A wide range of metals and minerals are currently used in battery and energy technology, meaning that an increasing number of these commodities are being considered as potentially viable primary products by the minerals industry. A select group of these minerals and elements that are vital for energy and battery technologies, including Al, Cr, Co, Cu, graphite, In, Li, Mn, Mo, the rare earth elements (REEs; primarily Dy and Nd), Ni, Ag, Ti, and V, are also likely to undergo rapid increases in demand as a result of the move toward low- and zero-CO2 energy and transportation technology (often termed the energy transition) driven by climate change mitigation and consumer and investor concerns and demands. Increased levels of mineral exploration, discovery, and production will be needed to meet this rising demand. However, several of these key metals and minerals are produced as co- and by-products of other elements. This means that their production is inherently linked to the production of main product elements that may not undergo similar increases in demand, creating issues related to security of supply. It is also not simple to just produce more metal and minerals given the environmental, social, and governmental challenges the global mining industry currently faces. Finally, there are uncertainties over exactly what technologies will dominate the energy transition, meaning that robust demand predictions are still relatively problematic.
 Quantifying these and other uncertainties and addressing issues over by-and coproduct supply will help ensure that mineral deposits are used sustainably. In addition, understanding the deportment and processing behavior of key critical metals and minerals that are produced as by- or coproducts of main metals such as copper will allow these to actually be extracted from mineral deposits being mined now and into the future rather than be lost to waste. Both of these are vital steps in terms of ensuring that future increases in metal and mineral demand can be met. The impact of these changes on metal and mineral demand and pricing also needs to be examined to ensure the economics of these changes relating to the energy transition are fully understood. All of this means that the mineral industry must act and plan for this transition accordingly in coordination with governments and other organizations. This is especially true given the long lead-in times related to the vast majority of mineral exploration and mining projects compared to the potentially rapid increase in demand for certain battery and energy metals and minerals. This is somewhat analogous to the technology sector, where software (analogous to battery and energy technology) can advance rapidly, creating significant demand that puts pressure on associated hardware (in this case, the development of new mines or changes in mineral processing) that advances more slowly. Failing to ensure mineral and metal supply meets increasing (and potentially rapidly varying) demand may lead to situations where demand far exceeds supply, causing preventable issues related to supply chain continuity and further delaying climate change mitigation, with potential global consequences.


Ninety-eight acute non-B hepatitis cases recently observed in Japan and household contacts with these cases were subjected to serologic examinations for hepatitis A; 400 serum specimens obtained in 1971 from healthy individuals living in areas near Tokyo and 16 preparations of human immunoglobulin produced in Japan in 1975 and 1976 were examined for antibody to hepatitis A antigen. Hepatitis A virus infection was confirmed in all 25 patients and in 8 of 26 household contacts found in association with non-B hepatitis outbreaks, and also in 11 of 60 sporadic non-B hepatitis patients, but in none of 13 non-B hepatitis patients found in association with blood transfusion. There was no difference between males and females in the prevalence of antibody to hepatitis A antigen among healthy individuals, however, there was a strong relationship to age. Rates of antibody positives were only 2.5% in the groups younger than 20 years of age. An ample amount of antibody to hepatitis A antigen was detected in the preparations of human immunoglobulin. Hepatitis A virus was thus found to be endemic in Japan, but considered not popular during at least these 20 years. Infection with non-A non-B hepatitis virus(es) seems to be common in Japan especially in such cases as sporadic non-B hepatitis or post-transfusion non-B hepatitis.


The precise contribution of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) variants in human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients to the pathogenesis of ALS remained unclear. In the present study, Woehlbier et al (2016) demonstrated that these PDI variants are capable of altering motor neuron morphology, impairing the expression of synaptic proteins, and compromising neuromuscular junction (NMJ) integrity.


Background: The patients who have done CABG are prone to pulmonary complications. Various physiotherapy management is present for prevention of lung complication. Literature shows lots of technique as treatment of choice, incentive spirometry is one of them. AIM: To asses immediate effect of incentive spirometry on arterial blood gas analysis in patient recently underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. Method: There was 30 patients. Blood was drawn from arterial line for pre-treatment ABG. Incentive spirometry was given 10 reps and 3 sets. Patient was prop up 30-40 degree. Romsons tri colour volume spirometry is used. Mouthpiece was placed in patient's mouth and made a good seal over the mouthpiece with lips. Exhaled through nose normally then breathe in slowly through mouth. Ball in the incentive spirometer will go up. The patient to hold or rise the ball as high as possible and hold it for 3 or 5 seconds the slowly exhale. This was done for 10 to 15 times. Blood was drawn from arterial line for post treatment ABG. Result: There was statistically extremely significant change in value of PaO2 (112.54 ±39.46 vs133.01 ±42.13) p value <0.0001, PaCO2 (38.75 ±4.2 vs 36.9 ±3.7) p value 0.0003 and SaO2 (96.8 ±1.84 vs 98.93 ±1.11) p value <0.0001 Conclusion: This study shows that there is immediate effect of Incentive Spirometry on ABG analysis in CABG surgery patient by significant improvement of PaO2 and SaO2 and decrease in PaCO2.
Keywords: Incentive spirometry; Arterial blood gas analysis; Coronary artery bypass graft surgery.


The author examines contemporary Latino racialization by focusing on whites' attitudes toward Latinos. Drawing on 40 in-depth interviews with whites from Orange County, California, the findings show that this group of white Americans believes that Latino culture is deficient and inferior. Moreover, the respondents explicitly ascribe these problems to the group as a whole, regardless of national origin, citizenship status, or generation. The interviews reveal how whites construct Latinos as a racial group by explaining that Latinos pass down their "deficient" culture to the subsequent generation and thus are unable to change, adapt, and progress. In essence, whites perceive Latino cultural traits as fixed. By doing so, whites use cultural racism to function as biological racism. This reveals a racial ideology toward Latinos the author terms perpetual inferiority, which accounts for how whites construct Latinos as a nonwhite racial group that is unable to assimilate. This study demonstrates specifically how external ascription affects the racial formation process of Latinos and their position within the racial hierarchy.


Background: Despite the increasing rates of patients diagnosed with major depression in Jordan, there is little knowledge available about the factors associated with quality of life (QOL) among this population in particular. This knowledge is needed to implement relevant supporting programs to improve their quality of life. Purpose: This study aims to assess the level of quality of life among Jordanian patients with major depressive disorder, and to examine the possible relationship between quality of life and other factors (demographic variables, stigma of mental illness, and severity of depressive symptoms) in this population. Methodology of the Study: A descriptive correlational design was used. A convenience sample of 161 Jordanian outpatients suffering from Major Depression Disorder (MDD) completed the study. Participants completed the demographic questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Percieved Devaluation-Discrimination Scale, and Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form (SF-36). Results: Participants reported poor QOL in all domains. Age, income, stigma toward mental illness, and severity of depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with QOL among the study sample. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the severity of depressive symptoms is the strongest correlate of QOL, which accounted for 24% additional variance above and beyond the 18% variance accounted for by all other variables. Conclusion: This is the first study to assess QOL in an Arab population with major depression. Replication of the current study in other Arab samples is emphasized. Psychotherapy and other interventions are still needed even after the acute symptoms of the clinical depression are remitted.


Background: The antioxidant properties of epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG), a green tea compound, have been already studied in various diseases. Improving the bioavailability of EGCG by nanoformulation may contribute to a more effective treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) metabolic consequences and vascular complications. The aim of this study was to test the comparative effect of liposomal EGCG with EGCG solution in experimental DM induced by streptozotocin (STZ) in rats. Method: 28 Wistar-Bratislava rats were randomly divided into four groups (7 animals/group): group 1—control group, with intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of 1 mL saline solution (C); group 2—STZ administration by i.p. route (60 mg/100 g body weight, bw) (STZ); group 3—STZ administration as before + i.p. administration of EGCG solution (EGCG), 2.5 mg/100 g b.w. as pretreatment; group 4—STZ administration as before + i.p. administration of liposomal EGCG, 2.5 mg/100 g b.w. (L-EGCG). The comparative effects of EGCG and L-EGCG were studied on: (i) oxidative stress parameters such as malondialdehyde (MDA), indirect nitric oxide (NOx) synthesis, and total oxidative status (TOS); (ii) antioxidant status assessed by total antioxidant capacity of plasma (TAC), thiols, and catalase; (iii) matrix-metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and -9 (MMP-9). Results: L-EGCG has a better efficiency regarding the improvement of oxidative stress parameters (highly statistically significant with p-values < 0.001 for MDA, NOx, and TOS) and for antioxidant capacity of plasma (highly significant p < 0.001 for thiols and significant for catalase and TAC with p < 0.05). MMP-2 and -9 were also significantly reduced in the L-EGCG-treated group compared with the EGCG group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: the liposomal nanoformulation of EGCG may serve as an adjuvant therapy in DM due to its unique modulatory effect on oxidative stress/antioxidant biomarkers and MMP-2 and -9.


Toeplitz matrix–vector product (TMVP) decomposition is an important approach for designing and implementing subquadratic multiplier. In this Letter, a symmetric matrix (SM), which is the sum of a symmetric TM and Hankel matrix, is proposed. Applying the symmetry property, 2-way, 3-way and n-way splitting methods of SMVP is presented. On the basis of 2-way splitting method, the recursive formula of SMVP is presented. Using the two cases n = 4 and 8, the SMVP decomposition approach has less space complexity than 2-way TMVP, TMVP block recombination and symmetric TMVP for even-type Gaussian normal basis multiplication.


