The bipartite GAL4-UAS system is a versatile and powerful tool for functional genetic analysis. The essence of the system is to cross transgenic 'driver' lines that express the yeast transcription factor GAL4 in a tissue specific manner, with transgenic 'responder' lines carrying a candidate gene/RNA interference construct whose expression is controlled by Upstream Activation Sequences (UAS) that bind GAL4. In the ensuing progeny, the gene or silencing construct is thus expressed in a prescribed spatiotemporal manner, enabling the resultant phenotypes to be assayed and gene function inferred. The binary system enables flexibility in experimental approaches to screen phenotypes generated by transgene expression in multiple tissue-specific patterns, even if severe fitness costs are induced. We have adapted this system for Anopheles gambiae, the principal malaria vector in Africa. In this article, we provide some of the common procedures used during GAL4-UAS analysis. We describe the An. gambiae GAL4-UAS lines already generated, as well as the cloning of new responder constructs for upregulation and RNAi knockdown. We specify a step by step guide for sexing of mosquito pupae to establish genetic crosses, that also includes screening progeny to follow inheritance of fluorescent gene markers that tag the driver and responder insertions. We also present a protocol for clearing An. gambiae embryos to study embryonic development. Finally, we introduce potential adaptions of the method to generate driver lines through CRISPR/Cas9 insertion of GAL4 downstream of target genes.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Novel approaches for chemoprevention of breast cancer are clinically attractive not only because many risk factors associated with this disease are not easily modifiable (e.g., genetic predisposition) but also due to the fact that the currently available chemopreventive options targeted against breast cancer (e.g., estrogen receptor antagonists) are sub-optimal and plagued with adverse side effects. Needless to emphasize that breast cancer continues to be a leading cause of cancer-related death in American women despite significant advances towards targeted therapies. Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), a constituent of edible cruciferous vegetables (e.g., garden cress), seems promising for chemoprevention of breast cancer based on our own preclinical work. For example, we have shown previously that BITC administration not only inhibits growth of human breast cancer xenografts (MDA-MB-231) in athymic mice but also imparts significant protection against mammary cancer development in a transgenic mouse model (MMTV-neu). More recent studies from our laboratory have revealed that BITC is a potent inhibitor of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human breast cancer cells, but the mechanism underlying this effect is not known. In the present study, we addressed this question using MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, and SUM159 human breast cancer cells as a model. Overexpression of superoxide dismutase, which confers significant protection against proapoptotic and proautophagic cell death responses to BITC, did not have any meaningful impact on BITC-mediated inhibition of EMT. Likewise, ectopic expression of constitutively active STAT3, a transcription factor implicated in EMT regulation, had no effect on EMT inhibition by BITC. Instead, the BITC-mediated inhibition of EMT was associated with suppression of protein and mRNA levels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its receptor (uPAR). Secretion of uPA in culture media of breast cancer cells was also decreased significantly upon BITC treatment. BITC-mediated inhibition of MDA-MB-231 xenograft growth in vivo was accompanied by downregulation of uPA and uPAR protein expression in the tumor and suppression of uPA secretion in plasma. Ectopic expression of uPAR in MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 cells conferred partial but significant protection against BITC-mediated inhibition of EMT, cell migration, and/or cell invasion. Collectively, these results indicate that BITC-mediated inhibition of EMT is caused, at least in part, by suppression of the uPA/uPAR system. This investigation was supported by the USPHS grant RO1 CA129347-05, awarded by the National Cancer Institute.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 565. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-565


Mask contributors to line-edge roughness (LER) have recently been shown to be an issue of concern for both the accuracy of current resist evaluation tests as well the ultimate LER requirements for the 22-nm production node. Problems arise from mask absorber LER as well as mask reflector or surface roughness leading to random phase variations in the reflected beam. Not only do these mask contributors effect to total measured LER in resist, but they also effect LER spatial characteristic such as the LER power spectral density and related descriptors of correlation length and roughness exponent. Noting that these characteristics are important in the understanding of LER, it is crucial to understand how mask effects impact these parameters. Moreover, understanding how these metrics respond to mask effects may lead to an experimental mechanism for experimentally evaluating the importance of mask contributors to LER. Here we use computer modeling to study the LER spatial metrics arising from mask effects. We further describe the effects of illumination conditions and defocus on the metrics and compare the results to those expected from intrinsic resist LER.


Careful mapping of shallow drilling hazards is key to operating an oil field safely and economically. In the Midland Basin, historical information indicates that shallow gas in the Salado Formation may result in blowouts. By using recently acquired higher-resolution 3D seismic surveys, we can identify circular high-amplitude anomalies that we interpret to be nitrogen-filled gas pockets. The larger pockets can be mapped and avoided before drilling a well. Detecting gas pockets in the Salado Formation may require modern 3D coverage or higher-resolution seismic drill site surveys if older low-fold seismic data are available at the drilling locations. The smallest pockets may not be detectable by any means. Although some of the larger anomalies are visible on older 3D surveys, most only became visible with the advent of higher-fold denser 3D seismic surveys. The anomalies sometimes follow a linear pattern. However, most are isolated in nature and appear as circular features in plan view and usually lenticular or columnar in section view. The anomalies range in size from a few traces in width (tens of feet or meters) to more than 1000 ft (300 m) in width or length. Seismic modeling suggests that the anomalies are very low P-wave velocity zones (about half of the velocity of the surrounding salt) and exhibit longer seismic traveltimes or push-down effects on reflections underneath the larger anomalies.


Self-attention mechanism-based algorithms are attractive in digital pathology due to their interpretability, but suffer from computation complexity. This paper presents a novel, lightweight Attention-based Multiple Instance Mutation Learning (AMIML) model to allow small-scale attention operations for predicting gene mutations. Compared to the standard self-attention model, AMIML reduces the number of model parameters by approximately 70%. Using data for 24 clinically relevant genes from four cancer cohorts in TCGA studies (UCEC, BRCA, GBM, and KIRC), we compare AMIML with a standard self-attention model, five other deep learning models, and four traditional machine learning models. The results show that AMIML has excellent robustness and outperforms all the baseline algorithms in the vast majority of the tested genes. Conversely, the performance of the reference deep learning and machine learning models vary across different genes, and produce suboptimal prediction for certain genes. Furthermore, with the flexible and interpretable attention-based pooling mechanism, AMIML can further zero in and detect predictive image patches.


Abstract The ecophysiology of germination in Pinus brutia and P. halepensis was studied in seeds collected from different areas of Greece. In regard to the temperature range of germination, both P. halepensis and the southern provenance (Lasithi, Crete) of the East Mediterranean pine, P. brutia, follow a typical Mediterranean pattern. In the latter species, dramatic differences in the degree of dormancy were noted among the three provenances investigated; in all seed lots however, 20°C was clearly the optimal temperature for germination. Stratification resulted in a considerable promotion of P. brutia seed germination. Nevertheless, the inductive effect of stratification was shown to differ among the three provenances used, escalating from a simple increase of germination rate (in the southern seed lot from Lasithi, Crete) through a broadening of the temperature range of germination (in the intermediate lot from Thasos Island) to, finally, a dramatic release from a particularly deep dormancy (in the northern lot from Soufli). These deeply dormant seeds of the latter provenance displayed an absolute stratification requirement; prolonged illumination or seed coat scarification could not substitute for the promotive effect of prechilling. A considerable interaction between far-red light and stratification was revealed in the dormant seeds of P. brutia (Soufli provenance); far-red pulses during stratification could either cancel or diminish the germination promotion induced by low temperatures. The differences observed in the germination behaviour among the various P. brutia provenances may be attributed to a variable ecophysiological strategy in regard to the temporal pattern of seedling emergence and establishment. According to the variants of this strategy, seed germination is timed to occur during either spring (in regions with relatively cold and moist climates), or autumn and early winter (in southern, mild and dry areas) or both (in intermediate conditions).


In this paper, we study a class of neutral partial functional integrodifferential equations with finite delay in Banach spaces. We are interested in the global existence, uniqueness and regularity of solutions with values in the subspace $D(A).$ The method used are based on Banach's fixed point theorem and on the technique of the graph norm. In our work the nonlinear term is treated as a perturbation of the linear equation. As an application, we consider a diffusive neutral partial functional integrodifferential equation.


In the present paper we prove that, on a hyperkahler manifold, walls of the kahler cone and extremal rays of the Mori cone are determined by all divisors satisfying certain numerical conditions.


OBJECTIVE
Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), a common endocrine condition, is usually caused by sporadically occurring parathyroid adenoma. A subset of patients carry germline mutations in genes such as MEN1 (multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1), HRPT2 (hyperparathyroidism 2), and CASR (calcium-sensing receptor) predisposing to syndromic forms of PHPT or familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (FIHP). Recently, germline mutations in two novel genes AIP (aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein) and CDKN1B (cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B) have been found to be associated with endocrine tumors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of MEN1, HRPT2, CASR, AIP, and CDKN1B genes in PHPT patients with clinical features suggestive of genetic predisposition.

PATIENTS AND DESIGN
Medical records of patients treated for PHPT from 1974 to 2001 at Oulu University Hospital were reviewed. Patients with multiglandular or recurrent/persistent disease, other MEN1- related manifestations, aged 40 yr or younger at onset or with a family history of PHPT/MEN1-related tumor were invited to the study. Twenty patients with previously diagnosed MEN1 were excluded. Participants were interviewed and blood samples obtained for biochemical screening and mutation analysis of MEN1, HRPT2, CASR, AIP, and CDKN1B.

RESULTS
Of the 56 invited patients, 29 took part in the study. One patient was found to carry the c. 1356_1367del12 MEN1 founder mutation. Mutations in other genes were not detected.

CONCLUSIONS
Apart from MEN1, mutations in other genes predisposing to PHPT seem to be rare or non-existing in Northern Finnish PHPT patients. No evidence was found for a role of AIP or CDKN1B in PHPT predisposition.


