Human hepatic N-acetyltransferase (NAT2) is subject to a genetic polymorphism. Because NAT2 is an important enzyme for the detoxification and/or bioactivation of several carcinogenic arylamines, it has been postulated that the polymorphism of NAT2 gene is associated with the occurrence of colorectal and bladder carcinomas. Several mutations have been described in the human NAT2 gene that have been associated with reduced NAT2 activity. However, the majority are single base substitutions at positions 481 (NAT2*5A), 590 (NAT2*6A) and 857 (NAT2*7A) of the NAT2 gene. This study was performed to evaluate the relative distribution of NAT2 alleles and genotypes in 216 colorectal carcinoma patients and 187 normal individuals. The frequencies of NAT2 alleles and genotypes in the sampled Chinese population were characterized by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. No differences were observed in the distribution of the genotypes coding rapid acetylation (homozygous wild-type and heterozygous wild-type with any of the mutations) when comparing colorectal carcinoma patients with control individuals (P > 0.05). However, the rapid acetylation genotype was associated with cancer occurring on the right site of the colon. The frequencies of the NAT2*4, NAT2*5A, NAT2*6A and NAT2*7A alleles of the NAT2 gene (0.51, 0.07, 0.32 and 0.10, respectively) in control individuals were significantly different from those in patients (0.49, 0.06, 0.26 and 0.19, respectively, P < 0.01). There was a significant increase in the frequency of patients who were compound heterozygotes of NAT2*7A and a variant non-NAT2*7A allele. The NAT2*7A allele was also seen more frequently in distal cancer.


The nervous origin of paroxysmal tachycardia was stressed by many German-speaking authors (Hering, 1911; Rothberger and Winterberg, 1911a; Rothberger and Winterberg, 1911b; Schlesinger, 1906) at the beginning of the century. Thus Schlesinger (1906) pointed out that many patients who suffered from this disorder had neurasthenic or hysterical personalities. He postulated that there was a mechanism responsible for the attacks of tachycardia which could be set in motion by a stimulus in the nervous system. Somewhat later a French cardiologist (Gallavardin, 1922) described a type of paroxysmal tachycardia which he believed was of nervous origin. In more recent times Stokvis (1947) has given an account of a Jewish patient who was taught to think himself into an attack in order to avoid deportation by the German occupation authorities in Holland. There is some pharmacological support for the central origin of paroxysmal tachycardia. Thus Klein (1940) described a schizophrenic patient who when treated with pentamethylene tetrazol developed supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia four minutes after the injection of the drug. He suggested that the delay between the injection and the onset of the attack indicated that the attack was due to an effect of the drug on the central nervous system. Several different workers (Evans, 1940; Peters and Penner, 1946) have claimed that intravenous injection of ergotamine tartrate will relieve an attack of supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia within a few minutes. Rothlin and Cerletti (1949) have shown that the effect of adrenaline on the heart is not altered by ergot alkaloids, so that the effect of ergotamine in paroxysmal tachycardia cannot be due to an unopposed vagal effect and must therefore be due to a direct action on the brain centres which regulate cardiac activity.


Background: The study aim was to evaluate the efficacy of wrapping oblate for prevention of everolimus-associated stomatitis in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Patients and Methods: Patients with mRCC prescribed everolimus after failure of vascular endothelial growth factor–tyrosine kinase inhibitor were enrolled. Patients were consecutively assigned to take everolimus covered with or without oblate. The primary end-points were the incidence of and time to grade 2 or more stomatitis. Additionally, we assessed whether grade 2 or more stomatitis that occurred in the non-oblate group could be prevented with crossover application of oblate. Results: This study included 79 patients [oblate group: 42(53%); non-oblate group: 37(47%)]. Thirty (38%) patients developed grade 2 or more stomatitis [incidence: oblate group, 31% (13/42); non-oblate group, 46% (17/37), p=0.245; median time to grade 2 or more stomatitis: oblate group, not reached; non-oblate group, 6.0 months, p=0.251]. Among 10 patients who developed grade 2 or more stomatitis in the non-oblate group and received oblate-covered everolimus, nine (90%) showed complete recovery or improved to grade 1, which persisted until discontinuation of everolimus. Conclusion: Oblate-covered everolimus improved the incidence of and time to grade 2 or more stomatitis, although it was not statistically significantly different compared to the non-oblate group. Oblate wrapping prevented recurrence of grade 2 or more stomatitis in patients who took uncovered everolimus and developed significant stomatitis.


- The Vector Control (VC) of Y-Connected Induction Motor (YCIM) drives is entirely demanding task. Furthermore, YCIM under an Open-Circuit Fault in the Stator Coils (OCFSC) leads to deterioration of the VC. Consequently, the VC of YCIMs under an OCFSC requires a suitable design. This research focuses on an accurate and modified Field-Oriented Control (FOC) strategy for 3-phase YCIM drives under an OCFSC. Most of the recent papers studying VC of YCIMs under an OCFSC ignore the leakage inductance in the VC equations. This paper presents an alternative VC technique, considering the leakage inductance in the VC equations of YCIMs under an OCFSC. In the presented VC system, two asymmetrical Rotating Transformations (RTs) for the stator current and voltage quantities are proposed and employed. In the proposed scheme, the genetic algorithm is used to regulate the parameters of the Proportional-Integral (PI) controllers. The developed VC system provides an accurate control against an OCFSC and can be employed for different industries that need Fault-Tolerant Control (FTC) systems. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated through experimentation in the laboratory. The proposed control scheme gives good responses during both steady state and transient sate. In addition, the proposed VC system gives better performances during the post-fault operation compared to previous works in terms of speed and torque ripples


Universities are tasked with providing rigorous education and training for successful entry into disciplinary and professional fields. Their instrumental roles are situated within broader commitments to political communities through cultural stewardship. As such, the process of socializing students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of democratic citizenship is a complementary and acute obligation of institutions of higher education. Student Associations arguably serve as strategic enablers of this key responsibility through their unique identities as laboratories of shared governance. When students participate in co-creating their educational and community experiences, the dividends for learning and development escalate. The deliberative processes and activities of student associations resemble those ideal in the broader civil society and should be supported. We suggest that the respective aspirations and impact of universities and student associations are mutually bound though an experiential curriculum of democratic citizenship. Hence, we propose that it is in universities' interest to provide and protect funding for student associations and their activities.


