This is part of an ongoing project to document in reportage drawings, writings, film, the current life of British circuses to raise awareness of the the travelling community and their theatrical art form. It adds to the historical dialogues of artists with circus artistes, and considers Curtis's relationship with the circus communities who have accepted him into their own world. It considers his practice of drawing live in performance and also backstage. Art shows and a live street circus have raised public awareness with thousands of members of the public. In October 2016, FE students at UCA collaborated in drawing exercises at Moscow State Circus. This important project is being fully supported by British circuses and funded by The Hippodrome Circus, Great Yarmouth; Zippos Circus; Gandey's Circus(Worldclass Entertainment ltd); Circus Zyair; Circus Pzaz. A visual output of published drawings has appeared in specialist circus magazine, King Pole (June 2016).


This report presents a project with the aim to develop methods for large companies on how to work with energy efficiency that stretches along the value chain. By studying organizational conditions and physical effects on energy and climate for six cases in three companies, recommendations are given to businesses and governments on how to work for increased life cycle energy efficiency.
The results point to a range of organizational and economic challenges, but also to enablers. Four strategies for progress were identified: A) Find and share the life cycle benefits, B) Enable and encourage understanding and action, C) Get focus and priorities in line, and D) Seek or create a way forward.
The study points to the need to be strategic, and to translate this strategy into priorities and operational work. Yet, it must be recognized that life cycle thinking is not the work by one company and there is a call for cross-actor arenas to discuss and develop governance of value chains beyond the act of single companies.


OBJECTIVES
To study and compare the number of colony forming units of Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguis, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus milleri in dentulous, edentulous and in those wearing partial and complete dentures by using semi-quantitative culture method of saliva samples with calibrated standard loop.

MATERIALS
Sterile specimen collection bottles, Mitis salivarius agar plates, Standard loop, Candle jar, Incubator, Colony counter.

METHODOLOGY
Study population consisted of 100 subjects with 25 in each group, with an age range of 40 to 80 years, who were attending the Department of Community Dentistry and Prosthodontics at MNR Dental College, Sangareddy, Hyderabad. Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from patients and inoculated on to Mitis salivarius agar plates using calibrated standard loop. The plates were then incubated anaerobically at 37°C for 24 hours and left at room temperature for further 24 hours. Using a colony counter, the number of colonies of each species was counted.

RESULTS
Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus mitis predominates in the dentulous group, Streptococcus sanguis in complete denture group, Streptococcus salivarius in edentulous group and Streptococcus milleri in removable partial denture group.

CONCLUSION
The results of our study are in accordance with the previous studies, which have sought to differentiate different groups of mutans streptococci using a simple calibrated standard loop.


The electronic spectra of TCNE complexes of acyclic and cyclic diacetylenes and cyclic tetraacetylenes were measured. They show a maximum in the narrow region 423–431 nm regardless of ring strain in the donor molecules and proximity of two diacetylene groups. Crystalline two-to-one TCNE complexes of [m.n]paracyclophadiynes were prepared, the formation of one-to-one TCNE complexes in solution being established by means of the Benesi-Hildebrand plots using various molar ratios of the two components. The electronic spectra of some 1: 1 [m.n]paracyclophadiyne–TCNE complexes were measured. The spectra suggest that the complexes are equilibrium mixtures consisting of three isomeric complexes, i.e., a diacetylene-site complex and two pseudo-conformers of benzene-site complex. The longer wavelength band of [m.n]paracyclophadiyne complexes shows a marked red-shift as compared with the other bands. This is interpreted in terms of transannular π-π interaction between the diacetylene group and the benzene ring fixed ...


In patients with acute leukemia, Wilms' tumor gene 1 (WT1) has been used as a target for the detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) by PCR techniques. The expression of WT1 protein, however, has not been extensively studied. To determine the relation between expression of WT1 transcripts and of the encoded protein, we examined leukemic cell lines and primary childhood leukemia samples using both real‐time quantitative PCR (RQ‐PCR) and flow cytometry. WT1 protein was highly expressed in the leukemic cell lines K562, HL‐60, PLB 985, KG‐1a and CEM. By contrast, 40 primary samples of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; B‐ALL, n = 15 and T‐ALL, n = 10) and acute myeloid leukemia (n = 15) expressed low levels of WT1 protein. RQ‐PCR detected WT1 transcript levels in the same range as reported in earlier studies in childhood acute leukemia. The results of this study indicate the following: (i) there are considerable discrepancies between WT1 transcripts and protein expression; (ii) WT1 is not a suitable marker for flow cytometric MRD detection in childhood acute leukemia. Am. J. Hematol., 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Objective To analyse how training doctors' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics vary according to the specialty that they are training for. Design Descriptive statistics and mixed logistic regression analysis of cross-sectional survey data to quantify evidence of systematic relationships between doctors' characteristics and their specialty. Setting Doctors in training in the United Kingdom in 2013. Participants 27 530 doctors in training but not in their foundation year who responded to the National Training Survey 2013. Main outcome measures Mixed logit regression estimates and the corresponding odds ratios (calculated separately for all doctors in training and a subsample comprising those educated in the UK), relating gender, age, ethnicity, place of studies, socioeconomic background and parental education to the probability of training for a particular specialty. Results Being female and being white British increase the chances of being in general practice with respect to any other specialty, while coming from a better-off socioeconomic background and having parents with tertiary education have the opposite effect. Mixed results are found for age and place of studies. For example, the difference between men and women is greatest for surgical specialties for which a man is 12.121 times more likely to be training to a surgical specialty (relative to general practice) than a woman (p-value<0.01). Doctors who attended an independent school which is proxy for doctor's socioeconomic background are 1.789 and 1.413 times more likely to be training for surgical or medical specialties (relative to general practice) than those who attended a state school (p-value<0.01). Conclusions There are systematic and substantial differences between specialties in respect of training doctors' gender, ethnicity, age and socioeconomic background. The persistent underrepresentation in some specialties of women, minority ethnic groups and of those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds will impact on the representativeness of the profession into the future. Further research is needed to understand how the processes of selection and the self-selection of applicants into specialties gives rise to these observed differences.


There are a number of similarities between cervical cancer and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. As cervical cancer is overwhelmingly associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the possibility that HPV is also associated with the aetiology of oesophageal adenocarcinoma needs to be examined. This paper presents the evidence for such an association and a discussion of what further studies would be needed to confirm such an association.

HPV has been identified as the major aetiological factor in cervical carcinogenesis,1 being detected in 90–100% of cervical cancer specimens compared with 20% of controls.2 In addition, the HPV viral genome has been identified in most of the precursor lesions of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.3 HPVs are epitheliotropic and were thought to preferentially infect squamous epithelia only. However, it is now known that much of the virus is present at the squamo–columnar junction. Moreover, a consistent, strong and robust association between infection by high-risk HPV types and risk of development of adenocarcinoma of the cervix has been demonstrated.4 5

The role of HPV-mediated tumorigenesis in cervical cancer raises the question of the possible pathogenic role of the virus in oesophageal squamous and adenocarcinoma, oropharyngeal cancers and other non-genital malignancies. The recent demonstration of an association between HPV infection and oropharyngeal cancers, and the demonstration that this association may be related to direct or indirect orogenital transmission, reveals the exposure of the upper gastrointestinal tract to HPV infection.6 There is some evidence for a plausible role for HPV in the pathogenesis of squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus.7 High-risk-type HPV infections (predominantly HPV16 and HPV18) are detected in about 15% and 23% of patients with oesophageal squamous carcinoma using PCR and in situ hybridisation techniques, respectively.7 HPV detection rates in oesophageal cancer are highly variable in different geographical areas of …


OBJECTIVE
To observe the regulatory effect of Chinese herbal medicine on peritoneal lymphatic stomata in carbon tetrachloride induced mouse model of liver fibrosis and its significance in treating ascites.

METHODS
(1) To form the mouse model of liver fibrosis by intragastric administration of carbon tetrachloride. (2) Two kinds of Chinese herbal compound prescriptions were given separately by gastrogavage to observe their effect on prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis. (3) Hematoxylin and eosin and van Gieson staining were used in the observation of pathology and histology. (4) Scanning electronmicroscope and computer image processing were used. (5) urinary volume and sodium ion concentration were measured.

RESULTS
The fibrotic change of the mouse models was alleviated with using both the prevention or treatment groups of the two compound prescriptions. The diameter of lymphatic stomata enlarged with increased number of opening and density of distribution. Urinary volume and sodium ion excretion increased after treatment. The effects displayed more significant in the group treated by compound prescription.

CONCLUSION
Both kinds of Chinese herbal compound prescriptions have marked effect in alleviating liver fibrosis, regulating peritoneal lymphatic stomata, improving the drainage from the peritoneal cavity, causing increase of urinary volume and sodium ion excretion to reduce the water and sodium retention, and thus have favorable therapeutic effect in treating ascites.


Objectives: To investigate Fas, Fas ligand (FasL) and Bcl-2 expression, which are considered to be important apoptotic regulatory factors in renal cell carcinomas (RCCs). Patients and Methods: mRNA quantification and immunohistochemistry allowed for the determination of the expression of these three factors in surgically resected tumors from 82 patients with RCC. The correlation of protein and gene expression with more than 10 years of survival data following nephrectomy (along with clinical and pathologic parameters) was analyzed using uni- and multivariate statistical models. Results: A significantly poorer outcome was observed in patients with tumors expressing high levels of Fas mRNA in the multivariate analysis (p = 0.0002). In addition, patient survival was significantly worse in FasL mRNA-positive tumor cases when compared with FasL mRNA-negative cases (p = 0.0345). Ten cases relapsed more than 5 years after nephrectomy. Among them, the tumors of 8 cases (80%) did not express FasL mRNA. Analysis of Bcl-2 did not show statistical significance of Bcl-2 expression as a prognostic indicator. Conclusions: The data suggest that pronounced Fas expression is a surrogate biomarker of active cancer cell proliferation. Given the FasL tumor counterattack theory, FasL overexpression in RCC may be one of the host immune deficiencies, consequently leading to poor prognosis.


