This chapter focuses on the recent advances in the research on nanogels as a carrier for targeted drug delivery. Nanogel structures enable easy attachment of vector groups for effective targeting to cells and desired targeted site. Recent years have witnessed an extraordinary expansion in drug delivery research in the area of targeted delivery. Nanogels as vehicles for targeting yield more effective therapies when most of the chemotherapeutics fail to show effect results clinically. Nanogels as drug delivery vehicles not only improve the therapeutic efficacy of the encapsulated drug but also reduce their side effects. Nanogels effectively communicate with several receptors for targeted drug delivery. These targeted therapies increase cancer cell sensitivity to chemotherapeutics by avoiding healthy cells and destroying resistant cells. The chapter critically discusses targeting of nanogels to various receptors such as integrin αvβ3, EphA2, folate, Hyaluronan and monoclonal antibodies.


Background and aim Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and vitamin D deficiency are associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia. Many studies have examined the association between vitamin D and NAFLD, but the results have been contradictory. Our aim was to investigate the association of serum vitamin D assessed by 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25 (OH) vitamin D] with NAFLD and to analyze the role of insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. Patients and methods A total of 60 patients with NAFLD, chosen from the gastroenterology outpatient clinic of Internal Medicine, Kasr Al-Ainy Hospital, Cairo University, were included in the study. They were classified into three groups (group 1: 20 diabetic patients; group 2: 20 dyslipidemic patients; and group 3: 20 nondiabetic nondyslipidemic patients). In addition, 20 healthy control individuals were also included. For all participants, clinical and biochemical data were obtained, liver ultrasonography for the diagnosis of fatty liver disease was performed, and serum 25 (OH) vitamin D was measured. Results Our data showed that NAFLD patients had lower levels of 25 (OH) vitamin D (15.7 ± 10 nmol/l) compared with controls (43.4 ± 14 nmol/l), with a statistically significant difference between the two groups. There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between 25 (OH) vitamin D and low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride among the studied groups, whereas no significant correlation was detected with other variables. The receiver operating characteristic curve showed that 25 (OH) vitamin D was better positive than negative in discriminating between NAFLD patients and controls at a cutoff of 18. The sensitivity was 99% and specificity was 77%, with an excellent area under the curve of 0.94. Conclusion Low 25 (OH) vitamin D levels were associated with the presence of NAFLD independently of age, sex, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and insulin resistance.


To the Editor. —Dr Lundberg's fifth, and most recent, Editorial 1 calling for a ban of boxing compels me to reply to 2 major areas of concern: factual and philosophical. I understand and share Dr Lundberg's abhorrence of violence and of needless injury and suffering inflicted on any members of our society. I also believe, however, that as physicians we must be extremely careful not to let our own prejudices and moral stances lead us to unfounded or poorly supported actions. One only needs to recall the abject failure of Prohibition to understand how a "morally right" stance can lead to a "pragmatically wrong" solution. Furthermore, asking physicians to call for the ban of boxing because it is "morally wrong" may be setting a dangerous precedent. What is the next morally wrong activity that we should try to ban? Perhaps abortion, or gay lifestyles, or birth control, or the possession


SUBTITLE: RAPID GROWTH, ACQUISITION OF A COMPANY WITH DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION CHARACTERISTICS AND A TROUBLED ERP IMPLEMENTATION CREATED SUPPLY-CHAIN PROBLEMS FOR HERSHEY FOODS IN THE LATE 1990S. A NEW STRATEGY THAT FOCUSED ON FULFILLMENT SPEED AND AGILITY HELPED TURN THINGS AROUND.


We improve the performance of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with both a MoO3 hole injection layer (HIL) and a MoO3 doped hole transport layer (HTL), and present a systematical and comparative investigation on these devices. Compared with OLEDs with only MoO3 HIL or MoO3 doped HTL, OLEDs with both MoO3 HIL and MoO3 doped HTL show superior performance in driving voltage, power efficiency, and stability. Based on the typical NPB/Alq3 heterojunction structure, OLEDs with both MoO3 HIL and MoO3 doped HTL show a driving voltage of 5.4V and a power efficiency of 1.41 lm/W for 1000 cd/m2, and a lifetime of around 0.88 h with an initial luminance of 5268 cd/m2 under a constant current of 190 mA/cm2 operation in air without encapsulation. While OLEDs with only MoO3 HIL or MoO3 doped HTL show higher driving voltages of 6.4V or 5.8V and lower power efficiencies of 1.20 lm/W or 1.34 lm/W for 1000 cd/m2, and a shorter lifetime of 0.33 or 0.60 h with an initial luminance of around 5122 or 5300 cd/m2 under a constant current of 200 or 216 mA/cm2 operation. Our results demonstrate clearly that using both MoO3 HIL and MoO3 doped HTL is a simple and effective approach to simultaneously improve both the hole injection and transport efficiency, resulting from the lowered energy barrier at the anode interface and the increased hole carrier density in MoO3 doped HTL.


Herbal teas are consumed for their valuable content of bioactive phytochemicals. This work represents the first attempt to establish a linkage between the chemical composition of pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium L.) infusion and its potential to prevent cellular oxidative stress. The phenolic profile was established by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MSn, twelve out of fifteen compounds being identified for the first time in this species. The infusion presented a phenolic content of 122.92 mg g−1 (lyophilized extract) and a remarkable antiradical activity. A reduced glutathione detoxification mechanism was demonstrated to be involved in human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cell resistance against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced toxicity, while the same was not observed for human epithelial gastric adenocarcinoma (AGS) cells. For the first time, the presence of these phenolic compounds inside the cells was confirmed by 2-aminoethyl diphenylborinate (DPBA) phenol fluorescence dye staining, suggesting a direct antioxidant effect. M. pulegium infusion seems to provide bioactive compounds able to maintain a proper antioxidant balance in gastrointestinal cells.


Abstract—In order to study the Mutual effect of genotype × environment for the percent of oil index in sunflower items, an experiment was accomplished form complete random block designs in four iteration and was four diverse researching station comprising Esfahan, Birjand, Sari, and Karaj. Complex variance analysis showed that there is an important diversity between the items under investigation. The results relevant the coefficient variation of items Azargol and Vidoc has respectively allocated the minimum coefficient of variations. According to the results extrapolated from Shokla stability variance, the Items Brocar, Allison and Fabiola, are among the stable genotypes for oil percent respectively. In the biplot GGE, the location under investigations divided in two superenvironments, first one comprised of locations naming Esfahan, Karaj, and Birjand, and second one were such a location as Sari. By this point of view, in the first super-environment, the Item Fabiola and in the second Almanzor item was among the best items and crops.


The mathematical models have been established to describe the temperature and stress profiles in T16A14V cylinder during quenching. The residual stress and deformation of the workpiece can be predicted precisely based on ANSYS software. The simulated results show that the temperature of the divided element decreases faster at the edge than that at the internal of the workpiece during quenching from 1050 to 20°C. The largest temperature difference and dimension change in diameter are about 90°C and -0.935%, respectively. The position of largest tensile stress occurs around the edge of the cylinder.


In this paper, we report on some of the results of the Innovations in Manufacturing Industries in Turkey Study (IMITS). This study is an empirical investigation into the innovation performance and competitive strategies of manufacturing firms in Turkey. The data was gathered in nine different cities in Turkey during the period August 2004 – January 2005. The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews due to the complex nature of the survey and was implemented in 135 manufacturing firms operating in four sectors: Textiles, chemicals, food processing, and metal. The study has been an extension of the European Manufacturing Survey 2004 (EMS 2004) coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research and covering nine countries: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, and United Kingdom. Some of the basic results concerning competitive priorities, modernization of manufacturing, new product development, and quality management are presented.


SUMMARY Policies play a pivotal role in determining land change. Uruguay has been subject to first a rise and then decline in plantations of exotic trees as a result of internal Uruguayan government policies, and a recent substantial increase in soybean cultivation that may be attributed to Argentinean policies. To properly assess the relationship between land change and changes in land-use policies, vegetation change for Uruguay from 2001 to 2009 was mapped using MODIS imagery. Between 2001 and 2009, the area covered by exotic tree plantations declined by 1435 km2, and 34 681 km2 of herbaceous cover was converted to agricultural cover, mainly soybean cultivation. Uruguay and Argentina implemented land-use policy changes following the 2002 economic collapse. Rapid increase in exotic tree plantations, mainly in the 1990s, may have been stimulated by Uruguayan government incentives, while their recent decline coincides with the subsequent elimination of these incentives. The rapid increase in soybean production may be largely attributed to recent tax regimes in Argentina and lack of export tax in Uruguay combining to provide a favourable financial climate for Uruguayan soybean cultivation. Soybean cultivation is predicted to continue to expand in Uruguay, while exotic tree plantations should also increase in importance owing to the recent establishment of the world's largest pulp mill.


A set of second-generation DBFOX ligands possessing extended aryl or benzyl-type groups was synthesized. The requisite amino alcohols were either commercially available (DBFOX/Bn) or constructed via Sharpless asymmetric aminohydroxylation (DBFOX/Nap, DBFOX/ t-BuPh, DBFOX/Pip) or phase-transfer-catalyzed asymmetric alkylation (DBFOX/MeNap). Complexes of the ligands with Mg(NTf2)2 were evaluated as promoters of enantioselective radical conjugate additions to alpha,beta-unsaturated alpha-nitro amides and esters. Reactions employing the DBFOX/Nap ligand exhibited improved enantioselectivity relative to previously published additions mediated by DBFOX/Ph. However, the relatively modest increase in diastereomeric ratio suggests that our substrate-Lewis acid binding model, which was formulated based on results from DBFOX/Ph-promoted radical conjugate additions, is in need of revision.