ABSTRACT Nuclear factor 90 (NF90) is a dual DNA- and RNA-binding protein expressed ubiquitously in mammalian cells, including monocytes. Here, to elucidate the function of NF90 in the immune response, we analyzed systematically its influence on gene expression programs in the human monocytic cell line THP-1 expressing normal or reduced NF90 levels. RNA sequencing analysis revealed many mRNAs showing differential abundance in NF90-silenced cells, many of them encoding proteins implicated in the response to immune stimuli and malaria infection. The transcription of some of them (e.g. TNF, LILRB1, and CCL2 mRNAs) was modulated by silencing NF90. Ribonucleoprotein immunoprecipitation (RIP) analysis further revealed that a subset of these mRNAs associated directly with NF90. To understand how NF90 influenced globally the immune response to malaria infection, lysates of red blood cells infected with Plasmodium falciparum (iRBC lysates) or uninfected/mock-infected (uRBC lysates) were used to treat THP-1 cells as a surrogate of malaria infection. NF90 affected the stability of a few target mRNAs, but influenced more generally the translation and secretion of the encoded cytokines after treatment with either uRBC or iRBC lysates. Taken together, these results indicate that NF90 contributes to repressing the immune response in cells responding to P. falciparum infection and suggest that NF90 can be a therapeutic target in malaria.


We revisit the two-field mimetic gravity model with shift symmetries recently proposed in the literature, especially the problems of degrees of freedom and stabilities. We first study the model at the linear cosmological perturbation level by quadratic Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations. We show that there are actually two (instead of one) scalar degrees of freedom in this model in addition to two tensor modes. We then push on the study to the full non-linear level in terms of the Hamiltonian analysis, and confirm our result from the linear perturbation theory. We also consider the case where the kinetic terms of the two mimetic scalar fields have opposite signs in the constraint equation. We point out that in this case the model always suffers from the ghost instability problem.


The study explores the scientific environment of Physics. It is argued in the direction of proving a double thesis: a) an important tendency appeared in the evolution of the contemporary education is interdisciplinary towards formation of the competence in the scientific knowledge in interdisciplinary context that becomes an educational priority of the millennium III. b) we can talk in this regard about the interdisciplinary Physics, about relationship between physics – geography – geology, about relationship physics and astronomy, about relationship between physics and philosophy, about relationship physics and medicine, about relationship physics and technical disciplines.


Summary A systematic study of the effect of acute radiation injury upon the natural resistance of mice to experimental pneumococcal myositis has revealed that the principal factor involved in the lowered resistance of the irradiated host is a marked depression in the mobilization of phagocytic cells at the site of the primary lesion. The delayed and diminished inflammatory response, which coincides with the postirradiation leukopenia, permits the pneumococci to reach a population density in the lesion approximately a thousand times greater than that observed in unirradiated mice. The relatively few leukocytes, which in these circumstances manage to reach the lesion, exhibit no demonstrable impairment of phagocytic activity and show only an equivocal change in their capacity to kill the pneumococci which they ingest.


OBJECTIVE:Carcinogenic aromatic amines, derived from cooked meat, are activated or inactivated by hepatic N-acetyltransferase (NAT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of NAT2 genetic polymorphisms with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with special reference to the interaction of dietary habits.METHODS:Peripheral white blood cell DNA from 185 HCC patients and 185 matched controls were genotyped for NAT2 by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. All the subjects studied were chronic viral hepatitis B or C carriers with liver cirrhosis. Dietary habits of the subjects were assessed using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire.RESULTS:There was no association between the susceptibility of HCC and the overall NAT2 genotypes. However, in rapid acetylators (with two wild type NAT2*4 alleles), there was a trend of increased HCC risk from low to intermediate and high red meat intake (OR = 1, 2.66, 3.89; ptrend = 0.016), even when adjusted for family history of HCC and habitual alcohol drinking. The interaction between red meat intake and the NAT2*4 acetylator status for an increased risk of HCC was significant (p = 0.007).CONCLUSIONS:Polymorphisms of the NAT2 gene may confer different susceptibilities to the effect of red meat intake on HCC. In rapid acetylators with chronic viral hepatitis-related cirrhosis, red meat intake may play a role in hepatocarcinogenesis.


Long ago, in olden times (e.g., circa 1960, in New Haven, inter alia), the budding behaviorist learned to denigrate the historical case study: it ignored the general in favor of the particular, it seldom took advantage of the full array of relevant and available data, and in consequence, it produced little of value to the political scientist. David Porter has written a book to challenge these prejudices. His study is at once a case study and a comparative analysis; he treats three major issues—the repeal of the arms embargo, the offer of economic aid to beleaguered Finland, and the enactment of a selective service system—within the context of a single Congress, the 76th (193940). Moreover, he employs an impressive arsenal of data to analyze congressional consideration of these bills. In addition to the usual published materials, he uses much newly available legislators' correspondence, oral history, and public opinion and ICPSR statistical data.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

Staphylococcal nuclease domain containing-1 (SND1) is a multifunctional protein that modulates transcription, mRNA splicing and stability, and miRNA function. We previously documented that SND1 is markedly overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in a stage-specific manner and inhibition of SND1 in human HCC cells significantly abrogates in vitro proliferation and in vivo tumorigenesis in nude mice. In the present study we document that migration and invasion of human HCC cells are significantly augmented in SND1-overexpressing clones and significantly inhibited in SND1 shRNA-expressing clones. Differential gene expression analysis between control clone and SND1 shRNA expressing clones by Affymetrix microarray revealed downregulation of TGF-β downstream genes upon SND1 inhibition. Additionally, a human angiogenesis array identified plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a TGF-β downstream gene, to be upregulated by SND1 and this upregulation was confirmed by ELISA. TGF-β expression is regulated by angiotensin II type 1 receptors (AT1R) and previous studies have documented that SND1 increases AT1R expression by increasing AT1R mRNA stability. We hypothesized that increased AT1R expression, conferred by SND1 overexpression, might facilitate activation of TGF-β signaling and subsequently PAI-1-mediated increase in migration and invasion. Indeed, we observed that AT1R and TGF-β expression was significantly increased in SND1-overexpressing clones and decreased in SND1 knockdown clones. The half-life of AT1R mRNA was significantly longer in SND1-overexpressing clones compared to the control clone confirming that SND1 modulates AT1R post-transcriptionally. The AT1R blocker Losartan Potassium and AT1R siRNA significantly inhibited SND1-induced TGF-β and PAI-1 expression with associated inhibition in migration and invasion. As a corollary, inhibition of PAI-1 by siRNA significantly abrogated migration and invasion of SND1-overexpressing cells. TGF-β induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and we observed increased expression of EMT markers vimentin, snail and slug and decreased expression of E-cadherin in SND1-overexpressing clones and vice versa in SND1-knockdown clones. Our studies thus unravel a novel mechanism in which post-transcriptional regulation of AT1R by SND1, with subsequent activation of TGF-β signaling, promotes invasion of human HCC cells thereby conferring an aggressive phenotype. Small molecule inhibitors of SND1, thus, might be effective therapeutic strategy for late-stage aggressive HCC.