Retinitis pigmentosa is a disease comprised of a group of retinal degenerations (RD) that affects about 1/4,000 people worldwide (Wang, 2014). Currently, there is no cure for RP, and studying the disease is difficult because it is so genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous and because investigation of the retina in vivo is necessarily invasive. The advance of next generation sequencing (NGS) has allowed for great inroads into the genetic investigation of this disease. Here we describe the development of a flexible in vitro assay based on protein surface expression to identify potentially pathogenic genetic variants of unknown significance (VUS) discovered via NGS. The assay relies on the methods of plasmid transfection, immunofluorescence, fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and NGS. By creating a library of Rhodopsin (RHO) variants to test our system, this work serves as proof of concept that we are able to efficiently pool and then deconvolute a mixture of cells transfected with different variants into categories based on protein localization. This assay could theoretically be used to test VUS in a variety of genes related to RP and beyond, thus facilitating not only the characterization of VUS discovered through NGS, but also influencing the development of possible future therapies.


This article describes how the first nurse-led national telephone helpline for the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) was set up and presents the results after the first year of operation. The free service was well received. Most callers were seeking advice on CHD prevention for the first time and traditional risk factors and general healthy lifestyle advice remained major areas of concern.


A C/sup 2/ curve interpolation scheme for monotonic data has been developed. This scheme uses piecewise rational cubic functions. The two families of parameters, in the description of the rational interpolant, have been constrained to preserve the shape of the data. The monotone rational cubic spline scheme has a unique representation.


This study examines the fund‐level correlates of return and share price discount or premium for the closed end funds (CEFs) investing in emerging and developed capital markets. It also compares the performance of CEFs investing in emerging markets with similar types of funds that invested in the developed markets, especially significant in light of recent economic crises experienced by a number of such emerging economies and their ripple (contagion) effects felt in other emerging or developed capital markets. Lastly, as emerging markets constitute a wide array of countries with very different economic records, this paper looks into the performance of emerging markets CEFs by region as well as the performance of single‐country versus regional funds. Findings confirmed results of many studies of domestic and international open‐ or closed‐end funds on determinants of return and share price discount or premium. Emerging capital markets also continued to provide an outlet for international investors to improve their portfolio return despite significant volatility that surrounded them during the study period. Lastly, this study did not find any compelling evidence for consistent superior performance by CEFs investing in any particular region or country within the emerging markets.


For a long time, political  commentators  have bemoaned  the fact that Japan  is  one of the lowest numbers of female representatives in local politics. But in recent years there have been signs the situation is gradually improving. In February 2000 Fusae Ota became Japan's first female governor when she was elected in Osaka prefecture. Since then, many women have declared candidacy for gubernatorial seats and  won the election. After Ohta, four other women was also elected. They are Yoshiko Shiotani in Kumamoto, Akiko Domoto in Chiba, Harumi Takahashi of Hokkaido and Yukiko Kada of Shiga. This trend of women being elected as governors indicates that women are finally making real inroads into Japan's long male dominated political system. This article analyses the dynamism of women governor in Japan since Fusae Ota elected in 2000. Particularly to examine what the women governor candidates utilized as well as advocate during the election campaigns, what the women governor have done during his tenure as a governor and the main supporters of the women governors


Förster theory describes electronic exciton energy migration in molecular assemblies as an incoherent hopping process between donor and acceptor molecules. The rate is expressed in terms of the overlap integral between donor fluorescence and acceptor absorption spectra. Typical time scales for systems like photosynthetic antennae are on the order of a few picoseconds. Prior to transfer, it is assumed that the initially excited donor molecule has equilibrated with respect to the local environment. However, upon excitation and during the equilibration phase, the state of the system needs to be described by the full density matrix, including coherences between donor and acceptor states. While being intuitively clear, addressing this regime experimentally has been a challenge until the recently reported advances in fluorescence detected two-dimensional spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate using fourth order perturbation theory the conditions for the presence of donor-acceptor coherence induced cross-peaks at zero waiting time between the first and the second pair of pulses. The approach is illustrated for a heterodimer model which facilitates an analytical solution.


A wind-tunnel investigation of tiltrotor whirl-flutter stability boundaries has been conducted on a 1/5-size semispan tiltrotor model known as the Wing and Rotor Aeroelastic Test System (WRATS) in the NASA-Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel as part of a joint NASA/Army/Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc (BHTI) research program. The model was first developed by BHTI as part of the JVX (V-22) research and development program in the 1980''s and was recently modified to incorporate a hydraulically-actuated swashplate control system for use in active controls research. The modifications have changed the models pylon mass properties sufficiently to warrant testing to re-establish its baseline stability boundaries. A parametric investigation of the effect of rotor design variables on stability was also conducted. The model was tested in both the on-downstop and off-downstop configurations, at cruise flight and hover rotor rotational speeds, and in both air and heavy gas (R-134a) test mediums. Heavy gas testing was conducted to quantify Mach number compressibility effects on tiltrotor stability. Experimental baseline stability boundaries in air are presented with comparisons to results from parametric variations of rotor pitch-flap coupling and control system stiffness. Increasing the rotor pitch-flap coupling (delta sub 3 more negative) was found to have a destabilizing effect on stability, while a reduction in control system stiffness was found to have little effect on whirl-flutter stability. Results indicate that testing in R-134a, and thus matching full-scale tip Mach number, has a destabilizing effect, which demonstrates that whirl-flutter stability boundaries in air are unconservative.


Tetrandrine is a calcium channel antagonist with reported anti-hypertensive effect. The present study aimed to investigate the hemodynamic effects of chronic tetrandrine treatment on normotensive Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were allocated into one of the two groups: tetrandrine group and vehicle group. Tetrandrine (20 mg/kg) or vehicle was administered by gavage every 12 hours for consecutive 8 days. After 8 days of tetrandrine treatment, systemic hemodynamics and organ blood flows were measured on the next morning after an overnight fast, using radioactive microsphere method. Mean arterial pressure (96 +/- 2 vs. 118 +/- 4 mmHg) and systemic vascular resistance (254 +/- 35 vs. 369 +/- 5 dyn.sec.cm5 x 10(3)/100 g body wt) were significantly decreased in the tetrandine group as compared to the vehicle group. The cardiac-index (35.2 +/- 2.7 vs. 25.5 +/- 0.8 mL/min/100 g body wt) was increased in the tetrandrine group. The portal venous pressure, portal tributary blood flow, portal territory vascular resistance, renal blood flow, renal vascular resistance, heart rate and body weight were similar between the two groups. In conclusion, long-term treatment of tetrandrine reduced mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance but did not change splanchnic or renal hemodynamics in normal rats.


Two cyanide-bridged WV-M [M = Mn(II) (1), Co(II) (2)] bimetallic clusters were prepared by self-assembling a new molecular precursor [W(CN)6(bpy)]- and the corresponding metal complexes. Compound 1 shows a tetranuclear W2Mn2 entity, consisting of a Jahn-Teller ion, Mn(III), which serves as an anisotropic source, while compound 2 exhibits a trimeric W2Co structure. Among them, compound 1 displays slow relaxation of the magnetization, which is typical of a single-molecule magnet behavior.


The design of the best economic mechanism for Sponsored Search Auctions (SSAs) is a central task in computational mechanism design/game theory. Two open questions concern (i) the adoption of user models more accurate than the currently used one and (ii) the choice between Generalized Second Price auction (GSP) and Vickrey–Clark–Groves mechanism (VCG). In this paper, we provide some contributions to answer these questions. We study Price of Anarchy (PoA) and Price of Stability (PoS) over social welfare and auctioneer's revenue of GSP w.r.t. the VCG when the users follow the famous cascade model. Furthermore, we provide exact, randomized, and approximate algorithms, showing that in real–world settings (Yahoo! Webscope A3 dataset, 10 available slots) optimal allocations can be found in less than 1s with up to 1,000 ads, and can be approximated in less than 20ms even with more than 1,000 ads with an average accuracy greater than 99%.


Cerebellar dysfunction can be associated with ataxia, dysarthria, dysmetria, nystagmus and cognitive deficits. While cerebellar dysfunction can be caused by vascular, traumatic, metabolic, genetic, inflammatory, infectious, and neoplastic events, the cerebellum is also a frequent target of autoimmune attacks. The underlying cause for this vulnerability is unclear, but it may be a result of region-specific differences in blood–brain barrier permeability, the high concentration of neurons in the cerebellum and the presence of autoantigens on Purkinje cells. An autoimmune response targeting the cerebellum—or any structure in the CNS—is typically accompanied by an influx of peripheral immune cells to the brain. Under healthy conditions, the brain is protected from the periphery by the blood–brain barrier, blood–CSF barrier, and blood–leptomeningeal barrier. Entry of immune cells to the brain for immune surveillance occurs only at the blood-CSF barrier and is strictly controlled. A breakdown in the barrier permeability allows peripheral immune cells uncontrolled access to the CNS. Often—particularly in infectious diseases—the autoimmune response develops because of molecular mimicry between the trigger and a host protein. In this review, we discuss the immune surveillance of the CNS in health and disease and also discuss specific examples of autoimmunity affecting the cerebellum.


www.ccmjournal.org Critical Care Medicine • Volume 46 • Number 1 (Supplement) Learning Objectives: Surgical site infections (SSI) are associated with significant morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery. Antibiotics targeting skin flora are recommended for postoperative empiric treatment of SSI; however, limited data exist regarding optimal antibiotic therapy. The purpose of this study was to 1) characterize cardiac SSI microorganisms, 2) determine the appropriateness of guideline recommended therapy, and 3) determine optimal empiric therapy. Methods: We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study of adult patients admitted for cardiac surgery from January 1, 2015 to December 1, 2016. Patients were included if they received inpatient antibiotic treatment for SSI within 30 days after cardiac surgery. Therapy was deemed adherent to guideline recommendations if patients received empiric cefazolin (CFZ), or vancomycin (VAN) in patients with penicillin allergy. In patients with positive cultures, the appropriateness of therapy and the optimal regimen were determined based on sensitivities to all isolated organisms in each patient. Results: This study included 32 patients with 34 SSIs, of which 68% of infections were sternal, 20% were at the conduit harvest site, and 12% were groin cannulation site infections. Of the sternal infections, 57% were deep and 43% were superficial. Gram positive organisms were identified in 50% of patients (MRSA 6% of patients, MSSA 13%, and CoNS 22%), with gram negatives in 28%, and no organisms in 34% of patients. Empiric regimens utilized included VAN+piperacillintazobactam (TZP) 28% of patients, CFZ 25%, VAN+cefepime (FEP) 16%, VAN 12%, and other 19%. Guideline recommended empiric therapy was utilized in 34% of patients. In patients with positive cultures, the following proposed empiric regimens would cover all isolated organisms in each patient: CFZ 29% of patients, VAN 52%, FEP 52%, TZP 57%, VAN+CFZ 57%, VAN+FEP 81%, and VAN+TZP 86% of patients. Conclusions: Guideline recommended antibiotics (VAN or CFZ) provided insufficient coverage in 48–71% of patients. Broad spectrum antibiotics (VAN + TZP or FEP) may be optimal, as this therapy was insufficient in only 14–19% of patients.


