, listric, normal faults characteristic of salt-detachment structures. Many of these faults exhibit small-scale growth. Salt thickness ostensibly increases from Mobile Bay to offshore Alabama and is exemplified by the development of a sequence of various structures typically associated with basinward increase of salt.Offshore Alabama structures may be classified as early horizontal phase or pillow-stage features. Strata above the Haynesville seismic marker appear to be relatively flat, indicating early salt movement in the area. Small downbends associated with salt withdrawal exhibit thickening in the Haynesville-Smackover section and are further complicated by normal faulting. The preponderance of the data suggests that the structures containing the large gas accumulations in the Norphlet formation in offshore Alabama are the result of salt tectonism.


Ultrasonically guided transvaginal or transabdominal puncture of an endometrial cyst with a transvaginal or transabdominal sector probe was done safely and correctly. In 7 endometrial cysts in 5 patients, we aspirated the contents, flushed with saline solution and cleaned the interior cysts. At last 99.9% ethanol was infused into 6 cysts for 30 minutes. In all cases puncture of the endometrial cyst was successful and the contents of the endometrial cyst were collected. There were no major side effect and no recurrence of endometrial cyst. It was proven that the aspiration of contents and infusion of ethanol were superior methods for treating endometrial cysts.


All producing wells experience reservoir pressure depletion which will ultimately cause production to cease. However, the accumulation of wellbore liquid known as liquid loading can reduce production at a faster rate bringing forward the end of well life. In theory, there are many works written on liquid loading in unconventional wells however, these assumptions are challenged when implemented in the field. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between empirical and mechanistic methods used to determine liquid loading critical rates for volatile oil and gas condensate wells, improving liquid loading forecast workflow for future wells.
 The study was carried on a wide Pressure, Volume, and Temperature (PVT) window with varying compositions ranging from gas condensate to volatile oils. Wells with liquid loading exhibit sharp drops and fluctuations in production. Due to the wide variation in composition however, correlations used must be varied whilst accounting for both composition and horizontal configuration of the well. Using Nodal Analysis methods, Inflow Performance
 Relationships (IPR) and Vertical Lift Profile (VLP) curves were created from different correlation models fitted for multiple wells selected for this study to optimize well performance. By combining theoretical analysis and field practices for estimating liquid loading critical rate, the appropriate workflow was determined for the volatile oil and gas condensate wells.
 When comparing the critical rate for liquid loading calculated from theoretical methods against actual rates seen in the field, an inconsistency was observed between the two values for several wells. By establishing a relationship between field estimate and theoretical calculations, liquid loading was forecasted with greater certainty for varying PVT windows. When the liquid loading rate is determined earlier on, the production efficiency can be improved by deploying unloading measures, increasing the well's producing life, and ultimately alleviating economic losses. By investigating, we were able to establish a suitable process to predict liquid loading critical rates for volatile oil and gas condensate wells. This workflow can be utilized by production engineers to arrange for liquid loading mitigation increasing well life and improving well economics.


The present investigation was carried out to study the effect of stabilized rice bran oil (SRBO) on hypocholesterolemic activity of experimental rats, and also the effect of feeding with stabilization rice bran oil (SRBO) and blend oil on the growth and lipid parameters of serum and liver of rats. Fatty acids composition and unsaponifiable matter of stabilization rice bran oil and blend oil were determined, Results showed that, stabilization rice bran oil had a higher content of saturated fatty acids (SFA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than that of blend oil. stabilization Rice bran oil contained relatively higher concentration of compesterol, stigmasterol, -sitoisterol, cycloartanol, cycloartenol 24-Methylene cycloartanol and oryzanol compared to the blend oil. The serum total and LDL-cholesterol level of rats that maintained on stabilization rice bran oil diet was significantly lower than those fed on blend oil diet. HDL-cholesterol showed a tendency to be higher. Liver lipids of rats fed on stabilization rice bran oil were also markedly lower than their blend oil fed counterparts. Finally, it can be concluded that, using stabilization rice bran oil had the pronounced effects for lowering cholesterol levels of the blood in experimental rats. The cholesterol lowering ability stabilization of rice bran oil appears to be due to unsaponifiable matter and a higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids.