Globally, records management plays major role in enhancing governance. The study objective was to examine the role of records management policy in enhancing governance at Homa Bay (HB) County Headquarters, Kenya. Target population comprised of 306 employees who are the custodians of records within the County Headquarters. Stratified technique was used to classify employees into strata. Yamane simplified formula was used to obtain a sample size of 174 respondents, which was proportionately distributed per department using random sampling technique. Structured questionnaires and interview schedules were pretested to determine validity and reliability and thereafter employed to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of IBM – SPSS (Version 23), presented in a table and interpreted in mean, frequencies, percentages, and standard deviation. Qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. The finding showed that records management policy was available in HB, though some employees were unaware. The study concluded that records managers in HB County should instill awareness among staff on the importance of records management policy. Based on the finding and conclusion, the study recommends, firstly, that HB records managers should ensure records management policy is properly documented and shared with all employees managing records with a view of increasing efficiency in the information flow thus enhancing governance and secondly, HB would identify areas of weakness in records management policy and focus on improvement.


In systemic autoimmunity, autoantibodies directed against nuclear antigens (Ags) often arise by somatic hypermutation (SHM) that converts AGT and AGC (AGY) Ser codons into Arg codons. This can occur by three different single-base changes. Curiously, AGY Ser codons are far more abundant in complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) of IgV-region genes than expected for random codon use or from species-specific codon frequency data. CDR AGY codons are also more abundant than TCN Ser codons. We show that these trends hold even in cartilaginous fishes. Because AGC is a preferred target for SHM by activation-induced cytidine deaminase, we asked whether the AGY abundance was solely due to a selection pressure to conserve high mutability in CDRs regardless of codon context but found that this was not the case. Instead, AGY triplets were selectively enriched in the Ser codon reading frame. Motivated by reports implicating a functional role for poly/autoreactive specificities in antiviral antibodies, we also analyzed mutations at AGY in antibodies directed against a number of different viruses and found that mutations producing Arg codons in antiviral antibodies were indeed frequent. Unexpectedly, however, we also found that AGY codons mutated often to encode nearly all of the amino acids that are reported to provide the most frequent contacts with Ag. In many cases, mutations producing codons for these alternative amino acids in antiviral antibodies were more frequent than those producing Arg codons. Mutations producing each of these key amino acids required only single-base changes in AGY. AGY is the only codon group in which two-thirds of random mutations generate codons for these key residues. Finally, by directly analyzing X-ray structures of immune complexes from the RCSB protein database, we found that Ag-contact residues generated via SHM occurred more often at AGY than at any other codon group. Thus, preservation of AGY codons in antibody genes appears to have been driven by their exceptional functional versatility, despite potential autoreactive consequences.


The rapid increase and availability of mathematics software, either for classroom or individual learning activities, presents a challenge for teachers. It has been argued that many products are limited in quality. Some of the more commonly used software products have been criticized for poor content, activities which fail to address some learning issues, poor graphics presentation, inadequate documentation, and other technical problems. The challenge for schools is to ensure that the educational software used in classrooms is appropriate and effective in supporting intended outcomes and goals. This paper aimed to develop instrument for evaluating mathematics educational software in order to help teachers in selecting the appropriate software. The instrument considers the notion of educational including content, teaching and learning skill, interaction, and feedback and error correction; and technical aspects of educational software including design, clarity, assessment and documentation, cost and hardware and software interdependence. The instrument use a checklist approach, the easier and effective methods in assessing the quality of educational software, thus the user needs to put tick in each criteria. The criteria in this instrument are adapted and extended from standard evaluation instrument in several references.   Keywords: mathematics educational software, educational aspect, technical aspect.


How do elite parties win over poor voters while maintaining their core constituencies? How can religious parties expand their electoral base? This article argues that social service provision constitutes an important electoral strategy for elite-backed religious parties to succeed in developing democracies. The study demonstrates how the upper caste, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp ) won unexpected support from lower-caste voters in India, due to services provided by its grassroots affiliates. Using a combination of original survey data and extensive interviews, the author tests whether services win votes and identifies the mechanisms by which they do so. Beneficiaries of services were found to be far more likely to support the party, even when accounting for piety, income, and ideological orientation. The author argues that service provision as an electoral strategy cannot be conceptualized as being predicated purely on material exchange. It should instead be understood as a socially embedded tactic especially well suited to helping elite parties with organizational resources, but without pro-poor policy agendas, win over underprivileged electorates.


The study was in purpose to find gender differences in student's attitude towards mathematic and their academic achievement at secondary level. Data for this study was collected through the questionnaires from the students at Secondary schools of Rawalakot (three schools) and Muzaffarabad (two schools). Two hundred students (100) boys and (100) girls were selected randomly from available selected schools. Attitude scale towards mathematics (39 items) and academic achievement scale (65 items) were used as research instruments. The analysis of data revealed non-significant gender differences on the basis of enjoyment and motivation of mathematics. Significant gender differences were found regarding fear and anxiety of mathematics, females had more anxiety and fear then males. Furthermore, male students had more confidence and self-concept of mathematics then female students. Value and utility of mathematics is more in males then females. However, parents and teachers expect more from boys for good achievement and attitude of male students towards mathematics was greater than females. It was also observed that there were non-significant gender differences in overall academic achievement in mathematics. Keywords: Academic Achievement; Gender differences; Attitude; Mathematics; Secondary School Students


Purpose – This paper (which is Part 1 of 2) seeks to explore the development and implementation of good corporate governance in the financial services industry in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reflects upon the identification of current problems and official legislative responses in Nigeria and tests the policy and theory against actual responses and practices.Findings – With the collapse of such mega companies as Enron in the USA and the near‐collapse symptoms observed in such a relatively big company as Cadbury Nigeria, such research as this, on the issue of compliance or otherwise with corporate governance practices by organizations, could not have been undertaken at a more appropriate time than now. Considering the ever‐increasing scope and complexity of the subject, which cannot be covered by a single project, the particular focus here is on the impact of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (1990) and the Insurance Act (2003) on the Boards of insurance companies in Nigeria. In othe...


Background. Powdery mildew is one of the harmful and destructive foliar diseases of cereal crops, caused by the fungus Вlumeria graminis (DC.) E.O. Speer f. sp. tritici Em. Marchal. Annual harvest losses may reach 10–15%, and up to 30% in an epidemic year. The VIR collection contains rich diversity of wheat, a valuable source of original material for wheat resistance breeding programs. The aim of this study was to generalize the results of long-term field and laboratory investigations on powdery mildew resistance in spring bread wheat of Nordic origin from the VIR collection and search for accessions resistant in all development phases. Materials and methods . Powdery mildew resistance was analyzed in 279 accessions originated from Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. The tests were performed from 1961 to 2019 against a natural population of the fungus in VIR's experimental field (Pushkin, St. Petersburg). Field and laboratory studies were carried out in accordance with the guidelines developed by VIR. Results . The analysis of the field data on powdery mildew resistance in spring bread wheat accessions against the Pushkin population of the fungus showed that many Nordic accessions were resistant from 1970 till 1990. These data were retested in 2012–2013. One hundred and five accessions of old landraces and modern cultivars of Nordic origin were studied under field and laboratory conditions for their response to a natural population of the fungus. Accessions resistant in all phases of plant development were identified. Conclusion . Swedish cultivars 'Sunnan' (k-58177), 'Canon' (k-60992), 'Sober' (k-61080) 'Dragon' (k-61515) and 'Dacke' (k-63479) preserved their resistance to the powdery mildew population beginning from 1993. Spring bread wheat cultivars 'SW Vals' (k-64436), 'SW Milljet' (k-64434), 'SW Estrad' (k-64435), 'SW Vinjet' (k-64436), 'Zebra' (k-64707), 'SW Kungsjet' (k-66036), 'SW Kronjet' (k-66097) and 'Boett' (k66353) demonstrated adult and seedling resistance in the period from 2005 to 2019.


In this study, four species of Trichoderma in six organic culture medium were cultured. Maximum number of spores was on the broken corn seed medium and related to species T.atroviride . Harvested spores were formulated in three ways. A–T.koningii together sugar beet molasses medium B-T.atroviride selected species after harvesting of corn seeds were encapsulated with three materials include Tragacanth gum, Maltodekstrin, whey powder, with 2. 5, 5, 5 percentages respectively. C-T.atroviride spores with corn seed medium. Formulated spores in molasses after the six months were twofold standard level, Formulated spores in three encapsulating compound after three months were below standard level and spores formulated with corn seed medium after six months was the nearly standard level.


Media of learning or learning tools are very significant and one of critical factors that contribute to meeting learning outcomes and achieving successful teaching and learning process. Hence, media are the integral part of all teaching and learning developments process. In a broader understanding, media of learning can generally be understood as all of the resources; power, data and finance.All of these can indeed support and complete the learning process so that the objectives can be more easily, effectively, and efficiently realized. Media development is a must-be-met demand in the world of teaching and learning, and because media is also a part of educational technology, it always develops, changes, and increases along with the development of knowledge and technology. Nevertheless, developing media of learning is not that easy, especially when the media are expected to turn the teaching and learning process of Arabic language become more effective.


