Although the structure and function of components of the nuclear pore complex (NPC) have been the focus of many studies, relatively little is known about NPC biogenesis. In this study, we report that Apq12 is required for efficient NPC biogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Apq12 is an integral membrane protein of the nuclear envelope (NE) and endoplasmic reticulum. Cells lacking Apq12 are cold sensitive for growth, and a subset of their nucleoporins (Nups), those that are primarily components of the cytoplasmic fibrils of the NPC, mislocalize to the cytoplasm. APQ12 deletion also causes defects in NE morphology. In the absence of Apq12, most NPCs appear to be associated with the inner but not the outer nuclear membrane. Low levels of benzyl alcohol, which increases membrane fluidity, prevented Nup mislocalization and restored the proper localization of Nups that had accumulated in cytoplasmic foci upon a shift to lower temperature. Thus, Apq12p connects nuclear pore biogenesis to the dynamics of the NE.


Since 1982 over 300 Top Drive systems have been installed worldwide, on virtually every type of drilling rig. An ongoing debate centres on the prime mover for rotating the drill pipe. Should it be "electric" or "hydraulic"? The purpose of this paper will be to provide a detailed comparison of both systems, outlining the advantages and disadvantages of both. Details of the designs, installation requirements, efficiencies, actual field performance and relative cost comparisons to install and operate will be presented. The results presented will show the relative merits of each system and technically compare the overall operational aspects of each system as reflected in the current drilling environment we are experiencing today. The data presented will provide the potential user with the necessary information to evaluate an application and select a system.


Future applications of molecular units in quantum information technologies require a fine control at the single molecule level. This includes the choice of each functional element, the intramolecular interaction and the robustness of molecules when dispersed on a substrate. Keeping these goals in mind, we designed and synthesized a heterometallic phthalocyaninato-complex including two different lanthanides in each moiety, namely [PcDyPcTbPc*] (Pc being phthalocyanines; and Pc* being 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octahexyl-substituted phthalocyanines). Full magnetic characterization was performed down to the mK temperature range on bulk microcrystals by means of AC susceptibility, DC magnetization (including microSQUID) and specific heat measurements. A weak, yet sizeable, interaction between the two lanthanides is clearly detected by different techniques, altering the magnetic behavior of the single lanthanide as observed in the parent [LnPc2] complexes. Isolated [PcDyPcTbPc*] molecules dispersed on HOPG and the Au surface by liquid phase deposition are proven to maintain their main chemical and magnetic features by combined XPS, XAS and XMCD analysis and to lie with one Pc ligand flat to the surface. Opening of a small but sizable hysteresis loop at 1.8 K is directly observed on both Tb and Dy sites proving the retention of magnetization at the single molecule level.


Several authors have argued that dehumanization may be the psychological process that underlies people's willingness to torture outgroup members. In the current research, we directly examined this question among Christian participants, with Muslims as the target outgroup. Across two studies, we found that to the extent that Christians dehumanized Muslims, they were more likely to self-report the willingness to torture Muslim prisoners of war. We also found that perceiving Muslims as a threat moderated the relationship between dehumanization and the self-reported proclivity to torture. These findings support the propositions made by previous authors on the role of dehumanization in torture, war and genocide.


Previous research has shown that it is likely that residential choice behavior is mostly affected by unobservable factors. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the effect of heterogeneous unobservable factors in residential developments on residential choice behavior using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.Our results show that there are significant effects of unobservable factors on residential choice behavior. The methodology presented can be used to advise developers, architects or planners in evaluating those attributes that create value to improve, for example, the overall design solutions in real estate development projects.


This work presents the first thorough quantitative study of the available instruction-level parallelism, basic-block-granularity thread parallelism, and data movement, across the Berkeley dwarfs/computational motifs. Although this classification was intended to group applications with common computation and (albeit coarse-grained) communication patterns, the applications analyzed exhibit a wide range of available machine-extractable parallelism and data motion within and across dwarfs.


Stochastic dynamics with random resetting leads to a non-equilibrium steady state. Here, we consider the thermodynamics of resetting by deriving the first and second law for resetting processes far from equilibrium. We identify the contributions to the entropy production of the system which arise due to resetting and show that they correspond to the rate with which information is either erased or created. Using Landauer's principle, we derive a bound on the amount of work that is required to maintain a resetting process. We discuss different regimes of resetting, including a Maxwell demon scenario where heat is extracted from a bath at constant temperature.


Polycrystalline BaМe 1-x Y x O 3-δ (Me=Co, Fe) samples were synthesized by a conventional route and glycerol–nitrate technique. According XRD patterns of single phase solid solutions BaCo1-xYxO3-δ (0.1≤x≤0.4) and BaFe 0.9-y Y 0.1 Co y O 3-δ (0.05≤y≤0.15) were indexed using Pm3m space group. The unit cell parameters were refined using Rietveld full-profile analysis. Oxygen nonstoichiometry of these solid solutions was measured by means of thermogravimetric technique within the temperature range 298–1273 K in air.


This paper has been written to make an enormous threat known to the public. We all know about the forest fires that raged in Indonesia and parts of Malaysia in 1997, and about the noxious haze covering the whole region, but only a few experts are aware of the threat of extinction of the last rain forest areas in Southeast Asia. As this paper will show, droughts have always been a part of these ecosystems, which normally receive plenty of rain. Mild droughts can be regarded as slight or medium disturbances, which can even have a stimulating effect according to the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis. However, severe droughts and fires have a destructive effect, which will only be overcome in successional stages. Logging and forest fragmentation reduce the ability of forests to overcome severe droughts. Forest fires rage in selectively logged forests, whereas they are extremely rare in undisturbed rain forests. Forest regeneration in fragmented forests is disturbed, so that we have to expect a total degradation of even effectively protected forest areas. Due to drought and fire, the remnant rain forest areas are being roasted like slices of toast . New research is also revealing that rain forests under drought stress consume more oxygen than they produce. The "green lung" and carbon sink are thus out of function. Furthermore, severe ENSO-(El Nino/Southern Oscillation)-droughts have been increasing in recent years. The consequences both for development of the region and for the whole atmosphere are imminent. Forest fires during ENSO droughts have caused extensive damage to forests and plantations, and noxious haze clouds in the whole region. Awareness about ENSO and droughts exists and is growing within the local population. Strict regulations, drought and fire alerts, and law enforcement can reduce at least the effects of drought. A logging ban, also including selective logging, may have to be considered. While this paper covers the whole of tropical Asia, it focuses on Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, which are the main evergreen rain forest areas. Other areas in the region have either seasonal vegetation, which is more drought adapted, or only small pockets of evergreen rain forest depending on local rain exposure - or the lowland forests have disappeared. The paper concentrates on Western Indonesia, Malaysia and the very south of Thailand.


This article examines the effects of nonagricultural land use on agrarian organization and land reform in an economy characterized by limited credit and land rental markets. The nonagricultural demand for land, under credit constraint, generates a potential mismatch between the distribution of land and the distribution of farming skills. This disparity reduces the agricultural output if the land rental market is absent. A perfect land rental market is shown to determine the highest possible agricultural output. Policy implications from the model include, in addition to market improvements, the fact that small farmers rather than landless people should be the target of redistributive land reform programs.


Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the consistency of working length control between hand instrumentation in comparison to engine driven Mtwo nickel-titanium rotary files. Material and Methods Forty extracted maxillary molars were selected and divided onto two parallel groups. The working lengths of the mesiobuccal root canals were estimated. The teeth were fixed in a phantom head. The root canal preparation was carried out group 1 (n=20) with hand K-files, (VDW, Munich, Germany) and group 2 (n=20) with Mtwo instruments (VDW, Munich, Germany). Vestibulo-oral and mesio-distal directional x-ray images were taken before the preparation with #10 K-file, inserted into the mesiobuccal root canal to the working length, and after preparation with #25, #30 and #40 files. Working lenght changes were detected with measurements between the radiological apex and the instrument tips. Results In the Mtwo group a difference in the working competency (p<0.05) could be noticed only in the vestibulo-oral direction from #10 to #40 file. The hand instrument group showed a significant difference in working length competency for each larger file size (p<0.05) (ANOVA). Regression analysis in the hand instrumentation group indicated a working length decrease with a mean of 0,2 mm after each consecutive file size (p<0.01). Conclusions The outcome of our trial indicated a high consistency in working length control for root canal preparation under simulated clinical condition using Mtwo rotary files. Mtwo NiTi rotary file did therefore proved to be more accurate in comparison to the conventional hand instrumentation. Key words:Working length, Mtwo, nickel-titanium, hand preparation, engine driven preparation.


The volume of influence of excavation at the right bank slope of Dagangshan Hydropower Station, southwest China, is essentially determined from microseismic monitoring, numerical modeling and conventional measurements as well as in situ observations. Microseismic monitoring is a new application technique for investigating microcrackings in rock slopes. A microseismic monitoring network has been systematically used to monitor rock masses unloading relaxation due to continuous excavation of rock slope and stress redistribution caused by dam impoundment later on, and to identify and delineate the potential slippage regions since May, 2010. An important database of seismic source locations is available. The analysis of microseismic events showed a particular tempo-spatial distribution. Seismic events predominantly occurred around the upstream slope of 1180 m elevation, especially focusing on the hanging wall of fault XL316-1. Such phenomenon was interpreted by numerical modeling using RFPA-SRM code (realistic failure process analysis-strength reduction method). By comparing microseismic activity and results of numerical simulation with in site observation and conventional measurements results, a strong correlation can be obtained between seismic source locations and excavation-induced stress distribution in the working areas. The volume of influence of the rock slope is thus determined. Engineering practices show microseismic monitoring can accurately diagnose magnitude, intensity and associated tempo-spatial characteristics of tectonic activities such as faults and unloading zones. The integrated technique combining seismic monitoring with numerical modeling, as well as in site observation and conventional surveying, leads to a better understanding of the internal effect and relationship between microseismic activity and stress field in the right bank slope from different perspectives.


