Background Convex probe endobronchial ultrasound images can reflect the morphology, blood flow status and stiffness of the lesions. Endobronchial ultrasound multimodal imaging has great value for the diagnosis of intrathoracic lymph nodes. This study aimed to analyze the application of endobronchial ultrasound multimodal imaging on lung lesions. Methods Patients undergoing endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in Shanghai Chest Hospital from July 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively enrolled. Nine grayscale features (long and short axes, margin, shape, lobulation sign, echogenicity, necrosis, liquefaction, calcification, and air-bronchogram), blood flow volume and elastography five-score method were analyzed to explore the best diagnostic method. The gold standard for diagnosing lesions depends on the histological and cytopathological findings of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration, transthoracic biopsy, resected sample of lesions, microbiological examination or clinical follow-up of at least 6 months. Results Endobronchial ultrasound multimodal imaging of 97 malignant lung lesions and 19 benign lung lesions from 116 patients were analyzed. There were statistically significant differences in distinct margin, presence of lobulation sign, presence of necrosis, and elastography grading score 4–5 between malignant and benign lung lesions, among which presence of lobulation sign and elastography grading score 4–5 were independent predictors. A diagnostic scoring model was then constructed based on the above four features, and when two or more features were present, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy for malignant lung lesions prediction were 92.78%, 57.89%, 91.84%, 61.11% and 87.07%, respectively. Conclusions The combination of endobronchial ultrasound grayscale and elastography has potential value for malignant and benign lung lesions differentiation. The diagnostic scoring model established in this study needs further validation to guide the malignant and benign diagnosis of lung lesions.


This paper compares the performances of four different Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) implementations: Teambotica, ICP 6D-SLAM, SGI-J DP SLAM, and ERSP vSLAM. All the tested implementations used odometry for dead-reckoning as a base position measurement, and all but vSLAM use lasers as a main sensor (ERSP vSLAM uses a video camera). The comparison was taken using two different types of robots in three different environments: an office corridor, an office entry area, and an indoor robot driving course. The comparison uses a novel approach for map accuracy evaluation, one of the key factors in evaluating the performance of a SLAM implementation. The results show that even for similar setups, the outcomes can vary significantly for the different implementations, suggesting that the underlying implementations likely play a significant role in the SLAM performance.


This paper presented a decision methodology for maintenance interval of equipment by ordering based on element reparation-replacement rate, in order to obtain optimal maintenance scheduling and reduce maintenance cost, while keeping average element reliability. Since data of failure are rare in actual equipment definitely, information from element regular maintenance based on an experience can be considered to be adapted for reflecting the feature of reliability. According to the element reparation/replace rate calculated by synthesizing multiple factors, element reliability can be quantitatively described. Through ordering element reliabilities with various average maintenance interval types, maintenance intervals of elements are rearranged meanwhile keeping average element reliability. Therefore, maintenance interval of element can be extended comparing with current maintenance scheduling, so as to reduce maintenance cost. With actual data of electrical elements in thermal power stations of Kyushu Electric Power Co. of Japan, attractive results were obtained and thus the effectiveness of the proposed strategy can be verified.


To a large extent, the Australia of 1788 was characterised not by forests but by open woodlands and grasslands. Yet many of these areas now contain dense forest. Possible explanations for this dramatic vegetational shift include the cessation of Aboriginal burning regimes and the displacement by domestic stock of mammals that ate tree seedlings. While Australia's grasslands were being overrun, elsewhere destructive and wasteful felling of timber continued apace. The problems resulting from such clearance began to be widely articulated in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, but general attitudes to ringbarking and felling have changed only slowly. The result of all this is that Australia's vegetation is now thoroughly disorganised. The grassy woodlands have gone and with them birds, animals and numerous varieties of grass. Any attempt to provide an environment suitable for the majority of native plants and animals in temperate Australia must depend on the restoration of a pre-European-type mosaic of interconnected grassy woodlands.


The aim of this work was to perform a comprehensive theoretical and experimental validation on the use of the commercially available Transmission Line Modelling (TLM) method, as applied to MRI RF coil design, using simple test criteria. Theoretical validation was performed by comparing the TLM determined resonance frequency, equivalent lumped element circuit components of resistance, inductance, and capacitance, quality factor, mutual inductance, and the axial field profile, for single loop circular surface coils, to theoretical values for these parameters using analytical expressions. Experimental validation was performed by comparing resonance frequency, Q, impedance matching requirements, 90/spl deg/ pulse length (for maximised detection of nuclear magnetisation and hence a measure of the SNR) and B/sub 1/ field profiles using an Alderman-Grant coil. Limitations to the TLM method are identified, and future developments are discussed.


Introduction on centriole structure and function Centrioles are microtubule (MT)-based structures that form centrosomes and cilia and have diverse functions in our cells, such as cell polarity, signaling, cell proliferation, and motility. The centrosome is an important MT-nucleating and signaling center of the cell (Arquint et al., 2014; Conduit et al., 2015). The animal centrosome is composed by two centrioles surrounded by a protein-rich material, the pericentriolar matrix (PCM). In mitosis, two centrosomes organize the poles of the mitotic spindle, which defines its bipolarity, and mediate spindle positioning through the interactions of their astral MTs with the cell cortex (Roubinet and Cabernard, 2014; Ramkumar and Baum, 2016). In interphase, centrosomes and their anchored MTs regulate the positioning of many molecules and structures such as nuclei and the Golgi along with the stability of cellular junctions and adhesions, helping to define cell shape and polarity (Akhmanova et al., 2009; Etienne-Manneville, 2013; Gavilan et al., 2015). When fully mature, centrioles form a structure termed the basal body that is essential to nucleate a cilium (Fig. 1 A). Cilia functions include cell motility, movement of fluids, and specialized sensory functions such as a response to light. In addition, most cilia, whether motile or immotile, are signaling entities. It is likely that the centrosome plays many other undescribed roles as several novel functions were recently described, such as positioning of the cilium (Mazo et al., 2016), promoting polarized secretion at the immune synapse (Stinchcombe et al., 2015), locally regulating actin nucleation (Farina et al., 2016; Obino et al., 2016), and concentrating protein translation and degradation machinery (Hehnly et al., 2012; Amato et al., 2014; Vertii et al., 2016). Centrioles may drastically vary in size among different organisms and within different cell types of the same organism; however, all centrioles share a ninefold symmetry and a proximal–distal polarity (Fig. 1 A). Centriole diameter is ∼200–220 nm, whereas length ranges from 150 (Drosophila melanogaster embryo) to 500 nm (human somatic cells) to >1,000 nm in the sperm of Drosophila and some other organisms. Most centrioles have a wall of nine triplet MTs: a complete inner A tubule and two partial B and C tubules, although in certain organisms, the centriole wall has MT doublets or singlets (Carvalho-Santos et al., 2011). Centriole symmetry is defined during early stages of its formation by a ninefold symmetrical cartwheel (Fig. 1 A; Gönczy, 2012), a scaffolding structure present in the proximal lumen of young and sometimes older (mature) centrioles. The proximal end of centrioles organize PCM critical for the centrosome to nucleate MTs (Fig. 1 A; Conduit et al., 2015). PCM size depends on the size of the centriole, the amount of available components, and the activity of regulatory kinases such as Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1; for a model of PCM accumulation see Woodruff et al., 2014; Zwicker et al., 2014; Conduit et al., 2015). The PCM was originally observed by electron microscopy as an electron-dense amorphous material surrounding centrioles with γ-tubulin ring complexes that nucleate MTs. Recent superresolution microscopy of PCM components revealed that the PCM is not an amorphous material but a well-defined supramolecular complex (Lawo et al., 2012; Mennella et al., 2012; Sonnen et al., 2012; Lukinavičius et al., 2013). During interphase, some PCM components such as pericentrin extend radially from the centriole, with the carboxy terminus pericentrin-AKAP450 centrosomal targeting (PACT) domain adjacent to the centriole wall and the amino terminus extending outward into the PCM. Many other components are organized in toroids around the centriole. In mitosis, the PCM is more abundant but less structured. Mitotic kinases such as PLK1 phosphorylate critical components of the PCM such as SPD5 in Caenorhabditis The centriole is a multifunctional structure that organizes centrosomes and cilia and is important for cell signaling, cell cycle progression, polarity, and motility. Defects in centriole number and structure are associated with human diseases including cancer and ciliopathies. Discovery of the centriole dates back to the 19th century. However, recent advances in genetic and biochemical tools, development of high-resolution microscopy, and identification of centriole components have accelerated our understanding of its assembly, function, evolution, and its role in human disease. The centriole is an evolutionarily conserved structure built from highly conserved proteins and is present in all branches of the eukaryotic tree of life. However, centriole number, size, and organization varies among different organisms and even cell types within a single organism, reflecting its cell type–specialized functions. In this review, we provide an overview of our current understanding of centriole biogenesis and how variations around the same theme generate alternatives for centriole formation and function. Building the right centriole for each cell type


Open ARI is a planned service at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in order to collect, sort and archive all the openly available publications and datasets that were published in the Arctic region. This new service will be available as an open access database to the users through-out an interactive searchable front-end. The pilot project will investigate how such a service can support researchers in their research by making results from Arctic research more visible and better retrievable through a common search index based on a standardized, interdisciplinary metadata set. Moreover and for a better overview for the polar sciences, the new Arctic database will include, as well, examples from the Antarctic region. As a pilot project, we started by clarifying the need for a new technical solution by which the Open ARI will be able to collect all the published material using algorithms that allow the best way of filtering processes. Also we are now in a stage to define all the possible national and international collaborators who can support and feed the Open ARI with content from their internal databases. A group of scientists and researchers will be formed as a reference group who will show us the needs of the scientific community to be sure that our final product will meet the interest of the users. By the end of the pilot project, the team will analyze the success opportunities and the challenges in order to plan a full scale management model.