As the business environment moves into the electronic age, more entrepreneurs, owner-managers and business executives are now communicating in cyberspace to exchange and access business information, and also to do business. In fact, small firms play a major role in e-commerce. Academic and policy researchers, government officials and business practitioners, like most other professionals, are being challenged by the information superhighway to change their research approaches and information solicitation behaviour. This regular feature of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 'Internet Review', concentrates on Internet resources that are available to those interested in research on entrepreneurship, small firms and innovation in an international context.


The chemical constituents of Plantaginis Semen with hypoglycemic effect was investigated in this paper. The previous results of the in vivo hypoglycemic effect showed that 60% ethanol extract of Plantaginis Semen decreased the levels of FBG and improved the glucose tolerance in high fat diet(HFD)-induced diabetic C57BL/6 mice. Then, in the present study, the above potential bioactive extract was separated and purified by silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, medium pressure liquid chromatography(MPLC)and preparative HPLC. The structures of isolated compounds were identified by physicochemical properties and spectral analyses. Eight compounds were obtained and identified as 4, 4a, 5, 7a-tetrahydro-7-(hydroxymethyl)cyclopenta[c]pyran-3(1H)-one(1), iridolactone(2), pedicularislacton(3), rehmaglutin C(4), geniposidic acid(5), p-hydroxylphenylglycerol(6), 1, 2-benzenediol-4-(2-hydroxyethyl)(7), and 3-buten-2-one-4-[3-(β-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-4-hydroxyphenyl](8). Among them, compounds 1-5 were iridoids, and 6-8 were phenolic acids. Compound 1 was a new natural product, and compounds 2-4, 6 and 8 were isolated from the Plantaginaceae family for the first time.


BACKGROUND: Urinothorax is defined as the presence of urine in the pleural cavity. This condition is due to the leakage of urine from the peritoneal and retroperitoneal space into the pleural space. We report a case of urinothorax after total abdominal hysterectomy. CASE: A premenopausal woman underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and left salpingo-oophorectomy for pelvic pain, requiring extensive dissection. Her postoperative course was complicated by right urinothorax, which was diagnosed after a diagnostic thoracocentesis and resolved after a therapeutic thoracocentesis and the repair of the urinary bladder rent. CONCLUSION: Urinothorax can occur in cases of undiagnosed urinary tract injury. It presents as postoperative shortness of breath and pleural effusion and should be considered in the differential diagnosis.


In this paper, we report a new label-free method for the imaging of immobilized oligonucleotide probes on DNA microarrays. The imaging principle is based on the disruption of orientations of nematic liquid crystals (LCs), 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), by the immobilized oligonucleotides on a surface. Because LCs are birefringent materials, disruption of their orientations by the immobilized oligonucleotides can manifest as optical signals visible to the naked eye. LC cells with two homeotropic boundary conditions, which align 5CB perpendicularly to both surfaces, were developed to deliver a distinct contrast between a dark background and a bright image caused by the immobilized oligonucleotides. This design also allows the quantification of immobilized oligonucleotide concentrations through the interference colors of LCs. The LC-based imaging method has a good signal-to-noise ratio and a clear distinction between positive and negative results and is nondestructive to the immobilized oligonucleotides. These advantages make it a promising means of assessing the quality of DNA microarrays.


A safety assessment for wave energy converters (WECs) in model scale is necessary before a demonstration test. WECs have various control conditions such as a maintenance and power generation mode etc. Although the safety assessment is required to carry out while considering the control conditions, the motion and load characteristics of the moored WEC to which applies various control conditions remains unclear. This study investigated the motion and load characteristics of the WEC including a mooring system when each control conditions was used. In experiments, the motion and load characteristics of the WEC without control were revealed. In the simulation, the motion and load characteristics were compared between two control methods which are the resistive loading control (RLC) and the approximate complex-conjugate control with considering the copper loss (ACL). The control methods have little effects on the surging, pitching and bending moment of the WEC. Mooring tension increased with increasing wave period when the RLC was used. When the ACL was applied, mooring tension reached the peak value near the natural period and decreased with increasing the wave period. The difference in the trends leads to that the control method maximizing mooring tension is not necessarily the same in each wave period. The select of the operating condition based on the wave period is required when the mooring tension of the WEC is assessed in the model-scale test stage.