. Convection permitting Regional Climate Models (RCM) have recently become tractable for applications at multi-decadal timescales. These types of models have tremendous utility for water resource studies, but better characterization of precipitation biases is needed, particularly for water-resource critical mountain regions where precipitation is highly variable in space, observations are sparse, and societal water need is great. This study examines 34 years (1987-2020) of RCM precipitation from the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF; V.3.8.1) using Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR; 5 CFSv2) initial and lateral boundary conditions a 1x1 km innermost grid spacing. The RCM is centered over the Upper Colorado River Basin with a focus on the high-elevation, 750 km 2 East River Watershed (ERW) where a variety of high-impact scientific activities are currently ongoing. Precipitation is compared against point observations (NRCS SNOTEL), gridded climate datasets (Newman, Livneh, and PRISM), and Bayesian reconstructions of watershed-mean precipitation conditioned on streamflow and high-resolution snow remote sensing products. We find that the cool-season precipitation percent error between 10 WRF and 23 SNOTEL gauges has a low overall bias ( ˆ x =.25%, s =13.63%), and that WRF has a higher percent error during the warm season ( ˆ x =10.37%, s =12.79%)). Warm season bias manifests as a high number of low-precipitation days, though the low resolution or SNOTEL gauges limits some of the conclusions that can be drawn. Regional comparisons between WRF precipitation accumulation and three different gridded datasets show differences on the order of +/- 20%, and particularly at the highest elevations and in keeping with findings from other studies. We find that WRF agrees slightly better with the 15 Bayesian reconstruction of precipitation in the ERW compared to the gridded precipitation datasets, particularly when changing SNOTEL densities are taken into account. The conclusions are that the RCM reasonably captures orographic precipitation in this region, and demonstrates that leveraging additional hydrologic information (streamflow, snow remote sensing data) improves the ability to characterize biases in RCM precipitation fields. Error characteristics reported in this study are essential for leveraging RCM model outputs for studies of past and future climates and water resource applications. The methods devel- 20 oped in this study can be applied to other watersheds and model configurations. Hourly, 1x1 kilometer precipitation and other meteorological outputs from this dataset are publicly available and suitable for a wide variety of applications.


In the present paper we perform, for the first time, the analysis of the average intensity noise power level at the output of a coherent phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometer (phase-OTDR) with a semiconductor laser source. The origin of the considered intensity noise lies in random phase fluctuations of a semiconductor laser source field. These phase fluctuations are converted to intensity noise in the process of interference of backscattered light. This intensity noise inevitably emerges in every phase-OTDR spatial channel and limits its sensitivity to external phase actions. The analysis of intensity noise in a phase-OTDR was based on the study of a fiber scattered-light interferometer (FSLI) which is treated as the constituent part of OTDR. When considered independently, FSLI has a broad intensity noise spectrum at its output; when FSLI is treated as a part of a phase-OTDR, due to aliasing effect, the wide FSLI noise spectrum is folded within the spectral band, determined by the probe pulse repetition frequency. In the analysis one of the conventional phase-OTDR schemes with rectangular dual-pulse probe signal was considered, the FSLI, which corresponds to this OTDR scheme, has two scattering fiber segments with additional time delay introduced between backscattered fields. The average intensity noise power and resulting noise spectrum at the output of this FSLI are determined by the degree of coherence of the semiconductor laser source, the length of the scattering fiber segments and by the additional time delay between the scattering segments. The average intensity noise characteristics at the output of the corresponding phase-OTDR are determined by the analogous parameters: the source coherence, the lengths of the parts constituting the dual-pulse and the time interval which separates the parts of the dual-pulse. In the paper the expression for the average noise power spectral density (NPSD) at the output of FSLI was theoretically derived and experimentally verified. Based on the found average NPSD of FSLI, a simple relation connecting the phase-OTDR parameters and the limiting level of full average intensity noise power at its output was derived. This relation was verified by experimental measurement of the average noise power at the output of phase-OTDR. The limiting noise level, considered in the paper, determines the fundamental noise floor for the phase-OTDR with given parameters of the source coherence, probe pulse length and time delay between two pulses constituting the dual-pulse.


Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium species are obligatory intracellular parasites that export proteins into the infected cells in order to interfere with host‐signalling pathways, acquire nutrients or evade host defense mechanisms. With regard to export mechanism, a wealth of information in Plasmodium spp. is available, while the mechanisms operating in T. gondii remain uncertain. The recent discovery of exported proteins in T. gondii, mainly represented by dense granule resident proteins, might explain this discrepancy and offers a unique opportunity to study the export mechanism in T. gondii. Here, we report that GRA16 export is mediated by two protein elements present in its N‐terminal region. Because the first element contains a putative Plasmodium export element linear motif (RRLAE), we hypothesized that GRA16 export depended on a maturation process involving protein cleavage. Using both N‐ and C‐terminal epitope tags, we provide evidence for protein proteolysis occurring in the N‐terminus of GRA16. We show that TgASP5, the T. gondii homolog of Plasmodium plasmepsin V, is essential for GRA16 export and is directly responsible for its maturation in a Plasmodium export element‐dependent manner. Interestingly, TgASP5 is also involved in GRA24 export, although the GRA24 maturation mechanism is TgASP5‐independent. Our data reveal different modus operandi for protein export, in which TgASP5 should play multiple functions.


An account is given of measurements of the diffuse transmission of light from point sources over horizontal paths in the lower atmosphere. Observations were made at ranges up to 27 km in a variety of meteorological conditions. For certain situations, it is shown that the transmission is a function of range expressed in units of the transport mean free path. Many of the results show that the transmission at long ranges decreases less rapidly with distance than at short ranges, a feature not reported hitherto.


The interaction between uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists (memantine and ketamine), and morphine (mu-opioid receptor agonist) and pentazocine (kappa-opioid receptor agonist) was studied in the writhing test in mice. Memantine and ketamine, administered at subthreshold doses, potentiated antinociceptive effect of the threshold (1 mg/kg) dose of morphine. The effects of the threshold (6 mg/kg) dose of pentazocine were not significantly changed by ketamine, and were significantly enhanced by the higher dose of memantine (15 mg/kg). Simultaneously performed experiments in the chimney test have shown that combination of morphine or pentazocine with an NMDA receptor antagonist did not induce significant alterations in the motor coordination of mice. The obtained results have shown that NMDA receptor antagonists (ketamine, memantine) are able to enhance the antinociceptive activity of opioids (morphine, pentazocine). It is necessary to underline that this effect was more apparent for morphine (mu-opioid receptor agonist) + NMDA antagonists than for pentazocine (kappa-opioid receptor agonist). These results may have some importance for clinical practice.


In the late 1990s, the military services were facing considerable recruiting and career retention problems. In responding, Congress was mindful of how inadequate pay had contributed to decreased recruit quality in the late 1970s. It authorized larger pay raises, increased special pays and bonuses, provided more recruiting resources, and repealed planned military retired pay reductions for future retirees. Debate continues over what kinds of pay and benefit increases are best for improving recruiting and retention. Of particular interest is the balance between across-the-board pay raises on the one hand, and ones targeted by grade, years of service, and occupational skill, on the other; and between cash compensation on the one hand and improvements in benefits such as housing, health care, and installation services on the other.


The late scholastic era was, among others, contemporary to the "emergence of probability", the German academic philosophy from Leibniz to Kant, and the introduction of Newtonian physics. Within this era, two branches of the late-scholastic analysis of induction can be identified, one which can be thought of as a continual development of earlier scholastic approaches, while the other one absorbed influences of early modern philosophy, mathematics, and physics. Both branches of scholastic philosophy share the terminology of modalities, probability, and forms of (inductive) arguments. Furthermore, induction was commonly considered valid as a result of being a covert syllogism. Last but not least, there appears to be a difference in emphasis between the two traditions' analyses of induction: while Tolomei discussed the theological presuppositions of induction, Amort's "leges contingentium" exemplify the principles of induction by aleatory phenomena and Boscovich's rules for inductive arguments are predominately concerned with the generalisation of macro-level observations to the micro-level.