A system is described that reduces the required transmission-path capacity of multiplex pulse-code modulation systems. Simple predictive techniques are used to remove redundant samples from the digitised speech signals. The impairments produced by such a system are identified and methods of minimising them are investigated. It is concluded that the number of baseband channels can be doubled, compared with conventional p.c.m., for the same bandwidth. A model was constructed that simulated the operation of the proposed system. Signal-to-noise measurements and subjective tests on the model confirmed the findings of the theoretical analysis.


Remote sensing has as a spaceborne informant about Earth system processes become the technology of choice for monitoring the status of fuels and fire at local through global scales. This study reviews techniques and presents an application of remote sensing for monitoring live fuel moistures at broad spatial scales. The text recalls the roots of biophysical remote sensing, reviewing how early work about the spectral behavior of vegetation offered insights that promoted remote sensing as a fire knowledge source. Time-series data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) are used to map relative live fuel moisture stress for the continental USA. Results of fuel moisture maps produced from the AVHRR protocols compare favorably with those derived from the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus.


Alpha cellulose was obtained from Costus afer and part of it was modified to microcrystalline cellulose (CAMCC). The physicochemical properties of the microcrystalline cellulose were determined and compared with those of commercial microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel 101). The swelling capacity, hydration capacity, loss on drying, true, bulk and tapped densities were  36.0 %, 5.47 %, 1.00 %, 1.198 g/ml, 0.271 g/ml, and 0.342 g/ml for CAMCC and 25.0 %, 5.10 %, 0.80 %, 1.21 g/ml, 0.291 g/ml and 0.387 g/ml respectively for Avicel 101. The CAMCC had no  organic impurities, starch, and dextrins and was soluble in tetramine copper dihydroxide. It is an odourless, white, tasteless powder which conformed to the standard specification for microcrystalline cellulose. From the physicochemical properties CAMCC can act as a good disintegrant in tablet and granule formulations.  Costus afer can be a good source of alpha-cellulose for pharmaceutical applications Keywords : Costus afer , alpha-cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, physicochemical properties, phytochemical analysis Journal of Pharmaceutical and Allied Sciences , Vol. 7 No. 5 (2010)


Abstract. This paper discusses the current methods for vehicle self-localization and compares previous findings to the use for urban public traffic vehicles. In specific, requirements for autonomous buses approaching a bus stop are defined. An autonomous system capable of reliable vehicle self-localization running in real-time in a city scenario shall be developed in a future work based on this paper. The comparison of filter-based estimation and graph-based optimization techniques shows that the latter suits the the automated approach to a bus stop in an urban environment the best. Based on these findings, a concept for self-localization of public transport vehicles equipped with a variety of imaging sensors with the help of a digital high definition map is presented. A current method is shown and a concept of improving the localization by inferring semantic information into landmark detection by low-level data fusion is provided. Validation and verification of the proposed fusion approach have to be carried out in the future, but a validation scenario is presented in this work.


1.1 Historical overview Renal transplantation remains the most effective treatment modality for end-stage renal disease. The initial results with renal transplantation were plagued with significant perioperative morbidity and high rates of immunological events. At the time, the transplant physician's armamentarium consisted of glucocorticoids and azathioprine. As modifications and improvements in surgical technique reduced morbidity, immunological events remained formidable foes to the transplant physician. Significant efforts were undertaken to elucidate the components and mechanisms of these immunological events, ultimately leading to the discovery of lymphocytes as the primary culprits in acute rejection. Early preclinical trials demonstrated that lymphocyte-specific antibodies could be induced in animal models by injecting them with lymphocytes. The serum could then be isolated and re-injected in other animals to decrease the lymphocyte count. Thus, these experiments lead to the earliest forms of antilymphocyte antibody formulations, including antithymocyte globulin, antilymphocyte serum, and antilymphocyte globulin (Bishop et al., 1975; Cosimi et al., 1976). These initial medications had little specificity and broad effects, but their potent ability to treat acute rejection episodes led to their widespread use in the 1970's (Cosimi, 1981a). The extensive use of these formulations exposed their various drawbacks. Because of nonspecific binding, cross-reactivity with various hematopoietic cells revealed dose-limiting side effects including thrombocytopenia, anemia, and neutropenia (Henricsson et al., 1977; Rosenberg, 1975). Additionally, the method of preparation was not standardized, thus leading to dosing variations. Because these formulations were typically made in rabbits or horses, the proteins had potential antigenic properties leading to the development of serum sickness, cytokine release syndrome, or even anaphylaxis (Niblack et al., 1987; Prin Mathieu et al., 1997; Tatum et al., 1984). The development of specific, monoclonal antibodies by Kohler and Milstein circumvented many of the drawbacks of polyclonal formulations, including lack of specificity and variability in preparation (Kohler & Milstein, 1975). Muromonab, or OKT3, was the first monoclonal antibody prepared from mouse, which is specific for cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3) (Cosimi et al, 1981b). OKT3 was effective at specifically depleting T cells from the


Primary insertion of inert material into an open wound to expedite joint and tendon reconstruction can be safely accomplished if the wound is thoroughly debrided and the material is covered with a well-vascularized flap. In this case, metacarpophalangeal mobility and extensor tendon function were largely preserved by early insertion of silicone spacers and rods in the reconstruction of a severe degloving injury to the dorsum of the hand.


In order to enhance cattle productivity and production, especially to support the cow calf operation, it is a need to have an application on innovative technology, such as spermatozoa sexing . Technology is more relevant nowadays due to the one of priority program in artificial insemination to increase genetic quality of cattle in Indonesia. Artificial Insemination Institute in Singosari had produced and commercialized thousands of straw with good results . The quality of frozen semen from those sexing sperm was very good, indicated with more than 40% rate of motility . By August 2006, 33 male calves out of 47 animals from the Y frozen semen (70 .2 1%) and 29 female calves out of 30 animals from the X frozen semen (96.66%) . The results shown that S/C reached 1 .71 and CR for 56.45% for its sexing frozen semen, which means these results are equal to the success of artificial program with unsexing frozen semen . Key words : Sexing technology, cow calf operation, artificial insemination


Treatment of migraine mainly includes pharmacological approaches aimed at breaking migraine attacks and preventive treatment to reduce their frequency. Despite the wide range of pharmacological agents, frequent side effects and pharmacotherapy resistance in patients with migraine determine the urgency of finding new alternative treatment strategies. The introduction of new non-invasive methods for percutaneous stimulation has fundamentally expanded the therapeutic opportunities for many patients with migraine, irrespective of the severity of the disease and responsiveness to pharmacotherapy. Stimulation of the supraorbital nerve with the percutaneous Cefaly device ('Cefaly Technology sprl', Seraing, Belgium) in clinical randomized, controlled studies has demonstrated efficacy in significantly reducing both the frequency of migraine attacks and the total number of days with headache. Cefaly is the first FDA approved migraine prevention medical device.


A variety of near-regional, regional, and teleseismic ground-motion data have been used to evaluate proposed models of the nuclear seismic source function for underground detonations in tuff/rhyolite emplacement media. It has been found that both the near-regional broad-band seismic data and the teleseismic body-wave magnitude data are consistent with the modified source model proposed by Mueller and Murphy (1971) but not with the simple cube-root of the yield-scaling source model. In particular, the observed linearity and slopes of the body-wave magnitude-yield curves as well as the observed variation of P-wave period with yield have been found to be fully compatible with the modified source model. On the other hand, it has been concluded that the observed long-period surface-wave data are inconsistent with a simple, spherically symmetric source model. The results of a preliminary analysis have suggested that this discrepancy may be related to the spall closure phenomenon.


Quantum entanglement as a resource has repeatedly proven to add performance improvements for various tasks in communication and computing, yet no current application justifies a wide spread use of entanglement as a commodity in communication systems. In this work, we detail how the addition of an entanglement storage system at the end-points of a communication link integrated seamlessly into the current Internet can benefit that link's capabilities via a protocol implementing the simple rule to "create entanglement when idle", and use entanglement-assisted communication whenever possible. The benefits are shown with regards to throughput, packet drop-rate, and average packet processing time. The modelling is done in an information-theoretic style, thereby establishing a connecting from information-theoretic capacities to statistical network analysis.


The uniqueness of Tonks-Dattner-diagnostics for determining the spatial electron density profile, Ne(R), across a plasma column has been investigated, By chosing Ne(R) either parabolic or linear it was found that the solutions yielded approximately overlapping profiles in the R-region for which the resonances occur. The whole profile enters into the equation for the average electron density, a quantity which is measured by microwave cavity techniques. The two profiles yielded thermal electron velocities which differed by about 15%.


The Ca sensitivity of chemically skinned right ventricular trabeculae from the rat heart was determined at 22 and 8 degrees C. Endogenous troponin C (TnC) was then extracted with EDTA and replaced with either bovine cardiac TnC or rabbit fast-twitch skeletal TnC. The temperature dependence of myofilament Ca sensitivity was then reevaluated. Cooling native cardiac tissue from 22 to 8 degrees C reduced the pCa (-log10 [Ca2+]), generating half-maximal tension (K1/2) from 5.20 +/- 0.07 to 4.89 +/- 0.08 (SD, n = 14), and also reduced maximum Ca-activated force to 33 +/- 6% of its value at 22 degrees C. After extraction of endogenous TnC and reconstitution with cardiac TnC, cooling from 22 to 8 degrees C caused a similar shift in mean K1/2 from 4.93 +/- 0.08 to 4.69 +/- 0.06 (n = 7). When skeletal TnC was reconstituted into TnC-extracted ventricular fibers, cooling from 22 to 8 degrees C led to a much smaller mean shift in K1/2 from 4.88 +/- 0.07 to 4.78 +/- 0.04 (n = 7). The results show that the magnitude of the cooling-induced shift in myofilament Ca sensitivity observed in the native state (or after reconstitution with cardiac TnC) is significantly reduced if the fiber is reconstituted with skeletal TnC (P less than 0.001). This indicates that the temperature dependence of myofilament Ca sensitivity of cardiac muscle can be modified by incorporation of skeletal TnC. Thus Ca binding to TnC plays an important role in determining the temperature dependence of myofilament Ca sensitivity.