The radiation-induced interface-state density in CMOS/SOS was measured with the charge-pumping technique using a gated-diode test structure. The results were compared to the interface-state density measured with the subthreshold slope method in n- and p- channel MOSFET devices after exposure to Co-60 radiation. Experimental results using the two methods on both depleted and nondepleted SOS-substrates were analyzed. With a combination of both methods, the interface-state density at the Si-sapphire interface was 1.3*10/sup 12/ cm/sup -2/ eV/sup -1/. A direct method of measuring the interface-state density at the interface to the substrate isolation oxide using a charge-pumping technique is described. The test structures can be implemented in a standard CMOS/SOS test die. >


Vacuum-assisted resin infusion molding has been increasingly used in manufacturing large composite structures, such as MW-scale wind turbine blades, due to structural size, cost-effectiveness, and out-of-autoclave curing requirements. Among various material and processing parameters, 3D permeability of composites with thicksection laminate construction is critical in controlling resin flow in an efficient manufacturing process development by accurate numerical modeling and simulation. Reactive resin flow in a mold with complex geometry and material systems, such as a wind turbine blade with a foam core and multiple fabric orientations, is strongly affected by the 3D permeability of the fabric composite. An experimental method to measure the orientation and the magnitude of individual principal component of permeability tensor for thick-section fabric reinforcements has been addressed in a previous study. The objectives of this research are to: (1) use the 3D permeability measurements from the previous experimental study as inputs into ANSYS Fluent's volume-of-fluid model to simulate flow front progressions, (2) compare the simulated flow front progression with experimental results, and (3) identify the sources in the experimental and numerical methods that contribute to the discrepancies between experimental and numerical results. A brief review is provided on the 3D permeability measurement theory and the experimental method and results from the previous study. Numerical simulations of the flow front progression of a Newtonian fluid into an isotropic porous media are first compared to analytical results to select the computational models and discretization schemes used in this study. The choice of time-step and mesh discretization is discussed along with a convergence study. Insight into the limitations of the 3D permeability measurement theory and numerical methods is provided by comparing simulation results with circular and spherical inlets. Suggestions are made on methods to overcome incompatibilities of assumptions on inlet geometry between the in-plane and throughthickness permeability measurement theories.


The article presents the issues related to the use of plant ornaments in decorations and details of Art Nouveau tenement houses in Sopot. Elements of decoration and detail of selected examples of Art Nouveau buildings were discussed in terms of the most frequently used plant prototypes.


In the three- or four-component decompositions, polarimetric scattering properties and corresponding physical scattering models play essential roles for power decomposition. This letter proposes an improved four-component scattering power decomposition method that employs a suitable volume scattering model for single- or double-bounce scattering in the polarimetric synthetic aperture radar image analysis. The cross-polarized HV component is created by both single-bounce object (such as vegetation) and double-bounce structures (such as oriented building blocks). It has been difficult to discriminate these two objects (vegetation against oriented buildings) in the decomposed images since the HV component is assigned to the volume scattering due to vegetation only. We propose to extend the volume scattering model suited for two physical scattering models. It is shown that a vegetation area and an oriented urban building area are well discriminated compared to those resulting from the implementation of the existing four-component scattering power decomposition.


As ecosystems face disruption of community dynamics and habitat loss, the idea of determining ahead of time which species can become extinct is an important subject in conservation biology. A species' vulnerability to extinction is dependent upon both intrinsic (life-history strategies, genetics) and extrinsic factors (environment, anthropogenic threats). Studies linking intrinsic traits to extinction risk have shown variable results, and to our knowledge, there has not been a systematic analysis looking at how demographic patterns in stage-specific survival and reproductive rates correlate to extinction risk. We used matrix projection models from the COMPADRE and COMADRE matrix databases and IUCN Red List status as our proxy of extinction risk to investigate if some demographic patterns are more vulnerable to extinction than others. We obtained data on demographic rates, phylogeny, and IUCN status for 159 species of herbaceous plants, trees, mammals, and birds. We calculated 14 demographic metrics related to different aspects of life history and elasticity values and analyzed whether they differ based on IUCN categories using conditional random forest analysis and phylogenetic generalized least square regressions. We mapped all species within the database, both with IUCN assessment and without, and overlaid them with biodiversity hotspots to investigate if there is bias within the assessed species and how many of the non-assessed species could use the demographic information recorded in COMPADRE and COMADRE for future IUCN assessments. We found that herbaceous perennials are more vulnerable when they mature early and have high juvenile survival rates; birds are more vulnerable with high progressive growth and reproduction; mammals are more vulnerable when they have longer generation times. These patterns may be used to assess relative vulnerability across species when lacking abundance or trend data.


The corrosion of structural materials in PWR
primary circuits causes the release of metal ions into solution and
the formation of suspended particulate corrosion products. The
deposition and release of these corrosion products and the
precipitation of dissolved ions onto internal surfaces in the
primary circuit can cause a number of issues that affect the
efficiency and safety of plant operation. Such deposits have been
termed CRUD. CRUD deposits preferentially form in regions of the
primary circuit where flow acceleration occurs such as orifice
plates and the entrance to steam generator tubing. The mechanism
that drives this phenomenon is thought to be due to electrokinetic
effects caused by flow acceleration. Coolant flow shears ions at
the metal/solution interface causing the formation of a streaming
current. In accelerated flow, the increasing magnitude of the
streaming current is supported by wall currents which facilitate
the oxidation of dissolved ferrous ions in solution, and
precipitation on the material surface occurs. In this work, this
postulated mechanism of CRUD deposition was investigated by
recreating accelerated flow regions under PWR primary circuit
conditions. In the primary circuit of a PWR, various chemical
additives are present in solution in an attempt to minimise
degradation mechanisms as well as control the reactivity of the
core. The effect of these chemicals on CRUD formation in
accelerated flow regions of the circuit is not fully understood,
and so the effect of water chemistry on CRUD deposition has been
investigated. In particular, the effect of H2, Li, Fe and flow
velocity on the build-up rates of CRUD was investigated. The main
constituent of CRUD in the primary circuit of a PWR is Fe.
Therefore, the concentration of Fe in primary coolant is of great
interest when investigating CRUD deposition. With this in mind, Fe
concentrations were analysed by ICP-MS as a function of temperature
and water chemistry. To complement this investigation, a
computational model was designed and implemented which described
the transport of CRUD around a simulated primary circuit loop. The
experimental results presented in this thesis provide data on the
effect of water chemistry on the build-up rates of CRUD in
accelerated flow regions, which can help to design conditions to
minimise the build-up. It also provides evidence for the postulated
mechanism thought to drive CRUD deposition, and the mechanism has
been applied to describe the observed effects of water chemistry on
CRUD build-up.


Efficient elimination of a pathogen is dependent on both rapid and sustained antibody production by B cells. In contrast with conventional (B2) B cells, which produce antigen-specific antibody later in infection, B1 B cells generate natural antibodies and contribute to the T-cell independent (TI) antibody response. B cell activation and subsequent antibody secretion involve tyrosine phosphorylation, which is tightly regulated by protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs). Previous studies from our lab have demonstrated that the RPTPs CD148 and CD45 have redundant positive regulatory roles in the development and antigen receptor signaling of B2 B cells by acting on on Src PTKs. However, the role of RPTPs in signal transduction in B1 B cells is not well understood. We have found that mice with a targeted deletion of the transmembrane domain of CD148 have an impaired IgM response when challenged with a TI antigen. This suggests that CD148 has a unique role in the TI response that cannot be compensated by CD45. Here, we use the mb1-cre transgenic mouse model as well as adoptive transfer experiments and in vitro analysis of B cell activation to characterize the function and specificity of CD148 in the B1 B cell response to TI antigen. These studies describe a previously unappreciated cell-autonomous role for CD148 in modulating signaling pathways that are important for the generation of TI antibody responses by B1 B cells.


Stimson P. Shantz, MD, and Helmuth Goepfert, MD, of the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at the M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, discussed the impact of natural killer (NK) cell activity at the April 29, 1987 meeting of the American Society for Head and Neck Surgery. They noted that the use of postoperative radiotherapy for patients with head and neck cancer has been associated with an alteration in patterns of recurrence. Although this combined therapy regimen seems to reduce local recurrence, distant metastases predominate. The hypothesis is that factors contributing to this phenomenon may relate to the host immunologic status. There were 182 patients with previously untreated squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract evaluated for NK cell activity. The initial definitive treatment rendered all of the patients disease free. These patients were subsequently followed up longitudinally with a median follow-up interval of 16 months.


We examined unique erythrocyte pits of the peripheral blood and bone marrow in the lesser mouse deer, Tragulus javanicus, using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Under the SEM observation, the pit was observed as a hole on both mature erythrocytes of the peripheral blood and immature erythrocytes of the bone marrow. By the TEM, the mature erythrocytes had a vacuole, which showed complicated shape and occupied considerable space within the cytoplasm. The vacuole was communicated extracellularly by perforation, which corresponded to the hole on the cell surface. In the bone marrow, erythroblast and reticulocytes have a cytoplasmic vacuole. This abnormal feature of the erythrocytes is peculiar to the mouse deer, and not found in other tropical ruminants. Despite the disadvantage of volume loss from the small erythrocytes, the mouse deer were healthy and showed no signs of anaemia.


