We present a measurement protocol for discriminating between two different quantum states of a qubit with high fidelity. The protocol, called null value, is comprised of a projective measurement performed on the system with a small probability (also known as partial collapse), followed by a tuned postselection. We report on an optical experimental implementation of the scheme. We show that our protocol leads to an amplified signal-to-noise ratio (as compared with a straightforward strong measurement) when discerning between the two quantum states.


The norepinephrine (NE) content in discrete brain areas and the vasopressin content in the neurohypophysial system were assessed in rats after a 9-d spaceflight and after a recovery period (9 d). The NE content in the locus coeruleus decreased significantly in spaceflight rats (2.9 +/- 0.3 vs. 8.9 +/- 0.7 pmol.structure-1 for control rats, p < 0.001), but showed no difference between control and flight animals after a 9-d recovery. These findings were probably due to an acute stress undergone during landing. The NE content was unchanged in the A2 and A5 cell groups. In rats flown aboard SLS-1, the vasopressin content was increased in the posterior pituitary (1.47 +/- 0.1 vs. 0.86 +/- 0.1 micrograms.structure-1, for control rats, p < 0.01), and was significantly decreased in the hypothalamus (8.95 +/- 2.0 vs. 17.6 +/- 2.2 ng.structure-1, for control rats, p < 0.05). We conclude that the NE depletion in the locus coeruleus and the alteration in vasopressin release were consistent with an acute stress, likely occurring during and/or after landing. These changes tend to mask the actual neuroendocrine modifications caused by microgravity.


Objective The mean platelet volume/platelet count (MPV/PC) ratio is an emerging biomarker in selected types of cancer. The objective of this study is to analyze the association of MPV/PC ratio with progression and survival in glioblastoma (GB) patients, with consideration of patient demographics, tumor morphology, extent of resection, molecular pathology, and oncological therapy. Methods One hundred ninety-one patients with newly diagnosed GB were analyzed retrospectively. MPV/PC ratio groups (≤ or >0.0575) were dichotomized into low-MPV/PC ratio (≤0.0575) and high-MPV/PC ratio (>0.0575) groups according to the most significant split in the log-rank test. Results A two-sided Fisher's exact test showed no significant differences in the confounders between the low- and high-MPV/PC ratio groups. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 9.0 months (95% CI=8.0–10.0) in the low-MPV/PC ratio group (n=164) and 6.0 months (95% CI=3.0–8.9) in the high-MPV/PC group (n=28) (p=0.013). Multivariate Cox regression analysis including the O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) status, age (≤/>65 years), baseline Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), and MPV/PC ratio showed high-MPV/PC ratio as a predictor of progression (p =0.04, HR=1.61, 95% CI=1.01–2.57). In the subgroup of IDH1 wild-type GBs, high MPV/PC ratio was still a significant predictor for shortened PFS (p=0.042, HR=1.60, 95% CI=1.02–2.52). MPV/PC ratio showed no significant effect in the overall survival (OS) analysis. Median OS was 15.0 months in the high-MPV/PC ratio group and 21.0 months in the low-MPV/PC ratio group (p=0.22). Conclusion MPV/PC ratio may independently predict the progression-free survival rates of patients with glioblastoma multiforme.


Tumor necrosis factor-ƒ? (TNF-ƒ?) and interleukin-1ƒA (IL-1ƒA) are the endogenous pyrogens which mediate fever in malaria. The excessive production of TNF-ƒ? is associated with pathology of human malaria. The nature and properties of malaria antigens, which stimulate monocyte to secrete these cytokines were studied in vitro using human monocytic cell line THP-1. THP-1 cells produced the cytokines in response to Plasmodium falciparum malaria antigens similar to the response of peripheral blood monocytes. Malaria parasite components of infected erythrocytes and their culture supernatant were separately analyzed. Soluble and insoluble components of the infected erythrocytes and their culture supernatant stimulated cytokine production by THP-1 cells. Acid, base and pronase treatments of malaria culture supernatant greatly reduced the cytokine inducing activity, suggesting that both glycolipid and protein components are essential for cell stimulation. Considering the ultrafiltration results together, we assume that a complex of glycolipid and protein stimulates host cells to induce cytokine secretion. Application of Triton X-114 solubilization and phase separation procedures to the infected erythrocytes revealed that the membrane-free hemozoin pellet did not have any stimulation activity, whereas the hydrophobic components seemed to contribute to TNF-ƒ?and IL-1ƒA production.


This article is about the evolution of the concept of civil society which has been taking place in response to the changing socio-political context. This process can be observed from two different perspectives. On the one hand, the concept is clearly contextual-it is always embedded in the problems of particular times and particular societies. On the other hand, the observed changes have a common vector. This can be seen in the parallel vicissitudes of the concept and its designates-social emancipation in modern times has been turbulent and erratic. One of the main advocates of this perspective is Amartya Sen (2002). This perspective also helps us to view contemporary civil societies as located on the aforementioned vector. This article tries to reconstruct it using a taxonomical analysis of aggregated data from the International Social Survey Programme 2004: Citizenship. The diversity of attitudes and patterns of civil activity in contemporary democracies is certainly multidimensional but the main axis is apparently defined by the post-industrial social formation and post-materialistic orientation.


Background Studies have demonstrated a close association between connective tissue diseases (CTDs) and lung cancer (LC). Evidence supports that poor survival may be associated with the presence of CTDs in patients with LC. Methods This retrospective cohort study investigated 29 patients with LC with CTDs, and 116 patients with LC without CTDs were enrolled as case-matched control cohorts. Medical records, therapeutic efficacy of cancer, and outcomes were analyzed. Results The median duration from the diagnosis of CTDs to LC was 17 years. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score for LC-CTD patients was worse than that for matched non-CTD LC patients. The median progression-free survival (mPFS) and overall survival (mOS) of first-line chemotherapy did not differ between patients with lung adenocarcinoma (AC) with and without CTDs. A significant difference was observed in mPFS [4 months vs. 17 months; hazard ratio (HR), 9.987; p = 0.004] and mOS (6 months vs. 35 months; HR, 26.009; p < 0.001) of first-line epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) treatment between patients with AC with and without CTDs. The presence of CTD, sex, ECOG performance status, and tumor-node-metastasis clinical stage were the independent prognostic factors in all patients with non–small cell LC (NSCLC). ECOG performance status was determined to be an independent prognostic factor in patients with LC-CTD. In patients with NSCLC with CTD (n = 26), sex (male) and worse ECOG score were the independent poor prognostic factors. Conclusions CTDs were associated with poor survival in patients with LC. The therapeutic efficacy of first-line EGFR-TKI therapy was significantly worse in patients with lung AC with CTDs than in those without CTDs. ECOG performance status was determined as an independent prognostic factor for patients with LC and CTDs.


Among the various "rare" semi-leptonic decays of B-mesons the B → Kll mode is of special interest. This is because it has the highest branching ratio among all the semi-leptonic B decays within the SM. This channel also provides us with a very large number of possible observables, such as the Forward Backward (FB) asymmetry, lepton polarization asymmetry etc. Of special interest is the zero which the FB asymmetry has in this decay mode. In this work we have studied this zero in the most general model independent framework. email@example.com email@example.com


Background Teaching activity evaluation as a result of students' opinion is a process that has been developing in the Dentist Academic Program for approximately ten years. This kind of evaluation has its formal origin in American and European universities during the 1920´s. Objective To analyze the results of the teacher's performance trends according to the inquiries undertaken by the Dentist Academic Program students of the Universidad del Valle from 2005 to 2007, and to determine if there are significant differences in the teacher's evaluation results according to academic ranks and program formation areas. Method: A descriptive transversal study was carried out, with teaching evaluation questionnaires undertaken by students of the Dentist Academic Program of the Universidad del Valle during 2005 and 2007. Results: A total of 474 teachers were evaluated. The average results during the five semesters evaluated for the teachers were 4.4. It was found that in four of the five semesters analyzed do exist significant differences in the results of the evaluation by the students at the level of teachers' academic ranks. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the results of the students' evaluation for the Academic Program Areas.


The Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) was designed to study diffuse emission from hot gas in the local interstellar cavity in the wavelength range 90-265 Å. Between launch in 2003 January and early 2004, the instrument was operated in narrow-slit mode, achieving a peak spectral resolution of about 1.4 Å FWHM. Observations were carried out preferentially at high Galactic latitudes; weighted by observing time, the mean absolute value of the Galactic latitude for all narrow-slit observations combined is about 45°. The total integration time is about 13.2 Ms (74% day, 26% night). In the context of a standard collisional ionization equilibrium plasma model, the CHIPS data set tight constraints on the emission measure at temperatures between 105.55 and 106.4 K. At 106.0 K, the 95% upper limit on the emission measure is about 0.0004 cm-6 pc for solar-abundance plasma with a foreground neutral hydrogen column of 2 × 1018 cm-2. This constraint, derived primarily from limits on the extreme ultraviolet emission lines of highly ionized iron, is well below the range for the local hot bubble estimated previously from soft X-ray studies. If the pattern of elemental depletion in the hot gas follows that observed in much denser interstellar clouds, the gas-phase abundance of iron, relative to other heavy elements that contribute more to the soft X-ray emission, might be much lower than solar. However, to support the emission measures inferred previously from X-ray data would require depletions much higher than the moderate values reported previously for hot gas. Excluding the He II Lyman lines, which are known to be primarily terrestrial in origin, the brightest feature we find in the integrated spectrum is an Fe IX line at 171.1 Å. The sky-averaged flux of the feature is about 6 photons cm-2 s-1 sr-1, a flux that exceeds the 1 σ shot noise significantly but is comparable to the systematic uncertainty. We find bright 171.1 Å emission (flux greater than 10 photons cm-2 s-1 sr-1 and S/N >2) in about 10% of the observing time. However, these bright observations overwhelmingly select for daytime (96% of 1.3 Ms). Thus, a local rather than interstellar origin for much of the 171.1 Å emission seems likely.


