The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of 1996 banned any future nuclear explosions or testing of nuclear weapons and created the CTBTO in Vienna to implement the treaty. The U.S. response to this was the cessation of all above and below ground nuclear testing. As such, all stockpile reliability assessments are now based on periodic testing of subsystems being stored in a wide variety of environments. This data provides a wealth of information and feeds a growing web of deterministic, physics-based computer models for assessment of stockpile reliability. Unfortunately until 1996 it was difficult to relate the deterministic materials aging test data to component reliability. Since that time we have made great strides in mathematical techniques and computer tools that permit explicit relationships between materials degradation, e.g. corrosion, thermo -mechanical fatigue, and reliability. The resulting suite of tools is known as CRAX and the mathematical library supporting these tools is Cassandra . However, these techniques ignore the historical data that is also available on similar systems in the nuclear stockpile, the DoD weapons complex and even in commercial applications. Traditional statistical techniques commonly used in classical re liability assessment do not permit data from these sources to be easily included in the overall assessment of system reliability. An older, alternative approach based on Bayesian probability theory permits the inclusion of data from all applicable sources. Data from a variety of sources is brought together in a logical fashion through the repeated application of inductive mathematics. This research brings together existing mathematical methods, modifies and expands those techniques as required, permitting data from a wide variety of sources to be combined in a logical fashion to increase the confidence in the reliability assessment of the nuclear weapons stockpile. The application of this research is limited to those systems composed of discrete components, e.g. those that can be characterized as operating or not operating. However, there is nothing unique about the underlying principles and the extension to continuous subsystem/systems is straightforward. The framework is also laid for the consideration of systems with multiple correlated failure modes. While an important consideration, time and resources limited the specific demonstration of these methods.


Assessment of iron status is important, because iron deficiency and overload have pathologic consequences. Serum ferritin, the function of which is unknown, is frequently used to assess labile iron stores for the purpose of ensuring their adequacy for erythropoiesis. However, measurable ferritin levels can be increased when tissue ferritin is released during cellular injury, and erythropoietic blockade can increase the labile iron pool, elevating serum ferritin levels despite suppressed erythropoiesis. Erythropoietin-stimulated red blood cell (RBC) production can quickly decrease the labile cellular iron pool and reduce serum ferritin, unless supplemental iron is supplied. A serum ferritin level less than 12 microg/L indicates that there is no iron in the stores (absolute iron deficiency), and levels above 15 microg/L may still not be sufficient to meet erythropoietic demand. This is particularly true in patients receiving erythropoietin, in which the stimulated erythropoiesis requires extra iron supplies. Because of the limitations of serum ferritin measurements and questions regarding the effects of free iron, clinicians need not be too alarmed by high serum ferritin levels. At the very least, safety concerns must be balanced against the real need for iron supplementation to maintain adequate erythropoiesis.


Forces experienced by cells internally and externally can alter cellular signaling and function. The authors have developed an elastomeric device for the measurement of protrusive forces generated by cells, in which cells spreading on a planar surface encounter an array of pillars. The protrusive force can be calculated from the deflection of the pillar using simple mechanical considerations. The advantage of this approach is that multiple sensors can be integrated into a single device. Theaverage protrusive force was calculated as 800 pN for NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. The correct quantification of protrusive forces potentially can be used in the development of novel cancer therapies and diagnostic tools.


The aim of this experimental study was to determine the effects of growth hormone on hepatic regeneration after partial hepatectomy. Thirty pathogen free Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups, each containing 10 rats. The animals were subjected to a sham operation in Group 1, and to left hepatic lobectomy in Groups 2 and 3. The animals in Groups 1 and 2 received saline solution (0.2 mg/kg/day), while growth hormone (Lilly Humotrope, Lilly France Usine de Fegersheim, France) (0.2 mg/kg/day) was given to the animals in Group 3 for seven days. On the seventh postoperative day, the animals were sacrificed and total hepatectomy was performed. The mitosis rate of the hepatocytes and Ki-67 monoclonal antibody positivity were determined. The animals in Group 3 exhibited a higher hepatocyte mitosis rate and greater Ki-67 monoclonal antibody positivity than the animals in Groups 1 and 2. It was concluded that the growth hormone had positive effects on hepatic regeneration.


Here we present the case of favourable outcome of the right kidney carbuncle which was observed in dynamics by a method of ultrasonic diagnostics and confirmed by a method of X-ray computed tomography.


ABSTRACT: Knowing the spatial variability of sugarcane biomass in the early stages of development may help growers in their management decision-making. Proximal canopy sensing is a promising technology that can identify this variability but is limited to quantifying plant-specific parameters. In this study, we evaluated whether biometric variables integrated with canopy reflectance data can assist in the generation of models for early-stage sugarcane biomass prediction. To substantiate this assertion, four sugarcane-producing fields were measured with an active crop canopy sensor and 30 sampling plots were selected for manually quantifying chlorophyll content, plant height, stalk number and aboveground biomass. We determined that Random Forest and Multiple Linear Regression models are similarly able to predict biomass, and that associating biometric variables such as number of stalks and plant height with reflectance data can assist model performance, depending on the attributes selected. This indicates that, when estimating biomass in the early stages, sugarcane growers can carry out site-specific management in order to increase yield and reduce the use of inputs.


The role of nanodiamonds in the reaction of photochemical transformation of tryptophan in the presence of halogen hydrocarbons has been studied. The photochemical transformation of free tryptophan in a suspension with diamond nanoparticles and in a hybrid complex with them when exposed to UV radiation in the presence of chloroform is investigated. Data from stationary and time-resolved spectroscopic studies show the presence of non-radiative transfer of electron excitation energy between tryptophan molecules and its photodestruction products for the case of a covalent complex with a nanodiamond. It is shown that in the presence of energy transfer, an increase in the intensity of integral fluorescence occurs in the range of ~ 450 nm. Thus, a covalent tryptophan complex with a nanodiamond can serve as a fluorescent marker for the presence of chloroform in solution. Keywords: nanoscale diamonds, hybrid complexes, tryptophan phototransformation, spectral-luminescent properties, fluorescence decay kinetics, chloroform.


This paper analyzes the combined effect of a residual frequency offset and drift after down-conversion for single shot receiver architectures as they are currently utilized in mobile terminals for GPS reception. The change in the receiver detection probability due to this effect is calculated, as well as the associated connected sensitivity-loss. The obtained results are given for the GPS C/A code and open Galileo signal, both in the L1 band.


What is the Case Formulation Approach to Cognitive-Behavior Therapy? Cognitive Theories and their Clinical Implications. Learning Theories and their Clinical Implications. Emotion Theories and their Clinical Implications. Beginning the Therapeutic Relationship and Obtaining a Problem List and Diagnosis. Developing an Initial Case Formulation and Setting Treatment Goals. Using the Formulation to Develop a Treatment Plan and Obtain the Patient's Consent to It. The Therapeutic Relationship. Monitoring Progress. Decision Making in the Therapy Session. Handling Nonadherence and Treatment Failure. Decision Making Over the Course of Therapy.


Capturing and analyzing requirements of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) can be challenging, since CPS models typically involve time-varying and real-valued variables, physical system dynamics, or even adaptive behavior. MATLAB/Simulink is a development and simulation framework that is widely used in industry to capture such systems. In this paper, we report on the application of NASA Ames tools to perform end-to-end analysis of the Ten Lockheed Martin Challenge Problems (LMCPS). LMCPS is a set of industrial Simulink model benchmarks and natural language requirements developed by domain experts. Our framework, which integrates the tools FRET and COCOSIM, is used to: 1) elicit, explain, and formalize the semantics of the given natural language requirements; 2) generate verification code and monitors that can be automatically attached to the Simulink models; 3) perform verification by using SMT-based model checkers. FRET and COCOS1M are open source, and can be used by other researchers and practitioners to replicate our case study. We provide a categorization of recurring patterns in the formalization of the requirements and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our automated verification approach.


A project conducted in a primary school explored the hypothesis that student teachers could reflect upon feedback to improve their use of emotional intelligence in the classroom, thereby improving their teaching as defined by the required professional teaching standards. Four student teachers and their teacher mentors participated with a teacher educator to provide two data sets joint lesson observations records and semistructured interviews. The joint observations were conducted with the teacher educator using an observational checklist based on an emotional intelligence competencies framework and the mentor assessing demonstration of the required professional standards. Two lessons per student were observed with a four week interval. Shortly after the second observation, student teachers and mentors were interviewed in peer pairs. Qualitative analysis indicated linked improvements in performance, in terms of emotional intelligence and the professional standards. While wary of generalising from such a small sample, the study suggests a place for learning communities of good practice and support to develop emotionally-intelligent teaching. The study concludes that the improvements are first indications of the benefits of developing emotional intelligence in student teachers and that further research, with larger samples and the use of other feedback methods, has a contribution to make to teacher education.


LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) has become an essential part of the remote sensing toolbox used for biosphere monitoring. In particular, LiDAR provides the opportunity to map forest leaf area with unprecedented accuracy, while leaf area has remained an important source of uncertainty affecting models of gas exchanges between the vegetation and the atmosphere. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are easy to mobilize and therefore allow frequent revisits to track the response of vegetation to climate change. However, miniature sensors embarked on UAVs usually provide point clouds of limited density, which are further affected by a strong decrease in density from top to bottom of the canopy due to progressively stronger occlusion. In such a context, discriminating leaf points from wood points presents a significant challenge due in particular to strong class imbalance and spatially irregular sampling intensity. Here we introduce a neural network model based on the Pointnet ++ architecture which makes use of point geometry only (excluding any spectral information). To cope with local data sparsity, we propose an innovative sampling scheme which strives to preserve local important geometric information. We also propose a loss function adapted to the severe class imbalance. We show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art alternatives on UAV point clouds. We discuss future possible improvements, particularly regarding much denser point clouds acquired from below the canopy.