The aim of the study was to investigate the risk factors for formation of hock lesions in dairy cattle farms with different housing system. The study included 508 Black‐and‐white Holstein‐type cows from 14 dairy farms in different regions of Bulgaria. On cows a hock lesion assessment (scale 1 to 3) and body condition scoring (scale 1 to 5) were made. From the total number of cows, 231 cows (45.5 %) with score of 2 and 3 were reported, which clinical manifestation was from loss of hairs on the hock joint surface to swellings and wounds. A statistically significant effect of lactation period, body condition scores (BCS) and housing system on the hock assessment score was found. The least square means (LSM) for hock assessment score increased with the advancing of lactation period from 1.22 in cows to 60 days in milk (DIM) to 1.52 in cows after 120 DIM. The percentage of cows with BCS 3 and 3.5 was lower 1.5 to 2 times compared to cows with BCS 1.5. With the lowest mean hock assessment score (1.14), were the cows housed free group on a thick bedding. Tie‐stall housing system occupied an intermediate position with respect to hock assessment, only 1.4 % of cows were with a score of 3. The highest percentage of cows with varying degrees of hock lesions were reported in free‐stall housing system with using of rubber mats for stall floors, 75.5 % of the cows were with hock lesion assessment score 2 and 3. This percentage was slightly lower when small amounts of straw were placed on the rubber mats.


A real-time PCR assay was evaluated for the rapid detection (10 h) of Salmonella in meats using molecular beacon probes available as a commercial kit (iQ-Check, Bio-Rad laboratories). Raw (chicken, pork) and ready-to-eat (RTE) meats were artificially contaminated with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium at the estimated level of 2 to 4 cells per 25 g. After 8 h of pre-enrichment in buffered peptone water, a molecular beacon-based PCR assay was performed to detect contamination in raw and RTE meats. The sensitivity and accuracy of the assay were compared with the conventional USDA microbiological procedure. Comparative evaluation of the USDA procedure with the rapid PCR assay for meat samples (n = 63) revealed 1 false negative pork sample with the PCR assay. All uninoculated controls (n = 34) but one sample were negative by both the 10-h PCR assay and the USDA procedure. Developing rapid pathogen detection methods with shorter pre-enrichment times (8-h) and real-time data monitoring capabilities will benefit the industry in preventing recall of contaminated meats by stopping the contaminated products from being introduced into the marketplace.


Classical particle drifts across the magnetic field can play an important role in tokamak edge-plasma transport. The relative influence of these terms is studied for self-consistent simulations by including them, together with anomalous diffusion transport, in a 2-D fluid model of edge-plasma transport for the DIII-D tokamak geometry. The drifts cause asymmetries in the plasma equilibrium which depend on the direction of the magnetic field, B. The basic results can be understood by dividing the drifts into three categories: diamagnetic, E x B, and {nabla}B. The dominant effect near the divertor plates is from the E x B drifts, while the weaker {nabla}B drifts cause an increase in the magnitude of the radial electric field inside the magnetic separatrix. The diamagnetic terms, defined as divergence free, do not contribute to transport.


In addition to three-terminal devices such as metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors and bipolar transistors, the introduction of four-terminal devices such as neuron MOS transistor is essentially required for the realization of intelligent ULSI systems which is most crucial for electronics in the 21st century. Four-terminal devices will allow us to make ULSI hardware more flexible, real-time programmable, and thus more intelligent based on binary multi-valued analog-merged hardware computation algorithm. For such systems to work, we must establish high-accuracy device fabrication processes based on the concept of ultraclean technology. The simultaneous fulfillment of three principles, viz. ultraclean wafer surface, ultraclean processing environment, and perfect process-parameter control, is the key to high-performance processes for fabricating advanced subhalf-micron and subquarter-micron ULSI devices. Advanced process technologies have been realized for the first time by ultraclean processing, making it possible to establish total low-temperature processing, such as gate oxidation at 450°C, implanted region anneal at 450°C, BPSG film reflow at 450°C and single-crystal silicon epitaxy with simultaneous doping at 300°C by introducing very well regulated ion bombardment during processing which is most essential for obtaining high-performance subhalf-micron and subquarter-micron ULSI.


Contrary to initial expectations, implementing dataflow computers has presented a monumental challenge. Now, however, multithreading offers a viable alternative for building hybrid architectures that exploit parallelism. The eventual success of dataflow computers will depend on their programmability. Traditionally, they've been programmed in languages such as Id and SISAL (Streams and Iterations in a Single Assignment Language) that use functional semantics. These languages reveal high levels of concurrency and translate on to dataflow machines and conventional parallel machines via the Threaded Abstract Machine (TAM). However, because their syntax and semantics differ from the imperative counterparts such as Fortran and C, they have been slow to gain acceptance in the programming community. An alternative is to explore the use of established imperative languages to program dataflow machines. However, the difficulty will be analyzing data dependencies and extracting parallelism from source code that contains side effects. Therefore, more research is still needed to develop compilers for conventional languages that can produce parallel code comparable to that of parallel functional languages.<<ETX>>


The alarming increase in the number of clinical cases of carcinoma of the pancreas provides the stimulation to search for an experimental model that produces chronic progressive obstruction of the main pancreatic duct. Fifteen mongrel dogs were studied for 1 to 11 weeks. To induce chronic progressive obstruction of the pancreatic duct, a cellophane tape was placed around the main duct adjacent to its entrance into the duodenum and tied over a needle with a diameter identical to that of the duct; the needle was then withdrawn. All minor ducts were identified by pancreatography and then ligated with 2-0 silk. Each animal was followed up by repeated ductal pancreatography and measurements of serum amylase and alkaline phosphatase concentrations. Histologic, histochemical and ultrastructural studies were also performed. On both gross and microscopic examination each animal demonstrated chronic pancreatitis with preservation of the islands of Langerhans. In the early period (4 to 7 days) complete ductal obstruction occurred as demonstrated by pancreatography and by elevated serum values for amylase (264% increase) and alkaline phosphatase (209% increase). In contrast to what is seen after acute ductal ligation, the ductal epithelial cells increased in number and height. At 4 weeks a new collateral ductal system had developed and serum amylase and alkaline phosphatase values had reverted to normal. This model is useful in studying the kinetics of pancreatic ductal regeneration and the pathophysiology associated with chronic pancreatic ductal obstruction.


Background and Aim: Over 200 million pregnancies occur worldwide annual ly; one third are unwanted and half end up in abortion. This stud y aimed to determine the prevalence of unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions during w omen's childbearing age over a period of 30 years (divided into 5-year intervals) in Tehr an, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 on 518 married women 15 to 55 years old living in Tehran with a hi story of at least one pregnancy. A questionnaire containing two sets of questions on i ndiv dual and demographic characteristics and women's abortion history was used to collect th e data for a period of 30 years (divided into 5-year intervals). The data collected were ana lyzed using SPSS 16 (the significance level was a p-value of <0.05). Results: Of the 966 pregnancies among the 518 women studied, 665 (68.4%) were planned and 307 (31.6%) unwanted. There were 249 abortions, 108 (43.4%) of which were miscarriages, 41 cases (16.5%) for medical reasons, a d 100 cases (40.2%) induced (deliberate). The proportion of induced abortions i unwanted pregnancies increased from 0.0% in 1981-1986 to 41.7% in 2011-2014. Conclusion: Based on the findings it can be concluded that due to changes in family planning program effectiveness and accessibility of contraception methods in Iran unwanted pregnancies and the subsequent abortions have becom e m re common.


A porous silicon monolayer (PSL) and four types of porous silicon multilayers (PSMLs) with 2-, 3-, 7-, and 50-layers were studied using the X-ray double crystal method. PSMLs were formed by controlling the anodization current density. Only three distinct peaks were observed in each rocking curve for these PSMLs, which showed two kinds of porous silicon layers with good crystallinity. It was also shown that the PSL and PSMLs were slightly different in the state of lattice strain. To observe the structure and depth-distribution of lattice strain of PSMLs, a new X-ray cross-sectional topographic technique (XCST) has been proposed. Applying XCST to a three-layer porous silicon consisting of 5 µm, 10 µm, and 5 µm layer thicknesses resulted in a clear X-ray cross-sectional topograph. From the topograph and the corresponding rocking curves, the precise distribution of the lattice strain was revealed. The XCST is useful for evaluating not only the PSML, but also general crystal multilayer structures such as superlattice hetero structures.


: The application of transformations of the state equations of continuous linear and bilinear systems to the canonical form of controllability allows one to simplify the computation of Gramians of these systems. In this paper, we develop the method and obtain algorithms for computation of the controllability and observability Gramians of continuous linear and bilinear stationary systems with many inputs and one output, based on the method of spectral expansion of the Gramians and the iterative method for computing the bilinear systems Gramians. An important feature of the concept is the idea of separability of the Gramians expansion: separate computation of the scalar and matrix parts of the spectral Gramian expansion reduces the sub-Gramian matrices computation to calculation of numerical sequences of their elements. For the continuous linear systems with one output the method and the algorithm of the spectral decomposition of the controllability Gramian are developed in the form of Xiao matrices. Analytical expressions for the diagonal elements of the Gramian matrices are obtained, and by making use of which the rest of the elements can be calculated. For continuous linear systems with many outputs the spectral decompositions of the Gramians in the form of generalized Xiao matrices are obtained, which allows us to significantly reduce the number of calculations. The obtained results are generalized for continuous bilinear systems with one output. Iterative spectral algorithms for computation of elements of Gramians of these systems are proposed. Examples are given that illustrate theoretical results.