In this paper, we describe the experimental validation of the technique of correction of wavefront aberration in the middle of the laser amplifying chain. This technique allows the correction of the aberrations from the first part of the laser system, and the pre-compensation of the aberrations built in the second part. This approach will allow an effective aberration management in the laser chain, to protect the optical surfaces and optimize performances, and is the only possible approach for multi-petawatt laser system from the technical and economical point of view. This approach is now possible after the introduction of new deformable mirrors with lower static aberrations and higher dynamic than the standard devices.


This study is on the stability re-evaluation of armor stones in saemangum seadike according to recently increased sea-level and frequent high wave incoming and the results are in the following. The field inspection of armor stones in the seadike revealed that damages of armor stones have been caused by higher waves than designed waves and that the reconstruction of armor stones and concrete grouting method have been used as the reinforcement work. The result of numerical simulation of wave channel conducted to estimate the safety weight of armor stones influenced by flows revealed that the safety weight of armor stones in the seadike No.4 was estimated as 5.47 tons by using the Isbash method, which is about 122 % more than 4.49 tons estimated by using Van der Meer method. Therefore, in designing armor stones which can be influenced by high waves such as the case of Saemangum seadike, it is necessary to apply the safety weight method of armor stones, based on the Isbash method, which produced the significant figures among the safety weight methods using flows as well as the safety weight method using high waves based on the Hudson method.


The potential of the folic acid biosynthesis pathway as a target for the development of antibiotics has been acknowledged for many years and validated by the clinical use of several drugs. Recently, the crystal structures of all but one of the enzymes in the pathway from GTP to dihydrofolate have been determined. Given that structure-based drug design strategies are now widely employed, these recent developments have prompted a re-evaluation of the potential of each of the enzymes in the pathway as a target for development of specific inhibitors. Here, we review the current knowledge of the structure and mechanism of each enzyme in the bacterial folic acid biosynthesis pathway from GTP to dihydrofolate and draw conclusions regarding the potential of each enzyme as a target for therapeutic intervention.


Although scholars have long been aware of the crucial roles that gender plays in music, and vice versa, the contributors to this volume are among the first to systematically examine the interactions between the two. This book is also the first to explore the diverse, yet often strikingly similar, musics of the areas bordering the Mediterranean from comparative anthropological perspectives. From Spanish flamenco to Algerian rai, Greek rebetika to Turkish pop music, Sephardi and Berber songs to Egyptian belly dancers, the contributors cover an exceedingly wide range of geographic and musical territories. Individual essays examine musical behavior as representation, assertion and sometimes transgression of gender identities; compare men's and women's roles in specific musical practices and their historical evolution; and explore how music and gender relate to such issues as ethnicity, nationality and religion. Anyone studying the musics or culture of the Mediterranean, or more generally the relations between gender and the arts, should welcome this book.


Most nursing models are developed based on Western philosophy. The conceptual model of "human as an embodied spirit" based on Iranian mysticism and wisdom is presented in this article. This conceptual model was developed in 2 phases: first, using a derivation process, the concepts of the model were developed. Next, in a synthesis process, the conceptual model was constructed. Definitions and descriptions of each of the concepts of the model—the constitution of the physical body, the composition of graded soul, knowledge-based interventions, love-based interventions, balance, and harmony—and the relations between these concepts are presented in the article. This model gives equal value to the art and the science of nursing and integrates all dimensions of human being and related health problems in such a way that they can be explained and approached as a continuum. The next step is the testing of this model followed by the development of guidelines for education and practice.


Although rolling back of globalization is feasible, the author contends that techno-economic forces will ensure its further expansion. The world economy will be more integrated tomorrow than today. Increasing number of countries and policy mandarins have begun to see the welfare effects of globalization and the constituency for it much larger than that against it. However, capitalizing from it is a challenge because globalization does entail some downside risks. This paper focuses on macroeconomic challenges emanating from the on-ward march of globalization. In the recent past, it has been observed that several globalizing economies suffered from volatility. Therefore, the author devotes a large part of this research to the vexing issue of volatility and how to manage it.


We analyzed the effect of a single nucleotide polymorphism, g. C3141T in the 3' UTR of Signal transducer and activator of transcription-1 gene (STAT1) on milk production traits in the Holstein Friesian crossbred cattle of Kerala (n = 144) by association analysis and expression study. The population was genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphism using Pag1. Association study using the General Linear Model-Analysis of Variance revealed that none of the yield or composition traits analyzed were significantly differed. The expression profile of STAT1 gene in leucocytes of animals bearing homozygous genotypes was compared by quantitative real time PCR using SYBR green chemistry with and relative expression was not found to be significantly differed. The second stage of the study, the STAT1 mRNA spanning 3213 bp was amplified from leucocytes and sequenced (GenBank: MT459802.1). Two novel SNPs were identified; one synonymous mutation in the coding region (g.A1212G) and the other in the 3'UTR (g.T3042C). The novel SNPs might contribute to STAT1 gene regulation mediated by alternate spicing or binding sites for regulatory molecules. The results reiterate the importance of extensive studies of STAT1 gene variants to substantiate the presence of a quantitative trait loci for dairy traits in the vicinity of STAT1 gene.


Most studies on the perception of style have used whole scenes/entire paintings; in our study, we isolated a single motif (an apple) to reduce or even eliminate the influence of composition, iconography, and other contextual information. In this article, we empirically address two fundamental questions of the existence (Experiment 1) and description (Experiment 2) of style. We chose 48 cut-outs of mostly Western European paintings (15th to 21st century) that showed apples. In Experiment 1, 415 unique participants completed online triplet similarity tasks. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) reached a nonrandom three-dimensional (3D) embedding, showing that participants are able to judge stylistic differences in a systematic way. We also found a strong correlation between creation year and embedding, both a linear correlation with Dimension 2, and a rotational correlation in the first two dimensions. To interpret the embedding further, in Experiment 2, we fitted three color statistics and nine attribute ratings (glossiness, three-dimensionality, convincingness, brush coarseness, etc.) to the 3D perceptual style space. Results showed that Dimension 1 is associated with spatial attributes (Smoothness, Brushstroke coarseness) and Convincingness, Dimension 2 is related to Hue, and Dimension 3 is related to Chroma. The results suggest that texture and color are two important variables for style perception. By isolating the motifs, we could exclude higher levels of information such as composition and context. Interestingly, the results reinforce previous findings using whole scenes, suggesting that style can already be perceived in sometimes very small fragments of paintings.


The European integration process has always since markedly characterized by the increasing incidence of Intra-Industry Trade. This has been theoretically justified on the grounds of the new approaches emerging in international trade literature, based on imperfect competition and differentiated products. In recent years another distinctive economic feature of European Union is the importance gained by the so called 'cultural and creative sectors' , which are often studied and monitored by reports for their great growth potential. We provide here a systematic decomposition of world trade in 'cultural/creative goods' for the year 2009 (using harmonised bilateral flows for some 213 products defined as 'cultural products' by UNESCO, 2009) into three trade types: inter-industry, intra-industry (IIT) in horizontally versus vertically differentiated products. We show that the world trade in cultural goods is significantly characterised by two-way trade of vertically differentiated products. Moreover we specifically focus on the Italian peculiarities in the 'cultural trade' : therefore we first work out which ones of the world countries are the 'top exporters' of these categories of products and then we compute an indicator of the Italian goods'(tm) quality relative to each of these competitors. Not surprisingly, we find that the most important bilateral IIT intensities in cultural products are observed in Europe. However the presence of developing countries is not unimportant. This can be explained partly to as a consequence of the increasing level of trade integration among some Asian countries and as a consequence of an increasing despecialization of firstly industrialized countries in the production and trading of these products. Finally, with reference to the relative quality of Italian cultural products compared with that of the other top-exporters in these sectors, we find that Italian performance are good relative to those of emerging countries (such as China and India), but not as much if compared to other European countries (such as Germany, France and United Kingdom).


Engine development requires accurate estimates of the heat loads. Estimates of the convective heat fluxes are particularly vital to assess the thermo-mechanical integrity of the turbomachinery components. This paper reports an experimental heat transfer research in a one and a half turbine stage, composed of a high-pressure turbine and a low-pressure vane. Measurements were performed in a compression tube facility at the von Karman Institute, able to reproduce engine representative Reynolds and Mach numbers. Double-layered thin film gauges were used to monitor the time-dependent temperature distribution around the airfoil. Several tests at different metal temperatures were performed to derive the adiabatic wall temperature. This research allowed quantifying the independent effects on the unsteady heat flux of the gas temperature fluctuations and boundary layer unsteadiness.


ABSTRACT An investigation was carried out on approaches to learning among students completing Access courses at nine colleges of further education. The factor structure of their responses to a short form of the Approaches to Studying Inventory was qualitatively different from that obtained in a previous investigation of conventional university students. These results suggest that Access courses might inculcate an educational culture that is inconsistent with the dominant culture within mainstream higher education.


In order to investigate the effects of nalbuphine on immune system in mice, we examined the various immunological parameters. After single oral administration of nalbuphine (130, 260, 390 ㎎/㎏, i.p.) to female ICR mice, the weights of bodies and organs (thymus, spleen, liver, kidney), and hematological parameters were examined on day 2, 4, 6, and 8. The increased rate of body weight, relative weight of organ, and hematological parameters in nalbuphine-treated groups, were not significantly changed when compared with control group. However, number of WBC was decreased by the treatment of nalbuphine. To assess the effects of nalbuphine on humoral immune responses, splenic IgM plaque forming cell (PFC) and serum IgM were assayed. When nalbuphine was administered after immunization with SRBC, but not before immunization, splenic IgM PFC and serum IgM level against SRBC were significantly lowered in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicate that the suppressive effects of nalbuphine on primary humoral immune response may be dependent on the timing of its administration relative to the initial antigenic sensitization.