This review evaluates evidence for benefits of including animal source foods (ASF) in the diets of children in developing countries. In observational studies, a higher usual intake of ASF in such countries is associated with better growth, status of some micronutrients, cognitive performance, motor development and activity. Only three randomized trials supplemented children with milk and compared outcomes with a nonintervention control group. Both height and weight growth were improved, although in Kenya height was increased only in younger schoolers who were stunted at baseline. Meat supplements have been evaluated in only two randomized controlled trials, in Kenya and Guatemala (mean baseline age 8 years and 1 year, respectively); growth was no better than in an equicaloric control group. Meat improved cognitive function and activity in Kenya; milk was less effective than meat for improving cognitive function and physical activity, perhaps due to its lower content of iron, zinc, or riboflavin. Meat and especially cow's milk are excellent sources of vitamin B(12), a micronutrient commonly deficient in populations which consume low amounts of ASF. Other micronutrients such as iron have been added to cow's milk and resulted in improved nutritional outcomes for children.


The carotid-cavernous fistulas of two young patients were treated by multiple carotid artery ligations. The fistulas persisted, supplied by retrograde flow through the ophthalmic artery. In one patient, neovascularization of the optic disc occurred and, in spite of suspected later spontaneous closure of the fistula, progressed to cause nearly total loss of vision. Spontaneous closure of the fistula also occurred in the other patient, but vitreous hemorrhage due to neovascularization of the retina developed four years later.


Longitudinal studies in public health, medicine and the social sciences are often complicated by monotone attrition, where a participant drops out before the end of the study and all his/her subsequent measurements are missing. To obtain accurate non-biased results, it is of public health importance to utilize appropriate missing data analytic methods to address the issue of monotone attrition.The defining feature of longitudinal studies is that several measurements are taken for each participant over time. The commonly used methods to analyze incomplete longitudinal data, complete case analysis and last observation carried forward, are not recommended because they produce biased estimators. Simple imputation and multiple imputation procedures provide alternative approaches for addressing monotone attrition. However, simple imputation is difficult in a multivariate setting and produces biased estimators. Multiple imputation addresses those shortcomings and allows a straightforward assessment of the sensitivity of inferences to various models for non-response. This thesis reviews the literature on missing data mechanisms and missing data analysis methods for monotone attrition. Data from a postpartum depression clinical trial comparing the effects of two drugs (Nortriptyline and Sertraline) on remission status at 8 weeks were re-analyzed using these methods. The original analysis, which only used available data, was replicated first. Then patterns and predictors of attrition were identified. Last observation carried forward, mean imputation and multiple imputation were used to account for both monotone attrition and a small number of intermittent missing measurements. In multiple imputation, every missing measurement was imputed 6 times by predictive matching. Each of the 6 completed data sets was analyzed separately and the results of all the analyses were combined to get the overall estimate and standard errors. In each analysis, continuous remission levels were imputed but the probability of remission was analyzed. The original conclusion of no significant difference in probability of remission at week 8 between the two drug groups was sustained even after carrying the missing measurements forward, mean and multiple imputations. Most drop outs occurred during the first three weeks and participants taking Sertraline who live alone were more likely to drop out.


Background: Propylene glycol (PG) and butylene glycol (BG) are not known to be cross-reactors. However, no large-scale studies have assessed the cross-reactivity rate (CRR) between these 2 structurally and functionally similar compounds. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether PG and BG demonstrate cross-reactivity. Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of 893 patients who underwent patch testing for both PG and BG from 2020 to 2022. The frequencies of positive reactions and concomitant reaction rates were calculated. Results: In our cohort, 53 (5.94%) patients reacted to PG and 13 patients (1.46%) reacted to BG. Of the patients who reacted to PG, 6 reacted to BG representing a CRR of 11.3%, whereas the CRR to PG in BG-allergic patients was 46.2%. Conclusions: For those allergic to BG, PG should be considered a cross-reactor. This relationship is somewhat unidirectional, as patients allergic to PG demonstrated a CRR to BG of only 11.3%, significantly lower than the 46.2% CRR to PG among BG-allergic patients.


This paper examines a puzzle pertaining to the distribution of covalued nominal expressions in two understudied Mayan languages, Chuj and Ch'ol. While Ch'ol behaves entirely as expected with regards to the binding conditions, Chuj appears to consistently tolerate violations of Condition C, often privileging linear precedence as the determining factor in the distribution of R-expressions and pronouns. The Chuj data therefore initially seem to cast doubt on a long tradition to treat the binding conditions as universal (e.g., Grodzinsky and Reinhart 1993, Reuland 2010, 2011). I argue that the difference between Chuj and Ch'ol can be largely explained if, contrary to Ch'ol, Chuj exhibits 'high-absolutive' syntax, independently proposed to account for a number of morphosyntactic phenomena in a subset of Mayan languages (Coon et al. 2014; Coon et al. 2021). High-absolutive syntax creates configurations in which the internal argument asymmetrically c-commands the external argument, bleeding otherwise expected binding relations from the external argument into the internal argument. The violations of Condition C in Chuj are thus only apparent. I further argue (i) that linear precedence effects in Chuj are a reflex of a more general anti-cataphora constraint on free nominals, which can also be shown to apply to Ch'ol, and (ii) that there are corners of Chuj where the binding conditions do apply, and that in such cases linear precedence is irrelevant for the distribution of covalued nominals. This means that the binding conditions are active in Chuj, even though idiosyncratic syntactic properties of the language often render their application impossible. The general lesson is that despite initial evidence to doubt the universality of the binding conditions, a universalist approach not only can be maintained, but is supported by the Chuj data.


There is a growing interest of researchers in meat authentication in terms of geographical and dietary background of animals, and several analytical methods have been proposed for the purpose of investigating this. We hypothesized that the odd- and branched-chain fatty acid (OBCFA) profile in intramuscular fat (IMF) might suffice to distinguish lamb meat entering the food chain supply on the basis of the type of diet fed to lambs during the fattening period. A total of 30 individual OBCFA profiles, quantified by gas chromatography, of IMF of Manchego lambs were used. During the fattening period (42 days), the lambs were fed three diets differing in concentrate composition: (i) Control, concentrate typical of commercial fattening rations, rich in starch and based on cereals and soybean meal; (ii) Camelina, similar to Control but replacing 50% of the soybean meal with camelina meal; and (iii) Fibrous, concentrate rich in neutral detergent fiber (NDF), based on fibrous by-products and not including cereals nor soybean meal. The OBCFA were grouped into three classes (linear odd, iso and anteiso fatty acids) and were then submitted to a linear discriminant analysis, using the feeding treatments as grouping variable and the OBCFA class contents in IMF as quantitative variables. The results suggested that a high NDF to starch ratio of the concentrate, being the lowest for Control (CON) treatment and the highest for Fibrous (FIB) treatment, would be negatively related to the odd/anteiso ratio and positively related to the iso/(anteiso+odd) FA ratio in IMF. Determination of OBCFA profile in lamb meat would be useful to monitor the feeding regime (starch- or NDF-rich) of lambs entering the food chain supply.


Purpose: Under the rising demand of health services, the critical pathway (CP) which standardizes the practice guideline was introduced as a means to provide quality healthcare service. CP may increase the patient's satisfaction rate by providing systematic and consistent service. We aimed to evaluate the significance of CP by development and application of CP to patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods: From June 2010 to July 2011, 148 patients underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patients were divided into two groups, including 57 patients in the CP group and 91 patients in the non-CP group. In a retrospective review, related hospital costs were analyzed and compared for both groups. Survey results on satisfaction for the CP group were also analyzed. Results: The mean age was 22.7 years in the CP group and 37.9 years in the non-CP group. Number of hospitalized days was one day for the CP group and 2.51 days for the Non-CP group with p Conclusion: Results have shown benefit from the financial point of the view for the CP group. Current inclusion criteria for CP are limited and still in development for a solid protocol. Further efforts with a large-scale comparative study to broaden the indication for CP are desired.


AIM
To identify predictors of burnout syndrome, such as job satisfaction and manifestations of occupational stress, in mental health workers.

METHOD
The study included a snowball sample of 174 mental health workers in Croatia. The following measurement instruments were used: Maslach Burnout Inventory, Manifestations of Occupational Stress Survey, and Job Satisfaction Survey. We correlated dimensions of burnout syndrome with job satisfaction and manifestations of occupational stress dimensions. We also performed multiple regression analysis using three dimensions of burnout syndrome--emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment.

RESULTS
Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that pay and rewards satisfaction (beta=-0.37), work climate (beta=-0.18), advancement opportunities (beta=0.17), the degree of psychological (beta=0.41), and physical manifestations of occupational stress (beta=0.29) were significant predictors of emotional exhaustion (R=0.76; F=30.02; P<0.001). The frequency of negative emotional and behavioral reactions toward patients and colleagues (beta=0.48), psychological (beta=0.27) and physical manifestations of occupational stress (beta=0.24), and pay and rewards satisfaction (beta=0.22) were significant predictors of depersonalization (R=0.57; F=13,01; P<0.001). Satisfaction with the work climate (beta=-0.20) was a significant predictor of lower levels of personal accomplishment (R=0.20; F=5.06; P<0.005).

CONCLUSION
Mental health workers exhibited a moderate degree of burnout syndrome, but there were no significant differences regarding their occupation. Generally, both dimensions of job satisfaction and manifestations of occupational stress proved to be relevant predictors of burnout syndrome.


Dear Sir,

Central diabetes insipidus (DI) is a diverse condition characterized by polydipsia and polyuria due to a defect of arginine vasopressin. Known conditions for this disorder include inflammatory, autoimmune, traumatic brain injury, and brain tumors. Brain tumors such as craniopharyngioma1 and germinoma2 are associated with Central DI. Up to 50 percent of cases of central DI are thought to be idiopathic in nature.3,4 Herein we describe an interesting case of a 17-year-old man who was diagnosed with central DI, initially thought to be idiopathic but found to have pituitary teratoma.