Low-contrast letter acuity (LCLA) has emerged as the leading outcome measure to assess visual disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) research. As visual dysfunction is one of the most common manifestations of MS, sensitive visual outcome measures are important in examining the effect of treatment. Low-contrast acuity captures visual loss not seen in high-contrast visual acuity (HCVA) measurements. These issues are addressed by the MS Outcome Assessments Consortium (MSOAC), including representatives from advocacy organizations, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), academic institutions, and industry partners along with persons living with MS. MSOAC goals are acceptance and qualification by regulators of performance outcomes that are highly reliable and valid, practical, cost-effective, and meaningful to persons with MS. A critical step is elucidation of clinically relevant benchmarks, well-defined degrees of disability, and gradients of change that are clinically meaningful. This review shows that MS and disease-free controls have similar median HCVA, while MS patients have significantly lower LCLA. Deficits in LCLA and vision-specific quality of life are found many years after an episode of acute optic neuritis, even when HCVA has recovered. Studies reveal correlations between LCLA and the Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS), Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer plus inner plexiform layer (GCL + IPL) thickness on optical coherence tomography (OCT), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), visual evoked potential (VEP), electroretinogram (ERG), pupillary function, and King-Devick testing. This review also concludes that a 7-point change in LCLA is clinically meaningful. The overall goal of this review is to describe and characterize the LCLA metric for research and clinical use among persons with MS.


Novel drug delivery system, an area of present research is used to carry pharmaceutical ingredients to a targeted site of action in a body, without affecting the nature of the drug. Nanoparticles are too small in size; it has a drug size of 10–100 nm due to its drug size a large amount of drug is absorbed through blood. Polylactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) is a synthetic polymer; it has several lactic acids in the unit and several glycolic acids in the unit. PLGA is used with the drug for improved bioavailability and it works on the targeted site of action. It is used as a polymer with the drug which is having less half-life period. The PLGA has been approved by the department of FDA. The PLGA nanoparticles are prepared by the nano-emulsion method and nanoprecipitation method. The PLGA- loaded nanoparticles are administered through various routes of administration such as oral, parenteral, nasal, and transdermal. It is used to treat several diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and cancer. The evaluation of PLGA nanoparticles has been done with Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetric, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, etc. PLGA is a biodegradable polymer possessing superiority over other polymers in targeting the disease. This review aims in pooling the nanoparticles prepared using the biodegradable PLGA polymer and its efficiency in targeting the drug.


This paper presents a recognition approach for handwritten similar Chinese characters based on wavelet transform and elastic meshing technique, partial space method and support vector machines (SVM) theory. The technique of combining wavelet transform with elastic meshing is employed for a given handwritten character to extract its feature. In addition, partial space method is adopted to select some components of the feature vector showing the main difference among similar Chinese characters. Finally, SVM classifier based on the Gaussian kernel function is exploited to obtain the recognition result. The experiment results confirm the effectiveness and practicality of the approach.


Background: About 10% of acute leukemia (AL) patients harbor MLL-r(earrangements). MLLr acute myeloid leukemia (AML) mainly occurs in young-to-middle-aged adults whereas MLLr acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) mainly occurs in patients younger than 1 year at diagnosis. AML with MLL fusion to MLLT3 via t(9;11)(p22;q23) predicts intermediate prognosis whereas MLL fusion to other partners predicts adverse prognosis. By contrast, in infants with ALL MLLr invariably confers poor prognosis. Much efforts have been made to identify and target proteins required for initiation and maintenance of MLLr AL, with an aim to improve the prognosis of this aggressive AL subtype. Multiple writers, erasers, and readers of histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) have been identified to be fundamental for the initiation and maintenance of MLLr AL. Small molecular inhibitors of some of these chromatin-associated proteins have been identified, such as EPZ004777 against DOT1L, JQ1 and I-BET151 against BRD4, and so on which are also under clinical trials for AL treatment. Among histone modification erasers essential for MLLr AL, JMJD1C and KDM4C that share Jumonji catalytic domain are fundamental for MLLr AL maintenance. Histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) demethylase JMJD1C is one of the most promising MLLr AL targets. Multiple independent studies identified JMJD1C as required for MLLr AML, RUNX1(AML1)/RUNX1T1(ETO) AML and even chronic myeloid leukemia and lymphoma cells but not normal hematopoiesis. KDM4C Is essential for Initiation and maintenance of MLLr AL transcriptional profiling of which is dependent on KDM4C. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of KDM4C blocks leukemia development in syngeneic mouse model and human AML xenograft model. Although a large number of special inhibitors of histone demethylases have been developed, no special inhibitors against KDM3 family member like JMJD1C have been reported.
 Results: Here we focused on Jumonji domain that is responsible for enzymatic activities of histone demethylases for identifying potential small molecule modulators of histone demethylases. We selected Jumonji domain of histone H3 lysine (H3K9) demethylase JMJD1C with KDM4C as reference to screen for potential small molecular modulators from 149,519 natural products and 33,765 Chinese medicine components through virtual screening method. Although identified independently from each other, compound #4 and #12 both share a common structural backbone and surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that #4 and #12 bind to JMJD1C, KDM3 family member KDM3B, and KDM4 family member KDM4C with modest affinity. In vivo demethylation assay showed that #4 induces global increase of H3K9 methylation. In vitro demethylation assay showed that #4 is able to reverse H3K9 demethylation conferred by KDM3B and KDM4C. We thus named #4 and #12 as JI-4 and JI-12 (JI, Jumonji inhibitor). Cell proliferation and colony formation assays showed that JI-4 and JI-12 predominantly kill MLLr AL. To increase evidence, multiple similar compounds to JI-4 and JI-12 were tested for cell proliferation repression and JI-16 was found to show superior killing activities against hematopoietic malignant cells compared to JI-4 and JI-12. Mechanistically, JI-16 not only induces apoptosis but also differentiation of MLLr AL cells. Transcriptome analysis and quantitative PCR (QPCR) showed that JI-16 induced gene expression profiling is especially enriched in gene sets involved in metabolism.
 Conclusion: To sum up, we identified potential pan-inhibitors of the Jumonji domain of histone demethylases. Binding in-vivo is followed by selective killing of MLLr AL cells.
 Disclosures. No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Here magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) boundary layer flow of Jeffrey nanofluid by a nonlinear stretching surface is addressed. Heat generation/absorption and convective surface condition effects are considered. Novel features of Brownian motion and thermophoresis are present. A non-uniform applied magnetic field is employed. Boundary layer and small magnetic Reynolds number assumptions are employed in the formulation. A newly developed condition with zero nanoparticles mass flux is imposed. The resulting nonlinear systems are solved. Convergence domains are explicitly identified. Graphs are analyzed for the outcome of sundry variables. Further local Nusselt number is computed and discussed. It is observed that the effects of Hartman number on the temperature and concentration distributions are qualitatively similar. Both temperature and concentration distributions are enhanced for larger Hartman number.


BACKGROUND : Multiple authors have shown paediatric sleep apnoea is seasonal reflecting respiratory infections. Other authors have speculated from animal data that obesity may reflect seasonal changes in leptin metabolism. AIMS: To determine seasonality, if any, in sleep polygraphy referral rates, body mass index, neck circumference, clinical risk of sleep apnea, perceived sleepiness, and sleep apnea severity in adult subjects. METHODS: A convenience sample of 1000+ adults referred for screening sleep polygraphy (www.sagatech.ca) were categorized by month of referral, body mass index (BMI), neck circumference, pre-test probability of sleep apnoea, Epworth score, and estimated sleep apnoea severity. Visual trends in monthly variation were confirmed if monthly variables were outside the sample interquartile range. RESULTS: Polygraphy referrals were triphasic with March, June, and September peaks. Synchronous March to April and September to October increases in BMI (1.5 to 2 kg/m2) and Epworth score (1 to 1.5 points corresponding to the known clinically significant difference) occurred without seasonal variations in neck circumference, pre-test risk of sleep apnoea, or polygraphy-estimated respiratory disturbance index. CONCLUSIONS : Synchronous spring-fall biphasic peaks in obesity and sleepiness occurred without seasonal variation in sleep apnoea risk or severity in a large adult sample. We will expand our analysis to a larger sample (20 000+) and other adult samples to confirm seasonal obesity and sleepiness. FUNDING: RCPSC and MITACS.


Is cultural diversity an ethnographic invention, or cultures are real objects, to observe, to represent and to study? In this paper it is my intention to underline that anthropological reflection on culture has taken a dead end since the beginning of ethnographic research, for a great amount of efforts was spent to represent the content of specific cultures, expressed by a plurality of single societies. The final result is that nowadays anthropologists know much about invented cultures, but don't know a lot about Culture, about how Culture works, which is, otherwise, I think, the main object of anthropological research. Cultural anthropology is lacking of a culture theory, and this is a bit embarrassing for more than one reason. It is true that in the last years, and not easily, the crisis of representation in social sciences has been in part overcame by new theoretical categories, and by new ways to think the concept of culture, no more as an essence, strongly linked to a place, to a delimited «spot», but as a dynamic process of making sense. But the necessary step for anthropological way to think culture fits with the actual world is to deal with «the other term», the term «nature», always present but always neglected within anthropological research about man. It is not enough to study different and specific cultures, I mean, for identifying how culture works, it is necessary to join the study of cultural diversity and the study of natural diversity, if it is possible to discover a kind of thing as «natural diversity», for really thinking, in a theoretical way, what culture is and how does it work.