Understanding of tibiofemoral joint mechanics at multiple spatial scales is essential for developing effective preventive measures and treatments for both pathology and injury management. Currently, there is a distinct lack of specimen-specific biomechanical data at multiple spatial scales, e.g., joint, tissue, and cell scales. Comprehensive multiscale data may improve the understanding of the relationship between biomechanical and anatomical markers across various scales. Furthermore, specimen-specific multiscale data for the tibiofemoral joint may assist development and validation of specimen-specific computational models that may be useful for more thorough analyses of the biomechanical behavior of the joint. This study describes an aggregation of procedures for acquisition of multiscale anatomical and biomechanical data for the tibiofemoral joint. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to acquire anatomical morphology at the joint scale. A robotic testing system was used to quantify joint level biomechanical response under various loading scenarios. Tissue level material properties were obtained from the same specimen for the femoral and tibial articular cartilage, medial and lateral menisci, anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments, and medial and lateral collateral ligaments. Histology data were also obtained for all tissue types to measure specimen-specific cell scale information, e.g., cellular distribution. This study is the first of its kind to establish a comprehensive multiscale data set for a musculoskeletal joint and the presented data collection approach can be used as a general template to guide acquisition of specimen-specific comprehensive multiscale data for musculoskeletal joints.


In Contested Reproduction, John Evans outlines the results of a major piece of sociological research he has conducted. Evans suspects that reproductive genetic technologies will be a significant issue in coming cultural conflicts in the United States and that religious perspectives will play an important role in determining the shape these conflicts take. If one believes that we are hopelessly and bitterly divided on such issues, then the shape of our future conflicts may simply pit one entrenched side against another. Evans' findings suggest that ordinary religious believers in the United States have rather complex views about these technologies—more shades of gray than black or white. He concludes that the coming conflicts may be neither as insuperable nor as hopeless as we sometimes suppose. Serious exchange, and not just caricature or dismissal, may characterize even our deep disagreements.

Perhaps so. But a reading of Progress in Bioethics, a collection of essays edited by Jonathan D. Moreno and Sam Berger, might give one pause here, and not because of anything it reveals about the views of religious believers.


Rice is one of the most consumed staple foods around the world and its trade is highly globalized. Increased environmental pollution generates a large amount of waste that, in many cases, is discarded close to culture fields. Some species are able to bioaccumulate toxic substances, such as metals, that could be transferred to the food chain. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the content of metallic (Al, Cd, Pb, and Cr) and metalloid elements (As) in 14 of the most consumed varieties of rice in Spain and their effects on human health. The samples were cooked, and human digestion was simulated by using a standard in vitro digestion method. Metallic and metalloid element levels were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), previous called microwave digestion. Both the human health risk index, Hazard Quotient, and Lifetime Cancer Risk did not show toxic values in any case. Rice with a higher non-digestible fraction showed a higher liberation of proteins and a lower glycemic index. There were no significant differences in the concentrations of metallic and metalloid elements in cooked rice or in the digestible fraction in all varieties analysed. However, Al concentrations were higher than other metals in all varieties studied due to its global distribution. No relationship has been observed between the digestibility of rice and the bioaccessibility of each metallic and metalloid element. All of the studied rice varieties are healthy food products and its daily consumption is safe. The regular monitoring of metals and As in rice consumed in Spain may contribute to improvements in the human health risk evaluation.


Abstract Objective: Social communication, or the use of language in social interactions, is critical to everyday human functioning. Although widely recognized as a key aspect of pediatric speech-language pathology practice, there is currently no consistently used approach to how social communication functioning is assessed for this population. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health – Child and Youth version (ICF-CY) offers a framework for describing social communication functioning, and thus how well it is represented in current parent- and teacher-report assessment tools for preschool and school-age social communication.
 Method: Functional dimensions of social communication were identified from chapters of the ICF-CY. These functional dimensions were used to appraise the extent to which current pediatric social communication assessment tools are representative of social communication functioning. 11 parent- and teacher-report tools were appraised.
 Results: Current social communication assessment tools for children were found to represent the foundational functional dimensions of social communication in its broadest sense. However, these assessment tools did not adequately represent the functional dimensions of specific social communicative contexts (e.g., Domestic Life). Further, these tools did not adequately represent the impact of physical context or conversational partner on social communication functioning.
 Conclusions: The ICF-CY framework revealed that the appraised social communication assessments provide a partial description of children's social communication functioning. Collaborative interprofessional interaction, supplemental and new assessments are needed to achieve the necessary authentic assessment of social communication functioning to achieve meaningful evidence based intervention.


A criterion is developed for calculating the discharge inception voltage in three-electrode systems, i.e. inception voltage from free particles existing in a uniform field gap in air. The criterion is a formulation of the conditions necessary for a self-sustained corona discharge. These conditions are identical to those of the uniform field. As the individual processes and events involved in this formulation are field dependent, the electric field is calculated using the charge simulation technique and the method of images to account for the distortion of the applied uniform field by the particle as well as the space charge developed in the gap. The calculated field values normalised to the applied-field value agreed very well with the analytical solution for spherical particles. Also, the calculated inception voltages agreed well with those measured experimentally for spherical and spheroidal particles.


In three experiments, electric brain waves of 19 subjects were recorded under several different experimental conditions for two purposes. One was to test how well we could recognize which sentence, from a set of 24 or 48 sentences, was being processed in the cortex. The other was to study the invariance of brain waves between subjects. As in our earlier work, the analysis consisted of averaging over trials to create prototypes and test samples, to both of which Fourier transforms were applied, followed by filtering and an inverse transformation to the time domain. A least-squares criterion of fit between prototypes and test samples was used for classification. In all three experiments, averaging over subjects improved the recognition rates. The most significant finding was the following. When brain waves were averaged separately for two nonoverlapping groups of subjects, one for prototypes and the other for test samples, we were able to recognize correctly 90% of the brain waves generated by 48 different sentences about European geography.


Objective To assess whether preoperative versus intraoperative insertion of an intra-aortic balloon pump is associated with lower 30-day mortality or reduced length of hospital stay among patients who had an intra-aortic balloon pump inserted for cardiac surgery. Methods This was an observational study of patients who had an intra-aortic balloon pump inserted in the preoperative or intraoperative period of cardiac surgery in our department between 2000 and 2012. We assessed the association between preoperative versus intraoperative insertion of an intra-aortic balloon pump and 30-day mortality in a multivariable logistic regression analysis, including preoperative New York Heart Association class, postoperative atrial fibrillation, reoperation, postoperative creatinine and isolated coronary bypass grafting as cofactors. We used a multivariate linear model to assess whether a preoperative versus intraoperative intra-aortic balloon pump was associated with length of postoperative hospital stay, adjusting for reoperation, isolated coronary bypass grafting, heart valve surgery, sex, age, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamp time, preoperative patients' status (elective, urgency or emergency surgery) and preoperative myocardial infarction. Results Overall, 7,540 consecutive patients underwent open heart surgery in our department, and an intra-aortic balloon pump was inserted pre- or intraoperatively in 322 (4.2%) patients. The mean age was 67 ± 10.2 years old, the 30-day mortality was 12.7%, and the median length of hospital stay was 9 days (7 - 13). Preoperative versus intraoperative intra-aortic balloon pump insertion did not affect the incidence of 30-day mortality (adjusted OR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.15 - 3.12; p = 0.63) and length of postoperative hospital stay (β = 5.3; 95%CI, -1.6 to 12.8; p = 0.13). Conclusion Preoperative insertion of an intra-aortic balloon pump was not associated with a lower 30-day mortality or reduced length of postoperative hospital stay compared to intraoperative insertion.


Polyoma virus (PV) can cause interstitial nephritis and lead to graft failure in renal transplant recipients. The clinical course of patients with polyoma virus nephritis (PVN) is not well understood, partially due to its relatively low incidence. This study is a retrospective analysis of our experience over 4 yr. The specific purpose is to outline the clinical course and outcome of patients with PVN and to study the relationship between immunosuppression and the disease process. Between June 1997 and March 2001, 67 patients with graft dysfunction were found to have biopsy-proven PVN. The diagnosis was made at a mean of 12.8 +/- 9.9 mo posttransplantation. The majority of patients were men (79%) with a mean age of 54 +/- 14 yr (range, 28 to 75). All patients received immunosuppression with a calcineurin inhibitor (tacrolimus in 89% of patients). All patients except two received mycophenolate mofetil and prednisone. After the diagnosis of PVN, maintenance immunosuppression was reduced in 52 patients and remained unchanged in 15 patients. After reduction of immunosuppression, eight patients (15.3%) developed acute rejection and six (11.5%) became negative for PV in biopsy and urine. After a mean observation period of 12.6 mo (mean of 26 mo posttransplantation), 16.4% of patients had lost their grafts (8 of 52 in the reduction group and 3 of 15 in the no change group). In comparison to a case-matched polyoma virus-negative control group, the PVN patients were older (P =.0004) and there was a predominance of men (P = 0.02). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patients with PVN had reduced graft survival compared with negative controls (P =.0004). It is concluded that PVN is a serious hazard for renal transplant recipients and contributes directly to graft loss. Antiviral drugs are needed, as the reduction of immunosuppression alone may not significantly improve graft function in patients with already established PVN. Although multiple factors probably play a role in the development of PVN, judicious use of immunosuppressive agents is indicated to minimize the occurrence of this infection.