ABSTRACT Land system science (LSS) has expanded its research focus from the drivers of land-use and -cover change primarily in rural wildlands to include the social-environmental consequences of this change, urban areas, and sustainability practice. Land system architecture, interacting with the landscape mosaic approach in ecology, offers a special niche for the entry of rural areas and wildlands into urban sustainability research through examinations of the composition and configuration of 'cityscapes'. Given the fine-grain data requirements of heterogeneous cityscapes, emergent land architecture-mosaic approaches have largely explored the urban heat island (UHI) problem, a topic that links LSS with the interests of urban climatology, engineering, and planning in city morphology or geometry. The subtle distinctions in the treatment of land configuration between land architecture-mosaic approaches and urban morphology-geometry approaches are identified. Several examples of the land architecture-mosaic approach illustrate the understanding gained about the UHI problem as well as its complementarity with morphology-geometry approaches. This understanding provides insights about the design of urban areas at the parcel to neighborhood scales to ameliorate extreme temperatures, an issue of increasing concern for urban areas worldwide and consistent with the sustainability problems identified by such international programs as Future Earth.


to the family's fortune, since her late father had stipulated that she was to marry a senator. After rejecting a series of suitors, Maria resigns herself to the much older but kindly Signore Bembo as a likely match, and plans are underway for the formal betrothal. Maria's sister, Giovanna, seems uncharacteristically temperamental about the nuptial plans (she actually wants Bembo for herself ), and Maria is hesitant to make a final commitment because she is obsessed with the master glass blower, Luca, whom the family has recently hired. Oh, dear. Will the lovers all sort themselves out properly? Will Bembo/Giovanna and Luca/Maria live happily ever after? Yes, and with surprisingly little effort or drama. Although the free-verse poetry lends an extra dash of romance to the bare-bones plotting, the Barovier girls' plight has none of the dark intrigue one might expect of a Venetian costume drama, nor the sparkle of a Shakespearean style comedy of switched lovers. Still, the period details of glassmaking and courtship may make this a pleasant divertimento for diehard historical fiction readers. EB


Introduction Neurointerventional radiology (NIR) provides a challenging environment for communication and performance as stakeholders come together from different teams to successfully execute NIR cases. Although success in NIR requires a high level of domain-specific expertise from the team members, there are no nurses, radiology technologists, or operating room technologists dedicated to NIR at our institution, and this arrangement is likely encountered at other hospitals. Such challenges can lead to poor confidence and low satisfaction on the job. In an effort to improve communication and support the performance of our NIR stakeholders, we developed an intranet website based on the Microsoft SharePoint platform. The website provides preference cards, links to relevant articles, device information, policies, case-specific data collection forms, and tracking for areas of improvement. The software was available to us through institutional licensing without additional cost. The website was created by a neurosurgical resident and the NIR clinical coordinator over a period of a month, and is primarily maintained by the clinical coordinator. We assessed the impact of the website on stakeholder job facilitation, self-efficacy, and satisfaction using surveys administered prior to and after the deployment of the site. Methods We distributed a series of three anonymous internet-based surveys to 60 identified NIR stakeholders immediately prior to the deployment of the website, one month after the deployment, and four months after the deployment. We built our survey based on previously validated survey instruments from the information systems adoption literature. We included two questions on job self-efficacy, three questions on job facilitation, and three questions on job satisfaction, all of which were graded on a five-point Likert scale. Awareness of the website, frequency of website use, and recent NIR case participation were also assessed using self-reported scales. Questions addressing gender, age, and NIR role were optional due to concerns for preserving anonymity of the respondents. Results The response rates were 52%, 34% and 35% for the pre-deployment, one-month, and four-month surveys, respectively. 77% of active NIR case participants reported recently using the website one month after deployment, and the reported rate of active use increased to 85% at four months. There was a statistically significant improvement in self-efficacy one month after website deployment (p=0.05), while self-rated possession of knowledge and task independence increased by 11% and 17%, respectively, after four months. Job facilitating conditions and job satisfaction also demonstrated statistically significant improvement at four months (p=0.01 and p=0.04, respectively). Concluion An intranet website for knowledge sharing can be an easily-deployed and inexpensive way to support improvement in job facilitation, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction in NIR. Such a website is likely to be beneficial in other dynamic procedural environments without dedicated staff. The study was limited by lack of controls for other work environment changes, such as staff turn-over, anonymous data collection preventing cross-linking of individual respondents across time, and utilization of self-reported adoption rates. Disclosures Z. Voronovich: None. A. Montes: None. D. Sorte: None.


Abstract:Amerindian myths dealing with the related themes of incest, eclipse, and the origin of the moon's spots reveal glimpses of an elaborate cosmological system, widespread across the Americas, that presents nature in terms of darkness, chaos, corruption, and mortality—in opposition to culture, which is identified with light, order, immortality, and the sacred. This opposition takes diverse manifestations and the mediation of these opposites is achieved, in both myth and ritual, in complex ways. This article uses a comparative approach to analyze myths and motifs documented by Claude Lévi-Strauss. The notorious abuse of comparative mythology in the past to vindicate colonialist and racist agendas has cast a dark shadow over this discipline. Instead of reducing the material to generalized functions of the mind or of human society, the ideas expressed are treated as manifestations of an intellectual tradition. Starting with the structural links that Lévi-Strauss makes between a large body of Amerindian myths, this article will reveal the richness and intellectual depth with which the relevant mythic ideas are elaborated in different cultures. The variations of an idea or motif are approached with the understanding that they are manifestations of a dynamic process of tradition and creation.


Background Receptor-binding cancer antigen expressed on SiSo cells (RCAS1) is a human tumor-associated antigen that induces cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in cells bearing the RCAS1 receptor. The aim of the study was to elucidate the diagnostic and prognostic value of RCAS1 levels in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Methods Sera collected from 30 healthy volunteers, 40 patients with benign lung diseases and 97 non-small cell lung cancer cases were subjected to RCAS1 ELISA, and relationships between serum RCAS1 and clinical characteristics were evaluated. Results Serum RCAS1 levels were higher in the non-small cell lung cancer group than in the healthy volunteers and benign lung disease groups (P <0.001). With a cutoff level 19.8 U/ml, RCAS1 had a sensitivity of 87.6%, a specificity of 82.5% and an accuracy of 86.1% for non-small cell lung cancer. Univariate analysis revealed that non-small cell lung cancer patients with elevated RCAS1 levels had significantly shorter overall survival (P = 0.042) than the other two groups. By multivariate analysis, serum RCAS1 was identified as an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.003). Conclusions Assessment of serum RCAS1 levels could be considered as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in non-small cell lung cancer.


In 1995, the Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation (DRHF) conducted the First International Equine Gene Mapping Workshop in Lexington, Kentucky. Scientists working on horses needed information about the equine genome to better perform their research. The scientific advances of the Human Genome Project, begun in 1990, were providing tools and information that made this goal attainable. The DRHF conducted a series of horse genome workshops between 1997 and 2009 in San Diego, USA; Uppsala, Sweden; Brisbane, Australia; Pretoria, South Africa; Dublin, Ireland; Lake Tahoe, USA; and Newmarket, UK. Over 200 scientists from 20 countries around the world participated in these workshops, sharing ideas and resources, collaborating and creating a common genomics framework. In 2006, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in the USA chose to sequence the horse as a consequence, in part, of both the work done by this community of scientists and their research interests going forward. As a result, the complete DNA sequence of the horse is available online (Wade et al. 2009) and has enabled powerful new research methods for equine science. This special issue of Animal Genetics was funded by the DRHF to underscore the importance of the genome to horse research. In this issue, scientists report research and discoveries made possible using the new genomic information. Indeed, the work includes gene discoveries and genetic characterization of horse breeds and sheds light on hereditary conditions that affect performance of horses. But the genome information is also useful to understand nonhereditary diseases and traits as well. Several reports in this issue address gene expression in connection with exercise and laminitis. Importantly, this is just the beginning. As scientists become more familiar with using genomic information for equine studies, we can anticipate more discoveries and the development of new diagnostic tests, therapeutic products and management approaches to improve the health and well-being of the horse. The impact of these studies and the availability of genome information for the horse will be significant at many levels. Good health is a high priority for horses. Owners and breeders train and select horses for a wide variety of characteristics including conformation, athleticism, temperament, intelligence, speed, stamina and coat colour. Poor health can undo years of work on part of the horse owner. Furthermore, the horse industry contributes significantly to economies around the world. Although we no longer depend on horses for power and transportation, horses continue to be an important agricultural product. A 2005 study in the United States suggested that the horse industry had a $102 billion (indirect) impact and provided employment (indirect and induced) to more than 1.4 million people (American Horse Council, 2005). The worldwide economic impact of the horse is obviously much larger. Use of the genome sequence in research will have far reaching effects on the health of horses and the health of the economy, worldwide. This should be remembered as a legacy from the Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation.


Pediatric suprasellar tumors are difficult to treat. Their sellar-suprasellar location frequently results in compression of the adjacent critical neurovascular structures, making them a challenging surgical entity. Our surgical strategy emphasizes on radical resection of the tumor without compromising visual or cognitive functions. In recent years, the endoscopic endonasal approach has been increasingly used for pediatric suprasellar tumors. We have adopted a "4-hand technique by two neurosurgeons" during endoscopic endonasal surgery to resect aggressive tumors safely. Posterior clinoidectomy and upper clivectomy are useful additional procedures to resect intra-3rd-ventricle and retrochiasmatic suprasellar tumors. Here, we present our surgical management strategy and tips for endonasal resection of pediatric suprasellar tumors.