Pitx2 is a bicoid-related homeodomain factor that is required for effective cell type-specific proliferation directly activating a specific growth-regulating gene cyclin D2. Here, we report that Pitx2, in response to the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and growth signals, also can regulate c-Myc and cyclin D1. Investigation of molecular mechanisms required for Pitx2-dependent proliferation, in these cases, further supports a nuclear role for β-catenin in preventing the histone deacetylase 1-dependent inhibitory functions of several DNA-binding transcriptional repressors, potentially including E2F4/p130 pocket protein inhibitory complex, as well as lymphoid enhancer factor 1 and Pitx2, by dismissal of histone deacetylase 1 and loss of its enzymatic activity. Thus, β-catenin plays a signal-integrating role in Wnt- and growth factor-dependent proliferation events in mammalian development by both derepressing several classes of repressors and by activating Pitx2, regulating the activity of several growth control genes.


Epidemiological studies have correlated embryonic arsenic exposure with adverse developmental outcomes such as stillbirths, neonatal mortality, and low birth weight. Additionally, arsenic exposure reduces neuronal cell migration and maturation, and reduces skeletal muscle cell formation, alters muscle fiber subtype, and changes locomotor activity. This study used P19 mouse embryonic stem cells to examine whether arsenic exposure could alter their differentiation into skeletal muscles and neurons. When P19 cells were exposed to 0.1, 0.5, or 1.0 μM sodium arsenite, embryoid body (EB) formation was not altered. However, arsenic suppressed their differentiation into muscles and neurons, as evidenced by morphological changes accompanied by a significant reduction in myosin heavy chain and Tuj1 expression. Real-time PCR, immunofluorescence, and immunoblotting were used to confirm that the altered differentiation was due to the repression of muscle- and neuron-specific transcription factors such as Pax3, Myf5, MyoD, myogenin, neurogenin 1, neurogenin 2, and NeuroD in the arsenite-exposed cells. The reductions in transcription factors expression appear to be caused by repressed Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways in early embryogenesis, as evidenced by decreased β-catenin expression in the arsenic-exposed EBs on differentiation days 2 and 5. Interestingly, the expression of Nanog, a transcription factor that maintains the pluripotency of stem cells, was increased after arsenite exposure, indicating that arsenite inhibits their differentiation but not proliferation. This study demonstrates that arsenic can perturb the embryonic differentiation process by repressing the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. More importantly, this study may provide insight into how arsenic exposure affects skeletal and neuronal differentiation during embryogenesis.


The negotiation process of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) process was extremely ambitious. It sought to remedy all the shortcomings of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) by ensuring transparency, ownership of the countries of the Global South, strong involvement of civil society groups and stakeholders, and creating a truly transformative set of sustainable development goals. Yet, it did not manage to avoid all the mistakes that were characteristic of the formulation of the MDGS. In addition, it struggled with its very own problems.
The article traces the developments and debates that led to the formulation of Goal 16 on the rule of law. It shows that the success of this ambitious goal largely depends on the refinement of the indicator framework and the review mechanism.


Jagdish Bhagwati has written extensively about the "brain drain", which has sparked at least four major international conferences on the subject of whether developing countries should tax the income of their citizens living abroad. Unlike the United States, the Philippines, and (formerly) Mexico, no other nations at the time levied such a tax. The author of this chapter was commissioned by the World Bank to conduct a case study of the Philippine taxation of its nonresidents in order to gain knowledge of any administrative hurdles to such a system.
The first section of this chapter examines the taxation of nonresident citizens in the Philippines during three time periods: before 1970, 1970 to 1972, and after 1973. The country used different approaches in all three periods. The two main problems that arise are (1) whether a less developed country should tax nonresidents in the same manner as it taxes residents, and (2) administrative difficulties. The next section of this chapter analyzes the consequences of these problems on the Bhagwati proposal. This section proposes a resolution to the structural concerns, but the administrative difficulties of enforcing such a proposal are more problematic. This chapter concludes by determining that the success of the Bhagwati proposal rests with the developed countries. If developed countries commit to assisting less developed countries in collecting the income tax on nonresidents, the proposal could succeed. If not, however, it will likely accomplish few of its main objectives.


In previous reports data were presented on the change in the breast tumor ratio of "A" stock breeding females following the foster-nursing of one generation of day-old mice by low-breast-tumor stock females (2–5). It was mentioned in one report that nursing had little or no influence on the development of primary lung cancer. The data bearing on this point form the subject of the present paper.

Pulmonary carcinoma probably ranks next to breast cancer in frequency among inbred strains of mice. Lynch (1926, 1931) concluded that it was dominant or semi-dominant in its inheritance but did not state the possible number of factors. In a preliminary report on lung tumors in hybrid mice Bittner and Little (1937) also determined that susceptibility was dominant. In a later paper, based on larger numbers of individuals, it was observed that one dominant factor was probably needed for the transmission of the tendency to this type of cancer in mice (6).

Following the foster-nursing of mice from the "A" stock four types of individuals were obtained: ( a ) lung cancerous, ( b ) breast cancerous, ( c ) non-cancerous, and ( d ) mice which could not be autopsied to determine whether or not they had pulmonary growths. As only one generation of mice was fostered, the progeny of these mice are grouped according to the diagnosis of the mothers, i.e. , fostered animals. In the first fostered generation all the mice having other types of tumors than lung carcinoma are grouped with the non-tumor animals. Thus, all animals classed as cancerous had primary lung cancer only, while a few of those designated as non-cancerous had breast tumors or internal growths. The progeny of the fostered mice which had breast cancer are not included, as they gave a high breast cancer ratio and only a small percentage lived to the average lung cancer age.


A blue-ribbon panel of scientists has proposed a decade-long, $1 billion program to improve forecasting operations and research of regional and local hazardous weather. The panel, appointed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), believes that the program could reduce the $20-billion annual cost of damage from severe weather by $1 billion per year.

The primary aim of the program is to 'enable weather services, public and private, to observe and predict stormscale weather phenomena— such as squall lines, thunderstorms, flash floods, local heavy snows, or tornadoes—with the accuracy and reliability to protect the public, serve the national economy, and meet defense requirements,' as explained in the report, The National STORM (Stormscale Operational and Research Meteorology) Program: A Call to Action. Stormscale phenomena also include nonviolent weather: freezing rain, dense ground fog, low-lying clouds that disrupt ground or air traffic, persistent temperature inversions, and strong nocturnal cooling that may produce killing frost.


OBJECTIVE: Palivizumab reduces respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalization in children at high risk by ∼50% compared with placebo. We compared the efficacy and safety of motavizumab, an investigational monoclonal antibody with enhanced anti-RSV activity in preclinical studies, with palivizumab. METHODS: This randomized, double-blind, multinational, phase 3, noninferiority trial assessed safety and RSV hospitalization in 6635 preterm infants aged ≤6 months at enrollment or children aged ≤24 months with chronic lung disease of prematurity who received 15 mg/kg palivizumab or motavizumab monthly. Secondary end points included outpatient medically attended lower respiratory tract infections (MALRIs), RSV-specific LRIs, otitis media, antibiotic use, development of antimotavizumab antibodies, and motavizumab serum concentrations. RESULTS: Motavizumab recipients had a 26% relative reduction in RSV hospitalization compared with palivizumab recipients, achieving noninferiority. Motavizumab was superior to palivizumab for reduction of RSV-specific outpatient MALRIs (50% relative reduction). Overall, adverse events (AEs) were not significantly different between groups. Cutaneous events were reported in 2 percentage points more motavizumab recipients (7.2% vs 5.1%); most were mild, but 0.3% resulted in dosing discontinuation. Antidrug antibodies (ADA) were detected in 1.8% of motavizumab recipients. Patients with anti-drug antibody reported 6 RSV events and 17 cutaneous events. CONCLUSIONS: Children receiving prophylaxis with motavizumab or palivizumab had low rates of RSV hospitalization; motavizumab recipients experienced 50% fewer RSV MALRIs than palivizumab recipients. AEs were similar in both groups, although cutaneous AEs were higher for motavizumab recipients. Motavizumab may offer an improved alternative in prophylaxis for serious RSV disease in infants and children at high risk.


The principal aim of this paper is to evaluate two key aspects of executive-legislature relations during the administration of President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa: the approval ratings of the legislative agenda of the executive and the amendments or vetoes made by the president to the bills of law approved by lawmakers. It also examines whether any of the constitutional changes approved over this period altered the balance of power in the relationship between the president and Congress. The analysis indicates that neither the presidential nor the multi-party system, nor the lack of a majority for the president's party in Congress led to legislative paralysis, but they did hinder the approval of a number of key reforms for the country.


A new optimized quasi-helically symmetric configuration is described that has the desirable properties of improved energetic particle confinement, reduced turbulent transport by three-dimensional shaping and non-resonant divertor capabilities. The configuration presented in this paper is explicitly optimized for quasi-helical symmetry, energetic particle confinement, neoclassical confinement and stability near the axis. Post optimization, the configuration was evaluated for its performance with regard to energetic particle transport, ideal magnetohydrodynamic stability at various values of plasma pressure and ion temperature gradient instability induced turbulent transport. The effects of discrete coils on various confinement figures of merit, including energetic particle confinement, are determined by generating single-filament coils for the configuration. Preliminary divertor analysis shows that coils can be created that do not interfere with expansion of the vessel volume near the regions of outgoing heat flux, thus demonstrating the possibility of operating a non-resonant divertor.


