With the help of the first-principles full potential linearized augmented plane wave method, absorption coecients, reflectivity, dielectric behavior and electronic properties, including electronic energy bands, density of states and charge density distributions, are studied for the tetragonal and cubic CaTiO3. By considering the thermal expansion eects, an approximate method is proposed for the study of the stability of ground state and a tendency of phase transition, based on the minimum free energy principle. Subsequently, numerical calculations are carried out by using the first-principles perturbation method. We demonstrate that the high-temperature phase is cubic. It is shown that optical spectra in tetragonal phase exhibit single-peak feature and dier from multi-peak character in cubic. We find that strong orbital hybridization results in the co-valent bonds between Ti 3d and O 2p electrons and forms two-type dipoles (Ti-O1 and Ti-O2) in tetragonal, while the Ti-O dipoles are identical in cubic. It is argued that crystal structure determines the dipole distributions and leads to some electron states among which the dipole-dipole transition forbidden is a key, causing such anomalous optical phenomena with the insulator characteristics. The predicted charge density distribution and the tendency of phase transition from tetragonal to cubic are in good agreement with experimental observations.


In this paper it is proposed an index that identifies Hopf bifurcation points in power systems susceptible to subsynchronous resonance. For this task it is used the Schur form of the Jacobian matrix of the entire electrical power system. Comparisons are also made between this proposed one and an index previously presented. Additionally, the power system is modeled in a different way, which does not consider the network frequency as the weighted average of the connected generators.


In 12 series of short-term (4.5 hour) experiments the exposures that influenced the blood distribution relative to the long axis of the body (postural changes, lower body excessive pressure, lower body negative pressure, axial loads) were studied. A close correlation between the blood flow in lung capillaries, water losses and orthostatic responses was established. The correlation was dysproportional when LBEP or LBNP was applied in certain postures. This may be attributed to the effect of these exposures on vessel compliance.


We report improved strain and bioprocess robustness as a result of the dynamic deregulation of central metabolism using two-stage dynamic control. Dynamic control is implemented using combinations of CRISPR interference and controlled proteolysis to reduce levels of central metabolic enzymes in the context of a standardized two-stage bioprocesses. Reducing the levels of key enzymes alters metabolite pools resulting in deregulation of the metabolic network. The deregulated network is more robust to environmental conditions improving process robustness, which in turn leads to predictable scalability from high throughput small scale screens to fully instrumented bioreactors as well as to pilot scale production. Additionally, as these two-stage bioprocesses are standardized, a need for traditional process optimization is minimized. Predictive high throughput approaches that translate to larger scales are critical for metabolic engineering programs to truly take advantage of the rapidly increasing throughput and decreasing costs of synthetic biology. In this work we demonstrate that the improved robustness of E. coli strains engineered for the improved scalability of the important industrial chemicals alanine, citramalate and xylitol, from microtiter plates to pilot reactors.


ABSTRACT Genesis 1 states that we are created in the image of God. While Biblical scholars have taken a performative approach, viewing God's image in our actions, systematic theologians have viewed God's image in relational terms. Thus, the quality of our relationships is crucial, not only for the health of our day to day lives but for our very identity. What makes a relationship authentic? Karl Barth suggests four criteria: that we look the other in the eye, speak to and hear the other, aid the other, and do it gladly. We look first at how our authentic relationships function to make God present among us and then use Barth's criteria to examine the quality of relationships that exist primarily in cyberspace. Social media, in particular, present unique opportunities and challenges for forming authentic relationships and raise fundamental questions about who we are and where God is found among us.


Mouse alkaline phosphatase [ALP; orthophosphoric-monoester phosphohydrolase (alkaline optimum), EC 184.108.40.206] was partially purified from placenta. Data obtained by immunoblotting analysis suggested that the primary structure of this enzyme has a much greater homology to that of human and bovine liver ALPs than to the human placental isozyme. Therefore, a full-length cDNA encoding human liver-type ALP was used as a probe to isolate the mouse placental ALP cDNA. The cloned mouse cDNA is 2459 base pairs long and is composed of an open reading frame encoding a 524-amino acid polypeptide that contains a putative signal peptide of 17 amino acids. Homology at the amino acid level of the mouse placental ALP is 90% to the human liver isozyme but only 55% to the human placental counterpart. RNA blot hybridization results indicate that the mouse placental ALP is encoded by a gene identical to the gene expressed in mouse liver, kidney, and teratocarcinoma stem cells. This gene is therefore evolutionarily highly conserved in mouse and human.


Purpose – The placement of warning labels on alcoholic beverages is a policy area with renewed interest, yet a strong evidence base regarding the efficacy of text-based or pictorial warning labels has still to emerge. Increased interest by policy makers has spurred research into potential alcohol warning label designs and messages. However, research which draws together findings from these recent studies is lacking. Design/methodology/approach – The current study seeks to review research that has sought to examine the effectiveness of alcohol warning labels. Searches for English language articles (since 2000) using the terms 'alcohol' and 'warning label*' were conducted in 2015 across four databases (Web of Science, PubMed, PsycInfo and Cochrane). Articles were included if they empirically assessed the effectiveness and/or design of alcohol warning labels. A narrative analysis approach was used for the 15 articles identified. Findings – Findings are reported on five themes covering the design of the warning including the use of imagery or recommendations followed by a focus on the warning messages and whether or not they are specific, use signal words and are based on qualitative or quantitative information. Research limitations/implications – Overall there was little consistency in approach and measures, with very limited research having explored the potential of pictorial warning labels. Numerous research gaps are identified thus much more research is needed in this area. The evidence base is weak and caution is needed by policy makers regarding the introduction and implementation of alcohol warning labels. Limitations are discussed. Originality/value – The review provides a timely up-to-date evaluation of the alcohol warning labels literature that has seen a recent resurgence but has not been critically reviewed.


Abstract:Intelligibility testing in Vanuatu in 2015 investigated how well speakers of three closely related varieties could understand each other. But the research also generated questions about (1) anomalous results; (2) which linguistic factors influenced comprehension; and (3) the relative intelligibility of varieties. This paper interrogates these questions and finds that, first, while most anomalous results are difficult to account for, others are easily explained; the insights gained will help to refine the design of future intelligibility tests. Second, some variables appear to be more important than others in terms of the degree to which they impede intelligibility. Third, test participants' higher comprehension of a relatively distantly related variety over a more closely related variety leads to explanations that draw on both linguistic and social factors. The insights gained in this study contribute to existing research on the same topic in European languages and establish a starting point for similar research on Pacific languages.


ABSTRACT Sequential shoreline monitoring, using vintage charts and aerial photographs, documents temporal and spatial variations in historical Gulf shoreline changes. The regional distribution of shoreline erosion and accretion largely reflects changes in littoral drift cells, decreases in sediment supply, and continuing relative sea-level rise including compactional subsidence. A Late Quaternary (circa 3500 BP) shoreline is postulated with promontories at the Holocene Brazos-Colorado and Rio Grande deltas; a third promontory along the upper coast was probably related to a Pleistocene delta system and the Sabine Arch. The interheadland areas or bights were the locations of littoral drift cells and the sites of accretionary shoreline topography primarily on barrier islands and peninsulas. Historical records (past 125 years) indicate that the deltaic headlands have experienced long-term erosion at relatively high rates. With changes in littoral drift cells, natural net shoreline accretion, supplied primarily by updrift erosion, has been generally restricted to Matagorda Island and central Padre Island in the extant zone of convergence. Short-term (past 5 to 10 years) changes are predominantly erosional with more than 70 percent of the shoreline experiencing land losses totaling about 400 acres annually. Shoreline erosion is caused by the complex interaction of climate, sediment budget, coastal processes, relative sea-level conditions, and human activities. Jettied inlets and navigation channels serve as the greatest sediment sink, and in certain areas major shoreline changes are clearly the result of human alterations. Rates of erosion and the total length of eroding shoreline have increased during historical time. Present data indicate that most of the Texas Coast will continue to retreat landward as part of a long-term erosional trend.


The live-weight gain (LWG) and efficiency of food utilization of purebred British Friesian and Canadian Holstein steers and of crossbred steers out of British Friesian dams by Charolais, Hereford, Limousin, Lincoln Red, Simmental, South Devon and Sussex sires were examined in two beef production systems. One was similar to the commercial 18-month grass/cereal system (16-month) and the other to a commercial 2-year system (24-month). The cattle were serially slaughtered at three levels of fatness covering the commercial range and determined by the use of the Scanogram ultrasonic machine. The trial extended over 4 years and involved a total of 650 cattle. Data for the two production systems were analysed separately. Changes in growth performance were examined relative to estimated carcass subcutaneous fat content (g/kg; SF C ) and sire breed crosses compared at the mean fatness level within system: 65 g/kg SF e for 16-month and 74 g/kg SF e for 24-month. Sire breed differences were not detected ( P > 0·05) in the regressions on SF e of age and live weight at slaughter, overall daily LWG and overall efficiency of weight gain. Pooled within sire breed, live at slaughter and age at slaughter increased by 2·5 kg and 2·8 days (16-month) and 2·2 kg and 2·1 days (24-month) for each g/kg increase in SF e . Charolais crosses and Canadian Holsteins were heaviest at equal SF C in both systems, but the latter were 63 days older (16-month) and 42 days older (24-month): Hereford, Lincoln Red and Sussex crosses were lightest and among the youngest in both systems. Sire breed crosses differed significantly in daily LWG: Charolais crosses grew fastest in both systems; the relative growth rate of other sire breed crosses was less consistent between the two although the Hereford crosses and British Friesians grew slowly in both systems. Overall efficiency of LWG (g gain per kg digestible organic matter intake) ranged from 164 to 205 (16-month) and 146 to 171 (24-month). Canadian Holsteins and British Friesians had the lowest efficiency of LWG in both systems of production; differences between the other breeds were not statistically significant ( P > 0·05).