This research was conducted to determine the anthelmintics effect of bitter melon fruit ethanol extract against M.digitatus worm in vitro. In this research, using 240 samples of M.digitatus with length 3-4,5cm without differenting their sex. The concentration of bitter melon fruit ethanol extract for immersing the M.digitatus were 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% concentration. Posistive control was used levamisole hydrochoride solution (10 mg/ml) and NaCl solution as the negative control. Each petri dish was given 25 ml of solution, contained 10 adult worms, and were incubated at 37oC. Observation death M.digitatus worm and analysis of the data at the 2 hour, 4 hour, 6 hour, 8 hour, 10 hour, and 12 hour. The procedure then being replicated four times. The data are obtained from the number of dead worms for each treatment. Those data then being analyzed using ANOVA test, followed by Duncan test, by SPSS 20 for Windows program with a significance level of p<0,05. The result of this research showed the most effective concentration of Momordica charantia ethanol extract was P5 (Momordica charantia ethanol extract 8%) within the time of experiment and showed the interaction between concentration Momordica charantia ethanol extract and soaking time Mecistocirrus digitatus.


Human mesangial cells have been used to study the regulation of thrombin receptor protein and mRNA expression during cross-talk between different signal transduction pathways. Persistent activation of thrombin receptor by thrombin led to homologous down-regulation of thrombin receptor protein. However, thrombin receptor mRNA expression was not affected, suggesting that increased receptor degradation is responsible for homologous down-regulation. Chronic activation of protein kinase C by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and of adenylylcyclase by prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) resulted in heterologous down-regulation of thrombin receptor protein. In contrast to thrombin, PMA and PGE1 reduced in parallel thrombin receptor mRNA levels to 51% and 24% of control, respectively, indicating that heterologous down-regulation of thrombin receptor protein is, at least in part, due to inhibition of receptor mRNA expression. The mechanisms of heterologous down-regulation of thrombin receptor protein have been studied in detail and compared to homologous down-regulation. PMA-induced down-regulation was completely blocked by GF 109 203 X, an inhibitor of protein kinase C. However, the loss of thrombin receptor induced by thrombin was not prevented by GF 109 203 X, indicating that homologous regulation is not dependent on protein kinase C activation. The heterologous effect of PGE1 was mimicked by 8-bromo-cAMP, isobutylmethylxanthine, and forskolin, suggesting that an increase in intracellular cAMP level is involved in heterologous regulation. Interestingly, heterologous down-regulation induced by PGE1 seems not to require previous internalization of thrombin receptor. These data indicate that thrombin receptor protein and mRNA expression can be regulated in homologous and heterologous ways by different mechanisms.


The structure of the title compound has been determined by X-ray crystallography. Each copper atom is chelated by two N-salicylidene-aniline anion ligands with Cu-O and Cu-N distances of 0.187 6(3) and 0.200 1(4)nm, respectively. The central copper(Ⅱ) is four-coordinated and in distorted square-planar environment. The phenyl rings with salicylidene moieties form a dihedral angle of 65.40°. There are C-H…π supramolecular interactions in the crystal structure. The title compound is also examined by elemental analysis, FT-IR, UV spectra and TG-DSC analysis.


Alternative investments, such as hedge funds, venture capital, and private equity, can improve portfolio performance, especially for long-term institutional and high net worth individual investors. Difficulties arise when rebalancing a portfolio that includes alternative investments due to the nature of the commitments. Transaction costs can be sizable and money flows are restricted by illiquid markets, covenants, and related restrictions. Following a review of the pros and cons of including alternative investments in a traditional portfolio, the authors show the intrinsic advantages of a multi-period asset allocation strategy and present an optimizing approach for addressing transaction costs.


According to IMPERVA report, application layer DoS attacks have involved about 60 percent of total DoS attacks. Today, attacks have been transferred to the business layer. Web application vulnerability scanners cannot detect business logic vulnerabilities (vulnerabilities related to logic). This paper presents BLDAST, A dynamic and black-box vulnerability analysis approach that identify business logic vulnerabilities of a web application against flooding DoS attacks. BLDAST assesses web application resiliency against flooding DoS attacks in the business layer. BLDAST first extracts business logic processes of a web application. Business logic processes with high overload are selected and finally, based on selected processes, BLDAST runs business layer DoS test scenarios. The evaluation conducted on four well-known open source web applications shows that BLDAST is able to detect business logic vulnerabilities. In addition, we show that an attacker in business logic attacks can exhaust target by consuming only one percent of his resources in comparison to other layers attacks. Therefore, business logic attacks are very dangerous and BLDAST is able to identify vulnerable web applications against these attacks.


Kin selection and group selection remain controversial topics in evolutionary biology. We argue that these types of selection are likely to operate in bacterial populations by showing that bacterial gene transfer agents (GTAs), but not related viruses, evolve under conditions of positive selection for the reduction of the energy cost of GTA particle production. We hypothesize that GTAs are dedicated devices mediating the survival of bacteria under conditions of nutrient limitation. The benefits conferred by GTAs under nutritional stress conditions appear to include horizontal dissemination of genes that could provide bacteria with enhanced capabilities for nutrient utilization and increases of nutrient availability occurring through the lysis of GTA-producing bacteria. ABSTRACT Gene transfer agents (GTAs) are virus-like elements integrated into bacterial genomes, particularly, those of Alphaproteobacteria. The GTAs can be induced under conditions of nutritional stress, incorporate random fragments of bacterial DNA into miniphage particles, lyse the host cells, and infect neighboring bacteria, thus enhancing horizontal gene transfer. We show that GTA genes evolve under conditions of pronounced positive selection for the reduction of the energy cost of protein production as shown by comparison of the amino acid compositions with those of both homologous viral genes and host genes. The energy saving in GTA genes is comparable to or even more pronounced than that in the genes encoding the most abundant, essential bacterial proteins. In cases in which viruses acquire genes from GTAs, the bias in amino acid composition disappears in the course of evolution, showing that reduction of the energy cost of protein production is an important factor of evolution of GTAs but not bacterial viruses. These findings strongly suggest that GTAs represent bacterial adaptations rather than selfish, virus-like elements. Because GTA production kills the host cell and does not propagate the GTA genome, it appears likely that the GTAs are retained in the course of evolution via kin or group selection. Therefore, we hypothesize that GTAs facilitate the survival of bacterial populations under energy-limiting conditions through the spread of metabolic and transport capabilities via horizontal gene transfer and increases in nutrient availability resulting from the altruistic suicide of GTA-producing cells. IMPORTANCE Kin selection and group selection remain controversial topics in evolutionary biology. We argue that these types of selection are likely to operate in bacterial populations by showing that bacterial gene transfer agents (GTAs), but not related viruses, evolve under conditions of positive selection for the reduction of the energy cost of GTA particle production. We hypothesize that GTAs are dedicated devices mediating the survival of bacteria under conditions of nutrient limitation. The benefits conferred by GTAs under nutritional stress conditions appear to include horizontal dissemination of genes that could provide bacteria with enhanced capabilities for nutrient utilization and increases of nutrient availability occurring through the lysis of GTA-producing bacteria.


Sleep is very important in sustaining life. Insomnia or sleeplessness, is a disorder characterized by an inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep for a desired duration. Insomnia is generally seen as a symptom that can accompany alcohol or psychoactive substance withdrawal syndrome. Insomnia is a common symptom in opioid withdrawal syndrome. Nidranasha is the Ayurvedic term used for disturbed or reduced sleep. A male patient aged 26 years suffering from opioid withdrawal syndrome presenting with difficulty in initiation of sleep, disturbed sleep, generalized weakness, watering from eyes, anger outbursts and body pain who has abstained from opioid use since10 days was admitted in the hospital for whom internal medications and external therapies along with Shiro abhyanga (oil massage on head) and shaashtika shaali pinda shiromardana (procedure in which a continuous pressure on head is given using a poultice made of cooked rice) were administered. Shiromardana is a unique therapeutic procedure which is based on the principles of murdhni taila (oil application on head) and shaashtika shaali pinda sweda (SSPS-fomentation using cooked rice poultice). This case study aims to observe the added effect of Shiro abhyanga followed by shaashtika shaali pinda shiromardana in insomnia caused due to opioid withdrawal syndrome. So, both are used in combination here to treat insomnia caused due to opioid withdrawals which in turn is a vataja type of disorder. The pre and post, therapeutic assessment of severity of insomnia of the patient was conducted using the Insomnia severity index scale on day 1 and day 13 respectively and the results showed that the severity of insomnia reduced from moderately severe form to subthreshold form. So shaashtika shaali pinda shiromardana may be applied as an add on therapy to cases of Opioid withdrawal insomnia, in which routine line of management does not bring out considerable results.


This article examines the cultural-based critiques of the international human rights paradigm generally and children's rights in particular, with specific reference to Africa. In this regard, the paper attempts to identify gaps in the analyses of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Towards that end, the paper proceeds in three parts. In the first section, it situates the discussion within the general framework of children's rights at international law. In the next section, it turns to an examination of the culture-based critiques of the idea of universal rights. Finally, in the fourth and fifth sections, it analyses the documents and literature that focus on the rights and welfare of the child. In the concluding section, the author raises several important questions regarding the propriety of this special category of human rights in the African context.


We present a fully distributed solution for managing resource allocation for services running across multiple clusters in a large-scale cloud computing environment. Our solution allows individual services running across clusters to compete dynamically for allocations based on their rate of consumption while maintaining the global cloud level allocation limits. The solution monitors resource consumption by services that are spread over a number of clusters. Global polls are triggered only when the allocated balance in a cluster decreases below a threshold and allocations are reassigned in a manner that avoids further immediate global polls. Our solution achieves scalability by minimizing global message exchanges, increases performance by distributing requests, and improves availability by avoiding a single point of failure. We perform a range of simulations to verify the accuracy of our approach, to validate our theoretical results, and to evaluate against competing approaches.


Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic bacterium known to cause severe infections in humans and animals. It is one of the major bacteria causing subclinical and clinical mastitis, leading to significant economic losses in livestock industry. In this study, we have isolated and characterized 80 S. aureus clinical isolates from mastitis-infected animals. The analysis of antimicrobial susceptibility, molecular typing, biofilm production and genetic determinants was performed to understand molecular and phenotypic features of the prevalent pathogen. Our antibiotic susceptibility assays showed the majority (57.5%) of isolates to be multidrug-resistant (MDR), 38.75% resistant and 3.75% sensitive. We found 25% isolates to be methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) based on oxacillin susceptibility assays. In the MRSA group, maximum isolates (95%) were MDR compared to 45% in MSSA. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed 15 different STs; ST-97 was the most common ST, followed by ST-2459, ST-1, ST-9 and ST-72. The agr typing showed agr-I as the most common type, followed by type II and III. Most isolates developed biofilms, which ranged in intensity from strong to weak. The presence or absence of lukS, a virulence-related gene, was found to have a substantial relationship with the biofilm phenotype. However, no significant association was found between biofilm formation and antimicrobial resistance or other virulence genes. We also found four MRSA isolates that were mecA negative based on molecular assays. Our findings reveal the prevalence of multidrug-resistant S. aureus clinical isolates in India that are biofilm positive and have critical genetic factors for disease pathogenesis causing bovine mastitis. This study emphasizes the need for the comprehensive surveillance of S. aureus and other mastitis-causing pathogens to control the disease effectively.


TaSiN films deposited as layered TaN–SiN structures of various compositions have been examined for their oxidation resistant properties during annealing in oxygen at annealing conditions commonly used to prepare perovskite dielectrics. The films have been characterized by Rutherford backscattering analysis (RBS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and electrical resistivity measurements. Films with less than 15 at.% Si showed some resistance to oxidation after annealing for 1 min at 650 °C but became fully oxidized after longer anneals. Increasing the Si content up to 28 at.% increasingly improved the oxidation resistance of the alloys to the point where the films resisted complete oxidation for up to 5 min at 700 °C. For alloys with greater than 28 at.% Si, no oxidation could be detected by RBS or electrical measurements for anneals up to 5 min at 700 °C. Furthermore, these high Si content alloys were still conductive with resistivities of near 1000 μΩ cm. It was also found that TaSiN and lead lanthanum titanate (PLT) interact strongly during annealing, and another nonoxidizing barrier metal, such as Pt, is required between the two materials if TaSiN is to be used as an electrode/barrier with lead-based perovskites.


Abstract The newly anointed American cities of the late capitalist moment appear preoccupied with the reconstitution of urban space. More accurately, select parcels of urban America have been reconfigured into multifaceted sport, leisure and tourism environments designed for the purpose of encouraging consumption‐oriented capital accumulation. Within this paper, the focus is a critical exploration of the ways in which tangible and intangible forms of heritage have been employed, utilized and exploited within these urban transformations. Through focus on a city emblematic of the processes that have molded downtown cores under US capitalism – Memphis – the paper points to the role of heritage in the reconfiguration of the Memphian 'tourist bubble'. In particular, discussion centers on the often problematic selection of histories and historical elements, forms and practices within the interests of capital space and thus raises a host of localized questions about whose collective memory is being performed in the present, whose aesthetics really count and who benefits. Conclusions address how such urban space is imbued with power relations, that is, how increasingly leisure‐oriented spaces can be seen as important sites of social struggle in which dominant power relations can be constructed, contested and reproduced.


We consider dc-electronic transport through a nanowire suspended between normal- and spin-polarized metal leads in the presence of an external magnetic field. We show that magnetomotive coupling between the electrical current through the nanowire and vibrations of the wire may result in self-excitation of mechanical vibrations. The self-excitation mechanism is based on correlations between the occupancy of the quantized electronic energy levels inside the nanowire and the velocity of the nanowire. We derive conditions for the occurrence of the instability and find stable regimes of mechanical oscillations.


BACKGROUND
Findings regarding the association of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A₂ (Lp-PLA2) activity and mass with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been inconsistent, and their role in risk prediction is uncertain.

METHODS
A case-cohort sample from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study (WHI-OS) comprised 1821 CVD cases and a reference subcohort of 1992 women. We used Cox regression models with inverse sampling weights to assess the association of Lp-PLA2 mass and activity with CVD (myocardial infarction, stroke, and CVD mortality).

RESULTS
Subcohort means were 184.3 mmol/min/mL for Lp-PLA2 activity and 499.2 μg/L for Lp-PLA2 mass, with 99% having mass above 200 μg/L, the clinically recommended cut point. Both activity and mass were positively associated with incident CVD in age- and race/ethnicity-adjusted analyses. Following adjustment according to CVD risk factors, the association with activity became null (hazard ratio = 1.02 for top vs bottom quartile, 95% CI = 0.79-1.33, P for trend = 0.65), but the association with mass remained (hazard ratio = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.45-2.34, P for trend < 0.0001). In contrast to blood pressure, HDL, and hsCRP, reclassification statistics for Lp-PLA2 mass did not suggest improvement for overall CVD after full adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS
In the WHI-OS Lp-PLA2 mass, but not activity, was independently associated with CVD. However, model fit did not significantly improve with Lp-PLA2 mass, and assay calibration remains a clinical concern.


Present study aimed to examine the effect of different concentrations of mint, Mentha longifolia (2.00 %, 1.50 %, 1.00 %, and 0.50 %) on Tribolium confusum in wheat under laboratory conditions. All the concentrations of mint exhibited the potential to cause mortality of T. confusum and their effectiveness against T. confusum increased with time. Although, no significant difference was recorded among various mint materials to elicit mortality of T. confusum after 24 hours of application. However, a rise in mortality was recorded after 48 hours of application with the highest mortality of T. confusum also recorded in 2.00% concentration followed by 1.5 %, 1 %, and 0.5 % concentrations. The mortality of beetles showed further rise afterward and at the end of the week of the mortality experiment, 2.00% mint concentration cause maximum mortality. No mortality of beetles was recorded in the control. Population fluctuation results showed a significant difference in population growth at monthly intervals as a steady growth was observed in the 2%, 1.5% 1%, and 0.5% concentration, but, rapid growth was recorded in the control. At the end of the third month, the highest population of T. confusum was recorded in control (88.00±3.79 beetles), whereas, the beetle population observed in 0.50%, 1.00%, 1.50%, and 2% concentrations were (71.33±1.45 beetles), (63.00±3.46 beetles), (53.67±2.91 beetles) and (30.00±3.61beetles) respectively. The overall weight and grain loss were significantly higher in control, whereas, 2% of mint concentration suffered the lowest loss. Therefore, 2% of mint concentration is recommended to be used to manage the population of T. confusum in wheat.


When cells or whole organisms are exposed to temperatures slightly above their optimum for growth, they respond by synthesizing a small group of proteins, called the heat shock proteins (hsps), which help protect them from the toxic effects of heat. The same set of proteins can also be induced by a wide variety of other stresses including exposure to ethanol, heavy metal ions, and inhibitors of respiratory metabolism. Their induction is apparently a very general reaction to adverse conditions. (See Schlessinger, Ashburner & Tissieres, 1982, for review.) This response is the most highly conserved genetic regulatory system known. The proteins produced by fruit flies are homologous to those produced by enterobacteria, corn plants, slime moulds, yeasts, sea urchins, and humans (Bardwell & Craig, 1984; Key, Lin & Chen, 1981; Loomis & Wheeler, 1980; McAlister, Strausberg, Kulaga & Finkelstein, 1979; Giudice, Roccheri & Debernardo, 1980; Thomas, Welch, Matthews & Feramisco, 1982).


Introduction New direct acting antiviral agents are revolutionising hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment. However, to date published phase 3 clinical trial data in genotype 4 (GT4) HCV patients is limited. GT4 HCV is more common in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In the UK, the mainstay of treatment has been pegylated interferon and ribavirin but limited data exists on outcomes in patients treated in Europe. We report the first "real-life' sustained virological response (SVR) outcomes using pegylated interferon and ribavirin for HCV GT4 in the UK, and the largest European single centre cohort. Method HCV GT4 patients treated at a London, UK centre between 2002 and 2014 were assessed for SVR outcomes. Patient age, sex, region of origin, co-infection with HIV, pre-treatment liver biopsy histological assessment, genotype subtyping, treatment duration and dose reductions were compared against SVR outcomes on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was performed on results with P < 0.1. Results During the study period 219 patients were diagnosed with HCV GT4. Of these 118 (54%) were treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin and 57 achieved SVR (48%). The median age at the start of treatment was 48 years (range 6 to 66 years) and 72% were male. Six patients were intolerant, 25 were non responders, 3 developed breakthrough, 18 were relapsers, 3 are currently undergoing treatment and 6 lost to follow-up. Five out of 6 patients with acute HCV and HIV co-infection achieved SVR. Three HCV monoinfected patients were treated while on renal dialysis, with 2 achieving SVR. On univariate analysis age ≥ 45 (P < 0.0001), high viral load (P < 0.0001), Ishak staging 5–6 (P < 0.0001) and non-Egyptian Africans (P = 0.0059) were all negatively associated with SVR. Eastern Europeans appeared to have higher rates of SVR (P < 0.0001). Using multivariate correlation viral load (P = 0.0005); Ishak staging (P = 0.0031) and age (P = 0.0003) were associated with SVR but not country of origin (P = 0.0645). Conclusion Outcomes with pegylated interferon and ribavirin for HCV GT4 in this "real-life" setting were sub-optimal especially in the context of newer regimens. Patients with older age, high viral loads and advanced disease need prioritisation for alternative treatments. Disclosure of interest N. Selvapatt Conflict with: Gilead, BMS, M. Habibi: None Declared, A. Brown Speaker Bureau of: Abbvie, BMS, Gilead, Janssen, Merck.


