Introduction: Hepatitis C infection is developing risk and real burden on general wellbeing, overall prevalence of hepatitis C is 3% (170 million tainted individuals). Roughly 10 million individuals are contaminated in Pakistan and prevalence is relied upon to be higher in isolated places. Methodology: This was descriptive cross-sectional study. Convenient sampling was used and data was analyzed by SPSS version 21. Results: The findings of the research were good Response rate of this review was 100 % and mean number of "Yes" answers to knowledge, behavior and practice questions were 51%, 46% and 42% individually. Conclusions: Knowledge, attitude and practice about hepatitis C among adolescences was insignificant. Consequences of this investigation show lack of understanding about disease control and prevention. The level of knowledge was good among people but there was no significant association between attitude and practices. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 5, Issue-3: 138-145


OSA is a commonly encountered comorbid condition in surgical patients. The risk of cardiopulmonary complications is increased by two to threefold with OSA. Among the different treatment options for OSA, CPAP is an efficacious modality. This review examines the evidence regarding the use of CPAP in the preoperative and postoperative periods in surgical patients with diagnosed and undiagnosed OSA.


Engineering subject teaching has almost always been considered as dry and complicated, with much emphasis
placed on the definition of principles and derivation of formulae. It is indeed essential for engineering students
to understand and learn the fundamental principles and theories of the subject, but that does not suggest any
less importance in the application of the knowledge. This is especially important to prepare the undergraduates
for the industry, where they are expected to apply their knowledge and skills in practice. Therefore an
outcome-based learning project was introduced in the teaching of Geotechnics in the Faculty of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, UTHM. The project involved designing and producing construction materials
from clay retrieved from the university's grounds itself. The project was tailored to encourage creative
thinking in solving technical problems, while allowing students to apply basic Geotechnics knowledge as well
as practical laboratory skills they have learned throughout their degree programme. It was found that
incorporating project-based learning in the subject not only achieved the intended goals, but also promoted
team work and sharpened problem-solving skills among the students.


Introduction Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common and treatable neurodevelopmental disorder in childhood (1). The estimated UK prevalence of ADHD in children and adolescents is 3%–9%(2). The outcome for children with ADHD depends on early diagnosis and appropriate management. The annual cost to the NHS of a child with ADHD (£1310) has been shown to be significantly greater than one without ADHD (£328). In Wigan the ADHD service is provided by the community paediatrics. Aim 1) To evaluate ADHD specialist Nurse role 2) To improve ADHD services 3) To Support parents and patients Method The ADHD specialist nurse appointed, April 2015. Working in partnership with WWL, Shire Pharmaceuticals Ltd part-funded the specialist nurse role within the ADHD service for six month. Together we updated ADHD guideline per NIICE, ADHD information leaflet for parent and staff, ADHD assessment checklist, ADHD assessment proforma introduced. Contact numbers of various services available in Wigan was produced. GP Shared care protocols updated. ADHD study day was organised for 100 professionals. Various training sessions for staff. A Small scale questionnaire, a total number of 17 parents/ carers and 7 staff of community child health team. Results 100% of parent and staff found having contact with specialist nurse very helpful. 76% parents understood the ADHD assessment process .76% understands the process of prescription's and Shared Care Agreement .76% found telephone contact very useful and 76% find it useful to speak to Specialist Nurse in-between clinical appointments. 70% found follow up telephone consultation very helpful and 66% said they will extremely recommend our service. ADHD nurse had 325 contacts with GP, and answered over 1000 parents phone calls. Conclusion The role has clearly demonstrated benefits for patients, parents, GPs, commissioners and the ADHD team. Since then we developed ADHD database. With 750 patients on ADHD medication. Keeping referral record. Of 420 referral for ADHD assessment. Working to have clinical coding and working with adult ADHD for transitional clinics. Following from the success of the specialist nurse ADHD role the post has received ongoing funding from WWL and there are plans to expand the number of nurses.


An efficient urban outdoor localization and navigation system is proposed for car-like robots. First an accurate outdoor localization method is suggested using line/arc features and 2.5D map matching with LRFs (Laser Range Finders), which can reduce the number of singular cases and increase accuracy. Also, path generation, path tracking, and path modification algorithms are proposed for navigation. All these algorithms are implemented on an electric scooter to construct an autonomous urban outdoor localization and navigation system. Experiments reveal the practicality of the proposed system.


Abstract This paper examines the impact of variation in transportation options – what I denote the "supply network" – on observed price differences between locations for a specific good, retail gasoline. I use a unique data set of weekly gasoline prices across 44 Canadian cities to analyze how the existence of variation in the available modes of transportation for gasoline between cities (via pipeline, marine tanker, rail or truck) accounts for observed price differences across locations. I find that the supply network is significant – cities connected by lower cost-per-unit methods like pipelines or seaports exhibit smaller mean- and weekly-price differences than those connected only by road or rail, after controlling for distance, regional effects and market size. A pipeline connection results in a reduction in weekly price dispersion equivalent to a 53% reduction in distance between cities, while a maritime connection has the equivalent effect of a 38% reduction in distance between cities.


We report on a Monte Carlo study of two-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau superconductors in a magnetic field. We find evidence suggestive of a first-order phase transition between a low-temperature state characterized by power-law positional correlations in the superfluid density and a high-temperature vortex-fluid state. A key aspect of our study is the introduction of a quantity proportional to the Fourier transform of the superfluid density which can be sampled efficiently in Landau gauge Monte Carlo simulations and which satisfies a useful sum rule.


ABSTRACT Obiefuna, J.N.; Nwilo, P.C.; Atagbaza, A.O., and Okolie, C.J., 2013. Land cover dynamics associated with the spatial changes in the wetlands of Lagos/Lekki Lagoon system of Lagos, Nigeria. Urban sprawl is one of the severe land use/land cover (LULC) change agents, especially in rapidly urbanizing developing countries such as Nigeria. Land use/land cover is among the key drivers of environmental change as it leads to dramatic changes in both landscape patterns and ecosystem functions. Lagos metropolis, the nation's economic nerve center, is on a low-lying coastal landscape endowed with lagoons, wetlands, and other ecological assets. The Lagos/Lekki Lagoon system, with its catchments and wetlands, constitute about 71% of the state. With rapid urbanization and intense development pressure, some of the fringing wetlands and other land cover in the area have been converted to urban landscape. Just like the wetlands, the precise nature of these land cover changes is comprehensively unknown. In this ongoing study, land cover dynamics linked to the spatial changes in the wetlands fringing these lagoons are also comprehensively assessed. With low topography, high energy, and erosive coastlines, the extent of coastal erosion (1985–2009) in the area is assessed with remote sensing data and geographic information system (GIS) using topographic maps as baseline data. ENVI software is deployed for the processing of Landsat imageries, and unsupervised classification is used for image classification. The objective is to establish the locations and magnitude of the land cover dynamics between 1984 and 2006, ultimately leading to implications for flood risk on affected areas. Results show that as swamps decreased from 344.75 km2 to 165.37 km2 and mangroves decreased from 88.51 km2 to 19.95 km2, both between 1984 and 2006, built-up areas increased from 48.97 km2 to 282.78 km2 at 10.61 km2/y; water body decreased from 685.58 km2 to 654.98 km2 at −0.16 km2/y; bare land increased from 24.32 km2 to 72.73 km2 at 2.2 km2/y; and vegetation decreased marginally from 1369.15 km2 to 1361.08 km2 at −0.37 km2/y all between 1984 and 2006. Evidently most of the growth in built-up areas occurred in previous wetland areas and some vegetated areas. Most of the increase in built-up area occurred in the Eti-osa Local Government Area (LGA) and then in the Kosofe LGA. The decrease in the water body is attributable to anthropogenic action of reclamation and accretion arising from island formation on the Lekki Lagoon. Some of the consequences of the land cover (LC) dynamics are briefly highlighted.


In seismic design practice, hollow concrete columns offer an efficient alternative especially for tall bridge columns. The confinement in critical regions of these columns is not well understood and the confinement models developed for solid concrete sections are used to characterize these columns. This report identifies several shortcomings in current practice associated with hollow column design. Using experimental and analytical means, it is shown that the confined concrete behavior in hollow concrete columns is different from that established for solid sections. Recommendations to improve analysis and design of hollow columns are presented with experimental verification. Modification to alter the confinement models developed for solid sections and a design example are also provided.


Plant-derived nature products, known as herb formulas, have been commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for disease prevention and treatment. The herbs have been traditionally classified into different categories according to the TCM Organ systems known as Meridians. Despite the increasing knowledge on the active components of the herbs, the rationale of Meridian classification remains poorly understood. In this study, we took a machine learning approach to explore the classification of Meridian. We determined the molecule features for 646 herbs and their active components including structure-based fingerprints and ADME properties (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion), and found that the Meridian can be predicted by machine learning approaches with a top accuracy of 0.83. We also identified the top compound features that were important for the Meridian prediction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that molecular properties of the herb compounds are associated with the TCM Meridians. Taken together, the machine learning approach may provide novel insights for the understanding of molecular evidence of Meridians in TCM. Author Summary In East Asia, plant-derived natural products, known as herb formulas, have been commonly used as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for disease prevention and treatment. According to the theory of TCM, herbs can be classified as different Meridians according to the balance of Yin and Yang, which are commonly understood as metaphysical concepts. Therefore, the scientific rational of Meridian classification remains poorly understood. The aim of our study was to provide a computational means to understand the classification of Meridians. We showed that the Meridians of herbs can be predicted by the molecular and chemical features of the ingredient compounds, suggesting that the Meridians indeed are associated with the properties of the compounds. Our work provided a novel chemoinformatics approach which may lead to a more systematic strategy to identify the mechanisms of action and active compounds for TCM herbs.