The main purpose of this paper is to assess the performance of the existing Waqf administration in Malaysia. This paper first describes the problems of Waqf administration in Malaysia and then suggests proposals for improvement. Waqf administration requires new innovative avenues. It also needs to develop a hybrid viable model for generating more benefits for all involving parties of the society with sustainability characteristics. It is recognized that there is no ample study in the area of Waqf. Further, literature is very scanty relating to the Waqf administration. The exiting studies identify various facets of the Waqf and its administration issue to explore different aspects of theoretical dimensions and practices.


Surface modification and fabrication of composite structures have been reported to be efficient strategies to obtain cathode materials with satisfactory electrochemical performance. Herein, a combined method to fabricate an oxidized spinel outer layer containing Ni3+ is demonstrated to be an effective method to improve the rate capability as well as cyclability of Li-rich cathode materials. Such a surface modification process is carried out through a facile treatment with ammonium persulfate, and a homogeneous layered-spinel structure is thus obtained, which contains intimately connected layered bulk and an oxidized spinel outer layer. The thus-obtained material delivers a charge/discharge capacity of 330.5/308.7 mA h g−1, with an enhanced coulombic efficiency up to 93.4% and a rather fascinating rate capability of 169.1 mA h g−1, 100.8 mA h g−1, and 68.2 mA h g−1 at 10 C, 20 C and 30 C, respectively, and a much superior cycle performance, which is a stable capacity with no fading after prolonged 200 cycles.


In recent years, developing countries like Nigeria with large human and natural resources have attracted huge investment leading to a rise in foreign investment into the Nigerian economy. To create the conditions that would attract more Foreign Direct Investment into the manufacturing subsector, the right infrastructure must be put in place. This study examined the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment, infrastructure and manufacturing output in Nigeria. Time series data between the periods of 1981 and 2016 was used. Johansen cointegration was used to assess the relationship between Nigeria's foreign direct investment, infrastructure, and production efficiency. The result showed that the explanatory variables and the manufacturing production in Nigeria have a long-run relationship. The relationship between foreign direct investment, infrastructure and manufacturing production in Nigeria is also found to be significant and positive. Following the study's finding, specific policy recommendations were made to improve energy infrastructure for the manufacturing sector and keep foreign investment flowing into the economy.


The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of genetic polymorphisms in the metabolic and cellular transport pathway of methotrexate (MTX) on the clinical outcome of MTX monotherapy in Japanese rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Fifty-five patients were treated with MTX monotherapy at a dose of 4-10 mg/week. The total concentration of MTX-polyglutamates (MTX-PGs) was measured at steady-state in red blood cells (RBCs) by high performance liquid chromatography. The genotype at 16 polymorphic sites in 11 genes (ABCB1, ABCG2, ABCC2, RFC1, PCFT, SLCO1B1, MTHFR, GGH, ATIC, MTR, and MTRR) was analyzed. No significant association between the total concentration of MTX-PGs in RBCs and clinical outcome was found. However, patients with the ABCB1 3435TT genotype had a significantly lower mean disease activity score (DAS) 28 than did patients with the ABCB1 3435CC genotype (p = 0.02). Similarly, patients with the ABCB1 2677AA/AT/TT genotypes had a significantly lower mean DAS28 than did patients with the ABCB1 2677GG/GA/GT genotypes (p = 0.04). The patients with the MTHFR 1298AA genotype had a significantly lower mean DAS28 than those with the MTHFR 1298AC/CC genotypes (p = 0.04). In conclusion, the ABCB1 3435C>T, ABCB1 2677G>A/T, and MTHFR 1298A>C polymorphisms influenced the efficacy of MTX monotherapy.


Purpose – The paper aims to review what is trending on the internet and presents vignettes of related library technology and hot topics from weblogs, webinars, tweets, wikis and other discussions on the internet. Design/methodology/approach – A surfing of web sites, tweets, webinars, wikis and internet-based information sites is done over a three-month period and the trends identified and highlighted. Findings – The trends in various information and library-related issues discussed online show a tending towards using new technology and the disadvantages of some, while advocating for review of some instructional methods by librarians to their clientele. Originality/value – The most current trends of discussion on the internet are presented up to the January 31, 2014.


We have recently developed the spatial domain, Fast LIpid signal Processing (FLIP) algorithm to remove subcutaneous lipid signals in MRSI. Practical application of FLIP to 3D EPSI was challenging due to the need for long processing times. We present an updated algorithm, named FLIP-COIL, which significantly reduces the processing times utilizing receive coil senstivity profiles. Algorithms including FLIP, FLIP-COIL, as well as PGA, HSVD and L2 are compared in 3D EPSI of ten subjects. This study demostrates that the FLIP-COIL approach can drastically reduce processing time with favorable performance of lipid removal in 3D EPSI over existing other algorithms.


We study the statistics of the number of records R(n,N) for N identical and independent symmetric discrete-time random walks of n steps in one dimension, all starting at the origin at step 0. At each time step, each walker jumps by a random length drawn independently from a symmetric and continuous distribution. We consider two cases: (I) when the variance σ(2) of the jump distribution is finite and (II) when σ(2) is divergent as in the case of Lévy flights with index 0<μ<2. In both cases we find that the mean record number R(n,N) grows universally as ~α(N) sqrt[n] for large n, but with a very different behavior of the amplitude α(N) for N>1 in the two cases. We find that for large N, α(N) ≈ 2sqrt[lnN] independently of σ(2) in case I. In contrast, in case II, the amplitude approaches to an N-independent constant for large N, α(N) ≈ 4/sqrt[π], independently of 0<μ<2. For finite σ(2) we argue-and this is confirmed by our numerical simulations-that the full distribution of (R(n,N)/sqrt[n]-2sqrt[lnN])sqrt[lnN] converges to a Gumbel law as n → ∞ and N → ∞. In case II, our numerical simulations indicate that the distribution of R(n,N)/sqrt[n] converges, for n → ∞ and N → ∞, to a universal nontrivial distribution independently of μ. We discuss the applications of our results to the study of the record statistics of 366 daily stock prices from the Standard & Poor's 500 index.


The article analyzes the social and psychological aspects of implementation of the Digital library of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine (NAPS of Ukraine), and the process of social and psychological adaptation of the scientists to the acceptation of innovations. The importance of consideration of the mentioned aspects for the successful operation of an electronic library is underlined. The psychological barriers for implementation of scientific electronic library of NAPS of Ukraine are identified. The recommendations for reducing the influence of social and psychological aspects in the implementation of scientific digital libraries in research institutions of NAPS of Ukraine are formulated.


In this paper, we consider single-user transmission over a Rayleigh flat fading channel, in which the channel state information (CSI) is known by the receiver only. Subject to an average transmit power constraint, we study the capacity of an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with Rayleigh fading. Under an independently identically distributed fading assumption, lower and upper bounds of the channel capacity are given and proved and they are compared to the capacity results numerically computed. Besides, an approximation result of such channel capacity is proposed, and by conducting numerical comparison it is shown that our suggested approximation result has a better performance in approximating Rayleigh fading channels capacity than the bounds given above. In addition, the channel capacity with outage probability is discussed and compared with different outage probabilities.


Although phylogenetically unrelated, human hepatitis viruses share an exclusive or near exclusive tropism for replication in differentiated hepatocytes. This narrow tissue tropism may contribute to the restriction of the host ranges of these viruses to relatively few host species, mostly nonhuman primates. Nonhuman primate models thus figure prominently in our current understanding of the replication and pathogenesis of these viruses, including the enterically transmitted hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV), and have also played major roles in vaccine development. This review draws comparisons of HAV and HEV infection from studies conducted in nonhuman primates, and describes how such studies have contributed to our current understanding of the biology of these viruses.


The possibility of accounting for time-dependent coefficients in a non-linear rate equation, including a source term, is studied in circular cylindrical geometry. It is shown that the equation can be transformed to a form which allows for a simple particular solution, provided a certain combination of the time-dependent coefficients is a constant, or nearly a constant. The relevance of the solutions for describing the evolution of a plasma in the ionization phase is considered.


Background The local bone loss around the inflamed joints is found from the early stage of rheumatoid arthritis. We previously reported that cell-surface expression of alpha-enolase (ENO1), multifunctional glycolytic protein, is increased in monocytes and macrophages isolated from RA patients and related to production of proinflammatory cytokines (1). Objectives This study was performed to examine the role of surface ENO1 on osteoclastogenesis in rheumatoid arthritis. Methods Monocytes isolated from RA patients and healthy control were used to examine the surface level of ENO1 by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. U937, human monocytic cell line, was treated with ENO1-targeting siRNA (siENO1) to down-regulate ENO1 expression, then osteoclast differentiation were induced by RANKL and the level of ENO1 and NFATc1 was measured. Also, monocytes from RA patients were differentiated into macrophages and transfected with siENO1 to assess the effect on osteoclast differentiation. Results We found the surface expression level of ENO1 was higher in monocytes isolated from RA patients than healthy control and gradually decreased during osteoclastogenesis in both cells, while the total level of ENO1 remained unchanged. ENO1-specific siRNA significantly decreased the surface ENO1 level in U937, but did not affect the viability and proliferation of the cells. When osteoclast formation was induced by RANKL, osteoclast-specific transcription factor, nuclear factor of activated T-cells, cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1) expression was markedly inhibited in ENO1 down-regulated cells compared to control cells. We also examined the effect of down regulation of ENO1 in osteoclast precursor cells isolated from RA patients (N=10). The surface ENO1 level was significantly decreased and RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation was markedly inhibited in ENO1 down-regulated cells compared to control cells. Conclusions These results suggest that increased expression level of ENO1 on the surface of monocytes/macrophages have positive effect on osteoclast formation in RA. References S. Bae, H. Kim, N. Lee, C. Won, H-R. Kim, Y. Hwang, Y W. Song, J S. Kang, and W J. Lee. A-Enolase expressed on the surfaces of monocytes and macrophages induces robust synovial inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. The Journal of Immunology. (2012) 189: 365–372. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Various aspects of the neutrino mass problem are discussed in the light of existing model predictions and extensive experimental data. Generation mechanisms are considered and possible gauge-theory neutrino mass hierarchies, in particular the most popular 'flipped see-saw' models, are discussed. Based on the currently available astrophysical data on the integral density of matter in the Universe and on the spectral anisotropy of the relic cosmic radiation, the cosmological implications of a non-zero neutrino mass are described in detail. Results from various mass-measuring methods are presented. Considerable attention is given to heavy neutrino oscillations. Oscillation mechanisms both in vacuum and in matter are considered in detail. Experiments on oscillations at low and high energies and new generation large-flight-base facilities are described. The present state of research into oscillations of solar and atmospheric neutrinos is reviewed.