The in-flight particle temperature and velocity are very important factors that determine the deposition characteristics and coating qualities in plasma spray. Therefore, predicting the in-flight particle temperature and velocity with spray conditions is benefit to control the prepared coating qualities. In the present study, a steady-state 3D model was used to calculate the gas flow field of a plasma jet. The plasma gas temperature and velocity profiles applied to the plasma jet as the boundary conditions were obtained with our previous studies of plasma arc behaviors inside plasma torch. After obtained the gas temperature and velocity of the plasma jet, the in-flight particle trajectories, temperature, and velocity were investigated with numerical calculation method. Also the inflight particle temperature and velocity were verified by experimental measurements.


Fabry's disease is a rare lysosomal storage disorder caused by the deficiency of α-galactosidase A that leads to the accumulation of neutral glycosphingolipids in many organs including kidney, heart, and brain. Since end-stage renal disease represents a major complication of this pathology, the aim of the present work was to evaluate if urinary proteoglycan/glycosaminoglycan excretion could represent a useful marker for monitoring kidney function in these patients at high risk. Quali-quantitative and structural analyses were conducted on plasma and urine from 24 Fabry's patients and 43 control subjects. Patients were sorted for presence and degree of renal impairment (proteinuria/renal damage). Results showed that levels of urine bikunin, also known as urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI), are significantly higher in patients with renal impairment than in controls. In this respect, no differences were evidenced in plasma chondroitin sulfate isomers level/structure indicating a likely direct kidney involvement. Noteworthy, urine bikunin levels are higher in patients since early symptoms of renal impairment occur (proteinuria). Overall, our findings suggest that urine bikunin level, as well as proteinuria, could represent a useful parameter for monitoring renal function in those patients that do not present any symptoms of renal insufficiency.


Studies have shown that the administration of androstenedione (ADIONE) significantly increases the urinary ratio of testosterone glucuronide to epitestosterone glucuronide (T/E) - measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) - in subjects with a normal ( approximately 1) or naturally high (>1) initial values. However, the urinary T/E ratio has been shown not to increase in subjects with naturally low (<1) initial values. Such cases then rely on the detection of C(6)-hydroxylated metabolites shown to be indicative of ADIONE administration. While these markers may be measured in the routine GC/MS steroid profile, their relatively low urinary excretion limits the use of gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) to specifically confirm ADIONE administration based on depleted (13)C content. A mass spectrometry strategy was used in this study to identify metabolites of ADIONE with the potential to provide compound-specific detection. C(4)-hydroxylation was subsequently shown to be a major metabolic pathway following ADIONE administration, thereby resulting in urinary excretion of 4-hydroxyandrostenedione (4OH-ADIONE). Complementary analysis of 4OH-ADIONE by GC/MS and GC/C/IRMS was used to confirm ADIONE administration.


Abstract Recent reports show that users increasingly use smartphone messenger applications such as WhatsApp for news. Media outlets have started to provide news via WhatsApp in addition to other platforms. In journalism scholarship, the routines of messenger app journalism are still little understood. Building on the Diffusions of Innovations theory, this paper explores whether newsrooms treat WhatsApp similar to other social media, which they have used for a longer period of time, or whether they have developed new practices that respect WhatsApp's roots in mobile and interpersonal communication. Focusing on Germany as a case study and drawing on an analysis of 3745 messages sent to WhatsApp channels of news outlets and on an online survey of journalists working with social media (N = 111), this study shows that journalists utilize the innovative possibilities of WhatsApp for news to a varying degree. While some characteristics of mobile communication are considered in news outlets' strategies, engagement with the audience is often neglected. The results highlight the challenges for relational innovations in the editorial process.


Human connectomes constructed via neuroimaging data offer a comprehensive description of the macro-scale structural connectivity within the brain. Thus quantitative assessment of connectome-scale structural and functional connectivities will not only fundamentally advance our understanding of normal brain organization and function, but also have significant importance to systematically and comprehensively characterize many devastating brain conditions. In recognition of the importance of connectome and connectomics, in this paper, we develop and evaluate a novel computational framework to construct structural connectomes from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data and assess connectome-scale functional connectivity alterations in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and schizophrenia (SZ) from concurrent resting state fMRI (R-fMRI) data, in comparison with their healthy controls. By applying effective feature selection approaches, we discovered informative and robust functional connectomics signatures that can distinctively characterize and successfully differentiate the two brain conditions of MCI and SZ from their healthy controls (classification accuracies are 96% and 100%, respectively). Our results suggest that connectomics signatures could be a general, powerful methodology for characterization and classification of many brain conditions in the future.


In any terrorist attack on Australian soil, it will be the media that defines the experience for the Australian public. The media will cover what happened and why, who did it, and will analyse whether anything could have been done to prevent the incident. Over time the media might look for someone to be held accountable. Political leaders, government officials and first responders would find themselves under siege by the media in any terrorism incident here. Television, radio, online and print journalism will inform the public during a terrorism crisis. The tone and content of the coverage influences how the public will react. In an event as disturbing as a terrorist attack, even people who normally pay scant regard to news broadcasts may suddenly become anxiously dependent on such information.


This study presents new empirical results, using microdata from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) database, on development patterns in economic inequality for a set of countries that are less covered in the empirical literature, mostly due to a lack of appropriate data. After discussing the main challenges when harmonizing income and consumption microdata from middle-income countries, we focus on Brazil, China, India, Russia, and South Africa, in a comparative perspective, and we compare them with a selection of benchmark middle- and high-income countries. We also run country-level regressions to correlate the inequality measures with selected macroeconomic indicators.


Building orientation is a signzjicant design consideration, mainly with regard to solar radiation and wind In predominantly hot humid regions like Malaysia which receives sunlight all year around, buildings should be oriented to minimize solar gain and maximize natural ventilation m. This paper describes an investigation into the effect of building orientation in view of solar radiation absolptance of exterior wall, varied area ratio of glazed window to wall and the effect of natural ventilation on the tlrermalperformance for residential building in tropical region. The FAJAR BAKlY building @ostgraduate student residential building) which is oriented in the east west directiions, and a located in USM Campus, Penang. The selected case study are two rooms, the first one is facing east direction while the other faced west. The dqferences in idout door air temperature and air velocity of both rooms have been measured from the field directly using the comprehensive datalogger BABUCM, this data have been analyzed and investigated. The resulis shows that east wirtdows have more obvious effect on increasing indoor air temperature than west windows, that is applicable for ventilated or unventilated rooms.


My study reports on a case study of a Spanish native speaker's academic writing in English regarding his identity expression. I use Ivanic's (1998) framework on writer's 'discoursal identity'. I also included the writer's mini-autobiography and a semi-structured Skype-interview for an in-depth analysis of the writer's authorial representation and autobiographical self. This triangulation of data shed light on the writer's identity construction. I therefore also reflect on the use of a case study approach when analysing a writer's 'identity construction'.


The effect of inulin sugars concentration on the growth and ethanol production by Kluyveromyces marxianus UCD (FST) 55-82 was studied. A maximum ethanol concentration of 102 g/liter was obtained from 250 g of sugars per liter initial concentration. The maximum specific growth rate varied from 0.44 h−1 at 50 g of sugar per liter to 0.13 h−1 at 300 g of sugar per liter, whereas the ethanol yield remained almost constant at 0.45 g of ethanol per g of sugars utilized.


To study HIV-1 escape from a coreceptor antagonist, the R5 primary isolate CC1/85 was passaged in peripheral blood mononuclear cells with increasing concentrations of the CCR5-specific small molecule inhibitor, AD101. By 19 passages, an escape mutant emerged with a >20,000-fold resistance to AD101. This virus was cross-resistant to a related inhibitor, SCH-C, and partially resistant to RANTES but still sensitive to CCR5-specific mAbs. The resistant phenotype was stable; the mutant virus retained AD101 resistance during nine additional passages of culture in the absence of inhibitor. Replication of the escape mutant in peripheral blood mononuclear cells completely depended on CCR5 expression and did not occur in cells from CCR5-Δ32 homozygous individuals. The escape mutant was unable to use CXCR4 or any other tested coreceptor to enter transfected cells. Acquisition of CXCR4 use is not the dominant in vitro escape pathway for a small molecule CCR5 entry inhibitor. Instead, HIV-1 acquires the ability to use CCR5 despite the inhibitor, first by requiring lower levels of CCR5 for entry and then probably by using the drug-bound form of the receptor.


OBJECTIVES
Inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase is an enzyme encoded by the ITPA gene and functions to prevent the incorporation of thiopurine nucleotides into DNA and RNA. Thiopurine drug metabolites such as azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine have been included in the lists of inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase substrates. Inosine triphosphatase gene alterations are other pharmacogenetic sequence variants possibly involved in thiopurine metabolism. This study aimed to evaluate the possible association between ITPA 94C>A gene sequence variant (C-to-A substitution at nucleotide 94) in liver transplant recipients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The genotyping of ITPA 94C>A was evaluated by the polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism method in 200 liver transplant recipients as well as 100 controls. Data were analyzed with SPSS statistical software.