A 17-year-old male was admitted to our hospital with a 4-month history of polyuria and polydipsia with severe thirst. Initial laboratory work revealed serum BUN 8.4 mg/dL, creatinine 0.65 mg/dL, sodium 147 mEq/l, potassium 3.9 mEq/L, chloride 108 mEq/L, calcium 9.1 mg/dL, phosphate 4.6 mg/dL, fasting plasma glucose 109 mg/dL, and hemoglobinA1C 6.0%. A thyroid function test was normal. Plasma osmolarity was 291 mOsm/kgH2O and urinary osmolarity was 79 mOsm/kgH2O. His urine output was 4 to 5 liters per day without glycosuria.

Urine osmolarity increased from 115 to 297 mosm/Kg H2O after 6 hours of water deprivation. Two hours later, urine osmolarity was still under 300 mosm/KgH2O (296 mosm/KgH2O) and the serum level of the antidiuretic hormone (ADH) level was < 0.4 pg/mL. After using nasal spray with 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) 10 µg, his urine osmolarity increased from 296 to 600 mosm/KgH2O.

His clinical course and laboratory finding led us to suspect Central DI. No abnormality was detected in a brain MRI (Fig. 1A). A complete work-up result to find the cause of Central DI was negative and his central DI was thought to be due to idiopathic cause.

Fig. 1

(A) Initial brain MRI showed normal signal intensity in the posterior pituitary gland. (B) Follow-up MRI showed 3.3 cm sized lobulated solid mass on the sella and supurasellar area involving hypothalamus and optic chiasm.

He was treated with 10 µg of desmopressin nasal spray every night. His urine volume decreased to around 2 L/day. He was discharged with DDAVP and was followed monthly in an outpatient clinic.

After 45 months, he presented with a headache and diplopia persisting for 1 month. A brain MRI was completed, which showed a 3.3 cm sized lobulated solid mass involving the sellar and suprasellar area (Fig. 1B). He underwent a transspenoidal excision biopsy and the biopsy result was confirmed by pituitary teratoma. He received chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the best imaging technique for detecting subtle abnormalities of the hypothalamic-pituitary region.5 Idiopathic central DI is a diagnosis of exclusion, and is diagnosed when central DI occurs in the absence of any alteration that is known to be responsible for DI.2,5

Central DI can precede overt brain tumors. Therefore, even though idiopathic central DI is diagnosed initially with a normal brain MRI, we may need a periodic clinical follow-up and thus serial brain MRIs to detect occult brain lesions.2,6


Based on the analysis of differential scanning calorimetry data, the possibility of classifying the observed endothermic or exothermic transformations as phase transformations of the first oder is considered. Two approaches have been implemented. The first is based on the correspondence between the temperatures of the maximum conversion rate and the temperatures of the extrema on the second derivative of the differential scanning calorimetry signal with respect to temperature. In the second approach, the phase transformation is considered as a kind of kinetic reaction of a chemical process with the determination of some parameters included in the kinetic equations. In this case, the order parameter of such reaction n is obtained from the analysis of the differential scanning calorimetry signal shape in the region of phase transformation registration temperatures. Using the example of experiments carried out during thermal cycling of titanium iodide samples, it is shown that both the first and second approaches make it possible to fairly adequately attribute the processes that cause calorimetric effects on the dependences of differential scanning calorimetry to first-order phase transitions. In particular, the obtained results of differential scanning calorimetry during heating and cooling of iodide titanium show that polymorphic transformations in it are realized by various mechanisms depending on the rate of thermal cycling and the thermal history of the metal.


ABSTRACT Individuals who deviate from social norms by committing crimes may have reduced facial emotion recognition abilities. Nevertheless, a specific category of offenders – i.e. organised crime (OC) members – is characterised by hierarchically organised social networks and a tendency to manipulate others to reach their illicit goals. Since recognising emotions is crucial to building social networks, OC members may be more skilled in recognising the facial emotion expressions of others to use this information for their criminal purposes. Evidence of a difference between OC and non-organised crime (NOC) offenders in terms of facial emotion recognition is still lacking. To fill this gap in the literature, we tested 50 OC, 50 NOC offenders, and 50 non-offender controls for their ability to identify six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise). All participants underwent a cognitive and psychological evaluation to avoid alternative explanations. Results show that OC members were more able to detect the expression of fear in others as compared to NOC. We interpreted this finding in light of the social context and the behavioural criminal attitude of OC members.


Leaching of fertilizers, nutrients and insecticides from soil is an important factor to change the surface and ground water quality. Studies show that some percentage of nitrogen fertilizers leaching from the soil profile joins the groundwater or rivers. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of raw and ammonium-enriched zeolite on reducing nitrogen leaching from the soil under wheat plant cultivation. In this greenhouse experiment, effects of one level of fertilizer application (100 kg/ha), two levels of raw zeolite (5 and 10% wt) and NH4 + -zeolite (5 and 10% wt) added to the clay loam and sandy loam soils and one level of leaching (30% of net irrigation depth) on nitrogen leaching in eight consecutive irrigation events were studied. Nitrate concentrations in sandy loam and clay loam soils treated with the chemical fertilizer were more than those in zeolite treatments at the all irrigation period. The lowest concentrations of nitrate and ammonium in the drainage water were observed in the treatment with 10% zeolite enriched with ammonium. The quantities of the ammonium and nitrate leached from the sandy loam soil were more than those from the clay loam soil. The nitrate outputs from the clay loam soil with 10% raw zeolite and 10% zeolite enriched with ammonium were 43% and 72% less than those with the chemical fertilizer treatment, respectively. Comparison of the raw and enriched zeolite with ammonium showed that the ammonium-enriched zeolite stored the nitrate and reduced the pollution more effectively.


Abstract ADF/cofilin is a phosphorylation-regulated protein essential for actin filament dynamics in cells. Here, we cloned two cDNAs encoding Xenopus ADF/cofilin (XAC)-specific phosphatase, slingshot (XSSH), one of which contains an extra 15 nucleotides in a coding sequence of the other, possibly generated by alternative splicing. Whole mount in situ hybridization showed XSSH transcripts in the blastopore lip and sensorial ectoderm at stage 11, and subsequently localized to developing brain, branchial arches, developing retina, otic vesicle, cement gland, and spinal chord in neurula to tailbud embryos. Immunostaining of animal-vegetal sections of gastrula embryos demonstrated that both XAC and XSSH proteins are predominant in ectodermal and involuting mesodermal cells. Microinjection of either a wild type (thus induces overexpression) or a phosphatase-defective mutant (functions as dominantly negative form) resulted in defects in gastrulation, and often generated the spina bifida phenotype with reduced head structures. Interestingly, the ratio of phosphorylated XAC to dephosphorylated XAC markedly increased from the early gastrula stage (stage 10.5), although the amount of XSSH protein markedly increased from this stage. These results suggest that gastrulation movement requires ADF/cofilin activity through dynamic regulation of its phosphorylation state.


The primary
objective of this study was to compare student satisfaction on two different
teaching formats, in-person instruction (IPI) and web-conference instruction
(WCI). Participants were 42 pre-service teachers who were completing their
service learning requirements. Students were enrolled as elementary education
majors in a teacher education undergraduate program in the southeastUnited States.
A seven-item course evaluation survey was developed to assess such students'
areas as understanding the learning objectives, comfort level of the learning
environment, instructor communication barriers, and willingness for future
participation. Findings from this study indicated that web-conference instruction
provided equivalent levels of students' 1) understanding the learning
objectives, 2) comfort level of the learning environment, and 3) willingness
for future participation as the in-person format.


Abstract This paper describes optimizations of material properties for a bonnet-like plate using finite element calculations and the Euro-NCAP pedestrian head impact test. Four different head models were used for the impact simulations, a Euro-NCAP dummy head, a Hybrid III dummy head and two biomechanical head models exhibiting different mechanical properties for the brain tissue. The objective function was to minimize the displacement of the bonnet plate while satisfying constraints on the head injury criterion (HIC), the resultant contact force and, for the human head models, the strain in the brain tissue. An investigation was also conducted of the kinematics of the head models during impact, evaluating the energy distribution and the apparent mass. The analysis gave at hand that optimization of the plate with respect to impact with the Euro-NCAP and Hybrid III head models reached substantially different results compared to impact with the biomechanical head models. For the latter case, the stiffness of the brain tissue influenced which constraints were active in the final solution. The investigation of the kinematics at impact showed that a substantial portion of energy was confined within the brain during impact for the biomechanical head models. The apparent mass at impact coincided with the actual mass for the rigid dummy heads while for the human head models it was roughly the mass of the skull only.


Valvular calcification is common in the setting of end-stage kidney disease and is associated with increased risks for cardiovascular disease events. It is unknown whether the prevalence of valvular calcification is increased in milder kidney disease after accounting for cardiovascular risk factors. Participants who attended the sixth examination of the Framingham Offspring Study (1995 to 1998) were eligible. Kidney function was estimated by GFR using the simplified Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Study equation. Mitral annular calcification (MAC), aortic sclerosis, and aortic annular calcification were assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography. Logistic regression was used to examine the odds of valvular calcification among participants with chronic kidney disease (CKD; GFR < 60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)). A total of 3047 participants (52% women; mean age 59 +/- 10 yr) were available for analysis. CKD was present in 8.6% (n = 262) of the sample. Among participants with valve/annular calcification (n = 284; 9.3%), 20% had CKD, compared with 7% in patients without valvular calcification. After adjustment for age, gender, systolic and diastolic BP, hypertension treatment, total/HDL cholesterol, body mass index, diabetes, smoking status, and cardiovascular disease, participants with CKD had a 60% increased odds of MAC (odds ratio 1.6; 95% confidence interval 1.03 to 2.5). There was no significant association between CKD and either aortic sclerosis or aortic annular calcification (odds ratio 1.1 and 1.1, respectively). After age and gender adjustment, the combination of both CKD and MAC was associated with a three-fold increased risk for death compared with those with neither condition (P = 0.0004). In the community, CKD is associated with presence of MAC before the onset of ESRD. Further research is warranted to understand whether traditional and novel vascular risk factor burden, as well as metabolic derangements found in early kidney disease, can account for the CKD-MAC association.