Background; Adoptive immunotherapy with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) gene transduced CD19-CAR T cells, which are engineered to express extracellular single-chain immunoglobulin variable fragments to CD19, linked to cytoplasmic T cell activation domains including CD3-ζ, showed remarkable therapeutic benefits toward CD19+ B cell malignancies including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). For clinical setting, the phenotype of manufactured CAR T cells is an important factor; especially less differentiated T cells are anticipated to provide a long-lasting immune reconstitution. Furthermore, in order to avoid the risk of technical error and contamination during T cell manufacturing process, a closed system needs to be established. In this study, we addressed these issues and have established a novel CD19-CAR T cell manufacturing method from a small amount of blood in a closed system for clinical trial to treat patients with B-NHL.

Methods; Peripheral blood was obtained from B-NHL patient volunteers and healthy donor volunteers who gave their written informed consents. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from 30 ml of blood using Ficoll-Paque PREMIUM density gradient centrifugation. PBMCs were stimulated in a plastic bag pre-coated with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (OKT3) and recombinant fibronectin fragment (RetroNectin®; RN). Following four days of stimulation, stimulated T cells were transferred into a 215 cm2 plastic bag pre-loaded with SFG-1928z retroviral vector (Brentjens et al. , Clin Cancer Res. 2007) onto RN-coated substratum with low-temperature shaking (RBV-LTS method; Dodo et al. , PLoS ONE, 2014). After one hour incubation, the bag was flipped over to facilitate more efficient utilization of the retroviral vector adsorbed on both top and bottom surfaces of the bag and further incubated. On Day 5, the transduction procedure was repeated, and the cells were transferred into 640 cm2 plastic bags until Day 10-14 for expansion. Closed system liquid handling was managed in all processes of manipulating T cells for stimulation, transduction, expansion and final product formulation.

Results; We have previously reported that the fold expansion of T cells under stimulation with RN together with OKT3 enhanced cell proliferation while preserving the naive phenotype of T cells in comparison to stimulation with OKT3 alone or OKT3 and anti-CD28 monoclonal antibody co-stimulation. Although B-NHL patients' T cells showed much lower fold expansion compared to healthy donors' T cells, 4/7 patients' CAR T cells reached their target dose of 1 x 106 cells/kg from 30 ml of blood on Day 10. For the other 3 patients, 70-150 ml blood was estimated to be required to reach their target dose. The delay in proliferations was marked in B-NHL patients' T cells compared to healthy donors' T cells by Day 5, but B-NHL patients' T cells represented significant catch-up growth, which was superior to healthy donor T cells during Day 7-14. Gene transfer efficiency of patients' T cells (N = 7, 17.9 ± 4.7%) was equivalent to that of healthy donors' T cells (N = 5, 22.2 ± 5.3%), and CAR T cells showed potent anti-tumor reactivity with cytokine productions against CD19 positive Raji cells in vitro . Comparing to CD3/CD28 beads stimulation method, RN/OKT3 stimulation method showed equivalent expansion. Furthermore, RN/OKT3 stimulated T cells preserved higher proportion of CD8+/CCR7+/CD45RA+/CD62L+ naive phenotype T cells (43.6% in healthy donor and 30.9% in patient donor) compared to CD3/CD28 beads stimulated T cells (22.8% in healthy donor and 11.7% in patient donor).

Conclusions; With our novel closed system manufacturing method utilizing RN/OKT3 stimulation combined with RBV-LTS transduction from a small amount of blood of B-NHL patients, we are able to manufacture a sufficient number of CAR T cells maintaining higher proportion of naive phenotype, which is expected to improve the efficacy of adoptive immunotherapy. In our cell manufacturing, patients are not required to undergo leukapheresis, which is more invasive to patients. Based on our results, we employed our novel manufacturing method for the phase I/II clinical trial to treat patients with relapsed/refractory CD19+ B-NHL (clinicaltrials.gov, identifier; [NCT02134262][1]).

Disclosures Chono: Takara Bio Inc.: Employment. Tahara: Takara Bio Inc.: Employment. Nukaya: Takara Bio Inc.: Employment. Mineno: Takara Bio Inc.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Tsukahara: Takara Bio Inc.: Research Funding. Ohmine: Takara Bio Inc.: Research Funding. Ozawa: Takara Bio Inc.: Research Funding. Takesako: Takara Bio Inc.: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

 [1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT02134262&atom=%2Fbloodjournal%2F124%2F21%2F2446.atom


Objective: To assess the interand intra-observer reliability of a qualitative scale of the limb alignment during the single-leg squat (SLS) test. Design: Repeated measures. Setting: University Human Performance laboratory. Participants: Four subjects (Two female, two male). Main outcome measures: Qualitative score from the video assessment of the SLS test by four independent assessors on two separate occasions. Results: The percent agreement (PA) for the four observers across all scoring criteria for all subjects was excellent (ranged 83-100%). All observers were in 100% agreement in 5 out of 10 of all of the scoring criteria of all subjects. The kappa measure of agreement ranged from k=0.63 to 1.0 which is good/substantial to almost perfect/excellent. The intra-observers PA ranged 95%-100%, with kappa values of k=0.89-1.0. Conclusion: The study showed very good to excellent interand intra-observer reliability for all examiners when comparing their individual scores of the SLS test across two analysis sessions using the assessment tool. The findings indicate that this qualitative evaluation method may allow clinicians and researchers to standardise the categorization of functional movements of single-leg loading such as the SLS regardless of the equipment, time and venue.


The article presented the prerequisites and main principles of strategic management of sustainable development of agri-food sphere of the region. It is noted, that the agri-food sphere has a special nature, different from other economic sectors, because driving requires production activities in harmony with nature. It is shown, that sustainability management of agri-food areas of the region – is to ensure the sustainability of all its subsystems and components – economic, environmental and social. The characterized by the signs of sustainability of the regional agri-food sphere. Scientifically, three comprehensive strategy of sustainable development of agricultural sphere of the region are presented. The proposed strategy of sustainable development of agri-food areas of the region will be able to regulate the processes of transition to sustainable development and ensure its competitiveness.


The modern power grid is strongly integrated with its communication network. While a power system primarily consists of elements that are modeled by continuous equations, a communication system has discrete event dynamics. We model the integrated operation of these two systems with a hybrid modeling and simulation technique. Systematically combining continuous and discrete event system models is necessary for correctly simulating critical system behaviors. This paper discusses an approach based on the discrete event system specification (DEVS) that characterizes the interaction of the two systems formally to preserve simulation correctness. We demonstrate the implementation of our integrated hybrid simulation technique with detailed generator and network models in a wide-area cooperative automatic load-control scenario.


The human/sheep xenograft model has been imagined and used by many researchers in order to asses the hematopoietic activity of stem cells. The aim of this paper was to prove engraftment of human umbilical cord blood derived hematopoietic stem cells in sheep bone marrow following in utero transplantation. Human umbilical cord blood was collected immediately after delivery and processed in order to isolate the CD34+ cells that were transplanted by intraperitoneal injection into 60 days old fetal sheep. The pregnancies were monitored to term and bone marrow was collected from new-born lambs by iliac crest aspiration. Cells were stained with anti-human CD 45/CD 34 antibodies and chimerism was established using a BD FACS Canto II flow cytometer that showed a 3% engraftment of human hematopoietic stem cells within the sheep bone marrow.


The GEEB Team of the University of Reunion directed this research towards the optimization of the anaerobic digestion of solid and liquid waste by injection of leachate. The objectives are to assess the performances of this type of process (to accelerate the process of biological breakdown) and to require a better control of the physicochemical mechanisms involved. During anaerobic digestion, the reactional medium desiccates and induces a deceleration of the process. The injection of leachate methanogene makes it possible to humidify the medium and to maintain the medium reactional under ideal physicochemical and biochemical conditions and to bring an additional organic load. In this paper, the optimization of the process of Co-digestion is presented through an experimental and a theoretical study. The experimentation is carried out on 10L laboratory bioreactors and is based on obtaining leachate methanogene by using liquid waste (STEP mud, liquid pigmanure,residuary liquor) and solids. Several parameters are studied: the total volume of the mixture (5 or 10 L), the volume and the state of each waste in the mixture (always a solid waste and a liquid waste). A sample of leachate is taken every 8 days and a liquid addition of waste of the same quantity is carried out in the bioreactor. The experimentation is stopped when it is no longer possible to distinguish waste and leachate. Then, the leachate is characterized from a physicochem ical point of view by spectrometric techniques: Ntotal, AGV, NO2-, NH4+, TOC, PO43-, K+,COD, BOD, DM, VM but also pH. Lastly, they will be reinjected in a Co-digestion. The experimental data obtained will be used as inputs parameters of the numerical mathematical model (biphasic: Acidogenesis and Methanogenesis). Simulations obtained make it possible to follow the behavior of the medium through the organic load (COD, TOC) and the biogas produced with or without addition of leachate


Biliary tract interventions remain a tremendous technical challenge to the interventionalist and require appropriate clinical postprocedural management. The increased use of endoscopy for biliary tract evaluation and intervention has served to largely replace percutaneous techniques, resulting in a decreased number of patients requiring primary percutaneous transhepatic biliary interventions. However, those patients who do present for percutaneous biliary procedures often represent a more technically difficult subset. Thorough familiarity with normal and variant biliary tract anatomy, and experience with a variety of techniques, will allow for successful biliary tract interventions in complex situations. This article reviews the current role of percutaneous transhepatic interventions in the emergency evaluation and management of biliary tract disease.