RESULTS
This study showed statistically significant associations between the CA genotype of the ITPA 94C>A sequence variant and liver transplant in the rejection and nonrejection groups. Moreover, the results reported in this study showed no significant differences between sex, age, and blood group in patients with liver transplant (with or without transplant rejection).

CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicated that there were statistically significant associations of the CA genotype of ITPA 94C>A sequence variant with liver transplant in the rejection and nonrejection groups. Further studies are recommended.


Since the discovery of fibronectin as a transformation-sensitive 'cell surface' protein, it has been the focus of intensive studies. Fibronectin has multiple interactions and functions and is composed of distinguishing properties of malignant cells, properties. Invasiveness and metastasis, distinguishing properties of malignant cells, involve penetration through components of the extracellular matrix. Enzymatic degradation of matrix components is involved in these phenomena. Proteolytic targets of the pericellular matrices of cells in culture include fibronectin that has been found to be even selectively susceptible to proteinases. Defined fragments of fibronectin have transformation-promoting activity in experimental conditions and such fragments, detected in tumor patient body fluids, may serve as markers for tumor progression.


The concept of individualism has gone through a fundamental change, according to distinguished political theorist Nadia Urbinati. In the nineteenth century, individualism was a philosophical and ethical perspective that permitted each person to respect and cooperate with others as equals in rights and dignity for the betterment of the community as a whole. Today, the individualist is a more self-interested entity whose maxim might best be expressed as "I don't give a damn." This contemporary form of individualism is possessive and conformist, litigious and docile, all too prone to manipulate norms and to submit to the tyrannical sway of private interests. As such, Urbinati believes, it represents the most radical risk that modern democracy currently faces. This well-reasoned and thought-provoking polemic is an attempt to detect the "tyranny of the moderns," with the ultimate aim of recovering the role of the individual citizen as a free and equal agent of democratic society. It explores the concept of communitarianism as a form of individualism applied to the group itself, and advances the idea that the rescue of true individualism from the current ideology is a basic condition for the defense of democratic citizenship.


This paper presents a new approach to the construction of game theoretic metamodels from data obtained through stochastic simulation. In this approach, stochastic kriging is used to estimate payoff functions of players involved in a game represented by a simulation model. Based on the estimated payoff functions, the players' best responses to the values of the decision variables chosen by the other players are calculated. In the approach, the concept of best response sets in the context of game theoretic simulation metamodeling is applied. These sets contain the values of the players' decision variables which cannot be excluded from being a best response and allow the identification of the potential Nash equilibria. The utilization of the approach is demonstrated with simulation examples where payoff functions are known a priori. Additionally, it is applied to data acquired by using a discrete event air combat simulation model.


A scientific performance evaluation of the regional water ecological civilization construction and clarifying the obstacle factor are key points to improve the performance of regional water ecological civilization construction theory. This study analyzes the coupling relationship between humans and regional water ecology by applying the thinking logic of "driving force-pressure-state-influence-response-management." The regional water ecological civilization construction performance evaluation index system based on the DPSIRM model was established. Combining the unascertained measurement model and obstacle diagnosis model, the water ecological civilization construction performance of Shizuishan City during the past 10 years was empirically evaluated, and the obstacle factors affecting local construction performance were diagnosed and analyzed. The analytical results reveal the following points:First, the performance of the water ecological civilization construction in Shizuishan City gradually increased annually and revealed three development stages:the site visit and slow improvement (2010-2014), intermediate but fast improvement (2015-2017) and good and fast improvement (2018-2019). Second, each subsystem performance index trend varied, but generally, the fluctuations rose. Third, from 2010 to 2014, the average obstacle degree of the subsystem state, subsystem response, and subsystem pressure reached 58.81%, which became the main obstacles restricting the performance of the local water ecological civilization construction. From 2015 to 2017, the average pressure barrier degree reached 21.73%, which was the most significant obstacle to the construction performance. From 2018 to 2019, the average pressure barrier degree remained the largest obstacle by reaching 24.49%. Lastly, the index barrier of the obstacle degree among the top five factors are primarily distributed in the pressure subsystem. A comprehensive frequency ranking of the obstacles, the irrigation water use coefficient, and the pressure of the water consumption per ten thousand yuan of value-added by industry as a representative subsystem are the key directions to future construction. In this paper, the concepts and methods of the research can provide a theoretical reference for the performance evaluation of regional water ecological civilization construction and its obstacle factor diagnosis analysis.


ABSTRACT Though Japanese tea has been traditionally differentiated by, for example, production processes, varieties, and environmental and cultural factors of production areas, positive elements related to place or environment are increasingly highlighted to add value to tea practices. Here, agricultural practice peculiar to the area can provide foods more in a sustainable way. The practice can be registered through institutional measures. Regions of tea production are applying multiple instruments, such as geographical indications (GIs), trademarks, organic standards, and regional heritage registrations. Thus, this study examined the potential effects of these quality elements on the producers and production regions and discuss the quality is multi-layered over discourse and practice. For the analysis, this study employed convention theory originating from French economic sociology to understand producers and related actors deciding product quality. This study investigated four tea types, all observable cases of Japanese tea GIs. The effective registration of GI depends on diverse conventional elements such as inclusion and exclusion, duration of the registration process, and the agreeable product standards. The registration of GI tea can be combined with other quality or environment-related registration, such as organic standards, environmentally friendly or tradition-related labeling, such as that in Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).


Uncontrolled inflammation is a pathological state that underlies many diseases. Despite the development of numerous anti-inflammatory agents, the treatment of uncontrolled inflammation remains a challenging task. We developed a targeted delivery system for [5-(p-fluorophenyl)-2-ureido]thiophene-3-carboxamide (TPCA-1), a potent inhibitor of the NF-κB signaling pathway. The system comprises TPCA-1-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) functionalized with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) that specifically binds to the break point of the IgD6 region of the platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) extracellular segment that is overexposed on the injured endothelium and activated macrophages during the pathogenesis of inflammation. In vitro binding and cellular uptake experiments revealed that the mAb modification on NPs could significantly enhance uptake by both Raw264.7 and HUVEC compared with unmodified NPs. In studies conducted at the cellular level focusing on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, this formulation was found to effectively inhibit M1 polarization of macrophages, downregulate the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and reduce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO). In an animal model of vascular endothelial injury with acute inflammation, these NPs were capable of delivering TPCA-1 to inflammatory lesions in a targeted manner. Compared with the free agent-treated group, the NP-treated group exhibited reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that this targeted delivery of TPCA-1-loaded NPs represents a promising strategy for improved mitigation of uncontrolled inflammation.


Assuming the unitary-only dynamics for the "open system plus environment" composite quantum system, for certain typical Markovian models we find that the standard ignorance-based ensemble interpretation of the open system's dynamics is not appropriate. Our analysis is purely technical and within the standard quantum-mechanical formalism without employing or calling for any additional assumptions or the formalism interpretation. Conceptual implications are presented in comparison with some related results, which include the so-called master equation unraveling in quantum optics, the continuous spontaneous localization theory as well as the concept of mixed states applied to single quantum systems.


We measured a cut‐away peatland's CH4 dynamics using the static chamber technique one year before and two years after restoration (rewetting). The CH4 emissions were related to variation in vegetation and abiotic factors using multiple linear regression. A statistical model for CH4 flux with cottongrass cover (Eriophorum vaginatum L.), soil temperature, water level, and effective temperature sum index as driving variables explained most (r2 = 0.81) of the temporal and spatial variability in the fluxes. In addition to the direct increasing effect of raised water level on CH4 emissions, rewetting also promoted an increase of cottongrass cover which consequently increased carbon flux (substrate availability) into the system. The seasonal CH4 dynamics in tussocks followed seasonal CO2 dynamics till mid August but in late autumn CH4 emissions increased while CO2 influxes decreased. The reconstructed seasonal CH4 exchange was clearly higher following the rewetting, although it was still lower than emissions from pristine mires in the same area. However, our simulation for closed cottongrass vegetation showed that CH4 emissions from restored peatlands may remain at a lower level for a longer period of time even after sites have become fully vegetated and colonized by mire plants.


Community question answering, a recent evolution of question answering in the Web context, allows a user to quickly consult the opinion of a number of people on a particular topic, thus taking advantage of the wisdom of the crowd. Here we try to help the user by deciding automatically which answers are good and which are bad for a given question. In particular, we focus on exploiting the output structure at the thread level in order to make more consistent global decisions. More specifically, we exploit the relations between pairs of comments at any distance in the thread, which we incorporate in a graph-cut and in an ILP frameworks. We evaluated our approach on the benchmark dataset of SemEval-2015 Task 3. Results improved over the state of the art, confirming the importance of using thread level information.