Object oriented systems are composed by a collection of interacting objects. Distributed object oriented systems consider that all these objects can be located at different computers connected through a network. Reliability and availability are very important trends in the development process of these kinds of systems. In order to improve these features, object replication mechanisms have been introduced. Programming replication policies for a given application is not an easy task, and this is the reason why transparency for the programmer has been one of the most important properties offered by all replication models. However, this transparency for the programmer is not always desirable. There are situations in which programmers need to manipulate by hand the replication properties. In this paper we present a replication model, JReplica, based on Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP). JReplica allows the separated specification of the replication code from the functional behaviour of objects, providing not only a high degree of transparency, as done by previous models, but also the possibility for programmers to introduce new behaviour to specify different fault tolerance requirements. Derived from the use of AOP, JReplica also obtains two important added benefits: the possibility of obtaining an ORB independent replication and the possibility of reusing entire replication policies. Moreover, the replication aspect has been introduced at design time, and in this way, UML has been extended in order to consider replication issues separately at the moment of designing fault tolerance systems.


During the last few years perinatal mortality and neonatal morbidity in children of insulin-dependent diabetic mothers have considerably decreased, mainly because of strict 24-hour control of glycaemia throughout pregnancy and centralized care. Congenital malformations are now emerging as the leading cause of the remaining perinatal mortality and late disabilities; control of the diabetes prior to conception may lessen their frequency. Concerning gestational diabetes, there is lack of agreement on diagnostic criteria: who must be screened? What are the adverse effects on the child? The risk of foetal death is greater when arterial hypertension, prolonged pregnancy or previous stillbirth are associated with carbohydrate intolerance.


Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) expresses pan-B-cell antigens and is usually CD5+/CD10-/CD23-/FMC7+. In this study, we evaluated 52 patients with confirmed diagnoses of MCL and identified variant immunophenotypes in 21 patients (19/48 classical and 2/4 variant MCLs), including CD5- in 6 (12%) of 52, CD10+ in 4 (8%) of 50, CD23+ in 10 (21%) of 48, and FMC7- in 4 (11%) of 37 cases. Three cases showed variations in 2 antigens, including CD5-/CD23+, CD10+/FMC7-, and CD23+/FMC7-; they were all classical MCLs. One blastoid variant MCL was CD23+, and one was FMC7-. Evaluation for proliferation index by immunohistochemical analysis for Ki-67 demonstrated no significant difference between MCLs with variant immunophenotypes and MCLs with typical immunophenotypes. The high proliferation index (>60%) was exclusively seen in the blastoid and pleomorphic variants. Our results indicate that immunophenotypic variations are common in MCL, and recognizing the variability is important for accurate subclassification of B-cell lymphoma.


We analyze the problem of modeling and developing multiagent systems from the organizational theory point of view. In particular, we focus on the critical issue of adapting multiagent systems organizations whenever changes in the structure of the multiagent system are required. We survey different relevant agent-oriented methodologies and discuss their suitability in dealing with adaptation in multiagent organizations. Finally, we present some critical considerations about the analyzed methodologies together with some open issues related to the process of modeling organizations for facilitating their adaptations.


A modified focusing method for measuring simultaneously the refractive-index profile and the cross-sectional geometry of an optical fiber preform is presented. In this method the preform is immersed in indexmatching liquid, and collimated light is made to impinge on the preform laterally. The intensity distributions of the transmitted light are detected on two planes inside the preform core. From the recorded light intensity distributions, the deflection function is calculated. After the preform has been rotated through 180 degrees and the necessary data have been collected, a numerical inversion is performed to obtain the 2-D index profile. In this paper, the principle, the experimental setup, and results are described. The sensitivity of the method to measurement errors and the accuracy of the inversion formula were investigated by computer simulations. It was found that the error of the index profile measurement was <1%.


Four aluminophosphates, A3Al2P3O12 (A = Na, K (1), Rb (2), Tl (3)), have been synthesized by solid-state reactions and characterized by X-ray diffraction and NMR and IR spectroscopic techniques. Aluminum has trigonal bipyramidal coordination in the thallium compound and tetrahedral coordination in the others. Potassium, rubidium and thallium analogues have been structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and found to possess three-dimensional (Al2P3O12)3- anionic frameworks with channels occupied by A+ countercations. These frameworks are built from corner connections of PO4 tetrahedra with AlO4 tetrahedra in 1 and 2 and with AlO5 trigonal bipyramids in 3. Pertinent crystal data are as follows: for 1, orthorhombic space group Pna2(1), a = 8.685(2) A, b = 16.947(2) A, c = 8.458(3) A, Z = 4; for 2, orthorhombic space group Cmc2(1), a = 17.164(2) A, b = 8.6270(6) A, c = 8.8140(14) A, Z = 4; for 3, orthorhombic space group Pna2(1), a = 6.1478(15) A, b = 10.396(3) A, c = 17.787(5) A, Z = 4. Compound 3 is a rare example of an oxide possessing aluminum exclusively in trigonal bipyramidal coordination.


Ocular Ischemic Syndrome (OIS) is a disorder, which consists of constellation of signs and symptoms secondary to chronic ocular hypoperfusion. We report a case of 35 years old Pakistani female who presented to us with gradual fall of vision in both eyes. On examination, she had bilateral OIS and ischemic optic neuropathy. The patient had past history of transient ischemic attack and facial palsy almost 20 years back. We referred her to physician for the diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis associated with relapsing polychondritis. She was given 60 mg of dexamethasone per day as initial treatment. At her last follow-up after approximately 3 months, she was quite comfortable systemically and her general condition was improved. Unfortunately, her vision did not improve. These two autoimmune diseases are rarely reported together in the same patient in Pakistan. Whether this association is rare or is underdiagnosed still remains to be answered.


Hydrated lime (HL) is an active filler in some bitumens. Rheological models demonstrate that HL interacts with certain bitumens to develop an adsorbed (interactive) layer around the HL particles. The volume of this layer can be substantial, causing HL to have a much more substantial effect on the bitumen than inert fillers. The level of interaction between HL and bitumen is bitumen dependent. This interaction causes HL to strongly affect high-temperature rheology in certain bitumens, but it has less of an effect in others. The low-temperature stiffening effects of HL are less prominent, and a significant level of fracture toughening (at low temperatures) occurs through the addition of HL. The active nature of HL with certain bitumens is further verified by nuclear magnetic resonance. HL is considered a multifunctional additive with potential benefits to the binder and to the mixture that include resistance to deformation, low-temperature fracture toughening, and increased resistance to age hardening. HL may be competitive with some polymer additives.


This document gives formatting instructions for authors preparing papers for publication in JITEL. The authors must follow the instructions given in the document for the papers to be published. You can use this document as both an instruction set and as a template into which you can type your own text. Please write the Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia English and with maximum 250 words. The written abstract consists of problem statements, research objectives, research methods, and research results.


BACKGROUND
Little information is available about the prevalence of renal dysfunction in dogs with chronic valvular heart disease (CVD).

HYPOTHESIS
Azotemia and a decrease in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are more severe with increased severity of CVD.

ANIMALS
124 (study No. 1) and 24 (study No. 2) client-owned dogs with CVD.

METHODS
A retrospective study (study No. 1) was performed to assess the prevalence of azotemia in the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes of heart failure in dogs with CVD. A prospective study (study No. 2) was then designed to determine GFR in dogs with different degrees of CVD severity. Complete physical examination, electrocardiography, blood pressure measurement, thoracic radiographs, echocardiography, and plasma and urine analyses were also performed.

RESULTS
In study No. 1, 50% of the dogs were azotemic and the percentage of azotemic dogs increased with functional class (up to 70% in NYHA class IV patients). In study No. 2, 8/24 dogs were azotemic. Plasma urea and creatinine were higher in NYHA class III-IV dogs compared with class I-II dogs. The GFR was lower (P < .001) in NYHA class III-IV dogs (1.7 +/- 0.7 mL/min/kg) than in class I to II dogs (3.1 +/- 0.8 mL/min/kg). Only 1 dog in class I-II had a GFR below 2 mL/min/kg and only 2/9 class III-IV dogs had a GFR above 2 mL/min/kg.

CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Azotemia and renal impairment increase with the severity of congestive heart failure and are frequent findings in dogs with CVD. It remains to be shown if deterioration of renal function is a direct result of progression of the heart disease.


A healthy 48-year old white woman presented with a chief complaint of an 'irritated' sensation involving her tongue. The problem seemed to be limited to her left lateral tongue and had been noticed for at least six months by the patient. She also indicated the condition varied in severity.


A simple methodology for integrating single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) onto complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry is presented. The SWNTs were incorporated onto the CMOS chip as the feedback resistor of a two-stage Miller compensated operational amplifier utilizing dielectrophoretic assembly. The measured electrical properties from the integrated SWNTs yield ohmic behavior with a two-terminal resistance of ∼37.5 kΩ and the measured small signal ac gain (−2) from the inverting amplifier confirmed successful integration of carbon nanotubes onto the CMOS circuitry. Furthermore, the temperature response of the SWNTs integrated onto CMOS circuitry has been measured and had a thermal coefficient of resistance (TCR) of −0.4% °C−1. This methodology, demonstrated for the integration of SWNTs onto CMOS technology, is versatile, high yield and paves the way for the realization of novel miniature carbon-nanotube-based sensor systems.