Financial literacy, a cornerstone of family economic well-being, is surprisingly low in the United States. The literature has established that financial literacy is lower among women than among men. As sound financial decision-making among both male and female household heads is of paramount importance to well-being, we look to identify the underlying causes that may initiate and perpetuate this differential. We found that a gender-based gap in understanding develops by early college age, before individuals have had the opportunity to develop financial skills through experience or specialization in household roles. The literature indicates that women tend to underestimate their abilities relative to men, particularly in areas of math and financial decision-making. Math ability, financial confidence, and financial and math education have been found to enhance financial literacy, and so we focus on math self-efficacy as an early indicator of financial assurance and literacy. Using an ordered probit model and data from a sample of 529 college students across three institutions in the southeastern United States, we extend the current literature to find that for men, objective math ability drives financial literacy. For women, on the other hand, self-efficacy—and not objective ability—is predictive of financial literacy. Understanding the underlying causes of the gender-based financial literacy gap can inform the creation of better education, family, and cultural intervention methods by which to close this gap in financial literacy, decisions, and outcomes.


The newly prepared and fully characterized stibenium and bismuthenium ions [Rind MesE]+ (E=Sb, Bi; Rind =dispiro[fluorene-9,3'-(1',1',7',7'-tetramethyl-s-hydrindacen-4'-yl)-5',9''-fluorene) were rigorously compared to the previously communicated phosphenium and arsenium ions (E=P, As) as well as the bis(m-terphenyl) pnictogenium ions [(2,6-Mes2 C6 H3 )2 E]+ (E=Sb, Bi). It is demonstrated that the choice of the aryl substituents dramatically effects the molecular structures (e. g. the primary E-C bond lengths) and the electronic structures (e. g. the energy of the LUMOs).


In order to solve the prediction problem of multiple variables, gene expression programming was used in comparison with genetic programming and linear regression in terms of accuracy and stability. Gene expression programming was chosen for its high performance and easy genetic manipulation comparing with genetic programming. Results show that the model discovered by gene expression programming is much more accurate and stable than the one discovered by genetic programming and linear regression.


Four- and five-dimensional extremal black holes with nonzero entropy have simple presentations in M-theory as gravitational waves bound to configurations of intersecting M-branes. We discuss realizations of these objects in matrix models of M-theory, investigate the properties of 0-brane probes, and propose a measure of their internal density. A scenario for black-hole dynamics is presented.


The background of this research is the importance of forming good character in early childhood with the stimulation given to traditional mushroom play activities. The method used in this study is a qualitative research method. The purpose of this study is to describe how the traditional game of mold can shape the character of early childhood. Based on the results of traditional game research, molds can form characters in early childhood, including honest characters formed by the habit of children not lying when guessed by their friends, disciplined characters are formed by habituating children to follow the rules in the game, respecting friends formed by habituating children do not choose -choose friends to be there next to him and listen to the instructions of friends in front, a confident character is formed by habituation of children giving instructions in the middle of their own, creatively formed by habituation of children mentioning names of objects or animals to imitate other friends, self-confidence and brave characters formed by habituation children advance in front of the crowd alone.


Leishmaniasis is among the neglected diseases that represent 90% of the world burden of morbidity. According to the WHO, there are 12 million people, mostly deeply impoverished who suffer from visceral leishmaniasis (VL). The drugs currently used for the treatment of human cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis are toxic, have severe adverse reac- tions which limit their use, and have presented teratogenic and cardiotoxic effects and increasing resistance. Given this scenario, the search for new, accessible and effective drugs for the treatment of leishmaniasis is a priority. This review aims to provide an overview of selected phenolic compounds with antileishmanial activities that have been published from 2007 to the present. Natural source or efficient synthesis, biological assays and possible mechanisms of actions are also described. Five flavonoids, six chalcones and three polyphenols have shown a selective index (SI) equal or greater than 20 which places them with greater antileishmanial activity. Quercitrin (3), hispidulin (6), octa-acetylhyperoside (11a), biochanin A (13) and ageconyflavone C (14) showed a SI range between 19.5 and 100. Chalcones 31, 33, 41, 42 65 and 67 were the highest antileishmanial compounds. Polyphenols 74 and 85 showed an important selective index when tested on promastigotes (71.4) and amastigotes (36.5) of L major and axenic amastigotes of L. mexicana (20). Compound 83 has demonstrated a potent in vitro (19.7) and in vivo effect on Balb/c mice experimentally infected with L. amazonensis. A wide range of biological assays with several strains and different parasite forms, have identified promising compounds, but few of them are conducted to clinical trials. This restriction emphasizes the necessity to reach a consensus regarding in vitro and in vivo screening protocol to advance leading compounds to clinical trials.


While numerous studies have examined how emotions mediate different aspects of citizens' political attitudes, information-seeking and knowledge, few have focused on how campaigns might motivate or depress political behavior such as voter turnout. We use measures of positive and negative emotions from the American National Election Studies (ANES) for presidential elections between 1980 and 2012 to examine whether emotional affect toward presidential candidates increases over time, whether Republican identifiers report stronger emotional affect than Democratic identifiers, and whether emotional affect is associated with self-reported voter turnout. Our evidence indicates that emotional affect is associated with higher turnout but fails to support our expectations regarding changes over time in affective reactions to candidates and partisan differences in affective reactions.


The article abstractly describes some points of methods on further improving of the spectrum efficiency. At first, the author introduces the current challenges facing spectrum management, spectrum circumstance and the traditional regulatory framework of doing this in China. Then the importance of raising the spectrum efficiency and some technical methods are analyzed in the article. The strategy of the spectrum management and the spectrum-sharing technology are also briefly discussed. The need of the different field on the frequency spectrum policy reforming and the trends of development are discussed in the end.


Although this machine is considered by its qualities of robustness and low cost of construction, it happens nevertheless that this one presents an electric or mechanical breakdown. Among these breakdowns, we quote turn-to turn t short circuit, stator phase breakdown, rotor bars breakdown… etc. In our article, we are interested in the study by simulation of the operation of an asynchronous machine presenting an electric breakdown which is the broke stator phase by modeling the machine in the two-phase reference mark. Another point is discussed in this article, it relates to the influence of this fault on the vector control. The results obtained are presented at the end of the article.


The common factor model assumes a linear relation between the observed variables and a set of underlying latent traits. It also assumes that the linear coefficients, intercepts and slopes (factor loadings), linking the observed variables to the latent traits are fixed coefficients (i.e., common for all subjects). When the observed variables are subjects' direct responses to stimuli, such as their responses to the items of a questionnaire, the assumption of common linear coefficients may be too restrictive. This may occur, for instance if respondents to questionnaire items consistently use the response scale idiosyncratically. To account for this phenomenon we partially relax the fixed coefficients assumption by letting the intercepts in the factor model change across subjects while keeping the factor loadings fixed. We show that, under suitable assumptions on this random component of the intercept, the covariance structure implied by a model with p factors and random intercepts is equivalent to the covariance structure model implied by a model with p + 1 factors model where one of the factors have common loadings.


AIntroduction: Doege-Potter's syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome, consisting in hypoglycemia and solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura. These tumors represent < 5% of all pleural tumours and can only be cured by surgery. In this article, we report a case of a patient presenting with severe hypoglycemia, as the only symptom, and a mass occupying the entire left hemithorax. Case presentation: A54 year old female with severe hypoglycemia, a chest radiography with almost total opacification of the left hemithorax and a computed tomography scan with a mass in the left hemithorax. Surgery was performed and a mass with 30cm × 18cm × 11cm weighing 3195g was resected. The postoperative course was uneventful with immediate resolution of the hypoglycemia. The immunohistochemistry diagnosis was solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura. Conclusions: Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura are very rare. Less than 5% are associated with hypoglycemia, taking the form of Doege-Potter Syndrome. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy have shown low response rate and complete surgical resection is the only procedure that offers cure. This case reports describes a rare giant solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura with severe hypoglycemia, successfully treated by surgery. Long-term follow-up of the patient after the surgery is necessary for detection of any possible recurrence.


A method for singular value feature extraction of a face image is presented, and its model is established, which includes singular value decomposition (SVD), singular value dimension compression (SVDC), singular value vector standardization (SVVS), and singular value vector arrangement (SVVA). SVDC solves the problems that the information of a singular value feature is redundant and calculation data is huge; SVVS solves the problem that a singular value feature has proportion invariance; SVVA solves the problems that face images with the same class possess the same structure features and face images with different classes possess different structure features. Experimental results on the ORL face database demonstrate that singular value features take on separability, stability and independence, and are valid in feature extraction of face images.