We characterized dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition throughout the peat column at the Marcell S1 forested bog in northern Minnesota and tested the hypothesis that redox oscillations associated with cycles of wetting and drying at the surface of the fluctuating water table correlate with increased carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen turn over. We found significant vertical stratification of DOM molecular composition and excitation‐emission matrix parallel factor analysis components within the peat column. In particular, the intermediate depth zone (~ 50 cm) was identified as a zone where maximum decomposition and turnover is taking place. Surface DOM was dominated by inputs from surface vegetation. The intermediate depth zone was an area of high organic matter reactivity and increased microbial activity with diagenetic formation of many unique compounds, among them polycyclic aromatic compounds that contain both nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms. These compounds have been previously observed in coal‐derived compounds and were assumed to be responsible for coal's biological activity. Biological processes triggered by redox oscillations taking place at the intermediate depth zone of the peat profile at the S1 bog are assumed to be responsible for the formation of these heteroatomic PACs in this system. Alternatively, these compounds could stem from black carbon and nitrogen derived from fires that have occurred at the site in the past. Surface and deep DOM exhibited more similar characteristics, compared to the intermediate depth zone, with the deep layer exhibiting greater input of microbially degraded organic matter than the surface suggesting that the entire peat profile consists of similar parent material at different degrees of decomposition and that lateral and vertical advection of pore water from the surface to the deeper horizons is responsible for such similarities. Our findings suggest that molecular composition of DOM in peatland pore water is dynamic and is a function of ecosystem activity, water table, redox oscillation, and pore water advection.


In the context of integration, globalization and increasing complexity of private law relations complicated by a foreign element, private international law acquires special importance. Being influenced by the processes named above, it is not only rapidly developing and acquiring new directions for development. Private international law is also facing new global challenges. In this regard, the article attempts to analyze the main trends in the development of private international law in the 21st century revealing new trends and threats that it may face in modern conditions.Based on the results of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the main trends in the development of private international law include the expansion of the scope of its application, as well as the unification and harmonization carried out within the framework of various international organizations at both universal and regional levels. The Hague Conference on Private International Law and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) play the most important role in this process. Finally, one more important trend in the development of private international law is constituted by the attempt to adapt to new, rapidly changing realities leading to a substantial modernization of the methods of cross-border private law disputes resolution.


Two closely related iterative receivers for mitigation of both intra- and inter-cell interference are considered for HSDPA in UTRA-TDD. The first receiver is based on coherent detection with pre-whitening with respect to the spatio-temporal structure of the interference. The second receiver is based on interference suppression via deterministic least-squares filtering. The performance of the receivers is evaluated via system-aware link-level simulations of 2-cell indoor and 7-cell urban scenarios. Performance improvements over the conventional RAKE receiver are reported in the form of BER statistics.


In this paper, a DEVS(Discrete EVent Systems Specification)-HLA(High Level Architecture) interface was developed in order to perform the simulation using the combined discrete event and discrete time simulation model architecture in a distributed environment. The developed interface connects the combined simulation model with the HLA/RTI(Run-Time Infrastructure) which is an international standard middleware for distributed simulation. The interface consists of an interface model, a model interpreter, and a distributed environment interpreter. The interface model was defined by using the combined simulation architecture in order to easily connect the existing combined simulation model without modification with the HLA/RTI. The model interpreter takes charge of data transmission between the interface model and the combined simulation model. The distributed environment interpreter takes charge of data transmission between the interface model and the HLA/RTI. To evaluate the applicability of the developed interface, it was applied to the diving simulation of a submarine in a distributed environment. The result shows that a simulation result in a distributed environment using the interface is the same to the result in a single computing environment.


Tumor volume delineation plays a critical role in radiation treatment planning and simulation. Inaccurately defined target volume may lead to overdosing of normal structures surrounding the tumor, while potentially underdosing cancerous tissue. Conventional 3-dimensional tumor segmentation methods ignore the temporal information present in dynamic Positron Emission Tomography (PET) images and thus may falsely classify equal intensity voxels with completely different time activity curves (TACs) as belonging to the same tissue. We present a novel approach to tumor volume delineation in dynamic PET based on TAC differences. Principal Component Analysis, nonlinear curve-fitting, region growing, and morphological reconstruction are integrated within a single framework for this purpose. A partially-supervised approach is pursued in order to allow an expert reader to utilize the information available from other imaging modalities routinely used in conjunction with PET. In our scheme, this includes the definition of a tumor encompassing mask and selection of a seed site within the suspected tumor, while further delineation is performed by the algorithm automatically. Performance of the proposed algorithm is compared to five other methods. Simulations and a phantom study show that accurate tumor volume delineation can be achieved.


Aims
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in cardiac diseases. This study aimed to characterize the circulating miRNAs in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and correlate the miRNAs with the clinical outcomes of ARVC.

Methods and results
This study included 62 patients with ventricular arrhythmia (VA): 28 patients (45%) had definite ARVC, 11 (18%) had borderline or possible ARVC, and 23 (37%) had idiopathic ventricular tachycardia (VT). In addition, 33 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were enrolled as normal control subjects. The expression of selected miRNAs was analysed in all study subjects. The clinical outcomes of patients with definite ARVC after catheter ablation were further investigated. On the basis of the miRNA polymerase chain reaction array, we selected 11 miRNAs for analysis of their expression in the plasma of all subjects. Definite ARVC patients had significantly higher expression of circulating miR-144-3p, 145-5p, 185-5p, and 494 than the three other groups. Out of 25 definite ARVC patients who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation, recurrent VA occurred in 8 patients (32%) during the follow-up period (45 ± 20 months). Definite ARVC patients with recurrent VA had a higher level of circulating miR-494 than did those without recurrence. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed miR-494 to be a predictive factor of recurrent VA (area under the curve: 0.832).

Conclusion
Plasma levels of miR-144-3p, 145-5p, 185-5p, and 494 were significantly elevated in definite ARVC patients with VA. An increased plasma level of miR-494 was associated with the recurrence of VA after ablation in definite ARVC patients.


Nowadays, the advancement of sensing and communication technologies has led to the possibility of collecting a large amount of sensor data, however, to build a reliable computational model and accurately recognise human activities we still need the annotations on sensor data. Acquiring high-quality, detailed, continuous annotations is a challenging task. In this paper, we explore the solution space on sharing annotated activities across different datasets in order to enhance the recognition accuracies. The main challenge is to resolve heterogeneity in feature and activity space between datasets; that is, each dataset can have a different number of sensors in heterogeneous sensing technologies and deployed in diverse environments and record various activities on different users. To address the challenge, we have designed and developed sharing data and sharing classifiers algorithms that feature the knowledge model to enable computationally-efficient feature space remapping and uncertainty reasoning to enable effective classifier fusion. We have validated the algorithms on three third-party real-world datasets and demonstrated their effectiveness in recognising activities only with annotations from as little as 0.1% of each dataset.


Products impose a certain moral to the user: A speed bump forces a driver to slow down, a traffic light forces a driver to stop or go and a fence prevents bystanders to trespass. Public space belongs to everybody. There is no unambiguous organization responsible for the public space sight. This results in a cluttered public space that looks disorganized. A parking machine is part of the public space and is a product that moralizes its user. The moral that a parking machine tries to impose is something like 'you shall pay'. Besides this forcing moral a parking machine is often hard to understand and use. A driver has to read the operation instructions before he can execute the unpopular duty. IP Parking produces off-street parking equipment and has also some on-street products in its product portfolio. IP parking wants to conquer the on-street market even further by developing an innovative parking machine. The design separates form from function: A core unit that gains parking rights to users according to a convenient and simple process. This core unit can be integrated in a streetscape, through customizing, according to the landscape architect requirements. Because areas in municipalities have different budgets for street furniture, there are several levels of parking machine customization. In total there are four: A core unit in a metal column. Colour customization only. A core unit in a metal column with a customizable surface. A core unit integrated in a light pole. This saves a power connection and pavement space. A core unit that can be built in according to the requirements of the landscape architect. Boundaries are the build in measures and a power connection. This variant ensures total design freedom for the landscape architect; the sky is the limit. The core unit consists of a 7" touch screen combined with a pinpad, cardreader, ticket printer and a RFID reader. Two methods of gaining parking rights are available in order to comply with privacy legislation, when the user inputs license plate or other sensitive information into the system. License plate registration is used often and saves costs for enforcement and thus prevents tariff increase. Without user permission privacy information cannot be linked or saved for a long period. Therefore the first parking rights gaining method is anonymous. The license plate number is saved till midnight. The driver inputs the car's license plate number via the touch screen and prepays his parking rights. receiving a ticket is optional. This method is similar to current, hard to use, machines: staying anonymous has its price. The second method is a membership and resembles the Dutch OV-chipcard. The driver is registered in advance and has a RFID card. In the registration he accepted the link and save of his name, address, license plate number and bank account. He can start paid parking time by checking in with his card and stop parking time by checking out. This system is already developed by IP Parking. The core unit is designed as compact as possible to increase built-in possibilities. It has platonic aesthetic: timeless to fit in any streetscape. The design is an attempt to make the municipal city planning department responsible for the public space design. This is as step towards an uncluttered and organized public space. Besides that, the interaction between the user of the parking machine is improved. Easier to understand (less instructional graphics and text) and improved ergonomics combined with the integrated aesthetical design makes the 'you shall pay' moral less prominent or even disappear. There are some recommendations. This project is hardware focused, but software makes the difference. A start is made in GUI design and needs more development. There must be a focus on the wants and needs of municipalities., after all they purchase the product. Municipalities want remote control of parking machines because this is cost-effective. Parking management software need to offer this functionality. Also streetscape architects must be aware of the potential of this design and get rid of their frustrations of current parking machines, not being able to control the aesthetics. This design puts the streetscape architect back in control.