Summary The variable findings of hormonal-immunoregulation and the variable cellular and humoral immune responses in pregnancy have been considered in relationship to the physiological response. From such considerations it appears that the peripheral blood lymphocyte/leukocyte response in pregnancy is not important, but rather the local uterine immune response at implantation and throughout pregnancy. It is proposed, and evidence is presented, that a normal allogeneic immune response is initiated at the time of implantation of the blastocyst. This immune response regulates the invasive nature of the trophoblast and initiates the first stage of parturition. The initiation and maintenance of this immune response is based on an interplay between maternal and paternal HLA and trophoblast antigens. In the case of HLA-incompatible donor-recipient blastocyst transplants, a more pivotal role for immunoregulation by trophoblast antigens is proposed. This is because it is considered that the local uterine immune response suppresses the expression of allogeneic HLA. This concept is further developed in terms of haploid HLA suppression on maternal and fetal lymphocytes that cross the placenta. This is considered to allow the interaction of these lymphocytes with each other and explains maternal transfer of cell-mediated immunity. Pregnancy; Immune response; Maternal; Fetal


A detailed knowledge on the exact morphology of pelvic injuries provided crucial information in understanding the mechanisms of injury and has influence on the natural course and subsequent mortality. However, forensic medical literature investigating pelvic fractures in detail is scarce to date. This case series aims to compare the accuracy in detecting pelvic injuries using autopsy and ante mortem computed tomography (CT). Nineteen deceased patients with CT scans of pelvic fractures were included retrospectively. Pelvic injuries were independently assessed by a board‐certified radiologist (R) and a board‐certified trauma surgeon (T), both using the ante mortem CT scans, and by a board‐certified forensic pathologist using autopsy (A) results without knowledge of the CT scan findings. No patient had died causatively from a pelvic fracture. Most injuries of the pelvis were present in the pubic rami (16/18) and sacral bone (13/18), followed by the sacroiliac joint (9/18) and iliac bone fractures (8/18). Ilium fractures (A:100%;R:67%;T:67%) and injuries of the sacroiliac joint (A:83%;R:50%;T:42%) were best detected via autopsy. The diagnosis of sacral fractures (A:19%;R:94%;T:88%) and fractures of the pubic rami (A:67%;R:96%;T:96%) were most often missed in autopsy. The results show deficits in the assessment of the pelvic injury for both CT and autopsy. Autopsy was superior in detecting injuries of the sacroiliac joint, but inferior in detecting sacral and pubic bone fractures. For an encompassing evaluation of ligamento‐skeletal pelvic injuries, the complementary use of both CT and autopsy is recommended.


XML files are effective for data store, search and query when used as a single entity. However, when it comes search and query to multiple XML files, performance and efficiency are the ones that are to be degradated. To cope with such degradation, we are proposing an efficient way of merging XML files into a relational database for permanent storage and take advantage of relational database management system's search and query features to locate certain record. Once the resulting record - used to be an XML file - is located, it will be converted back to an XML file for further use. Upon completion on further use, the XML is merged back to the database. To accommodate such need, multiple tables are created according to the XML file's tag structure. In our approach, there are two data transformation functions - one is to conver XML to relational data model and the other is relational data model to XML. We have developed a prototype conversion system for the technical feasibility analysis. For the sake of our experiment, we have used a virtual collaboration system called VCEI where for each discussion session, all the discussion or conference content are stored in a single XML file. Over the times, the number of discussions grows big and so is the number of XML files. The prototype also demonstrates the functional extension of the existing remote conferencing system.


Mean lung attenuation has been measured on computed tomography (CT) sections through lung bases of 17 patients with no evidence of respiratory disease. Sections were obtained in inspiration and at neutral respiration together with spirometric measurement of lung volume changes. The normal range for mean attenuation including all phases of respiration is approximately -350 to -430 EMI units (EU) (air = -500). The range is narrower on inspiration than at neutral respiration. Mean attenuation in the posterior one-third of the lung base may be 100 EU greater than in the anterior one-third. This gradient is reduced but not abolished on inspiration. Reduction of attenuation with inspiration correlates inversely with increased lung volume and cross-sectional area. Anteroposterior attenuation gradients and regional changes of attenuation with breathing can be explained by preferential ventilation and perfusion of the dependent regions of the lung. When using CT to measure lung "density," the effects of breathing should be taken into account. The relevance of these observations to the detection of early diffuse lung disease is discussed.


In a close future, airborne polarimetric weather Doppler radars are destined to become essential tools to guarantee air-plane flight safety. Dual polarisation techniques along with Doppler capabilities will make it easier to better detect the nature of the weather phenomenon encountered by an air-plane. In this paper we present the analysis carried out on the signals generated by the polarimetric radar signal simulator developed by the proposers inside EU-CleanSky Framework, and a procedure to validate the simulated signal with real data will be shown.


A study was conducted using a modified model to assess the level of threat and effective factors in villages with two ecologies, in Basht County, Gachsaran in Southwest Iran, including a protected area with a dominant mountainous topology and another with a plain-hilly situation. The results showed that level of threat increased with the decreasing distance of villages from the urban region and mountain villages had a lower level of risk than plain- hil ly areas. Trends of agrochemical application, weed management techniques and acreage of fields receiving agrochemicals had the highest frequency of flooding and incidental fires and the acreage of agricultural land in the area made the least contribution to the threat of agrobiodiversity erosion. The results of cluster analysis divided villages into two clusters in which all mountainous villages, along with two plain- hil ly villages were placed in one cluster and the others were located in the second cluster. Estimating the role of divergence factors in the clusters revealed that five factors including the distance to the main urban centers, distance to industrial developmental projects, ratio of irrigated to rain-fed lands, extent of use of modern varieties and exploitation rate of habitat species had the highest effects on divergenc e of the biodiversity threat in the model. Results showed that human activities are the main factors in genetic erosion threats, whereas natural factors as well as traditional agricultural and social practices and the availability of agricultural territories in the area resulted in the least risk to biodiversity.


This article highlights approaches to facilitating and supporting learning in the workplace, whether for students or nurses, and considers the skills needed by the people responsible for offering that support. It outlines common roles--including mentor, coach and supervisor--and explores how they fit into different contexts from preregistration education, newly qualified nurse support to ongoing staff leadership and development It also discusses how nurses can make use of different learning strategies in their everyday practice, whether they are students or have years of experience.


In genetically susceptible strains of mice, the DA strain of Theiler's virus, a picornavirus, causes a persistent infection of the white matter of the spinal cord associated with chronic demyelination. In resistant strains, on the other hand, the infection is cleared within 1 to 2 weeks. In this article, we show that Theiler's virus induces a rapid and abundant cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response in resistant C57BL/6 mice, while the response remains low throughout infection in susceptible SJL/J mice. This difference can be referred to a higher number of virus-specific CTL precursors in C57BL/6 mice. These observations indicate that the efficient induction of virus-specific CTL precursors is critical for avoiding the establishment of a persistent picornaviral infection.


The issue of anticipation social support is actual topic because of detection important factors for positive development of personality. Emotional bonds are getting stronger with perception of social support. Subjective feeling of positive emotions and relationships is manifest with higher range of social and mental functioning, emotional – willing stability of personality. Emotional basement of personality is emotional stability, which represent relationship with the anticipated social support. The lack of social support make a negative influence on personality development and personality traits. Positive emotional relationsthips with parents are important for healthy growth of personality (Filadelfiová, 2001; Arrive, 2004; Vágnerová, 2000; Langmeier & Křejčířová, 2006; Grun, 2011; Kraus & Poláčková, 2001; Matějček & Dytrych, 2002). The meaning of social support and partner's love is confirmed with research. The meaning of social support in adolescence is replaced from parents to life partner. Strong emotional 76 Z. Mičková / Psychologie a její kontexty 5 (1), 2014, 75–87 relationship motivates, integrates and regulates (Vágnerová, 2000). Absence of positive and permanent emotional relationship hold the positive soul steadiness. The signs of soul unsteadiness are destruction of self–esteem and self–image which manifest unstable emotionality. Subjective survival of emotional and social disharmony influence mental problems – neurotic disorders, problems with adaptation, emotional and social problems (Kondáš, 2002). The goal of research was find out relationship of social support regarding with emotional–willing stability and adolescence relationships in their family. We were interested in level of social support and level of emotional–willing stability and perception of quality family relationships regarding with gender and actual partnership. The research sample contained with N= 120 respondents (men = 33, women = 87) in age 19–24 years old, M = 23, 97. The next criterium of research sample was the longiness of their actual partnership (min 1 year), N= 63 – I have actual partnership; N= 57 – I don't have actual partnership. In research we used methods: Own Inventory, MOS Social Support Survey (Kožený & Tišanská, 2002), Personality Inventory (Miglierini, 1987). The Personality Inventory we used because of focusing on the period of adolescence. We used subscales emotional– willing activity and relationships in family. We indicate the most important findings in choosed sample of adolescents. The higher range of perception regards with feeling of confidence. Other findings regard relationship in social support and emotional relationships to parents – between range of anticipation social support and emotional relationships in family exist important correlation, higher perception of social support regard with positive surviving of emotional relationships in family. Gender aspect mention to value of parent's behavior – positive evaluation of parents behavior is a criteria. Important is relationship to parent's behavior. Women – in adolescence are emotional more unstable and men have higher range of uncertainty and lower range of optimism and satisfaction. We found importance in social support regarding with timeliness of emotional partner's bond. The existence of partnership is connected with lower range of emotional steadiness, but higher range of perception social support we found with adolescents with actual partnership. In research was confirmed importance of social support relate to emotional bonds to parents and importance of emotional proximity of partner in period of adolescence.