Citation Format: Prasanna K. Santhekadur, Rachel Gredler, Maaged Akiel, Paul Dent, Paul B. Fisher, Devanand Sarkar. The multifunctional protein staphylococcal nuclease domain containing-1 (SND1) promotes migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells by modulating angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) s [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2628. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2628


We study the phonon spectra of VI/III-V heterovalent superlattices (Si/GaAs, Si/AlAs, Ge/GaAs and Ge/AlAs) grown pseudomorphically on a (001)-oriented Ge or GaAs substrate by means of a planar force-constant model. Three possible interface configurations are considered, i.e. That the two interfaces in a period are composed of (i) two IV-III, (ii) two IV-V and (iii) IV-III and VI-V interfaces. It was found that confined modes could be well described by the bulk dispersions provided that the penetration parameter delta , which describes the penetration of a confined mode spreading into the second material, is properly chosen. In Ge/AlAs superlattices we find interface modes whose frequencies are slightly higher than that of the AlAs LO phonon at the Gamma point. Their vibrational amplitudes attenuate rapidly from the Ge-Al interface into the interior of Ge layers, but slowly into the interior of AlAs layers.


hallucinations and persecutory delusions. Five days later she was overtalkative, very active, and irritable, and ten days later she had mild pressure of speech. She made a good recovery and was discharged on lithium. It appears that one of Crammer's criteria for linking the menstrual cycle and the mental state has been fulfilled. While amenorrhoeic due to pregnancy, the patient remained well. Three days after birth she relapsed with a similar clinical picture to those episodes linked to the menstrual cycle. I have now reported the case of a woman with a premenstrual psychotic illness who subsequently suffered from a puerperal relapse. This is comple mentary to those cases of puerperal psychosis and subsequent premenstrual relapse (Brockington et a!, 1988) and adds substantially to the hypothesis that these phenomena have the same aetiology. One factor common to both the premenstrual and the postnatal period is the change in the sex hormones —¿ and it has been argued that there is an interaction between changes in the levels of the sex hormones and dopamine receptor sensitivity (Wieck et a!, 1992). Relapse of a puerperal psychosis has also been noted after the removal of a hydatidiform mole, when levels of gonadotrophins, progesterone and also oestrogen would be expected to fall (Hopker & Brockington, 1991). The circumstantial evidence that puerperal psychotic illness is secondary to falling levels of hormones is considerable. It does, however, remain true that there are a number of dif ferent hormones and neurotransmitters that may be responsible for this intriguing interaction.


In this paper, we present a new benchmark to validate the suitability of database systems for interactive visualization workloads. While there exist proposals for evaluating database systems on interactive data exploration workloads, none rely on real user traces for database benchmarking. To this end, our long term goal is to collect user traces that represent workloads with different exploration characteristics. In this paper, we present an initial benchmark that focuses on "crossfilter"-style applications, which are a popular interaction type for data exploration and a particularly demanding scenario for testing database system performance. We make our benchmark materials, including input datasets, interaction sequences, corresponding SQL queries, and analysis code, freely available as a community resource, to foster further research in this area: https://osf.io/9xerb/?view_only=81de1a3f99d04529b6b173a3bd5b4d23.


The electron-positron accelerator for the DA/spl Phi/NE project is under construction at Titan Beta in Dublin, CA. This S-band RF linac system utilizes four 45 MW sledded klystrons and 16 3 m accelerating structures to achieve the required performance. It delivers a 4 ampere electron beam to the positron converter and accelerates the resulting positrons to 550 MeV. The converter design uses a 4.3 T pulsed tapered flux compressor along with a pseudo-adiabatic tapered field to a 5 KG solenoid over the first two positron accelerating sections. Quadrupole focusing is used after 100 MeV. The system performance is given. This paper briefly describes the design and development of the various subassemblies in this system.<<ETX>>


Language learning in study abroad is usually analyzed for settings where the target language is the native language, thereby ignoring the growing number of lingua franca contexts in study abroad. To address this gap, this study examined the pragmatic perceptions of 19 English learners studying abroad, comparing students in native-language settings to their peers in lingua franca environments. During their semester abroad following pragmatic instruction, the learners composed essays which elicited their perceptions of the instruction's usefulness, applicability, gains in pragmatic awareness, and (dis)advantages of including pragmatics in the curriculum. The results indicate that the native-language setting offers more opportunities to apply pragmalinguistic strategies taught in class, but the lingua franca environment provides more room for sociopragmatic awareness and negotiation. The lingua franca students valued the instruction more, and they highlighted the importance of pragmatic consciousness-raising to complement pragmalinguistic strategies. Implications for study abroad research and language teaching are derived.