Osteoclast (OCL) precursors from many Paget's disease (PD) patients express measles virus nucleocapsid protein (MVNP) and are hypersensitive to 1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25‐(OH)2D3; also know as calcitriol). The increased 1,25‐(OH)2D3 sensitivity is mediated by transcription initiation factor TFIID subunit 12 (TAF12), a coactivator of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), which is present at much higher levels in MVNP‐expressing OCL precursors than normals. These results suggest that TAF12 plays an important role in the abnormal OCL activity in PD. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying both 1,25‐(OH)2D3's effects on OCL formation and the contribution of TAF12 to these effects in both normals and PD patients are unclear. Inhibition of TAF12 with a specific TAF12 antisense construct decreased OCL formation and OCL precursors' sensitivity to 1,25‐(OH)2D3 in PD patient bone marrow samples. Further, OCL precursors from transgenic mice in which TAF12 expression was targeted to the OCL lineage (tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase [TRAP]‐TAF12 mice), formed OCLs at very low levels of 1,25‐(OH)2D3, although the OCLs failed to exhibit other hallmarks of PD OCLs, including receptor activator of NF‐κB ligand (RANKL) hypersensitivity and hypermultinucleation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis of OCL precursors using an anti‐TAF12 antibody demonstrated that TAF12 binds the 24‐hydroxylase (CYP24A1) promoter, which contains two functional vitamin D response elements (VDREs), in the presence of 1,25‐(OH)2D3. Because TAF12 directly interacts with the cyclic adenosine monophosphate–dependent activating transcription factor 7 (ATF7) and potentiates ATF7‐induced transcriptional activation of ATF7‐driven genes in other cell types, we determined whether TAF12 is a functional partner of ATF7 in OCL precursors. Immunoprecipitation of lysates from either wild‐type (WT) or MVNP‐expressing OCL with an anti‐TAF12 antibody, followed by blotting with an anti‐ATF7 antibody, or vice versa, showed that TAF12 and ATF7 physically interact in OCLs. Knockdown of ATF7 in MVNP‐expressing cells decreased cytochrome P450, family 24, subfamily A, polypeptide 1 (CYP24A1) induction by 1,25‐(OH)2D3, as well as TAF12 binding to the CYP24A1 promoter. These results show that ATF7 interacts with TAF12 and contributes to the hypersensitivity of OCL precursors to 1,25‐(OH)2D3 in PD.


This study investigates whether regular morphological complex neologisms leave detectable traces in the mental lexicon. Experiment 1 (subjective frequency estimation) was a validation study for our materials. It revealed that semantic ambiguity led to a greater reduction of the ratings for neologisms compared to existing words. Experiment 2 (visual lexical decision) and Experiment 3 (self-paced reading in connected discourse) made use of long-distance priming. In both experiments, the prime (base or neologism) was followed after 39 intervening trials by the neologism. As revealed by mixed-effect analyses of covariance, the target neologisms elicited shorter processing latencies in the identity priming condition compared to the condition in which the base word had been read previously, indicating an incipient facilitatory frequency effect for the neologism.


The mechanisms of action of information-wave technologies on human beings are analyzed in detail and their use in pediatrics is substantiated. The approach using a now-frequency pulse electromagnetic field as an information factor is optimal due to the synchronization of an oscillatory process of a low-frequency pulse electromagnetic field and the rhythm of functioning of different systems of the body, which causes the bioresonance actions the function of an organ or a system.


Poor interfacial compatibility remains a pressing challenge in the fabrication of high-performance polymer-MOF composites. In response, introducing compatible chemistries such as a carboxylic acid moiety has emerged as a compelling strategy to increase polymer-MOF interactions. In this work, we leveraged compatible functionalities in UiO-66-NH2 and a carboxylic acid-functionalized PIM-1 to fabricate mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) with improved separation performance compared to PIM-1-based MMMs in industrially relevant conditions. Under pure-gas conditions, PIM-COOH-based MMMs retained selectivity with increasing MOF loading and showed increased permeability due to increased diffusion. The composites were further investigated under industrially relevant conditions, including CO2/N2, CO2/CH4, and H2S/CO2/CH4 mixtures, to elucidate the effects of competitive sorption and plasticization. Incorporation of UiO-66-NH2 in PIM-COOH and PIM-1 mitigated the effects of CO2- and H2S-induced plasticization typically observed in linear polymers. In CO2-based binary mixed-gas tests, all samples showed similar performance as that in pure-gas tests, with minimal competitive sorption contributions associated with the amine functional groups of the MOF. In ternary mixed-gas tests, improved plasticization resistance and interfacial compatibility resulted in PIM-COOH-based MMMs having the highest H2S/CH4 and CO2/CH4 selectivity combinations among the films tested in this study. These findings demonstrate that selecting MOFs and polymers with compatible functional groups is a useful strategy in developing high-performing microporous MMMs that require stability under complex and industrially relevant conditions.


The growing demand for rice and the increasing pressure on irrigated land in Madagascar is strengthening efforts to developing upland rice systems. Actual yield is below its potential yield in farmers' field due to biotic and abiotic stresses. In higher altitude, specific cold tolerant upland rice genotypes are planted due to temperature constraints. According to climate change prediction, it is easy to expect positive effects on upland rice production systems in high altitude. The rise in temperature will increase productivity mainly via reduced spikelet sterility, considering that other climatic parameters such as rainfall patterns will not have adverse effects. Climate change will increase the number of genotypes which can be cultivated in upland areas; however genotypes still will be sensitive to weather experienced during sensitive physiological and phenological periods. To avoid negative impacts, crop adaptation strategies are needed in terms of varietal development and crop management. Grain yield depends on genotype, environment and management practices and their interaction with each other (Messina et al., 2009). Under the same management conditions, variation in grain yield is principally explained by the effects of genotype and environment (Dingkuhn et al., 2006). Interaction between these two explanatory variables gives insight for identifying genotype suitable for specific environments. The objective of this study was to compare contrasting genotypes which cover a broad range of phenological and physiological traits across a temperature gradient in Madagascar in order to quantify the extent of genotype by environment interaction and to characterize yield stability and adaptability across different environments. The experiment was designed in split plot with sowing dates as main plots and ten upland rice genotypes (G1 to G10 as shown in Table 1) as sub-plots arranged in a randomized complete block design. Three locations differing in altitude along temperature gradient in Madagascar (Andranomanelatra, 1625 m asl; Ivory, 965 m asl and Ankepaka, 25 m asl) were selected for field trials with two sowing dates (early and late season sowing, one month apart) in two consecutive years (2008/09 and 2009/10), thus creating twelve different rice growing environments (E1 to E12). Experimental fields were located in high altitude (HA) at 19°46'45.3" S and 47°06'24.5"E, mid altitude (MA) at 19°33'16.8" S and 46°25'29.1" E and low altitude (LA) at 22°11'31.6" S and 47°52'32.7" E. During cropping season, average minimum air temperature (Tmin) and maximum air temperature (Tmax) were 13°C and 19°C respectively with 1300 mm of total rainfall in HA location (Fig. 1). In MA location, average Tmin was 19°C and average Tmax was 24°C with 1200 mm of total rainfall. LA location had the highest total rainfall (2100 mm) with average Tmin 19°C and Tmax 27°C. HA location had clay soil of pH 4.5, MA location had clay loam soil of pH 4.5 and LA location had silt loam soil of pH 4.0 which were dominant in upland rice ecosystem in Madagascar. Five plants per hill were maintained at tillering stage due to high mortality. Hill to hill spacing was 20 cm x 20 cm in all locations. Complex fertilizer (11:22:16 N-P-K) at the rate of 300 kg ha-1, dolomite 500 kg ha-1 and FYM 5 t ha-1 was applied as basal dose at the time of sowing. Top dressing was done with urea (46 % N) at the rate of 35 kg ha-1 at first weeding and 30 kg ha-1 at second weeding. Grain yield was obtained from the central hills excluding 2 border lines. Yield stability analysis was done according to Finlay and Wilkinson, 1963. The result of AMMI model analysis (Yan et al., 2007; Gauch Jr et al., 2008) was shown in the biplot. Based on the linear regression between genotypic and environmental mean yields (Fig. 2a), regression coefficients of each genotype were plotted against genotypic mean grain yield to categorise yield stability (Fig. 2b). B22 and IRAT 112 had the highest regression coefficients with the highest yields (more than 6 t ha-1) in high yielding environments (more than 5 t ha-1) but comparably low yields (less than 1 t ha-1) in low yielding environments (less than 1 t ha-1) as shown in Fig. 2a. Chhomrong and FOFIFA 172 were the highest yielding (between 2 and 3 t ha-1) genotypes in low yielding environments (the HA location) and had low to medium grain yields in the most productive environment resulting in the lowest regression coefficients. Local landrace Botramaintso had low yields across all environments. Taking the yields in the HA location as an indicator of cold tolerance, genotypes Chhomrong, FOFIFA 161, FOFIFA 167 and FOFIFA 172 can be considered as cold-tolerant. These varieties are clustered in the high yielding group (Fig 2b) with low regression coefficients. These genotypes had above average yield stability and were well adapted to all environments without significant yield penalty. The grouping of varieties B22 and IRAT 112 indicates that these varieties were responders with average yield stability. Similarly, WAB 878 and Primavera had average yield stability but were less responsive to more productive environments. Botramaintso had the lowest yield with a regression coefficient close to one and below average yield stability. AMMI-1 biplot (Fig. 3a) of main effects (genotype and environment) and IPCA1 supports the genotypic and environmental characterization given above. Genotypic grouping was very similar to that already presented in Fig. 2b based on the simple yield stability approach of Finlay and Wilkinson. Environments E7 and E3 were the highest and the lowest yielding environments, respectively. Environmental means of the high altitude (E1 to E4) varied greatly indicating that sowing dates and years had pronounced effects on the environmental yield potential (Fig. 3a). Contrary, environments of the MA location (E5 to E8) were clustered very close to each other, indicating that sowing dates and climatic variation between the two years had only small effects on the environmental mean. Genotypes G9 and G3 had greatest interaction with environments. Similarly, environment E2 indicated greater interaction with genotypes. AMMI-2 biplot (Fig. 3b) illustrates the relative magnitude of the GEI for specific genotypes and environments. Genotypes closest to zero IPCA scores are more stable and adapted across all twelve environments considered in this study. G3 was well adapted to early sowing in HA location (E1 and E2). G5 and G6 were well adapted in HA location late sowing in the first year (lowest yielding environment, E3). G2 was specifically adapted to early sowing in MA location (E5 and E6). Genotypes G3 to G6 were adapted to HA location (E1 to E4). Within twelve environments,environment E10 had less GEI whereas all other eleven environments had potential for large GEI. Chhomrong, FOFIFA 161, FOFIFA 167 and FOFIFA 172 are tolerant to cold environments. These cultivars can adapt to all environments without significant yield penalty. B22 and IRAT 112 are high yielding cultivars under favourable environmental condition. Environmental yield potential is affected by climatic variation between sowing dates, and years in high altitude. Contrary, it is less influenced in mid altitude. Cold tolerant cultivar Chhomrong adapts well when early sown in high altitude. Local landrace cultivar Botramaintso is specifically adapted to early sowing in mid altitude. Cold sensitive cultivar B22 yield better when lately sown in mid altitude. Low altitude rice production system is vulnerable. Morpho-physiological traits contributing to cold tolerance need to be identified for further breeding.