Nowadays the technologic/communicative systems are self-sufficiency: we, the users, are a sort of a spread net to release messages. We are used by systems, we don't apply them. We have to set the planning function in a context, which is completely turned upside down, compared with the past: basically  designers should  facilitate a very straight flow of information. "Let it be", this is the password. The authority is replaced by neutral, by the occurring impersonal events, by plurality, by the collective. Today the one who designs, is a "no-author", a no-subject, a "it". Today a visual communication design competes not only with the new technology languages, but most of all with the more elaborated ones, which are set by real subjects, who experience new forms of social relations, aggregation, conflicts.


Performance of ball bearing–rotor systems are highly dependent on and often limited by characteristics of ball bearings. Several studies are available in the literature, investigating varying compliance and subharmonic resonances of ball bearings. Most of the studies are carried out with rigid rotors to focus on modelling of the bearings. There exist few studies which take flexibility of rotors into account. Furthermore, even if the rotor flexibility is modelled, most of the time symmetrical rotors are considered. However, rotors are rarely symmetric in realistic applications due to different locations of bearings and different weights of rotor components (compressors, turbines etc.). In this study, an asymmetric, balanced, flexible rotor supported by ball bearings considering Hertzian contact and radial clearance is investigated. Rotor shaft is modelled with Nelson finite rotor elements using Timoshenko beam theory and disks are considered as rigid masses. Harmonic Balance Method (HBM) is used to obtain nonlinear algebraic equations in the frequency domain and Alternating Frequency Time (AFT) method is utilized to find Fourier coefficients of nonlinear bearing forces. In order to decrease the number of nonlinear equations to be solved, Receptance Method (RM) is applied. Resulting set of nonlinear algebraic equations is solved by using Newton's method with arclength continuation. Several case studies are performed and effects of asymmetry on nonlinear periodic vibration response of rotors are studied.


The influence of two different premedication regimens (diazepam versus pethidine/promethazine with fentanyl substitution before induction) on the endocrine stress-response during halothane anaesthesia was investigated in twenty orthopedic surgery patients. After premedication, the levels of plasma catecholamines, ADH, ACTH and cortisol were lower in the pethidine/promethazine-than in the diazepam-group. The levels of adrenaline remained significantly lower during the whole observation period. Thirty minutes after extubation all endocrine parameters except noradrenaline were lower in the pethidine/promethazine-group than in the diazepam-group.


SUMMARY Within the context of intimate interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence has a significant impact on the social-emotional functioning and development of women. Our ability to determine the effectiveness of our efforts to reduce sexual violence is linked to our ability to assess those attitudes that condone sexual violence. This study examined the validity of college students' responses to the Scale for the Identification of Acquaintance Rape Attitudes (SIARA). The Scale for the Identification of Acquaintance Rape Attitudes is a measure designed to assess attitudes that are believed to be supportive of sexual violence within dating relationships. The sample consisted of 1,782 residential students in the first year class at a large, public university who participated in a sexual assault prevention program as part of a new student orientation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that two dimensions, Sexual Expectations and Rape Mythology, could be used to characterize students' responses. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and mean structure analysis confirmed that the two dimensions provided equivalent measurements of the underlying construct for male and female subjects. Implications for the use of SIARA as a program outcome measure will be discussed.


Initial rates of transglucosylation with diglucosides and diglucose-azoxyglycosides as acceptor by cycad beta-glucosidase were tentatively obtained. The formation of beta-1,3 glucosidic linkage was predominant, except for neocycasin A (beta-laminaribioside of methylazoxymethanol, MAM) as an acceptor. With neocycasin A as an acceptor, beta-1,4 and beta-1,6 glucosidic linkages were formed but beta-1,3 linkage was not. Whereas with laminaribiose as acceptor, laminaritriose and triose with beta-1,6 linkage were formed, but triose with beta-1,4 linkage was not. On the other hand, with other diglucoses and neocycasin B (beta-gentiobioside of MAM) as acceptor, all the linkages formed were beta-1,3 glucosidic. The aglycone of azoxyglycosides, MAM, affected the kind of linkages formed in the trisaccharides. When initial rates of the linkage formation of the transglucosylation at 100 mM acceptor were compared with the hydrolysis rates obtained by Lineweaver-Burk plot, the order of formation rates of the di- and tri-glucosides by transglucosylation was the same as obtained for the hydrolysis parameter, kcat/Km. Km values for various substrates could be grouped according to the kind of the linkages (beta-1,3, beta-1,4, and beta-1,6) first split by the enzyme.


Purpose of reviewThis review emphasizes new information concerning the role of anaphylatoxins in the regulation of the immune response to allografts. Its timeliness relates the growing concept of the innate immune response as a regulator of the adaptive immune system and to how this concept lends itself to therapeutic advance. Recent findingsRecent work has extended our understanding of the role of local complement synthesis and how this facilitates the interaction between antigen-presenting cells and alloreactive T cells, resulting in a potent effector response. In particular, this work has identified new roles for anaphylatoxins as regulators of antigen presentation, T-cell proliferation and T-cell longevity. SummaryStrategies for comprehensive blockade of complement at the site of action, or for more selective blockade of specific complement components, are not only possible but merit further exploration based on these results.


The form factor of the diamagnetic moment induced by a field of 4.62 T in a single crystal of graphite has been measured by polarised neutron diffraction. The data are consistent with a pi -electron orbital current having a radius of 1.38(8) AA. A slightly smaller than that of the carbon rings in the planar sheets of the graphite structure (1.42 AA). The corresponding effective mass ratio for the pi -electrons is m*/m=0.019(3).


The elastic constants of KCl and NaCl have been determined by studying Brillouin scattering at 90°. The scattered light was analysed by a pressure scanned Fabry-Perot interferometer, the pressure in which was monitored by a Michelson interferometer. Our results have an accuracy comparable to the results of recent ultrasonic measurements, and the agreement between the two methods is excellent in most cases. It is believed that the accuracy of the method described here could be substantially increased by further refinements of the experimental apparatus.


Orf is a zoonotic disease, which is caused by the parapox virus limiting itself and this disease can be transmitted by touching animals or infected flesh. This is usually seen on butchers and vets. The disease can be healed spontaneously and its treatment is symptomatic. The patients, going to hospitals complaining that there are abscesses on their hands, may encounter with wrong diagnosis and unnecessary surgical attempts. We are aimed at increasing the awareness of doctors to decide how to naje the treatment plans by taking the Orf on patients into consideration. On this study, we examined the Orf diagnosis, monitored on a 21-years old patient.


Salmonids are teleost fish of profound research and economic interest. Embryonic development is a key aspect of salmonid biology that can be critically affected by environmental parameters. Still, their proteome during embryogenesis remains largely unexplored. This study investigates the proteome of the eyed-egg and hatching stages of embryonic development of a salmonid species, European grayling (Thymallus thymallus), using a shotgun proteomic approach. To deal with limited grayling protein resources, the generated spectra were compared against an all-salmonid database using search and multiple protein grouping algorithms to infer identifications. Functional enrichment analysis was carried out at different levels (gene ontologies, pathways, networks) using zebrafish as a reference genome. A total of 213 and 239 proteins were confidently detected in eyed and hatching stages, respectively. Cell cycle, energy, and protein metabolism were the major processes common to both stages. Nuclear activity and brain and eye development were the predominant functions in the eyed-stage proteome, while central nervous system, skeletal muscle, and heart development prevailed in the hatching stage. Overall, this research constitutes the first effort to describe the proteome during embryogenesis in grayling or any salmonid species. It also presents a systematic approach by which existing resources can enable proteome research in salmonids.


Parents are the child's first mentors in the learning process at home. Some parents feel unable to guide children at home. Parenting Education Program (PEP) has the opportunity as a solution to help parents guide their children at home. This study focuses on the definition, application, benefits and importance of Parenting Education  Programs. The results of this study include: (1) PEP is a training program held by schools to provide guidance in the form of knowledge and skills to parents; (2) The application of PEP has been applied in several elementary schools, namely SDIT Ar Raihan Bantul, SD Surya Buana Malang and SD Insan Teratai Tangerang; (3) The benefits of PEP are establishing a good relationship between school and parents, increasing parental knowledge and increasing parental confidence; (4) PES is important to be implemented in many elementary schools that do not directly involve parents in children's education


While humanitarian intervention in cases of state instability remains a disputed concept in international law, there is consensus in the international community over the need to provide protection to refugees, one of the corollaries of such instability. Using the European Union (EU) as a case study, this article takes a policy perspective to examine competing conceptions of both 'responsibility' and 'protection' among EU Member States. Responsibility can be seen either as the duty to move refugees around the EU such that each Member State takes its fair share, or the duty to assist those Member States who receive the highest numbers of migrants due to geography by way of practical and financial help. Similarly, protection can imply that which the EU offers within its boundaries, encompassed within the Common European Asylum System, or something broader that looks at where people are coming from and seeks to work with countries of origin and transit to provide protection outside the Union and tackle the causes of forced migration. Whether one or both of these concepts comes to dominate policy discourse over the long-term, the challenge will be to ensure an uncompromised understanding of protection among policy-makers.


An anorectic, adult West African dwarf crocodile was examined because of bilateral hind limb paresis. Clinical findings included multiple skin wounds, osteomyelitis of the distal portions of the right radius and ulna, severe anemia, and Serratia marcescens bacteremia. The crocodile died after a blood transfusion. At necropsy, hemorrhage in the subarachnoid space, suppurative polyarthritis, and gastric ulceration were found. Serratia marcescens and Morganella morganii were isolated from multiple tissues and body fluids. It was concluded that the bilateral paresis was caused by severe septic arthritis secondary to bacteremia, and that the crocodile died from spinal injury caused by the blood transfusion into the supravertebral vein.