Association between Graves' disease and HLA--B8 has been previously documented, as have been associations between 1 gG heavy chain allotype markers (Gm). We found a significant increase in the phenotype fnb/fb (ie. positivity for fb) in patients with Graves' disease compared to controls, raising the possibility of allotypic restriction of thyroid stimulating antibodies thought to be causally related to the disease. The influence of fb on the susceptibility to Graves' disease was found to be independent of HLA--B8 status suggesting that the immunological network operated by the Histocompatibility-linked genes is independent of that centered around IgG allotypes. It is postulated that, whereas the former genes determine the level of helper T lymphocyte function in the production of thyroid stimulating antibodies in Graves' disease, a person who also happens to carry the Gm marker fb would be assured of the production of IgG antibodies with thyroid stimulatory activity.


Two readily synthesized water-soluble Sn(IV) porphyrins have been prepared with quaternized pyridyl nitrogens and 2-naphthalato trans-axial ligands. Methyl and hexyl groups were attached to the quaternized nitrogens to form lipophilic dyes with high singlet oxygen quantum yields (ca. 0.90) and unusually long triplet state lifetimes. The dyes exhibit good photodynamic activity against MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 14.3 and 8.5 μM, respectively. The hexyl quaternized dye exhibited a 9.69 log reduction value (0.5 μM) towards S. aureus under illumination for 90 min (250 mW cm−2). The results demonstrate that this set of structural modification strategies for photosensitizer dyes merits further in depth study.


UNLABELLED
Left atrial (LA) function is of great importance in left ventricular (LV) filling. There is evidence that echocardiographic Doppler evaluation of transmitral flow, routinely used for LV filling estimation, is dependent on LA function. Information regarding the relation of LA size and function to transmitral flow in heart failure is limited. We used 2D echocardiographic acoustic quantification methods to assess LA function in patients with dilated, (non-ischemic) cardiomyopathy (DCM) and a control group. The DCM group was divided into 2 subgroups: Group 1-with restrictive LV Doppler filling pattern-18 patients (DCM-R) and Group 2-with non-restrictive LV Doppler filling pattern-11 patients (DCM-NR) with similar heart rate, age and degree of mitral regurgitation. LA maximal area, total emptying fraction and absolute and fractional area change during rapid emptying and atrial contraction were calculated. The LA was enlarged only in DCM-R. Both DCM groups had decreased total emptying fractions and rapid emptying area changes compared to controls. An enlarged LA area and more decreased total emptying were found in DCM-R with high LV filling pressures compared to DCM-NR. The restrictive group had a significantly smaller LA rapid emptying area change, as well as a smaller LA area change and emptying fraction during atrial contraction compared to DCM-NR. Within < or = 2 hrs after the echocardiography study, cardiac catheterization was performed in the DCM group. We found significantly higher LV filling pressures and lower LV ejection fractions in DCM-R compared to DCM-NR. Significant correlations were found between LA function and invasive parameters like capillary wedge and LV enddiastolic pressures and LV EF.

CONCLUSION
Patients with DCM-R had significantly enlarged LA areas with more depressed total emptying fractions and smaller LA area changes during contraction compared to DCM-NR. Thus, left atrial function plays an important role in LV filling and its dysfunction can be a marker of poor prognosis.


A standard assumption among models of candidate source populations of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is that all sources in the population accelerate particles to the same maximum energy. Motivated by the fact that candidate astrophysical accelerators exhibit a vast diversity in terms of their relevant properties, such as luminosity, Lorentz factor, and magnetic field strength, we study the compatibility of a population of sources with non-identical maximum cosmic-ray energies with the observed energy spectrum and composition of UHECRs at Earth. For this purpose, we compute the UHECR spectrum emerging from a population of sources with a power-law, or broken-power-law, distribution of maximum energies applicable to a broad range of astrophysical scenarios. We find that for a wide range of studied models, the maximum energies of the UHECR accelerators must be nearly identical in order to be compatible with the UHECR data, in stark contrast to the variance expected for the astrophysical source models considered. A substantial variance of the maximum energy is only consistent with the UHECR data if the maximum energies of the UHECR sources follow a broken power-law distribution with a very steep spectrum above the break. However, in this scenario, the individual source energy spectra must be unusually hard with increasing energy output as a function of energy.


We consider the resolution of the single-frequency reverse time migration method for extended targets without the assumption of the validation of the geometric optics approximation. The resolution analysis, which applies in both penetrable and non-penetrable obstacles with sound soft or impedance boundary condition on the boundary of the obstacle, implies that the imaginary part of the cross-correlation imaging functional is always positive and thus may have better stability properties. Numerical experiments are included to illustrate the powerful imaging quality and to confirm our resolution results.


P2X2 receptors from rats show potentiation when a submaximal concentration of ATP is combined with zinc in the range of 10–100 μm. Alignment of the amino acid sequences of human P2X2 (hP2X2) and rat P2X2 (rP2X2) indicated that only one of two histidines essential for zinc potentiation in rP2X2 is present at the homologous position in hP2X2 (H132), with the position homologous to rat H213 instead having an arginine (R225). When expressed in Xenopus oocytes, mouse P2X2a and P2X2b receptors showed zinc potentiation indistinguishable from rat P2X2a, but hP2X2b receptors were inhibited by zinc. The extent of zinc inhibition of hP2X2b varied with the ATP concentration, with an IC50 of 8.4 μm zinc when ATP was applied at 10% of maximal and 87 μm zinc when ATP was applied at 99% of maximal. Site-directed mutagenesis showed that none of the nine histidines in the extracellular domain of hP2X2b were required for zinc inhibition, although inhibition was attenuated in the H204A and H209A mutations. Mutating R225 to a cysteine was sufficient to confer zinc potentiation onto hP2X2b, and zinc potentiation was absent in the hP2X2bH132A/R225C double mutant. This suggests that zinc potentiation in the mutant hP2X2b uses the same mechanism as zinc potentiation in wild-type rP2X2a. Because of the species-specific modulation by zinc, evidence for an in vivo role of P2X2 receptors based on studies conducted on genetically modified mice needs to be viewed with caution when extrapolations are made to the function of the human nervous system.


This research is based on the study which attempted to introduce English color vocabularies using rainbow song. The objectives of the study were: (1) To find out the teacher's way in applying English color vocabularies through rainbow song. (2) To find out the teacher's problems in applying rainbow song to introduce English color vocabularies. (3) To identify the teacher's solution in solve the problems. This study is a descriptive qualitative research. The object of the research were the second grade students and teachers of Kindergarten "Tarbiyatul Athfal 04 Sabilun Najah" Penjalin Brangsong Kendal. The writer took 20 students and 2 teachers of group B as object of the research. The instruments of this research were observation sheet and questionnaire. In this study, the writer collected the data from field research. The writer conducted a classroom observation activity and gave questionnaires to the teachers after the lesson finished. The writer found that the teachers implemented the use of rainbow song as a media in introducing English color vocabularies through three activities, they were: pre-activity, main-activity, and post-activity. In main-activity, the teacher showed the material used video compact disc and gave pictures to paint by the students to match between pictures with the colors. In post-activity, the teachers asked the students one by one about colors in the picture that they have painted. The writer found some problems faced by the teachers. The students difficulty to concentrate in the teaching learning process. The students didn't speak well. The students' difficulties to understand English color vocabularies. The writer also found some possible solutions to overcome the problems faced by the teacher. The teachers should give example not only one, but also more than one. The teachers should ask the students to do some exercise of vocabulary to improve their proficiency in English skill. The teachers should be able to give attention to the students. The teachers should be creative to find or create the English teaching method especially vocabulary, that attracts the kindergarten students. The teachers should give the students different experience and reinforcement, and the teachers practice the teaching material vocabulary to students day by day. The teachers should encourage the students to learn vocabulary.


The presence of differential metabolic risks between the metabolically-protective subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and the disease-associated visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is well established, but the mechanisms that cause these differences are not well understood. Cyclic AMP responsive element binding protein 3-like 3 (CREB3L3), a previously characterized liver-specific ER-bound transcription factor, was found to be expressed in murine SAT and VAT. In obese human subjects and an obese mouse model, we found that CREB3L3 is downregulated in SAT, but not in VAT. To examine the role of CREB3L3 in adipocyte biology and metabolism, we created a fat-specific CREB3L3 knockout (KO) mouse using the AdipoQ-Cre mouse. To establish a potential role for CREB3L3 in adipocytes, we examined in vitro differentiated adipocytes from isolated WT and KO primary stromal vascular fraction. We observed that ablation of CREB3L3 in SAT adipocytes significantly upregulated expression of both lipogenic and lipolytic markers. At the same time, we also observed significantly increased expression of thermogenic markers like PGC1α and Cox8b. Taken together our data suggest potential upregulation of the fat futile cycle in SAT upon deletion of CREB3L3. Surprisingly, we found that CREB3L3 KO tends to downregulate expression of markers of both lipogenesis and lipolysis in VAT adipocytes. This observation could potentially be contributed by the tendency of CREB3l3 KO VAT to have inhibited differentiation. To investigate the in vivo function of CREB3L3, we challenged WT and KO mice with high fat diet with weekly body weight assessment. We observed that CREB3L3 ablation in adipose tissues promotes significant weight gain in mice on HFD. Unexpectedly, despite being heavier, the KO mice are not more glucose intolerant or insulin resistant. These data together suggest that ablation of CREB3L3 could potentially promote fat storage in adipose tissues to prevent metabolic diseases caused by ectopic fat deposition.