We corrected the sign error in applying the Scattering Bethe Ansatz on the Interacting Resonance Level Model and added some comments.


Traditional batch job schedulers are a poor fit for a grid computing environment. In order to respond to the grid scheduling challenges, the client must perform planning. In this paper, we expound upon the differences between planning versus scheduling, and present two grid projects which utilize a ClassAd matchmaking framework to enable planning on the grid. Planning for purposes of job placement within the EU DataGrid and DZero SAMGrid projects will be explored.


ABSTRACT How does the structure of the peer review process, which can vary among journals, influence the quality of papers published in a journal? This article studies multiple systems of peer review using computational simulation. I find that, under any of the systems I study, a majority of accepted papers are evaluated by an average reader as not meeting the standards of the journal. Moreover, all systems allow random chance to play a strong role in the acceptance decision. Heterogeneous reviewer and reader standards for scientific quality drive both results. A peer review system with an active editor—that is, one who uses desk rejection before review and does not rely strictly on reviewer votes to make decisions—can mitigate some of these effects.


http://journals.cambridge.org/ags The Journal of Agricultural Science publishes papers concerned with the advance of agriculture and the use of land resources throughout the world. It publishes original scientific work related to strategic and applied studies in all aspects of agricultural science, including: crop and animal physiology, modelling of crop and animal systems, the scientific underpinning of agronomy and husbandry, engineering solutions, decision support systems, land use, environmental impacts of agriculture and forestry, impacts of climate change, rural biodiversity, experimental design and statistical analysis, the application of new analytical and study methods (including molecular studies). The journal also publishes book reviews and letters. To subscribe contact Customer Services


The triad of hemolytic anemia, pancytopenia, and thrombosis makes paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) a truly unique clinical syndrome. Intravascular hemolysis in PNH can lead to a severe hemolytic episode with massive hemoglobinuria which can cause acute kidney injury (AKI) probably from acute tubular necrosis (ATN). A 15 -year-old girl was admitted with history of fever, diarrhea, vomiting followed by decreased urine output since 3 days. Urinalysis showed nil protein, no red blood cells (RBCs) on microscopy. Plasma hemoglobin level, total leukocyte count, platelet count, and serum creatinine were 6.5 gm/dl, 6440/μl, 205 000/μl, and 3.1 mg/dl, respectively. She received 3 units of packed red blood cells and the patient was discharged with normal renal function test with a diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis with recovered AKI. After 8 months she again had fever, vomiting, nausea with decreased urine output since 3 days. Laboratory investigations showed hemoglobin - 5.5 gm/dl, total leukocyte count - 1550/ μl, platelet count - 165000/μl, and serum creatinine - 4.89 mg/dl. Serum LDH level was 2188 U/l. She was managed conservatively with steroids, antibiotics and she recovered her kidney functions to normal in a week. Presentation of repeated AKI with hemolytic anemia in a short span after fever led us to perform flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood granulocytes which revealed the presence of PNH clone. PNH may present with renal disease and anemia only even without classical history of hematuria or venous thrombosis. Thus it needs high index of suspicion as early diagnosis and treatment will help in preventing repeated episodes of AKI and thus chronic kidney disease.


In couples counseling it can be challenging to find ways to engage partners in being more receptive to each other's needs, and in helping them learn more efficient ways of conflict resolution. Through use of a case study, a structured, and yet flexible way of leading client dialogue will be demonstrated, showing how the counselor can make sense of the chaos to then facilitate and promote mutual understanding and receptiveness between partners in conflict.The theoretical basis of this approach to conflict resolution is described, one grounded in the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. Concepts such as social embeddedness and the need to feel belonging, inferiority feelings, and the individual's psychological movement away from feelings of inferiority are addressed from the perspective of couples relationships.The approach described provides a technique for uncovering and negotiating the power struggles intrinsic to couple's conflicts, and shows how partners can find the courage to relate to the other in a way that meets their personal needs, the needs of the other, and the needs of the relationship.