Abstract:We present one of the first detailed studies on hesitation marking in a sign language. Based on the analysis of a set of monologues and dialogues from the Corpus NGT (Crasborn and Zwitserlood 2008; Crasborn, Zwitserlood, and Ros 2008), we describe the form and position of manual and nonmanual markers of hesitation in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). We show that palm-up, used as a hesitation marker, is akin to a "filled pause" in spoken language, both in its formal properties and its distribution. palm-up is regularly used to mark hesitation in dialogues, but far less commonly in monologues, which we suggest indicates that palm-up is used deliberately by signers to signal a delay in signing (cf. e.g., Maclay and Osgood 1959). Other manual markers of hesitation include sign holds and breaks in signing; their form and patterning in the data suggest they are closer to "unfilled pauses" in speech. As for nonmanuals, we show that all instances of hesitation in our data are marked by a change in the direction of eye gaze, suggesting that this is a clear pragmatic cue that signers use—intentionally or not—to signal a planning problem in signing. This fits well with previous observations that eye gaze plays an important role in turn-taking regulation in sign languages (e.g., Baker 1977).


This study presents a numerical simulation, using the flow simulation of solidworks 2010; the results showed the flow speed trajectory, the variation of the shear stress and the flow pressure on different faces of the micro-asperities in relation with the face length. The simulation was done in steady state and with the no- slips condition in contact with the upper surface. The flow characteristics were found also with different flow speed. The turbulence area due to the micro-asperity geometry is localized. The flow characteristics (variation of shear stress and flow pressure) are analyzed for the prediction of the maximum wear area due to the skin friction or drag.


SEIPIN, an ER membrane protein, plays critical roles in lipid droplet (LD) formation and lipid storage. Dysfunction of SEIPIN causes a variety of human diseases, including lipodystrophy, neuropathies, and male and female infertility. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of SEIPIN in causing these diseases are poorly understood. To address such mechanisms, we investigated the functional roles of R01B10.6 (seip-1), the sole SEIPIN1 ortholog in C. elegans, using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and transcriptional assays. SEIP-1::mScarlet is widely expressed throughout development in C. elegans. Three full gene deletion mutants, generated by CRISPR/Cas9, displayed penetrant embryonic lethality. EM imaging and the visualization of reporter genes revealed that the lipid-rich permeability barrier, the innermost layer of the C. elegans embryonic eggshell, was defective or missing. Intriguingly, depletion of SEIP-1 revealed a perturbed gene expression pattern for fatty acid biosynthesis enzymes, in agreement with the disrupted permeability barrier formation phenotype of the embryos. Lastly, dietary supplementation of PUFAs rescued the embryonic lethality and defective permeability barrier in the deletion mutants. In sum, our study suggests that SEIP-1 may maternally regulate LD biogenesis and maintain lipid homeostasis to orchestrate the formation of the lipid-rich permeability barrier, which is crucial for eggshell formation and embryogenesis.


BACKGROUND
The composition of the causal antidotal therapy of subjects, poisoned with organophosphorus insecticides, has not been satisfactorily solved till now in spite of the knowledge of the basic mechanism of action of these toxic substances. The purpose of this study is to evaluate which of currently used or perspective acetylcholinesterase reactivators seems to be the most efficacious to protect poisoned subjects.

METHODS AND RESULTS
In experiments on white laboratory rats, the reactivating efficacy of selected acetylcholinesterase reactivators (oximes), administered at equimolar doses, was evaluated in target tissue of toxic effects of organophosphorus insecticides (diaphragm, brain) and compared with their therapeutic efficacy in the case of prophylactic administration with the help of the evaluation of mean efficacy dose of oximes, possible to protect rats exposed to supralethal dose of organophosphorus insecticide fosdrin for 24 hours. Our findings confirm that there are not statistically significant differences in reactivating and therapeutic efficacy of oximes tested against fosdrin in rats.

CONCLUSIONS
The perspective acetylcholinesterase reactivators (H oximes) seem to be as suitable as currently used oximes for the therapy of acute poisonings with organophosphorus insecticides although they are not significantly more efficacious than currently used oximes as in the case of the treatment of poisoning with highly toxic organophosphorus compounds.


We propose that retinal-based phototrophy arose early in the evolution of life on Earth, profoundly impacting the development of photosynthesis and creating implications for the search for life beyond our planet. While the early evolutionary history of phototrophy is largely in the realm of the unknown, the onset of oxygenic photosynthesis in primitive cyanobacteria significantly altered the Earth's atmosphere by contributing to the rise of oxygen ~2.3 billion years ago. However, photosynthetic chlorophyll and bacterio chlorophyll pigments lack appreciable absorption at wavelengths about 500–600 nm, an energy-rich region of the solar spectrum. By contrast, simpler retinal-based light-harvesting systems such as the haloarchaeal purple membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin show a strong well-defined peak of absorbance centred at 568 nm, which is complementary to that of chlorophyll pigments. We propose a scenario where simple retinal-based light-harvesting systems like that of the purple chromoprotein bacteriorhodopsin, originally discovered in halophilic Archaea, may have dominated prior to the development of photosynthesis. We explore this hypothesis, termed the 'Purple Earth,' and discuss how retinal photopigments may serve as remote biosignatures for exoplanet research.


In the ideal city of the Republic, Plato forbids property ownership for the guardians while he retains private property for the lowest class, including the farmers who will provide the guardians' food. For Plato, agricultural land and practices are the realm of lifelong farmers who are politically dedicated to the upkeep of the ruling class. In his novel Utopia, Thomas More also takes a communalist approach but he extends the ban on private property to the entire community, including those engaged in farming. Furthermore, he includes the practice of agriculture within the regular rotation of living arrangements so that virtually all Utopians have some experience with the land and food production. Thus, although both Plato and More present communalist theories of property, their ideal states show critically different approaches to the role of agriculture and the connection of citizens to the land that supports them.


Rhizoctonia-diseased specimens were collected from various host species growing in or near maize fields in different geographic regions of the Philippines. A greater range of host species, with varying types of disease symptoms, was found in Mindanao than in Luzon. Fifty-two isolates belonged to anastomosis group AG1-IA and caused banded leaf and sheath blight in maize (Zea mays), but they showed considerable variation in virulence. The most and least virulent isolates recovered from maize were both collected from Mindanao. Isolates from necrotic spots/foliar blight of durian and coffee, which were collected from the same region, showed the lowest lesion heights. UPGMA-SAHN clustering analysis from RAPD fingerprint data of 30 haplotypes of R. solani AG1-IA isolates from the Philippines and Japan resolved seven groups of AG1-IA at the 75% similarity level. Variation among isolates from upland crops seemed to be partially correlated with geographical origin and virulence. In the case of paddy rice isolates from Japan and the Philippines, some were closely related, with over 75% similarity, suggesting a common origin. In PCR-RFLP analysis of the rDNA internal transcribed spacer region, no polymorphism was observed among the AG1-IA isolates but they were differentiated from subgroups AG1-IB and AG1-IC using the endonucleases EcoRI, MboI and HinfI.


Antimicrobial resistance of pathogenic microorganisms is an emerging public health concern. Intensive use of antibiotics in food animals might increase antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens. Colistin is a last resort antibiotic for treatment of multidrug resistant (MDR) Gram negative pathogens. The recent antimicrobial resistance studies revealed a mobile antimicrobial resistance gene (mcr) that provides resistance to colistin. Furthermore, the gene has been found in different genera. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine colistin resistance of Escherichia coli isolates (N=48) isolated in between 2011 and 2015 from food samples in Turkey. In addition, 5 mcr genes and their variants were screened by performing PCR on resistant isolates. 4 E. coli isolates were found resistant to colistin above the epidemiological cut-off value (Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) > 2mg/L). None of the resistant isolates had the mcr genes. Further studies with human and food isolates should be conducted to figure out which gene or genes are responsible for colistin resistance.


Understanding the HSCT scenario in Brazil is challenging due to the lack of a national registry that allows the analysis of results. The partnership between the Brazilian Cellular Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplant Society (SBTMO) and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Research (CIBMTR) allowed the return of Brazilian data registered in the CIBMTR, through the Data Back to Center (DBtC), in a standardized and organized way. With this database it was possible to know the demographic data and the outcomes of transplants performed in Brazil. The spreadsheet was imported into the Power BI desktop, and functions and charts were created. Between 2008 and 2019, 7,264 transplants were reported to the CIBMTR from 24 Brazilian transplant centers. The partnership between SBTMO and CIBMTR, made the Brazilian registry possible and allowed the development of the first Brazilian Summary slides. Despite the difference in the number of cases and of follow-up time, the results in this study were similar to those presented in the US Summary Slides.


Conflicts have been part of the existence of man and human society since its inception and we have encountered them throughout human history. Factors that influence the emergence of conflicts are different, but in countries with a diverse ethnic structure, the risk of armed conflict is significantly higher. The bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia, which erupted in the early 1990s, is a complex problem that we are trying to analyze as comprehensively as possible in this article. The aim of the article is to describe the individual factors of ethnic tension and to point out their influence on the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.


The authors report 7 cases of neo-natal adrenal hematoma diagnosed by ultrasound. A traumatic delivery was found in 4 cases. In 4 cases a flank mass was palpated. In 3 cases the adrenal hematoma was asymptomatic, discovered by echotomography. I.V.P. showed a typical appearance in only 1 case out of 5. The first ultrasonic examination was performed between day 5 and day 12. It showed a fluid filled mass in 5 cases and a predominantly fluid mass in 2 cases. Both sides were involved twice. The ultrasonic follow-up 8 days later always showed a decrease in size, in 1 cases calcifications appeared. The authors compare their results with those of the literature and discuss the differential diagnosis with neo-natal neuroblastoma.