Combination of multiple biomarkers to improve diagnostic accuracy is meaningful for practitioners and clinicians, and are attractive to lots of researchers. Nowadays, with development of modern techniques, functional markers such as curves or images, play an important role in diagnosis. There exists rich literature developing combination methods for continuous scalar markers. Unfortunately, only sporadic works have studied how functional markers affect diagnosis in the literature. Moreover, no publication can be found to do combination of multiple functional markers to improve the diagnostic accuracy. It is impossible to apply scalar combination methods to the multiple functional markers directly because of infinite dimensionality of functional markers. In this article, we propose a one-dimension scalar feature motivated by square loss distance, as an alternative of the original functional curve in the sense that, it can retain information to the most extent. The square loss distance is defined as the function of projection scores generated from functional principal component decomposition. Then existing variety of scalar combination methods can be applied to scalar features of functional markers after dimension reduction to improve the diagnostic accuracy. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and Youden index are used to assess performances of various methods in numerical studies. We also analyzed the high- or low- hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases between 2010 and 2017 in Hong Kong by combining weather conditions and media information, which are regarded as functional markers. Finally, we provide an R function for convenient application.


Sensory corpuscles in the cat elbow joint were observed by light and electron microscopy. Two types of corpuscles were identified, i.e. Pacini-type and Ruffini-type corpuscles. Silver impregnation revealed a single straight axon terminal in Pacini-type and highly-ramified fine axons in Ruffini-type corpuscles. Pacini-type corpuscles, 100-200 microns long and 30 microns wide, consisted of dense lamellae of lamellar cells and thick capsule. The lamellar portion contained a centrally-located axon terminal, and was similar in organization to the inner core of the typical Pacini corpuscle. The capsule was the continuation of perineurial sheath. This corpuscle was devoid of outer core structure as seen in a typical Pacini corpuscle. Ruffini-type corpuscles, 50-150 microns long and 25-50 microns wide, had the branched axon terminals with varicosities under the incomplete capsule. Axons, which were surrounded by thin Schwann cell processes, were embedded in the dense layers of collagen fibrils. The interior of the corpuscle was separated into small compartments by cell processes extended from the capsule. The axon varicosities contained numerous mitochondria. These fine structures of the corpuscles were similar to those of Ruffini corpuscles reported so far in other regions. Both Pacini-type and Ruffini-type corpuscles were clearly demonstrated by histochemistry for ChE. Inasmuch as the staining feature of corpuscles was different from each other, the distribution pattern of corpuscles in the joint capsules could be obtained by examining semi-serial sections. Pacini-type corpuscles were mainly found in the synovial layer, while Ruffini-type corpuscles were mainly located in the fibrous layer of the joint capsule. Both types of corpuscles were located near the median nerve on the flexor side of the joint. The reaction products of ChE activity were located in the peri-axonal as well as inter-lamellar spaces of Pacini-type corpuscles, and in the peri-axonal region as well as around Schwann cell processes of Ruffini-type corpuscles. No definite reaction product was found within axon terminals. Some reaction products were also found in the rough endoplasmic reticulum and/or nuclear envelope, suggesting that ChE is synthesized by Schwann cells. The significance of these sensory corpuscles with regard to the deep sensation in the joint capsule was discussed from the point of view of the electro-physiological characteristics of the corpuscles.


Abstract Background: We describe the experience of managing the dying moments of a nursing home patient via telemedicine. Case presentation: Ms. C was a 92-year-old frail woman with multiple medical problems, living in a nursing home. She spent her final days in the nursing home, choosing not to be transferred to an acute hospital should she turn ill. On the last day of her life, she complained of acute-onset breathlessness and agreed to a teleconsultation with the hospital physicians involved in acute care. Case management: During the telemedicine consultations (tele-consultation) process, Ms. C's condition deteriorated rapidly as she entered the dying phase of life. She died peacefully soon after, in the presence of the nurse, the pastoral care worker, and the physician who was conducting the tele-consultation session 30 km away. The family was not present at the patient's bedside when she died. They were, however, relieved to know and were appreciative of the fact that a physician had been "present" during the patient's death. Conclusions: Telemedicine could act as an effective communication tool in end-of-life care, between the patient and carers, up to the last moment of life.


Objectives exposure to occupational stress increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, few reports focused on the association between occupational stress and arterial stiffness as a suitable marker of early stage atherosclerosis. It is unclear which aspect of chronic occupational stress shows a stronger association with arterial stiffness, as an indicator of atherosclerosis. This study was designed to clarify the connection between occupational stress components and arterial stiffness, using Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (BaPWV). Methods This study was conducted on 2687 workers (male, 62.7%; mean age, 44.5) who underwent a health checkup at a physical examination centre in Shanghai, China. Occupational stress was assessed by the NIOSH job stress questionnaire (China version, modified), containing 38 questions and 5 criteria (job control, social support, job demand, skill under-utilisation and workload). Demographic data, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBS), HbA1c, lipid parameters and BaPWV were measured in each subject. Each component of the job stress score is graded into four levels by percentile. The main outcome (BaPWV>14 m/s) was a useful cut-off, and considered as an independent risk factor of cardiovascular disease. Due to gender differences in the baseline study, all data were analysed by gender. Results In univariate logistic regression analysis, compared with the highest job control group, the second lowest job control was associated with lower OR (0.706, 95% CI 0.548 to 0.910) for baPWV >14 m/s in male workers, whilst others were insignificant. In female workers, compared to the lowest skill utilisation group, the second highest group showed a significantly lower OR (0.365, 95% CI 0.188 to 0.706). Multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that the second lowest job control group in males still showed a significantly lower OR (0.737, 95% CI 0.552 to 0.983), following adjustment of age, BMI, education, smoking status, alcohol consumption, exercise habits and occupational type. However the corresponding association in females was insignificant. Conclusions This study showed that the type of job stress affected arterial stiffness differently by gender. Job control might play an important role in the relationship of job stress and arterial stiffness in males, whereas skill utilisation was the most important factor in females.


There is a common occurrence of colorectal adenocarcinoma metastasis to the ovary and in rare circumstances, these cases may present clinically as primary ovarian cancer and histologically as primary endometrioid carcinoma of the ovary. Approximately 3.6% to 7.4% of patients with colon cancer have ovarian metastasis at the time of initial presentation, of which, 45% are mistaken for primary ovarian tumors. The author reports the case of a 60-year-old female presenting with fatigue and pelvic pain secondary to a pelvic mass. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a lobulated, heterogeneous pelvic mass measuring 11.1 × 10.5 × 9.8 cm, and ultrasound (US) showed complex 13.8 × 8.2 × 12.3 cm mass posterior to the uterus. Upon examination of the specimen following debulking procedure, endometrioid carcinoma of the ovaries was initially considered. However, immunohistochemical stains were performed and showed malignant cells positive for cytokeratin (CK) 20, caudal type homeobox (CDX) 2, and specific AT-rich sequence binding (SATB) protein 2, consistent with metastatic colorectal carcinoma. This report highlights the diagnostic challenges arising with differentiation between primary endometrioid ovarian carcinoma and metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma to the ovary and the potential clinical consequences of misdiagnosis.


A quasiparticle approach is applied to develop the microscopic theory of magnetized plasmas and low-frequency phenomena in such plasmas for the case of potential interaction between the particles. The reduced Poisson law is derived in order to relate the self-consistent electric field in the plasma to the quasiparticle density in the reduced phase space. The reduced expression for the microscopic particle flux is also obtained. The importance of the finite-Larmor-radius effects in particle fluxes is demonstrated, and the polarization particle flux is explained with regard to the kinetic effects.


Transmission expansion planning is an important component of power system planning that affects all aspects of the power system including both generation and demand side in different ways. An inherent problem to today's restructured power markets is the congestion management problem. Since the transmission system is limited by operational and reliability constraints, the participants face significant congestion costs that can be alleviated by investing in transmission capacity. In this paper, an economics-based transmission expansion planning model is proposed. The model minimizes the costs of investment and congestion over a planning horizon that includes multiple load profiles. Decimal Codification Genetic Algorithm (DCGA) is then used to solve the resulting nonlinear mixed-integer problem. The model proposed here will be particularly useful for independent transmission planners who are responsible for making decisions regarding power network operations. The Garver's 6-bus network is examined to show the adequacy of the proposed model. Testing proposed expansion approach on an actual transmission network of northwest of Iran, the Azerbaijan regional electric company, the results reveals effectiveness of the model to handle realistic power networks.