Carcinoma of the adrenal cortex is a fairly rare entity, usually with a somber prognosis. The efficacy of treatment depends on early prognosis. We are reporting here a case of carcinoma of the adrenal cortex producing androgens, estrogens and cortisol, in which diagnosis was not achieved until two years after the onset of symptoms. Morphologic studies by CT showed local extension and metastases. After mass-reduction surgery, the patient died due to respiratory failure. This case remarks the importance of early diagnosis in this syndrome.


Capital market activity has an important role in developing the national economy, in order to enter the financial market, the investor needs to know about the risk in the capital market itself and determine the best stock to be taken. There are three common methods of analysis such as Sharpe ratio, Trenor ratio and Jensen's alpha which are sometimes confuse the investor in order to take which one of these three is the better method. This research objective is to identify whether there is a difference of portfolio performance among these three methods on LQ 45 by analyzing the performance of each sampling stock from LQ 45. This research was using Z-score standardized to standardized these three method and after that used one-way ANOVA to find whether there is any difference among these three methods or not. Conclusion this research showed no difference between any of these three methods. Any of this method can be used by the investor to analyze the ratio of portfolio performance. As a recommendation, using these three methods simultaneously can provide better information for manager as part of investment management process.


Pseudomonas viridiflava is an opportunistic, post-harvest pathogenic bacterium that causes soft rot of fruits and vegetables. In vivo expression technology was used to identify genes that participate in the pathogenicity of P. viridiflava. Genetic loci that are induced in planta were identified. Ten such loci were partially sequenced and annotated. Here we describe five of them, which influence the pathogen's stress tolerance in planta. Three of the identified ORFs that show sequence identity to known genes encode membrane proteins, the remaining two encode enzymes in catabolic pathways.


Chemical cross-linking and mass spectrometry is of growing use for establishment of distance constraints on protein conformations and interactions. Whereas intra-protein cross-links can arise from proteins in isolation, inter-protein cross-links reflect proximity of two interacting proteins in the sample. Prediction of expected ratios of the number of inter-protein to intra-protein cross-links is hindered by lacking comprehensive knowledge on the interactome network and global occupancy levels for all interacting complex subunits. Here we determine the theoretical number of possible inter- and intra-protein cross-links in available PDB structures of proteins bound in complexes to predict a maximum expected fraction of inter-protein cross-links in large scale in vivo cross-linking studies. We show how the maximum fraction can guide interpretation of reported inter-protein fractions with respect to the extent of sample protein binding, comparing whole cell and lysate cross-linked samples as an example. We also demonstrate how an observation of inter-protein cross-link fractions greater than the maximum value can result from the presence of false positive cross-links which are predominantly inter-protein, their number estimable from the observed surplus fraction of inter-protein cross-links.


Turkish Petroleum Company (TPAO) has served the first underground gas storage facility called as "Kuzey Marmara and Degirmenkoy Fields Underground Gas Storage Facilities" to Turkey economy on 21.03.2007 where it was initially started to execute in 1996 by considering the need of gas storage facility of Turkey. The fields used in the scope of project are depleted gas reservoirs. Storage facilities consist of Kuzey Marmara and Degirmenkoy Fields Gathering Points and a Shared Facility used for injecting gas to reservoirs and processing and serving the withdrawn gas to BOTAŞ Main Pipeline. Storage activity is mainly comprised of injection phase, injection of processed gas taken from main distribution line via shared facility, and withdrawal phase, production of mixture of injected processed gas with cushion gas. A storage period consists of withdrawal process following up injection process and original and injected gas have different compositions. It is observed that such compositional difference results composition change in withdrawn gas. In this study, percentage rate of change of withdrawn gas composition to original gas is determined by selecting Kuzey Marmara Reservoir gas composition as original composition before starting storage activity. Production amount has been determined at %5,  and  gas composition to original gas composition for each period. These production amounts are used for comparison for each storage period to get an idea about compositional change of reservoir. It has been observed from the tests performed when there is no operation (injection or withdrawal) that the pressure of each well changes simultaneously. Thus, it has been concluded that the measured pressure of any well represents the whole reservoir pressure characteristic. Hence, well no 8 in Kuzey Marmara has been selected as the pilot well and pressure of this well has been assumed to represent the reservoir pressure. The effect of changes in gas composition on the storage capacity has been examined by correlating the amount of gas withdrawn from the reservoir and the pressure attained on the injection period for each storage year (period). It has been anticipated to achieve significant results by making use of obtained data in the oncoming years in that study.


Introduction: One of the most challenging regions of the body to cover is the lower part of the leg, the ankle, and the foot, especially with the exposure of bones or tendons. Many options for covering soft tissue defects in this area have been proposed. This article describes the lateral supramalleolar flap, which is used for the reconstruction of defects of the lower leg, ankle, heel, and foot. This flap is a surgical technique to salvage the lower extremity due to its large skin paddle and a wide rotation arc. In this case series, patients with lower leg and ankle defects requiring flaps had the lateral supramalleolar flaps performed. This article discusses the overview, technique, and outcomes. Methods: These flaps were performed under spinal anesthesia and tourniquet control. The upper limit of the flap was about 8 cm from the popliteal crease, and the lower border was 5 cm from the axis of the ankle joint. The lateral extent of the flap was up to the fibula, contrary to mid- calf. The flap was harvested in the sub- facial plane, and the donor site was grafted. Results: The Flap was generally easy to raise and secure in place at the donor site. Partial necrosis of the flap was reported in one case. The overall donor site morbidity was minimal. Conclusion: The lateral supramalleolar flap is a reliable and useful flap for coverage of the lower third of the leg, ankle, and dorsal foot defects. It is a viable option available to the reconstructive surgeon, especially with the exposure of bones or tendons.


Solid-phase membrane micro-tip extraction (SPMMTE) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) methods were developed and validated for analysis of chloramphenicol in human plasma and urine samples. Iron composite nanoparticles were prepared using green technology. CE was carried out using a silica capillary (60 cm × 50 μm i.d.), phosphate buffer (50 mm, 8.0 pH)-acetonitrile (95:5, v/v) as the background electrolyte, 10 kV voltage, 280 nm detection, 20 s injection time and 27 ± 1°C temperature. Frusemide was used as an internal standard. The values of migration time, electrophoretic mobility, electrophoretic velocity and theoretical plates of chloramphenicol were 12.254 min, 4.44 × 10, 7.41 × 10 and 11,227. The limits of detection and quantitation of chloramphenicol were 0.1 and 1.0 μg/mL. Recovery of chloramphenicol in the standard solution was 95%. Solid-phase membrane micro-tip extraction and capillary electrophoresis methods may be used to analyze chloramphenicol in human plasma and urine samples of any patient.


Timely and accurate extraction of Adverse Drug Events (ADE) from biomedical literature is paramount for public safety, but involves slow and costly manual labor. We set out to improve drug safety monitoring (pharmacovigilance, PV) through the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP). We introduce BioDEX, a large-scale resource for Biomedical adverse Drug Event Extraction, rooted in the historical output of drug safety reporting in the U.S. BioDEX consists of 65k abstracts and 19k full-text biomedical papers with 256k associated document-level safety reports created by medical experts. The core features of these reports include the reported weight, age, and biological sex of a patient, a set of drugs taken by the patient, the drug dosages, the reactions experienced, and whether the reaction was life threatening. In this work, we consider the task of predicting the core information of the report given its originating paper. We estimate human performance to be 72.0% F1, whereas our best model achieves 62.3% F1, indicating significant headroom on this task. We also begin to explore ways in which these models could help professional PV reviewers. Our code and data are available: https://github.com/KarelDO/BioDEX.


Developments in models and methods of urban systems have increasingly drawn attention to the joint effect of land use and transportation on behavioral and policy relevance, with multicriteria evaluation of and attention to the site-level analysis of spatial impacts. In this paper, we use Saaty's Analytic Network Process (ANP), a systems-oriented method, to contribute to the emerging methodological developments in land use and transportation systems evaluation, planning, and forecasting. The ANP is applied to the problem of light rail route selection with station area land use and property value among multiple criteria. The application shows how the analysis of land use and transportation as elements of an urban system with feedback is facilitated by the ANP with data parsimony in the ex ante estimation of site-specific, spatial-economic impacts.


The present study is aimed to two related objectives: 1) to make a systematic review of the relationship between toxic leadership, burnout and turnover intentions in the workplace 2) to use this knowledge to investigate if and to what extent a toxic leadership style might negatively impact workers' burnout and turnover intentions. This second objective was pursuedconducting a survey focused on a convenience sample of 156 employees (48% males and 50% females), working in small and medium enterprises across Italy.
The structured questionnaire adopted is composed of validated measures of emotional exhaustion (Sirigatti et al. 1988 ), toxic leadership (Schmidt, 2008), turnover intention (Mobley et al., 1978) and job satisfaction (Wanous et al., 1997). Results showed that all dimensions of burnout and turnover intentions were positively related to toxic leadership. Limitations of the study as well as practical implications for research and practice in HRM are discussed.