Learning-to-rank (LTR) has become a key technology in E-commerce applications. Previous LTR approaches followed the supervised learning paradigm so that learned models should match the labeled data point-wisely or pair-wisely. However, we have noticed that global context information, including the total order of items in the displayed webpage, can play an important role in interactions with the customers. Therefore, to approach the best global ordering, the exploration in a large combinatorial space of items is necessary, which requires evaluating orders that may not appear in the labeled data. In this scenario, we first show that the classical data-based metrics can be inconsistent with online performance, or even misleading. We then propose to learn an evaluator and search the best model guided by the evaluator, which forms the evaluator-generator framework for training the group-wise LTR model. The evaluator is learned from the labeled data, and is enhanced by incorporating the order context information. The generator is trained with the supervision of the evaluator by reinforcement learning to generate the best order in the combinatorial space. Our experiments in one of the world's largest retail platforms disclose that the learned evaluator is a much better indicator than classical data-based metrics. Moreover, our LTR model achieves a significant improvement (>2%) from the current industrial-level pair-wise models in terms of both Conversion Rate (CR) and Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) in online A/B tests.


We present the B'ezier extraction operator and isogeometric Bézier elements for non‐uniform rational B‐Spline (NURBS)‐based isogeometric analysis. The Bézier extraction operator allows numerical integration of smooth functions to be performed on C0 Bézier elements. We show how the Bézier extraction operator is computed for NURBS. We then show that the extraction operator and Bézier elements provide an element structure for isogeometric analysis that can be easily incorporated into existing finite element codes, without any changes to element form and assembly algorithms, and standard data processing arrays. All significant changes may be implemented in a shape function subroutine. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


As a significant segment of the Information Industries, classified advertising can be a prime example of how conventional businesses, rather than being simply transplanted to the New (digital) Media, may indeed be transformed for future growth. To be successful, such transformations must be able to take full advantage of the defining features of the emerging information infrastructure for innovative creation of economic value. Focused Broadcasting, a class of service for matching classified and want ads using the World Wide Web, is an approach that balances the push-pull dynamics of information over the Internet. Applying the concept of product introduction with complementary network externalities, a dynamic model is formulated to simulate the potential growth of such business in cyberspace. Robustness of the model is demonstrated.


Little is understood of the molecular mechanisms by which fibrotic diseases such as in Scleroderma, are manifested by interleukins (IL) 4 and 13. Studies support a role for the JNK signaling pathway via transcription factors c-Jun and ATF2, being involved in activating the collagen promoter and translation of the collagen gene. To examine the role of JNK signaling in IL-4/IL-13-induced collagen gene activation, we transfected human fibroblasts with a luciferase reporter plasmid under control of the α2(I) collagen promoter to assess JNK signaling on type I collagen promoter activity. We reveal a critical role for JNK 1 in IL-4/IL-13-induced collagen promoter activity subsequent to ectopic expression of c-Jun and ATF2. In contrast, introduction of a dominant negative (dn) mutant reduces basal and cytokine-induced promoter activity. We demonstrate that the JNK signaling pathway leading to the activation of the collagen gene in fibroblasts is effective not only for TGF-β signaling but also for IL-4/IL-13 signaling.


Through the growth of the fifth-generation networks and artificial intelligence technologies, new threats and challenges have appeared to wireless communication system, especially in cybersecurity. And IoT networks are gradually attractive stages for introduction of DDoS attacks due to integral frailer security and resource-constrained nature of IoT devices. This paper emphases on detecting DDoS attack in wireless networks by categorizing inward network packets on the transport layer as either "abnormal" or "normal" using the integration of machine learning algorithms knowledge-based system. In this paper, deep learning algorithms and CNN were autonomously trained for mitigating DDoS attacks. This paper lays importance on misuse based DDOS attacks which comprise TCP SYN-Flood and ICMP flood. The researcher uses CICIDS2017 and NSL-KDD dataset in training and testing the algorithms (model) while the experimentation phase. accuracy score is used to measure the classification performance of the four algorithms. the results display that the 99.93 performance is recorded.


Using primary and archival documentation this article argues Governor Macquarie developed a range of complex and sophisticated management policies, practices and strategies which were designed to motivate convict workers and to positively extract productive labour from them. Indeed the range of policies adopted by Macquarie was surprisingly modern and nowhere is this more apparent than in his development of clear job statements and work regulations for a number of key jobs in the convict system. In practice these operated in a similar manner to the modern job description. This article examines the regulations developed for the management of a produce market, a turnpike road, the Sydney police, the superintendent of government stock and the government dock yards. It is argued that these regulations and work rules must be seen as the earliest forms of job description in the history of Australian labour management.


A parameter estimation problem is considered, in which dispersed sensors transmit to the statistician partial information regarding their observations. The sensors observe the paths of continuous semimartingales, whose drifts are linear with respect to a common parameter. A novel estimating scheme is suggested, according to which each sensor transmits only one-bit messages at stopping times of its local filtration. The proposed estimator is shown to be consistent and, for a large class of processes, asymptotically optimal, in the sense that its asymptotic distribution is the same as the exact distribution of the optimal estimator that has full access to the sensor observations. These properties are established under an asymptotically low rate of communication between the sensors and the statistician. Thus, despite being asymptotically efficient, the proposed estimator requires minimal transmission activity, which is a desirable property in many applications. Finally, the case of discrete sampling at the sensors is studied when their underlying processes are independent Brownian motions.


ABSTRACT Context. Destruction of rabbit warrens to prevent re-invasion is an important component of integrated rabbit management. Ripping, and less commonly blasting with explosives, are used to destroy warren systems and to kill any rabbits remaining in warrens, usually after the population has already been reduced. However, the use of these methods can sometimes be constrained by vegetation, topography, presence of culturally significant sites or important habitats, or they may be inefficient or expensive due to the low density of warrens. Gas explosive devices provide an alternative method in these situations; however, little is known about their animal welfare impacts. The R3 Unit is a gas explosive device used in Australia. It pumps a calibrated mixture of propane and oxygen into a warren and then ignites the mixture, causing a blast wave to travel through the warren. Aims. To determine the animal welfare impacts of the R3 Unit gas explosive device and to assess its effectiveness at achieving a rapid death in wild rabbits. Methods. Trials of the R3 Unit were initially conducted in artificial warrens to determine the relationship between blast pressure, warren size and structure. We then assessed the extent of injury and probability of death of rabbits in both artificial and natural warrens. Key results. As blast pressure increases within a warren, probability of death also increases. Blast pressures exceeding 56 psi will render rabbits unconscious, but a blast pressure of at least 67 psi is required to kill rabbits quickly and humanely. Sublethal blasts at lower pressures result in significant injuries that lead to severe suffering. Conclusions. The R3 Unit can humanely kill rabbits when the blast pressure is sufficient to cause immediate unconsciousness and death (without regaining consciousness). To achieve adequate blast pressure, warrens must be small, with a diameter no more than 4 m, and all entrances must be sealed. Implications. The R3 Unit can provide an effective alternative to warren ripping and blasting in certain situations. However, to ensure the device is used correctly to minimise animal welfare impacts, operators must be trained in its use and follow best practice procedures.


In order to reproduce human behaviour in dynamic traffic situations, a computational representation of the requisite mental processes used to carry out the complex driving tasks is required. A single cognitive factor has been developed and forms a crucial component in our driver model. This cognitive factor is composed of cognitive sub-factors: distraction, anticipation, stress, and strain. It has been defined such that these sub-factors have a multiplicatory relationship with one another. In addition, each of these sub-factors comprises the visual, auditory, tactile-kinetic, and verbal information channel individually. This results in a lattice-like network of relationships, which can be expanded modularly in horizontal and vertical directions. The conceptual topology and the characteristics of this multiplicatory, operation-based cognitive factor are presented.


In the context of integrated water resource management, water problems should be managed in a basin-wide context and considered in relation to land-based issues, among which land use change has been proven to have significant impacts on water resource. In this study, land use change and its long-term impacts on surface runoff and nonpoint source pollution are investigated for the Liuxi River watershed, which is the only one drinking-water-supply river basin located inside the administrative area of Guangzhou. The land use change analysis was conducted based on land use classification results generated from Landsat TM images. For the period 1990-2005, the Liuxi River watershed experienced a high-speed urbanization and appeared a decreasing trend in forest and agricultural land areas. The Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment and Non Point Source Pollutant Model (L-THIA NPS), a GIS-based empirical model, was applied to assess the long-term impacts of land use change on surface runoff and nonpoint source pollution in terms of biological oxygen demand (BOD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS). The total runoff volume of the watershed was increased contributed by the increase of built-up areas. The loading of BOD has increased significantly as the concentration in runoff from urbanized areas is much higher than that from nonurban areas. Although urban runoff had relatively low contents of nutrients and suspended matters compared with nonurban runoff, the large increases in runoff volume from urban areas produced significant amounts of nutrients and suspended matters and so compensated the decrease of agricultural land, resulting in the overall increments of TN, TP and TSS. The spatial variation of land use change and consequent spatially varied impacts were also analyzed at sub-watershed scale. The results revealed that urbanization was intensified along the river, and the areas of agriculture land increased in the upstream and midstream parts of the watershed but decreased in the downstream part. Surface runoff depth was increased in almost all sub-watersheds, and the increases in urban areas provided main contribution. The increase in BOD load per unit area was obvious, and its spatial variation trend was in accordance with the spatial pattern of urban sprawl, presenting an increasing trend along the river and high risk of organic pollution at the river downstream. For the emissions of agriculture-dominated pollutants like TN, the increase of agricultural land undoubtedly has dominant effect, whereas the impacts of increased urban land may or may not exceed the decrease of agricultural land depending on their change extents.