Progressive growth of immunogenic murine tumors elicits a tumor-specific but functionally deficient T-cell immune response in the draining lymph nodes. These T cells, referred to as "pre-effector" cells could be induced in vitro to differentiate into mature immune effector cells, capable of mediating the regression of established metastases. Initially, tumor cells were used to stimulate the in vitro maturation of pre-effector cells. Alternatively, we found that pre-effector cells could be activated by sequential stimulation with anti-CD3 and interleukin-2 in the absence of tumor cells. In adoptive immunotherapy, these activated cells mediated therapeutic effects that were exquisitely specific to the tumor that triggered the pre-effector cell response in vivo. Since the anti-CD3 interaction with T cells is polyclonal, the activated lymph node cell population must also contain a significant number of T cells that do not have tumor specificity. In an attempt to selectively activate tumor-sensitized pre-effector cells, we recently utilized superantigenic bacterial toxins as T-cell stimuli for effector cell generation. Superantigens combine with major histocompatibility class II molecules to form the ligands that stimulate T cells bearing distinct T-cell receptor V beta elements. Lymph node cells draining the MCA 205 sarcoma stimulated with staphylococcal enterotoxins A (SEA), B (SEB), or C2 (SEC2) resulted in selective expansions of V beta 3 and 11, V beta 3 and 8, or V beta 8.2 T cells, respectively. Adoptive immunotherapy experiments revealed that SEB- and SEC2-, but not SEA- stimulated cells, mediated tumor-specific eradication of pulmonary metastases.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Abstract 3D printing has been integrated in various applications in biomedical and medical imaging. A prominent new field is that of radiation protection and shielding, where the introduction of infused filaments makes it possible to manufacture customized 3D printed shielding. In this study we examine the use of a Polylactic Acid (PLA) infused with tungsten to shield a Positron Emission Tomography / Computer Tomography (PET/CT) scanner. The goal is to reduce the effects of the radiation emitted from outside the field-of-view (FOV) on the PET image and to protect the PET electronics against the X-rays from the CT. The shielding properties were examined using the radioactive sources Ba-133, Na-22, and Cs-137, as well as two X-ray sources with energy ranging from 20 to 125 kV. For X-rays below 40 kV, less than 1 cm of the tungsten infused shielding was sufficient to block more than 95% of the X-ray beam intensity. However, only around 30% of the 511-keV rays from Na-22 was attenuated by 3.5 cm of the 3D printed material. Our results support the application of tungsten infused PLA materials to shield the PET electronics. However, further studies are required to determine if shielding the PET crystals with tungsten infused PLA can improve image quality by reducing the contribution of scattered rays from outside the FOV. Additionally, our results show new possibilities for the use of infused filament in the field of Xray imaging. For example, where lead coverings or skirts are excessively bulky or rigid, it could be employed to optimize shielding for radiation-sensitive organs.


This paper follows a method to effectively provide useful visualizations of learnerspsila behavior in e-learning. The results are some interactive visualization that should provide a much more proactive way of analysis, since it requires having to pay more attention for a complete understanding of the data and also, offers more data in the same time frame and space for the user (teacher). We present the analysis we have made to effectively provide the visualization tool that fitted us, the prefuse visualization toolkit to develop within our in-house e-learning tracking system called Merlin, which is sharable and fully open source. Finally, interactive visualization has helped us, teachers, to improve assessment of learning, and can probably help you too.


Along with the growth of the Internet, the trend shows that e-commerce have been growing significantly in the last several years. This means business opportunities for small-medium enterprises (SMEs), which are recognized as the backbone of the economy. SMEs may develop and run small to medium size of particular e-commerce websites as the solution of specific business opportunities. Certainly, the websites should be developed accordingly to support business success. In developing the websites, key elements of e-commerce business model that are necessary to ensure the success should be resolved at the requirement stage of the development. In this paper, we propose an enhancement of requirement analysis method found in literatures such that it includes activities to resolve the key elements. The method has been applied in three case studies based on Indonesia situations and we conclude that it is suitable to be adopted by SMEs.


Pulse chasing is a technique implemented by a bistatic or multistatic radar system that allows rapid and efficient search of a desired volume of space whereby the receiving antenna is made to follow or "chase" the transmitted pulse as it travels radially outward from the transmitter antenna. An expression for receiver antenna scan rate requirements is derived that corrects an error in the prior literature. The results give significantly reduced scan rates in the forward scatter region near the baseline showing that pulse chasing is more easily implemented using conventional analog beamformer phased array technology than was suggested by prior work.


Circulating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) p24 antigen levels were measured in 22 AIDS patients who had detectable serum antigen at baseline after induction and maintenance therapy of foscarnet for cytomegalovirus retinitis in phase I/II multicenter trials. The HIV p24 antigen levels decreased from a baseline value of 199 +/- 236 (mean +/- SD) and 140 pg/mL (median) to 106 +/- 218 and 28 pg/mL after 14 days of foscarnet induction therapy (60 mg/kg every 8 h). During chronic foscarnet maintenance, there was a sustained decrease in mean HIV p24 antigen levels below pre-foscarnet therapy baseline concentrations for a median of 16 weeks after foscarnet induction. These results provide evidence for a sustained clinical antiretroviral effect of chronic foscarnet maintenance therapy, consistent with a recent report that foscarnet-treated AIDS patients live longer than ganciclovir-treated patients.


Jie-Yu Pill (JYP) is a proprietary herbal medicine initially developed to treat menstrual mood disorders. This study sought to determine whether JYP could alleviate menopausal psychiatric symptoms in ovariectomized (OVX) mice, an animal model of estrogen deprivation, exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and the underlying mechanisms in comparison with estrogen therapy. The OVX+CUMS mice were treated with 0.3 mg/kg estradiol (E2), 2.5 g/kg or 5 g/kg JYP for 36 days, and tested in multiple behavioral paradigms. Serum, uterus, and brain tissues were collected for the measurement of hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis (HPO) and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hormones, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, neurotrophins, and estrogen receptors. JYP and E2 had comparable efficacy in reducing anxiety- and depression-like behavior and cognitive impairment of the OVX+CUMS mice. E2 strikingly increased ratio of uterus to body weight of the OVX+CUMS mice, but JYP did not. Both agents suppressed HPO-axis upstream hormones, inhibited HPA-axis hyperactivity by reinstating hypothalamic GABA, restored hippocampal and prefrontal glutamate contents and its receptor expression in the OVX+CUMS mice. While JYP and E2 protected against decreases in hippocampal and prefrontal neurotrophins and estrogen receptors of the OVX+CUMS mice, unlike E2, JYP had no significant effects on these biomarkers in the uterus. These results suggest that JYP has comparable efficacy in ameliorating mood disorder-like behavior and cognitive impairment induced by a combination of estrogen deprivation and chronic stress in association with certain differential uterus-brain mechanisms compared to estrogen therapy. JYP may be a potential therapy for menopause-associated psychiatric disorders.


Hierarchical analysis of manufacturing systems is performed in a top-down manner in which a general, approximate model is used to capture the main effects of component interconnections, while more detailed models of components provide the detailed information needed for the derivation of performance characteristics of the entire system. For Petri net models, this approach corresponds to stepwise refinements of models. Structural analysis, based on place invariants combined with simple net transformations, is used to obtain performance characteristics of the modeled systems.


Today everyone is living in a world that is dominated by technology. To be able to develop a product using the current technology that will be helpful to various people is a big contribution to the society. This research paper represents the idea, design and implementation of a low cost but yet easily accessible android based Entity Coordinator system. The purpose of this project is to build an Intelligent Entity Coordinator to control switching of home applian ces from any part of the world having an internet access. This will lead to less consumption of energy in case a person forgets to turn off their home appliances. As we know that, electricity is precious and should be used in an efficient way, this project will help others to build an efficient habit towards the electricity conservation. The design is based on Node MCU board and the home appliances are connected to the input/ output ports of this board via relays. The communication between the Android device and the Node MCU board is through Cloud Mqtt. This system is developed to be low cost and scalable allowing variety of devices to be controlled with minimum changes to its core. Also, the artificial intelligence is used for the user interaction better.


The amino-terminal peptides of type III procollagen (PIIIP) in the urine of 40 patients with various liver diseases were determined with a commercial radioimmunoassay kit. The level of urinary PIIIP (uPIIIP) was correlated well with serum PIIIP (sPIIIP) in 9 patients, the coefficient of correlation being r = 0.836 (p less than 0.01) and the regression line being y = 1.42x + 24. Urinary PIIIP consisted of at least 4 different molecular species with molecular weights of 49 k, 18 k, 10 k and 4.6 k as estimated by column chromatography on Sephadex G-100. Furthermore. uPIIIP was found to be significantly elevated in acute hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and other liver diseases, in which the elevation of sPIIIP has been reported by others. The mean values +/- standard deviations of uPIIIP were 44.0 +/- 32.0, 60.4 +/- 32.0, 62.0 +/- 46.5, 53.0 +/- 27.1 and 48.1 +/- 22.8 ng/ml for the respective liver diseases, and 13.2 +/- 4.5 for the non-hepatic disease group.


ABSTRACTThe inherent complexity of semiconductor fabrication processes makes it hard to solve well-known job scheduling problems in analytical ways, which leads us to rely practically on discrete event modeling simulations to learn the effects of changing the system's parameters. Meanwhile, unpredictable disturbances such as machine failures and maintenance diminish the productivity of semiconductor manufacturing processes with fixed scheduling policies; thus, it is necessary to adapt job scheduling policy in a timely manner in reaction to critical environmental changes (disturbances) in order for the fabrication process to perform optimally. This paper proposes an adaptive job control framework for a wafer fabrication process in a control system theoretical approach and implements it based on a DEVS modeling simulation environment. The proposed framework has the advantages in view of the whole systems understanding and flexibility of applying new rules compared to most ad-hoc software approaches in this field. Furthermore, it is flexible enough to incorporate new job scheduling rules into the existing rule set. Experimental results show that this control framework with adaptive rescheduling outperforms fixed job scheduling algorithms.