The author considers the evolution of the concept "people" in the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, Samuel Pufendorf and Benedict Spinoza. The political thought of Europe in the 17th century demonstrates a conscious turn from the medieval scholastic tradition of thinking about people and power. Politics begins to be thought of as a complex of human actions aimed at achieving certain human goals. This, in turn, leads to the rationalisation of politics and, as a consequence, to the rejection of one of the most powerful mystical and theological abstractions of the late Middle Ages — the concept "people" as a kind of mystical body. Protestant science makes a clear choice in favour of interpreting the concept as an "artificial person". The author emphasizes that the introduction of the concept "natural state" led to changes in the ontological status of people in political theory. The concept "people" becomes "a flickering subject" that appears during the transition from a natural state to a civil one and disappears when the transition goes in the opposite direction. In a civil state, people become an active subject when they perform the function of the legislator. In other cases, people as a political subject transform into a certain multitude, consisting of separate individuals.


found in a total of 22 of 62 HCC cases (35.5%) reported by Salomao et al in liver explants from patients with chronic hepatitis C. The main histological differentials of this variant include clear cell and steatotic subtype. The former shows polygonal cells with clear cytoplasm and the later shows presence of fat droplets in the cytoplasm. Inflammation, ballooning and pericellular fibrosis, the characteristic features of SH-HCC, are absent in both clear cell and steatotic subtypes. To conclude, we report the first case of SH-HCC variant from our centre and probably from India. This variant is mostly related to hepatitis C virus related chronic liver disease along with a strong association with NASH or ALD. It shows distinct histopathological features which are usually not seen in conventional HCC. Recognition and documentation of this variant is important in context to the global epidemic of NAFLD/ NASH and to further study the possible role of steatohepatitis in liver carcinogenesis.


A RECENT article 1 described the development and characteristics of seven selfadministering adjective checklists for the measurement of depression. Split-half reliability coefficients for all lists were 0.82 and above. The smallest intercorrelation among the seven lists was 0.82. F tests among groups (normals, nondepressed patients, and depressed patients) were significant at less than the 0.0005 level for all lists. The means of groups increased progressively from normals through nondepressed patients to depressed patients. All t -test comparisons among groups on all lists were significant for females. Normal males did not differ significantly from nondepressed male patients on lists A, B, C, or D. Although the seven lists are brief (A, B, C, D each consists of 32 adjectives, and E, F, G each consists of 34 adjectives), some situations might require even briefer lists, especially when a battery of tests is to be employed. This paper


Stromboli volcano is famous in the scientific literature for its persistent state of activity, which began about 1500 years ago and consists of continuous degassing and mild intermittent explosions (normal Strombolian activity). Rare lava emissions and sporadic more violent explosive episodes (paroxysms) also occur. Since its formation, the present-day activity has been dominated by the emission of two basaltic magmas, differing chiefly in their crystal and volatile contents, whose characteristics have remained constant until now. The normal Strombolian activity and lava effusions are fed by a crystal-rich, degassed magma, stored within the uppermost part of the plumbing system, whereas highly vesicular, crystal-poor light-colored pumices are produced during paroxysms testifying to the ascent of volatile-rich magma batches from deeper portions of the magmatic system. Mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic data, together with data on the volatile contents of magmas, are presented here with the aim of discussing (1) the relationships between the different magma batches erupted at Stromboli, (2) the mechanisms of their crystallization and transfer, (3) the plumbing system and triggering mechanisms of Strombolian eruptions.


Applications that use TMATS benefit from the ability to presume that the TMATS data is well constructed. This need is met by a TMATS validator. Some classified systems need source code rather than an executable to avoid expensive testing before being allowed in. An Open Source Validator is proposed, presented and made available to the public. Major points and difficulties are discussed. The source is available in a Visual Studio 2008 project here: www.bkelly.ws/irig/validator.html A bulletin board for TMATS / Chapter 10 discussion is here: http://www.bkelly.ws/irig_106/


Varicella and herpes zoster are two infectious skin diseases of human that caused by varicella zoster virus, where varicella disease is a primary infection that often infected younger people while herpes zoster disease is a recurrent disease that often infected older people because of reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus. If the pain caused by herpes zoster after recurrent phase is a appeared then the condition is known as postherpetic neuralgia. This study builds a mathematical model of primary infection (varicella disease) and recurrent infection (herpes zoster disease) developed from the SIR model (Susceptible, Infected, Recovered). The human population is divided into seven subpopulations, namely susceptible, infection, recovered of varicella, herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia subpopulation. Stability analysis at the critical point by linearization method gives a critical point 𝑇1 that guaranted to exist and unstable if 𝛼 𝜇(𝛽1+𝜇) 𝐴 , while the critical point 𝑇1 does not have any reqruitment. Stability analysis at the endemic disease-free critical point is represented 𝑇1 that will be unstable if 𝑇2 exist and stable 𝑇1 if 𝑇2 exist. Numerical simulations by simulated to describe such temporary disease-free conditions and an endemic stable conditions.


Computer algorithms used to identify recurrent freeway bottlenecks have been studied since the deployment of loop detecting systems. Such algorithms automatically analyze the archived loop detector data and identify potential recurrent bottlenecks and their characteristics, such as location, time of day, and activation rate, for further investigation. In a highway congestion mitigation project, such algorithms can save time and resources for the initial screening of bottlenecks over a large freeway network. These algorithms include rule-based, contour-map-based, and simulation-based methods. However, existing methods require loop detector data with high accuracy and consistency, which is difficult to achieve in prevailing loop detecting systems. This paper proposes a new bottleneck identification algorithm with strong error and noise tolerance. Several simple denoising methods to improve the error resistance of existing algorithms are also proposed. Using statistical error analysis methods, the proposed algorithm and the denoising methods were calibrated and evaluated using field data collected from two distinct freeway corridors (US 12/14 and I-894) in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Ground truth data for this study come from the manual inspection of 287,055 traffic video snapshots in the course of a month. In the evaluation tests, the proposed algorithm can produce quality congestion identification results with fewer false alarms than the existing algorithms, especially when identifying severe bottleneck congestion.


This paper presents the philosophical analysis carried out to analyse the stakeholders' needs within the READ-IT project to inform the design of an information management system (IMS) for multidisciplinary research on the reading experience in Europe. The presented approach is aimed to build a metalanguage representing the reading under different perspectives for enabling researchers in collaboratively working on data sources tracking the reading phenomenon. The construction of the metalanguage is made through a reasoning-based process of analysis and synthesis of vocabulary, concepts and theories from multiple domains, recomposed in an interactional model of the researchers as intended users of the system, the data sources on reading and the role of technology in between.