This text offers a practical approach to biomechanics and motion analysis by illustrating mechanical and mathematical principles with real-world examples. The book explains the principles of mechanics and covers all aspects of kinematics and kinetics. Basic principles are illustrated with actual data obtained in laboratory settings. Case studies in each chapter present real situations to provide a deeper understanding of the principles. Each chapter ends with study questions. Mathematics is restricted to the essentials and many advanced calculations are performed using spreadsheet calculations. More than 250 illustrations complement the text.


In normal subjects, heterotopic painful stimuli induce simultaneous and parallel decreases in the sensation of pain and in the spinal nociceptive flexion (RIII) reflex evoked by electrical stimulation of the sural nerve. This inhibition of the RIII reflex is not seen in tetraplegic patients with clinically complete spinal cord transection, suggesting that supraspinal structures are involved in this type of inhibition, mediated through 'Diffuse Noxious Inhibitory Controls' (DNIC). In the present study, the effects of heterotopic nociceptive stimuli on the RIII reflex were examined in 3 patients with unilateral thalamic vascular lesions and in 3 with Wallenberg's syndrome (WS). In the former, as in normal subjects, nociceptive electrical conditioning stimuli applied to the analgesic hand produced a profound inhibition of the RIII reflex followed by long-lasting after-effects. No inhibition was observed in the WS patients. The same conditioning procedure applied to the nonanalgesic hand of the WS patients resulted in inhibition and after-effects similar to those observed in normal subjects. The fact that noxious but nonpainful stimuli triggered DNIC in the patients with thalamic lesions excludes the possibility that masking of pain by a second painful focus is mainly due to attentional processes. It is also concluded that lemniscal and spinothalamic pathways are not involved in the triggering of DNIC in man and it is suggested that the brainstem and probably the spinoreticular tract are key neuronal links in the loop subserving DNIC in man.


The increased competition between domestic cities leads to the need to develop a city positioning marketing strategy more efficient. The study aimed to determine and select the factors of positioning of Magadan, which is located in the Far North-East of Russia. I chose selected situational analysis to assess the current position and the consumer properties of the city. 14 representatives of municipal government, the media, business and science, the industrial sector were interviewed. From the point of marketing Magadan position is weak since the city has no clear strategy for its positioning. The consumer properties of the city are reflected by the most important events of the city, famous symbols and historical characters, industrial-building, banking, transport, engineering and social infrastructure. Internet marketing is developed quite weak as not all means of the Internet are used. The best indexes of Magadan are: average monthly nominal wages, catering turnover per capita, hospital beds, number of children per 100 places in preschool, the number of companies engaged in the mineral extraction, air emissions of pollutants from stationary sources without purification, turnover of goods. Among the worst indicators Magadan was marked by: population, migrate rate, construction works content, volume of paid services to the population, number of university students, number of telephones PSTN. Municipal authorities should take up communication policy and begin to work with the informational space purposefully creating a favorable image of the city. The material base of tourism and the formation of the modern hospitality industry in the region should be improved attracting both private and public investments in tourism through the development of financial-based projects. Attention should be focused on the development of transport infrastructure for domestic and foreign economic relations. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4p245


We develop a hydrostatic Hamiltonian particle‐mesh (HPM) method for efficient long‐term numerical integration of the atmosphere. In the HPM method, the hydrostatic approximation is interpreted as a holonomic constraint for the vertical position of particles. This can be viewed as defining a set of vertically buoyant horizontal meshes, with the altitude of each mesh point determined so as to satisfy the hydrostatic balance condition and with particles modelling horizontal advection between the moving meshes. We implement the method in a vertical‐slice model and evaluate its performance for the simulation of idealized linear and nonlinear orographic flow in both dry and moist environments. The HPM method is able to capture the basic features of the gravity wave to a degree of accuracy comparable with that reported in the literature. The numerical solution in the moist experiment indicates that the influence of moisture on wave characteristics is represented reasonably well and the reduction of momentum flux is in good agreement with theoretical analysis. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society


This paper discusses the development of new control and supervision method for the optimum operation of hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) connected to AC grid. The hybrid system consists of wind generator (WG), diesel generator (DG), and flywheel energy storage system (FESS). These subsystems are based on permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) which are controlled by sliding mode control. A supervisor control is designed to determine the energy transfer type of flywheel energy storage system (charging / discharging / no transfer energy), to take decision on diesel generators ON/OFF status, and to determine the reference powers for these two subsystems. The supervisor inputs are the power requested by AC grid, the power generated by wind generator, and the energy stored in flywheel. The objectives of the control and supervision for hybrid renewable energy system are to satisfy the power requested by AC grid, to manage the energy transfer between hybrid system and AC grid, to optimize the use of wind energy, and to reduce fuel of diesel generator. The system is simulated with Matlab - Simulink software and it gave good results.


This study aims to determine the management development of Hizbul Wathan's extracurricular coaching model to improve Muhammadiyah students' competence in Indonesia. This qualitative research involved 6 participants who represented each data variable. Methods of data collection by observation, interviews, documentation. Data analysis used an interactive model from Milles and Huberman. The study results found that the Scout Movement of Hizbul Wathan has been carried out to manage Human Resources by involving administrators from the Central Quartir to the Branch Quartirs and coaches in Qabilah throughout Indonesia. Organisation and network management to lay a solid foundation for improving students' quality as Muslim is emphasised.


OBJECTIVES
Paediatric coronary artery bypass grafting is indicated in cases of clinically significant and symptomatic coronary stenosis, with frequent complications occurring in the perioperative period. To reduce complications and improve outcomes of these procedures, surgical microscopes have been used at our centre with the anastomosis performed by a microvascular surgeon. The purpose of this article is to report our institutional experience in all patients who have undergone paediatric coronary artery bypass grafting procedures with and without microvascular techniques.

METHODS
Twenty-four patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting from January 2000 to May 2017 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS
Eighteen patients underwent bypass without microvascular involvement and 6 patients required the use of microsurgical techniques. Median age at the time of operation was 9.79 and 2.02 years for the 2 groups, respectively. The median weight at the time of operation was 41.2 and 10.75 kg for the 2 groups, respectively. Procedures were performed emergently in 4 patients. Three major anastomotic complications occurred requiring reoperation, although none occurred in the microvascular group. The median follow-up was 3.40 years and 5.25 years for the 2 groups, respectively. Three patients were symptomatic at last follow-up and 2 deaths occurred, all in the non-microvascular group. All grafts were patent in both groups. There were no statistically significant differences between preoperative and postoperative ejection fraction between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results highlight the potential positive impact of collaboration between cardiac and microvascular surgeons during paediatric coronary artery bypass grafting procedures and the subsequent reduction in complications that may be expected.


Although the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) conversion efficiency of a photocatalytic Z-scheme system for overall water-splitting with a solid-state electron mediator composed of a hydrogen evolution cocatalyst (HEC) nanoparticles/hydrogen evolution photocatalyst (HEP) particle layer with an Rh,La-codoped SrTiO3/conductor with an Au/oxygen evolution photocatalyst (OEP) particle layer with Mo-doped BiVO4/oxygen evolution cocatalyst (OEC) nanoparticles reached the highest value (1.1%) in 2016, it was still insufficient for practical application, resulting in a proposal in a previous paper to develop HEP and OEP particles with longer wavelength absorption edges. While progress has been rather slow since then, the Z-scheme system has been analyzed in this paper from a new point of view, i.e., the electronic structure of the system on the basis of solid-state physics, in order to seek for new ideas to enhance its STH conversion efficiency. In addition to the proposal in the previous paper, new ideas in this paper include the formation of a built-in potential to enhance electron (positive hole) transfer from the HEP (OEP) to the HEC (OEC) by putting positive (negative) charges on the HEC (OEC) nanoparticles, enhancement of the reduction (oxidation) of water by an electron (a positive hole) transferred from the HEP (OEP) to the HEC (OEC) by using the quantum-size effect of HEC and OEC nanoparticles, enhancement of the transfer of a photo-created positive hole (electron) from the HEP (OEP) to the conductor by controlling the Schottky barrier between them, and enhancement of the movement of electronic charge carriers together with depression of their recombination in highly doped HEP and OEP particles by the use of ionic relaxation processes in the particles.


A recent technology of information transmission in the fiber optics area. Wavelength Converters are key components in advanced WDM networks. Optical-transmission techniques have been researched for quite some time, Optical "networking" studies have been conducted only over the past dozen years or so. The field has matured enormously over this time. A large number of start ups have been formed, and Optical WDM technology is being deployed in the marketplace at a very rapid. In WDM networks, an optical fiber can carry several simultaneous wavelength channels. Each wavelength has to be different in the same fiber. The number of wavelengths that each fiber can carry is limited by the physical characteristic of the fiber and the state of optical technology, which is used to combine these wavelengths onto to the fiber and isolate them of the fiber. This motivated to do the research in the wavelength converter placement problem. The success of WDM networks depends heavily on the available optical device technology.


There is growing interest in statistical inference under order restrictions. A major demand in this subject is to have a fast, direct method to solve the least squares problem of partially ordered isotonic regression. The Min-Max algorithm is such a method in which the user searches for the global minimum and the local maximum successively. A comparison of algorithms for partially ordered isotonic regression is included. As an application, using this efficient algorithm, it is feasible to approximate critical values of isotonic tests by simulation.