The planning stage of an innovation project has a great effect on the commercial performance of the project. During the "fuzzy front-end", the organization formulates a concept of the product to be developed, and determines whether or not the organization will invest resources in the concrete development of the idea. The integration of R&D and marketing activities is a necessary condition for success in innovation projects. The research question of this study is: from an information processing perspective, what role does information transfer play in integrating R&D and marketing functions during the planning stage, and what effects do project formalization and project centralization of R&D and marketing planning activities have on the efficiency of marketing and technological uncertainty reduction? The authors use an ex post facto research design to test the propositional model. The findings show that successful project teams are characterized by a maximum uncertainty reduction during planning, i.e., by a maximum decrease of R&D and marketing task variability, and a maximum increase of R&D and marketing task analyzability. Information flows between these functions help them to achieve this efficient uncertainty reduction. While project centralization has a negative effect on efficient uncertainty reduction, project formalization is curvilinearly related to the amount of uncertainty reduced during planning. >


When studying the phenomenon of crime against cultural heritage different methods can be applied to diagnose the level of threat. A year-long study of specific crime cases where the victims are cultural goods allows one to see trends in the activities of the perpetrators and helps one to develop methods to counteract future incidents. Long-term studies of crime cases affecting cultural heritage enable for a complementary way of assessing the level of risk factors and to minimize the risk of their occurrence. The study is expected to begin an annual series of articles aimed at the systematic presentation of the phenomenon of crime against cultural heritage in Poland. The text presents a selection of cases which, in the opinion of the author, may constitute an auxiliary tool to diagnose the level of the threat to cultural goods within the period indicated. There are presented in a shortened form cases of various types of criminal activities against heritage, such as theft, burglary and the destruction of valuable cultural objects.


The so-called shale gas deposits of the USA were found to be both spatially, and structurall y- g eologically correlated with oil and gas basins containing high heat and energy resources. Considering an extremely low native (or migration?) gas content of shale (from 1,2 to 10,5 m 3 /t) high recoverable reserves of hydrocarbon gases in their deposition places are due to the "interception" of sub-vertical gas flows from deep-seated zones of the present-day or the geologically recent (according to geological scale) oil and gas generation. In other words, the global shale gas sensation provoked by the USA mass media does not have any substantiation, and an increase of gas extraction in this country is not associated with exploitation of the so-called shale gas deposits, but with development of earlier suspended free gas deposits (for instance Woodford, etc.), and/or with the interception of gas flows from deep-seated zones of recent oil and gas generation and oil and gas deposits of oil and gas basins (Haynesville, etc.).


We report a case of 43-year-old woman with an overlap syndrome of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and dermatomyositis who developed erosive arthritis with extracapsular cysts involving multiple joints. An extensive synovectomy for the left wrist joint and a total joint replacement for the right hip joint were required to achieve complete symptom relief. She was not diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This was a rare case of SLE manifesting non-RA erosive arthritis that required surgical interventions.


Overhead intermittent cervical traction is often utilized to control the symptoms of cervical radiculopathy associated with osteoarthritis. The long-term home use of presently available counterweight systems has often presented problems including: (1) lack of patient compliance, (2) difficulty with application by elderly or debilitated patients, (3) tensing of both the cervical paraspinalis and upper extremity muscles while maneuvering the counterweights, and (4) discomfort while using the device. A prototype home pneumatic traction device was developed, which has many of the advantages of the expensive hydraulic units in common use in physical therapy departments. The initial favorable responses of 17 patients led to the development of a prototype commercial unit in cooperation with the Jobst Company. Of 36 patients who used the pneumatic traction device at home, 29 (81%) preferred it to the conventional counterweight system. Typical reasons were that it was easier to use, more "workable" and provided a steadier pull with more gradual onset of traction. Disadvantages most commonly mentioned were minor air pressure loss in the hand pump model and the complexity of the unit. The most rational approach to the use of these new pneumatic devices would be to initiate a home traction program using conventional counterweight units and then to switch to the pneumatic unit for long-term patients or those who are unable to apply conventional traction systems unassisted.


The characteristics of GR/A mice are rather poor pup growth and vigorous activity associated with increased excretion of taurine during pregnancy and lactation. The relationship between taurine and these characteristics were studied. The group of GR/A mice given a 1% taurine solution in their drinking water on the first day of pregnancy (day when the vaginal plug was found) (group I) or on the day of parturition (group II) differed little from the control group given tap water in all reproductive parameters, including pup growth. The spontaneous motor activities of both the female and male 4-month-old offspring of group I were markedly lower than those of the offspring of the control and group II, and than that of group III, which was given taurine after of weaning. These findings strongly suggest that taurine, possibly by acting on the developing brain at the fetal stage, has a long-term effect on the behaviour of this strain of mice, while it has little effect on their reproduction.


The propagation of surface sagittally polarized waves on the plated surface of a semi-infinite medium with the phase velocity exceeding that of bulk quasitransverse sagittally polarized waves in the substrate is studied analytically and numerically. Such a surface wave is shown to exist in nonpiezoelectric and piezoelectric composites provided both the sagittal plane and the interface are planes of elastic symmetry of the layer and substrate. In the case of a nonpiezoelectric structure, the "fast" surface wave is one-component, involving only the quasi-longitudinal nonuniform mode in the substrate. In piezoelectrics this wave is two-component and incorporates the quasilongitudinal mode and the mode of electrical potential in the substrate. The "fast" wave exists at definite values of the velocity nuF and the layer thickness/wavelength ratio (h/lambda)F. It has been found that one or two surface waves can arise for the same direction of propagation at different nuF and (h/lambda)F, in the case of two surface solutions, both the values of (h/lambda)F being small. The approximate expressions are derived which allow one to elucidate whether the structure under consideration can support the "fast" surface wave and to estimate the corresponding nuF and (h/lambda)F. A comparison is performed of numerical and analytical results.


We examined the synergistic effects of DNA damage, Chk1 inhibition and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibition in TNBC. This combinatorial targeting allows us to exploit vulnerabilities in two pathways that are often deregulated in TNBCs: DNA damage checkpoint defects due to TP53 deficiency and DNA repair defects due to alterations in homologous recombination repair (HRR). TP53 maintains genome integrity by inhibiting cells that are experiencing genotoxic stress from progressing through the cell cycle, or by inducing apoptosis or senescence. In response to DNA damage, p53 activates gene expression to arrest cells in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and to reinforce the S- and G2-checkpoints. Thus, p53-deficient cells lack a G1 checkpoint and are impaired in their ability to sustain S- and G2-checkpoints. This makes p53-deficient tumors particularly sensitive to agents that abrogate these checkpoints. Because Chk1 inhibitors abrogate both S- and G2-checkpoints, combining Chk1 inhibitors with agents that induce genotoxic stress provides a rational therapeutic strategy for killing p53-deficient TNBC. Loss of HRR increases dependence of cells on a class of enzymes called PARPs, and Chk1 has also been shown to be important for efficient HRR. Thus, by interfering with HRR, Chk1 inhibitors are predicted to sensitize TNBC cells to PARP inhibitors. We tested the hypotheses that by impairing HRR, Chk1 inhibitors will sensitize TNBCs to PARP inhibition, and that therapies that combine Chk1 inhibitors with PARP inhibitors will be effective at killing TNBCs because they will simultaneously induce checkpoint bypass and block DNA repair. We generated a set of isogenic TNBC cell lines that are p53-proficient (p53WT) or p53-deficient (p53KD), and evaluated their sensitivity to Chk1 inhibitors (LY2606368) and DNA damaging agents (cisplatin). Loss of p53 conferred a dramatic increase in sensitivity to treatment with cisplatin + LY2606368. Surprisingly, inhibition of PARP1 (BMN673) did not increase sensitivity to Chk1 inhibitor ± cisplatin. To determine why Chk1 inhibition did not sensitize cells to PARP inhibition, we evaluated the effect of Chk1 inhibition on the ability of cells to recruit HRR proteins to sites of DNA damage. In line with CHK1 regulating HRR, Chk1 inhibition was associated with an inability of Rad51 to localize to sites of DNA double strand breaks. Interestingly, we also found that upstream of Rad51, there was a significant alteration in the formation of phopho-RPA2 foci in cells treated with the Chk1 inhibitor. On-going studies are evaluating whether there are changes in the kinetics of formation and/or resolution of Rad51 and phospho-RPA2 foci in response to Chk1 inhibition. Citation Format: Redwood AB, Cai S, Piwnica-Worms H. Targeted therapies for TNBC: Exploiting vulnerabilities that arise from DNA damage repair pathway dependencies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-07-02.


Based on recent education reform guidelines to prepare professionals who are able to handle new technological, economic, social, and environmental challenges, pedagogical modifications are deemed necessary by the educators. Specifically, in biology, the rapid changes in the content and biological products demand changes in the curriculum. We aim to address this current need by providing an example of a course that was redesigned to meet the current trends of biological engineering education. In this course‐based undergraduate research experience (CURE), learning objectives and possible outcomes were developed and assessment mapping was performed to align the course objectives with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) recommendations. A description of how one can assess authentic inquiry courses while adhering to the recommendations are discussed. For example, in this particular course, students completed weekly reflection assignments, maintained lab notebooks that were graded every week, presented their research to their peers at the end of the semester, and submitted a final paper to be graded. "Holistic" engineering is crucial for the all‐around development of a 21st century engineer. Altering the traditional lecturing with more hands‐on learning is crucial for the development of professional and communication skills of students. Such alterations could lead to the production of well‐rounded life‐long learners to serve the upcoming world.