In modern days, use of service-oriented architecture (SoA) is becoming popular due to the use of public cloud. A cloud can provide storage services, computing services and infrastructure without any capital or operational expenditure. From a single user to a multi-national million dollar business can easily receive several types of services from a public cloud. There are numerous cloud providers in the market. Among the prominent ones, such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure etc. GCP offers a wide array of services for many organizations and individuals around the world like other cloud providers. However, the question is, all those data, confidential information, intellectual property of individual or industries safe enough? Information has become the most expensive commodity in modern days. A government can be shutdown, a transport system can be disabled, annoying spam calls, phishing emails, cyber bullying and more security threats exist around us. Can we trust a public service provider? Hence, our initiative aims at investigating that GCP is secure from inside attackers. Why we chose inside attackers? Well the idea is to check if GCP can detect and ignore an attack launched internally. In this case, it should be secure enough to prevent from outsiders as well. The research investigation would involve Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against a local virtual machine (VM) launched from GCP. There is a broad spectrum of VMs available in GCP compute engine service.


In this paper, new separated H∞ performance criterion and D-stability criterion are derived. When used in robust synthesis for real polytopic uncertainty, they can reduce conservativeness inherent in the classical quadratic method by providing a parameter-dependent Lyapunov function, and therefore, lead to potentially less conservative results. The results are then extended to design H∞/D-stability controllers for polytopic uncertain systems. All the conditions are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed method.


This paper describes the first phase of an ongoing program of research into theory and practice of IT governance. It conceptually explores existing IT governance literature and reveals diverse definitions of IT governance, that acknowledge its structures, control frameworks and/or processes. The definitions applied within the literature and the nature and breadth of discussion demonstrate a lack of a clear shared understanding of the term IT governance. This lack of clarity has the potential to confuse and possibly impede useful research in the field and limit valid cross-study comparisons of results. Using a content analysis approach, a number of existing diverse definitions are moulded into a "definitive" definition of IT governance and its usefulness is critically examined. It is hoped that this exercise will heighten awareness of the "broad reach" of the IT governance concept to assist researchers in the development of research projects and more effectively guide practitioners in the overall assessment of IT governance.


The "SElf-Data for Enhancing Lifelong learning Autonomy" (SEDELA) project started in September 2017. It gathers researchers
from both IT and education science fields. The project aims to enhance learner's autonomy skills in a lifelong learning
perspective as well as develop, experiment and implement an innovative self-data management approach (El Mawas et al.,
2017). Autonomy in adult education is defined as "the ability to take charge in one's learning" (Holec, 1981, p.3), meaning
specifically "determining the objectives; defining the contents and progressions; selecting methods and techniques to be used;
monitoring the procedure of acquisition properly speaking (rhythm, time, place, etc.); evaluating what has been acquired"
(Holec, 1981, p.3). Autonomous learners must have the capacity for critical reflection, decision making, and independent action
(Little, 1991). But independence does not mean isolation as others often constitute resources for autonomous learners.
Autonomy is considered as a central asset for lifelong learning. Therefore, supporting students to develop their autonomy's
skills has become a major issue for higher education (Poumay, 2017). Moreover, autonomy is a key skill in the professional
development. Professional development can either be defined as a process or as a stage development (Uwamariya &
Mukamurera, 2005) and may be measured using specific indicators (Lefeuvre, Garcia & Namolovan, 2009). The approach of
professional development by Eneau, Lameul & Bertrand (2014) is relevant because it offers a holistic vision with three different
entries: identity construction; professional socialisation; professional posture development. In this context, how may the
implementation of a self-data management approach enhance learner's autonomy skills in their professional development?
Based on previous research (Nguyen & Ikeda, 2015), we suggest that implementing a self-data management approach may
have a positive effect on the learner's autonomy skills development in the apprenticeship context. Both objectives set by the
SEDELA project are narrowly intertwined: implementation of the approach and autonomy skills evaluation. To address both
objectives, a design-based research method is being deployed (Brown, 1992; Class & Schneider, 2013; Stemberger & Cencic,
2016). Design-based research is defined as a method that "combines empirical educational research with a theoretically
substantiated shaping of learning environments" (Stemberger & Cencic, 2016, p.183) and aims to "build a stronger connection
between educational research and real-world problems" (Amiel & Reeves, 2008, p.34). The process of design-based research
is based on four phases (Design-Based Research Collective, 2003; Herrington, McKenney, Reeves & Oliver, 2007; Stemberger
& Cencic, 2016). The first phase consists in scrutinizing a few apprenticeship training programmes in order to identify
pedagogical needs. Then, the second phase implies developing a functional specification in order to build a prototype of a tool.
The third phase consists in testing prototypes iteratively and also entails data collection. The fourth phase concludes the
research by bringing solutions to the problem and presenting the final design of the developed approach.
Data are being collected as the project is ongoing. Therefore, the first results drawn from the prototype experimentations will be
presented at the conference. We will also discuss the design-based research iterative method and its implications in data
gathering.


This paper presents the implementation of the timing, trigger and control (TTC) system of the CMS experiment currently under construction at CERN. The TTC system distributes the system clock for the experiment as well as the first level triggers and synchronization commands. The overall system is described, highlighting the differences from the original concept of the CERN RD-12 collaboration in terms of overall system architecture. Details are given of the two VME-format electronics boards that implement the necessary functionality required by the system design changes


The possible causes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are considered, and the drugs that may be of benefit in treating it. Accurate diagnosis is essential for effective management. This includes the syndrome itself and associated conditions. Theories of causation are discussed. These involve the anatomical substrate but, equally importantly, the role of neurotransmitters; and the use of tests such as positron emission tomography will undoubtedly increase understanding. Genetic factors also play a part. Options for treatment are considered. Evidence supports the effectiveness of stimulant drugs, such as methylphenidate. Among the justifications for such treatment are the excessive strains placed on family relationships by the condition, and the disruption of the child's schooling. It must be carefully planned, and a constant watch kept for adverse effects. These can include difficulty in sleeping, poor appetite, loss of weight and tics. Drugs alone, however, are unlikely to help, and attention must first be given to the situation at home and at school, and how this can be improved. Treatment is often successful, and it can be a rewarding condition to treat.


We study lower bounds on the query complexity of determining correlated equilibrium. In particular, we consider a query model in which an n-player game is specified via a black box that returns players' utilities at pure action profiles. In this model we establish that in order to compute a correlated equilibrium any deterministic algorithm must query the black box an exponential (in n) number of times.


BACKGROUND. The prostrate cancer (PCa) susceptibility gene glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) is associated with the metastasis potential of PCa cells. Androgens, which participate in transcriptional regulation via an androgen receptor (AR), play an important role in PCa development. Our two goals were to determine whether GNMT is regulated by androgen, and to map androgen response elements (AREs). METHODS. Real-time PCR was used to evaluate GNMT mRNA expression levels after LNCaP and DU145 cells were treated with R1881 (a synthetic AR agonist). Putative AREs were identified and tested using the MatInspector program and a luciferase reporter assay respectively. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation were used to verify the binding properties of the GNMT-ARE motif. RESULTS. Results from real-time PCR analyses indicate that R1881 is capable of inducing significant GNMT mRNA levels in AR-positive LNCaP cells, but not in AR-negative DU145 cells. According to in-silico screening prediction data, putative ARE1, ARE2 and ARE3 are located within GNMT intron 1, and ARE4 is located within intron 2. According to results from a luciferase reporter assay, only ARE3 mediated the transcriptional activation effects of R1881. Results from an electrophoretic mobility shift assay show that AR binds to ARE3 in vitro. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay results indicate AR interaction with the ARE3-containing region in vivo. CONCLUSION. Our data show that GNMT is an AR target gene, with its functional ARE located at +1114/+1128 in GNMT intron 1. We believe this information is valuable for clarifying the relationship between androgen and GNMT gene expression. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4984.


A good clustering can help a data analyst to explore and understand a data set, but what constitutes a good clustering may depend on domain-specific and application-specific criteria. These criteria can be difficult to formalize, even when it is easy for an analyst to know a good clustering when she sees one. We present a new approach to interactive clustering for data exploration, called \ciif, based on a particularly simple feedback mechanism, in which an analyst can choose to reject individual clusters and request new ones. The new clusters should be different from previously rejected clusters while still fitting the data well. We formalize this interaction in a novel Bayesian prior elicitation framework. In each iteration, the prior is adapted to account for all the previous feedback, and a new clustering is then produced from the posterior distribution. To achieve the computational efficiency necessary for an interactive setting, we propose an incremental optimization method over data minibatches using Lagrangian relaxation. Experiments demonstrate that \ciif can produce accurate and diverse clusterings.


This integrative review summarizes the scientific evidence about the use of information and communication technologies in the teaching of histology and discusses its implications. The authors used the descriptors 'Educational Technology', 'Information Technology', 'Histology', 'Teaching', 'Learning', and their corresponding Portuguese translation for a comprehensive search of the published literature. This research was performed in May 2020 and targeted the PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, WOS, and SCOPUS databases. Studies published between 2010 and 2020 in Portuguese, English, and Spanish were included in the analysis. After excluding dissertations, reports, and duplicate reviews, 11 articles were identified for an in‐depth analysis, which discussed the use of different technologies, such as digital platforms, mobile apps, virtual microscopy, and video classes for the teaching of histology. All studies concluded that these technologies could have a considerable impact, both positive and negative, on academic performance, the correct interpretation of histological structures, as well as students' motivation and satisfaction. The authors' analysis indicates that the use of the above‐mentioned technologies in combination with traditional methods has the potential of transforming the teaching and learning process for histology. However, how such technologies impact students' learning success needs to be carefully considered.