Application of plate-tectonic concepts to sedimentary basin development has been important in petroleum geology. Physical aspects have been stressed, but a complete classification must include the amount, type, and distribution of organic matter because this is the material that generates petroleum. Organic matter can be classified into two broad categories: (1) land-derived ("terrestrial") organic matter that may include major amounts of lignin and surface coatings which give gas or waxy crudes respectively, and (2) aquatic organic matter which commonly is dominantly of algal origin and generates normal crudes. The relative amounts of these two types of organic matter, and hence the relative amounts of oil and gas, depend on the depositional environment and this can be r lated to plate-tectonic setting. Rifts that form in the early stages of continental breakup receive high percentages of terrestrially derived organic matter initially, but aquatic organic matter becomes quantitatively more significant as the rift widens and marine conditions develop. Thus pull-apart continental margins develop a vertical profile from terrestrial organic matter deep to aquatic organic matter shallow. The deeper continentally derived sedimentary sections of these margins produce waxy crudes, gas, and some condensate reflecting the character of the organic matter. Pull-apart margins and rifts with waxy crudes were within 20° of the equator at the time of rifting. They include the Sirte, Cambay, Reconcavo, Gabon, and Cuanza basins. When rifting occurred farther from the equator, gas-dominated provin es were developed, such as northwest Australia, offshore Newfoundland, Baltimore Canyon, and the central Viking graben. Rivers transport continental sediments and organic matter to continental margins, and the association of transported terrestrial organic matter with clastic sediments makes deltas one of the most gas-prone depositional environments. Organic materials are not distributed uniformly in deltas because terrestrial organic matter has its highest concentration nearshore whereas aquatic material is also produced in large amounts offshore. This separation and distribution lead to gas fields near paleoshorelines and oil farther out. As the delta progrades, terrestrial organic matter is deposited over the previously deposited aquatic organic matter. This profile of organic matter type is exactly the opposite of that developed on passive continental margins and leads to the opposite trend for the distribution of oil and gas with depth. Although organic-matter type exercises initial control over the nature of the hydrocarbons generated, the composition may be changed later by maturation and migration. Maturation is the thermally induced trend from oil to gas and the depth for this conversion will depend on geothermal gradient. Migration distance is also controlled by plate-tectonic setting with distances in excess of 100 km being well documented for structurally simple interior basins. In contrast, migration distances are much shorter when migration pathways are interrupted, for example, by block faulting in rifts and growth faults in deltas. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1356------------


In this paper, we described the new TLE(Two Line Elements) generation method based on the compansation technique by using past TLEs(Two Line Elements) released by JSpOC(Joint Space Operation Center) in USA to reduce the orbit prediction error for long duration of SGP4(Simplified General Perturbations 4) which is a simplifed and analytical orbit propagator. The orbital residuals the orbital difference between two ephemeris for the first TLE only and for the all TLEs updated by JSpOC for the past some period was applied for this algorithm instead of general orbit determination software. Actually, in these orbital residuals, the trend of orbit prediction error from SGP4 is included. Thus, it is possible to make a simple residual function from these orbital residulas by using the fitting process. By using these residual functions with SGP4 prediction data for the currnet TLE data, the compansated orbit prediction can be reconstructed and the orbit prediction error for long duration of SGP4 is also reduced. And it is possible to generate new TLE data from it. In this paper, we demonstraed this algorithm in simple simulation, and the orbital error is decreased dramatically from 4km for the SGP4 propagation to 2km for it during 7 days as a result.


A highly chemoselective perfluoroalkylation reaction of aromatic halides is reported. Thermally stable perfluoroalkylzinc reagents, generated by a rapid halogen-zinc exchange reaction between diorganozinc and perfluoroalkyl halide species, couple with a wide range of aryl halides in the presence of a copper catalyst, in moderate to high yields. Good stability of the perfluoroalkylzinc species was indicated by DFT calculation and the reagents were storable for at least three months under argon without loss of activity. This method is applicable to gram-scale synthesis, and its functional group tolerance compares favorably with reported protocols.


One of the more interesting ideas for achieving personalized, preventive, and participatory medicine is the concept of a digital twin. A digital twin is a personalized computer model of a patient. So far, digital twins have been constructed using either mechanistic models, which can simulate the trajectory of physiological and biochemical processes in a person, or using machine learning models, which for example can be used to estimate the risk of having a stroke given a cross-section profile at a given timepoint. These two modelling approaches have complementary strengths which can be combined into a hybrid model. However, even though hybrid modelling combining mechanistic modelling and machine learning have been proposed, there are few, if any, real examples of hybrid digital twins available. We now present such a hybrid model for the simulation of ischemic stroke. On the mechanistic side, we develop a new model for blood pressure and integrate this with an existing multi-level and multi-timescale model for the development of type 2 diabetes. This mechanistic model can simulate the evolution of known physiological risk factors (such as weight, diabetes development, and blood pressure) through time, under different intervention scenarios, involving a change in diet, exercise, and certain medications. These forecast trajectories of the physiological risk factors are then used by a machine learning model to calculate the 5-year risk of stroke, which thus also can be calculated for each timepoint in the simulated scenarios. We discuss and illustrate practical issues with clinical implementation, such as data gathering and harmonization. By improving patients' understanding of their body and health, the digital twin can serve as a valuable tool for patient education and as a conversation aid during the clinical encounter. As such, it can facilitate shared decision-making, promote behavior change towards a healthy lifestyle, and improve adherence to prescribed medications.


A long-term surface-based measurement program has been established at an oceanic site to validate new products being derived globally as part of NASA's Earth Observing System for global change studies. This unique site, located at the Chesapeake Lighthouse in the Atlantic Ocean is completely surrounded by water offering a uniform background with well-known physical properties ideal for validating space-based retrievals of climatologically important parameters such as radiative fluxes and aerosol properties. A description of the site and synergy among current and future measurement programs established at the Chesapeake Lighthouse along with radiation and aerosol data from the first three years of measurements are presented.


Objective To assess the acquisition of basic laparoscopic skills of Medical students trained on a surgical simulator. Methods First- and second-year Medical students participated on a laparoscopic training program on simulators. None of the students had previous classes of surgical technique, exposure to surgical practice nor training prior to the enrollment in to the study. Students´ time were collected before and after the 150-minute training. Skill acquisition was measured comparing time and scores of students and senior instructors of laparoscopic surgery Results Sixty-eight students participated of the study, with a mean age of 20.4 years, with a predominance of first-year students (62%). All students improved performance in score and time, after training (p<0,001). Score improvement in the exercises ranged from 294.1 to 823%. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified that second-year Medical students have achieved higher performance after training. Conclusions Medical students who had never been exposed to surgical techniques can acquire basic laparoscopic skills after training in simulators. Second-year undergraduates had better performance than first-year students.


OBJECTIVES
We determined diet quality trends among nationally representative samples of preschoolers between 1977 and 1998.

METHODS
Adjusted diet quality index scores, overall intake, and tertiles of total score were compared for combined samples and 2 age groups using t tests with Bonferroni correction; surveys used were the US Department of Agriculture's National Food Consumption Survey 1977-1979 (n = 2342), Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII) 1989-1991 (n = 858), and CSFII 1994-1996 and 1998 (n = 5355).

RESULTS
Total scores increased slightly. Consumption of grains, fruits, and vegetables improved while added sugar and juice intake worsened.

CONCLUSIONS
Diet quality improved marginally since 1977. Consumption of fruits and vegetables needs to be increased and that of total and saturated fat, juice, and added sugar decreased.


We report the case of a primary serous ovarian borderline tumour developed in an inguinal lymph node. No primary ovarian borderline tumour was observed within the ovaries after bilateral ovariectomy and complete pathological examination. We considered the diagnosis of ectopic ovarian tissue because the tumour was completely surrounded by normal ovarian tissue with positive FOXL2 staining. The whole ovarian tissue was itself entirely surrounded by lymphatic tissue. Two other hypotheses should be considered: primary retroperitoneal borderline tumour or retroperitoneal nodal involvement by an ovarian serous borderline tumour. Ectopic ovarian tissue can be observed in lymph node. We don't believe ectopic location of ovarian tissue increase the risk of neoplastic change.


The Miller Field lies in UKCS Blocks 16/7b and 16/8b adjacent to the South Brae Field, and its reservoir is a high net-to-gross system of fine- to medium-grained turbiditic sandstones, interbedded with thin mudstones, which was deposited as part of an extensive submarine fan complex of Late Jurassic age, along the margin of the South Viking Graben. Recent studies of sequence stratigraphy in the area have contributed to a better understanding of the elements of the submarine fans, and, coupled with detailed biostratigraphy, have enabled the reservoir units to be correlated across the field with a fair degree of confidence. Pressure data have been incorporated into these studies. While detailed geophysical interpretation continues, a geological reservoir description has been used to map rock properties and reservoir connectivity across the field, and to indicate areas of greatest uncertainty. These uncertainties will be reduced as further data become available during production.