This article reviews the goals, history, and impact of the new gender identity politics. Based on the Yogyakarta Principles, these new ideas and policies will profoundly affect the rights of women and girls worldwide. The Principles are a document from an international meeting about sexual orientation and gender identity in 2006. In 2017, the document was updated to the Yogyakarta Principles Plus 10. The Principles recommend legal changes by states worldwide, resulting in the erasure of sex as a legal and cultural category. These principles have been widely used to lobby for legal changes resulting in profound structural changes that lead to undermining and eliminating protections for women and girls from sex-based discrimination and state obligations to achieve de facto sex equality. One of the most far-reaching recommendations is "States [national governments] must abolish all legal records of sex from all legal documents, including birth certificates and passports." These recommendations are being implemented globally, although they have never been discussed or adopted by member states or any international organization, nor were any official women's organizations consulted. This article was written by a collective of many feminist activists, researchers, and specialist service providers from Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Africa who met every week at the Women's Declaration International (WDI) sessions. They collected evidence and collaborated on creating this document from 2019 to 2022.


It is less known that the poet Mihály Fazekas was interested in astronomy and even published a calendar of his own. The Debreczeni Magyar Kalendariom ("Hungarian Calendar of Debrecen") was a successful venture, surviving its founder by decades. Instead of the usual prognostications one finds in such calendars, Fazekas published popular astronomical articles of varying length. In these he described the properties of the members of the Solar System, gave their distance from the Earth, their periods, sizes etc. His point of view was definitely modern. Despite some errors originating probably from oversimplification, the calendar provided his readers with current information on the planets. His unpublished manuscripts confirm that he was well versed in mathematical calculations.


Human hepatitis delta virus (HDV) poses a health threat in populations where chronic hepatitis B is endemic. It is a single-stranded RNA virus of 1700 nucleotides and both genomic and antigenomic sequences contain ribozymes which are important for viral replication. Using ribozyme constructs we show that several classes of antibiotics inhibit the self-cleavage reaction of the HDV ribozyme. Antibiotics of the aminoglycoside, peptide and tetracycline classes all inhibit HDV cleavage in vitro at micromolar concentrations. Neomycin (an aminoglycoside) inhibits HDV self-cleavage with a Ki value of 28 (+/- 10) microM. Neomycin inhibition can be reversed by increasing magnesium ion concentration in a competitive manner. Lead acetate cleaves positions G76, A42 and G28, which surround the ribozyme cleavage site. Both Mg2+ and neomycin prevent lead cleavage. Footprinting experiments using base-specific chemical probes revealed enhanced modifications of a set of bases by neomycin, overlapping with the above mentioned lead cleavages. These observations may indicate that neomycin directly displaces divalent metal ions essential for catalysis.


In this paper, we study the problem of mining the informative structure of a news Web site which consists of thousands of hyperlinked documents. We define the informative structure of a news Web site as a set of index pages (or referred to as TOC, i.e., table of contents, pages) and a set of article pages linked by TOC pages through informative links. It is noted that the Hyperlink Induced Topics Search (HITS) algorithm has been employed to provide a solution to analyzing authorities and hubs of pages. However, most of the content sites tend to contain some extra hyperlinks, such as navigation panels, advertisements and banners, so as to increase the add-on values of their Web pages. Therefore, due to the structure induced by these extra hyperlinks, HITS is found to be insufficient to provide a good precision in solving the problem. To remedy this, we develop an algorithm to utilize entropy-based Link Analysis on Mining Web Informative Structures. This algorithm is referred to as LAMIS. The key idea of LAMIS is to utilize information entropy for representing the knowledge that corresponds to the amount of information in a link or a page in the link analysis. Experiments on several real news Web sites show that the precision and the recall of LAMIS are much superior to those obtained by heuristic methods and conventional ink analysis methods.


The purpose of this article is to enrich EFL teachers' understanding of the re-considerations involved in the nature of language learning with respect to the increasing process of global economic, political, linguistic and cultural integration. Needless to say, the globalization process tends to blur national boundaries, and this has already started with the European Union. What is more, the use of computer-assisted learning devices and other ICT tools, which have reduced the world into a village-like planet, have tremendously affected the field of foreign language pedagogy. All this, virtually creates a need for greater cross-cultural knowledge. The language learning communicative ends of the 70s and 80s have been re-moulded on intercultural grounds to give birth to a new concept: inter/cross-cultural competence. This intercultural scheme, one might argue, ensures the link between teaching language and learning culture, hence the intercultural language teaching or 'teaching-and-learning language-and-culture' approach (hereafter written TLLC), a term coined by Byram et al. (1994).


In multi-robot systems, efficiently navigating in a a partially-known environment is an ubiquitous but challenging task, as each robot must account for the uncertainty introduced, for example, by other moving robots. This uncertainty makes pre-computed plans not always applicable, and often hinders the desired efficient use of the robot's resources. In this work, we present a local anytime approach for robot motion planning that accounts for the uncertainty of the environment by generating `snapshots' of possible future scenarios. Our approach adapts the Hindsight optimization technique to allow robots to plan their immediate motion based on long-term efficiency. We validate our approach by comparing the efficiency on the paths executed against a state-of-the art navigation technique in a variety of scenarios, and show that by accounting for the uncertainty in the environment, agents can improve their time- and energy-efficient motions.


Background New technology for clinical data collection is rapidly evolving and may be useful for both researchers and clinicians; however, this new technology has not been tested for accuracy, reliability, or validity. Objective This study aims to test the accuracy of visual analog scale (VAS) for pain on a newly designed application on the iPad (iPadVAS) and measure the reliability and validity of iPadVAS compared to a paper copy (paperVAS). Methods Accuracy was determined by physically measuring an iPad scale on screen and comparing it to the results from the program, with a researcher collecting 101 data points. A total of 22 healthy community dwelling older adults were then recruited to test reliability and validity. Each participant completed 8 VAS (4 using each tool) in a randomized order. Reliability was measured using interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and validity measured using Bland-Altman graphs and correlations. Results Of the measurements for accuracy, 64 results were identical, 2 results were manually measured as being 1 mm higher than the program, and 35 as 1 mm lower. Reliability for the iPadVAS was excellent with individual ICC 0.90 (95% CI 0.82-0.95) and averaged ICC 0.97 (95% CI 0.95-1.0) observed. Linear regression demonstrated a strong relationship with a small negative bias towards the iPad (−2.6, SD 5.0) with limits of agreement from −12.4 to 7.1. Conclusions The iPadVAS provides a convenient, user-friendly, and efficient way of collecting data from participants in measuring their current pain levels. It has potential use in documentation management and may encourage participatory healthcare. Trial Registration Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): 367297; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=367297&isReview=true (Archived by Webcite at http://www.webcitation.org/6d9xYoUbD).


Clay minerals in shales from cores at Site 808, Nankai Trough, have been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and analytical electron microscopy (AEM) to compare the rates and mechanisms of illitization with those of coeval bentonites, which were described previously. Authigenic K-rich smectite having a high Fe content (∼7 wt. %) was observed to form directly as an alteration product of volcanic glass at a depth of ∼500 meters below seafloor (mbsf) with no intermediate precursor. Smectite is then largely replaced by Reichweite, R, (R = 1) illite-smectite (I-S) and minor illite and chlorite over depths from ∼550 to ∼700 mbsf. No further mineralogical changes occur to the maximum depth cored, ∼1300 m. Most smectite and I-S in shales are derived from alteration of glass, rather than being detrital, as is usually assumed. Discrete layer sequences of smectite, I-S, or illite coexist, indicating discontinuities of the transformation from smectite to (R = 1) I-S to illite. Authigenic Fe-rich chlorite forms concomitantly with I-S and illite, with the source of Fe from reactant smectite.Smectite forms from glass with an intermediate precursor in coeval bentonites at approximately the same depth as in shales, but the smectite remains largely unchanged, with the exception of exchange of interlayer cations (K → Na → Ca) in response to formation of zeolites, to the bottom of the core. Differences in rates of illitization reflect the metastability of the clays. Temperature, structure-state, and composition of reactant smectite are ruled out as determining factors that increase reaction rates here, whereas differences in water/rock ratio (porosity/permeability), Si and K activities, and organic acid content are likely candidates.


Rapid and precise diagnosis of malaria is needed to take care febrile patient returning from endemic areas. Since the first description of the diagnosis of Plasmodium infection by polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR), the role of this kind of molecular method in the laboratory diagnosis of imported malaria is still a topical question. PCR-based assays were found to be more sensitive and more specific than all conventional methods. The highest contribution of the molecular diagnosis is that a PCR negative result would ascertain the lack of any malaria infection, thus quickly orienting the investigations toward other aetiology. This technique should be now considered as the gold standard for the diagnosis of imported malaria.


In this paper, we consider the diophantine equation Xt + Y t = BZt where X, Y , Z are nonzero coprime integers. We prove that this equation has no non-trivial solution with the exponent t dividing Z under certain conditions on t and B.


When measuring quadratic values representative of random fluctuations, such as the thermal noise of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) cantilevers, the background measurement noise cannot be averaged to zero. We present a signal processing method that allows to get rid of this limitation using the ubiquitous optical beam deflection sensor of standard AFMs. We demonstrate a two orders of magnitude enhancement of the signal to noise ratio in our experiment, allowing the calibration of stiff cantilevers or easy identification of higher order modes from thermal noise measurements.


In the paper, safety issues are examined in a scenario in which a robot manipulator and a human perform the same task in the same workspace. During the task execution, the human should be able to physically interact with the robot, and in this case an estimation algorithm for both interaction forces and a contact point is proposed in order to guarantee safety conditions. The method, starting from residual joint torque estimation, allows both direct and adaptive computation of the contact point and force, based on a principle of equivalence of the contact forces. At the same time, all the unintended contacts must be avoided, and a suitable post-collision strategy is considered to move the robot away from the collision area or else to reduce impact effects. Proper experimental tests have demonstrated the applicability in practice of both the post-impact strategy and the estimation algorithms; furthermore, experiments demonstrate the different behaviour resulting from the adaptation of the contact point as opposed to direct calculation.