We show that credit supply shocks have a strong impact on firm-level as well as aggregate investment by applying the methodology developed by Amiti and Weinstein (2013) to a rich dataset of matched bank-firm loans in the Portuguese economy for the period 2005 to 2013. We argue that their decomposition framework can also be used in the presence of small firms with only one banking relationship as long as they account for only a small share of the total loan volume of their banks. The growth rate of individual loans in our dataset is decomposed into bank, firm, industry and common shocks. Adverse bank shocks are found to impair firm-level investment in all firms in our sample, but in particular for small firms and those with no access to alternative financing sources. For the economy as a whole, granular shocks in the banking system account for around 20-40% of aggregate investment dynamics.


A study to assess the effectiveness of an orientation programme on noise induced
health hazards on the awareness and compliance to using protective device among
employees in a selected metal fabrication industry at Chennai.
The main aim of the study was to assess whether an orientation programme makes any
difference on the awareness of employees on noise health effects and the compliance to using
hearing protective devices.
The conceptual framework of the study was based on Rosenstoch's Health Belief Model
(HBM) (revised 1996).The research approach used in this study was evaluator approach. The
variables of the study were orientation programme on noise induced health hazards and the
awareness and compliance to using hearing protective devices.
The study was conducted in a selected metal fabrication industry, Chennai. The data were
collected from a convenient sample of 50 employees through interview schedule, Questionnaire,
rating scale and observational checklist. The awareness on noise hazards and compliance were
assessed before and after intervention. The investigator collected a list of employees in various
sections through convenient sampling who fulfilled the selection criteria and they were divided
into 3 groups. Two groups consisted of seventeen samples and one group had sixteen samples.
For the ease of observation, the researcher prepared colour tags. The tags were prepared in
orange, green and yellow colour for the three individual groups and the samples were requested
to wear it during their work shift. The compliance of using protective devices was assessed
through observational checklist and the health problems were collected through rating scale.
The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Every group was given
orientation programme lasting 30 minutes and also demonstration of wearing technique is taught
and made them to re-demonstrate among themselves and observed individually for three days
observations in a week before and after intervention for assessing the compliance.
Before the intervention, the mean overall awareness score of samples were
14.62(45.69%) After the intervention, the mean overall awareness score 23.96,(74.88%) which
showed the effectiveness of the orientation programme. Statistically there was a significant
difference in the mean over all compliance score of using hearing protective devices before &
after the intervention (t=24.01,P<0.05,df=48.
The study concludes that the orientation programme was effective in improving the
awareness on noise hazards and the compliance to using protective devices.


Phase-change functional responses can be obtained in perovskite solid solutions at structural instabilities involving multiferroic states, a very promising approach for realizing magnetoelectric effects at room temperature. A line of multiferroic morphotropic phase boundaries (MPBs) has been described within the phase diagram of the BiFeO3-BiMnO3-PbTiO3 ternary system, in which an evolution from Cc/P4mm-type (polar/polar) to Pnma/P4mm-type (antipolar/polar) MPBs takes place. Coexistence of the three polymorphs results in a small region, where distinctive phase-change magnetoelectric responses are anticipated. In this work, all three polymorphs were obtained, either isolated or in phase coexistence with varying percentages, by tailoring the cooling profile after high-temperature annealing in a small compositional range. The perovskite structure was characterized, and temperature-dependent magnetic and electrical characterizations were carried out to define the ferroic orders and crystal physicochemical properties of the three polymorphs. Results revealed the close interplay among the crystal structure, point defects, and multiferroism in this small region, where the delicate balance among the three polymorphs is shown. Additionally, the effect of size reduction across the submicron range, down to the nanoscale, is described and discussed.


In the JRSM, last year, Baron1 lamented the decline of the necropsy. As a senior house officer in histopathology working in a district general hospital, I have managed to attend only four post-mortems in the past twelve months. Most of my colleagues in this region are in a similar predicament: Royal College of Pathologists training requirements for the first-year trainee include twenty post-mortem examinations. What can be done to improve matters?

Do we need to perform necropsies at all? Rutty and colleagues2 looked at the ability of pathologists to predict a cause of death from the available clinical history without conducting a postmortem examination, and found an error rate between 61% and 74%. This was not acceptable to replace coroner's necropsies. According to Home Office statistics, deaths reported to the coroner now account for one-third of all deaths in England and Wales, having risen from 130 000 in 1970 to 201 000 in 1999. In 1999 62% of the total referrals underwent post-mortem examination under the legal authority of the coroner3. These examinations could provide valuable opportunities for histopathology trainees and are widely used for this purpose in North America. Maintenance of regional databases of post-mortem examinations in hospitals without trainees could enable trainees on day release to attend or perform post-mortems. This would be a good way to use a dwindling resource for training. Another, and underexplored, approach is to use simulators. Simulator software is available on several pathology websites, but its usefulness needs to be evaluated properly. The Royal College of Pathologists must address this issue of training, or trainees will be emerging with serious skill shortages.


This synopsis brings together and provides a thorough summary of the available scien� fi c evidence of what is known, or not known, about the eff ec� veness of conserva� on ac� ons for wild terrestrial mammals across the world (excluding bats and primates, which are covered in separate synopses). Ac� ons are organized into categories based on the Interna� onal Union for Conserva� on of Nature classifi ca� ons of direct threats and conserva� on ac� ons. This book is designed to be a useful resource for those concerned with the prac� cal conserva� on of terrestrial mammals.


Abstract : Satellite formations, otherwise known in the space community as satellite clusters or distributed satellite systems, have been studied extensively over the last 10 to 15 years. For use in remote sensing applications, formations consisting of smaller, simpler satellites provide numerous advantages over individual satellites. The image resolution capabilities of small-satellite formations constitute a significant technological leap in the ability to synthesize critical information. This research utilizes the nonlinear satellite dynamics, including gravitational perturbations, to search for the optimal fuel cost for maintaining a circular formation. The system dynamics were developed in an earth-centered inertial coordinate frame using the methods of Hamiltonian dynamics. Continuous dynamic optimization theory was used to minimize fuel requirements, resulting in a continuous thrust, open-loop control law. The uncontrolled reference trajectory off which the formation is based was restricted to a circular, inclined orbit. Given initial conditions which match the mean motion of every member of the formation, it is shown that 1-km circular formation configurations can be maintained for control costs on the order of 40-50 m/s/year at an altitude of 400 km. Additionally, further fuel savings are possible with modifications to orbit altitude, formation radius, and variations in the defined performance index.