Background The increased rates of preeclampsia, pre-term birth, and intra-uterine growth restriction in SLE pregnancy are only partially explained by the vascular effects of anti-phospholipid antibodies. SLE patients themselves are on average born preterm, suggesting a heritable defect in maternal-fetal tolerance. PD-L1 is one candidate gene, in that it has been implicated in the both autoimmunity and maternal-fetal tolerance: PD-L1 is expressed on healthy antigen presenting cells to downregulate inflammatory responses, and also on placental trophoblasts at the maternal-fetal interface, where it inhibits alloreactive T cells. Peripheral blood antigen presenting cells from SLE patients are deficient in PD-L1 expression compared to remission or healthy controls. Little is known about placental costimulatory molecules in women with autoimmune diseases. Objectives This study tested the hypothesis that placental PD-L1 expression is abnormally regulated in SLE pregnancy. Methods Expression of PD-L1 was quantified by immunohistochemistry in placentas from 6 SLE patients, 7 rheumatoid arthritis patients (RA) and 9 healthy control women obtained from the Global Alliance for the Prevention of Prematurity and Stillbirth Repository. PD-L1 mRNA expression was assayed by RT-PCR and normalized to GAPDH expression. PD-L1 on peripheral CD14+/CD11c+ monocytes was assayed by flow cytometry. Significant differences between groups were tested by T-test. Results By immunostaining, PD-L1 expression in SLE placentas was low compared to control groups. PD-L1 mRNA expression correlated with protein expression, although the differences were not significant. A limited analysis of CD45 and CD43 co-expression suggested that a subset of maternal T lymphocytes expressed PDL-1 but that fetal cells did not. The mean gestational age was lower in SLE (27 weeks, range 18–39) compared to RA (38, range 29–40) and controls (34, range 19–40), but there was not a strong correlation between gestational age and PD-L1 expression (R2 0.18). Three SLE patients exhibited placental insufficiency, with relatively low PD-L1 expression (18 compared to 24 in healthy SLE). On peripheral blood monocytes, PD-L1 expression was low in juvenile SLE patients compared to healthy controls (55% of SLE monocytes v. 93% of healthy monocytes, p=0.001). Although in the normal range, mothers of SLE patients also had relatively low PD-L1 expression compared to control mothers (87% v. 94%, p=0.04).Table 1. Relative mean PD-L1 expression in placenta Controls SLE P* RA P** Protein Mean 39 21 0.012 37 0.63 Fetal 39 16 36 Maternal 41 23 34 mRNA 109 72 0.21 300 0.08 *SLE versus controls; **RA versus controls. Conclusions Placental PD-L1 expression is dysregulated in women with SLE. Inadequate expression of PDL-1 in the placentas of patients with SLE could result in loss of maternal-fetal tolerance, contributing to the high rate of pregnancy complications in SLE. Disclosure of Interest None declared


' Funded by the Oncology Nursing Society, May 15, 1998 to May 15, 2000 Design: An experimental, posttest-only, control group design with qualitative evaluations of the experience. Setting: Private rooms of an inpatient oncology clinic. Sample: Thirty adolescents with cancer undergoing frequent LPs randomly assigned to the experimental or control group. Intervention: Both groups received standard intervention during the LP, but the experimental group was also instructed to focus attention on the VR video and wearing VR glasses during the LP as a distracter from the pain. Data collection: Following the LP, both groups rated their perceived pain using the Numeric Rating Scale and were interviewed to evaluate their experience during the procedure using the VR Questionnaire.


A 36‐year‐old man who presented with a nosebleed and anemia was referred to our hospital. Laboratory test results showed platelet depletion, decreased levels of fibrinogen, and increased fibrinogen degeneration products. CT showed a 13‐cm splenic tumor. T2‐weighted MRI revealed a high‐intensity mass. We preoperatively diagnosed splenic hemangioma with chronic disseminated intravascular coagulation and scheduled an operation to relieve the disseminated intravascular coagulation. We also performed hand‐assisted laparoscopic splenectomy to ensure easy handling of the splenomegaly. The resected specimen microscopically consisted of hemorrhages and hemangiomatous lesions, and multiple angiomatoid nodules were scattered and separated by fibrocollagenous stroma with inflammatory cells. Three types of vessels (capillaries, sinusoids and small veins) were contained in the angiomatoid nodules, and the pathological diagnosis was sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation. The results of this case suggest that we should consider sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation in the differential diagnosis of patients with splenic tumors, as sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation with hemangiomatous features may cause coagulation disorders for which splenectomy should be performed.


ABSTRACT Human globins are encoded by mRNAs exhibiting high stabilities in transcriptionally silenced erythrocyte progenitors. Unlike α-globin mRNA, whose stability is enhanced by assembly of a specific messenger RNP (mRNP) α complex on its 3′ untranslated region (UTR), neither the structure(s) nor the mechanism(s) that effects the high-level stability of human β-globin mRNA has been identified. The present work describes an mRNP complex assembling on the 3′ UTR of the β-globin mRNA that exhibits many of the properties of the stability-enhancing α complex. The β-globin mRNP complex is shown to contain one or more factors homologous to αCP, a 39-kDa RNA-binding protein that is integral to α-complex assembly. Sequence analysis implicates a specific 14-nucleotide pyrimidine-rich track within its 3′ UTR as the site of β-globin mRNP assembly. The importance of this track to mRNA stability is subsequently verified in vivo using mice expressing human β-globin transgenes that contain informative mutations in this region. In combination, the in vitro and in vivo analyses indicate that the high stabilities of the α- and β-globin mRNAs are maintained through related mRNP complexes that may share a common regulatory pathway.


We'd like to acknowledge several individuals whose expertise was invaluableto the creation of this forecast: Sam Karp, Chief Information Officer,California HealthCare Foundation; Robert Mittman, Director, Institute forthe Future; Susannah Kirsch, Research Manager, Institute for the Future;and Tomi Nagai-Rothe, The Grove Consultants International.


This article is written from the point of view of a paediatrician with a wide service, at work in a main centre of population, where reasonable paediatric units for the treatment of ordinary diseases of infancy and childhood are supplied but where provision for the treatment of cerebral palsy has not yet been made. The paediatrician had had no special training in physical medicine, and his knowledge cerebral palsy was merely that of an ordinary physician, accustomed to occasional cases of 'Little's disease ' or 'athetosis which were brought to his clinic and subsequently referred to the physiotherapy department without a very clear of the physiotherapist should give no definite instructions.


of non-distinctive phonetic A delayed mimicry paradigm was used to assess speakers' awareness of non-distinctive phonetic differences which in part distinguish languages. The notion of' phonological filtering' implies that second-language learners may not be able to perceive phonetic differences between their native language and a foreign language unless the phonetic differences are linguistically relevant in the native language. If cross-language phonetic differences are in fact perceived poorly, it is unlikely that phonetic modifi-cation will occur in the course of naturalistic second-language acquisition. In this study native English speakers familiar with Spanish-accented English attempted to read sentences with a Spanish accent. Acoustic measurements showed that the two phonetic characteristics of English - the long VOT values associated with /p, t, k/ and final-syllable lengthening - were altered in the direction of Spanish and Spanish-accented English. These results provide tentative evidence that non-distinctive phonetic differences between languages are detectable by language learners and thus do not present an insuperable barrier to phonetic learning in second-language acquisition. Arabic-speaking speech communities of the state of are undergoing a special kind of sociolinguistic change which requires the recognition of both dialectal and supradialectal prestige systems. Variation can be accounted for in terms of the articulation/conflict of these two systems. Although it appears at first sight that all of the observed variation could be explained at the phonological level, a closer analysis of the data suggests that, psycholinguistically and sociolinguistically, a lexical explanation fits part of it better. 16 simulated limited A of suggests


"The first years of the 21 st century having passed, it is now necessary to readdress human rights during a time characterized by a scarcity of will for its preservation", says the Argentinean psychologist Elio Rodolfo Parisi in this essay, contributing important elements to an understanding of the sociopolitical and sociohistorical discourse which supports such rights, how they are situated in Latin America, and how they are legitimized in a globalizing context. It reminds us that, even if there is legislation that protects human rights, the struggle for their survival has been and will be represented by confrontation between opressors and opressed.


Handing over objects is the foundation of many human-robot interaction and collaboration tasks. In the scenario where a human is handing over an object to a robot, the human chooses where the object needs to be transferred. The robot needs to accurately predict this point of transfer to reach out proactively, instead of waiting for the final position to be presented. This work presents an efficient method for predicting the Object Transfer Point (OTP), which synthesizes (1) an offline OTP calculated based on human preferences observed in a human-robot motion study with (2) a dynamic OTP predicted based on the observed human motion. Our proposed OTP predictor is implemented on a humanoid nursing robot and experimentally validated in human-robot handover tasks. Compared to only using static or dynamic OTP estimators, it has better accuracy at the earlier phase of handover (up to 45% of the handover motion) and can render fluent handovers with a reach-to-grasp response time (about 3.1 secs) close to natural human receiver's response. In addition, the OTP prediction accuracy is maintained across the robot's visible workspace by utilizing a user-adaptive reference frame.