Background and Objective: Given the importance and status of faculty members in universities, the advancement of the duties and missions of the higher education system and rapid development of the technologies and challenges faced by educational institutions require proper measures for the continuous development and overall improvement of these systems, especially the improvement of the capacities, scientific capabilities, and professional skills of faculty members through knowledge management. The present study aimed to assess the role of the elements of knowledge management in the improvement of the faculty members in distance education universities by designing an appropriate model. Materials and Methods: This applied, qualitative research was conducted on the faculty members of distance education research universities in Iran, including 5,101 faculty members. The participants were selected via stratified random sampling (n=357) and based on Morgan's table. Data were collected using a questionnaire. The validity of the research instrument was confirmed by experts, and its reliability was confirmed using the Cronbach's alpha, which was estimated at 0.89 for knowledge management and 0.91 for knowledge development items. Data analysis was performed in SPSS using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for data normalization. In addition, the path and fitting of the model were examined using structural equations in AMOS software. Results: In this research, knowledge management indicators (creation, sharing, storage, and application of knowledge) affected all the improvement indicators (individual, professional, and organizational), so that the overall effect of knowledge management on improvement was estimated at 69.3 in the model fitting index table. Conclusion: According to the results, knowledge management is a conscious strategy for creating, sharing, storing, and applying knowledge, thereby enhancing the performance of the faculty members in distance education universities and enabling them to become an efficient element of change in universities. D ow nl oa de d fr om z um s. ac .ir a t 2 1: 08 IR S T o n F rid ay N ov em be r 8t h 20 19 The Role of Knowledge Management Elements 90 Journal of Medical Education Development, Vol 12, No 33 Spring, 2019 Introduction Today, organizations are formed as the collectives of workers with different spirits, interests, ideas, knowledge, and physical conditions, without which organizations would never exist. Organizational development depends on areas such as creativity, innovation, and extension, which increase the influence of organizations on the community (1). Knowledge of employees is considered to be the most valuable asset of every organization, so that adequate knowledge and its management become largely contribute to survival in dynamic and innovative organizations. Furthermore, competitiveness in markets and business depends on acquiring, developing, and updating individual and organizational knowledge in an era when intellectual structure is replete with deepening information, and creative and knowledgeoriented workforce participation is preferred over functional human resources (2). Therefore, in order to use knowledge tools to properly face uncertainty factors, maintain knowledge management, and uphold creativity and innovation management, vigilant managers attempt to prioritize organizational knowledge as a strategic, essential matter of leadership in regards to competitiveness. On the other hand, the age of knowledge has brought about significant changes in the current organizational programs and systems. Knowledge management is a new term, which has gained growing importance in the theory and practice of management. This concept is used to describe the processes through which organizations generate and organize knowledge in order to achieve competitive advantage and make it available to all employees. In other words, knowledge management is the process of using the intellectual capital for superiority in competition with peer organizations (3). Davenport and Prosak (4) believe that knowledge management is the exploitation and development of the knowledge capital of an organization in order to achieve organizational goals. According to the literature, Newman and Conrad (5) classification, and Massa and Testa (6), the four general processes of knowledge management include knowledge creation, knowledge storage, knowledge transfer, and knowledge application. Newman and Conrad and Massa and Testa have presented a general pattern of knowledge, in D ow nl oa de d fr om z um s. ac .ir a t 2 1: 08 IR S T o n F rid ay N ov em be r 8t h 20 19 91 Sharifzadeh & Safari Journal of Medical Education Development, Vol 12, No 33 Spring, 2019 which knowledge is organized in four main aspects. Knowledge arises from the experience and skills of employees and is created by the individuals who identify new approaches to tasks and science development. Oftentimes, if there is no knowledge in organizations, outside knowledge will enter the organization (7), followed by all the organizational activities that lead to the survival and maintenance of the system. Knowledge storage activities encompass a variety of behaviors, such as the activities relating to the validity and updating of knowledge (8). The diffusion process is defined as the distribution of the knowledge of the activity and even beyond outside the organization. In other words, it involves the transfer of knowledge to any individuals who needs it through communication and organizational culture (9). General knowledge must be used in the products, services, and processes used in the organization. If an organization cannot easily determine the proper form of knowledge, it will face challenges in the competitive arena. Today, creativity is the road to success, and organizations must be able to apply the proper knowledge in the right sector. Application of knowledge encompasses the activities that use knowledge in business processes (10). Peter Drucker (11) believes that the secret to success in the 21 century is the proper implementation of knowledge management. As such, the implementation of knowledge management is considered essential in thirdmillennium organizations, and institutions must have proper planning for its implementation. Organizational success largely depends on the effective collection, storage, and retrieval of knowledge among the employees on various organizational levels (12). Sharing knowledge and creativity play a key role in the application of knowledge. Therefore, it could be stated that knowledge management has two components, including knowledge management and the ability to create new knowledge in line with the rapid changes of the environment. The second component of knowledge management is of most interest to organizations since it results in the facilitation and improvement of creativity and innovation, providing competitive advantage to organizations (13). Higher education systems should adopt longterm strategies for the sustainable improvement of faculty members, so that they could be integrated into the rapidly-changing higher education and result in the effective achieving of academic goals (14). The success of any organization depends on the quality of D ow nl oa de d fr om z um s. ac .ir a t 2 1: 08 IR S T o n F rid ay N ov em be r 8t h 20 19 The Role of Knowledge Management Elements 92 Journal of Medical Education Development, Vol 12, No 33 Spring, 2019 its human resources, which could only be obtained through the systematic implementation of proper training and staffing programs (15). Several studies have been focused on various aspects of productivity in faculty members and higher education institutions. Undoubtedly, the majority of studies on the individual and departmental levels have emphasized on measuring the research productivity of faculty members (16). For instance, Rajaeipour and Rahimi (17) have claimed that increasing the capacity of university managers on different levels and assessment of its elements are effective in the promotion of university research performance. Kerass coined the term 'distance learning', which refers to the types of training that use the internet and intranet technology for learning. In this regard, Kooper (18) defines e-learning as a set of training activities that occurs using electronic devices (e.g., audio, video, computer, and network). Furthermore, Mayer (19) defined the concept of electronic education, referring to it as active and intelligent learning, which plays a pivotal role in the expanding, deepening, and stabilizing of cultural information and communication technology, while changing the teaching-learning process. Taking advantage of rapid advances in communication technology rather than the primary forms of correspondence education, distance learning has become widespread through rapid evolution. The educational services that are provided at a distance using new communication tools owing to the technical progress of mass media, as well as the attention of researchers to the socioeducational dimension of technological progress, have yielded such remarkable outcomes that both developed and developing countries have incorporated the related strategies, including distance learning, into their educational programs (20). The application of knowledge management in distance education universities could be greatly beneficial for improving the quality of educational, research, executive, and effective management, as well as increasing and optimizing creativity, which in turn result in the mobility and prosperity of these universities as the heart of the country's educational and research community. The present study aimed to assess the role of the components of knowledge management in the development of the faculty members of distance education universities by designing an appropriate model. D ow nl oa de d fr om z um s. ac .ir a t 2 1: 08 IR S T o n F


We estimate the causal effects of heroin use on labor market outcomes by proxying for heroin use with prior exposure to oxycodone, the largest of the prescription opioids with a well-documented history of abuse. After a nationwide tightening in the supply of oxycodone in 2010, states with greater prior exposure to oxycodone experienced much larger increases in heroin use and mortality. We find increases in heroin use led to declines in employment and labor force participation rates, particularly for white, young, and less educated groups, consistent with the profile of oxycodone misusers. The results show the importance of extending beyond prescriptions when accounting for the labor market effects of the opioid crisis.


Deposits of turbidity currents are characterized by alternating layers of sandstone and shale, in which a unit layer is defined as the sandstone together with its overlying shale. Studies of turbidites of different ages, and from many different localities in Europe, make it clear that turbidites are characterized by one sedimentary facies model, which is composed of five specific intervals in a fixed succession. In a complete layer the intervals from bottom to top are: graded interval (20-500 cm), lower interval of parallel lamination (10-200 cm), interval of current ripple lamination (4-100 cm), upper interval of parallel lamination (2-50 cm), and pelitic interval (1-40 cm). Each turbidite layer in the areas studied shows part or all of this sequence, and everywhere the succession is the same. The completeness of the sequence generally increases with increase in thickness of the unit layer. Incomplete sequences normally are caused by truncation of the upper intervals or omission of the lower intervals. Large differences in grain size between successive turbidite layers occur where the base of a layer is formed by one of the three lower intervals. The lower bedding planes of such layers are most readily exposed by weathering and are more likely to contain sole markings than layers in which the lower three intervals are missing. An understanding of the origin of each of the five intervals and the reason for their definite succession in turbidite layers is essential to understand the mechanism of deposition by turbidity currents. End_of_Article - Last_Page 351------------


This study aims to know and analyze the relationship of leadership principal teaching and work discipline to student academic achievement in school. This research uses quantitative method, the data is analyzed by using descriptive statistic and inference. Data collection using instruments, instruments compiled from various sources tailored to the research method used. The study was conducted on teachers in elementary schools in Jakarta. The study shows that there is a positive and significant correlation between the principal's teaching leadership and the students 'academic achievement with the correlation correlation value of 0.454, there is a significant correlation between the teacher's work discipline with the students' academic achievement with the correlation value of 0.576. From the results of the study can be concluded that the improvement and improving the quality of student achievement can be done with the improvement and improvement of the leadership quality of teaching the principal and the discipline of teacher work. Student achievement can develop well with the help and touch of a principal through good school management, as well as the discipline of a teacher in carrying out his work as an educator so that will provide a good quality of learning process also with the expected achievement of student learning achievement high in school.
Keywords. Leadership Teaching, Principals, Teachers Dicipline, Academic Achievements.


A high-translational-energy Cl2 neutral beam created in a Cl2-seeded He supersonic molecular beam has been applied to poly-Si etching. Translational-energy-induced etching was observed at a substrate temperature of 530° C with a translational energy threshold of 0.7 eV. From the temperature dependence of the etch rates, the etching reaction was found to be composed of two thermal desorption processes with activation energies of 2.8 eV and 0.9 eV, corresponding to gas etching and translational-energy-induced etching, respectively. Anisotropic etching profiles were achieved with complete selectivity against SiO2 due to the fact that the etching was induced by translational energy.