Learning to group words into phrases without supervision is a hard task for NLP systems, but infants routinely accomplish it. We hypothesize that infants use acoustic cues to prosody, which NLP systems typically ignore. To evaluate the utility of prosodic information for phrase discovery, we present an HMM-based unsupervised chunker that learns from only transcribed words and raw acoustic correlates to prosody. Unlike previous work on unsupervised parsing and chunking, we use neither gold standard part-of-speech tags nor punctuation in the input. Evaluated on the Switchboard corpus, our model outperforms several baselines that exploit either lexical or prosodic information alone, and, despite producing a flat structure, performs competitively with a state-of-the-art unsupervised lexicalized parser, with a substantial advantage in precision. Our results support the hypothesis that acoustic-prosodic cues provide useful evidence about syntactic phrases for language-learning infants.


Previously, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time of flight-mass-spectrometry (GCxGC-ToF-MS) revealed that the unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs) of contaminant hydrocarbons accumulated by health-affected mussels Mytilus edulis (up to 125 microg g dry weight(-1)) collected from around U.K. coasts, included many isomeric branched alkyl benzenes (BABs). A commercial mixture of BABs (C12-C14) was toxic to mussels in laboratorytests (tissue effective concentration EC(20)10.5 microg g dry tissue(-1)). Branched alkyl indanes (BINs) and branched alkyl tetralins (BATs) were also tentatively identified in the wild mussels, but no commercial sources of BINs or BATs were available for compound confirmation or toxicity testing. In the present study, we synthesized 14 isomeric BINs and BATs, investigated their chromatographic and mass spectral properties and measured their toxicity to mussels (Mytilus edulis). Comparison of the results of GCxGC-ToF-MS analysis of the synthesized compounds with those of complex mixtures of BINs and BATs in wild mussels confirmed the previous tentative identifications. Toxicity assays showed that in 72 h exposures, each of the synthetic BINs and BATs and a mixture of all were toxic to mussels at concentrations comparable to the BABs investigated previously (EC(20)13 microg g dry tissue(-1)). A further 5 day recovery period in clean water resulted in incomplete depuration of the accumulated body burden of BINs and BATs by the mussels. We suggest that monitoring of hydrocarbon contaminants in mussels should include an assessment of the concentrations of aromatic UCMs and ideally identification and measurement of the concentrations of BABs, BINs, and BATs and other toxic UCM components in order that the effects of these toxicants are not overlooked.


Background : Patients with congenital or acquired coagulopathies are common in the general population. Dentists should have access to the patients' appropriate and current laboratory values to prevent bleeding complications during and after invasive dental procedures. A laboratory test called an INR(International Normalized Ratio) measures the time it takes for blood to clot and compares it to an average. Many drugs can change the INR such as aspirin, ibuprofen and Antibiotics the most common drugs used for treating acute dental infections. Aims: To determine whether there is any change in bleeding tendencies of pediatric patients with acute dental infections also to evaluate the utility of testing INR in patients who have to receive invasive dental treatments especially those with acute dental infections. Method: 10 patients, 7 boys and 3 girls, with acute dental infections were randomly selected from the patients arriving at Department of Pedodontics. Blood sample was collected through venepuncture and was immediately sent for prothrombin time tests. Using these values INR was calculated. Results: The mean INR value for the study was 1.194. The Mean INR among boys was 1.164 and Mean INR among girls was 1.29. The Mean Prothrombin Time was 14.39 sec. The Mean Prothrombin time among the boys was found to be 13.98 secs. The Mean Prothrombin time among the girls was found to be 15.33 sec. Conclusion: There was no significant change in INR in patients with acute dental infections.


Study on the fundamentals, techniques, and applications of metrics studies focusing on archivology (archivometrics). Approach on the series, frequency distribution, probability, coefficient, and satisfaction demands from archive activities.


Thromosis of the main portal vein (MPVT) is usually a complication of preexisting conditions such as malignant tumors, liver cirrhosis, infection, or stasis blood flow, or else it is idiopathic. No conclusive evidence of CT findings of MPVT in relation to etiology could be found in the literature. In fact, different mechanisms may cause different types of MPVT. Two hundred and twenty patients with MPVT who received CT scans without and with contrast in our series were analyzed with respect to the relationship of the CT pattern to the MPVT and its etiology. We identified five types of MPVT patterns in the CT scans. Malignancy with intravascular invasion may be present as breach type (83.1%) and floating type (16.9%) of MPVT, and the size of the portal vein is usually larger than 2 cm (79%), which is evident in CT scans and is less subject to misinterpretation. Tracing the break area of the portal wall can help in finding a subtle tumor. Mural thrombus is specific to portal hypertension (69.8%); the picture and mechanism may be similar to an atherosclerotic plug in systemic hypertension. The floating, ring, and obliteration types may not be specifically related to etiology; however, rim enhancement of a vasa vasorum may intensify in infective conditions. The obliteration type is probably the late phase of a blood clot thrombus in MPVT; it is seen in cases with silent clinical symptoms and signs in the period of MPVT formation, such as in stasis blood flow. Familiarity with image patterns may improve the diagnosis of an MPVT and discovery of its related etiology.


Abstract. In the present work, the quality and reliability of a general-purpose second-order-accurate Finite-Volume-based (FV) solver are assessed in wall-modeled large-eddy simulations of a neutrally-stratified Atmospheric-Boundary-Layer (ABL) flow with no Coriolis effects. The sensitivity of the solution to parameters such as grid resolution and aspect ratio is analyzed, and results are contrasted against those from a well-proven mixed Pseudo-Spectral and Finite-Difference (PSFD) code. Considered flow statistics include mean streamwise velocity, resolved Reynolds stress, turbulence intensities, skewness, kurtosis, spectra and spatial autocorrelations. It is found that first- and second-order velocity statistics are sensitive to the grid resolution and to the details of the near-wall numerical treatment, and a general improvement is observed with horizontal grid refinement. Higher-order statistics, spectra and autocorrelations of the streamwise velocity, on the contrary, are consistently mispredicted, regardless of the grid resolution. Skewness and kurtosis of the streamwise velocity, for instance, are overpredicted in the surface layer, whereas one-dimensional spectra feature a strong sensitivity to the grid resolution in the production range and a rapid decay of energy density at higher wavenumber. In addition, the typical signatures of Large-Scale Motions (LSMs) are absent in the premultiplied streamwise velocity spectra, the spatial autocorrelation functions rapidly decay along both the streamwise and spanwise coordinate directions, and instantaneous snapshots of the velocity field are populated by relatively short and thin streaks, confirming that the flow lacks LSMs. Further, the dominant mechanism supporting the tangential Reynolds stress in ABL flow – spanwise-paired sweeps and ejections– is much weaker than what commonly observed in ABL flows, ejections are severely underpredicted, and sweeps account for most of the tangential Reynolds stress in the surface layer, which is at odds with available measurements and with corresponing results from the PSFD-based solver. The inability of the solver to correctly capture the spatially-localized and relatively strong ejection events, in the authors' opinion, is the root-canse of many of the observed mismatches and sensitivity of flow statistics to grid resolution. The present findings show that truncation errors have an overwhelming impact on the predictive capabilities of second-order-accurate FV-based solvers, introducing a degree of uncertainty in model results that may be difficult to quantify across applications involving boundary-layer flows. Although mean flow and second-order statistics become acceptable provided sufficient grid resolution, the use of said solvers might prove problematic for studies requiring accurate higher-order statistics, velocity spectra and turbulence topology.


In view of global environmental problems and resource exhaustion, we must develop new energy resources that are abundant and provide substitutes for fossil fuels. Renewable energies, such as solar, are ideal because they are clean, inexhaustible, and available everywhere in the world. Photovoltaic (PV) system, in general, are operated as a stand-alone, grid-tied, or hybrid system. Many of the stand-alone PV systems are installed. Although the pre-installation cost of PV system is high, it poorly has been operated due to the absence of optimal management standards. Therefore a study on the performance of PV system is important for the system design and maintenance. In this paper a photovoltaic lighting system was designed according to load consumption. Then a PV lighting system which used electrodeless lamp as a load was installed. In order to investigate the system operating characteristics we've added a monitoring system to the PV lighting system. The monitoring system using the LabVIEW program regularly checks the operation of the PV lighting system and records the system data. According to the system data, the stability and availability of the PV lighting system were evaluated.


There is a starting pressure gradient (SPG) for oil migration in tight reservoirs (TRs), and the SPG and the migration force jointly control the migration distance of oil. The key factor of oil accumulation in the tight glutenite reservoir (TGR) of the Lower Triassic Baikouquan Formation (T1 b) in the Mahu Sag is whether the oil can be laterally charged into the TRs. To analyze the lateral migration distances of oil in TRs and predict the favorable accumulation areas for oil, we have carried out a physical simulation experiment of oil charging on glutenite reservoirs of T1 b for obtaining the SPG of oil migration and knowing the relationship between SPGs and the reservoirs' physical property. According to the basin simulation, we have obtained the pressure evolution of the source rock formation as well as reservoir formation and the physical property evolution of the reservoir. Finally, we have predicated the favorable oil accumulation areas through calculating the distribution characteristics of SPGs as well as the theoretical distances of lateral migration of oil during the key oil accumulation period and considering the theoretical distance of the lateral migration of oil as the main controlling factor. Our results suggest that there is a SPG in the TGR of the T1 b and that there is a power function relationship between the SPG and the permeability. The theoretical lateral migration distance of oil in T1 b during the key oil accumulation period was the farthest in the northern sag, which was gradually shortened to the east, west, and south. In class I favorable areas, the reservoirs have good physical properties where overpressure has developed; in addition, the lateral migration distance of oil is far. Therefore, these are the most favorable areas for oil accumulation.