As the laser technology advances and the availability of high power femtosecond pulsed laser systems increase, the urgency to have damage thresholds and ED50 data on these new laser systems becomes more and more prominent. In this study, we have used >50 mJ, 30-50 femtosecond laser pulses at ~810 nm that produced self-focusing filaments in the atmosphere. Then, these high-powered (1-3 terawatt) filaments were placed on a grid pattern on a piece of chamois. The effects and the damage caused by the filaments were investigated. The results were compared to the damage threshold data. Ultimately, our purpose is to extend this study to porcine skin and to measure Minimum Visible Lesion (MVL) thresholds and to determine the ED50 for exposures at above mentioned laser pulses.


A consideration of whether EE could conceivably be an alternative to RP as a teaching model. Since David Rosewarne first coined the term in 1984, much has been written about Estuary English (EE). The definition usually given of Estuary English is that if we can imagine a continuum with Received Pronunciation (RP) at one end and Cockney (an urban accent of London) at the other, then Estuary English is in the middle. This definition is restated by Wells (1998-9) as 'Standard English spoken with the accent of the southeast of England. This highlights two chief points: that it is standard (unlike Cockney) and that it is localized in the southeast (unlike RP)'. The book English Language for Beginners (Lowe & Graham 1998) contains on p. 156 a diagram giving the actress Joanna Lumley as an example of RP, the boxer Frank Bruno for Cockney, and the comedian and writer Ben Elton for EE. This is ironic, in that Ben Elton himself denies that he is a speaker of EE (John Wells, personal communication).


L. S. Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory postulates the underlying unity of psychological and social factors contributing to the formation of man. It explains both internal factors determining the evolution of consciousness and social trends in social development. The paper highlights the role of L. S. Vygotsky's theory in the interpretation of the changes in the modern human consciousness. These changes are caused by new culture tools of knowledge building currently created in the information space. The author emphasises the following ideas proposed by L. S. Vygotsky: 1) signs are functionally analogous to tools; 2) culture intentionally creates objects to realise its communicative-significative function; 3) sign utilization leads to the formation of fundamentally new associative bonds in the brain. Such bonds create a novel regulatory mechanism of human behaviour; 4) social determination of man is achieved with the help of signs; 5) the formation and functioning of mind depend on the means of thought and individual sociocultural experience; 6) 'socialised speech' influences the evolution of inner speech as a specific type of thinking-in-words and the logic of thinking; 7) the historical evolution of human culture plays the key role in the formation and functioning of individual psyches; 8) due to sign usage the nature of human evolution changed from biological to sociohistorical; consequently, mankind's evolution significantly depends on the signs used by individuals. Modern digital technologies actively generate signs whose nature is contrary to verbal ones. The process of globalisation and the values of the post-non-classical mindset sustain generation of such signs. Globalisation creates a standardised and maximally regimented reality, which contributes to the reinforcement of reduplication as the socially approved way of knowledge use. What is more, globalisation requires revision of the traditional humanistic values and customs. Post-non-classical thinking enhances individuals' feelings of insecurity and uncertainty, thus nearly making them act within the framework of conventional behavioural and mental models.


Autofluorescent daily growth zones in locust resilin provide a detailed record of cross-linking of the polypeptide chains, since the fluorescence is caused by the tertiary cross-links, dityrosine and trityrosine. Environmental temperature changes are the main cause of autofluorescent daily growth layers in resilin, fluorescence increasing with temperature. Microdensitometric scans show that this rhythmicity is superficial, in harmony with the optical and mechanical isotropy of resilin. The molecular structure and properties of resilin appear to be homeostatically controlled by the cells. With suitable rearing conditions, resilin ligaments were produced with half or twice as many fluorescent growth layers as usual, or with them almost absent. Evidence for a weak circadian rhythm influencing cross-linking is presented. A marked drop in fluorescence followed by a sharp rise occurs at adult emergence and is metabolically triggered. A metabolic control also operates to make the resilin grown before the moult less fluorescent than resilin grown after it. Further evidence for the very rapid cross-linking of resilin during its formation is discussed.


The interactions of an oxygen atom with lithium clusters in the BCC (100) and BCC (110) symmetries have been investigated from the point of view of many-body perturbation theory. Different approach positions of the oxygen atom, namely, on top, open and bridge positions have been considered and the variations of the chemisorption energies among the different approach positions have been studied in detail. Results have been compared with the previous work on hydrogen and oxygen interactions with lithium clusters. Stronger interaction is predicted for the oxygen atom with the (110) surface than with the (100) surface and penetration of the adatom into the surface is expected. Electronic charge distributions have been analysed using Mulliken population analysis and charge density plots.


The purpose of this presentation is to clarify the universal meaning of generalized non-extensive entropies and/or statistics based on Tsallis entropy from the viewpoint of "Micro-Macro duality". What plays here the most important roles is the notions of scales and scaling transformations which will be seen to be related closely to the main themes of this workshop, generalized non-extensive entropies and/or statistics and the information-geometrical structures of the classifying spaces.


The goal of this dissertation was to examine role played by the geometry of extracellular space in influencing physiological function of neurons. Specifically we examined geometry cerebellar glomeruli - complex synaptic structure whose physiology and morphology indicate that glomerular structure may mediate glomerular function. For one cerebellar glomeruli experience tight glial ensheathment which could limit the rates of ion flow in and out of glomeruli. In addition, several lines of evidence indicate that synaptic connections within glomeruli experience cross-talk via neurotransmitter spillover. Furthermore neurotransmitter receptors whose activation could be dependent on their position as they are placed away from neurotransmitter release sites and potentially close to the neurotransmitter uptake sites. Properties described above implicate a strong relationship between the function of glomeruli and their structure. We chose to further examine this relationship in complex mathematical models of cerebellar function that preserved cerebellar geometry. Initially we used a stylized glomerular geometric model that aimed to preserve the known structural features of glomeruli. As calcium is an important second messenger that plays an integral role in synaptic plasticity, we, used the model to examine whether the structure of the glomeruli, specifically glial ensheathment could limit the flow of calcium in and out of glomeruli. In addition we investigated whether glutamate - important excitatory neurotransmitter in the glomeruli - could activate sites that lay outside of the release sites. Lastly, we extended the complexity of our model geometry by introducing morphology based on EM tomograms of rat glomeruli where we re-addressed calcium flow into glomeruli and neurotransmitter spillover. Our results using stylized model showed that calcium flow into the glomeruli is highly sensitive to the degree of glial ensheathment. Moreover, quality of ensheathment, such as the distance to which glial cells wrap around objects entering glomeruli, could influence the rate of calcium flow. We got consistent results using realistic reconstruction with calcium refilling glomeruli with 16 ms time constant. We also showed that high rates of neurotransmitter release in a stylized glomerulus could successfully activate all sites regardless of their position. While time constraints did not allow us to model multiple release events within models based on EM reconstructions, we did model a single release event that showed that activation at distal sites is dependent on the relative position of the distal sites to the release sites