Objectives: The scale and impact of background isoniazid resistance in TB- and HIV-endemic countries requires definition to improve treatment success and guide the scale-up of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT). We describe the effects of isoniazid resistance on TB treatment outcomes among patients with or without HIV infection in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: A multicentre, prospective observational study was conducted among TB patients commencing WHO-recommended first-line TB treatment. In multivariate analysis we ascertained the relationship between isoniazid resistance at presentation with a composite of poor treatment outcomes (death, failure or default from TB therapy). Results: Of 861 patients, 250 (29.0%) were HIV infected and 23 (2.7%) had isoniazid resistance. Seven hundred and ninety-seven (92.6%) of the patients were successfully treated and 25 (2.9%) died. Isoniazid resistance [relative risk (RR) = 6.0; 95% CI = 1.9–18.7; P < 0.01] and HIV infection with (RR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.0–5.2; P = 0.05) or without (RR = 3.1; 95% CI = 1.5–6.2; P < 0.01) ART were independent predictors of poor treatment outcomes. Conclusions: Background isoniazid resistance and HIV infection adversely affected TB treatment outcomes. Early laboratory detection of isoniazid resistance is important for successful TB therapy. Studies on the impact of background isoniazid resistance on the efficacy of isoniazid prophylaxis are recommended.


Poor ovarian response remains one of the major challenges of assisted reproductive technology. Over the years, various interventions have been proposed to improve reproductive outcomes in poor responders, yet few have been shown to be beneficial. Recent studies indicate that hormonal pretreatments might increase clinical pregnancy rate, live birth rate and the number of oocytes retrieved in women with poor ovarian response undergoing assisted reproductive technology. Areas covered: Following extensive research of the up to date literature, this review aims to cover current considerations and controversies regarding the use of hormonal supplements such as dehydroepiandrosterone, transdermal testosterone and growth hormone. Expert opinion: There is limited data for the validity of using growth hormone and androgens or androgen modulating agents during assisted reproductive technology cycles in women suffering from poor ovarian response. However, there is a need to support the available data with further randomized controlled trials seeking for live birth rate as the primary outcome.


Abstract Corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) is an in vivo technique used to study corneal nerve morphology. The largest proportion of nerves innervating the cornea lie within the subbasal nerve plexus, where their morphology is altered by refractive surgery, diabetes and dry eye. The main limitations to clinical use of CCM as a diagnostic tool are the small field of view of CCM images and the lengthy time needed to quantify nerves in collected images. Here, we present a novel, rapid, fully automated technique to mosaic individual CCM images into wide-field maps of corneal nerves. We implemented an OpenCV image stitcher that accounts for corneal deformation and uses feature detection to stitch CCM images into a montage. The method takes 3–5 min to process and stitch 40–100 frames on an Amazon EC2 Micro instance. The speed, automation and ease of use conferred by this technique is the first step toward point of care evaluation of wide-field subbasal plexus (SBP) maps in a clinical setting.


"TTndonesia has a reputation as one of the most corrupt countries in the world I (Transparency International, 1999). Unlike many others that are regarded as highly corrupt, however, this was not incompatible with rapid economic progress over three decades, and Soeharto's New Order regime clearly brought considerable material benefits to the majority of the population. Some argue that endemic corruption was unsustainable and that it was responsible for the unravelling that has been seen since mid 1997, but while the nature of government-business relationships undoubtedly contributed in important ways to the crisis, the mechanisms by which this occurred have yet to be adequately described. The present paper attempts to fill this gap.


Nanoelectronics research has primarily focused on devices. By contrast, not much has been published on innovations at higher layers: we know little about how to construct circuits or architectures out of such devices. In this paper, we focus on the currently most promising nanodevice technologies, such as arrays of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) and arrays of crossed carbon nanotubes (CNTs). In contrast to general-purpose programmable fabrics (such as PLAs), we investigate nano-fabrics that, while also programmable and hierarchical, are more tuned towards an application domain (in this sense they resemble ASIC). Our goal is to achieve denser designs with better fabric utilization, efficient cascading of circuits, and routing of signals. We demonstrate detailed designs of several circuits and processor data-paths, and highlight associated challenges and opportunities for optimization.


The symbiotic relationship between beneficial microorganisms and plants plays a vital role in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Although Peucedanum praeruptorum Dunn is widely distributed, its development is greatly limited by early bolting. The reason for early bolting in P. praeruptorum remains poorly characterized. We focus on the plant related microorganisms, including endophytes and rhizosphere microorganisms, by combining the traditional isolation and culture method with metagenomic sequencing technology. We found that the OTUs of endophytes and rhizosphere microorganisms showed a positive correlation in the whole growth stage of P. praeruptorum. Meanwhile, the community diversity of endophytic and rhizosphere fungi showed an opposite change trend, and bacteria showed a similar change trend. Besides, the microbial communities differed during the pre- and post-bolting stages of P. praeruptorum. Beneficial bacterial taxa, such as Pseudomonas and Burkholderia, and fungal taxa, such as Didymella and Fusarium, were abundant in the roots in the pre-bolting stage. Further, a strain belonging to Didymella was obtained by traditional culture and was found to contain praeruptorin A, praeruptorin B, praeruptorin E. In addition, we showed that the fungus could affect its effective components when it was inoculated into P. praeruptorum. This work provided a research reference for the similar biological characteristics of perennial one-time flowering plants, such as Saposhnikovia divaricate, Angelica sinensis and Angelica dahurica.


The uniqueness of the agricultural pursuit of hop growing
lies in its very high input costs and related agglomerative tendencies;
the interest for this study lies in the predictable fluctuations in
the area planted to the crop, deriving as they do from a complex of
market-related and industry-behaviour considerations.
Physical requirements for the crop are relatively narrow,
but more important causes of local specialization have traditionally
derived from the industrial use of the crop and the centralizing of
certain processing facilities, particularly as these affect smaller
producers. The attraction of the perennial crop for producers of
even a hectare or less derives from the prospect of highly profitable
returns; a prospect frequently not fulfilled. The hop plant,
Humulus lupulus, has earned its reputation as a gambler's crop; the
balance between fixed input costs, variable yields and prices for the
commodity periodically has favoured costs over returns, leading to
cyclical changes in total planted area and in the number of hop
growers._ The spatial expression of such fluctuations is seen in
the emergence of a core area of production within which land-use
intensity for the crop has remained relatively unchanged for over a
century. Beyond the core, the extensive margins of production exhibit
cyclical expansion and contraction, at times including localities
as widely spaced as Flinders Island and Strahan; but the forces
leading to concentration and specialization within the industry have
tended to confine production increasingly to the Derwent Valley and
minor localities in the south of the state until the last two
decades. Since 1960, a major new production region has emerged in the north-east of the state, reflecting changed economies of
scale brought about by improved hop varieties and technological developments.
The new hops have higher brewing value, thereby reducing
the relative demand from brewers; smaller, more traditional growers
in the south of the state have not been able to compete with the
lower unit production costs of larger growers and have ceased
production almost entirely. The central argument of the thesis is
that the industry approach, particularly involving detailed study
of production on individual farms, is a valuable contribution
towards the understanding of patterns of agricultural land use as
a whole. The study examines the industry in its historical and
contemporary contexts and demonstrates the interrelatedness of
physical and economic constraints to production. It considers the
nature of political and behavioural influences and their respective
impact on the spatial arrangement of the industry.


The haptoglobin-hemoglobin receptor (HpHbR) of African trypanosomes plays a critical role in human innate immunity against these parasites. Localized to the flagellar pocket of the veterinary pathogen Trypanosoma brucei brucei this receptor binds Trypanosome Lytic Factor-1 (TLF-1), a subclass of human high-density lipoprotein (HDL) facilitating endocytosis, lysosomal trafficking and subsequent killing. Recently, we found that group 1 Trypanosoma brucei gambiense does not express a functional HpHbR. We now show that loss of the TbbHpHbR reduces the susceptibility of T. b. brucei to human serum and TLF-1 by 100- and 10,000-fold, respectively. The relatively high concentrations of human serum and TLF-1 needed to kill trypanosomes lacking the HpHbR indicates that high affinity TbbHpHbR binding enhances the cytotoxicity; however, in the absence of TbbHpHbR, other receptors or fluid phase endocytosis are sufficient to provide some level of susceptibility. Human serum contains a second innate immune factor, TLF-2, that has been suggested to kill trypanosomes independently of the TbbHpHbR. We found that T. b. brucei killing by TLF-2 was reduced in TbbHpHbR-deficient cells but to a lesser extent than TLF-1. This suggests that both TLF-1 and TLF-2 can be taken up via the TbbHpHbR but that alternative pathways exist for the uptake of these toxins. Together the findings reported here extend our previously published studies and suggest that group 1 T. b. gambiense has evolved multiple mechanisms to avoid killing by trypanolytic human serum factors.


In this study, we aimed to determine how infection with Nosema ceranae spores affected semen volume, sperm concentration, and fragmentation of sperm DNA in honeybees. A total of 120 one-dayold drones were marked with queen bee marking numbers, and equally divided into two groups. Drones in the infected group were individually fed with honey syrup containing 200 000 N. ceranae spores per 1 µL, while those in the uninfected (control) group were fed honey syrup without spores. The groups were then placed in two separate colonies. Fourteen days later, ejaculate was collected from the drones and was analyzed for semen volume, sperm concentration per 1 µL semen, and sperm DNA fragmentation. Compared to uninfected controls, the N. ceranae spore-infected drones showed significantly decreased semen volume and sperm concentration, as well as a higher percentage of sperm DNA fragmentation.


Soil contamination with petroleum compounds since the petroleum exploration in the last century in Iran, and accumulation of these compounds in the environment threaten the health of soil and water resources of the country. The current research was conducted with the purpose of reaching to an efficient approach for the remediation of soils polluted with petroleum compounds. In this research the effect of five experimental treatments including various species of Bacillus and Pseudomonas bacteria with and without barely (Karron cv.) planting on the bio- degradation of those compounds in an artificially polluted loam soil was investigated. Analysis of the data indicated that the maximum purification belonged to the Bacillus 2 treatment. With barely planting this bacteria reduced soil total petroleum hydrocarbons up to %72.5 during 105 days. Without barely the reduction became %59.8 at the same period. The rate of bio- degradation was also highest at the same treatment, meaning that during a 20-day the reduction of catumination became %40. Degredation rate considerably increased with the presence of bacteria in the soil comparing to the barely planting alone. Inoculating of contaminated soil with bacteria without the need for particular nursery seems to be enough to control effectively the soil pollution. Among the several examined bacteria, Bacillus 2 turned to be the most suitable one for removing the petroleum- loased contamination.