Bradycardia is a common finding in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and might be pronounced in heart failure patients. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between nocturnal hypoxemia, apnea-hypopnea index, and electrophysiological parameters of sinus node and atrioventricular conduction properties. Electrophysiological studies were performed in 12 patients with heart failure. Polygraphic studies were done in all of the patients. Patients with an AHI >10/h were classified as sleep apnea patients. Mild sleep apnea was diagnosed in 50% of the patients (AHI 17.8 +/- 4.4 vs. 5.1 +/- 3.6/h). There were no differences with respect to the resting heart rate, PQ interval, or QRS duration between the two groups. Sinus node recovery time was normal in all of the patients (993 +/-291 vs. 1099 +/-62 ms, P=0.45). There was no abnormal atrioventricular conduction. Nevertheless, sleep apnea patients showed decreased atrioventricular conduction time (AH) intervals (134 +/- 42 vs. 102 +/- 25 ms, P=0.1) and infranodal conduction time (HV) intervals (59 +/- 9 vs. 43 +/- 7 ms, P=0.01). We conclude that mild sleep apnea was not associated with abnormal findings in sinus node function or AV conduction properties in patients with heart failure. Decreased AH/HV intervals might be a consequence of apnea associated sympathetic activation.


The complexation equilibria between Be2+ and the hydrogen salicylate (HL-) ions have been studied, at 25 degrees C, by potentiometric measurements with a glass electrode in 3 M NaClO4. The concentrations of metal (CM) and ligand (CL) were varied between 10(-3) and 0.03 M and 2 x 10(-3) and 0.03 M, respectively, while 1 < or = CL/CM < or = 3. The hydrogen ion concentration ranged from 10(-3) to 10(-5.3) M when basic salts start to precipitate. The equilibria can be written in the general form as: pBe2+ + rHL- <==> Be(p)H(-q) (HL)r(2p-r-q) + qH+, log beta(pqr). The experimental data have been explained with the formation of BeHL+ (log beta101 = 1.46 +/- 0.05), BeL (log beta111 = -0.897 +/- 0.018), BeL2(2-) (log beta122 = -3.746 +/- 0.021), Be2(OH)L2- (log beta232 = -5.23 +/- 0.09), Be3(OH)3L3(3-) (log beta363 = -14.39 +/- 0.12). The uncertainties represent 3sigma. The predominant complex in the whole concentration range studied is the uncharged mononuclear species BeL.


The steel fiber reinforced concrete in structures provides good mechanical and physical characteristics and such material applications are increasing. At the same time, if structure is subjected to thermal load it is affecting both properties of reinforcement and matrix as well. The aim of the present research is to investigate the degradation of the characteristics of fibers, randomly distributed in the body of concrete block. A short steel fiber reinforced concrete slabs (400x300x18cm) [1], [2] with homogeneously distributed fibers was undergone to calefaction process from one side. dimension of 16.5x14.5x15 cm) Fiber fracture process was performed based on the single fiber pull-out test by preparing the specimens with fiber from calefacted SFRC block. Experimental curves from each layer were compared with different layer of fibers and investigation had shown that higher load-bearing capacity is there over the thermal loaded fiber. The conclusion were made with the microscopic results and the experimental data.


This paper presents an observer design method for discrete-time nonlinear systems which have Lipschitz nonlinearity and delayed output. The proposed observer has a chained form that allows us to estimate a system state sequentially from delayed output measurement. Based on an observer design for discrete-time systems without output delay, it is shown that the proposed observer guarantees the exponential convergence to zero of the estimation error in spite of the presence of output measurement delay. Finally, a numerical example is given to verify the effectiveness of our design approach.


A 65-year-old male presented to the emergency room for evaluation of sudden onset of severe epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath. He was previously healthy and admitted to having esophagus there was extravasation of the contrast material into the mediastinum (fig. 2). During emergent surgery a 4-cm esophageal tear consumed large amounts of alcoholic beverages prior to his arrival at the hospital. Physical exam revealed a severely ill man in respiratory along the left posterolateral aspect of the esophagus (just above the diaphragm) was repaired. This case of spontaneous perforation of distress. BP was 90/50, pulse 121/min. The patient had subcutaneous emphysema over the left axilla and the base of his neck. the esophagus illustrates the syndrome originally recognized by Boerhaave in 1724 which now bears his name.


Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the potential role of dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion imaging in diagnosing brain death. Materials and Methods: The study population was composed of 61 subjects (the Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score was 3 for all subjects), and 26 subjects were assigned to the control group (GCS scores between 4 and 6). At least four regions of interest (ROIs) from different anatomical regions were measured, the mean transit time (MTT), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and signal intensity time-to-course graphic were calculated. A second neurological examination (including an apnea test) was accepted as the gold standard method for the diagnosis of brain death. Results: DSC-MR perfusion imaging diagnosed brain death with a specificity of 100% (61/61) and a sensitivity of 86.8% (53/61). A cut-off value of maximum 3.5% decrease in the signal intensity time-to-course graphic was calculated by the Youden's index and established for the to differentiate brain death from other conditions. Conclusion: DSC-MR perfusion imaging is a promising tool that may be used as a reliable add-on confirmatory diagnostic test for the brain death.


Since existing acquisition systems have a fixed threshold value, they are unable to adapt to varying mobile communication environments. This results in a high false-alarm rate or low detection probability. In this paper, an adaptive hybrid acquisition system that adopts an antenna diversity technique and the cell-averaging constant false alarm rate (CA-CFAR) algorithm is presented to acquire a pseudo-noise (PN) signal for CDMA systems. The CA-CFAR algorithm and an antenna diversity technique are adopted to adjust the decision threshold according to environments and to improve detection performance, respectively. The detection probability, false alarm, rate, miss detection probability, and mean acquisition time in the Rayleigh fading channel are derived and compared to those of the conventional hybrid acquisition system with fixed threshold.


Svalbard is a singular region to study biodiversity. Located at a high latitude and geographically isolated, the archipelago possesses widely varying environmental conditions and unique flora and fauna communities. It is also here where particularly rapid environmental changes are occurring, having amongst the fastest increases in mean air temperature in the Arctic. One of the most common and species-rich invertebrate groups in Svalbard is the mites (Acari). We here describe the characteristics of the Svalbard acarofauna, and, as a baseline, an updated inventory of 178 species (one Ixodida, 36 Mesostigmata, 43 Trombidiformes, and 98 Sarcoptiformes) along with their occurrences. In contrast to the Trombidiformes and Sarcoptiformes, which are dominated in Svalbard by species with wide geographical distributions, the Mesostigmata include many Arctic species (39%); it would thus be an interesting future study to determine if mesostigmatid communities are more affected by global warming then other mite groups. A large number of new species (42 spp.) have been described from Svalbard, including 15 that have so far been found exclusively there. It is yet uncertain if any of these latter species are endemic: six are recent findings, the others are old records and, in most cases, impossible to verify. That the Arctic is still insufficiently sampled also limits conclusions concerning endemicity.


The ATM Forum has adopted rate-based schemes as the standard congestion control mechanisms for available bit rate (ABR) service. Two types of rate-based schemes are supported by the ATM Forum specification, namely binary feedback and explicit rate feedback. Since the implementation of one of these schemes in ATM switches is left to the switch manufacturers, it is expected to have both types working on the same network. The compatibility of switches each running a different scheme was considered in the ATM Forum specification. However, since each type of switch has its own merits and demerits, the interoperability of these switch types and its impact on the performance of the network deserves extensive studies. This paper looks at the steady state performance of ABR service in networks consisting of both switch types (i.e. heterogeneous networks). In order to find the best locations for each switch type, several cases of switch type locations are considered. Moreover, the impact of ABR sources parameter setting on the performance of heterogeneous networks is studied.


Hydroxyapatite bioceramics have been synthesized from waste cow bone using sol-gel method . The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of concentration HCl for the precursor CaCl 2 mass produced and volume of H 3 PO 4 for the synthesized hydroxyapatite. The results of this study, the optimum HCl concentration of the precursor synthesis was 1 M and the optimum volume H 3 PO 4 on the synthesis of hydroxyapatite was 25 mL. Hydroxyapatite characterized by XRD, XRF, FTIR, dan SEM-EDX. XRD showed the presence of 23 peaks that were similar to the peak on hydroxyapatite standard. The highest intensity of peak present at 2q 25.93068, 50.44543, 48.70093, dan 49.0851. XRF demonstrated that the hydroxyapatite main constituent were calcium 80.1 % and phosphorus 14.0 %. wave number  of FTIR at 567,03; 3402,20; dan 1635,5 cm -1 showed the presence of PO 4 3- , OH, and CaO groups on the synthesized hydroxyapatite. SEM EDX indicated size of synthesized hydroxyapatite were 0,52 mm and ratio of Ca:P were 1.04. Key words: bioceramic, hydroxyapatite, precursors, sol-gel


In this review, focus is given to the cognitive brain functions associated with motor learning and the control of learned motor behavior, as revealed by non-invasive studies in hu- mans. After providing a definition of motor control and learning, the tasks adopted in previous studies are first introduced, and some important findings about motor behavior and pertinent theoretical models are described. Relying mainly on findings from the event-related potential (ERP) technique, but also from neuroimaging, this review focuses on motor learning and motor control in skilled action, with an emphasis on movement preparation and performance monitor- ing.


. The relevance of the research is due to the fact that one of the most important mental processes in preschool children is creative imagination. Thanks to creative imagination, the child can find new ways to solve arising problems. The article reflects results of the ascertaining and control experiments and presents statistical data.