This study explores the relationship between body mass and femoral construction in armoured (dasypodids and manids) and unarmoured (caviomorph rodents) mammals. Predictive equations based on diaphyseal cross-sectional parameters provided the most accurate estimates of body mass in caviomorph rodents and dasypodids. When these equations are applied to the estimation of body mass in manids, relatively low predictive errors (<20%) are found only when caviomorph equations derived with diaphyseal cross-sectional area or moments of area are used. Dasypodid equations generally yield less accurate estimates for manids, so that armouring of the integument alone poorly discriminates femoral types. Other factors with potential to differentially impact femoral construction are also considered: although locomotor speed strongly influences mass–structure relationships within caviomorph rodents, the confounding influence of locomotor posture, fossoriality, and arboreality render these relationships less predictable across all three groups considered here. Limb structure and, hence, scaling patterns of each phylogenetic group are influenced by a unique mosaic of factors that is difficult to summarize quantitatively. The results of the study provide cautions as well as encouragements for the estimation of body mass for fossil species that have no adaptively similar living relatives.


Fresh spears of asparagus were stored in the dark at 4, 10 or 20°C for 2 weeks. During storage contents of glucose, fructose, sucrose, 1-kestose, neokestose and nystose, and activities of invertase, 1-kestose hydrolyzing enzyme (1-KHE), sucrose: sucrose 1-fructosyltransferase (1-SST), fructan: fructan 1fructosyltransferase (1-FFT) and fructan: fructan 6-fructosyltransferase (6G-FFT) were determined in the top, middle and bottom portions of the spears. A gradient was observed, from the bottom to the top, for glucose, fructose and sucrose which constitute the major proportion of carbohydrates, while fructooligosaccharides, neokestose and nystose, exhibited low levels. Glucose and fructose varied significantly during storage, while sucrose was stable. The average variations were from 7.8 to 12.21 mg/g FW in the middle portion and 7.88 to 13.52 mg/g FW in the bottom portion for glucose and fructose, respectively. 1-Kestose and nystose increased at the end of the storage period and this increase was more apparent at 20°C. Invertase activity showed similar variation at 4 and 10°C but increased sharply after 2 days, before decreasing abruptly after 1 week of storage, while 1-kestose hydrolyzing activity showed a similar pattern to that of invertase activity. 1SST did not vary in the bottom portion but initially increased in the middle and top portions. 1-FFT was high in the top portion and decreased during storage, while in the middle and bottom portions its activity varied slightly. The variation of 6G-FFT activity was similar to that of 1-FFT, however, the level of 6G-FFT was higher, and the 6G-FFT to 1-FFT activity ratio was temperature independent. These results suggest that short fructooligosaccharides and their metabolizing enzymes could play a role of balance between the hydrolysis and synthesis activities of carbohydrates. The high content of sugars may also extend the rapid decline of sugars in the top portion of the spears.


A cohort of 213 girls (aged 10 y, range +/- 9 mo) whose parents reported their dietary intakes (including nutritional supplements) using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, was followed for 4 y until 82% of the 194 parents who responded to follow-up letters had reported that their daughters had had their first menstrual periods. The relative risk (RR) of menarche before age 12.5 y was 2.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1-3.8] for the tallest girls (greater than 150 cm) compared with the shortest girls (less than 130 cm). The RR was 2.1 (95% CI = 1.1-3.8) for the fattest girls [Quetelet's index of relative weight (in kg/m2) greater than 19] vs the leanest girls (less than 15). After adjusting for height and Quetelet's index, menarcheal age was not associated with intake of energy nor energy-adjusted intake of protein, fat, or carbohydrate. The overall results are consistent with the hypothesis that nutritional factors influence age at menarche mainly through their effects on accumulation of adipose tissue.


Introduction: Spinal Dural Arterio Venous Fistula (SDAVF) is an arteriovenous communication on the spinal dura with peri-medullar venous drainage. It is a curable cause of myelopathy and the most common form of spinal arterio venous malformation (AVM). The average age of revelation is the fifth decade; it is a diagnostic and therapeutic emergency.
Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study conducted in the neuro surgical department of CHU Bab El Oued in Algiers during a five years time from November 2013 to September 2018. We assessed the clinical status of patients according to the Aminoff-Logue disability score before and after surgery. All patients did a total spine MRI followed by a Medullar angiography which facilitated the pin-pointing of the exact location of the dural fistula. The mean follow-up is 30 months.
Results: There were five males and two females, all of them older than 45 years of age. At the admission, patients presented with signs of neurological deficits. After the diagnosis of SDAVF the surgical intervention consisted of a disconnection of the arteriovenous communication by coagulation and section of the fistula at the foot of the vein after a laminectomy. Functional rehabilitation was prescribed for all patients and they were regularly followed-up.
Conclusion: Treatment of AVF is surgical or endovascular. Results depend largely on preoperative neurological status.


The divalent-cation-dependent binding of ab heterodimeric integrins to their ligands regulates most cellular processes. Integrin–ligand interactions are tightly controlled by inside-out activation signals. Ligand-bound integrins in turn transduce outside-in signals typical of other receptors. Precise information of how ligands bind to integrins is restricted to that of a small vWF A-type domain present in some a-subunits (aA). Both inside-out and outside-in signals elicit tertiary and quaternary changes in integrins, but the precise nature and scope of these changes are unknown. The recently solved structures of the extracellular segment of integrin aVb3 in its unliganded and liganded states are generating exciting new insights into the design, wiring, function and regulation of this protein family. The structures reveal a surprising degree of flexibility at defined regions in the structure that is potentially controlled by cations. The quaternary structure of the ligand-binding region bears a striking resemblance to the nucleotide-binding pocket of G-proteins, implying analogous activation and signaling mechanisms. Structural links exist through which ligand-induced tertiary changes may be translated into quaternary changes and vice versa. The structures also raise the tantalizing hypothesis that aA is a regulated endogenous integrin ligand, so that no special regulatory features are needed in this integrin class. These findings provide the framework for new investigations of structure–activity relationships in integrins, with important implications for targeting these receptors therapeutically.


Seasonal changes in hydrology are important factors influencing abiotic conditions and subsequently the biota. Although these effects have been studied in tropical catchments and in central arid Australia, subtropical ephemeral streams have largely been ignored. In the present study, three ephemeral streams in Central Queensland were monitored over 15 months. We hypothesised that macroinvertebrate abundance would increase gradually following the initial flow pulse and that abundance would increase until the pools began drying, with sensitive taxa only present during higher flow. In all, 69 families from 14 orders were collected in 128 samples. Significant relationships were not detected between low flow conditions and taxa richness (P>0.05). Principal component analysis showed that the macroinvertebrate communities did not change in response to the drying of pools. Significant differences were not observed between taxa richness, abundance nor tolerant taxa during varied periods of flow (P>0.05). Sensitive taxa were most abundant during high-flow periods with comparatively less abundance during no flow and drying periods. This study provides novel information on the flow-linked succession of macroinvertebrate communities in subtropical ephemeral streams and the results are important in informing the development of riverine indices and models used to manage subtropical environments.


. Creativity and innovation are the hallmarks of 21st-century teachers. Teachers are required to actively foster their creativity so that innovative teacher products will emerge as works that are beneficial to themselves, schools, society, the nation, and the country. A number of teaching staff or teachers in Indonesia have not thought creatively even though the government has provided opportunities for them to be creative in various fields, such as writing coursebooks, developing teaching materials, making learning media, and increasing other academic productivity. One of the weaknesses they have is that they are not productive in writing coursebooks or textbooks, even though writing books is an integral part of teaching and learning activities. Increasing the productivity of textbooks for teachers through the Sagu Sabu program is an effective effort that greatly helps teacher achievement in schools because so far teachers have been passive writing textbooks for their own needs, even for mass publication efforts. The purpose of this study is to increase teacher productivity in writing subject books. This study uses a one-cycle action research type. This involved 10 teachers of SMAN 12 Semarang City. The research instruments used were two SurveyMonkey application questionnaires, field notes, and FGD. An action to increase teacher productivity in writing coursebooks is the Sagu Sabu program. Based on the research data obtained, it is known that before the Sagu Sagu program was implemented, there were no teachers who wrote coursebooks at all (0%) while after the program was implemented there were 4 teachers who succeeded in writing coursebooks, even though the percentage was very high. It was still very small (30.76%) when compared to the total number of participants. Besides, based on the responses to a questionnaire about the Sagu Sabu program, 84.62% agreed that this program is very important to increase teacher creativity in writing course books and lead them to become productive writers. The conclusion is that the Sagu Sabu program is very effective in helping increase teacher productivity in writing coursebooks so that teachers can have innovative works that are very beneficial for themselves and the school's reputation. Therefore it is highly recommended for policymakers in schools and the government to make this program a success so that more and more teachers will be productive in writing coursebooks.


Three series of BFS critical experiments loaded approximately with 10 kg of 237Np-dioxide were analyzed to verify the performance of major libraries with the 237Np nuclear data. The latest JENDL-3.3, ENDF/B-VII.0 and JEFF-3.1 showed satisfactory results from the 237Np data viewpoint; however some other major data such as 239Pu ν and fission, 238U μ and/or the sodium inelastic scattering cross sections of some libraries may need re-evaluation. Further, the effect of integral experimental information to obtain better predictions of reactor core parameters was demonstrated by the cross section adjustment method.