Thrombin has been implicated in the stimulation of smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation that contributes to post angioplasty restenosis. The present studies demonstrated that human alpha-thrombin was a potent and efficacious mitogen for cultured rat aortic SMC, stimulating an increase in 3H-thymidine incorporation, as well as an increase in cell number at 1 to 10 nM concentration. gamma-Thrombin, which is enzymatically active but lacks fibrinogen clotting activity, stimulated SMC mitogenesis but was approximately 10-fold less potent than alpha-thrombin. In contrast, D-phenylalanyl-L-propyl-L-arginyl-chloromethyl ketone-alpha-thrombin, which lacked enzymatic activity, had no mitogenic effect. Diisopropylfluorophosphate-alpha-thrombin failed to stimulate mitogenesis except at concentrations having equivalent enzymatic activity as that of alpha-thrombin at its threshold for mitogenesis. Thus, thrombin-induced proliferation was dependent on enzymatic activity. A 14-residue peptide (SFLLRNPNDKYEPF) corresponding to amino acids 42 through 55 of the human thrombin receptor (Vu, T. K., D. T. Hung, V. I. Wheaton, and S. R. Coughlin, 1991. Cell. 64:1057-1068) had full efficacy in stimulating SMC proliferation. Reversing the first two amino acids of this peptide abolished mitogenic activity. Northern analysis demonstrated that SMC expressed a single mRNA species that hybridized to a labeled thrombin receptor cDNA probe. These findings indicate that alpha-thrombin stimulates SMC proliferation via the proteolytic activation of a receptor very similar or identical to that previously identified.


Tourism is one of the key revenue generators in communities worldwide. In the present day, traveling has become a lot easier with all the information available through the Internet. However, there are still challenges in identifying the right medical resources while traveling to a new city for the first time. In this research, we propose a privacy-assured framework that can help in identifying the medical services for a tourist. Through this research, we have developed a cost-effective tour wearable, iMED-Tour, that can notify the user if they need to visit a hospital service in case of emergency and provide suggestions for the preferred medical services. The proposed framework was evaluated for its latency with regards to the wearable's performance and ability to find the shortest path. The iMED-Tour wearable had an overall latency in the order of few milliseconds and the shortest path algorithm implemented in CupCarbon had a latency of 10 seconds.


Isotretinoin, a synthetic retinoid that has been prescribed for over 500,000 patients with cystic acne, has been associated with both spinal hyperostosis and a disorder similar to diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. We describe a syndrome of tendon and ligament calcification, primarily in extraspinal locations, that we have observed after long-term therapy for psoriasis and disorders of keratinization with etretinate, another synthetic retinoid. Of 38 patients who had received etretinate (average dose, 0.8 mg per kilogram of body weight per day; average duration, 60 months), 32 (84 percent) had radiographic evidence of extraspinal tendon and ligament calcification. The most common sites of involvement were the ankles (29 patients [76 percent]), pelvis (20 patients [53 percent]), and knees (16 patients [42 percent]); spine involvement was uncommon in this group of etretinate-treated patients. Involvement tended to be bilateral and multifocal. Fifteen (47 percent) of the 32 affected patients had no bone or joint symptoms at the sites of radiographic abnormality. Thus, tendon and ligament calcification can occur without vertebral involvement as well as in association with it (for example, as part of the spectrum of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis). We have identified extraspinal tendon and ligament calcification as a toxic effect that is commonly associated with long-term etretinate therapy.


Using a gas-jet levitator, Mg-silicate glasses containing forsterite (Mg2SiO4) or enstatite (MgSiO3) are obtained, with a particle diameter of 2 mm. The levitator aids in floating the melt droplets using a gas-jet. It can transform the levitated droplets into crystals or glass during cooling. The critical cooling rate for glass formation (Rc) for levitated Mg-silicate melts («10-1-102 K/s) is considerably lower than that for non-levitated melts (>103 K/s) because of the inhibition of crystallization by the sample holder in the former. Furthermore, the crystallization temperature of the levitated Mg-silicate melts is very low (∼ 900 °C). Chondrules in chondrites are assumed to have been formed from the melt droplets in such a levitation environment. Several researchers have concluded that Rc for a chondrule melt held by a platinum wire is equal to the upper limit of the cooling rate for the chondrule melt, estimated to be ∼ 1000 K/h. However, in a levitation environment, SiO2-rich melts do not crystallize at this cooling rate. We conclude that the previously proposed maximum cooling rate for chondrule melts has been greatly overestimated. We infer that spontaneous crystallization of a completely melted chondrule precursor is extremely difficult, and almost all chondrules turn into glass, despite a low cooling rate. For crystallization of chondrule melts, it is necessary that the precursor of the chondrules should be partially melted or the completely melted precursor should be in contact with nebular dust.


Background: In recent years have brought important developments in preoperative imaging and use of laparoscopic staging for patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Study design. We conducted a review of all patients with surgical managed pancreatic adenocarcinoma, using data from cancer registry of our institution, augmented with clinical information from primary medical record review. We documented the use of all staging modalities, including TAC, endoscopic ultrasonography and laparoscopy. Primary outcomes included resection with curative intent. The association between staging modalities, clinical features, and resection was measured using a multivariate logistic regression model. Results: There were 68 patients who met the eligibility criteria. Patients were staged using a combination of TAC (98%), laparoscopy (29%), and endoscopic ultrasonography (32%). The overall proportion of patients who went to surgical exploration and were resected was 89%. Of the patients undergoing diagnostic laparoscopy, metastatic disease that precluded resection was discovered in 37.6%. For patients who underwent diagnostic laparoscopy and were not resected, vascular invasion was the most common determinant of irresectability (66.6%). In multivariate analysis, preoperative weight loss and surgeon decision to use laparoscopy predicted irresectability at laparotomy. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that surgeon appear to use laparoscopy in a subset of patients at high risk for metastatic disease. The combination of current staging techniques is associated with a high proportion of resectability for patients taken to surgical exploration.


Fungal allergens have been found to be one of the most prevalent aeroallergens in India. Knowledge of shared/unique components among different fungi is necessary for proper diagnosis and treatment of patients allergic to fungi. In the present study, crude extracts (CE) of 11 common fungi (Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, Asp. fumigatus, Asp. niger, Asp. tamarii, Asp. versicolor, Cladosporium herbarum, Curvularia lunata, Mucor hiemalis, Penicillium citrinum, and Fusarium solani) were characterized by isoelectric focusing (IEF), SDS‐PAGE, and immunoblot. On IEF (pI 3–9), the number of protein bands was found to be greatest (46) in M. hiemalis extract. SDS‐PAGE exhibited a varied number of bands, generally 18–40, with mol. mass ranging from 14 to 100 kDa. IgG‐specific immunoprint using rabbit anti‐F. solani CF antibodies demonstrated a mol. mass distribution of shared antigenic proteins of 14–100 kDa in most of the fungi. Shared allergenicity was observed in a number of allergenic proteins in fungal extracts with mol. mass ranging between 14 and 70 kDa on IgE‐specific immunoblot using pooled sera of patients allergic to Fusarium. A 45‐kDa protein was found to be common among these fungi on immunoblot with patients as well as with rabbit antibodies. F. solani CF extract contained more antigenic/allergenic proteins than F. solani CE. It was concluded that F. solani CF shared several antigenic/allergenic components with CE of other common fungi. This fact needs to be taken into account when fungal extracts are used in diagnosis and immunotherapy of allergic patients.


Background: The authors describe morphologic variations of oral clefts in a large population-based sample, especially variations in severity and laterality. The authors present 3616 cleft cases treated in Norway for oral clefts between 1967 and 1998. Methods: Classification of cleft morphology was based on clefting in 9 anatomical focal areas. A three-digit coding system provides a total of 63 possible cleft combinations. Their distribution in the population is presented as a whole and stratified by the baby's sex and the presence of accompanying malformations. The relative proportion of cleft types is illustrated in modified striped Y Kernahan diagrams. Results: Clefts of the lip or palate are more severe when both cleft types are present. Among babies with cleft lip, 18 percent of lips were severe (i.e., complete cleft of the primary palate) in the absence of cleft palate, compared with 81 percent severe when cleft palate was also present. Similarly, among babies with cleft palate, 40 percent were severe (complete cleft of the secondary palate) in the absence of cleft lip, compared with 93 percent when cleft lip was also present. The more severe the cleft lip, the more likely that the baby had an accompanying cleft palate. Girls were more likely to have severe clefts, as were patients who had other types of congenital disabilities. Although cleft lip was more frequent on the left side, clefts were not more severe on the left side. In bilateral cleft lip, the severity was similar on both sides. Conclusion: The authors' data provide a population-based reference for common and rare variants of oral clefts.


Starting from our previously reported hit, a series of 1,5‐diaryl‐1,2,3‐triazole‐4‐carbohydrazones were synthesized and evaluated as inhibitors of the YAP/TAZ‐TEAD complex. Their binding to hTEAD2 was confirmed by nanodifferential scanning fluorimetry, and some of the compounds were also found to moderately disrupt the YAP‐TEAD interaction, as assessed by a fluorescence polarization assay. A TEAD luciferase gene reporter assay performed in HEK293T cells and RTqPCR measurements in MDA‐MB231 cells showed that these compounds inhibit YAP/TAZ‐TEAD activity to cells in the micromolar range. In spite of the cytotoxic effects displayed by some of the compounds of this series, they are still good starting points and can be suitably modified into an effective and viable YAP‐TEAD disruptor in the future.