We characterize the effect of joint spatial correlation on the diversity performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The joint spatial correlation is structured by the coupling matrix whose elements determine the average power coupling between the transmit and receive eigenmodes. We first derive the closed-form expression for the exact symbol error probability (SEP) of orthogonal space-time block codes over jointly correlated MIMO Rayleigh-fading channels. We then show that the achievable diversity order is equal to the number of nonzero elements of the power coupling matrix and establish the Schur monotonicity theorems on the SEP and the effective fading figure as a functional of elements of the power coupling matrix.


Heterogeneous embedded systems on chip (HESoCs) co-integrate a standard host processor with programmable manycore accelerators (PMCAs) to combine general-purpose computing with domain-specific, efficient processing capabilities. While leading companies successfully advance their HESoC products, research lags behind due to the challenges of building a prototyping platform that unites an industry-standard host processor with an open research PMCA architecture. In this work we introduce HERO, an FPGA-based research platform that combines a PMCA composed of clusters of RISC-V cores, implemented as soft cores on an FPGA fabric, with a hard ARM Cortex-A multicore host processor. The PMCA architecture mapped on the FPGA is silicon-proven, scalable, configurable, and fully modifiable. HERO includes a complete software stack that consists of a heterogeneous cross-compilation toolchain with support for OpenMP accelerator programming, a Linux driver, and runtime libraries for both host and PMCA. HERO is designed to facilitate rapid exploration on all software and hardware layers: run-time behavior can be accurately analyzed by tracing events, and modifications can be validated through fully automated hard ware and software builds and executed tests. We demonstrate the usefulness of HERO by means of case studies from our research.


One of the new challenges faced by Malaysian firms that want to go global is the fact that many countries have introduced legislation or directives to ensure effective disposal of manufactured products and its waste. Furthermore, the increase in awareness on environmental issues, sustainable development, corporate citizenship and the benefit of recycling had also placed more pressure on firms to adopt sustainable business initiatives such as a better reverse logistics strategy. Manufacturing firms
however often focused on forward logistics and as a result, they tend to overlook at the importance of reverse logistics activities.The objective of this study is to look at the current level of reverse logistics adoption among manufacturers in Malaysia and to identify the influence of customer/stakeholder pressure, regulatory pressure, financial and competitive pressure, and corporate citizenship pressure on the level of reverse logistics adoption. Data was collected through survey questionnaire, and the respondents consist of managers of a manufacturing firm located in the Northern State of Malaysia and
the Klang Valley.Data analysis was conducted using both SPSS and Partial Least Square (PLS) regression analysis.Findings indicate that the level of reverse logistics adoption among Malaysia manufacturers is
still low.The regulatory pressure has a significantly strong influence on the level of reverse logistics
adoption, while customer/stakeholder pressure has moderate influence.


This is a joint project begun in 1983 and first reported in (Abraham, 1989). We were inspired by Arthur Winfree and have in mind a number of applications to medical physiology and mathematical biology. The main theme is the role of the geometry of periodic attractors -the shape of an attractive limit cycle and its isochrons -in determining the phase synchrony of a network of heterogeneous oscillators (periodic or chaotic). We present a profusely illustrated review of the geometric theory of the synchronization of periodic attractors, such as biological oscillators, by periodic pulsatile forcing. We think of this tutorial as "Winfree 101" but a number of new insights are included.


Characterization of coarse fractions of kaolin clay from two locations in Puolanka (Pihlajavaara and Poskimäki) was performed in order to find potential applications for these materials in water and wastewater treatment as low-cost adsorbents or as a raw material for other uses. The effects of wet and dry fractionation methods and the annealing of the sample on the properties of the coarse fractions were studied. The coarse fractions contained mainly quartz, while the kaolinite content was considered low. The Poskimäki (PM) clay had a higher specific surface area (SSA) and cation exchange capacities (CEC) than the Pihlajavaara (PV) clay due to a higher amount of iron. Annealing (800°C) decreased the SSA and CEC. The fractionation method had only a minor effect on particle size distribution. PV and PM colloidal suspensions had a negative zeta potential at natural pH values. Very small amounts of contained elements (Al, Si, Ca, Mg, K, Cd, Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ba) were dissolved from samples at natural pH values. PM clay could be utilized in water treatment for example as a raw material in iron oxide-coated sands. For this purpose, the wet fractionated samples had a higher content of iron than the dry fractionated samples.


ABSTRACT This article seeks to advance understanding of how the new logics of an expanding digital media system can be mobilized in the service of authoritarianism, by tracing how an online news platform support the legal and discursive production of hegemonic authoritarianism in Cambodia. A state crackdown on independent media has been accompanied by the rise of private digital news outlet Fresh News, which has played a singular role in enabling, legitimizing, and seeking to craft support for Cambodia's recent shift from competitive to hegemonic authoritarianism. Fresh News represents an authoritarian innovation which can be broken down into three main components: articulating a government-aligned definition of democracy which celebrates strongman rule and rejects liberal democracy; supporting an ongoing judicialization of Cambodian mega-politics; and disseminating a "fake news" discourse which seeks to achieve an epistemic shift. The ambiguous status of Fresh News as a private though overtly state-sanctioned enterprise is a key aspect of these authoritarian innovations, as it popularizes Cambodia's authoritarian turn from the vantage point of an elusive distance from the state.


The work discussed in this paper was begun in 1924 in London, and was later on resumed in Durham. It forms part of an investigation which began eight years ago, of which the purpose was to gain information from a new quarter about intermolecular action; and the first part was published in 1923 by Masson and Dolley. In that part of the work, which dealt with the compressibilities of argon, of oxygen, of ethylene, and of a number of mixtures of each pair of these gases, a systematic study was made of deviations from Dalton's law of partial pressures. It was possible to exhibit the cohesion of the molecules of one gas with those of another gas; and to prove, without using any special theory, that this type of cohesion is neither caused nor influenced by the possibility of chemical action between the atoms composing two colliding molecules. Thus this kind of cohesion differs from that which gives rise to unimolecular films, where the cohesion is chiefly traceable to the specific action of some particular atom within one molecule upon a particular atom in another, or in a surface. The bearing of this distinction has been discussed elsewhere, and thermodynamic aspects of the first paper have been recently dealt with by other authors. Meanwhile, it becomes clear from the results of that paper that any theory, proposed to explain the van der Waal's cohesion between molecules of two different chemical kinds, need not invoke any types of force beyond those that could explain cohesion in a single pure gas. The present paper deals experimentally and theoretically with such forces. The first stage of the present experiments (1924) with helium and hydrogen indicated a new property in gases; for the data showed a certain range of mixtures of these two as being more incompressible than either constituent; a maximum being suggested at about 30 per cent, of helium in the mixture. Incidentally, this displaced hydrogen from its position as the least compressible gas. The effects were, however, slight; and, chiefly in order to test their genuineness, we resumed the work in 1926, and improved the methods in various ways. One result has been to confirm the new property, though the effect is very small; and meanwhile, Lennard Jones has independently noticed a similar effect in the experimental data of Holborn for a mixture of neon and helium; and in his recent theoretical work on gaseous mixtures he has been able to show it as a special case of the general properties of gases. The same general treatment proves to be applicable to the work we have done, as will be shown.


We believe thatJ. M. Musacchio's (FASEB,J. 8, 679-683, 1994) characterization of the current problems associated with research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is fundamentally correct. Although additional funds could be used to alleviate the current painful situation, it is not likely that any increase in available funding will be adequate to save the research groups of many productive investigators. Therefore, we would endorse a system of limits on total NIH support for each individual. In addition, we would suggest that investigators funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) be barred from receiving NIH support as long as they are funded by HHMI. In the broader intellectual community, the safeguarding of biological diversity and cultural diversity are major current concerns. We would like to suggest that the current funding policies of the NIH threaten the maintenance of scientific diversity. Major advances, especially of a conceptual nature, do not come solely from large, highly competitive laboratories, that have achieved mastery of the most sophisticated


The painting materials and drawing techniques of a pair of two-panel folding screens entitled Red and White Plum Blossoms by Ogata Korin, a national treasure in Japan, were investigated directly and nondestructively by XRF, X-ray radiography, and high resolution digital imaging. Several assumptions were made about the materials used in the red and white plum trees drawn on the right and left screens, respectively, and the river drawn at the center. By the present investigation, the materials used for the paintings were revealed, and some of them contradicted what have been previously believed.


and 3,980 were then selected. All these people showed no pathological changes at the time the blood was taken, had never suffered from liver diseases or jaundice, and did not habitually consume large quantities of alcohol. This group was regarded as "clinically fairly healthy." The distribution of the transaminase levels corresponded to a log normal curve. It was shown that for the establishment of the normal range limit sex, age, weight, and size needed consideration. The range of normal values we derived from this investigation were given as orientation values for persons of normal weight, normal size, and medium age. We differentiate only between the sexes. The population examined by Professor Baron and colleagues is obviously different from that of Laudahn et al. According to the tables given by Laudahn, these persons must have been, on average, younger or of smaller size and/or of lower weight. Furthermore, the techniques and measurement employed by Professor Baron and colleagues and Laudahn et al. were different. Both of them used Boehringer Mannheim optimized reagent packs which follow the recommendation of the German Society of Clinical Chemistry.2 The Laudahn group performed their assays at 25°C. In contrast the Baron group worked at 35°C and reduced their values by mathematical conversion to 25°C. Unfortunately they did not give their conversion factors. The conversion of measured results, determined at different temperatures, is always problematic. The problem is particularly severe as soon as isoenzymes with different factors for temperature conversion occur in the serum. We feel that before any statement of normal values can be generally accepted the values of several laboratories should be considered. It would be useful to determine the range of normal values for temperatures commonly used for the determinations, and any laboratory publishing its results should give exact details on the population examined. We would like to hear more from Baron et al. on the normal values valid at 35°C, and details on the population taken. Conversion factors for different temperatures should-if at all-be permitted only, if many determinations on a large number of normal and pathological sera have been performed at the same time at different temperatures. In this way not only the conversion factor but also the variation coefficient for this factor can be given. The conversion factors should be used only, if such examinations prove that the variation coefficient is small compared with the variation of the method.-We are, etc.,


Background Benzodiazepine drug abuse is frequent in the general population. The reasons for this could be very diverse. Purpose To review the role of benzodiazepine in intravenous drug users. To find out which benzodiazepines are most used in this group and sought after on the black market. Materials and Methods We interviewed five intravenous drug users of heroin or cocaine in Barcelona about their associated use of benzodiazepine. They were trained to interview other intravenous drug users with the same questionnaire that they had answered. All of them had looked for benzodiazepines on the illegal market at least once. Results The analysis of the first 25 questionnaires answered showed that the most used benzodiazepine was clonazepam, used by 72% and the drugs used differed in half life and effects. Conclusions Benzodiazepines selected by this sample of patients did not meet criteria for half-life or the main indications. They may simply be a reflection of which benzodiazepines are most prescribed nowadays by psychiatrists in the community. Abstract GRP-033 Table 1 N: 25 % Clonazepam 18 72 Alprazolam 17 68 Clorazepate dipotassium 5 20 Lorazepam 4 16 Diazepam 4 16 Midazolam 2 8 Lormetazepam 2 8 Zolpidem 1 4 No conflict of interest.