The goal of this study was to investigate the diurnal variation of carbon dioxide (CO ) flux above cowpea 2 ( Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp ) in relation to its phenological stages of growth. The experimental site was an agricultural area located at the Teaching and Research farm of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.. The planting of cowpea covered two cycles, March-June and August-November, 2015, which represented dryto-wet and wet-to-dry seasonal transitions in the area respectively. An eddy covariance system was deployed on site from which turbulent flux of carbon dioxide had been determined. In addition, net radiation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), leaf surface temperature, soil moisture and thermal parameters were measured within the plant environment. Concentration of CO at the study location decreased by about 50 % to 2 -3 -2 minimum values, 650 mgm at 1500 hrs (LT), which is coincident with maximum PAR value of 1800 Wm . -2 -1 From sunset until dawn, the CO flux measured increased steadily from about 0.2 mgm s around 1800 hrs (LT) 2 -2 -1 to reach maximum value, about 0.5 mgm s at 0300 hr. Irrespective of growth stage of the plant, CO flux was 2 maximum during nighttime. Keywords : Cycles, Phenological stages, Plant environment, Seasonal transitions, Turbulent flux


The article states that nowadays situations in Ukraine shows that the theory of military activity of law enforcement forces needs a new development in the terms of settlement of armed confrontation in separate areas of Donetsk and Luhansk areas. Therefore, the issues of regulatory and legal support of law enforcement agencies in responding to crisis situations come to the fore. The analysis of normative legal acts shows that legal norms are not formulated clearly enough and ambiguously interpreted by law enforcement agencies. Therefore, it is necessary to refine the legislative mechanism for preventing and responding to crisis situations that threaten the national security of Ukraine. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to comprehensively reveal the essence and features of the legal regulations of combat operations of the security and defense sector of Ukraine in crisis situations and to develop specific practical recommendations, scientifically sound proposals for improving State governance in this field. In order to research the best practices of Ukraine on the functioning of Public mechanisms of response of the security and defense sector of Ukraine to crisis situations during the Anti-Terrorist Operation and the Joint Forces Operation in some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, an expert survey of anti-terrorist security experts was conducted. The results of the survey provided an opportunity to identify the main problematic issues in the functioning of the anti-terrorist security system and provide appropriate development proposals. The State authorities today need to focus on improving the organization of management, establishing interagency cooperation between government agencies, increasing the level of pre-training of personnel, a clear definition of tasks for law enforcement units during special operations. Areas of further research will be aimed at developing State mechanisms of responding by the components of the security and defense sector of Ukraine to crisis situations


Extended spectrum Beta lactamase producing Escherichia coli has become a serious clinical problem worldwide, due to its ability of hydrolyzing beta lactams antibiotics. This consequently increases the cost of medication. This study was aimed at determining the antibacterial and synergistic effect of concoction and decoctions of honey and cocoa extract using disc diffusion and tube dilution methods. Results of this study, suggest that, both the concoction and decoctions had marked antibacterial activity. However, the concoction was found to be significantly efficacious against the ESBL producing Escherichia coli than the decoctions (F= 583.630, P <0.05). It was therefore, concluded, that the combination of this agents may be useful in the treatment of infection caused by such isolates.


By increasing the Sn concentration in Ge1-ySny and Ge1-x-ySixSny systems, these materials can be tuned from indirect to direct bandgap along with increasing electronic and photonic properties. Efforts have been made to synthesize Sn-Ge and Ge-Si-Sn structures and layers to produce lower energy direct bandgap materials. Due to low solid solubility of Sn in Ge and Si-Ge layers, high concentrations of Sn are not achieved by traditional synthesis processes such as chemical vapor deposition or molecular beam epitaxy. Implantation of Sn into Si-Ge systems, followed by rapid thermal annealing or pulse laser annealing, is shown to be an attractive technique for increasing Sn concentration, which can increase efficiencies in photovoltaic applications. In this paper, dynamic ion-solid simulation results are presented. Simulations were performed to determine optimal beam energy, implantation order, and fluence for a multi-step, ion-implantation based synthesis process.


We investigated the effect of β-amyloid peptide (βA) on the activation of the murine-derived monocyte/macrophage J774 cell-line. βA induced tumor necrotic factor-α(TNFα) in these cells in a dose-dependent manner. Incubation of cells with βA slightly increased nitric oxide (NO) production, an effect that was significantly enhanced by the addition of interferon-γ(IFNγ). Substitution of βA4 with TFNα and incubation of the cultures with IFNγ resulted in significant NO production, although this was lower than that obtained in the presence of the peptide. Incubation of cultures with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against TNFα abrogated NO production. Our results suggest that βA4-induced TNFα production is a crucial event in the activation of peripheral macrophages.


Objectives To investigate the prognostic value of the lymphocytic focus score (LFS) and the percentages of IgA+, IgM+ and IgG+ plasma cells for disease severity of primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS). Methods Medical charts of 174 pSS patients were retrospectively analysed, comparing histology results (LFS and percentages of IgA+, IgM+ and IgG+ plasma cells) with disease outcomes as non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and clinical scores including cumulative EULAR (European League against Rheumatism) Sjögren syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI) and the total number of extraglandular manifestations. Results The mean LFS was significantly higher in patients developing NHL (3.0±0.894 vs 2.25±1.086; p=0.021). The threshold of ≥3 foci has a positive predictive value of 16% for lymphoma, and a negative predictive value of 98%. Only LFS ≥3 contributed significantly and independently to NHL development in a standard multiple regression model. Ig class distribution of plasma cells did not help to identify patients developing lymphoma. Patients with LFS ≥3, ≤40% IgA+ or ≥25% IgM+ plasma cells in salivary gland biopsy specimens had significantly enhanced systemic disease. Conclusions Routine histopathological minor salivary gland assessment has important prognostic value. The LFS might help to identify patients with an increased risk for lymphoma.


The meanings are all given in full sentences, making the sense much more immediate and understandable - it is as if the dictionary is speaking to you. The dictionary covers the range of vocabulary met with in newspapers, magazines, and on radio and television. It explains difficult words simply and shades of meanings clearly. There are real-life examples from the Bank of English showing typical ways words are used. The foreword has been specially commissioned from Sir Trevor MacDonald, who is well-known for his commitment to, and promotion of, good English.


This paper proves statistically that, since at least 1992, women have been more likely to run for competitive seats in the California assembly than for seats that are safe for their party. In other words, women have been more likely to run for seats that are difficult to win and are arguably more challenging to represent in the legislature. The paper examines why this has been true over the last seven election cycles (1992-2004) and how these findings affect women candidates and legislators. It also makes recommendations for using these findings to increase the number and power of women in the legislature.


It is well known that the medium access control (MAC) layer is the main bottleneck for the IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs. Much work has been done on performance analysis of the 802.11 MAC. However, most of them assume that the wireless channel is error free. In this paper, we investigate the saturation throughput performance achieved at the MAC layer, in both congested and error-prone channels. We provide a simple and accurate analytical model to calculate the MAC throughput. The model is validated through extensive simulation results. Our results show that channel errors have a significant impact on the system performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Expansive soils swell on absorbing water and shrink on evaporation thereof. Because of this alternate swelling and shrinkage, civil engineering structures founded in them are severely damaged. For counteracting the problems of expansive soils, different innovative techniques were suggested. Stabilization of expansive clays with various additives has also met with considerable success. This paper presents, by comparison, the effect of lime and fly ash on free swell index (FSI), swell potential, swelling pressure, coefficient of consolidation, compression index, secondary consolidation characteristics and shear strength. Lime content (weight of lime/weight of dry soil) was varied as 0%, 2%, 4% and 6% and fly ash content (weight of fly ash/weight of dry soil) as 0%, 10% and 20%. A fly ash content of 20% showed significant reduction in swell potential, swelling pressure, compression index and secondary consolidation characteristics and resulted in increase in maximum dry density and shear strength. Swell potential and swelling pressure decreased with increase in lime content also. Further, consolidation characteristics improved. Compaction characteristics and unconfined compression strength improved at 4% lime and reduced at 6% lime.


This paper reports a systematic study of the dependence on atomic number of the dielectronic recombination resonance strengths for He-like, Li-like and Be-like ions. Recent measurements of dielectronic recombination resonance strengths for the KLL and KLM manifolds for iron, yttrium, iodine, holmium, and bismuth are also described. The resonance strengths were normalized to calculated electron impact ionization cross sections. The measured resonance strengths generally agree well with theoretical calculations using the distorted wave approximation. However, KLM resonance strength measurements on high atomic number open-shell ions gave higher values than those suggested by calculations. Using recently measured data, along with existing results, scaling laws have been generated as a function of atomic number for He-like, Li-like, and Be-like ions in the KLL and KLM manifolds.


. As a result of the crisis, spread of coronavirus infection, growth of inflation for a number of years in Russia there has been registered a decrease in real incomes of the population, as well as the persistent poverty rate. Despite the unprecedented measures taken by the State to provide social support to the population, the fight against poverty is one of the strategic tasks for the state. The poverty rate indicator is included in the performance indicators of state authorities and re-gional leaders. Methods of assistance to the most vulnerable segments of the population should be comprehensive (include educational programs, retraining, psychological support, employment, social benefits, support measures for beginning and existing entrepreneurs and the self-employed, social contracts, social treasury), but at the same time they should be targeted and personalized.


The accuracy of the knowledge of genetic patterns of Huntington's disease was studied by interview in 14 patients who had been in regular contact with physicians. Only one patient had completely accurate knowledge of the genetic risk entailed by autosomal dominance. Inaccurate knowledge often prevented optimal judgment concerning major life decisions. The genetic risk problem almost invariably generated severe psychologic problems, particularly centered about the decision whether to have children. Genetic counseling, particularly in a progressive disease of adult onset such as Huntington's disease, must be accompanied by follow-up visits to ascertain the accuracy of the knowledge obtained and to aid the patient in resulting psychologic problems.