Abstract The exclusive reproduction of short-term learned and pool-based contents in examinations may impede development of in-depth understanding. This pilot project suggests an approach useful to overcome this shortcoming by enhancing students' motivation for comprehensive learning using automatically added contextual questions in electronic examinations. Installed in practical courses teaching pain physiology, digital data acquisition and examination workstations were interlinked via a network connection. The data acquisition software was substantiated by algorithms that evaluated data acquired before their transmission to examination workstations. These data were used by the assessment software operating on these workstations to automatically compose new examination questions. Examinations thus combined pool questions with newly generated questions with authentic digitized data from the preceding course. This helped confront students with questions based on their individual data that had resulted from the courses examined. Formative evaluation showed an increase in motivation and alertness for practical tasks and acquired results. This suggests usefulness of this setting in examining the preparation and comprehension of course contents. There is reason to assume that this approach is suitable to be transferred to other practical courses using digital acquisition of practical and examination data.


In this work we show that the strong interaction between a surface plasmon and a set of localized independent emitters can lead to the formation of a macroscopic extended state, formed by the superposition of plasmon and excitations on a large number of molecules. The sample consists of an aggregated dye layer deposited on silver supporting surface plasmons. The aggregated dye layer is constituted by an ensemble of short length independent chains whose emission is incoherent without metal. The diffusion and the spatial coherence of the emission of J-aggregated dyes on silver have been investigated with Young-type interferometric experiments, evidencing an in-phase emission of localized emitters separated by several microns. The extension of this coherent state over a large number of molecules could lead to energy transfer on a micrometer scale mediated by the plasmon.


In the BMJ and theyournal of the Royal College of General Practitioners on mv desk this week there have been papers from general practice about identifying and treating risk factors for coronary heart disease, management of drug misuse, screening for iron deficiency in inner citv practices, and recognition of emotional disturbance during the ¢onsultation. All of these articles have been itimulating. In the past four years our practice has been stimulated to set up special clinics for the follow up of diabetes and hypertension, child development checks, antenatal care, treatment of menopausal symptoms, asthma, dermatological disease, and minor surgery. When we read papers like those described above we usually find that the doctors concerned have been completely absorbed with the project. When doctors are absorbed in identifying and treating risk factors for, say, coronary heart disease what happens to their asthmatic patients, and when a doctor has a fascination for treating patients who misuse drugs do the patients with menopausal symptoms get adequate care? We rarcly read more descriptive articles about how doctors are coping competently with the whole range of problems and chronic diseases that present in general practice. I contend that it is possible to give an excellent service in one aspect of care in the community and yet be a bad general practitioner. We have found in our practice that the more special interests we identify the more careful we have to be to give competent care to patients who do not fall into these groups. I would welcome colleagues' views not so much about developing projects for special interests but about how general practice can give readily accessible and competent care to the whole range of problems presented to family doctors.


Introduction: In intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), increased uteroplacental vascular impedance contributes to preferential flow to left ventricle (LV), with consequent alteration of its compliance and increased left atrial (LA) pressure. Pulmonary vein pulsatility index (PVPI) reflects the increased impedance to LA filling and could be used as a cardiac monitoring parameter in IUGR. Material and Methods: A total of 27 IUGR fetuses (group 1), 28 fetuses with appropriate growth for gestational age from hypertensive mothers (group 2), and 28 controls (group 3) were studied. Pulsatility indices (PIs) of pulmonary veins and ductus venosus were calculated by Doppler echocardiography. Obstetric ultrasound was used to assess the PIs of uterine, umbilical, and middle cerebral arteries. Statistical analysis used analysis of variance, post-hoc Tukey, and Pearson's tests. Results: Mean PVPI was higher in IUGR group (1.27 ± 0.39) when compared to groups 2 (1.02 ± 0.37; p = 0.01) and 3 (0.75 ± 0.12; p < 0.001). In group 2, moderate correlation between PVPI and ductus venosus pulsatility index (DVPI) was found but not between PVPI and cerebroplacental ratio (CPR). Discussion: Higher PVPI in IUGR reflects decreased LV compliance and altered LA dynamics. As LV dysfunction precedes right ventricle, our results suggest that PVPI could be an early echocardiographic parameter of fetal diastolic function in IUGR.


Cascade reactions are an important strategy in reaction design, allowing streamlining of chemical synthesis. Here we report a cascade Suzuki-Miyaura/Diels-Alder reaction, employing vinyl Bpin as a bifunctional reagent in two distinct roles: as an organoboron nucleophile for crosscoupling and as a Diels-Alder dienophile. Merging these two reactions enables a rapid and operationally simple synthesis of functionalized carbocycles in good yield. The effect of the organoboron subtype on DielsAlder regioselectivity was investigated and post-synthetic modifications were carried out on a model substrate. The potential for a complementary Heck/Diels-Alder process was also assessed.


In this paper, we discuss one application enabled by device-to-device (D2D) communication for vehicular users inside well isolated public transportation vehicles. We study the feasibility of using D2D communication to enhance the uplink communication for vehicular user equipment (VUE) devices. D2D communication allows fast data exchange among VUE devices, and therefore, a number of VUE devices can cooperate with each other and send data to the base station (BS) together. We employ a generalized co-phasing technique for the cooperation with perterminal power constraint, and compare the energy efficiency of single user direct transmission, and cooperative transmission participated by various number of VUE devices. As the public transportation vehicle moves away from the BS and for large vehicular penetration loss, less energy is required to send the same amount of data of each active VUE in the cooperative transmission than the individual VUE-to-BS communications. Hence VUE devices in well isolated vehicles, especially those ones with limited battery lives, can save energy because of the enhanced uplink communications.


The goal of this article is to highlight relevant diagnostic tools to assess chronic epiphora and recurrent dacryocystitis in order to avoid unnecessary diagnostic explorations. Probing of the canaliculi is important for the differential diagnosis of chronic epiphora. Surgical steps are detailed, such as the inferiorly based mucosal flap on the AGGER NASI, which is repositioned at the end of the surgery improving wound healing on the lateral wall. Potential complications are presented, as well as measures to avoid and to treat them. Long-term follow-up of 750 endoscopic DCR confirms the good results in more than 90% after endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomies in adults and in children.


IoT technology is useful for chicken farming to control the condition of the farm concerning some problems such as odour, temperature fluctuations and feeding time system. This study used MQ135 to detect ammonia odour level, DHT11 to check room temperature, and RTC3231 to regulate feeding time. The data obtained from the sensor was sent by wemos to the fire base and MySQL to be read on android so that it can be monitored directly by the breeder. When the ammonia level is above normal it will turn on the odour fan. If  DHT11 reaches the value above 300C, it will turn on the cooling fan, and turn on the heating light when the temperature is below 250C. As RTC3231 sets the time at 07.00 and 14.00, the chicken feeder will automatically open to feed the chickens according to the time set. Table 1 and 2 show that the experiment obtained a value of 100% working well. This study succeeded in monitoring environmental conditions through Android and executing automatic feeding at the predetermined time. Thus, it can be concluded that the use of IoT technology for monitoring and feeding system automation  in chicken farms is highly recommended.


The purpose of this paper is to promote the analysis accuracy of the spectrum in the power analyzer. The accuracy of the spectrum is most decided by the sampling rate. Different sampling rates cause their relative sum of amplitudes. This paper also advances the V curve searching method to find the optimal sampling rate. Because the relation between the sum of amplitude and the sampling rate determines the character of the V curve, the optimal solution will be found quickly.


We address the nature and possible observable consequences of singular one-electron states that appear when strong defects are introduced in the metallic family of graphene, namely, metallic carbon nanotubes and nanotori. In its simplest form, after creating two defects on the same sublattice, a state may emerge at the Fermi energy presenting very unusual properties: It is unique, normalizable, and features a wave function equally distributed around both defects. As a result, the exchange coupling between the magnetic moments generated by the two defects is anomalous. The intrinsic spins couple ferromagnetically, as expected, but do not present an antiferromagnetic excited state at any distance. We propose the use of metallic carbon nanotubes as a novel electronic device based on this anomalous coupling between spins which can be useful for the robust transmission of magnetic information at large distances.


ABSTRACT The utility of functional hemodynamics and bedside ultrasonography is increasingly recognized as advantageous for both improved diagnosis and management of shock states. In contrast to conventional "static" measures, "dynamic" hemodynamic measures and bedside imaging modalities enhance pathophysiology-based comprehensive understanding of shock states and the response to therapy. The current editions of major textbooks in the primary specialties – in which clinicians routinely encounter patients in shock – including surgery, anesthesia, emergency medicine, and internal medicine continue to incorporate traditional (conventional) descriptions of shock that use well-described (but potentially misleading) intravascular pressures to classify shock states. Reliance on such intravascular pressure measurements is not as helpful as newer "dynamic" functional measures including ultrasonography to both better assess volume responsiveness and biventricular cardiac function. This review thus emphasizes the application of current functional hemodynamics and ultrasonography to the diagnosis and management of shock as a contrast to conventional "static" pressure-based measures.


Dear Editor,

We recently had a 79-year-old male with no significant medical history who was referred to our hospital for a pulmonary embolism. During examination a 5 cm × 5 cm fungating mass was discovered on his belly [Figure 1]. Patient reported that the mass has been present for months and gradually increasing in size. A computed tomography scan of chest, abdomen and pelvis revealed no other abnormality. The biopsy of mass revealed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with stain consistent with tumor of lower gastrointestinal tract. A colonoscopy confirmed adenocarcinoma of transverse colon.