Galaxy-galaxy lensing is rapidly becoming one of the most promising means to accurately measure the average relation between galaxy properties and halo mass. In order to obtain a signal of sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, one needs to stack many lens galaxies according to their property of interest, such as luminosity or stellar mass. Since such a stack consists of both central and satellite galaxies, which contribute very different lensing signals, the resulting shear measurements can be difficult to interpret. In the past, galaxy-galaxy lensing studies either have completely ignored this problem, have applied rough isolation criteria in an attempt to preferentially select 'central' galaxies, or have tried to model the contribution of satellites explicitly. However, if one is able to a priori split the galaxy population in central and satellite galaxies, one can measure their lensing signals separately. This not only allows a much cleaner measurement of the relation between halo mass and their galaxy populations, but also allows a direct measurement of the subhalo masses around satellite galaxies. In this paper, we use a realistic mock galaxy redshift survey to show that galaxy groups, properly selected from large galaxy surveys, can be used to accurately split the galaxy population in centrals and satellites. Stacking the resulting centrals according to their group mass, estimated from the total group luminosity, allows a remarkably accurate recovery of the masses and density profiles of their host haloes. In addition, stacking the corresponding satellite galaxies according to their projected distance from the group centre yields a lensing signal that can be used to accurate measure the masses of both subhaloes and host haloes. We conclude that an application of galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements to group catalogues extracted from large galaxy redshift surveys offers a unique opportunity to accurately constrain the galaxy-dark matter connection.


Gradient-based meta-learning techniques are both widely applicable and proficient at solving challenging few-shot learning and fast adaptation problems. However, they have practical difficulties when operating on high-dimensional parameter spaces in extreme low-data regimes. We show that it is possible to bypass these limitations by learning a data-dependent latent generative representation of model parameters, and performing gradient-based meta-learning in this low-dimensional latent space. The resulting approach, latent embedding optimization (LEO), decouples the gradient-based adaptation procedure from the underlying high-dimensional space of model parameters. Our evaluation shows that LEO can achieve state-of-the-art performance on the competitive miniImageNet and tieredImageNet few-shot classification tasks. Further analysis indicates LEO is able to capture uncertainty in the data, and can perform adaptation more effectively by optimizing in latent space.


Alkaloid compounds in Rafflesia cantleyi and host, Tetrastigma tuberculatum were identified using the phytochemical screening method and HPLC technique. The results showed positive test for the host, T. tuberculatum which indicates the presence of alkaloid whereas the screening test for R. cantleyi showed that alkaloid is absenced. Both extract were then subjected to HPLC for alkaloid identification and caffeine was used as standard. The spectroscopic data from HPLC revealed the presence of caffeine in both methanol extracts. The methanol extract of both samples were also tested for antioxidant activity by using DPPH free radical scavenging activity. Result showed that the radical scavenging activity of R. cantleyi and T. tuberculatum are comparable to the standard reference, BHT but higher than the standard alpha tocopherol.


The Var basin (Provence Alps, southeastern France) is separated from the Esteron basin to the south by the Gourdan anticline. During much of early Cretaceous time the geography of this area closely resembled the present, with two basins separated by a fault scarp at the position of the present Gourdan anticline. In the Var basin a thick Vocontian-type section of dark pelagic marls to the west graded into a neritic section of thicker Berriasian sediments, very calcareous Valanginian sediments, and glauconitic Hauterivian deposits to the east. In the Esteron basin to the south, sediments were subneritic, with numerous interruptions of sedimentation and abundant glauconite. After Bedoulian (early Aptian) time the scarp disappeared so that the basins coalesced and sedimentation became uniform.


The CN-Ar van der Waals complex has been observed using the B (2)Sigma(+)-X (2)Sigma(+) and A (2)Pi-X (2)Sigma(+) electronic transitions. The spectra yield a dissociation energy of D(0")=102+/-2 cm(-1) and a zero-point rotational constant of B(0")=0.067+/-0.005 cm(-1) for CN(X)-Ar. The dissociation energy for CN(A)-Ar was found to be D(0')=125+/-2 cm(-1). Transitions to vibrationally excited levels of CN(B)-Ar dominated the B-X spectrum, indicative of substantial differences in the intermolecular potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the X and B states. Ab initio PESs were calculated for the X and B states. These were used to predict rovibrational energy levels and van der Waals bond energies (D(0")=115 and D(0')=183 cm(-1)). The results for the X state were in reasonably good agreement with the experimental data. Spectral simulations based on the ab initio potentials yielded qualitative insights concerning the B-X spectrum, but the level of agreement was not sufficient to permit vibronic assignment. Electronic predissociation was observed for both CN(A)-Ar and CN(B)-Ar. The process leading to the production of CN(A,nu=8,9) fragments from the predissociation of CN(B,nu=0)-Ar was characterized using time-resolved fluorescence and optical-optical double resonance measurements.


In this demo we present PITAGORA\footnote{Demo video available at http://bit.ly/1GgtUrN}: a mobile web contextual social network designed for the check-in area of an airport. The app provides recommendation of potential friends, local experts and targeted services. Recommendation is hybrid and combines social media analysis and collaborative filtering techniques. Users' recommendation has been evaluated through a user study with good results.


The study's overall objective was to investigate the relationship between psychosocial stressors, sense of community, and subjective wellbeing in urban and rural schoolchildren in Northeast Brazil, focusing on differences according to territorial context. The sample consisted of 757 participants, 495 from urban schools and 262 from rural schools, enrolled in the 6th and 7th grades (9 to 18 years of age) in 21 municipal and state public schools, of which 13 urban and 8 rural, in 7 municipalities (counties) in Ceará State, Brazil. The study instruments were inventory of stressful events, scale of life satisfaction for students, index of sense of community, and satisfaction indices by life domains (family, material goods, relations, neighborhood/zone, health, time, school, and personal). The results indicate that socioeconomically underprivileged public schoolchildren from urban areas are more exposed to daily stress and score lower on satisfaction in specific domains of life and on sense of community. This latter is an important indicator for evaluating wellbeing in this young population.


Accurate, high-resolution profiles of nitrate and phosphate distributions in the open ocean are difficult to obtain using conventional techniques. Concentrations typically range from low nanomolar levels in the stratified euphotic zone to micromolar levels below the nutricline. With multiple pumps, a heating cartridge, a long-path-length cell, and a multiwavelength spectrometer, the reconfigured Spectrophotometric Elemental Analysis System (SEAS) provides the capability to fully ascertain the distributions of nitrate and phosphate in the upper 200 m of the oligotrophic ocean. By utilizing a 15 cm path length and multiple wavelength spectrophotometry, SEAS can detect nitrate concentrations from 2 nM to 20 microM and, with a 50 cm path length, can accurately measure phosphate concentrations from 1 nM to 1 microM. SEAS is capable of collecting auxiliary data from up to four separate instruments, including a CTD, a fluorometer, a PAR sensor, and a second SEAS instrument. Sampling frequency depends on peripheral instrument selection and ranges from 0.4 to 0.75 Hz.


This essay explores the gap between character, that is, the habitual persona or mask that can be consistently recognized and represented, and the underlying self. If the self is conflated with the persona, the latter rings hollow. If the self emerges in the gap between itself and its persona, it is no longer hollow but rather empty in the positive Mahāyāna Buddha Dharma sense of śūnyatā (lack of a self-same self or identity). This essay disambiguates the hollowness of character from the emptiness of the self through a study of Melville's The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (1857) and Murakami's contemporary classic, Kafka on the Shore (2002). Bringing Murakami into proximity with Melville not only highlights the originality of both but also affords a co-illuminating confrontation that brings Buddhist and Shinto insights to bear upon the problem of the self.


The paper describes new methods of detecting rotor position in stepping and switched motors, with chopper or series-resistance drives, by monitoring winding currents. In contrast to previous methods of waveform detection, the new techniques are reliable over the complete speed range. It is shown that the most useful indicators of rotor position are: i) current rise times arising from chopping an unexcited phase at low current and ii) the initial rate of current rise as a phase is switched on in a series-resistance drive. Implementation is via simple low-cost electronic circuits and the paper includes discussion of how the techniques can be applied to closed-loop stepping motor control, ministep drives, and optimization of step response.


Abstract Despite frequent claims in the popular press that Americans are working longer hours to the detriment of their families, little academic research has directly tested this proposition. I provide new descriptive evidence on the link between work hours of married couples and the likelihood that a couple will get divorced. Using samples of working couples from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, I uncover several key facts: First, the incidence of divorce is much greater when both spouses are working than when only one spouse is employed. Second, the work hours of women are more highly correlated with divorce than are the work hours of men. Finally, despite these robust correlations, it is difficult to attribute a causal effect of work hours to divorce propensity.


Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a popular pattern classification method with many diverse applications. The SVM has many parameters, which have significant influences the performance of SVM classifier. In this paper, we employ a meta-heuristic approach (Scatter Search) to find near optimal values of the SVM parameters, and its kernel parameters. The proposed method integrates a scatter search approach with support vector machine, shortly (3SVM). To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, 9 datasets from LibSVM tool webpage [2] were used. Experiments prove that the proposed method is promising and has competitive performance.


PURPOSE There has been little research describing the involvement of family physicians in the follow-up of patients with cancer, especially during the primary treatment phase. We undertook a prospective longitudinal study of patients with lung cancer to assess their family physician's involvement in their follow-up at the different phases of cancer. METHODS In 5 hospitals in the province of Quebec, Canada, patients with a recent diagnosis of lung cancer were surveyed every 3 to 6 months, whether they had metastasis or not, for a maximum of 18 months, to assess aspects of their family physician's involvement in cancer care. RESULTS Of the 395 participating patients, 92% had a regular family physician but only 60% had been referred to a specialist by him/her or a colleague for the diagnosis of their lung cancer. A majority of patients identified the oncology team or oncologists as mainly responsible for their cancer care throughout their cancer journey, except at the advanced phase, where a majority attributed this role to their family physician. At baseline, only 16% of patients perceived a shared care pattern between their family physician and oncologists, but this proportion increased with cancer progression. Most patients would have liked their family physician to be more involved in all aspects of cancer care. CONCLUSIONS Although patients perceive that the oncology team is the main party responsible for the follow-up of their lung cancer, they also wish their family physicians to be involved. Better communication and collaboration between family physicians and the oncology team are needed to facilitate shared care in cancer follow-up.