The efflux transporter, the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), is most abundantly expressed in the apical membrane of the placental syncytiotrophoblasts, indicating that it could play an important role in protecting the fetus by limiting xenobiotic/drug penetration across the placental barrier. In the present study, we examined whether Bcrp1, the murine homolog of human BCRP, limits fetal distribution of the model BCRP/Bcrp1 substrate, nitrofurantoin (NFT), in the pregnant mouse. NFT was administered i.v. to FVB wild-type and Bcrp1–/– pregnant mice. The maternal plasma samples and fetuses were collected at various times (5–60 min) after drug administration. The NFT concentrations in the maternal plasma samples and homogenates of fetal tissues were determined by a high-performance liquid chromatography/UV assay. Although the maternal plasma area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of NFT in the Bcrp1–/– pregnant mice (97.4 ± 10.0 μg · min/ml plasma) was only slightly (but significantly) higher than that in the wild-type pregnant mice (78.4 ± 6.0 μg · min/ml plasma), the fetal AUC of NFT in the Bcrp1–/– pregnant mice (1493.0 ± 235.3 ng · min/g of fetus) was approximately 5 times greater than that in the wild-type pregnant mice (298.6 ± 77.4 ng · min/g of fetus). These results clearly suggest that Bcrp1 significantly limits fetal distribution of NFT in the pregnant mouse, but has only a minor effect on the systemic clearance of the drug.


The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of chromium (Cr) from Cr yeast on the growth performance and total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, total protein and Cr concentration in the serum of broiler chicken. The birds were fed a control diet or a control diet supplemented with Cr at a level of 300, 500 microg/kg Cr. The supplementation of 500 mug/kg Cr increased body weight, weight gain and feed efficiency (p < 0.05). In addition, supplementation with Cr decreased the serum total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (p < 0.05), triglycerides (p < 0.05) and glucose (p < 0.05) concentrations whereas serum HDL cholesterol increased. Serum total protein and serum Cr concentration slightly but not significantly increased in both Cr groups. The study suggest that Cr supplementation particularly at 500 microg/kg Cr from Cr yeast can influence on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of broiler chicken and can be used as additives in animal diet but it still needs more investigations.


ABSTRACT The process of globalization organizes diversity through homogeneous systems. The influence of this phenomenon in material culture and the role of design in this context are analyzed through the study of the SUN, a Uruguayan traditional product that disappeared under the effect of various parallel global processes. Since this category of objects consisted in a unique model with no redesign or opportunity for consumer choice being actively commercialized in the course of fifty years, it is claimed that design actions could have avoided its extinction, allowing the product to endure its matter of course in Uruguayan culture. Once design can act as a moderator between local and global requirements (influencing which aspects of local materiality transcend in globality), this study concludes that in the context of material culture design acts as a global structure of common difference.


RATIONALE
Ostreocin-B is a new palytoxin congener of comparable complexity. Elucidation of the chemical structure by nuclear magnetic resonance has been hampered due to limited sample availability. More importantly, the dihedral angles of protons at the base of the hydroxyl groups on the ring structures are predicted to produce little couplings and thus disrupt connectivity. The present investigation solved the problem through mass spectrometry.

METHODS
Structural elucidation was performed by high-performance liquid chromatograph coupled to a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source operated in positive and negative ion mode. Measurement parameters were optimized to achieve high sensitivity and a high ratio of singly charged ions. Ostreocin-D (C127 H219 N3 O53 ), another palytoxin congener possessing an unambiguously determined structure, was used as a template.

RESULTS
The molecular formula of ostreocin-B, C127 H219 N3 O54 , indicates that it has one more oxygen atom than ostreocin-D. Comparison of the product ion spectra in negative ion mode indicates the occurrence of hydroxyl substitution at C44 in ostreocin-B, unlike in ostreocin-D. Positive ion spectra also support the 44-OH substructure by producing conjugated polyenes ascribable to the sequential loss of hydroxyls on the cyclic hemiacetal.

CONCLUSIONS
The planar structure of ostreocin-B is assigned to 42-hydroxy-3,26-didemethyl-19-deoxypalytoxin (=44-hydroxyostreocin-D). The method used in this study is an excellent tool to obtain structural information on interspecies and intrastrain variation of palytoxin congeners in marine organisms.


With the increasing pressure on modern power converters towards higher efficiency and smaller volume, power electronic specialists are now even more obliged to power converter optimization. In this study, the optimal design of an 800W, hard switched step down converter is targeted. Switching frequency (f) and inductance (L) are selected as parameters for optimization. Interleaving, a technique widely utilized due to the benefits it introduces to the converter that it is applied to, is also taken into consideration; phase number (N) is an optimization parameter for the analysis to utilize interleaving with the optimal phase number. A laboratory prototype of the targeted 800W converter is implemented in view of the efficiency and volume analyses. Comparison of analytical and practical results is provided.


Scorpion bites are common in south-east Iran, especially in the rural areas. Most scorpion bite cases are benign and cause no systemic side effects. Local erythema and edema, and mild allergic effects are the most common complications of scorpion bites. Yet, rarely dangerous outcomes such as myocarditis, cardiac failure, pulmonary edema, and shock have been reported. The present case report, introduces a case of scorpion bite in a 6 year old child, presented as dyspnea and pulmonary edema.


The Sheep Cooperative Research Center (CRC) was especially established to aid Australian sheep farmers improve the efficiency and productivity of their operations. The Sheep CRC is tasked with ensuring that these farmers are equipped with the technology to meet the needs of their customers in a profitable and sustainable manner. Under the e-sheep initiative, researchers have been developing individual animal management (IAM) systems and remotely operated IAM (RIAM) systems, based around the electronic identification of animals. Although the systems use existing technology, notably RFID tags, they are being implemented into unique systems adapted for the Australian sheep industry. The systems aim to maximize performance, lower costs and increase profitability.


We investigate the modified Chaplygin gas (MCG) with interaction between holographic dark energy proposed by Li and dark matter. In this model, evolution of the universe is described in detail, which is from deceleration to acceleration. Specifically, the evolutions of related cosmological quantities such as density parameter, the equation of state of holographic dark energy, deceleration parameter and transition redshift are discussed. Moreover, we also give their present values which are consistent with the lately observations. Furthermore, the results given by us show such a model can accommodate a transition of the dark energy from a normal state wX > – 1 to wX < – 1 phantom regimes.


Complaining is one form of communication for consumers to express their dissatisfaction. Understanding the consumer complaint behavior is an important thing for businesses; however, it is not easy to do. The initial step in understanding this behavior of consumer complaints is to map consumers based on their behavior of complaints and analyze the factors that influence this. This study examines the complaint behavior of consumers in Cibubur who have experienced dissatisfaction with a product. The objectives of this study are to map the consumer complaint behavior and identify its relationship with various factors such as consumer demographics, personality, attitude to businesses, attribution of the causes of dissatisfaction, and product attributes. A crosstab descriptive analysis method was used to map the consumers, while the Pearson correlation analysis methods was used to analyze consumer complaint behavioral relationships with various factors. The results of this study indicated that consumers in Cibubur based on their complaint behavior are classified into four groups: passive, voicers, irates and activist. The passive consumers dominate the category with a percentage of 49%. The voicers, irates, and activist belong to the complaining type and are dominated by young women, with high levels of education and income.


Error correction procedures are considered which are designed specifically for the amplitude damping channel. Amplitude damping errors are analyzed in the stabilizer formalism. This analysis allows a generalization of the [4,1] ldquoapproximaterdquo amplitude damping code. This generalization is presented as a class of [2(M+1),M] codes; quantum circuits for encoding and recovery operations are presented. A [7,3] amplitude damping code based on the classical Hamming code is presented. All of these are stabilizer codes whose encoding and recovery operations can be completely described with Clifford group operations. Finally, optimization options are described in which recovery operations may be further adapted according to the damping probability gamma.


The widespread contamination of groundwater resources associated with methyl‐tert‐butyl ether (MtBE) use has prompted a search for replacement oxygenates in gasoline. Among the alternatives currently under development are higher methyl‐tert‐alkyl ethers, notably methyl‐tert‐hexyl ether (MtHxE) and methyl‐tert‐octyl ether (MtOcE). As was the case with MtBE, the introduction of these ethers into fuel supplies guarantees their migration into groundwater resources. In the present study, a screening‐level risk assessment compared predicted well water concentrations of these ethers to concentrations that might cause adverse effects. A physicochemical model which has been successfully applied to the prediction of MtBE concentrations in community water supply wells (CSWs) was used to predict well water concentrations of MtHxE and MtOcE. The results indicate that these ethers are likely to contaminate water supply wells at slightly lower levels than MtBE as a result of migrating from leaking underground fuel tanks to CSWs. Because very little data is available on the physicochemical and environmental properties of MtHxE and MtOcE, estimation methods were employed in conjunction with the model to predict well water concentrations. Model calculations indicated that MtHxE and MtOcE will be present in many CSWs at concentrations approaching the concentrations that have caused widespread public health concern for MtBE. Based on these results and the possibility that MtHxE and MtOcE are potential carcinogens, testing of the toxicological properties of these ethers is recommended before they are used to replace MtBE in gasoline.