amount of information in term of documents, available to users as a result of information retrieval process for the purpose of resolution of decision problems is a major factor that determines whether economically viable decisions would be made or not. Various works in the literature had addressed the challenges of representing the documents with key terms (generated from the document) as well as the variations in the meaning of each key terms. In this work, a document representation scheme that is based on the key terms generated from the documents and their usage was developed. To realize this document representation scheme, a computational model for capturing document usage was designed with the use of attribute value pair technique of document annotation. The document usage model designed was applied in the development of a Competitive Intelligence based Document Usage Creation and Exploration system that is currently under development. A preliminary evaluation of the document usage model based on cosine similarity function between user query and documents set was carried out. The result obtained shows that representing documents in terms of their usage can enhance the quality of information search results as documents that would hitherto be considered not relevant to user query are found to be ranked very relevant based on previous usages.


Nickel matrix composites are produced with concentrations of 0.5 – 10 vol.% of carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), onion-like carbon (OLC) or nanodiamonds (nDs) as reinforcements by hot pressing. After densification, a secondary annealing step is conducted to induce grain growth and thus to analyse the effect of the different carbon nanoparticles (CNP) and their concentrations on the microstructure. Grain sizes are measured by electron backscatter diffraction and a model based on the Zener equation is adapted to predict the observed grain refinement for all CNP. It is shown that the model is valid, as long as no saturation value of the refinement effect is reached. However, the individual concentration at which a saturation value is reached differs, which is correlated to the mean CNP agglomerate diameter distribution. For MWCNTs and OLCs, an increasing grain refinement is observed for up to 3 vol.% and 6.5 vol.%, respectively. However, for nDs the mean grain size is decreasing up to 10 vol.%. This difference is correlated to different hybridization states or different particle geometries for all CNP. As information regarding hybridization state and particle


Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor (PARPi) resistance is a new challenge for antitumor therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reversal effects of chidamide on fluzoparib resistance, a PARPi, and its mechanism of action. A fluzoparib-resistant triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell line was constructed, and the effects of chidamide and fluzoparib on drug-resistant cells were studied in vitro and in vivo. The effects of these drugs on cell proliferation, migration, invasiveness, the cell cycle, and apoptosis were detected using an MTT assay, wound-healing and transwell invasion assays, and flow cytometry. Bioinformatics was used to identify hub drug resistance genes and Western blots were used to assess the expression of PARP, RAD51, MRE11, cleaved Caspase9, and P-CDK1. Xenograft models were established to analyze the effects of these drugs on nude mice. In vivo results showed that chidamide combined with fluzoparib significantly inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasiveness of drug-resistant cells and restored fluzoparib sensitivity to drug-resistant cells. The combination of chidamide and fluzoparib significantly inhibited the expression of the hub drug resistance genes RAD51 and MRE11, arrested the cell cycle at the G2/M phase, and induced cell apoptosis. The findings of this work show that chidamide combined with fluzoparib has good antineoplastic activity and reverses TNBC cell resistance to fluzoparil by reducing the expression levels of RAD51 and MRE11.


The Internet of Things (IoT) has brought many positive changes in our lives. In addition to areas such as industry, Smart cities, Transport, Health, Agriculture and various other areas, IoT will also have a large organization at universities or colleges. In this age of digital transformation, IoT technology can be used to maintain a smart and secure environment in a university or college. The purpose of this project is to focus on how the IoT plays an important role in building a smart Education campus and studying the challenges in its implementation. In the proposed project sensor gets the temperature of the students automatically through wireless connection via Bluetooth, the hardware consists of a microcontroller and module, software cloud services are monitored.


INTRODUCTION
There are large variations in the number of hip replacements performed between countries, demonstrating large health inequalities; however, there has been limited research on this variation. The aims of this paper were to compare rates of hip replacements using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data for the period 2008-2018. The study also compared changes in the number of hip replacements in the total population and in only those aged over 65, and looked for a correlation of health expenditure and gross domestic product (GDP) with rates of hip replacements.

METHODS
The OECD collects annual data from all member countries on the numbers of hip replacements, healthcare expenditure and GDP. Data analysis was undertaken using STATA. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation coefficient were performed.

RESULTS
The mean number of hip replacements performed in OECD countries in 2018 was 191.5 per 100,000 population per year. The largest number was 310.6 in Germany and the lowest was 8.6 in Mexico. There has been a 21.7% increase in the mean number of hip replacements across OECD countries. There was a moderate and significant Pearson coefficient of 0.468 (p = 0.009) between the number of hip replacements performed per 100,000 population in 2018 and GDP per person, and a strong and significant correlation with health expenditure (R = 0.784, p < 0.001). There was a moderate correlation (R = 0.645, p = 0.003) between the percentage change in the number of hip replacements performed per 100,000 population and the percentage change in healthcare expenditure per person between 2008 and 2018.

CONCLUSIONS
There is 36-fold variation in the practice of hip replacements across the OECD and the number of hip replacements has increased by more than 20% over the past decade. The number of hip replacements performed appears to be correlated with health expenditure in each country and may indicate a need that can only be met by increasing health expenditure.