An emittance scanner has been developed for use with low-energy H- ion beams to satisfy the following requirements: (1) angular resolution of ± 1/2 mrad, (2) small errors from beam space charge, and (3) compact and simple design. The scanner consists of a 10-cm-long analyzer containing two slits and a pair of electric deflection plates driven by a ±500-V linear ramp generator. As the analyzer is mechanically driven across the beam, the front slit passes a thin ribbon of beam through the plates. The ion transit time is short compared with the ramp speed; therefore, the initial angle of the ions that pass through the rear slit is proportional to the instantaneous ramp voltage. The current through the rear slit then is proportional to the phase-space density d2i/dxdx. The data are computer-analyzed to give, for example, rms emittance and phase-space density contours. Comparison of measured data with those calculated from a prepared (collimated) phase space is in good agreement.


Road safety barriers are used to redirect traffic at roadside work-zones. When filled with water, these barriers are able to withstand low to moderate impact speeds up to 50kmh-1. Despite this feature, there are challenges when using portable water-filled barriers (PWFBs) such as large lateral displacements as well as tearing and breakage during impact, especially at higher speeds. In this study, the authors explore the use of composite action to enhance the crashworthiness of PWFBs and enable their use at higher speeds. Initially, we investigated the energy absorption capability of water in PWFB. Then, we considered the composite action of a PWFB with the introduction of a steel frame to evaluate its impact on performance. Findings of the study show that the initial height of impact must be lower than the free surface level of water in a PWFB for the water to provide significant crash energy absorption. In general, impact of a road barrier that is 80% filled is a good estimation. Furthermore, the addition of a composite structure greatly reduces the probability of tearing by decreasing the strain and impact energy transferred to the shell container. This allows the water to remain longer in the barrier to absorb energy via inertial displacement and sloshing response. Information from this research will aid in the design of next generation roadside safety structures aimed to increase safety on modern roadways.


In this contribution the AIM project EDUCTRA and the Telematics Applications Programme IT-EDUCTRA will be described. EDUCTRA has as its aim to investigate what gaps in knowledge health professionals have about health informatics and to provide educational material to fill these gaps. It was believed that a basic understanding of health informatics was present and that educational material should only cover the knowledge necessary for appreciating the products of the AIM programme. It appeared that the knowledge with respect to health informatics was deplorable. Guidelines for curricula were developed to change the situation. In IT-EDUCTRA the necessary course material will be developed.


Abstract Ambient air samples at ten sites in an iron and steel industrial complex were collected from June to December for analyzing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Sixteen species of PAH components in air samples were identified. The results indicate that both gaseous phase and particle‐bound PAHs at the top of the cokemaking plants are unusually high. The profiles of particle‐bound PAHs indicate that the predominant species at the top of, the coke oven batteries are those of high molecular weight components. The major components of particle‐bound PAHs at sampling sites near the fenceline, however, include the medium molecular weight components. The PAH profiles of air samples within the industrial complex show a strong similarity to those of cokemaking plant samples. The concentrations and the specific content of benzo(a)pyrene in the iron and steel industrial complex are higher than those values measured in urban area, petrochemical industry park, and open‐air burning area.


Dietary fiber has been, for several years, the glamour ingredient in popular nutrition. Based on epidemiological evidence, lack of fiber in the diet has been impugned as a major risk factor for development of colon cancer, heart disease, diabetes and a variety of lesser ills. Animal experiments suggest that some components of the complex mixture of substances called fiber will reduce cholesterol levels to a modest extent and will inhibit atherosclerosis induced by diet. In man the data center on the effects of fiber on plasma cholesterol levels and some fibers such as pectin or guar exert significant hypocholesterolemic effects whereas others, such as bran, do not. The situation is similar with regard to colon cancer. Some types of fiber, bran and cellulose for instance, inhibit experimentally induced colon cancer. There are a number of ways of establishing experimental colon cancer; feeding the carcinogenic agent, injecting it, or instilling it intrarectally. There also exists a variety of carcinogenic agents. The effect of fiber is the sum of the type of fiber and carcinogen used and the mode of establishing the cancer. Different combinations give different results in animal studies. In man the data bearing on this subject are wholly epidemiological. A few case-control studies have provided suggestions that low fiber diets may predispose to colon cancer but these studies point to a dietary life-style in which many components other than fiber vary. The most notable success in wedding practice to hypothesis has been in the area of diabetes. Here it has been shown clearly that increasing dietary fiber results in reductions in lipemia, glycemia and insulin requirement. What remains? More work in the cancer and heart disease fields but mainly a greater effort to identify the specific structure of those fibers which exert a beneficial effect. This will have the two-fold benefit of identification of specifically useful structural types of fiber and of possibly providing clues to mechanism of action or of carcinogenicity. Most experts agree that a modest increase in intake of fiber will have a generally beneficial effect but they can only support these statements with epidemiological proof. Future research must include studies designed to confirm the epidemiological findings and to identify the specific components responsible for them.


A reliability based analysis method for a drilled shaft stabilized slope system is presented in this paper. The drilled shaft stabilization mechanisms for the slope were treated as the drilled shaft induced soil arching, which was quantified by the load transfer factor in the limited equilibrium analysis. However, due to the inherent uncertainties of the soil properties and the model error of the semi-empirical load transfer equation, an extension modification of the deterministic method into a probabilistic method is developed in this paper. The MCS (Monte Carlo simulation) with log-normal random variables has been employed to calculate the probability of failure (Pf) for the drilled shafts/slope system. The developed theories were coded into a computer program for analyzing complex slope geometry and slope profile conditions. Finally, a case study has been performed to illustrate the application analysis of the developed probability approach in drilled shafts/slope system.


OBJECTIVE
To compare axillary and rectal temperature measurements obtained with a digital thermometer for Beagles in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment.

ANIMALS
26 healthy Beagles (17 sexually intact males and 9 sexually intact females).

PROCEDURES
Dogs were maintained in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment for 56 days before rectal and axillary temperatures were measured. Axillary and rectal temperatures were obtained in triplicate for each dog by use of a single commercially available manufacturer-calibrated digital thermometer.

RESULTS
Mean rectal and axillary temperatures of Beagles maintained in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment were significantly different, with a median ± SD difference of 1.4° ± 0.15°C (range, 0.7° to 2.1°C). Mean rectal and axillary temperatures were 38.7°C (range, 37.6° to 39.5°C) and 37.2°C (range, 36.6° to 38.3°C), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Results of this study indicated that the historical reference of a 0.55°C gradient between rectal and axillary temperatures that has been clinically used for veterinary patients was inaccurate for healthy Beagles in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment. Rectal and axillary temperatures can be measured in veterinary patients. Reliable interpretation of axillary temperatures may accommodate patient comfort and reduce patient anxiety when serial measurement of temperatures is necessary. Further clinical studies will be needed.


The influence of the annealing temperature on the intergranular fracturing susceptibility of a metallic Nickel based system having composition of 0.8 mass ppm sulfur is investigated. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been the main methods used for inspecting the ability for in-situ intergranular fracturing of the grain boundaries of our material. The samples were first annealed at sufficient temperatures for proper equilibrium time, and then quenched at room temperature. The relationship between sulfur grain boundary segregation and the intergranular fracturing is then considered. We found upon our experiments that at high temperatures that range from 700 to 800 °C, the analysis reveals full ductile fracture of the samples. However, the only sample that presents a partial intergranular fracture is that one annealed at 650°C. The average grain boundary composition for this sample is 15.08 % atomic of sulfur which concords the critical sulfur concentration for the embrittlement of Nickel.


Constructivism is a widely influential perspective in science education research. However, there have been strong criticisms of attempts to adopt constructivism as a principle underpinning official science curriculum policy (for example in New Zealand). Over the past decade recommendations for classroom pedagogy in extensive official guidance (particularly through the 'National Strategy') issued to science teachers working in England have explicitly drawn upon constructivist principles. Yet there has been little public debate about this aspect of the guidance, or its reception by teachers, and there are reasons to expect that the potential impact of the recommendations has been severely compromised by the nature of the guidance, and the wider curriculum context. As recent substantive curriculum revisions rely upon science teachers adopting new pedagogy, research is indicated to explore how teachers construe and respond to pedagogic recommendations disseminated through official guidance.