This paper introduces a speed sensorless vector-controlled system for general-purpose induction motor, which is based on the flux observer and the model reference adaptive system method. According to the vector control theory of an induction motor, this system utilizes the q-axis flux converging on zero for speed estimation and speed control. In order to solve the problems of flux estimation by using only a voltage model, the flux-observer-based method is applied. As the mathematical model of this system is based on a synchronously flux-rotating reference frame, a linear model of the proposed system is easily derived to analyze the dynamic characteristic under the influence of the controller gain. For improving the system dynamic characteristic, an adaptive PI controller for speed estimation with variable gain is employed to change the proportional and integral gains on-line according to the q-axis flux. We present the choosing rule for Pl gains of speed estimation. Furthermore, a simplified linear function of this controller is proposed and the rule is modified considering the system being under the influence of noise. The new controller is compared with the conventional controller (constant gain) by experimental result. The validity of the proposed method is proven through experimentation


Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in the HLA locus is increasingly being recognized as an important mechanism of immune escape and a proposed biomarker for immunotherapy response. Neoantigens that bind to a deleted HLA allele will no longer be presented to the immune system, potentially allowing subclones with these deletions to escape immune surveillance. Despite interest in the field, few methods exist to detect HLA LOH, and their sensitivity is not well understood. Moreover, the mechanistic impact of HLA LOH in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) remains unexplored. Here, using a novel tool to detect HLA LOH, DASH (Deletion of Allele-Specific HLAs), we reveal allele-specific neoantigen expansion in response to ICIs in a head and neck carcinoma cohort and the widespread occurrence of HLA LOH across several tumor types. We performed exome sequencing with ImmunoID NeXT, which enhances coverage of the HLA locus, on tumor and normal samples from 260 patients to create a training dataset for our model. For each patient, we mapped reads to each of their allele-specific HLAs and manually annotated LOH. Then, using purity, ploidy and two novel features (normalized b-allele frequency and allele-specific coverage ratios), we trained an XGBoost model. To evaluate our tool, we compared DASH predictions on held out tumor samples to deletion calls from a standard copy number tool in the regions flanking each HLA gene (91% concordance, 0.73 F1-score), ascertained our sensitivity by diluting cell line data with known HLA LOH to imitate variable purity (100% accuracy in samples above 17% purity) and confirmed the functional impact of HLA LOH using immunopeptidomics data of tumor samples (average of 47% fewer unique peptides binding to lost alleles than kept). To explore the mechanistic impact of HLA LOH in response to ICIs, we studied a cohort of nine head and neck carcinoma patients who received a single dose of nivolumab, and sequenced pre- and posttreatment tumor biopsies for each patient. With DASH, we detected HLA LOH in four of the patients, pretreatment. For these patients, we found a significant posttreatment expansion of neoantigens predicted to bind to the deleted HLA alleles in comparison to the pretreatment biopsy (p=0.046, Wilcoxon signed-rank), revealing the evolutionary force of HLA LOH as a resistance mechanism during ICI therapy. To assess the pervasiveness of HLA LOH across tumor types, we applied DASH to over 500 pretreatment tumors across 13 tumor types and found highly variable frequencies of HLA LOH across the tumor types. In summary, we developed a sensitive method to detect HLA LOH and exposed neoantigen expansion to deleted HLA alleles in response to ICI therapy, emphasizing the limitations of deleted alleles to ignite an immune response. Moreover, we found widespread occurrences of HLA LOH across tumor types, highlighting the importance of accurate HLA LOH detection as a pan-cancer biomarker. Citation Format: Rachel Marty Pyke, Charles Abbott, Dattatreya Mellacheruvu, Simo V. Zhang, Nikita Bedi, A. Dimitrios Colevas, John Sunwoo, John West, Richard Chen, Sean Michael Boyle. Sensitive HLA loss of heterozygosity detection reveals allele-specific neoantigen expansion as resistance mechanism to anti-PD-1 therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 6678.


The technology has improved rapidly in recent years and this improvement is affecting the field of education as it is in every field. In this context, traditional education methods have become inadequate as the technology is also rapidly changing students' expectations and learning habits. The effective use of information and communication technologies in education is mainly based on increasing the learning speed of the students during the education process, reducing the cost and providing effective learning. The rapid progress of technology makes technology usage indispensable for foreign language teaching and learning as well. The purpose of this study is; to address the importance of ICT tools in the teaching-learning process of basic English language skills and to introduce the technology integration process for English language teaching and learning. It is understood that the integration of technology in English teaching and learning is of great importance in the development of basic English language skills such as listening, reading, speaking and writing. The hardware and software technological tools used in English language teaching and learning can make many contributions both to teachers and students in terms of being repeated use of materials, availability of materials everywhere and at all times, costless or low cost of materials, and effective learning in a short time. As a result of this study, it can be said that the process of technology integration needs to be carried out consciously and in a planned way in order to make significant contributions to the use of technology, which is an essential task for teachers. Consequently, it should not be forgotten that the technology is to be effectively integrated into English language teaching and learning, and if the integration is not effectively done, on the contrary, technology may have a negative impact on the students' learning process.


BACKGROUND: Endotracheal tube (ETT) scraping or sweeping refers to mucus removal from an ETT that can increase airway resistance. The study objective was to evaluate the effect of ETT scraping on the duration of mechanical ventilation, time to first successful spontaneous breathing trial (SBT), duration of hospital stay, and occurrence of ventilator-associated events (VAEs). METHODS: This was a single-center, randomized clinical trial of adult subjects intubated between October 2019–October 2021. Subjects were randomly assigned to either ETT suctioning via a standard in-line suction catheter (control group) or ETT suctioning and scraping via a suction catheter with balloon-sweeping technology (experimental group). Airway suctioning was performed as clinically indicated, and the ETT was scraped every time a respiratory therapist suctioned the subject. The study outcome was duration of mechanical ventilation, time to first successful SBT, hospital length of stay, and VAE rate. Intent-to-treat statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: Of 272 randomized subjects, the median age was 63 (interquartile range [IQR] 52–73) y; 143 (53%) were males, and 154 (57%) had a primary diagnosis of acute respiratory failure. There were no significant differences between the groups in median duration (h) of mechanical ventilation (72 [37–187] vs 70.6 [37–148], P = .58). There was no significant difference between the study groups in median time (h) to the first successful SBT (46.7 [IQR 30–87] vs 45.7 [IQR 27–95], P = .81), length of hospital stay (P = .76), the incidences of ventilator-associated conditions (P = .13), or infection-related ventilator-associated complications (P = .47). CONCLUSIONS: ETT suctioning plus scraping, compared to ETT suctioning alone, did not significantly improve the duration of mechanical ventilation, time to first successful SBT, length of hospital stay, and VAEs. These study findings do not support the routine use of ETT scraping for mechanically ventilated patients.


In light of recent developments in the fields of genetics, molecular, cell and developmental biology, the kidney is receiving increasing attention as a model system for organ development and human diseases. Gene disruption experiments have provided evidence for the essential role of a number of proteins in the earliest phase of nephron development, but very little is known about the identity of such proteins in more advanced stages. This minireview will focus on the proximal tubule and its role in the pathology of ischemic acute renal failure and polycystic kidney disease. Like all other nephron segments, the proximal tubule develops from the metanephrogenic mesenchyme. So far the only genetic model which affects the function of the proximal tubule is a strain of knockout mice with an inactivation of the HNF1 gene. After ischemic renal damage the proximal tubule responds with a different genetic program than the distal tubule. Evidence from human polycystic kidney disease and several animal models of polycystic kidney disease suggests that proximal tubules are affected differently by polycystic kidney disease than distal tubules and collecting ducts.


The authors map the history of important changes in Australian legal education over the past 20 years, with a focus on the influence of the profession on legal education. Using Thornton's account of contemporary law schools 'jettisoning the critical' in the quest for market success as a stepping off point, they put forward a vision of what a legal education with a rich focus on critical thinking might look like. Their writing is motivated by and describes particular experiences in a particular law school. They ask where spaces for critical pedagogy might be created and argue that even in the context of current constraints it is possible for legal academics to teach in ways that are consonant with their values and pedagogical philosophies. They then set out some of the ways they are seeking to undertake this project in the environments in which they teach, in both elective and compulsory courses.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Guggulsterone [4,17(20)-pregnadiene-3,16-dione], a constituent of Commiphora mukul, is used to treat obesity, diabetes, arthritis, and atherosclerosis. Recently it has been known that guggulesterone isomers (trans or cis) show isomer-specificity in their antileukemic activities in leukemia cells. Here, we investigated whether guggulsterone isomers differently control 12-O-tetradecanoylpho-bol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced MMP-9 expression, and then the combination of these isomers cooperatively inhibits breast cancer invasiveness. Cis-guggulsterone inhibited TPA-induced MMP expression through blocking NF-κB signaling, whereas trans-guggulsterone through blocking MAPK/AP-1 signaling. Cis-guggulsterone was the more potent than trans-guggulsterone in inhibition of TPA-induced MMP-9 expression and cell invasion of MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, we found that the combination of these isomers showed addictive effects on inhibition of cell invasion of MCF-7 cells. These results suggest that guggulesterone controls isomer-specifically TPA-induced MMP-9 expressions and cell invasions of MCF-7 cells. This study is the first to show that combination of guggulsterone isomers might be known as a potential strategy for the medical treatment of breast cancer.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4218. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4218


Abstract Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) are listed as endangered federally and by the state of Texas. Preference for closed canopy habitat has been shown in previous studies, but preference for patch size has not been reported. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and satellite imagery were used to compare areas in south Texas used by radio-collared ocelots to areas with no known use. We hypothesized that ocelots would prefer large patches of closed canopy habitat and avoid large patches of unsuitable habitat. Areas used by ocelots had a greater degree of fragmentation (i.e., larger number of patches, smaller size, and more edge) than did those not used. Further investigation revealed that ocelots preferred patches of closed canopy over other types of land cover and that this land cover type exhibited a greater degree of fragmentation. Results of this study were used to designate areas for conservation of ocelot habitat and can be applied to the management of other threatened or endangered wildlife.


Vinasse from sugar-cane alcohol production is generated in great amounts in Brazil and is disposed on soil "in natura". Only a few distilleries use mesophilic anaerobic digestion, so far, for gas recovery and vinasse treatment or conditioning, due to an unfavorable economical balance.

Thermophilic anaerobic digestion was studied in a large-scale pilot-plant (75 m3 UASB reactor), since vinasses are generated at high temperatures, and no experiments on this subject are reported in the literature, except for a few laboratory assays using pure substrates and other wastewaters.