A detailed theoretical analysis of multichannel coherent CPFSK communications systems is presented. The analysis accounts for the crosstalk between adjacent channels, the intersymbol interfer- ence and correlation between noise samples stemming from the limited IF bandwidth, the non-Gaussian statistics of the noise at the decision gate, and the impact of the laser phase noise. It is found that the IF bandwidth needed to avoid intersymbol interference is 2.2 bit rates for a modulation index m = 1; it is larger for other modulation index val- ues. For m = 1, receiver sensitivity is within 1 dB of the shot noise limit, and the electrical domain channel spacing can he as small as 2.05 bit rates with 1-dB sensitivity penalty. The foregoing conclusions are valid for a negligibly narrow linewidth; the degradation due to phase noise is shown to he modest as long as the linewidth does not exceed 1 percent of the bit rate if m = 1. Larger linewidth can he tolerated if the modulation index is larger than unity.


The breeding distribution of the Bearded Tit Panurus biarmicus is not disjunct but continuous from western Europe to Manchuria (fig. 4). Colour variation allows for the partition in a group of light populations, a group of dark populations, and an extra dark population (fig. 5). The range of the dark group is disjunct. With respect to the amount of streaking on head and back of females, three groups could be distinguished (fig. 6). The so-called "variable group" coincides with the dark colour group, except for Greece and the Caucasus, and the "not variable group" coincides with the light colour group. The marking of individual mantle feathers in females shows no essential differences between populations. The marking of the outermost tail-feather shows great variability in each population. As a consequence, there are no differences between populations (appendix 3). Apart from sexual dimorphism in plumage, there are also sex-related differences in several biometrical characters (table II). The so-called dark populations are, as a group, often statistically different from other populations. The light populations, generally, group in the same nonsignificant subsets. Clinal variation in biometrical characters is not pronounced; with respect to males a slight increase in size from west to east may be observed in the characters "tipblack" (fig. 3, A), wing- and tail-length (figs. 7-9). Three subspecies may be distinguished, viz. Panurus biarmicus biarmicus (Linnaeus, 1758), P. b. russicus (Brehm, 1831), and P. b. kosswigi Kumerloeve, 1958 (see fig. 12).


Results are reported for a comparative photodegradation study of atrazine and desethylatrazine in water using TiO2/H2O2, FeCl3/H2O2, and photolysis. Deionized water and ground water spiked with atrazine or desethylatrazine at 36 micrograms/L were irradiated by using a xenon arc lamp and/or sunlight. After irradiation, the water samples containing the spiked pesticides were preconcentrated by using C18 solid-phase extraction disks and analyzed by gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus and mass spectrometric detection. A relative percentage of 7% desethylatrazine was detected in samples removed after 20 and 4 min of sensitized photodegradation with TiO2 and Fe3+, respectively. Atrazine and desethylatrazine did not degrade when solar irradiation (in winter) and deionized water were used. Atrazine degraded faster than desethylatrazine when a xenon arc lamp or sunlight plus FeCl3 was used, with half-lives varying from 5 to 11 min and from 19 to 26 min, respectively. In other photodegradation experiments, the degradation of atrazine was slightly higher than that of desethylatrazine. This study shows that desethylatrazine has slightly higher stability than atrazine in environmental water samples; this stability accounts for the frequent detection of desethylatrazine together with atrazine in natural waters.


The recent paper in Geosciences, "Understanding the Permafrost–Hydrate System and Associated Methane Releases in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf" by Shakhova, Semiletov, and Chuvilin, (henceforth "S2019"), contains a number of false statements about our 2016 paper, "Methane fluxes from the sea to the atmosphere across the Siberian shelf seas", (henceforth "T2016"). S2019 use three paragraphs of section 5 of their paper to claim methodological errors and issues in T2016. Notably they claim that in T2016, we systematically removed data outliers including data with high methane concentrations; this claim is false. While we appreciate that flawed methodologies can be a problem in any area of science, in this case, the claims made in S2019 are simply false. In this comment, we detail the incorrect claims made in S2019 regarding T2016, and then discuss some additional problematic aspects of S2019.


&NA; Date Presented 3/30/2017 The study establishes reliable metabolic equivalent values for the items of the Activity Card Sort. These assigned values may assist occupational therapists working with older adults to offer more targeted strategies and compensation assistance so older adults can continue participating in valued activities. Primary Author and Speaker: Jaye McLaren Contributing Authors: Linda Tickle‐Degnen


It is hypothesized that central nervous system inflammation induced by systematic inflammation due to surgical trauma plays a critical role in postoperative cognitive dysfunction. The potential inhibitory effect of nerve blockage with local anesthetics on peripheral inflammatory response has been reported. We hypothesize that nerve blockage may be effective in reducing postoperative inflammation and cognitive decline. The rats at the age of 4 weeks were subjected to general anesthesia and humeral fracture fixation, in combination with brachial plexus block, saline versus ropivacaine, respectively. The rats from control group underwent general anesthesia only. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines in plasma and in hippocampus was measured. Open field test and new object recognition task were performed before surgery and on postoperative days (POD) 1, 3, and 7. Compared with control group, the level of cytokines in plasma and hippocampus revealed an obvious increase in surgery groups. The effect of brachial plexus block on decreasing cytokines was observed. The rats exposed to surgery without brachial plexus block showed behavior impairment. Our results indicated that nerve blockage could downregulate proinflammatory cytokines in hippocampus after humeral fixation surgery, which may ameliorate the postoperative cognitive dysfunction in young rats.


Void fill grouting is a technique which has been extensively used by CTL/Thompson, Inc. to mitigate mine subsidence potential resulting from abandoned underground coal mine workings. The technique involves rotary drilling from the surface down into the mine workings and pressure injection of grout into underground mine voids and rubble zones to fill voids. Communities of Rock Springs, Glenrock and Hanna, Wyoming were built over abandoned coal mines. Over time, the rock comprising the roof of the mine begins to fracture and collapse into the open mine. This process continues until the space is either occupied by rubble or the caving reaches the surface, threatening public health and safety. To successfully mitigate the potential of subsidence reaching the surface, a thorough understanding of the subsidence mechanism is required and the proper mitigation method selected. The paper describes typical subsidence mechanisms and mitigation methods. The depth to mining is important when determining whether or not subsidence will reach the surface. Also important are; the thickness of the mined seam, rock bulking . characteristics and strength of the overburden rock. This information can be obtained by investigative drilling, laboratory testing on material samples and careful analysis. The paper presents brief descriptions of analytical methods to determine critical mine depth. Once the critical depth to the mine is determined, a pilot drilling and grouting program is undertaken to determine the optimal hole spacing for mitigation. During construction, holes are drilled on a grid spacing as determined in the pilot program and low strength grout is injected through the drill holes into the mine workings. Critical items during grouting are; grouting sequence, slump variation, pressures, cutoff quantities and verification drilling. CTL/Thompson, Inc. has successfully used this technique in Rock Springs and Glenrock, Wyoming for over 13 years with construction costs exceeding 35 million dollars. Verification drilling, and the lack of insurance claims or surficial subsidence features indicate that void fill grouting is an effective method to mitigate the effects of subsidence due to abandoned underground mines.


Next month the Country Women's Association (CWA) of New South Wales will vote whether or not to put one of their most valuable assets, their Potts Point headquarters, up for sale. The prospect of the sale has caused concern among some members that the CWA is signalling it is a dying institution. It seems a good time, then, to reflect on the history of the CWA and how it fits in with the modern world of feminism.


Successional developments in the postglacial ecology and limnology of Kirchner Marsh revealed by concentration and diversity of sedimentary plant pigments include a peak of aquatic production (indicated by maximum pigment concentrations in sedimentary organic matter) reached during the early postglacial warm, humid interval at about 10,000 B.P. Production levels then declined. Very low levels of aquatic production (indicated by low pigment concentrations) seem indicated by about 6,000 B.P., in the middle part of a warm, dry interval following which pigment concentrations remained low (except for a brief interval about 5,000 B.P.), but with a marked rise in the ratio of chlorophyll derivatives to carotenoids, indicating an increase in allochthonous organic input accompanying the return of cooler moister conditions. These resulted in an encroachment of oak forest on the prairie, followed by the succession to reed-swamp on the lake.

A return to more truly aquatic conditions was reflected by an increase in sedimentary pigments from about 3,000 B.P. to a peak at 1,700 B.P., accompanied by a decline in the ratio of chlorophyll derivatives to carotenoids. Subsequently pigment concentrations fell, and their ratio increased sharply, as emergent aquatics became well established and caused a rapid evolution of pond to grass-sedge meadow.

The pigment data are generally in harmony with the ecological conclusions from pollen and macrofossils, but they provide much more information on changes in aquatic productivity at the site. Ratios of chlorophyll derivatives to carotenoids, along with measurements of pigment diversity, reveal changes in the balance between autochthonous and allochthonous organic contributions to the sediment and provide substantial evidence for the presence or absence of open-water conditions.