The pathogenesis of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) implies the sequential infection of many cell types from mucosal cells to neurons, each having a unique pattern of protein glycosylation. The HSV-1 glycoprotein gC-1 is highly glycosylated and contains not only N-linked glycans but also a large number of O-linked glycans, some of which are clustered into two pronase-resistant arrays in the vicinity of the HSV-1 receptor-binding domain of gC-1. The aim of the present study was to characterize gC-1 signals for addition of clustered glycans, to determine the efficacy of synthetic peptides, representing putative O-glycosylation signals, as substrates for a panel of GalNAc transferases, and to identify possible effects of early O-linked glycosylation on the biological functions of gC-1. Gel filtration analysis of the pronase-resistant gC-1 O-glycan clusters from a glycoprotein mutant, lacking a site for N-linked glycosylation at Asn 73 in the vicinity of the O-glycosylation signal, suggested that one function of this N-linked glycan was to modulate the access for GalNAc transferases to one particular O-glycosylation peptide signal (aa 80-104). The ability of four GalNAc-transferase isoenzymes with different cell type expression patterns to initialize O-glycosylation of synthetic gC-1 derived peptides was analyzed. Two synthetic gC-1 peptides (aa 55-69 and aa 80-104) were excellent substrates for all four GalNAc-transferases, suggesting that cell types expressing less frequent GalNAc transferase species with unusual acceptor peptide sequence specificities may also produce a highly O-glycosylated gC-1 after HSV-1 infection. The O-linked glycans were not essential for cell surface expression of gC-1, but monoclonal antibody-assisted epitope analysis of N-acetylgalactosaminidase-treated gC-1 showed that the O-linked monosaccharide GalNAc contributed to expression of a three-dimensional epitope overlapping the heparan sulfate-binding domain of gC-1.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Our recent study showed that human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs) were activated to express TRAIL by exposure to TNF-α. These TRAIL expressing hMSCs effectively induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 (MDA) cells in vitro and in vivo. TRAIL was further up-regulated by RNA released by dead MDA cells in a TLR3-dependent manner. Here, we show that the further increase of TRAIL in hMSCs was also mediated by feed-forward stimulation of AIM2 or IFIH1 by DNA and RNA released from dead MDA cells. Poly(dA:dT), a synthetic ligand for AIM2, most effectively activated hMSCs to express TRAIL and increased the killing efficacy of hMSCs in MDA cells compared to TNF-α or poly(I:C), a synthetic ligand for TLR3 or IFIH1. Furthermore, weekly infusions of hMSCs pre-activated with TNF-α and poly(dA:dT) effectively inhibited the progression of lung tumor formation in mice, compared to TNF-α pre-activated hMSCs. Such anti-tumorigenic effect of hMSCs upon activation with TNF-α and poly(dA:dT) was enhanced when combined with chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin and thereby, this combination treatment significantly reduced the size of tumor burden in mice compared to TNF-α pre-activated hMSC treatment. These results suggest that treatment of pre-activated hMSCs combined with doxorubicin enhances their tumor-suppressive properties and may provide a potential novel therapy for cancer treatment.

Citation Format: Nara Yoon, Min Sung Park, Grant Peltier, John C. Reneau, Darwin J. Prockop, Darwin J. Prockop, Ryang Hwa Lee. The combination treatment of TNF-α and poly (dA:dT) preactivated hMSCs with doxorubicin enhances antitumorigenic activity. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 201. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-201


In the present paper, we have continued to study the properties of semi-separation axioms in ditopological texture spaces. We prove that the semi-Ti-spaces (i = 0, 1, 2, 3, 3 1 2 , 4) are productive in ditopological spaces. Finally, semi-separation axioms are given for soft fuzzy topological spaces by using the categorical isomorphism between soft fuzzy topologies and ditopologies.


For mass action kinetics, the capacity for multiple equilibria in an isothermal homogeneous continuous flow stirred tank reactor is determined by the structure of the underlying network of chemical reactions. We suggest a new graph-theoretical method for discriminating between complex reaction networks that can admit multiple equilibria and those that cannot. In particular, we associate with each network a Species-Reaction Graph, which is similar to reaction network representations drawn by biochemists, and we show that, if the graph satisfies certain weak conditions, the differential equations corresponding to the network cannot admit multiple equilibria no matter what values the rate constants take. Because these conditions are very mild, they amount to powerful (and quite delicate) necessary conditions that a network must satisfy if it is to have the capacity to engender multiple equilibria. Broad qualitative results of this kind are especially apt, for individual reaction rate constants are rarely known fully for complex reaction networks (if they are known at all). Some concluding remarks address connections to biology. 1. Introduction. The purpose of this article is to provide theory for distinguishing between complex chemical reaction networks that have the capacity to admit multiple positive equilibria and those that do not. In particular, we shall be interested in networks governed by mass action kinetics and operating in the context of what chemical engineers call the continuous flow stirred tank reactor (CFSTR, [1]). Models in cell biology sometimes invoke pictures and mathematics reminiscent of CFSTRs [9, 12, 16, 17], so it not unreasonable to expect that theory presented here might ultimately provide insight that is useful in biological applications. Indeed, in biology one rarely has detailed knowledge of reaction rate constants; at the outset, then, it is especially appropriate to seek a qualitative understanding of the relationship between reaction network structure and the capacity for various kinds of behavior (e.g., bista-bility). As we indicated in the first article of this series, the connection between the two is quite delicate. The theory offered here is intended to render the relationship between reaction network structure and behavior more concrete. Our principal results will serve to describe very large classes of networks, including highly complex ones, that cannot give rise to multiple steady states regardless of parameter values. These results provide very strong necessary conditions that a network must satisfy if it is to have the capacity to give rise, for example, to bistable behavior. Denial …


Controlling the bulk and surface structure of metal oxide nanostructures is crucial to obtain superior electronic and electrochemical properties. However, the synthetic or post-treatment techniques for preparing such structures, especially those with complex configurations, still remains a challenge. Herein, we report a completely novel approach—an amorphous carbon coating on the surface coupled with a controlled metal oxidation state in the bulk—via a simple glucose treatment. The bulk and surface structures of iron oxides are controlled by the carbothermal reaction associated with the decomposition of glucose. These novel configurations of iron oxides possess an amorphous carbon layer and ferrous state with high electronic conductivity, which definitely enhances their electrochemical properties compared to pristine iron oxides. Our findings provide an effective solution for the synthesis of complex metal oxide nanostructures, which can pave the way to further expand the electronic or electrochemical applications of metal oxides.


We evaluate probabilistic lexicalized tree-insertion grammars (PLTIGs) on a classification task relevant for automatic speech recognition. The baseline is a trigram model, smoothed through absolute discounting. Both language models are trained on an unannotated corpus, consisting of 10 000 sentences collected from the English section of Wikipedia. For the evaluation, an additional 150 random sentences were selected from the same source, and for each of these, approx. 3 200 variations were generated. Each variated sentence was obtained by replacing an arbitrary word by a similar word, chosen to be at most 2 edits from the original. In our experiments, the N -gram model preferred one of these alternative sentences in 43.1 percent of the cases, while the PLTIG was only mistaken in 3 percent of the cases.


Redistribution and the ability for removing immunological complexes in CLL and CGL cells treated with the specific anti-leukemia antigens were investigated. The immunofluorescence method at 4 and 37 degrees C was applied at different times of cell incubation with antigens. It was shown, that incubation at 4 degrees C even carried out for 18 h, neither caused a clear aggregation nor a release of immunological complexes from the leukemia cell surface, whereas at 37 degrees C considerable differences in mobility of CLL and CGL cells were observed. In CGL cells quite a rapid redistribution followed by the removal of antigen-antibody complexes was observed, while CLL cells have shown the ability for aggregation only, without clear polarization and without releasing the formed complex from the cell surface.


The X-ray PIV (particle image velocimetry) technique has been used as a non-invasive measurement modality to investigate the haemodynamic features of blood flow. However, the extraction of two-dimensional velocity field data from the three-dimensional volumetric information contained in X-ray images is technically unclear. In this study, a new two-dimensional velocity field extraction technique is proposed to overcome technological limitations. To resolve the problem of finding a correction coefficient, the velocity field information obtained by X-ray PIV and micro-PIV techniques for disturbed flow in a concentric stenosis with 50% severity was quantitatively compared. Micro-PIV experiments were conducted for single-plane and summation images, which provide similar positional information of particles as X-ray images. The correction coefficient was obtained by establishing the relationship between velocity data obtained from summation images (VS) and centre-plane images (VC). The velocity differences between VS and VC along the vertical and horizontal directions were quantitatively analysed as a function of the geometric angle of the test model for applying the present two-dimensional velocity field extraction technique to a conduit of arbitrary geometry. Finally, the two-dimensional velocity field information at arbitrary positions could be successfully extracted from X-ray images by using the correction coefficient and several velocity parameters derived from VS.


A generic control method is proposed for the non-square systems where the number of system inputs is not equal to that of the states. The non-square system to be controlled is first restructured in form of the combination of a square system and the variation from the original non-square system. This variation term is treated as a time-varying uncertainty to the restructured square system. Thus the stabilization for a non-square system is reformulated as an adaptive control problem for a square system. In this paper we address this adaptive control problem by applying the function approximation technique. Specifically, we can parameterize the variation with a chosen basis function weighted by unknown constant parameters. Then we define an update law such that the parameters of the weighted basis function can be automatically determined and the variation between the auxiliary square system and the original non-square system can then be eliminated. The asymptotic stability is established for the closed loop system formulated by the non-square system and the constructed controller. The feasibility of the proposed control method is verified under simulations for linear system, nonlinear underactuated system, and nonholonomic system.