The theory of stochastic music proposes that we think of music as a vertical integration of mathematics, the physics of sound, psychoacoustics, and traditional music theory In Hypercompression, Stochastic Musical Processing we explore the design and implementation of three innovative musical projects that build on a deep vertical integration of science and technology in different ways: Stochastic Tempo Modulation, Reflection Visualizer, and Hypercompression. Stochastic Tempo Modulation proposes a mathematical approach for composing previously inaccessible polytempic music. The Reflection Visualizer introduces an interface for quickly sketching abstract architectural and musical ideas. Hypercompression describes new technique for manipulating music in space and time. For each project, we examine how stochastic theory can help us discover and explore new musical possibilities, and we discuss the advantages and shortcomings of this approach. Thesis Supervisor: TOD MACHOVER Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media Program in Media Arts and Sciences HYPERCOMPRESSION Stochastic Musical Processing


The article contains the data on creating and maintaining the collections in vitro of some ornamental plants – lilac, roses, tree peonies. The analysis of morphogenetic processes during microclonal propagation of lilac cultivars demonstrates well-defined correlation between susceptibility of this culture to mineral mixture of nutrient medium and plant genotype. Rose cultivars from different garden groups keep high growth capacity during 12 subculturing cycles on Murashige Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with 0.5 mg/l BAP. For all culturing tree-peonies cultivars Woody Plant Medium (WPM) with double content of Ca2+ ions and total exception of Cl- ions turns out to be more suitable. The opportunity of 10 lilac cultivars and 4 rose cultivars preservation in slow growth cultures was appreciated. The correlation between long-term cultivation in low temperature and genotype of ornamental plants cultivars was shown. Thus, 18 ºС turns out to be suitable for creation of slow-growth collection of all studied rose cultivars, and 14 ºС – only for 'Nina Weibull'. Maintaining of lilac microshoots at 10 ºС during 5 months practically did not act negatively on their viability.


Concrete is a material with the ability to withstand a fairly high pressure, yet it has a low ability to withstand tension. To be utilized as a structure material, improvements need to be made to increase its tensile strength. Addition of fiber in the concrete mixture is recognized to be one among the existing methods to increase the tensile strength. Considering its high tensile strength, This study aimed to examine the compressive strength, the split tensile strength, the flexural and elastic modulus of the normal concrete with Menjalin fibers. The examination was conducted using a cylinder with the diameter of 15 cm and the height of 30 cm and a beam with the size of 15x15x60 cm. Fiber addition was 0.65% of the total concrete materials with various fiber lengths ranging from 2.5 cm, 5 cm, 7.5 cm to 10 cm. The experiment was made by the means of a concrete cylinder compressive test and a flexural test of unreinforced concrete blocks. Results of the study showed, at the age of 21 days, the highest average compressive strength value of 194.37 kg/cm2 and the split tensile strength of 30.43 kg/cm2 in the concrete with fiber of 5 cm long were obtained. The highest flexural modulus value of concrete occurred in the specimen with the fiber length of 7.5 cm (55.7 kg/cm2), while the highest elasticity of concrete occurred in the specimen with the fiber length of 5 cm (2.45x105 kg/cm2).


Most modern high performance storage systems store data in large repositories of removable media volumes. Management of the removable volumes is performed by a software module known as a physical volume library (PVL). To meet performance and scalability requirements, a PVL can be asked to mount multiple removable media volumes for use by a single client for parallel data transfer. Mounting sets of volumes creates an environment in which it is possible for multiple client requests to deadlock while attempting to gain access to storage resources. Scenarios leading to deadlock in a PVL include multiple client requests that contend for the same cartridge(s), and client requests that vie for a limited set of drive resources. These deadlock scenarios are further complicated by the potential for volumes to be mounted out-of-order (for example, by automatic cartridge loaders or human operators). This paper begins by introducing those PVL requirements which create the possibility of deadlock resolution and how they might be applied in a PVL. This leads to a design for a PVL that addresses deadlock scenarios. Following the design presentation is a discussion of possible design enhancements. We end with a case study of an actual implementation of the PVL design in the high performance storage system (HPSS).


Differentiable simulation is emerging as a fundamental building block for many cutting-edge applications in computer graphics, vision and robotics, among others. This course provides an introduction to this topic and an overview of state-of-the-art methods in this context. Starting with the basics of dynamic mechanical systems, we will present a general theoretical framework for differentiable simulation, which we will specialize to rigid bodies, deformable solids, and fluids. A particular focus will be on the different alternatives for computing simulation derivatives, ranging from analytical expressions via sensitivity analysis to reverse-mode automatic differentiation. As an important step towards real-world applications, we also present extensions to non-smooth phenomena such as frictional contact. Finally, we will discuss different ways of integrating differentiable simulation into machine learning frameworks. The material covered in this course is based on the author's own works and experience, complemented by a state-of-the-art review of this young but rapidly evolving field. It will be richly illustrated, annotated, and supported by examples ranging from robotic manipulation of deformable materials to simulation-based capture of dynamic fluids. The theoretical parts will be accompanied by source code examples that will be made available to participants prior to this course.


Transformer deficiencies usually take many years to gestate before developing into a problem or failure. Thus the loss induced by problems or failures could be decreased if they are diagnosed earlier and a maintenance action is adopted duly. Many methods had been developed to finish this purpose, but the diagnosis results were still unsatisfied. In this paper, a case-based reasoning method is utilized to diagnose the incipient fault of power transformer. At first, the principle of case-based reasoning is introduced. And then, the re-division of transformer fault is carried out in order to give more specific and useful diagnosis conclusion. After that, a case-based diagnosis method is constructed, and detail diagnosis course is presented. This diagnosis result could give more definite fault position, thus it will give better instruction for the transformer maintenance. At last, the application results are illustrated, and it shows that this purposed method improves the reliability and practicality


RSC, a for growth essential chromatin-remodeling complex of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is composed of 15 subunits. Rsc1p and Rsc2p are highly homologous proteins and are contained in distinct RSC complexes. We found that both rsc1Delta and rsc2Delta homozygous diploids showed reduced sporulation with decreased expression of IME2 and that rsc1Delta, but not rsc2Delta, produced aberrant asci containing one to three spores. Overexpression of RSC2 in rsc1Delta recovered the sporulation efficiency but not the production of aberrant asci. In contrast, overexpression of RSC1 in rsc2Delta did not alleviate its sporulation defect. These results suggest that both Rsc1p and Rsc2p share overlapping functions on IME2 expression, with a prominent role for Rsc2p, whereas Rsc1p has an additional function in the late steps of the sporulation process.


Mergers in higher education are large‐scale, complex organisational change processes seeking to integrate former independent institutions into a new organisational entity. Mergers are often justified by reference to broad overarching goals such as quality, relevance, and efficiency. In practice, mergers entail attempts at organisational integration which can be inhibited by several obstacles, increasing and large internal distances can be such a hindrance to integration. In this paper, we explore how different forms of distance to leadership in the context of higher education can be conceptualised, and how experiences of different forms of distance interrelate. This paper shows that geographical distance can also mask other conceptualisations of distances and that geographical distance can also interact with other forms of distances. The empirical basis consists of data from a large‐scale research project addressing the organisational transformations taking place in Norwegian higher education due to mergers between 2016 and 2017.


Received Sep 9th, 2020 Revised Oct 11th, 2020 Accepted Oct 25th, 2020 This paper presents the design of a buck converter circuit with different input switching frequency by using Matlab Simulink software. This study focuses on defining the suitable value of the inductor and capacitor to be used in the buck converter with 100VDC supply input, where the input switching frequency is use 5kHz and 25kHz. This is because the input switching frequency of a buck converter affects many aspects of circuit functionality. This design of the circuit used 20% of the duty cycle, and inductor value is 25% of Lmin to ensure the operation is in continuous current mode. The evaluation of inductor current and switching frequency used in the circuit and parameters for this analysis based on the output voltage, inductor voltage and inductor current waveform. The design of the circuit verified by simulation and results compared with the theoretical. In addition, the appropriate input switching frequency between 5kHz and 25kHz has been determined in order to use in the buck converter circuit for 100Ω resistive load. Keyword:


MTR Corporation operates one of the world's most densely utilised urban mass transit system with high expectations for service reliability from the customers. As a result demands on the track and its management are high. On its 43.2 route km Urban Lines it carries 2.3 million passengers per day and has annual tonnages of traffic of over 45 million gross tonnes on one track. MTR recently has opened two new lines, operating at 135 km/h. One, the Airport Express Line provides a high quality, limited stop express service to the new Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island. The second, the Tung Chung Line provides a mass transit service from central Hong Kong to the new town of Tung Chung. One of the key components of the track system is the rail. Continuous improvement in the performance of the rail is necessary to ensure a safe and reliable permanent way which can meet the increasing demands placed on it in a cost effective manner. In this paper the authors describe the holistic process which MTR Corporation, with technical support from BHP Research Melbourne Laboratories (now BHP Institute of Railway Technology, Monash University), has adopted for improving rail performance with respect to selection, profile deterioration, corrugation growth management and wear rates. The paper contains specific examples of the technical performance of the rails on its Urban Lines and the benefits achieved through the process, some of which challenge generally established expectations concerning wear rates. The results identify the actual improvements in performance achieved through implementation of a rail management model and the adoption of heat treated rails. The initial rail performance of the Airport Express and Tung Chung Lines is reviewed and predictions for the future made. The authors conclude with a consideration of the merits of the process adopted by MTR Corporation and its expectations for future improvements.