Figure 1

A 5 cm ×5 cm fungating mass on patient's periumbilical area

This rare manifestation of metastatic disease was recognized by a surgical assistant of Dr. William Mayo, Sister Mary Joseph, whose name has since been used to explain these umbilical nodules.[1] These metastatic lesions are mostly from gastrointestinal (52%) and gynecological neoplasms (28%), most commonly from the stomach (23%), colon (15%), pancreas (10%), and ovary (16%), and less frequently from the uterus, cervix, gallbladder, and small intestine.[2] Metastatic lesions can reach the umbilicus via spread through lymphatic ducts, the venous network, arterial spread, contiguous extension, or even through iatrogenic seeding with laparoscopy. These different pathways may help explain why there is such a wide group of malignant tumors that can produce these nodules.[3] The presence of these lesions is often a poor prognostic factor, as these patients have advanced metastatic disease at the time of initial diagnosis. In several studies, the average survival after the appearance of these nodules was approximately 10-11 months.[4] Sister Mary Joseph nodule is a rare first manifestation of colon cancer. Physicians should be aware of this unusual presentation of colon cancer.


ABSTRACT The present article aims to analyse the role played by US neo-Malthusians in the construction of overfishing as a global environmental issue. Its main argument is that this group of thinkers and militants made decisive contributions, between the 1950s and 1970s, to the formulation and dissemination of the diagnosis of a global fisheries crisis threatening the planet's stocks. These warnings about a global fishing crisis paved the way for present-day concerns about a planetary decline of marine life. By assessing the role played by the neo-Malthusians, this article analyses the history of the post-Second World War debates on ocean productivity, 'unconventional' fisheries, and fisheries exhaustion, showing how they were marked by highly optimistic expectations regarding the exploitation of the 'ocean frontier'. For the neo-Malthusians, it was crucial to discredit this cornucopian vision of the ocean as a horn of plenty, itself a result of contemporaneous euphoria in the world of industrial fishing. In conclusion, this article sheds new light on the history of debates about (over)population and world resources, and on the rise of an 'environmentalism of the oceans' in the second half of the twentieth century.


The problem of computing topological distance between two scalar fields based on Reeb graphs or contour trees has been studied and applied successfully to various problems in topological shape matching, data analysis, and visualization. However, generalizing such results for computing distance measures between two multi-fields based on their Reeb spaces is still in its infancy. Towards this, in the current paper we propose a technique to compute an effective distance measure between two multi-fields by computing a novel multi-dimensional persistence diagram (MDPD) corresponding to each of the (quantized) Reeb spaces. First, we construct a multi-dimensional Reeb graph (MDRG), which is a hierarchical decomposition of the Reeb space into a collection of Reeb graphs. The MDPD corresponding to each MDRG is then computed based on the persistence diagrams of the component Reeb graphs of the MDRG. Our distance measure extends the Wasserstein distance between two persistence diagrams of Reeb graphs to MDPDs of MDRGs. We prove that the proposed measure is a pseudo-metric and satisfies a stability property. Effectiveness of the proposed distance measure has been demonstrated in (i) shape retrieval contest data - SHREC 2010 and (ii) Pt-CO bond detection data from computational chemistry. Experimental results show that the proposed distance measure based on the Reeb spaces has more discriminating power in clustering the shapes and detecting the formation of a stable Pt-CO bond as compared to the similar measures between Reeb graphs.


In this study synergistic activity on the root of Hemidesmus indicus (family: Apocynaceae) and leaf of Terminalia catappa (family: combretaceae) on rheumatoid arthiritis model were studied. Investigations was performed using the phlogistic agent such as Carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats. Ethanolic extracts on root of Hemidesmus indicus and leaves of Terminalia catappa at a dose of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg orally were tested. Diclofenac sodium at the dose of 100mg/kg was used as standard. Both the extracts showed significant activity (*p<0.05 & **p<0.01, ***p<0.001) compared with the control and showed a significant % of reduction (80%) in Carrageenan induced rat paw edema model. Thus it is revealed from the screening model that the two different plants extract possess synergistic anti-inflammatory activity.


Abstract This article examines two topics that emerge from N. T. Wright's Paul and the Faithfulness of the Gospel: Paul the Shammaite-zealot and the 'great narrative' of an Israel in exile, waiting for something. The perspective adopted is that of a historian, for whom the fundamental question is whether Wright's accounts approximate plausible reality two thousand years ago. With respect to the first topic, analysis of source material on the Pharisees in the pre-70 period renders Wright's association of Paul with the rabbinic 'House of Shammai' and zealotry doubtful in every part. Similar issues arise in relation to the second topic, where Wright's proposal is supported by a kind of proof-texting, without methodical concern for the nature, context, coherence, themes, rhetoric or meaning of texts in situ.


In the Northern Hills agroclimatic zone in Chhattisgarh state (India), the soils are undulating with 15 per cent at the top to 0 per cent slope in the valley areas. Analysis of field hydrological conditions in different soils in the toposequence revealed that in the top (sandy) soils agroforestry is a better option while in the valley areas with continuously flowing water from Mid July to November, tall varieties of rice are only suitable. In the clay loam soils rice is the best suited crop while in sandy loam soils maize is an alternative crop for diversifying rice. Local climate analysis indicated that it varies from near arid type climate at the top of the topo-sequence to near moist sub-humid conditions in the valley areas. Thus, the farmers in the zone need to plan from arid climate crops to moist sub-humid type crops like rice.


The present paper introduces a methodology for the semiparametric or non‐parametric two‐sample equivalence problem when the effects are specified by statistical functionals. The mean relative risk functional of two populations is given by the average of the time‐dependent risk. This functional is a meaningful non‐parametric quantity, which is invariant under strictly monotone transformations of the data. In the case of proportional hazard models, the functional determines just the proportional hazard risk factor. It is shown that an equivalence test of the type of the two‐sample Savage rank test is appropriate for this functional. Under proportional hazards, this test can be carried out as an exact level α test. It also works quite well under other semiparametric models. Similar results are presented for a Wilcoxon rank‐sum test for equivalence based on the Mann–Whitney functional given by the relative treatment effect.


In response to exercise training, or chronic contractile activity, mitochondrial content is known to be enriched within skeletal muscle. However, the molecular mechanisms that mediate this adaptation are incompletely defined. Recently, the protein complex, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), has been identified to facilitate the expression of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins (NUGEMPs) in resting muscle cells via the interaction of the mTORC1 components, mTOR and raptor, the transcription factor Yin Yang 1, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α. It is currently unknown if this mechanism is operative during the increase in mitochondrial content that occurs within skeletal muscle with chronic contractile activity (CCA). Thus we employed a cell culture model of murine skeletal muscle and subjected the myotubes to CCA for 3 h per day for 4 consecutive days in the presence or absence of the mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin. CCA produced increases in the mitochondrial markers cytochrome oxidase (COX) IV (2.5-fold), Tfam (1.5-fold), and COX activity (1.6-fold). Rapamycin-mediated inhibition of mTORC1 did not suppress these CCA-induced increases in mitochondrial proteins and organelle content. mTORC1 inhibition alone produced a selective upregulation of mitochondrial proteins (COX IV, Tfam), but diminished organelle state 3 respiration. CCA restored this impairment to normal. Our results suggest that mTORC1 activity is not integral for the increase in mitochondrial content elicited by CCA, but is required to maintain mitochondrial function and homeostasis in resting muscle.


The automation of text summarisation of biomedical publications is a pressing need due to the plethora of information available online. This paper explores the impact of several supervised machine learning approaches for extracting multi-document summaries for given queries. In particular, we compare classification and regression approaches for query-based extractive summarisation using data provided by the BioASQ Challenge. We tackled the problem of annotating sentences for training classification systems and show that a simple annotation approach outperforms regression-based summarisation.


Instabilities resulting from side reactions between the high-voltage cathode and the electrolyte are major barriers to meeting the calendar and cycle life requirements in lithium-ion batteries for vehicular applications. The present study reports a new approach for minimizing the effect of these reactions. LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 (LMNO) with two distinct morphologies, octahedron with (111) and plate with (112) surface facets, were synthesized in a similar size and investigated for structural changes and electrochemical stability during long-term cycling and storage in the presence of a liquid carbonate electrolyte. Bulk and surface analyses using ICP, XRD, FTIR, soft and hard XAS revealed that in the charged state, the high-valent transition metals in Mn1.5Ni0.5O4 (MNO) oxidatively decompose the electrolyte which results in electron transfer from the electrolyte to the cathode. As a compensation mechanism, Li(+) ions are re-inserted into MNO and the cathode self-discharges. Surface facets where the local redox reactions occur heavily influence the reaction kinetics and selectivity which ultimately determine the nature of the products and rate of self-discharge. Significantly lower self-discharge was observed on octahedra with the (111) facets, benefiting from their ability for promoting sufficient passivation after the initial interaction with the electrolyte. The importance of particle engineering reported in this work has a broad implication in the development of next generation cathode materials with improved performance.