Protocol specifications play an important role in telecommunications software specifications and many techniques exist to support design and analysis of protocol specifications. Among these are techniques for transformation between sequence charts and specification description language (SDL), which are discussed. Principles for translation between a specification in SDL and a specification in state transition diagrams are discussed, and a transformation technique between a specification in a state transition diagram and a specification in message sequence charts is described. A cyclic expansion-based protocol validation and component-based protocol synthesis are adopted to realize an efficient transformation.<<ETX>>


Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was used as a rapid and nondestructive method to determine the protein content and gossypol content in cotton kernel powder samples, using 49 upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) germplasms and 188 recombinant inbred lines (RILs). The cottonseed samples harvested from the upland cotton germplasms and RILs grown in different cotton growing regions in different years were analyzed chemically for protein and gossypol contents, as well as scanned in the reflectance mode of a scanning monochromator. Using ISI software for scanning and data analysis, protein and gossypol calibration equations were obtained with a standard normal variate + detrending scatter correction and a 2, 4, 4, 1 math treatment and modified partial least square (MPLS) as the regression method. The protein content calibration results revealed that the multiple correlation coefficients (RSQ) and statistic 1--variance ratio (1-VR) for the determination of protein content in cottonseed kernels were 0.933 and 0.929, respectively, and its standard error of calibration (SEC) and standard error of cross validation (SECV) were 0.623 and 0.638, respectively. As the calibration equations were judged by the calibration RSQ (or 1-VR) and SEC (or SECV), the results indicated that NIRS is comparable to chemical methods in both accuracy and prediction and is reliable in the determination of protein content in cottonseed kernels. However, the RSQ, SEC, 1-VR and SECV for gossypol content determination of NIRS were 0.836, 0.811, 0.074 and 0.079, respectively. Although it was weaker than that of protein content, the NIRS method is still good enough for the determination and prediction of the gossypol content in cottonseed kernels. Therefore, NIRS models were successfully developed for protein content and gossypol content analysis of cotton kernel powder sample in the present study and they could be introduced into the cotton germplasm evaluation and breeding program for the cottonseed quality improvement.


The ombudsman tradition originated in Sweden in 1809 and spread throughout the world in less than two hundred years. The progress of development of independent human rights institutions in the 20th century was remarkable. Since 1981, when the institution of Ombudsman for Children was established in Norway, more than 200 institutions have been created and exist today. They are of different forms, but share the same role: to ensure that governments and other state institutions, public and private bodies implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Ombudsman (ombudsperson) is the key player in promoting and protecting children's rights and best interests. The main task of ombudsman institutions is to close the gap between the rights rhetoric and the realities of children's lives, ensuring that rights are translated into law, policy and practice. The author analyses the Norwegian model of a specialised ombudsman institution, as this model was influential in western European countries and Nordic countries with democratic governance and strong individual human rights traditions. On the other hand, the author examines the advantages and disadvantages of an inclusive model, which was chosen by some eastern European countries, often in the context of democratic transition and usually integrated in general (parliamentary) ombudsman institutions or human rights bodies. Bearing in mind that the integration of children's rights issues into a broad-based human rights institution may face particular challenges, the author concludes that every country must establish an effective independent institution for promoting and protecting children's rights and best interests.


Twenty-seven patients with lymphoid neoplasia who underwent autologous bone marrow transplant (BMT) and who had received recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) were followed in order to examine the potential long-term consequences of rhGM-CSF. rhGM-CSF (15-240 micrograms/m2/day) was given daily either for 14 or 21 days after marrow infusion. All surviving patients who remained in remission had stable marrow graft function. The actuarial survival rate was 45% and the relapse incidence was 50% at a median of 774 days after autologous BMT. These findings suggest that treatment with rhGM-CSF does not have profound adverse long-term consequences.


This article focuses on the topic of the polarisation of space. Its objective is to give a basic overview of the theoretical and methodological aspects of research on peripheral areas and to discuss selected aspects. Attention is given to the concept of polarisation of space as a central theoretical point of departure in studying peripheral areas. In the second section, attention is directed at defining the terms marginality/peripherality and marginal/peripheral areas. The meaning of these terms is understood differently by many authors. As part of the issue of evaluating the polarisation of space, central methodological problems, which can be encountered in specific empirical studies, are discussed.


INTRODUCTION
A national initiative on reduction of HIV mother-to-child-transmission is being implemented since 2003 in Colombia, including HIV counseled and voluntary testing as part of the routine antenatal care, comprehensive care with ARV treatment to HIV-positive pregnant women and their infected children, caesarian delivery, and replacement of breast milk.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the achievements in the implementation of the prevention strategy of mother-to-child HIV transmission, 2003-2005.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The implementation procedures of the Project are described, as well as the coverage percentages achieved, the prevention of vertical transmission and its associated factors, and the six-month prevalence by geographical departments. The probability of transmission adjusted to the ARV treatment offered and the differences by regions are also analyzed.

RESULTS
The Project was implemented in 757 municipalities (68%); diagnostic tests were performed to 200,853 pregnant women, 377 of whom were diagnosed as HIV positive (0.19%), with higher prevalences in the Caribbean region, and in the Departments of Quindio and Santander. Complete six-month follow-up after delivery was provided to 285 women and their neonates (12 of whom were HIV-positive). The probability of transmission with the use of ARV schemes during pregnancy (n=170) was 1.78% (IC 95%: 0.37-5.13%). Factors related to probability of transmission were: initial viral load > 10,000/mm3, absence of antenatal care, and late recruitment of pregnant women. No statistical differences were found between the ARV schemes used. In the Caribbean region, antenatal care was lower, and late recruitment of pregnant women was higher.

CONCLUSIONS
Reduction of HIV mother-to-child-transmission is an effective preventive intervention, which also strengthens the quality of antenatal care services. Sustainability of this initiative, with nationwide coverage, must be a target for national and regional public health authorities, and for health care providers.


We examine the energy dependence of the quantum defect of double Rydberg states with a high-l electron moving in Coulomb plus dipole and quadrupole polarization potentials. The polarization quantum defects due to these additional potential terms exhibit an energy dependence which is characteristic of each of them: linear for the dipole part and quadratic for the quadrupole part. For quantum defects which are small enough to guarantee the validity of a perturbative treatment, we derive the energy levels using a simple and accurate dipole quantum defect formula obtained by the semiclassical JWKB theory. At larger polarizabilities which correspond to a non-perturbative situation, the dipolar energy spectrum is calculated by diagonalizing the Hamiltonian matrix built on hydrogenic wavefunctions. In this case the quantum defect always presents a smooth variation versus the energy, but does not exhibit a simple behaviour. For the lower levels it is larger than unity, while it decreases rapidly to smaller values (less than one) as the ionization limit is approached. All the calculations are performed using dipole polarizabilities which are close to values found in the double Rydberg literature.


Abstract The pollution of the marine ecosystem is a world-wide problem. Heavy metals and organochlorine compounds are among the most harmful elemental pollutants and are of particular concern because of their toxicity to humans. Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus, Linnaeus 1758), small pelagic fish with a key ecological role in the marine food web, is an important link connecting the lower and upper trophic levels, being also a valuable species for human consumption. Thus, anchovy samples were collected from different stations along the Romanian Black Sea coast and the analyzed contaminants were organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu and Cr) in muscle tissue. Cd and Pb are the heavy metals that exceeded the allowed levels under the EU legislation (0.3 μg/g), Cd recorded values within the range 0.29-0.51 μg/g (average 0.36 ± 0.09 μg/g) and Pb recorded values within the interval 0.29-1.62 μg/g (average 0.75 ± 0.57 μg/g). Regarding organochlorine pesticides, the highest level was recorded by p,p′-DDE (6.76±1.21 ng/g/dry weight), followed by p,p′-DDD (3.88±0.97 ng/g/dry weight). Among PCB's, the highest level was recorded by PCB 28 (5.19±1.29 ng/g/dry weight). The results of this study revealed that heavy metals, pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls values identified in anchovy tissue, species of commercial interest from the Black Sea, are not threatening to human consumers.


Drawing on a four-year research project on Canadian primary caregiving fathers, as well two recent projects on the first year of parenting, this article highlights several theoretical and substantive issues in the study of gender equality and gender differences in parenting. First, I call for shifts from a focus on domestic tasks toward domestic and community-based responsibilities. Second, I argue that the political terrain underpinning the study of mothering and fathering calls for clarity on how researchers interpret the constant interplay between equality and differences. Third, while there has been some change over time, parental responsibilities remain gendered because they are deeply rooted in habitus and embodiment across specific spatial and temporal contexts.


Background: The NORSTENT trial randomized 9,013 patients to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with a drug-eluting stent (DES) or bare-metal stent (BMS) with 5-year follow-up. No difference was found in the composite primary outcome of death from any cause and nonfatal spontaneous myocardial infarction after a median of 5 years of follow-up. Secondary outcomes included repeat revascularizations, which were reduced by DES. We report the occurrence of target lesion revascularization (TLR) in time and across demographic and clinical subgroups in patients with lesions in native coronary arteries (n = 8,782). Results: Clinically driven TLR was performed on 488 (5.6%) of the 8,782 patients during 5 years of follow-up. Male gender, older age, visible thrombus in the lesion, and larger stent diameter were associated with less TLR; multivessel disease and longer stents were associated with a higher risk of TLR. There was a substantial and highly significant reduction of the risk of any TLR after 5 years in the DES group (hazard ratio [HR] 0.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.36–0.52], p < 0.001). The effect of DES on TLR was limited in time to the first 2 years in the study with no evidence of a later rebound effect. The reduction in TLR after DES insertion was consistent across subgroups defined by gender, age, diabetes status, renal function, and lesion and stent characteristics. The number needed to treat with DES (vs. BMS) to prevent 1 TLR ranged from 4 to 110 across clinically relevant subgroups. Conclusion: DES have a time-limited effect on the rate of TLR, but with a substantial and highly significant reduction in the first 2 years after the procedure. This effect was found to be consistent across all important clinical subgroups.