Purpose To present our experience in the management of selected extraconal orbital roof lesions utilizing the transorbital endoscopic approach. Methods A retrospective case series of patients who underwent transorbital endoscopic orbital surgery in a single medical center between 2015 to 2020. Results Eleven patients underwent transorbital endoscope assisted surgery for various indications. The mean age at surgery was 31.9 years (range, 6–73 years). Mean follow-up time was 18 months (range, 1–30). The aim of surgery was curative in 10 cases and diagnostic in one patient. Adequate specimen for tissue diagnosis was obtained from all patients. In 8 patients the procedure was completed through a superior eyelid crease incision, and in three patients a combined approach including functional endoscopic sinus surgery was used for achieving complete excision. None of the patients required conversion to an external wider orbital procedure. Intraoperative complication included cerebrospinal fluid leak in one case, which was addressed immediately; and postoperative complications included one case of pre-septal orbital cellulitis treated by intravenous antibiotics with complete resolution. Conclusion Endoscopic-assisted transorbital approach enabled safe removal of selected lesions involving the orbital roof and provides an effective and less invasive alternative to a traditional frontal craniotomy or lateral orbitotomy.


Oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios were measured on left-coiling Neogloboquadrina pachyderma separated from sediments recovered from Holes 1096B (3152 m water depth) and 1101A (3280 m water depth) during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 178. The sediment samples were widely spaced, extending over the past 2.1 m.y. The nature of the sediments
from which they were separated and the measured oxygen isotopic ratios show that N. pachyderma (s) is preserved in both glacial and interglacial sediments over the entire period, pointing to the possibility of extracting a detailed isotopic record at these sites extending back to
2.1 Ma.


This paper focuses on training people to carry out the communication component of development programs. The paper begins with a description of some of the issues on the communication frontier that affect development programs, and then notes three kinds of communication training that stand out: designing and managing communication interventions; information managers; and research and evaluation specialists. It then discusses short-term workshop training in the United States, noting that the idea of planning and strategy appears frequently in short term communication workshops, and that workshop participants typically are front line practitioners who deal with a variety of subject matter areas and who have a wide variety of motivations for attending the workshops. It then discusses long-term academic training, noting that the era of government funding and fostering of development communication as a formal academic course of study appears to be dying, if not already dead. The paper next describes the academic training in development communication available at Cornell University. It concludes with a comparison of short-term training and long-term education in development communication. An appendix contains a summary of record, a description of requirements for the communication major at Cornell University, a list of the courses of study in communication at Cornell, and a list of graduate student research at Cornell on development communication from 1971 to 1998. Contains 27 references. (RS) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************


Objectives: Community-based research is a broad approach in which researchers work closely with practitioners and community members to enhance the understanding of a given phenomenon and promote positive outcomes. In the domestic violence (DV) field, community-based research is a particularly useful strategy to develop and evaluate interventions that address unique community needs. Despite the potential benefits of this approach, to our knowledge, no systematic review has synthesized DV-focused interventions and evaluations designed using a community-based research approach. This study aimed to fill that gap. Method: Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of the literature, retrieving articles that described the collaborative development and evaluation of interventions for DV survivors residing in the United States. Articles were identified from peer-reviewed databases, bibliographies, and experts. Twenty of the 199 articles assessed for eligibility were included. Results: Interventions primarily consisted of small-group sessions focusing on survivors' mental health and safety needs. Evaluations focused on process metrics, although approximately half reported changes in survivors' outcomes. Collaboration generally occurred between DV advocates and applied health care academic teams. Authors described the promotion of collaboration in multiple ways and to varying degrees. Common examples included shared decision-making, recognizing and addressing potential power imbalances, longitudinal relationship building, changing programs based on stakeholder feedback, and co-owned project outputs including coauthorship of manuscripts. Conclusions: This is the first systematic review of interventions to support DV survivors, developed using a community-based research approach. Implications include promoting community-based outcome evaluations and developing guidelines for teams publishing community-based research in the peer-reviewed literature.


Introduction: the daily urinary excretion of sodium (Natriuria) reflects the consumption of salt in the diet and this has been already related from the Anglo-Saxon literature with arterial hypertension; and more recently with metabolic alterations such as overweight and obesity; therefore it is deduced that it would be a relevance determinant in the study of cardic-brain-vascular diseases. Objectives: to determine the relationship between urinary sodium excretion, blood pressure and BMI in young adults of the "Hospital Nacional de Itauguá". Material and methods: prospective, descriptive, observational study with analytical components carried out in adults-young inpatients and staff of the Medical Clinic service of the "Hospital Nacional" in 2018. Results: the average age was 35 ± 11 years. Female patients predominated (62%). The incidence of arterial hypertension was 66%, overweight was observed in 40% and obesity in 30%. The average of Natriuria was 8.8gr / day (SD: ± 0.8 g / day) that would correspond to the daily salt content in the diet of the individuals studied and its correlation with both systolic blood pressures (r = 0.34) as diastolic (r = 0.34) and the BMI (r = 0.60) yielded positive data with p <0.01. Conclusion: the consumption of salt was almost double that recommended and varied slightly with the last report made in our country and with Rev. Nac. (Itauguá) 2019;11(1):39-55 10.18004/rdn2019.0011.01.039-055 neighboring countries. A positive relationship between high salt intake and exposed clinical parameters was demonstrated, the same correlation was seen both for systolic and diastolic pressures and a higher relationship with BMI, presenting a trend line that supposes a higher BMI higher natriuria and consequently higher blood pressure.


Background Depression and the increased risk of sarcopenia are prevalent among the elderly population. However, the causal associations between these factors remain unclear. To investigate the potential association between depression and the risk of sarcopenia in older adults, this study was performed. Methods In the baseline survey, a total of 14,258 individuals aged 40 and above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2015) participated. We initially described the baseline prevalence of the disease. Then, logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) regression were conducted to assess the relationship between depression and sarcopenia. Subgroup analysis was performed to validate the robustness of the findings. Additionally, we conducted Mendelian randomization analysis using the inverse variance weighting estimator to assess the causal relationship between depression and sarcopenia. Furthermore, we adopted six methods, including MR-Egger, simple median, weighted median, maximum likelihood, robust adjusted profile score (RAPS), and MR Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier (MR-PRESSO), for sensitivity analyses. Results Depression patients exhibited higher risks of sarcopenia in all five models adjusting for different covariates (P < 0.05). The RCS analysis demonstrated a linear relationship between depression and sarcopenia (P < 0.05). In the subgroup analysis, increased risk was observed among participants aged 60−70, married or cohabiting individuals, non-smokers, non-drinkers, those with less than 8 h of sleep, BMI below 24, and individuals with hypertension (all P < 0.05). Mendelian randomization results revealed that genetically proxied depression led to a reduction in appendicular skeletal muscle mass (all P < 0.05). Conclusion Our study provides observational and causal evidences that depression can lead to sarcopenia. This finding emphasizes the importance of timely identification and management of depression, as well as implementing targeted educational programs as part of comprehensive strategies to prevent sarcopenia.


The recovery of patients with disorders of consciousness is a real challenge, especially at the chronic stage. After a severe brain injury, patients can regain some slight signs of consciousness, while not being able to functionally communicate. This entity is called the minimally conscious state (MCS), which has been divided into MCS- and MCS+, respectively based on the absence or presence of language-related signs of consciousness. In this series of cases we aimed to describe retrospectively the longitudinal recovery of specific language-related behaviors using neuroimaging measurement in severely brain-injured patients. Among 209 chronic MCS patients admitted to our center from 2008 to 2018, 19 were assessed at two time points by means of behavioral and neuroimaging assessments. Three of them met our inclusion criteria and were diagnosed as MCS- during their first stay and had recovered command-following when they were reassessed (i.e., MCS+). As compared to their first assessments, when the three patients were in a MCS+, they showed less hypometabolism and/or higher gray matter volume in brain regions such as the precuneus and thalamus, as well as the left caudate and temporal/angular cortices known to be involved in various aspects of semantics. According to these preliminary results, the reappearance of language-related behaviors was concomitant with the recovery of metabolism and gray matter in neural regions that have been associated with self-consciousness and language processing. Prospective studies should be conducted to deepen our understanding of the neural correlates of the recovery of language-related behaviors in chronic MCS.


A series of novel fluoroionophore bearing derivatives of benzo-15-crown-5 were synthesized by the amination of benzo-15-crown-5 followed by condensation with different quinones in the presence of titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4 ) and 1,4-diazabicyclo-[2.2.2]octane. The compounds were characterized by infrared, (1) H and (13) C nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Absorption and fluorescence spectral characteristics of these compounds were studied. It was observed that the anthraquinone derivative was acting as an Hg(2+) ion sensor.


Risk analysis and hazard management can prompt varied intra‐scientific disputes, some which have or will become public, and thus potentially available for lay judgments of the relative validity of the positions taken. As attentive laypeople may include elites as well as the general public, understanding whether and how cues to credibility of disputing groups of scientists might shape those lay judgments can be important. Relevant literatures from philosophy, social studies of science, risk analysis, and elsewhere have identified potential cues, but not tested their absolute or relative effects. Two experiments with U.S. online panel members tested multiple cues (e.g., credentials, experience, majority opinions, research quality) across topics varying in familiarity subject to actual intra‐science disputes (dark matter, marijuana, sea‐level rise). If cues supported a position, laypeople were more likely to choose it as relatively more valid, with information quality, majority "vote," experience, and degree source as the strongest, and interest, demographic, and values similarity as the weakest, cues. These results were similar in overall rankings to those from implicit rankings of cue reliability ratings from an earlier U.S. online survey. Proposed moderators were generally nonsignificant, but topic familiarity and subjective topic knowledge tended to reduce cue effects. Further research to confirm and extend these findings can inform both theory about citizen engagement with scientific and risk disputes, and practice in communication about science and risk.