Sri Lanka has a history of over two thousand years of dam construction and irrigation development with a complex network of canals and storages servicing the dry zone of the country. The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has been progressing with a massive program of infrastructure development to enable these dry zone systems to provide reliable irrigation water supplies for cropping twice a year by large scale inter-basin transfers in addition to maximising hydropower generation, ensuring safe and adequate drinking water supplies and maintaining environmental values. SMEC was engaged to assist GoSL with planning and modelling of the existing and proposed future systems. The primary source of the water is the Mahaweli Ganga which is the island's largest river system. The overall water resource system planning model was constructed on the MIKE Basin platform using ArcGIS as the geographical framework. It included over thirty major reservoirs, covered over half the entire country and involved regulation of water of about 7,500 GL. Detailed system operational data, including irrigation water deliveries, reservoir water level, rainfall and river flow information was used to calibrate and verify the system model. Separately a substantial knowledgebase involving food production, detailed economic analysis, pricing, power generation, employment creation, re?settlement and social equity considerations was also developed. The water resources model was then coupled to the knowledge base through a decision support system to enable the rapid assessment of development options and their related impacts economically and socially in addition to overall costs. This paper describes the innovative approaches used in first developing the model and then calibrating and verifying it in a data poor region. The paper then progresses to the application of this sophisticated instrument to option development through the decision support system and multi criteria analysis.


Mechanical ventilation support is one of the most essential applications in the medical and surgical intensive care units (sICU). Elderly patients admitted to sICU in the preoperative or postoperative periods may require artificial ventilation especially in order to treat acute respiratory failure. In this study, we aimed to determine the prognostic factors affecting the mortality in mechanically ventilated surgical patients. Thirty four patients with a total of 36 mechanical ventilation episodes, who were admitted to sICU during two years period, were included in this study. Demographic data, diagnosis, surgical procedures, simplified acute physiology scores (SAPS II), causes of respiratory failure, duration of mechanical ventilation, tidal volumes, positive end-expiratory pressure levels, adjusted ventilator modes, fractioned oxygen levels, employed weaning methods, success of weaning and patient survival were collected retrospectively. All data were compared between survivors and non-survivors except for weaning methods. Sixteen patients (44.4%) were discharged form sICU and hospital (Survivor group), whereas twenty patients (55.6%) died (Non-survivor group). In this study tidal volumes, SAPS II scores and lowest fractioned oxygen levels were significantly different between survivors and non-survivors. We propose that higher tidal volumes may induce biotrauma and volutrauma by increasing plateau pressures, and also higher SAPS II scores and need for higher levels of fractioned oxygen are indicators of poor prognosis.


Armed conflict impacts negatively on the child's right to education as the targeted attacks on schools, school children, teachers and school facilities can cause a drop in school enrolment and attendance as well as longer term effects on the standard of education provided. This study assesses the impact of armed conflict on the child's right to basic education in the context of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. Also, considering that the child's right to education protected in international and regional human rights instruments is not suspended during armed conflict, the study also assesses how well the Nigerian government in line with its international and regional human rights obligations has responded to the educational needs of children affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.


Effects of retained compression strength on the collapsibility of mold sand using sodium silicate were studied. The results obtained from the experiment are summurized as follows; 1) The sand mixtures increased their compression strength and retained compression strength when content of sodium silicate is high or mole ratio of sodium silicate is high. 2) Increase of retained strength has a maximum value at temperatures about . When the sample reached , the binder bridge are homogeneous. The retained strength is increased. 3) Decrease of retained strength at temperatures over is caused by pore formation and additives of seacoal markedly accelerated pore formations.


The aim of the article is to present the issues of the archives of canons chapters in the legal and canonical aspect. Chapters are required to keep their archives. The first part of the article provides the canonical definition of the chapter archive as well as its goals and tasks. The second part presents the issues of the chapter archival resource, while the last part presents the chapter office of the canon responsible for the archives.


With potential hospital reimbursement centered on patient satisfaction, limiting the number of invasive peripheral venipunctures may increase Press Ganey satisfaction scores. A prospective study compared published outcomes with conventional intravenous (IV) catheters against results using a newly designed IV catheter with a retractable, coiled-tip guidewire. The objectives were to determine whether successful first-attempt and IV complication rates might be altered using the new technology. In a small community hospital-based study of 95 patients, first-attempt success, complications, dwell time, and patient satisfaction results with the new technology scored significantly better, from insertion to removal, than published outcomes with conventional catheters.


A new class of high-quality-factor (Q) and hybridly-integrated quasi-elliptic-type bandpass filters (BPFs) with symmetrical quasi-reflectionless characteristics is reported. Its circuit architecture is based on loading the input and output ports of a quasi-elliptic-type BPF-it exhibits two transmission poles and four transmission zeros (TZs)-with resistively-terminated bandstop-filter (BSF) branches to absorb the reflected RF power. The quasi-elliptic-type power transmission response is obtained by incorporating multi-resonant cells that exhibit one pole and two TZs and allow for quasi-elliptic-type responses to be realized without the need for cross couplings. A hybrid integration scheme using capacitively-loaded high-Q ceramic coaxial resonators and microstrip-type impedance inverters is proposed for size compactness and low passband insertion loss. The concept is experimentally validated at 3 GHz through the manufacturing and testing of a filter prototype that exhibits a passband with in-band insertion loss (IL) <0.9 dB (corresponds to an effective quality factor of 430) and wide quasi-reflectionless characteristics. Keywords-Absorptive filter, bandpass filter (BPF), ceramic resonator, microstrip filter, reflectionless filter.


Addition of rctt-tetrakis(2-pyridyl)cyclobutane (2,2'-tpcb) in a Cu(II)/N(3)- solution afforded the 1D coordination polymer [Cu(3)(N(3))(6)(2,2'-tpcb)(DMF)(2)](n) (1). The ligand 2,2'-tpcb serves as a tetradentate bis-chelating ligand by linking linear [(DMF)Cu(mu(1,1)-N(3))(2)Cu(N(3))(2)(mu(1,1)-N(3))(2)Cu(DMF)] trinuclear units to produce a zigzag chain. Within each centrosymmetric trinuclear unit there exist two irregularly asymmetric end-on double azido-bridged [Cu(mu(1,1)-N(3))(2)Cu](2+) cores, while one of the largest Cu-Nazide-Cu angles is observed. Magnetic susceptibility data, measured from 2 to 300 K, show bulk moderate ferromagnetic coupling within the magnetically isolated trinuclear units. These data were fitted to the appropriate equation derived from the Hamiltonian H = -J(1)(S(A1)S(B) + S(A2)S(B)) - J(2)S(A1)S(A2), giving the parameters J1 = +70(3) cm(-1), J2 = -3(2) cm(-1), g = 2.12(1), with an intertrimer interaction parameter theta = -0.74(2) K. The coupling constants were correlated with the structural parameters. Density functional calculations reproduce very well the experimental J values and show that ferromagnetism for this complex is mainly due to the topology of the magnetic orbitals and the different coordination spheres of two neighboring Cu(II) atoms, resulting in a small overlap of the orbitals possessing the unpaired electrons.


Lung cancer is the leading cause of the human cancer-related death in the world and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for up to 80 % of those patients. Cholesterol metabolism is especially active in cancer cells, whereas cholesterol synthesis inhibition has been show to reduce tumor cell growth. However, the involvement of farnesyl diphosphate farnesyltransferase (FDFT1) in lung cancer development and progression remains unclear. FDFT1 was involved in cholesterol biosynthesis. In this study, we investigated the clinical significance and biological effects of FDFT1 in NSCLC. Immunohistochemical studies performed on 141 primary NSCLC specimens revealed a high prevalence of FDFT overexpression (51%), which was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (regional, P = 0.022), advanced tumor stage (P = 0.004), and poorer disease-free survival (P = 0.001, log-rank test; P = 0.001, Cox proportional hazard model). FDFT1 down-regulation by two shRNAs significantly reduced cell migration and invasion in highly invasive lung cancer cell lines in vitro, as well as lung metastases in vivo. Conversely, overexpression of FDFT1 in weakly invasive lung cancer cell lines in vitro and orthotopic metastasis assay in vivo shows enhanced cell motility and lung metastases. In addition, inhibition of FDFT1 decreased AKT activation and thereby suppressing the migration of human lung cancer cell in vitro. The results suggested that FDFT1 can positive feedback to regulate AKT. In weakly invasive lung cancer cell lines, FDFT1 overexpression was associated with the upregulation of secreted phosphoprotein 1(SPP1). The shRNA mediated knockdown of SPP1 was found to block FDFT1-enhanced invasion. Taken together, we have identified cholesterol metabolism regulatory gene FDFT1 as a cancer progression biomarker who overexpression leading to poor prognosis and result tumor metastasis feedback regulation of SPP1-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4612. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4612


Different modulation techniques are used for different signal transmission. These techniques give versatility to the transmission medium as well as make user easy to work in such computational field. With prior no knowledge of data transmitted and various unspecified parameters at receiver side like the carrier frequency, phase offsets and signal power etc., blind detection of the modulation is challenging. This becomes more difficult at the time of fading. That's why recognizing these modulation schemes is useful for various technical purposes and especially quite significant for the military, wireless and COMINT applications. Digital modulation recognition is based on some parameters especially statistical parameters. Till now various recognition algorithms have been developed and still developing. The recognition algorithms can be divided into two major groups 'maximum likelihood approach (MLA) and pattern recognition approach (PRA). In this paper we are emphasizing on the theoretical information of these techniques of modulation recognition along with ANN modulation recognizer for m-ary modulation techniques. A general application of modulation recognition in field of SDR is also proposed.