Climate is an essential factor in the physiological activity of plants. The radiation is predominantly involved in photosynthesis and temperature, which largely determines their growth and development. Sweating plays a fundamental role in the movement of water and minerals in plants and it also greatly depends on the temperature and humidity of the air. Greenhouses are structures that make it possible to control the climatic environment so that plants are in a Environment, the latter requires an intelligent and precise control to achieve it and ensure optimal management. The management of micro climate in greenhouses is a certain skill, especially in the sunny regions (arid and semi-arid region). However, the analysis of the response of a greenhouse as a function of the external climatic conditions then makes it possible to better understand its operation. A more precise analysis of the mechanisms governing the exchange (heat and mass) between indoor air and the environment is therefore essential for improving irrigation, ventilation and heating systems and thus Better climate control under shelter. It is even possible to optimize the systems of fertilization, and spraying, thus the agro-greenhouse system in general. This problem concerns all the more the farmers (the serrists) and the manufacturers of greenhouse together; Since these mechanisms are limiting factors which have a strong influence on production both in terms of quantity and quality, it now appears that good management of the greenhouse microclimate can both improve crop preservation and reduce Costs incurred. The micro-climate management interface of the agricultural greenhouse takes into account sunshine, temperature, humidity level, external weather conditions such as rain, wind direction and wind speed. It intervenes alone according to the needs of the plant, but modifications can nevertheless be carried out remotely by the user by the sensor means and the actuators. Current systems in agricultural greenhouses follow logical rules according to a binary system: if the temperature exceeds a predefined threshold, the automaton is triggered to refresh or reheat the ambient air. What we are trying to develop is a control law that allows to optimize the growth of plants while reducing the energy costs. The system would maintain constant temperatures and humidity levels in the agricultural greenhouse, regardless of outdoor climatic conditions. And this is where the whole difficulty lies, the intelligent control by the fuzzy logic that governs a greenhouse can solve most of these problems and difficulties. This work of our paper includes the modeling of the agricultural greenhouse (real model), the modeling of a fuzzy controller and the simulation of the model using real data from a given site (Dar el Beida Algeria) The fuzzy logic of our control for climate variables and parameters of the agricultural greenhouse as well as for air conditioning, heating and ventilation systems. The use of real data is very important because it will allow us to validate our model and give meaning to the simulation and define the different gains and parameters of the controllers. At present, this attitude has evolved. It may be thought that the fuzzy command To take little place in the contemporary engineer's array, without supplanting traditional methods, and that it will be a valuable complement in the case of agricultural greenhouses which are equipped with systems that are difficult to identify or whose parameters undergo sudden variations.


Mobbing, terror and psycho terror are a kind of behavior which can be observed in labor law-related relations and which stress the ethics of organizations. The aim of the work is to discover a current situation and employees' awareness of mobbing. Social and economic incidences are investigated by analysis of literature, internet resources, fora and laws. In the Czech Republic, the direct or indirect experience of people with mobbing was mapped by the help of a questionnaire survey. The research confirmed that 33 % of respondents are directly involved in mobbing, 63 % know somebody in this situation. In the profit business, the mobbing is so often like in the non-profit sector. 32 % of the victims leave work because of mobbing and in this way, the fluctuation of employees is rising up, affecting the economy of company or the organization in a negative way.


Sensing by using optical fibres is a promising approach for application in the healthcare field due to their small dimension, the capability of working in a harsh environment (i.e. high electromagnetic interference (EMI), corrosive environment) and potential for remote sensing. The possibility to measure clinically significant biomarkers would allow the diseases to be tracked in real time and supports diagnostic activities at clinical point-of-care (POC). This PhD thesis aims to demonstrate the versatility of the fibre optic sensor (FOS) for sensing of multiple clinical parameters including antibodies, gases (CO2, relative humidity (RH) and NH3) and drugs (fentanyl). Four types of FOSs are fabricated and included in the thesis, which are (I) a long-period fibre grating (LPG) based IgM sensor, (II) a Fabry–Perot interferometer CO2 sensor for the simultaneous measurement of gaseous CO2 and RH, (III) a reflection sensor for simultaneous measurement of gaseous CO2 and NH3, (IV) an LPG sensor for detecting fentanyl from liquid solution. Each sensor is prepared by combining an optical fibre sensing platform with the developed sensing materials for measuring of one or more of the mentioned parameters. Developed sensors were characterised in laboratory conditions for evaluating the critical parameters of the sensor, i.e. sensitivity, specificity and response time.
The developed IgM sensor is fabricated by depositing composite nanoparticles with a silica core and gold shell structure to create a porous structure and large surface area for IgM interaction to the receptors anchored on the shell. The sensor demonstrates the capability of detecting IgM in a wide concentration range from 15.6 μg/mL to 1000 μg/mL with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.015 ng/mm2 and a minimum detected concentration of 15.6 μg/mL. It shows a high specificity to IgM with a negligible response to the interfering protein, i.e. Bovine serum albumin (BSA). The sensor with such detection range and LOD can potentially be applied for the diagnostics of IgM related diseases such as selective IgM deficiency (SIgMD) and neonatal infection. The ability to monitor the binding process kinetically supports the application of the sensor in POC diagnostics.
A Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI) hybrid sensor is prepared by combination of the FPI with a colourimetric measurement for measuring RH and CO2. A sensing film comprised of silica matrix doped with thymol blue and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) is dip coated on the tip of an optical fibre forming a cavity for the FPI sensor. The sensor responds to the concentration of CO2 range from 0-6 % and RH level from 0 to 90 % with negligible cross-talk between the two parameters. The sensitivity for both parameters is 18 % of reflection value change per 5 % of CO2 and 0.14 nm per 1 % of RH. It is immune to the temperature in the tested range from 25 ℃ to 40 ℃. Due to the slow response time, 98s for CO2 and 32s for RH, the sensor is applicable to measure the CO2 and RH in an application where the response time is not critical such as transcutaneous CO2 (TcCO2) measurement. The developed sensor was successfully implemented to measure breath gases from a healthy human volunteer with a percent error of 3.1 % and 2.2 % for CO2 and RH respectively when taking the commercial datalogger (33 BLG, CO2 Meter, USA) as the golden standard. The percent error is the difference between the measurement from developed sensor and the reference sensor, divided by the value of reference sensor and multiplied by 100 %.
The sensing of gaseous NH3 in this thesis is achieved by using the sensitive dye Tetrakis-(-4-sulfophenyl) porphine (TSPP) that changes its colour after the interaction with NH3. The FOS for the simultaneous measurement of NH3 and CO2 is fabricated by incorporating two sensitive dyes, TSPP and thymol blue into one fibre detection system. Two dyes are separately doped into a sol-gel matrix and an ethyl cellulose (EC) plastic film and coated on the two ends of a 2x2 optical fibre coupler. The two dyes have different spectral properties with distinctive absorption wavelengths across the detection range that facilitates detection of the target gases. The sensor exhibits a sensitivity of ~15 % of increase in intensity for responding ~5 % of CO2 and sensitivity of -0.003 /ppm for gaseous NH3. It shows no cross-talk between NH3 and CO2 measurement and demonstrates the ability to measure both gases simultaneously. The LOD for NH3 is 3.9 ppm which is lower than the required concentration for breath analysis in diagnosis of diseases such as renal disease or stomach ulcers; therefore the sensor is not ready yet for breath analysis.
An LPG functionalised with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles is reported for the detection of fentanyl. A reference LPG was inscribed into a same optical fibre for compensating the temperature effect during the measurement. The sensor is tested in a concentration range from 0 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL and shows a minimum detected concentration of 50 ng/mL. The wavelength shift is 4.95± 0.3 nm at a concentration of 1000 ng/mL after compensating the temperature effect.
From the research described in this thesis, the versatility of the FOS platform in measuring clinical biomarkers for the diagnostic purpose with the ability to measure multiple parameters simultaneously is demonstrated. FOS can be applied to meet unmet clinical needs. For example, measuring the relevant biomarker in a particularly clinical condition such as MRI scanning room in which conventional electronic sensors interfere with the electromagnetic field. FOS is a low-cost sensor and can be made as a portable sensor for home and emergency use. The FOS is believed having great impacts in the future healthcare field as it offers a competitive sensor in diagnosis and monitoring, especially in the home use and wearable sensors market due to its miniaturised size, excellent biocompatibility and immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI). It also provides a new opportunity to study phenomenon or conduct research which has not been studied yet due to the limitations of conventional sensors (i.e. bulky size, non-compatible to biological samples and effect of EMI).


The renal/gastrointestinal discussion group was composed of researchers, clinicians, nutritionists, and physiologists from academia, industry, and the federal government. The diverse backgrounds of the participants provided an ideal forum for discussing the three core questions posed by the conference organizers: (1) What is wasting? (2) What are the optimal methods to determine and track changes in body composition in large clinical trials? and (3) What endpoints should be used to demonstrate efficacy for products used to treat wasting? While there are many inherent differences in the patients and problems faced by these disciplines, we found common themes in that we both deal primarily with chronic rather than acute diseases, and that similar issues affect decisions regarding selection of endpoints for evaluating the treatment of wasting syndromes. Gastroenterologists have been stimulated to reconsider wasting syndromes by the AIDS epidemic and effects of cancer and chemotherapy (topics considered separately at this meeting), in addition to their traditional concerns about diagnosing and treating intestinal, pancreatic and hepatic disorders that interfere with the digestion, absorption, and assimilation of dietary nutrients. The recent appreciation that hypoalbuminemia is the most powerful predictor of mortality in end-stage renal disease highlights the critical importance of ensuring adequate protein intake in this patient population. Despite dialysis therapy, unfortunately, anorexia remains a pervasive problem, and alterations in protein turnover induced by dialysis and concomitant illness (e.g., metabolic acidosis, diabetes mellitus) further compromise the nutritional status of these individuals. Our discussion group drew heavily from the presentations given during the day and one-half conference preceding, particularly regarding the limitations of currently available methods for measuring body composition and selection of endpoints for clinical trial in different patient populations. We relied particularly upon Dr. Morey Haymond's presentation on the selection of "Nutritional and Metabolic Endpoints." With respect to the three core questions posed by the workshop organizers, we arrived at the following conclusions:


Background:
 Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis prevalent in infants and sometimes complicates coronary artery lesions (CALs). It has been well known that CALs gradually develop endothelial dysfunction, post-inflammatory arteriosclerotic changes, and finally coronary calcification. It has been also reported, recently, that vascular calcification is an active cell-driven process characterized by osteogenic differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells, relating to the chronic inflammation and oxidative stress. In this study, in KD, we evaluated the possible implication of significant calcification prevalent in CALs to the long-term prognosis.