Abstract Ketogenic diets appear promising for obesity, diabetes, cancer, and other illnesses. Because older patients are more likely to contend with such illnesses and because of a paucity of dietary outcomes among these patients, we examined ketogenic diets in older patients. This multisite study focused on patients (≥65 years of age) on a ketogenic diet. Medical records were identified with the keywords "keto," "ketogenic," and "Atkins." Records were reviewed in detail with extraction of direct quotations to substantiate observations. We report on 200 consecutive patients with a median age of 70 years. Reasons for diet included weight loss, diabetes, and cancer; the majority remained on the diet for >1 month. In 134 (67%: 95% confidence interval: 60, 73%), the ketogenic diet appeared beneficial: 93 of 117 (79%) who sought weight loss lost weight ("She has lost 15 pounds and plans to lose another 8"); 36 of 67 (54%) who sought glucose control appeared to achieve the latter ("He has gone on a ketogenic diet and has been able to bring his sugars down significantly"); and 5 of 8 (63%) who sought improved cancer outcomes appeared to derive them ("He attributes part of the control of his cancer and increased QOL to adopting the keto for cancer diet"). Adverse events occurred in 30 patients (15%): dyslipidemia (n = 14), constipation (n = 9), sub-therapeutic international normalized ratio (n = 3), pancreatitis (n = 2), diarrhea (n = 1), and fatigue (n = 1). Trials that test ketogenic diets for a variety of illnesses should enroll older adults.


Novel approaches to the determination of material properties and damage
parameters of fibre-matrix composites using inverse analysis are presented. In
inverse analysis system identification techniques are used to update some form of
mathematical model (normally a FE model) using data from an over-determined
number of tests.
Initially, pultruded GFRP box-section beams are subjected to a quasi-static
impact or bending crush. The results of the impact tests are presented to
corroborate those in the literature that have been obtained using simpler
geometries such as flat plates.
In the first form of inverse analysis, a model-updating approach is applied to
progressive tearing damage in pultruded composite box-section beams. The
difference between empirical data (from a programme of three-point bend tests)
and a FE model is minimised by a genetic algorithm to produce an optimal
solution. The solution is in the form of a FE model that can be subsequently
analysed to determine the structural integrity of the damaged specimen.
Secondly, a unidirectional composite disc from the same GFRP pultruded section
is analysed in diametral compression to both verify and improve the validity of
the diametral compression test in determining the material properties. Coupons
are cut from damaged specimens and test results are presented. The strain
distribution within the disc is compared to known laminate theory in order to
process data obtained by speckle-shearing interferometry.
Finally, speckle-shearing interferometry is used to characterise the response of the
pultruded box-section exhibiting progressive tearing damage. Out-of-plane
displacement-gradient data is used to determine and characterise damaged regions or flaws.
The differences between the need to perform it programme of unequivocal static
tests and the collection of full-field optical data are highlighted. It is shown that
the shearing interferometry approach is the superior method.


MOST of the research published since the last review of this topic in 1947 deals with (a) tests of adult intelligence, (b) factors affecting intellectual change, and (c) the intellectual changes which take place during maturity and old age. Many of the investigations relate specifically to changes in psychosis. The authors will follow the policy set in previous reviews of this topic by citing studies involving clinical cases only when they contribute to an understanding of the normal aging processes. Therefore, the amount of actual research in this field is limited. In many of the areas, the data are conflicting, which makes it extremely difficult to draw valid conclusions. For the most part the trend during the last three years was toward the study of physical and intellectual changes of normal people during old age. Many of the investigators seem to have analyzed their data very critically in an effort to determine the effect of the part scores of intelligence tests on the total score. Furthermore, they have studied the qualitative aspect of intelligence with special reference to the factors affecting intelligence, such as years of schooling, occupation, and the socio-economic background of the test group.


As perovskite photovoltaics (PV) advance from the laboratory to commercial prototypes, their accurate and reliable performance testing is becoming increasingly important. The well documented dynamic response of perovskite solar cells to an external applied voltage has led to the development of steady-state performance measurement methods; however, these methods have not been widely adopted by the perovskite PV community. A key reason for this is that steady-state measurement methods take tens of minutes to complete, as opposed to conventional "fast" current-voltage (I-V) measurements usually lasting a few seconds. Fast I-Vs arise from a snapshot, almost always not a steady-state condition of the device; however, given their widespread use, the question arises: how do performance parameters of perovskite PV compare when measured with fast I-V and with a steady-state method? We compile results from ca. 320 perovskite PV cells and modules, including single junction, and two-terminal perovskite-perovskite and perovskite-Si tandems, and show that fast I-Vs can provide a useful measure of the open-circuit voltage of the devices, while the short-circuit current and the overall efficiency can be widely misestimated. We discuss implications of these findings on performance testing protocols and propose possible options for fast and accurate testing of perovskite PV.


BACKGROUND
The less affluent and educated members of the society tend to be less prone to healthy lifestyles.

AIM
To describe feeding habits, nutrition, quality of life and working conditions of construction workers comparing two recent surveys, namely the 2009 Chilean National Health Survey (NHS) and the 2010 Work, Employment and Health Survey (WEH).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
One hundred ninety male workers aged 43±13 years were surveyed about feeding habits during working days and weekends, smoking and usual physical activity. Weight, height and blood pressure were also measured.

RESULTS
In 2010, 82% of workers were overweight or obese compared with 67% rates in the NHS of 2009. The rate of sedentariness was 86% compared with 84% in the NHS of 2009 and 93% in the WEH 2010. Forty one percent smoked and those aged less than 25 years consumed more calories than the other age groups. There was a high intake of carbonated beverages, bread, salted and red meats and a low consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes and fish. Seventy seven percent had a meal at midafternoon and only 25% ate supper. Lunch had a fixed schedule, was considered good and usually was prepared by a family member. The level of satisfaction with work, family life and life in general was high. The satisfaction with health and physical condition was lower.

CONCLUSIONS
The unhealthy lifestyles of these construction workers should alert health authorities.


The properties of the OH A-X emission resulting from electron impact on H2O has been studied using time resolved techniques. It is found that the addition of various catalyzers such as rare gases, N2, N2O, etc. cause a strong enhancement of this emission and a drastic change of the decay curves. Similar effects are observed when the emission is produced from other OH-containing molecules and they are suggested to originate from catalyzed dissociative collision transfers as recently found for non-dissociative transfers in a number of cases.


Background: Sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are effective anti-diabetic drugs improving cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. This study investigated cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and cognitive outcomes of SGLT2i therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and T2DM. Methods: Observational study using TriNetX, a global health research network of anonymised electronic medical records from real-world patients between January 2018 and December 2019. The network includes healthcare organisations globally but predominately in the United States. AF patients (ICD-10-CM code: I48) with T2DM were divided according to SGLT2i use or not, and balanced using propensity score matching (PSM). Patients were followed-up for 3-years. The primary endpoints were ischaemic stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), intracranial haemorrhage (ICH), and incident dementia. Secondary endpoints were incident heart failure and mortality. Results: We identified 89,356 AF patients with T2DM of which 5061 (5.7%) were taking a SGLT2i. After PSM, 5049 patients (mean age 66.7 ± 10.6 years; 28.9% female) were included in each group. At 3-years follow-up, the risk of ischaemic stroke/TIA was higher in patients not receiving SGLT2i (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.01–1.24) and for ICH (HR 1.57, 95% CI 1.25–1.99) and incident dementia (HR 1.66, 95% CI 1.30–2.12). Incident heart failure (HR 1.50, 95% CI 1.34–1.68) and mortality (HR 1.77, 95% CI 1.58–1.99) risks were increased in AF patients not receiving SGLT2i. Conclusions: In our large 'real world' analysis of patients with concomitant AF and T2DM, SGLT2i reduced the risk of cerebrovascular events, incident dementia, heart failure and death.


The mixed logit model is a class of non-IIA discrete choice models that can handle correlation among the alternatives. Although they have been frequently applied in choice analysis, properties of their parameter estimates are not well known. The mixed logit estimation exercise on simulated data sets in this study offers examples of identification problems with these models, and shows that parameter estimates are instable and their values vary substantially from estimation to estimation. Once parameter estimates are properly normalised, however, they are relatively stable and in general unbiased, even when the correlation between error terms is high, and when the model is not identified. Yet, estimates of the error covariance are biased upward when the true covariance is small or zero. The study results indicate that normalization of parameter estimates is perhaps as important as identification, especially in light of the fact that the correct covariance specification can never be known to the researcher. Importantly, the result that pre-normalisation values of parameter estimates are not stable at all implies that estimated choice probabilities would also be instable, casting doubt on the reliability of mixed logit models in behavioral prediction.


Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have established themselves as state-of-the-art for many machine learning applications such as the analysis of social and medical networks. Several among these datasets contain privacy-sensitive data. Machine learning with differential privacy is a promising technique to allow deriving insight from sensitive data while offering formal guarantees of privacy protection. However, the differentially private training of GNNs has so far remained under-explored due to the challenges presented by the intrinsic structural connectivity of graphs. In this work, we introduce a framework for differential private graph-level classification. Our method is applicable to graph deep learning on multi-graph datasets and relies on differentially private stochastic gradient descent (DP-SGD). We show results on a variety of datasets and evaluate the impact of different GNN architectures and training hyperparameters on model performance for differentially private graph classification, as well as the scalability of the method on a large medical dataset. Our experiments show that DP-SGD can be applied to graph classification tasks with reasonable utility losses. Furthermore, we apply explainability techniques to assess whether similar representations are learned in the private and non-private settings. Our results can also function as robust baselines for future work in this area.


The excitation functions of the protons and alpha particles for theta lab=90 degrees and 160 degrees from the reactions 27Al(d, alpha )25Mg and 27Al(d,p)28Al were measured in the range Ed=3.5-6.2 MeV and analysed by the channel cross correlation function and autocorrelation function to determine the correlating number Nd and the average total level width ( Gamma mu ), respectively. The energy-averaged angular distributions were fitted by the formula of Feshback (1960) to obtain the value of ( Gamma mu )/D. With these quantities the theoretical intermediate width ( Gamma d up arrow ) was calculated to be 206 keV, which is in good agreement with the experimental value 200+or-37 keV. In addition, the value of nd(nd-1)/n2 was determined to be 0.30, which is quite close to the theoretical prediction (2D/ pi ( Gamma mu ))12/=0.25+or-0.4.