Manga are Japanese-style comics or graphic novels which have become the rage among young readers around the world. Teaming up with Viz, a leading English-language manga publisher, the Bank has launched a new series of comic books, each highlighting a key development issue. The stories follow the adventures of 15-yearold Rei who discovers that the only way to become a true warrior is to understand the challenges facing the poor and disadvantaged people he befriends along the way. Rei's humorous side-kick is a wise "spirit guide" which morphs into different animal guises as it introduces Rei to each new challenge. In this volume, mercenaries kidnap our hero and force him to fight in an illegal army side by side with other children ripped from their homes and families. Struggling just to survive from one day to the next, will Rei be able to escape, let alone lead his fellow child soldiers safely to freedom? The first three volumes focused on poverty, HIV/AIDS, and the environment. New volumes in the series focus on education for girls and corruption. An appendix in each book provides further information, websites, and other resources so readers can explore the themes introduced in the story.


Option pricing, decision trees and Monte Carlo simulations are three methods used for evaluating projects. In this paper their similarities and differences are compared from three points of view:- how they handle uncertainty in the values of key parameters such as the reserves, the oil price and costs; how they incorporate the time value of money and whether they allow for managerial flexibility. We show that despite their obvious differences, they are in fact different facets of a general project evaluation framework which has the static base case scenario as its simplest form. Compromises have to be made when modelling the complexity of the real world. These three approaches can be obtained from the general framework by focussing on certainty aspects.


This is a case-based conceptual study that focuses on the marketing business model of the Laboratory for Wellness and Motor Behavior (LWMB) which is not-for-profit and housed at a state university in Texas, the United States of America. The LWMB was established by a kinesiology professor who started working with kinesiology students whose focus is in allied health to provide services to individuals who have spinal cord injuries or other neurological disabilities. Using a team approach, the LWMB, under the kinesiology professor's supervision, works closely with the patrons and their families, and the graduate assistants and interns from the Kinesiology Department of the university. Even though relatively unknown to the general public, the Laboratory has been successful in helping the patrons and training the students.  Nevertheless, in order to remain sustainable and to continuously "provide access to the benefits of exercise to those who otherwise are disregarded" (Priest, 2016), a comprehensive marketing business model is needed to help the LWMB warrant its "success and future expansion". The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current marketing business model of the LWMB and then provide recommendations to improve it. A theoretical framework that shows potential outcomes of the improved marketing business model for the stroke survivors and interns is also presented. The results of the market analysis show that this laboratory operates in a very competitive and technologically turbulent business environment with many opportunities and threats. Several recommendations are made for LWMB to improve its marketing business model to deal with the challenges of its internal and external operating environments.


We overview in this paper perhaps the single most important contribution to our understanding of financial markets in the past two decades, namely, the theory of derivative securities pricing.


The problem of designing controllers for systems with delays, such that the closed-loop system is positive, stable and fulfils bounds on the system variables, is studied. In order to design this type of controller, a technique is provided, which is based on solving linear programming problems, as this allows the controllers that fulfil these properties to be easily characterised even in the presence of uncertainty in the plant description. Thus, these controllers ensure that the states are kept non-negative and that they fulfil limitations on the control and states. The work is completed with numerical simulations of the application of the methodology for router congestion control in computer networks, based on the synthesis of an active queue management system, thus demonstrating the usefulness of the proposed technique for practical problems.


Case report: APS, 19 years, female, outpatients with a diagnosis of patent ductus arteriosus in planning surgical correction sought emergency room presenting episodes of fever measured 2 weeks ago, asthenia and fatigue. Additional research showed pancytopenia and hepatosplenomegaly. Prompted transthoracic echocardiography showing orifice of the ductus arteriosus thicked image hiperrefringente, mobile, looks filamentous pedunculated measuring 13 mm in length, the topography of the ductus arteriosus, pulmonary attached to the end. Requested three pairs of blood cultures without detectable bacterial growth. Patient admitted for investigation and treatment of infective endarteritis probable subacute seronegative blood channel, and also request surveys by indirect immunofluorescence for Bartonella sp, with positive results. Patient admitted for treatment with antibiotics and surgery scheduled for correction of patent ductus arteriosus, and started intravenous penicillin and gentamicin. During admission had septic symptomatic pulmonary embolization, followed by emergency surgery for correction of patent ductus arteriosus. Favorable outcome after high end drug treatment for 28 days.

Discussion: Bartonella sp is a common cause of infectious endocarditis seronegative, with few reports in the literature. However, there are no reports in the literature National endarterites ductus arteriosus caused by such bacteria. Since this diagnosis is considered difficult at the beginning of the investigation, it should search request Bartonella sp in all cases of infective endocarditis and endarteritis in patent ductus ateriosus with negative blood cultures, since the prevalence of this microorganism has been increasing in Brazil.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory, autoimmune, demyelinating, and degenerative central nervous system disease. Even though the etiology of MS has not yet been fully elucidated, there is evidence that genetic and environmental factors interact to cause the disease. Among the main environmental factors studied, those more likely associated with MS include certain viruses, smoking, and hypovitaminosis D. This review aimed to determine whether there is evidence to recommend the use of vitamin D as monotherapy or as adjunct therapy in patients with MS. We searched PUBMED, EMBASE, COCHRANNE, and LILACS databases for studies published until September 9 th , 2013, using the keywords "multiple sclerosis", "vitamin D", and "clinical trial". There is no scientific evidence up to the production of this consensus for the use of vitamin D as monotherapy for MS in clinical practice.


Cold stress is a major factor influencing the geographical distribution of soybean growth and causes immense losses in productivity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that the soybean has undergone to survive cold temperatures will have immense value in improving soybean cold tolerance. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms involved in soybean response to cold. We summarized the recent studies on soybean cold-tolerant quantitative trait loci (QTLs), transcription factors, associated cold-regulated (COR) genes, and the regulatory pathways in response to cold stress. Cold-tolerant QTLs were found to be overlapped with the genomic region of maturity loci of E1, E3, E4, pubescence color locus of T, stem growth habit gene locus of Dt1, and leaf shape locus of Ln, indicating that pleiotropic loci may control multiple traits, including cold tolerance. The C-repeat responsive element binding factors (CBFs) are evolutionarily conserved across species. The expression of most GmDREB1s was upregulated by cold stress and overexpression of GmDREB1B;1 in soybean protoplast, and transgenic Arabidopsis plants can increase the expression of genes with the DRE core motif in their promoter regions under cold stress. Other soybean cold-responsive regulators, such as GmMYBJ1, GmNEK1, GmZF1, GmbZIP, GmTCF1a, SCOF-1 and so on, enhance cold tolerance by regulating the expression of COR genes in transgenic Arabidopsis. CBF-dependent and CBF-independent pathways are cross-talking and work together to activate cold stress gene expression. Even though it requires further dissection for precise understanding, the function of soybean cold-responsive transcription factors and associated COR genes studied in Arabidopsis shed light on the molecular mechanism of cold responses in soybeans and other crops. Furthermore, the findings may also provide practical applications for breeding cold-tolerant soybean varieties in high-latitude and high-altitude regions.


By retrieval and analysis of literature, the origin and connotation of the word Bentai were stated. In the early twentieth century, one Japanese scholar introduced the word into acupuncture-moxibustion. It was mostly used to explore the mechanism of acupuncture-moxibustion and acupoints through scientific research. One Chinese scholar introduced the connotation into acupuncture and moxibustion in 1940, and it was mainly expressed the essence. Professor ZHU Bing systematically discussed Bentai of acupoints from a scientific point of view. The knowledge of acupoints, however, is diverse, and there is different cognition due to multiple perspectives. Acupoints may not have unique Bentai.


Background and Aims Examination for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the most painful procedures performed in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). In order to avoid severe visual impairment all infants below 1500 g and 32th gestational age should be screened. The aim of this study is to identify the systemic effects and complications of mydriatic eye drops and the physical manipulation of the globe. Methods The study sample included all preterm infants who were screened for ROP weighing up to 1500 g at birth and hospitalized in Adnan Menderes University NICU from January 2011 through December 2011. Hospital records were reviewed. Vital signs, apnea and seizure events, need for respiratory support, infection rates, amount of feedings, gastric residuals were investigated. Descriptive statistics and one way Anova test were applied. Results Seventy ROP examinations in 34 infants were included. Mean birth weight was 1157± 256(700–1945) g, mean gestational age was 28± 1.6(25–32) weeks. Median duration of mechanical support was 15.1± 12(0–50) days. Mean heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation were similar 24 hours before and after examination. There were no significant differences in apnea event and seizures. Gastric distention was seen in three babies, suspected necrotising enterocolitis in one infant. Conclusions There were no demostrable systemic effects associated with ROP examination although infants seemed to be somewhat tired. Low incidence of severe systemic side effects may be associated with fingertip pressure on lacrimal duct and reducing the amount of feedings just before and after the examination.


To realize a graphene based spintronic device, the prime challenge is to control the electronic structure of edges. In this work we find the origin of the spin filtering property in edge boron doped zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) and provide a guide to preparing a graphene based next-generation spin filter based device. Here, we unveil the role of orbitals (p-electron) to tune the electronic, magnetic and transport properties of edge B doped ZGNRs. When all the edge carbon atoms at one of the edges of ZGNRs are replaced by B (100% edge B doping), the system undergoes a semiconductor to metal transition. The role of passivation of the edge with single/double atomic hydrogen on the electronic properties and its relation with the p-electron is correlated in-depth. 50% edge B doped ZGNRs (50% of the edge C atoms at one of the edges are replaced by B) also show half-metallicity when the doped edge is left unpassivated. The half-metallic systems show 100% spin filtering efficiency for a wide range of bias voltages. Zero-bias transmission function of the other configurations shows asymmetric behavior for the up and down spin channels, thereby indicating their possible application potential in nano-spintronics.