This work demonstrates the feasibility of sugar-cane vinasse thermophilic anaerobic digestion in UASB reactors.

The reactor was operated for 280 days, as far as possible like a full-scale plant; at applied organic loading rates of 25-30 kg COD/m3.day, 72% COD removal and 10 Nm3gas/m3.day could be achieved. Granulation of the sludge was essential in order to maintain good stability of the process; almost no soda was necessary for pH control.

For full-scale implementation, re-start of the thermophilic process, after several months without feeding, has to be studied yet.


OBJECTIVE
Somatostatin analogues (SSA) reduce autonomous GH secretion by activating somatostatin receptors (sst) 2 and 5 in 50-60% of acromegalic patients. However, by inhibiting insulin secretion these SSA reduce glucose tolerance. DG3173 is a novel SSA with additional binding to sst4 and low insulin-suppressing activity. We investigated the effect of DG3173, including its relation to specific tumour characteristics, on GH secretion in human somatotroph adenoma cell cultures (hSA) in comparison with Octreotide.

METHODS
Twenty-seven hSA were characterised immunohistochemically for their hormone- and sst-expression, granularity and pre-surgical therapy with SSA. GH was determined in supernatants of hSA treated with DG3173 or Octreotide in time- (n=6) and dose-response (n=21) experiments. A positive response was defined as GH suppression to below 80% of baseline.

RESULTS
In the dose-response experiments DG3173 suppressed GH secretion in more adenomas than Octreotide (10/21 vs 5/21), including 38% (6/16) of Octreotide non-responders. In responders the extent of GH suppression and IC(50) were comparable for both SSA. The response-rate of both SSA was higher in monohormonal vs bihormonal adenomas, yet GH declined similarly in both groups. Neither pre-surgical SSA (n=6) nor tumour morphology was related to the GH response. However, semi-quantitative analysis indicated a small but significant negative correlation between the GH response to Octreotide and the immunoreactivity scores of sst2 expression.

CONCLUSIONS
DG3173 equalled Octreotide in suppressing GH secretion in hSA. Since DG3173 suppressed GH in some Octreotide-non-responsive adenomas, its clinical effectiveness will be worth testing. Moreover, its reduced insulin-suppressive potency would make it a valuable alternative to Octreotide.


Pyomyositis is a bacterial infection of skeletal muscle occurring in the absence of trauma or a primary site of infection. The condition is rare in temperate climates. The diagnosis is often difficult to make and frequently delayed since the suppurative process is confined by the tense overlying muscle and fascia. The bone scan is very useful in differentiating underlying osteomyelitis and septic arthritis. An 11-year-old boy is described who presented with multifocal pyomyositis in the elbow region and thigh. Lateral blood pool images suggested infection with liquefaction within the muscles without evidence of osteomyelitis.


Abstract Phelipanche ramosa is a major weed holoparasite characterized by a broad host range with a suboptimal development on numerous hosts, suggesting inter- or intra-species specificities. Seeds of P. ramosa germinate after exposure to exogenous chemicals exuded by surrounding host roots such as strigolactones, the concentrations of these germination stimulants varying between hosts. In France, P. ramosa is characterized by genetically differentiated populations presenting varying germination rates and a host specificity. The objective of our study was to investigate the sensitivity of seeds of two P. ramosa populations harvested on tobacco and oilseed rape, to a set of GR24 concentrations, a synthetic strigol analogue. The assessment of the germination rate was based on in vitro experiments. Seeds of P. ramosa were placed in Petri dishes with various concentrations of GR24. The cumulative number of germinated seeds of P. ramosa was counted several times after application of the treatment. Cumulative germination curves were analysed using a three-parameter log-logistic model and a time-to-event approach. The results show that the germination rate of P. ramosa seeds depends on the GR24 concentration and the duration of stimulation, but also that the response to these two factors varies greatly according to the origin of the P. ramosa seeds. The difference in germination speed between P. ramosa populations further shows distinct responses at the intraspecific level, thus suggesting that the specialization of P. ramosa probably occurs at least from the first stage of the holoparasite cycle.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to observe and analyse the potential benefits of the situated learning experience for MSc interpreting students enrolled in the Conference Interpreting and Translation programme at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh by taking them outside the classroom and confronting them with the realities of a working parliament (the Scottish Parliament). Our curriculum already includes a number of activities designed to draw on theories of experiential learning developed by Lave and Wenger (1991) generally, and D'Hayer (2006) specifically for interpreter education, for instance in the shape of simulated multilingual conferences organised in a university interpreting laboratory. However, this study is designed to analyse the benefits of taking situated learning one step further, by placing students in the real, live environment in which professional interpreters work: an interpreting booth, during a live Scottish parliamentary session. By taking the learning experience out of the usual academic environment and into a professional setting, we intend to use a mixed-method approach in order to examine how students react to the experience and to what extent it contributes to focusing their study strategies and learning.


Aim: The purpose of this study was to know the genetic and biochemical identification of isolated lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from Balinese bovine (Bos sondaicus) intestinal waste, acidity, and ox bile salts and to inhibit the growth pathogen of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli and the potential of those isolated to improve nutrient value of wheat pollard as animal feed ingredient by fermentation process. Materials and Methods: This research was divided into three stages. The first stage, isolated LAB were obtained from the bovine intestines at a slaughterhouse in Indonesia. Small intestinal samples were collected from 10 healthy Balinese beef cattle (B. sondaicus). The isolated LAB were identified by VITEK 2, polymerase chain reaction, and 16S rDNA. The basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) was performed to determine the phylogenetic tree. The second stage, the LAB were screened for their tolerance at pH 2, 3, and 4; bile salt, and antagonistic to enteric pathogen. In the third stage, to determine the potency of this isolate to increase nutrient content of wheat pollard by facultative anaerobe fermentation for 3 and 5 days. Results: The result of the first stage showed that the isolate could be identified as Lactobacillus casei WPL 315. The result of the second stage showed that the isolate tolerance to low pH (pH 2, pH 3, and pH4) for 90 min and 24 h, and this isolate had viability tolerance in 0.3% bile salt. The isolate can inhibit S. aureus and E. coli. The result of the third stage by proximate analysis showed that crude protein increased by 23.08% after fermentation, while crude fiber decreased by 61.24% on the level 0.5% L. casei subsp. WPL 315 in the 3-day fermentation. Conclusion: Based on the results, it showed that L. casei WPL 315 derived from indigenous intestinal Balinese beef cattle (B. sondaicus) has tolerant characteristic on acidity and ox bile salts, has antagonistic effect against E. coli and S. aureus, and has the ability to increase crude protein and decrease crude fiber content of wheat pollard. It would be interesting to determine whether the strain has a probiotic candidate.


Background: Hospitalization of infants with congenital anomalies to undergo surgery is extremely stressful for their family members, particularly their parents. The resultant stress can negatively affect parents' self-confidence. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the correlation of perceived nursing support with stress and self-confidence among the mothers of infants with congenital gastrointestinal anomalies. Methods: This correlational study was conducted in June–November 2015 on 120 mothers whose infants were hospitalized due to congenital gastrointestinal anomalies in the surgical ward of Tabriz teaching children's hospital, Tabriz, Iran. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Nurse Parent Support Tool, the Parental Stress Scale, and the Parenting Confidence Scale. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation of perceived nursing support with stress and self-confidence. Results: Mothers perceived high levels of communicational-informational nursing support and low levels of emotional nursing support. Perceived nursing support had positive correlations with stress (r = 0.22; P = 0.013) and self-confidence (r = 0.35; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Although the mothers of infants with congenital gastrointestinal anomalies receive adequate communicational-informational nursing support, their perceived emotional nursing support is inadequate. Therefore, neonatal care nurses need to provide the mothers with comprehensive support and adopt strategies to alleviate their concern.


The old Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and the New MCAT were compared by factor-analyzing the scores of a sample of 1,484 examinees who had taken both test batteries during 1976-77. Three common factors were extracted and interpreted. The first, a general science-quantitative factor, linked scales from both test batteries. A second factor, labeled verbal ability, characterized primarily two scales from the old test, Verbal Ability and General Information. A third factor, interpretation skills, was common to the two skills analysis scales of a new test. Specific variance for each subtest was also estimated by comparing the variance accounted for by these factors with the systematic variance indicated by the reliability. It appears that the old Quantitative Ability subtest measured unique skills which have not been incorporated into the new battery. Also the new Biology and Physics scores seem to provide specific information on knowledge in a particular discipline in addition to general science knowledge. Discussion centers on the implications of these data for the use of New MCAT scores in admissions.


DSAM with two targets simultaneously is applied for the first time to the (n, n'γ) reaction. Mean lifetimes of the 27Al excited levels at 2.21, 2.73, 2.98, 3.00, 3.95 and 4.51 MeV are measured and found to be 4.5±0.8, 1.4±0.9, 1.5±0.5, 7.8±1.5, 0.4±0.4 and 26±1 (all in units 10-14 s), respectively. The results obtained are compared with those of other authors. The agreement between them indicates that this method can be applied successfully to this reaction.


Octave equivalence serves as domain-knowledge in MIR systems, including chromagram, spiral convolutional networks, and harmonic CQT. Prior work has applied the Isomap manifold learning algorithm to unlabeled audio data to embed frequency sub-bands in 3-D space where the Euclidean distances are inversely proportional to the strength of their Pearson correlations. However, discovering octave equivalence via Isomap requires visual inspection and is not scalable. To address this problem, we define "helicality" as the goodness of fit of the 3-D Isomap embedding to a Shepherd-Risset helix. Our method is unsupervised and uses a custom Frank-Wolfe algorithm to minimize a least-squares objective inside a convex hull. Numerical experiments indicate that isolated musical notes have a higher helicality than speech, followed by drum hits.