The possibility of a time‐domain electromagnetic sounding method using excitation and measurement of vertical electric fields to search for and identify deeply buried reservoirs of hydrocarbons offshore is investigated. The method operates on source–receiver offsets, which are several times less than the depth of the reservoir. Geoelectric information is obtained from the transient responses recorded in the pauses between the pulses of electric current in the absence of the source field. The basics of the method, as well as its sensitivity, resolution, and the highest accessible depth of soundings for various geological conditions in a wide range of sea depths, are analyzed. For the analysis, 1D and 3D geoelectric models of hydrocarbon reservoirs are used. It is shown that under existing technologies of excitation and measurement of vertical electric fields, the highest accessible depth of soundings can be up to 4 km. Technology for the inversion and interpretation of transient responses is demonstrated on experimental data.


Uetanabaro, M, Souza, F.L., Landgref Filho, P., Beda, A.F. & Brandao, R.A. Amphibians and reptiles of the Serra da Bodoquena National Park, Mato Grosso do Sul, central Brazil. Biota Neotrop. Sep/Dez 2007 vol. 7, no. 3 http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v7n3/pt/abstract?inventory+bn01207032007. ISSN 1676-0603. The State of Mato Grosso do Sul, central Brazil, is located in the center of the broad South American open- dry diagonal areas. This region harbors a great diversity of amphibians and reptiles, with some endemic species. Despite such biogeographical scenario, biodiversity of this region is poorly known at local scales. Dry forests are important physiognomies in Mato Grosso do Sul and represent an important landscape element at Serra da Bodoquena, resulting in local characteristics that require biodiversity surveys. There are few and punctual information on the herpetofauna from the Serra da Bodoquena National Park and they suggest a similarity with the Cerrado herpetofauna. The present study represents the first record of the herpetofauna from the Serra da Bodoquena National Park and adjacent areas. Samples were conducted in pristine and disturbed areas in two distinct climatic periods, covering both rainy and dry seasons, by means of active search limited by time as well as opportunistic records. Data on the herpetofauna of the Caatinga, Cerrado, and Chaco biomes were compiled and compared with the species sampled in the present study. We registered 63 species, including 38 amphibians and 25 reptiles. Several species were associated to particular habitats, such as gallery forests or rocky outcrops. The herpetofauna from the Serra da Bodoquena National Park showed a greater similarity with that of the Cerrado, probably because the area is inserted in this biome. Considering the habitat diversity found at Serra da Bodoquena, the number of species must increase with other surveys in the area. Natural history and ecological studies on amphibian and reptiles of the Serra da Bodoquena must be encouraged in order to contribute for the National Park management.


We present an interactive core training system for core training using a monocular camera image as input in this paper. It is commonly expensive to capture human pose using depth cameras or multiple cameras with conventional approaches. To solve this issue, we employ the skinned multi-person linear model of human shape to recover the 3D human pose from 2D images using pose estimation and human mesh recovery approaches. In order to support the user in maintaining the correct postures from target poses in the training, we adopt 3D human shape estimation for both the target image and input camera video. We propose CoreUI, a user interface for providing visual guidance showing the differences among the estimated targets and current human shapes in core training, which are visualized by markers at ten body parts with color changes. From our user studies, the proposed core training system is effective and convenient compared with the conventional guidance of 2D skeletons.


Evaluations of open Ditch status and function, with an assessment of suitability of a conversion to a two stage ditch as a low maintenance alternative.

To illustrate Swedish drainage problems this work focused on two agricultural drainage associations assessed in detail with a new method called MADRAS (Minnesota Agricultural Ditch Reach Assessment for Stability). With the assessment of the MADRAS method estimates were made to conclude the ditches operating
problems.

This was made through measurements of sediment depths, mass bank failures etc. in order to quantify ditch problems and propose practical actions for improved ditch stability and water quality.

The MADRAS surveys were conducted in two main ditches that drains 2900 hectares of land on the northern shores of Malaren. In the study measurements of the ditch cross-sections were also conducted to compare actual profiles with the original map profiles.

The evaluation showed that parts of the studied ditch sections were operatively poor; main reason was mass bank failure, undercut channel banks, sediment aggregations
and narrowed ditches. The profile survey shows that a majority of the profiles 80 % has sediment accumulations there remains only 64 % of the original profile from the map. The survey also shows that 20 % of the profiles have been expanded by an average of 117 %. The study gives support to conduct further detailed investigations in the area and then accordingly determine an appropriate restoration plan.

The problems that ditch companies face today are to find means to deal with the higher flows. When this no longer can be overcome with the deepening of ditches, since additional drainage today severely restricted and new rulings from the water council is demanded for even smaller changes within ditch companies, alternative solutions must be proposed. Here proposed is to target especially exposed ditch stretches and reshape them into a two-stage ditch. There are many advantages with this design, but despite the fact that they do not lead to increased drainage they
currently fall under the same strict rules and needs court rulings to trial the impact assessment. To have drainage companies to implement two-stage ditch technologies
in their ditches a simplified permitting process for construction is necessary.

Imposition of these constructions is justified as they have wetlands characteristics of environmental benefits these are a greater immobilization of nitrogen and phosphorus
as well as decreased maintenance requirements.

The ditch evaluation method MADRAS is here considered to be a practical tool to be able to gather quantifiable measure of the ditch failing features. The evaluation provides a good foundation for finding the types of measures that should be applied to improve the function of the particularly vulnerable ditch stretches.

The evaluation showed that parts of the surveyed ditches were operationally poor, primarily because of mass bank failure, undercut channel banks and narrowed ditches. A viable solution in the worst affected ditch sections is to introduce a two-stage ditch. These measures would result in more stable channel banks but also even out peak channel flows that in the long run will improve water quality.

MADRAS method is made to measure and estimate the drainage systems operating problems and thereby determine if a maintenance or restoration plan may be developed in the area. The ditch evaluation method MADRAS is a suitable
method for ditch evaluation in Swedish conditions for identifying problem affected ditch stretches.


Would an engineered nanomaterial (ENM) still have the same identity once it reaches a secondary target tissue after a journey through several physiological compartments? Probably not. Does it matter? ENM pre-treatments may enhance the physiological relevance of in vitro testing via controlled transformation of the ENM identity. The implications of material transformation upon reactivity, cytotoxicity, inflammatory, and genotoxic potential of Ag and SiO2 ENM on advanced gastro-intestinal tract cell cultures and 3D liver spheroids are demonstrated. Pre-treatments are recommended for certain ENM only.


Neutrino has become a new window to our universe since the observation of neutrinos from the Sun and SN1987A. Hyper-Kamiokande (Hyper-K) is a next-generation neutrino telescope with excellent capabilities in particle physics. It consists of two identical water Cherenkov detectors (2 x 260 kton) with 40 % photo coverage. With about 10 times larger fiducial volume per detector than Super-Kamiokande(SK), sensitivities for the supernova burst and the supernova relic neutrino(SRN) searches will be greatly improved in Hyper-K.

Locating the 2nd detector in Korea will enhance the sensitivity of SRN search thanks to less muon flux and spallation background in deeper (~1km) Korean candidate sites. In this talk, we will present our sensitivity study on SRN search for several candidate sites in Korea and the various theoretical SRN flux models.


Osseointegration is the development of a stable connection between the recipient bone and the implant surface. This process is a function of the time it takes for the implant to become fixed in bone tissue. The essence of osseointegration is the achievement of permanent stability of the implant, which ensures the proper course of the healing process, and "acceptance" of the implant by the living bone tissue, which leads to the initiation of osteogenesis and formation of young bone on the surface of the bone graft. Bone reconstruction within the implant depends on the specific factors related both to the implant material properties and to the status of the patient's skeletal system. High biocompatibility of the implant material ensures the maintenance of permanent and stable bone-implant contact and successful normal osseointegration. This work presents the cellular and extracellular mechanisms and factors influencing the process of osseointegration.


The present condition or status of the private medical practitioner is one which differs from that of a few years ago. By private practitioner is meant the family physician. It must be admitted that he does not occupy the same position that he formerly enjoyed. In no other field of medical practice may be found the intimate relations between physician and patient. The qualified and conscientious family physician assumes responsibility for the members of the family in illness and injury, and safeguards them against unnecessary or meddlesome medical or surgical treatment. He is the councilor and adviser in the various problems of life that confront all parents and their children. He occupies a unique position of the greatest importance in the field of medical practice—a position that brings him true friends who, with few exceptions, are glad to make equal sacrifice for him. No other position in life affords as


During winter 75/76 (from February 1 to March 31) we got the opportunity to follow the incidence of an influenza epidemic that occurred in the geriatric hospital of Ivry. Its population was, on the average, 83 years old. 958 persons were involved in this study: 523 out of them had been vaccinated with Pasteur bivalent Mutagrip A + B vaccine. The epidemic had a double origin: it was due to a virus A/Victoria and to a virus B/Hong Kong. A significant difference was noted between the vaccinated group and the nonvaccinated one. Serological (CF and HI) and virological investigations (virus isolation) were performed on 110 subjects. The clinical course followed by the disease was mild for the vaccinated and severe for the nonvaccinated. Mortality rate was 0.19% in the former against 3.90% in the latter. It has been thus possible to observe an "immunological fence" since it appears that when 79% of a given unit has been vaccinated, influenza incidence has been as much as three times reduced.


Fast radio bursts (FRBs) have so far been detected serendipitously across the sky. We consider the possible enhancement in the FRB rate in the direction of galaxy clusters, and compare the predicted rate from a large sample of galaxy clusters with the expected cosmological mean rate. We show that clusters offer better prospects for a blind survey if the faint end of the FRB luminosity function is steep. We find that for a radio telescope with a ∼1 deg2 beam, the best targets would be either nearby clusters such as Virgo, or clusters at intermediate cosmological distances of few hundred Mpc, which offer maximal number of galaxies per beam. We identify several galaxy clusters which are expected to have a significant excess FRB yield compared with the cosmic mean. The two most promising candidates are the Virgo cluster containing 1598 galaxies and is located 16.5 Mpc away and the S 34 cluster, which contains 3175 galaxies and is located at a distance of 486 Mpc.