 Methods:
 We included 42 patients with a history of KD (age:18.3±6.7 year-old). The breakdown was 17 patients without CALs and 25 with CALs; 12 without calcification and 13 with calcification on multi-detector computed tomography. We measured %FMD as an endothelial function marker and hs-CRPs as an inflammatory marker, serum hydroperoxide and urinary 8-OHdG as oxidative stress markers, and the bone mineral density (BMD). Patients in CALs(-) group took no medicine and those in CALs(+) group were under antiplatelet and/or anticoagulant therapy, particularly, those with calcification were additionally administrated statin or ARB.

 Results:
 Values of %FMD in CALs(+) group were significantly lower compared with those in CALs(-) (p<0.05), and values in those with calcification were still lower than those without calcification (p<0.05). Values of hs-CRPs in CALs(+) group were significantly lower than those in CALs (p<0.05). 8-OHdG values as oxidative stress marker in CALs(+) group were significantly lower than those in CALs(-) (p<0.05). The BMD in CALs(+) group tended to be lower compared with the age-matched reference values (88.9±7.0% of normal).

 Conclusions:
 In KD chronic stage, the decreased %FMD may be an essential condition to occur coronary calcification. Decreased BMD in patients with coronary calcification suggested the possible existence of the skeletal and the vascular system in KD, similar to the mechanism of common vascular calcification.


In traditional transmitted reference (TR) ultrawideband systems the reference component is time-shifted and orthogonal relative to the data-bearing signal. This paves the way to a correlation receiver in which the local template is derived from the incoming waveform using a delay line. As analog delay lines are difficult to implement with current technology, an alternative TR system has recently been proposed in which reference and data components are made orthogonal by a frequency shift rather than a time shift. The resulting receiver has no delay lines and has better performance compared to the traditional scheme. In the present paper we discuss a third way to achieve orthogonality, i.e., by modulating reference and data components with two distinct code sequences. Even in this case the receiver has no delay lines. However, it is simpler to implement and has better performance than the frequency-shift based receiver.


This paper presents a general method for computing transient sensitivities using both the direct and adjoint methods in event driven controlled explicit simulation algorithms that employ piecewise linear device models. This transient sensitivity capability is intended to be used in a simulation environment for transistor level analysis and tuning. Results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed techniques. Examples are also presented to illustrate how the transient sensitivity capability is used in timing characterization and circuit tuning.


Hint, histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein, is a universally conserved enzyme that hydrolyzes AMP linked to lysine and, in yeast, functions as a positive regulator of the RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain kinase, Kin28. To explore the biochemical and structural bases for the adenosine phosphoramidate hydrolase activity of rabbit Hint, we synthesized novel substrates linking a p-nitroaniline group to adenylate (AMP-pNA) and inhibitors that consist of an adenosine group and 5′-sulfamoyl (AdoOSO2NH2) or N-ethylsulfamoyl (AdoOSO2NHCH2CH3) group. AMP-pNA is a suitable substrate for Hint that allowed characterization of the inhibitors; titration of each inhibitor into AMP-pNA assays revealed their Ki values. The N-ethylsulfamoyl derivative has a 13-fold binding advantage over the sulfamoyl adenosine. The 1.8-Å cocrystal structure of rabbit Hint with N-ethylsulfamoyl adenosine revealed a binding site for the ethyl group against Trp-123, a residue that reaches across the Hint dimer interface to interact with the alkyl portion of the inhibitor and, presumably, the alkyl portion of a lysyl substrate. Ser-107 is positioned to donate a hydrogen bond to the leaving group nitrogen. Consistent with a role in acid-base catalysis, the Hint S107A mutant protein displayed depressed catalytic activity.


The article aims to evaluate the impacts of strategic investments in biogas plants on the economic sustainability and vulnerability of farms with a special focus on investment subsidies. Data spanning 148 farms from the Czech Republic over a thirteen-year period (2004-2016) are used to estimate random effects panel regression models to quantify the short-term and long-term economic sustainability and vulnerability of integrated energy production in the context of mixed type farming. Investments in biogas plants can negatively affect the viability of agricultural companies in the short term because farms which invest in biogas suffer from debt pressures due to inadequate revenues in the construction phase. However, in the long term, the effects of biogas plant operations are positive: economic sustainability is enhanced and vulnerability is reduced mainly due to public support for renewable energy production in the form of feed-in tariffs and green bonuses. Comparing farms that received investment subsidies with nonparticipating farms indicates a high deadweight loss effect which means that programme participants would undertake a similar investment without programme support. However, the investment subsidies improve recipients´ cash flows.


This paper is concerned with determining the effects of public higher education on the distribution of income in New York City. Distributional effects are determined by distributing the current expenditures of New York City and New York State for public higher education according to the percentage distribution of New York City and New York State taxes by income class and the percentage income distribution of students' families. This provides an estimate of the taxes paid by families in each income class to support public higher education, and the direct monetary benefits received by families in each income class from public higher education. Net benefits for each income class are obtained by subtracting total costs from total benefits for each income class. The net benefits from the public higher education system in New York City are positive for each income class below $15,000. There is a redistribution of income from the $15,000 and above income class to all income classes below $15,000. Distributional effects differ by type of college. At the community colleges, net benefits are positive for all income classes below $10,000. At the senior colleges, net benefits are also positive for the $10,000-$14,999 income class.


Terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism are great challenges in these times of uncertainty. This paper analyses the need to improve the knowledge to provide a solid foundation for the design of effective security Counter-Terrorism strategies. Broad definitions of stakeholders are considered (including universities, think-tanks, the intelligence community, media, communities, and minorities and citizens), together with the integration of methods and techniques of analysis drawn from the social sciences and intelligence techniques. It proposes new approaches to generate knowledge through the integration of critical perspectives allowing an improved decision-making process that must be followed by continuous evaluations.


Four core dimensions (variety, autonomy, task identity, feedback) and two interpersonal dimensions (dealings with others and friendship opportunities) of job characteristics were studied in a sample of 363 research and development professional personnel. It was hypothesized that the core dimensions would be positively related to intrinsic job satisfaction, while the interpersonal dimensions were hypothesized to be positively related to socially-derived satisfactions. These hypotheses were supported by data from the total sample. All job characteristics were also hypothesized to be negatively related to role conflict and ambiguity. The data from the total sample supported this hypothesis fully with regard to role ambiguity, but only partially with regard to role conflict. Data were also separated and analyzed for supervisors and non-supervisors. Implications for the management of research and development personnel are included.


Abstract:  Morphological and biometrical variability of the equid Hipparion from Puente Minero and other localities from the Teruel Basin, Spain (MN10–MN13), is analysed. Three species of Hipparion are recognized in Puente Minero, H. laromae, H. matthewi and Hipparion sp. cf. H. longipes, through comparison with other Spanish and Eurasian species (Samos, Greece; Höwenegg, Germany; Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, small and large forms; Akkaşdaği, Turkey; and the following Spanish sites, La Roma 2, Los Aljezares, Concud, Milagros, Las Casiones and Venta de Moro). The majority of the Hipparion remains from Puente Minero and determined to be Hipparion laromae based on their size and morphology. This interpretation was confirmed by bivariate and multivariate analyses. These results suggest a Eurasian immigration of different Hipparion species into the Teruel Basin.


This paper scrutinises the modus operandi of classical and political humanitarianism: the use of ambiguity and prescription to frame calls for international action to protect civilians, and public commentary on jus in bello and jus ad bellum. It does so by innovatively considering the perspectives of belligerents alongside those of humanitarian actors, so as to identify how belligerents have responded to the two humanitarian modus operandi, and to ascertain the connection of humanitarian actors to the wars and international military interventions that they have implicitly or explicitly called for or endorsed. The paper finds that the response of belligerents differs from what both classical and political humanitarians expect. Even where humanitarians maintain ambiguity, the intention to will military action remains present and even the documentation and reporting of violence will bolster military intervention. Such consequences will be perceptible to belligerents, who may restrict humanitarian space. When humanitarians advance jus ad bellum perspectives, the humanitarian identity envisioned by classicists is not necessarily compromised. But belligerents are positively influenced by such perspectives only when those perspectives coincide with their own position.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents the most prevalent cancer of the gastrointestinal system in adults. Despite long-term survival rates achieved by early resection and adjuvant therapies, relapse is a significant problem for those patients. The present study aims to investigate the possibility of using neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and mean platelet volume (MPV) as biomarkers for postoperative relapse in patients with CRC. We retrospectively analyzed 188 non-metastatic CRC patients followed up and treated at Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Medical Oncology Clinic. We recorded demographic, laboratory and histopathological data from patient files and we calculated NLR, PLR and MPV, which were recorded as preoperative, postoperative and relapse values. This study classified patients into two groups: relapsed and relapse-free patients. Twenty-five patients (13.3%) developed a relapse during the follow-up period. The relapsed group had a higher NLR prior to tumor resection compared to the relapse-free patients, whereas PLR and MPV were not high. Despite the absence of any significant change in NLR or MPV after tumor resection, PLR displayed an upwards trend. At the time of relapse, CEA and MPV increased as PLR fell (compared to the postoperative period). The relapse-free group exhibited a significant decrease in CEA and MPV after tumor resection, and other parameters did not change. Comparing the results based on disease stages, stage III patients had significantly higher MPV levels than the stage II. NLR, MPV and PLR may help physicians identify prognosis after tumor resection in patients with CRC.