Remote sensing image fusion (RSIF) can generate an integrated image with high spatial and spectral resolution. The fused remote sensing image is conducive to applications including disaster monitoring, ecological environment investigation, and dynamic monitoring. However, most existing deep learning based RSIF methods require ground truths (or reference images) to train a model, and the acquisition of ground truths is a difficult problem. To address this, we propose a semisupervised RSIF method based on the multiscale conditional generative adversarial networks by combining the multiskip connection and pseudo-Siamese structure. This new method can simultaneously extract the features of panchromatic and multispectral images to fuse them without a ground truth; the adopted multiskip connection contributes to presenting image details. In addition, we propose a composite loss function, which combines the least squares loss, L1 loss, and peak signal-to-noise ratio loss to train the model; the composite loss function can help to retain the spatial details and spectral information of the source images. Moreover, we verify the proposed method by extensive experiments, and the results show that the new method can achieve outstanding performance without relying on the ground truth.


Thermal–mechanical fatigue (TMF) testing is a good method to decrease the number of isothermal tests for non-isothermal behaviour laws identification. Based on experimental results of the TMF Standard European Working Group, this study aims to investigate the impact of thermal gradients on mechanical heterogeneity within the gage length specimen. The quality of the TMF test is examined by an energy criterion related to error bounds for nonlinear behaviour. A sensitivity analysis is then made for a given behaviour law identified on a TMF test to answer to the above question. Moreover the geometric instability phenomenon, already noticed by Sheffler and Coffin, is modelled herein.


Left ventricular end-systolic elastance (Ees) is a major determinant of cardiac systolic function and ventricular-arterial interaction. Previous methods for the Ees estimation require the use of the echocardiographic ejection fraction (EF). However, given that EF expresses the stroke volume as a fraction of end-diastolic volume (EDV), accurate interpretation of EF is attainable only with the additional measurement of EDV. Hence, there is still need for a simple, reliable, noninvasive method to estimate Ees. This study proposes a novel artificial intelligence—based approach to estimate Ees using the information embedded in clinically relevant systolic time intervals, namely the pre-ejection period (PEP) and ejection time (ET). We developed a training/testing scheme using virtual subjects (n = 4,645) from a previously validated in-silico model. Extreme Gradient Boosting regressor was employed to model Ees using as inputs arm cuff pressure, PEP, and ET. Results showed that Ees can be predicted with high accuracy achieving a normalized RMSE equal to 9.15% (r = 0.92) for a wide range of Ees values from 1.2 to 4.5 mmHg/ml. The proposed model was found to be less sensitive to measurement errors (±10–30% of the actual value) in blood pressure, presenting low test errors for the different levels of noise (RMSE did not exceed 0.32 mmHg/ml). In contrast, a high sensitivity was reported for measurements errors in the systolic timing features. It was demonstrated that Ees can be reliably estimated from the traditional arm-pressure and echocardiographic PEP and ET. This approach constitutes a step towards the development of an easy and clinically applicable method for assessing left ventricular systolic function.


The spectroscopic binarity of the Cepheid variable HV914 in the Large Magellanic Cloud is identified from published radial velocity observational data. The list of known binaries among Cepheid-type variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds is published in tabular form. The census indicates a serious deficiency of Cepheids with known companions compared with their Galactic counterparts; the implications of this are also discussed. A particular amplitude ratio () of individual Magellanic Cepheids is studied in order to select promising candidate spectroscopic binaries worthy of thorough radial velocity studies.


Discoidin domain receptors (DDRs) are unusual receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that are activated by fibrillar collagens instead of soluble growth factors. DDRs play an important role in various cellular functions and disease processes, including malignant progression. Compared to other RTKs, DDRs have relatively long juxtamembrane domains, which are believed to contribute to receptor function. Despite this possibility, the function and mechanism of the juxtamembrane domain of DDRs have not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we found that the cytoplasmic juxtamembrane 2 (JM2) region of DDR2 contributed to receptor dimerization, which is critical for receptor activation in response to collagen stimulation. A collagen‐binding assay showed that JM2 was required for efficient binding of collagen to the discoidin (DS) domain. Immunohistochemical analysis of DDR2 expression using a tissue microarray demonstrated that DDR2 was overexpressed in several carcinoma tissues, including bladder, testis, lung, kidney, prostate and stomach. In H1299 cells, inhibition of DDR2 activity by overexpressing the juxtamembrane domain containing JM2 suppressed collagen‐induced colony formation, cell proliferation and invasion via the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase‐2 and matrix metalloproteinase‐9. Taken together, our results suggest that JM2‐mediated dimerization is likely to be essential for DDR2 activation and cancer progression. Thus, inhibition of DDR2 function using a JM2‐containing peptide might be a useful strategy for the treatment of DDR2‐positive cancers.


2 Abstract: Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated an association between Diabetes and macronutrients. An increase in the incidence of Diabetes prompted this investigation into the relationship between the dietary energy and of macro-nutrien ts intake and diabetes. A cross sectional, nested case-control study was conducted to examine the association of risk for NIDDM with energy and macro-nutrients consumption. One hundred subjects aged 40-82 years, stratified into diabetic cases and controls using fasting and 2 h post prandial Plasma Glucose levels constituted the sample size. The risk for Diabetes was measured using Pearson Correlation (r) and Odds Ratio (OR) with Epi info version 5. A 24-hour dietary recall generated quantitative estimates of their energy and macronutrients consumption. The results showed that percent protein (PP) energy significantly correlated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (r = 0.20, p 15.5% gave an OR = 1.19 (CI = 0.27-4.76) and was a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus. A PP of 15.5% was a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.


The productivity and its performance is one of the core topics of economics studies. The growth of productivity is an indicator of competitiveness, as well as a possible way to achieve economic growth and wellbeing. After joining the EU, the agriculture of the Baltic countries faced increasing competition of the EU Single Market, while having relatively lower productivity indicators. Since 2004, significant structural changes have taken place in the agriculture of the Baltic countries, and it is a topical question whether these changes and overall trends in the agricultural sectors of the Baltic countries have facilitated to increase productivity. Therefore, the objective of the study is to evaluate the productivity growth of the main production factors and the total factor productivity growth in the agriculture of the Baltic countries between 2004 and 2015, in relation to the changes in the use of the production factors. The paper focuses on the value added as output, and land, labour and capital as individual inputs to obtain partial productivity measures. The evaluation of TFP is based on the Index number approach, where TFP growth is a ratio of the Output index to the Input index. The calculations and analyses show that since 2004 both the agricultural output and value added have increased in the agriculture of the Baltic countries, and also productivity performance has improved.


Real Estate holds great significance as it is the basic building block of society; the same society that has adopted technology at such a fast pace that they seem intertwined to the point of no return. But the same cannot be said for real estate because a substantial quantum of work still happens manually, without employing the emerging technologies. Previous research shows that bringing the emerging technologies to this field could revolutionize it, thus increasing the satisfaction for all the stakeholders of real estate, but it also brings to light the fact that some websites that do exist for real estate fail to provide proper information and leave the consumers regretful after purchase. This research project aims to provide a solution for this issue by creating a website that employs machine learning to provide the predicted prices for real estate properties in Bangalore, India. This is implemented by drawing on the previous research that provides a Real Estate Technology Acceptance Model, a part of which is practically realized in this project. Key Words – Machine Learning, RESTAM, Technology Acceptance Model, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Price Prediction, Real Estate Price Prediction.


Cognitive Radio is an all intelligent radio network that is advancement over the conventional radio. The difference between the traditional radio and cognitive radio is that all the unused frequency spectrum is utilized to the best of available resources in the cognitive setusp unlike the traditional radio. The major advantage of the cognitive radio is that it can detect channels that are available from the spectrum and modify the parameters used for transmission so that the several unused frequencies can be used concurrently. The research conducted on the cognitive radio is in its primitive stages. However, the need of the hour is the detailed surveys and descriptions of the cognitive radio sensing mechanisms. The operating behavior of the radio will also be improved using the cognitive radio. This paper details the sensing and interference mechanisms of the cognitive radio and explains how and why the cognitive setup is far excellent compared to the conventional radios. There are numerous technologies used in the cognitive radio setup such as the Adaptive radio and Software Defined Radio (SDR). The applications of the findings of this paper can be extended to cognitive radio design and implementation


The polyanionic collagen-elastin matrices (PCEMs) are osteoconductive scaffolds that present high biocompatibility and efficacy in the regeneration of bone defects. In this study, the objective was to determine if these matrices are directly mineralized during the osteogenesis process and their influence in the organization of the new bone extracellular matrix. Samples of three PCEMs, differing in their charge density, were implanted into critical-sized calvarial bone defects created in rats and evaluated from 3 days up to 1 year after implantation. The implanted PCEMs were directly biomineralized by osteoblasts as shown by ultrastructural, histoenzymologic, and morphologic analysis. The removal of the implants occurred during the bone remodeling process. The organization of the new bone matrix was evaluated by image texture analysis determining the Shannon's entropy and the fractal dimension of digital images. The bone matrix complexity decreased as the osteogenesis progressed approaching the values obtained for the original bone structure. These results show that the PCEMs allow faster formation of new bone by direct biomineralization of its structure and skipping the biomaterial resorption phase.