In recent years, the notion of entrepreneurship has gained increased attention
in the academic and business circuits, emphasizing the impact of entrepreneurial
activity associated with innovation, value generation, and breaking through barriers,
whilst putting forward products and services today's generations could not imagine
living without. One set of industries, where such entrepreneurial qualities are mirrored
are those in close connection to cultural and artistic activity. It is therefore not
surprising that entrepreneurial research's focus has been increasingly concerned with
the commerce of culture. Aside such growing interest, the literary efforts concerning
individual players within the cultural industries, especially the fashion industry, have
been scarce. This thesis therefore aims to fill this literary gap while examining the
empirical relationship between fashion entrepreneurs' personal characteristics,
educational background, field of study, relevant industry experience, and previous
entrepreneurial experience, and the impact of these competencies on the performance
of their respective startups. The results of this study, carried out on a sample of 219
global fashion startups, founded by a single entrepreneur between 2014 and 2015
indicate a significant, positive relationship between previous entrepreneurial
experience and startup performance. Aside its contribution to our extended
understanding on fashion enterprises and the fashion entrepreneur, the current study
thus sheds light on the importance of future research regarding entrepreneurial
characteristics and competencies in the fashion industry and their relation to startup
performance.


A 52 year old right handed man presented with medically intractable partial seizures consisting of numbness on the left upper back spreading to the left upper as well as lower limbs. Head computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed a round calcified lesion in the depth of the superior ramus of the right sylvian fissure. Ictal electrocorticographic recording with chronically implanted subdural electrodes showed low voltage fast activities starting exclusively from an electrode located on the right inferior parietal lobule. No apparent ictal activities were observed from the depth electrodes inserted in the parietal operculum. Somatosensory evoked potentials of 75 ms to 145 ms latency were recorded from the ictal onset zone, which was 2 cm caudal to the perisylvian area corresponding to the second somatosensory area. Seizures arising from the inferior parietal lobule including the angular and supuramarginal gyri can produce partial seizures whose ictal semiology and scalp electroencephalography are indistinguishable from the ones originating from the second somatosensory area.


A multiplex PCR assay was developed for the simultaneous detection of the etiologic agents associated with porcine proliferative enteropathies (PPE), swine dysentery (SD) and porcine salmonellosis (PS) in a single reaction using DNA from swine intestinal samples. Single and multiplex PCR amplification of DNA from Lawsonia intracellularis, Salmonella typhimurium and Brachyspira hyodysenteriae with each primer set produced fragments of the predicted size without any nonspecific amplification, 210-bp, 298-bp and 403-bp bands, respectively. The single PCR assay could detect as little as 100 pg of purified DNA of S. typhimurium and L. intracellularis, and 50 pg of B. hyodysenteriae, respectively. However, multiplex PCR turned out to be 10 times lower sensitivity with S. typhimurium compared with single PCR. With 23 swine intestinal specimens suspected of having PPE, SD and/or PS, the multiplex PCR assay showed identical results with conventional methods except one. In conclusion, this multiplex PCR is a feasible alternative to standard diagnostic methods for detection of L. intracellularis, B. hyodysenteriae and Salmonella spp. from swine intestinal specimens.


The laboratory part of a chemistry courses is considered essential by most chemistry instructors, yet few instructors attempt to assess the laboratory learning with anything other than written lab reports. At best lab reports may only provide feedback on students observational skills, communication skills, and their ability to follow directions, skills that students should have, but are hardly the essence of laboratory training. Those instructors that do attempt to assess students laboratory skills often do so with paper and pencil exams.


An implementation approach for wide-bandwidth digital quadrature demodulators intended for high performance radar and electronic warfare applications is presented. An overview of design tradeoffs made to reduce the data processing rate and cost are given, as are architectural considerations specific to FPGA implementation of digital filtering operations. A design example for processing input signals having an intermediate frequency of 160 MHz and a bandwidth of /spl sim/45 MHz is presented. This performance is achieved with a low-cost Xilinx 4000E series FPGA with a -3 speed grade. A very high internal resource utilization of 83% was attained while meeting stringent timing requirements via the use of computationally efficient signal processing algorithms, thorough logic optimization, and careful mapping of signal processing algorithms to hardware. Simulation results obtained for faster FPGA families and speed grades indicate that a doubling in the processing rate could be reached with few design modifications.