Finite elements of degree two or more are needed to solve various PDE problems. This paper discusses a method to validate such meshes for the case of quadrilateral elements of degree 2. The first section of this paper comes back to Bézier curve and Bézier quadrilateral patches of degree 2. The way in which a Bézier quad patch and a Q2 finite element quad are related is introduced. The two possible quads are discussed, the 9‐node (or complete) quad together with the 8‐node (or Serendipity) quad. A validity condition, the positivity of the Jacobian, is exhibited for these two elements. The discussion continues with a rational Bézier quad patch that can be used as a finite element. Extension to arbitrary degrees is given. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The influence of brief immersion of grape berries in water or ethanol at ambient or higher temperatures on the postharvest incidence of gray mold (caused by Botrytis cinerea) was evaluated. The incidence of gray mold among grape berries that were untreated, or immersed for 1 min in ethanol (35% vol/vol) at 25 or 50°C, was 78.7, 26.2, and 3.4 berries/kg, respectively, after 1 month of storage at 0.5°C and 2 days at 25°C. Heated ethanol was effective up to 24 h after inoculation, but less effective when berry pedicels were removed before inoculation. Rachis appearance, epicuticular wax content and appearance, and berry shatter were unchanged by heated ethanol treatments, whereas berry color changed slightly and treated grape berries were more susceptible to subsequent infection. Ethanol and acetaldehyde contents of grape berries were determined 1, 7, and 14 days after storage at 0.5°C following treatment for 30 or 90 s at 30, 40, or 50°C with water, or 35% ethanol. Highest residues (377 μg/g of ethanol and 13.3 μg/g of acetaldehyde) were in berries immersed for 90 s at 50°C in ethanol. Among ethanol-treated grape berries, the ethanol content declined during storage, whereas acetaldehyde content was unchanged or increased. Untreated grape berries initially contained ethanol at 62 μg/g, which then declined. Acetaldehyde content was 0.6 μg/g initially and changed little during storage.


The rain-flow counting method is widely used to compile the fatigue load spectrum. The second stage counting of the rain-flow method is a troublesome process. In order to overcome this drawback, the rain-flow and reverse rain-flow counting method is proposed in this paper. In this counting method, the rule for counting of the rain-flow method is modified, so that the sequence of load-time need not be adjusted. This is a valid and useful method to count cycles and compile the load spectrum and it can be widely used in ocean engineering.


In this paper, an analytical method based on the series transform and skewed slot structure of rotor is adopted to reduce the cogging torque of the variable flux memory permanent magnet (VFMPM) machine. Firstly, the theory analysis of the cogging torque of the VFMPM machine was completed. Secondly, a simulation model of the VFMPM machine was established, aiming at calculating the cogging torque of the VFMPM machine and verifying the correctness of the above analytical method. Thirdly, a prototype of 14 rotor slots and 12 stator slots of the VFMPM machine was manufactured, and the experimental results of the cogging torque of the VFMPM machine further verified the effectiveness of the above mentioned theory analysis. Besides, the load force of the VFMPM machine including the cogging torque was also tested and analyzed in this paper.


Gradient-based Neural Architecture Search (NAS) approaches have achieved remarkable progress in the automated machine learning community. However, previous methods would cause much search time and huge computation resources in a big search space for seeking an optimal network structure. In this work, we propose a novel Simulated Annealing algorithm for NAS, namely SA-NAS, by adding perturbations to the gradient-descent for saving search cost and boosting the predictive performance of the search architecture. Our proposed algorithm is easy to be adapted to current state-of-the-art methods in the literature. We conduct extensive experiments on various benchmarks where the results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our SA-NAS in reducing search time and saving computation resources. Compared to previous differentiable methods, our SA-NAS achieves comparable or better predictive performance under the same setting.


Marine and hydrokinetic energy can be broadly categorized as wave energy, tidal current, open-ocean current, river current, and ocean thermal gradient. Salinity gradient energy is often included as a form of marine energy. The technologies used to convert these forms of energy to electricity are often referred to collectively as marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy technologies. This paper will give a brief introduction to MHK technologies and their current status. It will also explore the scientific, technical, and nontechnical challenges and barriers to the wide-spread use of MHK technologies. The challenges and barriers include: 1) siting and permitting barriers, 2) environmental impact research needs, 3) technical research and development issues, 4) policy issues, 5) market development barriers, 6) economic and financial issues, 7) grid integration barriers, and 8) education and workforce training needs.


Decision making abilities are essential in our everyday life. As we get older, we are frequently asked to make decisions about retirement, medical care, and housing. Considering certain cognitive capacities changes in older adulthood, it is important to investigate how older adults make various decisions. The present study explored age differences in emotionally difficult trade-off decisions and the underlying mechanism of the age-related effects. Results showed that older adults were more likely to use attribute-based processing strategies compared with younger adults in the high trade-off difficulty condition for both car and physician tasks. On the other hand, younger adults were more likely to use alternative-based processing strategies compared with older adults in the high trade-off difficulty condition. In the car decision task, the retrospective negative emotion instead of cognitive ability mediated the age-related effects in processing strategies in the high trade-off difficulty condition.


Purpose of the Study
Interest in cognitive training for healthy older adults to reduce cognitive decline has grown considerably over the past few decades. Given the shift toward a more diverse society, the purpose of this review is to examine the extent of race/ethnic minority participation in cognitive training studies and characteristics of studies that included race/ethnic minority participants.

Design and Methods
This review considered peer-reviewed studies reporting cognitive training studies for cognitively healthy, community-dwelling older adults (age 55+) in the United States published in English before December 31, 2015. A total of 31 articles published between 1986 and 2015 meeting inclusion criteria were identified and included in the review.

Results
A total of 6,432 participants were recruited across all of the studies, and ranged in age from 55 to 99 years. Across all studies examined, 39% reported racial/ethnic background information. Only 3 of these studies included a substantial number of minorities (26.7% in the ACTIVE study; 28.4% in the SeniorWISE study; 22.7% in the TEAM study). Race/ethnic minority older adults were disproportionately underrepresented in cognitive training studies.

Implications
Further research should aim to enroll participants representative of various race/ethnic minority populations. Strategies for recruitment and retention of ethnic minority participants in cognitive training research are discussed, which could lead to the development of more culturally appropriate and perhaps more effective cognitive interventions.


BACKGROUND
To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein during the experimental lung carcinogenesis in rats, as well as their association with microvessel density (MVD).

METHODS
Diethylinitrosamine and 3-methylcholanthrene were instilled into the left lobar bronchus to induce lung squamous cell carcinoma in 88 Wistar rats, and 10 nomal rats as controls. COX-2, iNOS expression and MVD count of the specimens obtained from the rats were examined by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
A total of 155 specimens of various pathological phase during the carcinogenesis were obtained: 14 hyperplasia, 25 squamous metaplasia, 33 dysplasia, 12 carcinoma in situ, 54 infiltration carcinoma, and 17 metastasis. The immunohistochemical score (IHS) of COX-2 significantly increased in dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and metastasis (P < 0.01,P < 0.05,P < 0.01). IHS of iNOS significantly increased in hyperplasia and metastasis (P < 0.05,P < 0.01 ). Remarkably increased MVD was found in carcinoma in situ, infiltration carcinoma and metastasis (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between COX-2 and iNOS (r=0.601 6,P < 0.001) expression. Expression of COX-2 or iNOS were remarkably related to MVD count (P < 0.01,P < 0.01)

CONCLUSIONS
COX-2 and iNOS may play important roles in the carcinogenesis of experimental rat lung squamous cell carcinoma as well as its progress, and it may be associated with stimulating angiogenesis.


The constant and impacting human action on the environment has been providing increased contact between men and domestic or wild animals, facilitating the dissemination of infectious and parasitic agents among these hosts. Wild animals, both in the wild and in captivity, can be reservoirs and carriers of important zoonosis for public health, economic and wildlife conservation. In this context, the aim of this paper is to provide a literature review about the main aspects related to the risk of zoonosis transmission and maintenance by wild animals, in impacted or preserved natural environments, where they can be close to humans, whether they are free-living, in captivity or from the traffic. Important measures to control zoonosis transmitted by wild animals are also highlighted, which can bring improvements related to conservation medicine and public health promotion. Key-words: risks of transmission, wild animals, epidemiology


Based on extensive research on reinforcing steel corrosion in concrete in the past decades, it is now possible to estimate the effect of the progression of reinforcement corrosion in concrete infrastructure on its structural performance. There are still areas of considerable uncertainty in the models and in the data available, however This paper uses a recently developed model for reinforcement corrosion in concrete to improve the estimation process and to indicate the practical implications. In particular stochastic models are used to estimate the time likely to elapse for each phase of the whole corrosion process: initiation, corrosion-induced concrete cracking, and structural strength reduction. It was found that, for practical flexural structures subject to chloride attacks, corrosion initiation may start quite early in their service life. It was also found that, once the structure is considered to be unserviceable due to corrosion-induced cracking, there is considerable remaining service life before the structure can be considered to have become unsafe. The procedure proposed in the paper has the potential to serve as a rational tool for practitioners, operators, and asset managers to make decisions about the optimal timing of repairs, strengthening, and/or rehabilitation of corrosion-affected concrete infrastructure. Timely intervention has the potential to prolong the service life of infrastructure.