Debate has been engaged for more than a century over what implications, if any, a Greek First Class Conditional (FCC) has concerning the proposition in its protasis. Some pedagogical grammars claim that the Greek FCC is well translated with the English causative construction introduced with "since." In this paper a twofold approach is used to show that this claim is in error. First, a methodology for formulating and testing hypotheses concerning historical languages is established. The methodology is based on a Popperian view of hypothesis testing. In this case a testable hypothesis is formed utilizing the descriptive apparatus of H. P. Grice. The hypothesis is that the FCC is well translated with English "since" and it is proven false. Second, the testimony of four ancient Greek grammarians is evaluated. The grammarians examined are: Dionysius Thrax (1st century BCE), Apollonius Dyscolus (2nd century CE), Stephanos and Helliodorus (Byzantine period). It is shown that these grammarians agree with the conclusion that it is not appropriate to translate the FCC with an English causal introduced by" since." * * *


PURPOSE
Because patients often take iron supplements without medical indication, and iron can accumulate in vascular endothelial cells, the authors evaluated the association of oral iron supplementation with retinal/subretinal hemorrhage in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

METHODS
A post hoc secondary data analysis of comparison of age-related macular degeneration treatments trials was performed. Participants were interviewed for use of oral iron supplements. Trained readers evaluated retinal/subretinal hemorrhage in baseline fundus photographs. Adjusted odds ratios from multivariate logistic regression models assessed the association between iron use and baseline hemorrhage adjusted by age, sex, smoking, hypertension, anemia, and use of antiplatelet/anticoagulant drugs.

RESULTS
Among 1,165 participants, baseline retinal/subretinal hemorrhage was present in the study eye in 71% of 181 iron users and in 61% of 984 participants without iron use (adjusted odds ratio = 1.47, P = 0.04), and the association was dose dependent (adjusted linear trend P = 0.048). Iron use was associated with hemorrhage in participants with hypertension (adjusted odds ratio = 1.87, P = 0.006) but not without hypertension. The association of iron use with hemorrhage remained significant among hypertensive participants without anemia (adjusted odds ratio = 1.85, P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION
Among participants of comparison of age-related macular degeneration treatments trials, the use of oral iron supplements was associated with retinal/subretinal hemorrhage in a dose-response manner. Unindicated iron supplementation may be detrimental in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration.


PurposeTaking a mixed-method approach, this research developed and validated a novel, value-centric experience framework delineating robotic involvement in the service encounter and its subsequent impact on customers' experiences.Design/methodology/approachFocused on robotic restaurant businesses where robots are mainly involved in food production processes, this research utilized online customer review data and a multistage, mixed-method design for empirical examination. Automated thematic analysis was first adopted to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the empirical reality as reflected in online customer reviews. Following an analytic induction process, a theoretical framework was developed integrating prior literature with the empirical reality to uncover the relationships across robotic involvement, experiential values and evaluative outcomes. A theory-driven, dictionary-based content analysis together with path analysis further enabled empirical validation of the developed theoretical framework.FindingsThe current research developed and validated a value-centric experience framework to theorize robotic involvement in the service encounter and its downstream impact on customers' experiences. Specifically, this framework conceptualizes robotic involvement as a five-dimensional composition of robotic visibility, competency, performanism, co-creativity and prominence. In addition, the framework specifies seven dimensions of experiential values revolving around high-tech–high-touch robotic service encounters, namely sensorial, utilitarian, hedonic, social, agentic, epistemic and aesthetic values. Following empirical validation, this framework sheds light on robotic involvement and experience design for high-tech–high-touch service businesses aiming to incorporate robots in their service encounters.Originality/valueDrawing on classic service role theory and consumption value theory, this research developed and validated a novel theoretical model connecting robotic involvement dimensions with experiential consumption values and downstream customer evaluative outcomes. This research and theoretical framework open an exciting avenue for future research in robotic services and customer experiences.


Sawteeth oscillations are commonly observed in temporal profiles of temperatures in almost all tokamaks including ADITYA tokamak. In typical discharges of ADITYA, bursts of hard x-ray (HXR) due to interaction of runaway electrons (RE) with limiter, during sawteeth crash are regularly observed in initial period of plasma current flat-top. These HXR bursts are highly correlated with the sawteeth-crash in time, which suggests that sawtooth crash generates these runaway electrons, which then yield the HXR bursts due to their interaction with the limiter. The electric field induced in the toroidal direction due to change in poloidal magnetic field during the sawtooth crash is found to be higher than the critical electric field required for runaway generation. This induced toroidal electric field during each sawtooth crash generates the REs, which then travel to the limiter to give a HXR burst. Furthermore, it is observed that in the later period of the plasma current flat-top of the discharge, no HXR bursts accompany the sawtooth crash. This indicates different transport mechanisms of runaway electrons in the initial and later parts of plasma current flat-top. Further investigation revealed that the overlapping inflated magnetic islands seem to be responsible for loss of sawtooth-crash generated REs and subsequent HXR bursts in the initial phase. Whereas no overlapping of magnetic islands and presence of good magnetic surfaces in-between the islands restricts the transportation of REs leading to absence of correlated HXR bursts in the later phase of plasma current flat-top.


Printable organic thin-film transistors have enabled flexible low-cost electronics, which has the potential for a lot of emerging electronic applications. Despite the excellent dark performance of advanced all-inkjet printed organic thin-film transistors, their photoresponse is less explored and needs to be investigated, especially photoresponse to visible lights that human beings can see and are most familiar with. Importantly, for electronics integration, both devices with and without photo-sensitivity to visible light are important, for photo-detecting and signal processing, respectively. In this study, two organic semiconductor materials are used in all-inkjet printed organic thin-film transistors, namely 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C8-BTBT), 6,13-bis (triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene). By characterizing devices under optical exposure with wavelengths from 400 to 800 nm, photocurrents and threshold voltage shifts of the devices are extracted. The fabricated C8-BTBT organic thin-film transistors do not exhibit noticeable photo-sensitivity to visible light, whereas the TIPS-pentacene devices demonstrate significant photoresponse to visible lights, with photocurrents in nano- to micro-ampere levels and threshold voltage shifts of hundreds of millivolts to several volts depending on the photon energy of lights under the same intensity. The TIPS-pentacene devices demonstrated reproducible characteristics before and after light exposure. In addition, the responsivity and sensitivity of the devices were characterized with a decent responsivity of 55.9 mA/W. The photoresponse mechanisms are explained with ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) adsorption spectroscopy measurements and extracted optical bandgaps of the two semiconductors. This study shows both printed organic transistors with and without photo-sensitivity can be fabricated with the same device structure and fabrication process at low cost, which opens the new possibility of using printed organic thin-film transistors for integrated optoelectronic applications.


The mitochondrial synthesis of ATP makes a vital contribution to the growth and development of biological organisms, in which the enzyme mitochondrial F1F0-ATP synthase plays a pivotal role, in that it can either synthesize or hydrolyze cellular ATP. The finding of our previous study revealed that mitochondrial F1F0-ATPase inhibitor factor 1 (IF1) in Arabidopsis thaliana has a conserved function as an endogenous inhibitor affecting cellular energy status and plays an important role in plant growth and reproduction, particularly in fertility. In this study, to gain an insight into IF1-related traits, we performed isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation labeling analysis. In total, 67 of 4778 identified proteins were identified as differentially expressed proteins (DEPs; 59 up-regulated and 8 down-regulated) between wild-type and if1 mutant Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. Gene ontology enrichment analysis revealed that these DEPs were the most significantly enriched in pathways such as "long-day photoperiodism, flowering," "positive regulation of protein import into chloroplast stroma," and "pollen sperm cell differentiation," which are closely associated with reproductive development. Moreover, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis revealed that photosynthesis was the pathway most significantly enriched with DEPs. Collectively, our results revealed a global shift in protein abundance patterns corresponding to AtIF1 mutation, entailing changes in the abundance of multiple key proteins and metabolic processes, which will provide a valuable proteomic foundation for future studies.


An enantioselective copper-catalyzed arylation of tertiary carbon-centered radicals, leading to quaternary all-carbon stereocenters, has been developed herein. The tertiary carbon-centered radicals, including both benzylic and nonbenzylic radicals, were produced by the addition of trifluoromethyl radical to α-substituted acrylamides, and subsequently captured by chiral aryl copper(II) species to give C-Ar bonds with excellent enantioselectivity. Importantly, an acylamidyl (CONHAr) group adjacent to the tertiary carbon radical is essential for the asymmetric radical coupling. The reaction itself features broad substrate scope, excellent functional group compatibility and mild conditions.


This study is an assessment of the impact of Alaska school librarians on academic achievement in the state's public schools. It examines the direct relationship between such staffing and student performance and identifies selected activities of library media staff that affect test scores. Other conditions of library media center operation were also considered as potential predictors of academic achievement. During the 1997-98 school year, library media centers in 211 Alaska public schools were surveyed about their staffing levels, hours of operation, staff activities, usage, technology, policies, and cooperation with public libraries. Each library media program characteristic was assessed as a potential predictor of academic achievement, and relationships among potential library media predictors that might create indirect effects on academic achievement were also examined. Recommendations for raising student achievement levels are included. Appendices include a bibliography, list of participants, copy of the questionnaire, a brochure entitled "A School Librarian Can Make a Difference!" and early results briefs. Although the findings, conclusions, and recommendations reported in this work are substantially the same as those of its original edition, this edition corrects typographical and transcription errors, eliminates unnecessary and misleading methodological information, clarifies ambiguous statements, corrects misinterpretations of statistical details, and contains citations accidentally left out of the original bibliography. (MES) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Information Empowered PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY


The authors measure the amount of compression that can be accomplished by the use of Huffman coding, and the effects of adaption based on the statistics of the input file. The coding algorithm has been designed to generate codes for character strings instead of for a single character. Each compressed file has a unique set of Huffman codes. The results of using adaptive Huffman coding algorithm has demonstrated that the larger the file the more useful the technique for compression. Also, the results show that the amount of memory that can be saved is up to 55.0% when text file is being used, and up to 40.9% when binary image file is being used.<<ETX>>


To investigate the effect of valproate treatment on the K562 cell line, a model for chronic myelogenous leukaemia, the growth and survival of the K562 cell line were investigated using the Annexin-V/PI dual staining method, and global profiles of gene expression and alternative splicing in K562 cells were assessed using exon microarrays. A significant increase in cell apoptosis was observed in valproate-exposed K562 cells using flow cytometry. A total of 628 transcripts were identified as being significantly differentially expressed. The number of genes demonstrating increased expression levels was greater than the number of genes demonstrating decreased expression levels (445 genes vs. 183 genes, respectively). The significant enrichment analysis of GO terms for the differentially expressed genes revealed that these genes are involved in many important biological processes such as apoptosis. Six of the genes observed to be differentially expressed that might be involved in apoptosis were selected to undergo qRT-PCR validation. In total, 198 candidates of alternative splicing variants were identified. Among them, three alternative splicing events were selected for validation, and CBLC and TBX1 were confirmed to be alternatively spliced by semi-nested PCR. In conclusion, valproate exposure facilitated cell apoptosis, altered mRNA expression and alternative splicing events in the K562 cell line.