Background and Aims Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a prototype of autoinflammatory disease and mainly associated with MEFV gene mutations. This single-center study as an experience represents FMF-coexisting disease in the FMF registration database. Methods Four hundred patients who had FMF based on clinical criteria (Tel-Hashomer) and/or MEFV mutations enrolled the study. Twelve most common MEFV mutations (P369S, F479L, M680I (G/C), M680I (G/A), I692del, M694V, M694I, K695R, V726A, A744S, R761H, E148Q) were analyzed if needed by the reverse hybridization assay. Any co-existed disease had been confirmed by a related subspecialist. All data were analyzed by a simple analytical method. Results Fifty-seven (14%) patients had associated disease, 32 patients were male and 24 patients were under 10 years old. They included 92 MEFV variant alleles and only in five patients there were not any mutations. The most common variant alleles were M694V (36%), E148Q (22%), V726A (17%), M680I (1%) and M694I (0.07%) respectively. Rheumatologic disorders were the most common coexisting disease, then followed by gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Some rare diseases such as TTP, growth hormone deficiency, multiple sclerosis, idiopathic ascites, Leiden factor V deficiency and Felty syndrome have been detected. Homozygote mutations of (M694V-M694V) were associated with idiopathic ascites, orchitis and pericarditis. Conclusion Coexisting disease in patients with FMF is presented with positive MEFV gene mutations particularly with these five common variant alleles: M694V, E148Q, V726A, M680I, and M694I. The commonly associated diseases are rheumatologic, gastrointestinal and CNS disorders.


Abstract. Camera traps are very useful tools in determining the presence/absence of rare and cryptic species while shedding light on behavioral traits. Passive infrared triggered cameras are routinely used in homeothermic animals, but in ectothermic reptiles, this surveillance method has proven highly unreliable. As part of the conservation goal to provide better understanding and protection for the critically endangered freshwater turtle Batagur baska, we investigated their largely unknown nesting behavior and tested video-based motion detection by comparing 2 different camera-trapping systems and their settings under controlled conditions at the Vienna Zoo. A pixel-based video surveillance camera was superior to a camera trap with motion sensor. The surveillance camera allowed reliable motion detection at sensitive settings, and video capture precision could be enhanced by marking the terrapin with reflective tape. This video surveillance camera was then deployed over 2 breeding seasons (2019 and 2020) in the conservation breeding project of the northern river terrapin (B. baska, Gray 1830) in Bhawal National Park in Bangladesh. Analysis of video recording demonstrated for the first time that female northern river terrapins nested on average for a period of 1.5 hrs and produced a single clutch per year. Results indicate that females inspect sandbanks and visit suitable nesting sites several times before egg deposition, suggesting that nest-site selection is not random in B. baska. In addition, water temperature measurements of the breeding ponds in 2 captive breeding sites of the B. baska project showed an annual average temperature decrease to 168C–188C during the mating season and an average increase to 288C–318C before the nesting season. Temperatures on nesting nights vary between the 2 breeding sites and differ between nesting events within each site, suggesting that overall seasonal temperature shifts initiate the nesting periods, while other physiological and environmental factors might trigger the actual nesting event. With the help of consistent motion-triggered video recording, our study provides a first underpinning of the nesting ecology of B. baska.


Electrospun fibers have emerged as promising materials in the field of biomedicine, due to their superior physical and cell supportive properties. In particular, electrospun mats are being developed for advanced wound dressing applications. Such applications require the firers to possess excellent antimicrobial properties in order to inhibit potential microbial colonization from resident and non-resident bacteria. In this study, we have developed Poly-ε-Caprolactone /gelatin hybrid composite mats loaded with natural herbal extract (Gymnema sylvestre) to prevent bacterial colonization. As-spun scaffolds exhibited good wettability and desirable mechanical properties retaining their fibrous structure after immersing them in phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.2) for up to 30 days. The initial burst release of Gymnema sylvestre prevented the colonization of bacteria as confirmed by the radial disc diffusion assay. Furthermore, the electrospun mats promoted cellular attachment, spreading and proliferation of human primary dermal fibroblasts and cultured keratinocytes, which are crucial parenchymal cell-types involved in the skin recovery process. Overall these results demonstrated the utility of Gymnema sylvestre impregnated electrospun PCL/Gelatin nanofibrous mats as an effective antimicrobial wound dressing.


Wind power industries begin to take shape in Inner Mongolia, pitch control is commonly used in a variety of wind turbines. Fuzzy adaptive control by seeking the three parameters of PID controller and the relationship between e and ec, make the best adjustment for PID parameters on the pitch system automatically. This method can make the pitch mechanism with high performance to ensure the output power of wind turbine is more stable.


Image captioning by the encoder-decoder framework has shown tremendous advancement in the last decade where CNN is mainly used as encoder and LSTM is used as a decoder. Despite such an impressive achievement in terms of accuracy in simple images, it lacks in terms of time complexity and space complexity efficiency. In addition to this, in case of complex images with a lot of information and objects, the performance of this CNN-LSTM pair downgraded exponentially due to the lack of semantic understanding of the scenes presented in the images. Thus, to take these issues into consideration, we present CNN-GRU encoder decode framework for caption-to-image reconstructor to handle the semantic context into consideration as well as the time complexity. By taking the hidden states of the decoder into consideration, the input image and its similar semantic representations is reconstructed and reconstruction scores from a semantic reconstructor are used in conjunction with likelihood during model training to assess the quality of the generated caption. As a result, the decoder receives improved semantic information, enhancing the caption production process. During model testing, combining the reconstruction score and the log-likelihood is also feasible to choose the most appropriate caption. The suggested model outperforms the state-of-the-art LSTM-A5 model for picture captioning in terms of time complexity and accuracy.


Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography (RPLC) is a common liquid chromatographic mode used for the control of pharmaceutical compounds during their drug life cycle. Nevertheless, determining the optimal chromatographic conditions that enable this separation is time consuming and requires a lot of lab work. Quantitative Structure Retention Relationship models (QSRR) are helpful for doing this job with minimal time and cost expenditures by predicting retention times of known compounds without performing experiments. In the current work, several QSRR models were built and compared for their adequacy in predicting the retention times. The regression models were based on a combination of linear and non-linear algorithms such as Multiple Linear Regression, Support Vector Regression, Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator, Random Forest, and Gradient Boosted Regression. Models were built for five pH conditions, i.e., at pH 2.7, 3.5, 6.5, and 8.0. In the end, the model predictions were combined using stacking and the performances of all models were compared. The k-nearest neighbor-based application domain filter was established to assess the reliability of the prediction for further compound prioritization. Altogether, this study can be insightful for analytical chemists working with RPLC to begin with the computational prediction modeling such as QSRR to predict the separation of small molecules.


We present a new method for the construction of subtracted cDNA libraries. It makes use of two directional cDNA libraries in phagemid vectors and has two advantages over traditional protocols: it can be used when a limiting amount of driver material is available and the cDNA inserts in the subtracted libraries are long enough to encode functional proteins. Using this method, we have constructed two subtracted libraries enriched for sequences expressed in the mesoderm of early Xenopus gastrulae.


Shuffle on trajectories was introduced by Mateescu et al. [147] as a method of generalizing several studied operations on words, such as the shuffle, concatenation and insertion operations. This natural construction has received significant and varied attention in the literature. In this thesis, we consider several unexamined areas related to shuffle on trajectories.
We first examine the state complexity of the shuffle on trajectories. We find that the density of the set of trajectories is an appropriate measure of the complexity of the associated operation, since low density sets of trajectories yield less complex operations.
We introduce the operation of deletion along trajectories, which serves as an inverse to shuffle on trajectories. The operation is also of independent interest, and we examine its closure properties. The study of deletion along trajectories also leads to the study of language equations and systems of language equations with shuffle on trajectories.
The notion of shuffle on trajectories also has applications to the theory of codes. Each shuffle on trajectories operation defines a class of languages. Several of these language classes are important in the theory of codes, including the prefix-, suffix-, biprefix-codes and the hypercodes. We investigate these classes of languages, decidability questions, and related binary relations.
We conclude with results relating to iteration of shuffle and deletion on trajectories. We characterize the smallest language closed under shuffle on trajectories or deletion along trajectories, as well as generalize the notion of primitive words and primitive roots. Further examination of language equations are also possible with the iterated counterparts of shuffle and deletion along trajectories.


OBJECTIVE
The main aim of this study was to evaluate the structural validity of the Brazilian version of the Japanese Orthopedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ).

METHODS
Individuals with chronic low back pain were included. The data collection of the study occurred by means of online platform. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed. The theoretical version proposed for the JOABPEQ with five domains was tested. The following indices were considered to verify the fit of the model: comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and chi-square/degrees of freedom (DF).

RESULTS
The final sample consisted of 175 volunteers, mostly women (68%), adults (mean age of 28.98 years), lean (mean body mass index of 25 kg/m2), with incomplete higher education, single, with mean of pain chronicity of 61.50 months and mean of pain intensity of 6.78 points on the Numeric Pain Scale. Regarding the structure of the JOABPEQ, the original version with five domains was adequate: chi-square/DF=1.52, CFI=0.954, TLI=0.948, and RMSEA=0.055. The factorial load ranges from 0.41 to 0.90.

CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms the structure of JOABPEQ with 5 domains (low back pain, lumbar function, walking ability, social life function, and mental health) and 25 items in individuals with chronic low back pain.


The surgical treatment of esophageal strictures, developing on the basis of reflux esophagitis keeps on being an unsolved problem. A review of the literature is made and Thal's operation is given due consideration. The first successfully operated patient by this operative technique in Bulgaria is reported. The patient has been under observation, and the result of the operation is good.