Sixteen mothers, fathers, and their 4- to 7-year-old children were observed interacting in their homes during three family groupings: (a) mother and child, (b) father and child, and (c) mother, father, and child. Half the children had Down syndrome and half were nonhandicapped. Parents of children with Down syndrome structured their interactions with their offspring by assuming manager and teacher roles more often than did parents of nonhandicapped children. Children with Down syndrome were less contingently responsive to both parents than were nonhandicapped children. Mothers of Down syndrome children assumed the teacher role more often than fathers did. Fathers of both groups of children interacted less with their offspring in the triadic family grouping, whereas mothers were more consistent, assuming a parenting role across family contexts.


The use of membrane technologies in industry is considered. The membrane apparatus with the removal of the diffusion boundary layer is evaluated. The methods of mathematical modeling are analyzed, allowing to describe membrane processes. A modeling technique based on transfer functions that takes into account the influence of the most significant disturbing effects on the object under study is developed, and a transfer function in general is proposed. The methods of calculation of membrane installations of periodic and continuous action of various types are presented. The developed methodology and its software implementation optimizes the calculations of the main performance indicators of membrane equipment and allows you to determine a rational hardware layout diagram of membrane devices in order to maximize the extraction of target components from raw materials and reduce its content in the wastewater of the enterprise.


Understanding the value of design in industry is a contemporary issue both in academia and industry. Many studies have been conducted using historical data, macro-level indicators, questionnaire-based tools, and abstracted post-hoc accounts of the value of design. However, very little research attempts to uncover direct insights from real-world practical experiences of designers in industryand how they negotiate the design-value space. This study uncovers rich qualitative, pragmatic considerations of how the value of design is operationalized in situ by design practitioners in industry through a series of 6 in-depth interviews. Initial results indicate that different designers undertake a series of different context-dependent strategies: these range from changing the narrative of the contribution of design based on the KPIs of the audience, to taking a non-action stance allowing for consequences and pressure from external stakeholders to help drive design in practice, as well as performing "designer-ly" activities under a different alias.


The Mighty Walzer is the story of a boy who dreams of winning fame, fortune and the adoration of beautiful women, as a table tennis player. He wants to make his life grandiose like all of us. However, it is a pity that he fails. Oliver, the protagonist is not disheartened. Even though he has not struck his fortune, life gives him other riches- the riches of life and growing up itself. Thus, the novel can be seen as the celebration of the trivial processes of growing up. The more we read, the more we realise that the mediocre lives presented in the novel are grandiose in their own ways. Thus, the author is examining the grandiosities of our mediocre lives. The novel is the life story of each and every one of us. It is the celebration of the simple life of a commoner with its trivialities and mediocrities. However, there is an exuberant grandiosity in this existence. It is this grandiose process of life which is emphasised in this study.
Set in the1950s England, The Mighty Walzer is semi-autobiographical. Howard Jacobson in the veil of the character Oliver,Walzer depicts his own self as a confused Jewish boy growing up in Manchester. When it comes to home, nothing is closer to heart than the childhood memories. Jacobson's the Mighty Walzer is indeed a childhood memoir. The novel is a bildungs roman narrative. It is absolutely hilarious, comic and sublime. It has the grace and charm of a childhood dream. Jacobson's wit was lauded from all quarters, when the novel was first published. Sunday Times observes: "Jacobson writes with agility that gives pleasure akin to humour even when it isn't actually funny. It is the sheer charm of his intelligence that feels like wit." The Independent in its review quotes: "This mature novel has the sustained exuberance and passion of his youthful writing but within an epic…. An achingly funny book….An amazing achievement….There is few novelists today who can imbue the trifles of life with such poetry."
Jacobson wrote this rollicking, loose limbed, semi-autobiographical novel in Australia at the end of 90s, having finally put enough distance between events to revisit the humiliation. He puts before us a number of childhood milieus in a straight forward and grandiose fashion. There is no holding back when it comes to a number of intimate sexual and mental give and takes. It is these truthful ejaculations that make the novel hilarious. One can really denominate the novel in Mario Vargas Illosa's terms as a piece of 'mental masturbation.'Howard Jacobson amuses his readers in The Mighty Walzer. The characters and milieus in the novel are regular, common and mediocre. We can connect ourselves with the various characters and their eccentricities. The more we go into the novel, the more we realize that the desires, anxieties, failures, successes, sufferings and frailties of the characters are in fact the mirror reflections of our own milieus. Thus, when we look at with disdain the 'jacking off' –of Oliver, Sheeney's women hunting, Sabine's promiscuity, Aunt Fay's mid 30's love affair etc., we are pitying our own repressed desires and inhibitions. Such is the psychological depth with which each of the characters are handled.


Received: Revised: Accepted: November 11, 2013 February 06, 2014 March 22, 2014 Post weaning diarrhea (PWD) effects the economy of pig industry and extensive use of antibiotics to treat PWD led to the development of antibiotic resistance. To counter the issue of antibiotic resistance, role of Korean Beechwood creosote has been studied. Six weeks old, 12 piglets were divided into four groups (3 in each). Diarrhea was induced with S. typhimurium in three groups. Piglets treated with creosote have shown 11.52 and 3.12% higher growth rate than control group (C2) and antibiotic treated groups respectively. Creosote treated group has shown 78% reduction in the fecal score of as compare to C2 on 5 day after induction. No negative impact is imposed by Korean Beechwood creosote on hemogram. Significantly (P<0.05) high values of complete blood count (WBCs, RBCs, PCV, MCH and MCHC) have been observed in the diarrheic animals and persisted up to 10 day after induction whereas these parameters were in normal range in animals treated with creosote after recovery. Significantly (P<0.05) lower platelet count and total protein values have been observed in C2 as compared to treatment groups and similar decreasing trend has been observed for albumin, globulin and A:G ratio. The blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels in treatment groups were in normal range while it was significantly higher in C2. Significantly low and high values of sodium (Na) and potassium (K) respectively, have been observed in C2. Parallel findings between the antibiotics and Korean Beechwood creosote strongly suggest its use as an antidiarrheal agent and growth promoter for weaning piglets. ©2014 PVJ. All rights reserved


Mössbauer spectroscopy is used to monitor the quadrupole interaction for the superconductor as a function of temperature. Qualitative comparison with other results supports earlier claims that the rank-2 crystal-field contribution lies between that for and that for . However, there is quantitative disagreement with crystal-field parameters determined elsewhere for .


Congenital nystagmus is a rare condition mainly characterised by rhythmic, conjugate, and horizontal oscillations of both eyes that persist in the vertical gaze. This disorder is usually noticed in the neonatal period and persists throughout life. It can be of sensory origin, associated with low visual acuity of various causes, or of motor origin, caused by a defect in the slow eye movement system. The former can be genetically determined. It can also be associated with several conditions, the most frequent being albinism. The achiasma syndrome has recently been recognized in two patients as an autosomal recessive inherited cause of congenital nystagmus. We report the case of the so far youngest reported baby having been diagnosed with the isolated achiasmatic condition, which presented with congenital nystagmus and see-saw nystagmus, and discuss its clinical findings and 18 months follow-up. The achiasmatic syndrome should be included in the differential diagnosis of congenital nystagmus, as all the described cases presented like that. Complete investigations should be performed to allow the best evolution and follow-up of these children.


Topic of the essay is the so called "Identity Politics", which is currently discussed with regard to theatre and the visual arts at numerous places: Who is allowed to represent whom on stage and in the arts in general? And how to deal with the alterity of the other on stage? Activists accuse white artists to appropriate black suffering and to instrumentalise it in order to sell their works. (Hannah Black vs. Dana Schutz) Theatre directors are critizised for their unreflected use of blackface on stage. (Bühnenwatch vs. Didi Hallervorden, Sebastian Baumgarten) Performance groups which bring people of colour or disabled performers on stage are accused of exploitation or paternalism. (Monster Truck, Jerome Bel) Amongst the topics of the discussion there was one of the most important ones how the traditional white European theatre deals structurally with minorities being underrepresented on stage because of their skin colour, their disability or their sexual orientation. Against the backdrop of these debates I would like to argue in my lecture that theatre's contribution to the debate on identity and diversity lies in its questioning of the very logic of identity as such. Departing from Jan Lauwers' production Blind poet and perhaps some other examples I will try to show that this production shows to what extent any positing of identity is based on the construction of a phantasm. Identity is the result of the drawing of a border which establishes a binary opposition between the foreign other outside of us and our self opposed to it. Theatre questions these borders by confronting us with the foreign other within ourselves, with an originary de-position of the origins our identitys are based on.