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the testicular ultrasound features and frequency of testicular microlithiasis in a population of patients operated several years before for cryptorchidism, in order to define a group at possible increased risk of testicular cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 202 patients, 63 of whom were reviewed by ultrasound with a mean follow-up of 9 years 3 months (7 years 5 months to 11 years 7 months). RESULTS: 32% of operated testes were hypotrophic compared to the correctly descended side; their mean volume was 9.42 ml versus 11 ml for the nonoperated side. 14.3% of surgically descended testes presented an ultrasonographically heterogeneous parenchyma and microlithiasis were present in 9.52% of cases. CONCLUSION: The association between microlithiasis and cryptorchidism is not an incidental finding. Apart from the relative hypotrophy of the testis, ultrasound also revealed, in our study, that the presence of microlithiasis is not an extremely rare finding. Annual ultrasound surveillance is therefore required due to the risk of malignant transformation of these microlithiases.


Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) is a DNA repair protein and plays other important roles. Increased levels of APE1 in cancer have been reported. However, available methods for measuring APE1 levels are indirect and not quantitative. We previously developed an approach using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry with isotope dilution to accurately measure APE1 levels. Here, we applied this methodology to measure APE1 levels in normal and cancerous human breast tissues. Extreme expression of APE1 in malignant tumors was observed, suggesting that breast cancer cells may require APE1 for survival. Accurate measurement of APE1 may be essential for the development of novel treatment strategies and APE1 inhibitors as anticancer drugs.


Quaternary benzo(c)phenanthridine alkaloids (QBAs) are
naturally occurring compounds isolated from plants in the
Fumariaceae, Papaveraceae, Ranunculaceae and Rutaceae families.
In addition to having a wide range of biological activities,
they are also attractive for their fluorescent properties.
Fluorescence staining of nucleic acids, especially DNA, is an
important tool used in biology and clinical diagnostics. There
are a number of DNA-binding fluorochromes available today.
However, most of them are restricted to use on fixed cells
(e.g., ethidium bromide, propidium iodide, 7AAD, TOTO3). The
most frequently used membrane permeant DNA stains are DAPI
(4'6diamidino2phenylindole) and the bisbenzimide dyes Hoechst
(33258; 33342; 34580). Both DAPI and Hoechst emit blue
fluorescence under UV illumination when bound to DNA. Thus,
their use is restricted to multilaser systems. Recently some
cell permeable DNA dyes, excitable by argon-ion lasers (488
nm), have been introduced: LDS751, DRAQ5TM. We have found that
QBAs - macarpine (MA), chelirubine (CHR), sanguirubine (SR) and
sanguinarine (SA) stain DNA in living cells. The best DNA
staining properties showed MA. When added to intact cell
suspensions, water stock solutions of MA stain nuclei of the
cells upon brief (in seconds) incubation at low final
concentration (0.01 to 0.001 mg/ml). Fluorescence microscopy of
MA stained cells described the nuclear architecture,
chromosomes and apoptotic fragments. Moreover MA binds to DNA
stochiometrically and can rapidly represent the cellular DNA
content of living cells at a resolution adequate for cell cycle
analysis. MA is excitable using common argon lasers (488 nm)
emitting at a range of 575 to 755 nm (i.e. fluorescence
detectors FL2 to 5). Spectral characteristics of MA allow
simultaneous surface immunophenotyping. The fact that MA
preferentially stain nucleated cells, allows it to be used to
differentiate nucleated cells from cells without a nucleus in a
mixed cell population (especially blood and bone marrow cells).
Results, concerning the staining of blood cells, demonstrate
that MA can be used for flow cytometric cell classification on
the basis of nucleic acid identification and quantification
with the possibility of parallel immunophenotypisation. MA
staining allows differentiation of erythrocytes, reticulocytes
and leukocytes in peripheral blood without the need to detect
surface antigens. Furthermore, MA staining can be used in
conjunction with commonly used fluorochromes that are
detectable at the FL1 detector (FITC, GFP) of either standard
or 2 laser systems. Parameters of DNA content analysis of
intact viable HL60 cells stained with MA were fully comparable
with those stained with DRAQ5. Like DRAQ5, MA is quick and easy
to use. Signals from RNA-MA fluorescence are low and there is
no necessity for RNA digestion of living cells. Above mentioned
characteristics allow multiple applications of MA providing a
significant diagnostic utility.


Abstract:Scholars have long recognized a resemblance between Jesus's prayer in Gethsemane and the Lord's Prayer in Matthew's Gospel (26:39–42; 6:9b–13), including the exact repetition of the words γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου. Recent interpreters universally account for this resemblance by claiming that Gethsemane has been assimilated to the Lord's Prayer. Yet it was once common to argue the opposite: that Matthew's Lord's Prayer had been expanded based on Gethsemane (so Martin Dibelius and Eduard Schweizer). I argue that there are good reasons to reconsider and embrace this earlier view on the basis of (1) a redactional study of both passages in Matthew's Gospel; (2) a survey of the Gethsemane tradition elsewhere in the New Testament, as well as (3) Gethsemane in the history of interpretation; and (4) a consideration of Matthew's literary tendencies. An investigation of the Gethsemane tradition elsewhere in the New Testament and in the history of interpretation suggests that some form of the statement "thy will be done" was intrinsic to that tradition from the beginning. Yet the inclusion of such a petition in the Lord's Prayer appears to originate with Matthew. Finally, this study builds on Dale Allison's observation that Matthew foreshadows Jesus's passion via intratextual parallels in several other sections of his gospel. I conclude that Matthew has likewise read Jesus's passion into the Lord's Prayer via intra textual linkages to Gethsemane.


AIM
To investigate the expression of CD73 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) in human gastric carcinoma, and explore their clinical significance and prognostic value.

METHODS
CD73 and HIF-1α expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry in consecutive sections of tissue samples from 68 gastric carcinoma patients. The peritumor tissues 2 cm away from the tumor were obtained and served as controls. The presence of CD73 and HIF-1α was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using the Envision technique.

RESULTS
CD73 and HIF-1α expressions in gastric carcinoma were significantly higher than those in gastric mucosal tissues as control (P < 0.001) and showed a close correlation (Spearman r = 0.390, P = 0.001). Overexpression of CD73 was positively correlated with differentiation of tumor (P = 0.000), histopathology (P = 0.041), depth of invasion (P < 0.001), nodal status (P = 0.003), metastasis (P = 0.013), and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (P < 0.001). High expression of HIF-1α was positively correlated with tumor diameter (P = 0.031), depth of invasion (P = 0.022), and AJCC stage (P = 0.035). The overall survival rate was low in the patients with high expression of CD73 (P < 0.001). Moreover, CD73+/HIF-1α+ patients had the worst prognosis (P < 0.001). CD73 expression was proven to be an independent predictor for patients with gastric carcinoma by both multivariate Cox regression analysis (P = 0.021) and receiver operating characteristic curves (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION
CD73 expression correlates closely with HIF-1α expression in gastric carcinoma. CD73 could be an independent prognostic indicator for gastric carcinoma.


Abstract Two shifts of informal rules occurred in the decades around the turn of the 20th century that continue to shape U.S. fiscal policy outcomes. Spending norms in the electorate shifted to expand the scope of the government budget to promote economic security and macroeconomic stability. Simultaneously, norms for elected office shifted to careerism. Both norms were later codified into formal rules as legislation creating entitlement programs, macroeconomic responsibility, and organizational changes to the fiscal policy process. This institutional evolution increased demand for federal expenditures while creating budgetary commons, thus imparting strong motivations to spend through deficit finance in normal times. Despite the last four decades of legislative attempts to constrain spending relative to taxes, the informal norms have trumped the formal constraints. While the empirical literature on deficits has examined the constraining effects of informal rules, this paper offers a novel treatment of shifting norms as having expansionary effects on deficits.


Earth scientists, by definition, work in an interdisciplinary environment and therefore collect and disseminate data using distinct methods, depending on whether the associated information arises during field measurements, arrives via remote sensing, or represents simulation results. When calculating the global radiation over one of the oceans, for instance, it is essential that cloud data from at least three different sources can be accessed based on one and the same geographic grid. Differently gridded source data must therefore be reorganized through interpolation for example. This can be done in different ways and we investigate a method whose practicality depends on fast spatial range queries, but in turn provides a flexibility that makes it particularly easy to accommodate differently organized data sets-a valuable feature when unanticipated grid organizations show up.<<ETX>>


Internet addiction is defined as uncontrolled and harmful use of Internet, which manifests in three forms: gaming, various sexual activities and excessive use of emails, chats or SMS messaging. Several studies have found that abuse of alcohol and other substances, depression and other health problems are associated with Internet addiction. In boys and men depression may be more a consequence of the addiction than a cause for it. ADHD seems to be a significant background factor for developing the condition. Because it is almost impossible to lead a life without Internet and computers nowadays, it is unrealistic to aim towards full abstinence. Treatment has generally followed the guidelines adapted for pathological gambling.


With better understanding of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), many therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular diseases have been developed. This article will review novel research of EPCs in promoting angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, and endothelialization, as a design for future clinical treatment. Cell therapy has the potential to supply stem/progenitor cells and multiple angiogenic factors to the region of ischemia. The efficacy of EPC transplantation may be impaired by low survival rate, insufficient cell number, and impaired function in aging and diseases. Combination of EPCs or cells primed with growth factors or genetic modification may improve the therapeutic efficacy. The molecular mechanism involved in EPC repairing processes is essential. Thus, we have also addressed the molecular mechanism of mobilization, homing, and differentiation of EPCs. The potential of therapeutic neovascularization, angiogenic factor therapy, and cell transplantation have been elucidated. Based on past experience and actual knowledge, future strategies for EPC therapy will be proposed in order to fully exploit the potential of EPC transplantation with clinical relevance for cardiovascular disease applications.


At present, the methods and research documents about monitoring mining area ecological environment using remote sensing data are not much mentioned. Remote sensing has the characteristics of multi-temporal, fast dynamic monitoring, and low cost. Either the research method and theory or the results have certain ecological significance and practical value. Especially the information extraction using high-resolution images of SPOT 5 data draws more and more attention by the professionals. In the low-middle resolution images, the detail, texture, and border of mining area ecological environment elements can't be reflected, which brings difficulties for further identification and interpretation. SPOT 5 with visible and near-infrared bands at 10*10m, a shortwave infrared band at 20*20m and a panchromatic band at 2.5*2.5m. Based on the latest SPOT 5 data, this paper extracts and analyzes the information of mining area ecological environment elements by several data fusion methods, such as IHS transform, principal component analysis (PCA) and wavelet fusion. Compared to the original SPOT 5 multispectral image, the tone contrast and definition of the fused images are improved; especially some features are more easily identified, such as vegetation, subsidence area, waste dump, and power plant. Then the fused images are evaluated by four indicators: mean standard deviation, information entropy and average gradient. In conclusion, this paper uses SPOT 5 data and varieties of fusion methods to deal with the mining ecological environment elements, which achieved remarkable results and increased the information extraction precision. This not only provides basic data for evaluation and reclamation of the mining ecological environment but provides technical supports for decision-makers.


In this paper, a general inverse exponential form of the unde rlying distribution and a general conjugate prior are used t o discuss the maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation bas ed on unified hybrid censored sample. A general procedure for deriving two-sample Bayesian prediction is developed using unified h ybrid censoring scheme. Special cases of the inverse Weibul l model such as the inverse exponential and the inverse Rayleigh distrib utions are then used as illustrative examples. Finally, num erical examples are presented for illustrating all the inferential procedures d veloped here.


Fresh human ghost blood cells (GBCs) have been shown to cause increased resistance to outflow in enucleated human eyes. In addition, glutaraldehyde-fixed GBCs can cause glaucoma in the rabbit and primate in vivo. The present study shows for the first time that fresh autologous GBCs can cause an acute in vivo rise of intraocular pressure when injected into the anterior chambers of the cat and primate. This rise was of greater magnitude and longer duration than that caused by the injection of a greater number of pliable, fresh red blood cells. It has been theorized that ghost cell glaucoma (GCG) is due to cellular obstruction of the intertrabecular spaces by the nonpliable GBCs. Histologic results from the present study confirm this belief. No evidence of significant trabecular meshwork degeneration or significant GBC phagocytosis was seen.


One of the most challenging issue in cloud computing is access control and data security because User of the cloud outsourced their sensitive data and information to cloud provider's servers which is not within the same trusted domain as data owner. Cloud Computing is a large-scale distributed computing paradigm which is based on Web Services over the Internet. Internet has many inherent security defects because of its openness. It has many other attacks and threats. In this paper we propose a Framework and the components of policy base access control mechanism that is suitable for access control. Keywordscloud computing; internet; risks and security


PURPOSE
Due to controversy regarding prostate cancer screening, it is imperative that African American men make informed decisions. Little is known about the role of cultural factors in decision-making for prostate cancer screening among African American men. The purposes of this study were: 1) to investigate components involved with decision-making for prostate cancer screening among African American men; and 2) to identify cultural factors that may influence screening decisions.

METHODS
Six focus group sessions were conducted consisting of African American men between the ages of 40 and 70.

RESULTS
Eight themes emerged from the discussions about prostate cancer screening. These themes were: 1) men's knowledge of prostate cancer and clinical services; 2) prostate cancer as a threat to manhood; 3) screening as a threat to manhood; 4) self-awareness of health and well-being; 5) value of screening; 6) convenience of prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening; 7) misunderstanding of screening controversy; 8) distrust of the medical community; and 9) shared decision-making.

CONCLUSION
This study identifies cultural factors involved with decision-making for prostate cancer screening among African American men.


Curtis Jr (2018) presents a motivation and qualitative sample structure of higher education design. Curtis Jr (2018) describes the technical administrative processes of higher education completion using qualitative information concerning the methods of transfer, including transfer to the Education Foundation, IGRI, and JECJEF University.


B virus (Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1) is a zoonotic agent that can cause fatal encephalomyelitis in humans. The virus naturally infects macaque monkeys, resulting in disease that is similar to herpes simplex virus infection in humans. Although B virus infection generally is asymptomatic or mild in macaques, it can be fatal in humans. Previously reported cases of B virus disease in humans usually have been attributed to animal bites, scratches, or percutaneous inoculation with infected materials; however, the first fatal case of B virus infection due to mucosal splash exposure was reported in 1998. This case prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, Georgia) to convene a working group in 1999 to reconsider the prior recommendations for prevention and treatment of B virus exposure. The present report updates previous recommendations for the prevention, evaluation, and treatment of B virus infection in humans and considers the role of newer antiviral agents in postexposure prophylaxis.


The base-metal electrode multilayer ceramic capacitors for future application require much thinner dielectric layers ( < 1 μm). Therefore, the grain size and uniformity of dielectric ceramics should be effectively controlled. In this paper, a two-step sintering (TSS) method has been utilized to prepare the ultrafine-grained X7R BaTiO 3 ceramics in reducing atmosphere with the average grain size below 200 nm. And the influence of TSS schedule on the microstructure (such as bulk density, grain size) and dielectric properties is discussed in detail. Furthermore, the development of core-shell structure and corresponding temperature coefficient of capacitance characteristics during the intermediate stage of TSS process has been systematically investigated.


We aim to investigate the role of insurance in business recovery following the devastating Christchurch earthquake in February, 22nd, 2011. We analyze data from two business surveys conducted after the earthquake to examine how insurance affected business operation in the aftermath of the earthquake both in the short-term and longer-term. For the short-term analysis, we use a combination of propensity score matching (PSM) and linear probability model (LPM) to analyze the data. We first estimate the propensity scores for insurance take-up of each firm conditional on the firm's individual characteristics. Stratification based on the estimated propensity scores is used to match the treated (insured) and the control (uninsured) firms. We then estimate the probability of firms' continuing operations with a set of control variables to account for the level of damage and disruption caused by the quake in each stratum. We find little evidence of any beneficial effect of insurance coverage on business continuity in the short-run. For the longer-term analysis, we analyze the available survey data using logistic regression. The result suggests that business interruption insurance significantly promotes increased level of long-term productivity for surviving firms following the earthquake.


Objective: This study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the X16 Balance Testing Scale for older people.
Materials and Method: Three hundred and forty five older people were included in the study. The test-retest process was completed with all individuals for intra-rater agreement. For validity, the correlation with Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA) were applied.
Results: For intra-rater agreement of the X16 Balance Testing Scale obtained as a result of the initial testing and retesting, results were found to be highly reliable (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.904, 0.902, respectively). Test-retest reliability was found to be at a quite high or excellent level in all domains. A high correlation was found between the X16 Balance Testing Scale total score and the total scores of BBS and POMA (r=0.710, 0.706 respectively).
Conclusion: The Turkish version of the X16 Balance Testing Scale was found to be valid and reliable in older people. Due to its simplicity and quickness to use, it is practical to be used for balance evaluation.


• In Mediterranean climate regions, prolonged periods of unusually dry conditions reduce the availability of water resources and affect vegetation cover; while other areas can be affected by an increase in the number of heavy precipitation events, with an increase in the flood risk. Issues such as drought and erosive rainfall have been raising concern about the risks of land degradation and desertification. The main objective of this paper is to provide an insight of the geographic distribution of extreme precipitation events in the Southern region of continental Portugal, as a basis for a future study of the relationships between extreme rainfall patterns, both spatial and temporal, and desertification processes. The data used in this study are a set of 105 station records with daily precipitation observations for the period 1940–1999. This 60-year period was chosen to optimize data availability across the region, taking into consideration the quality control analysis performed. Among the numerous indices of extreme precipitation described in the literature, we selected three of them for an exploratory analysis: one index representing dry conditions, another one representing extremely heavy precipitation events and another index representing flood events. For each of these three indices, yearly trends and decadal space-time patterns are investigated. The results show no significant trends in the regional extreme indices. The geostatistical study concluded that the spatial patterns are more continuous in the last decade than the other ones before. The preliminary results of this study agree with other similar studies of the same region reported in the literature.