The shape of the topside electron density (Ne) profile is studied using incoherent scatter radar (ISR) measurements. On the basis of more than 90,000 and 84,000 Ne profiles measured over Arecibo (18.4°N, 66.7°W, dip 49.7°) and Millstone Hill (42.6°N, 71.5°W, dip 71.6°), respectively, shape factors have been derived by fitting the ISR observed profile using a Chapman‐type layer with a height‐independent scale height. The results reveal that the shape factor shows a general departure from the typically used values of 0.5 (Chapman α layer) except during the night and also undergoes appreciable variation with local time, season, solar activity, and latitude. Over Arecibo, the averaged shape factor is characterized by a daytime maximum of ∼0.55–0.75, a nearly constant nighttime value close to 0.5, and a marked morning decline; over Millstone Hill, the shape factor shows pronounced seasonal variations, and the diurnal variation in summer is opposite to that in other seasons. Over both stations, the shape factor exhibits a high correlation with the F2 layer peak electron density (NmF2), and it has strong solar cycle dependence during the late morning hours. It indicates that the temperature structure of the topside ionosphere can explain much of the variation of the shape factor when the plasma density is low, especially during nighttime. During daytime hours, the topside shape factor is thought to be associated with ion‐neutral drag during periods of large plasma density.


Intercellular cholesterol transport in the brain is carried by high density lipoprotein (HDL) generated in situ by cellular interaction with the apolipoprotein apoE, which is mainly synthesized by astrocytes, and with apoA-I secreted by cells such as endothelial cells. Rat astrocytes in fact generate HDL with extracellular apoA-I in addition to releasing HDL with endogenously synthesized apoE, seemingly by the same mechanism as the HDL assembly for systemic circulation. Relating to this reaction, apoA-I induced translocation of newly synthesized cholesterol and phospholipid to the cytosol prior to extracellular assembly of HDL, accompanied by an increase of caveolin-1 in the cytosol, activation of sterol regulatory element-binding protein, and enhancement of cholesterol synthesis. The lipid translocated into the cytosol was recovered in the fraction with a density of 1.09–1.16 g/ml as well as caveolin-1 and cyclophilin A. Cyclosporin A inhibited these apoA-I-mediated reactions and suppressed apoA-I-mediated cholesterol release. The findings suggest that such translocation of cholesterol and phospholipid into the cytosol is related to the apo A-I-mediated HDL assembly in astrocytes through functional association with caveolin-1 and a cyclosporin A-sensitive cyclophilin protein(s).


Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a bone-derived hormone that binds to binary FGFR/α-Klotho receptor complexes in the kidney tubules to inhibit phosphate reabsorption and 1,25(OH)2D production. Excess FGF23 causes X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) and tumor induced osteomalacia (TIO). Recently, Burosumab, an FGF23 blocking antibody, was approved for treating these hypophosphatemic disorders. A small molecule inhibitor that specifically binds to FGF23 to prevent activation of FGFR/α-Klotho complexes has potential advantages over a systemically administered FGF23 blocking antibody. We previously identified the small molecule ZINC13407541 (N-[[2-(2-phenylethenyl)cyclopenten-1-yl]methylidene]hydroxylamine) as a therapeutic lead FGF23 antagonist. Additional structure-activity studies developed a series of ZINC13407541 analogues with enhanced drug-like properties. In this study, we tested in a pre-clinical Hyp mouse homologue of XLH a direct connect analogue (8n) [(E)-2-(4-(tert-butyl)phenyl)cyclopent-1-ene-1-carbaldehyde oxime] that exhibited the greatest stability in microsomal assays, and 13a [(E)-2-((E)-4-methylstyryl)benzaldehyde oxime] that exhibited increased in vitro potency. We found that pharmacological inhibition of FGF23 with either of these compounds blocked FGF23 signaling and significantly increased serum phosphate and 1,25(OH)2D concentrations in Hyp mice. Long-term parenteral treatment with 8n or 13a also enhanced linear bone growth, increased mineralization of bone, and narrowed the growth plate in Hyp mice. The more potent 13a compound showed greater therapeutic efficacy in Hyp mice. Further optimization of these FGF23 inhibitors may lead to versatile drugs to treat FGF23-mediated disorders.


This thesis is an attempt to understand the evolution of national identity in New Zealand through an examination of New Zealanders' evolving attitudes to immigrants and immigration. It begins with the premise that through selecting whom to admit to New Zealand as immigrants and become New Zealanders, we are collectively expressing what we believe a New Zealander to be. A rapidly evolving body of international literature sparked by Benedict Anderson's 1991 work Imagined Communities, places the self and the process of identification at the heart of understandings about national and other forms of collective identity. I draw on these models of national identity to critically evaluate the 'ethno-cultural' model of the New Zealand nation adopted by writers such as Keith Sinclair and James Belich. I contend that, in trying to write national histories which stress the unique cultural elements of the nation, these writers have produced artificially homogenous and static models of New Zealand's cultural identity. My thesis proposes that a model of national identity as a state of shared consciousness attained by a defined and mutually understood group of people is inadequate. Instead, I argue that notions both of what constitutes the nation and who belongs within its boundaries are a source of constant debate and evolve over time. I examine national identity in relation to immigration on two levels: at the level of immigration policy, which determines who is formally admitted to the nation-state, and at the level of public debate over immigration which is a more popular expression of a nation's boundaries. The 1970s in New Zealand provides excellent material for examining both of these aspects of the relationship. The decade witnessed both significant changes in immigration policy and bitter public debate about immigration. Before the 1970s, New Zealand's immigration policy was based around a popular identification with Britain and the assumption that New Zealand was part of a British family of nations. Consequently, immigration policy strongly favoured white people from Great Britain. Britain's entry into the European Economic Community in 1973, however, forced New Zealanders to reevaluate the idea that New Zealand identity was part of a broader British identity category and this had implications for immigration policy and attitudes to British immigrants. At the same time, the arrival of an increasing number of Pacific Island immigrants, a group which fell without the boundaries of a culturally defined nation, contributed to debate about cultural diversity and national culture. The presence of Pacific Islanders presented a challenge to the idea of the nation should or could be defined in terms of a single unitary culture. In this way, the 1970s debate over immigration can be understood as part of a broader debate about the place of multiculturalism in New Zealand. This thesis interprets the 1970s as a pivotal time in the evolution of New Zealand identity. At the same time, by examining contestation over immigration as a manifestation of a broader uncertainty and debate about national identity, it makes a case for a broader understanding of New Zealand identity as a debate and as an evolving process.


This technical note offers students a definition of brand activism (as contrasted to corporate social responsibility) along with an explanation of the different forms that this corporate practice can take. Specifically, students are introduced to the concepts of both progressive and regressive brand activism, in addition to the different causes the activist efforts may champion, whether social, legal, or environmental, to name a few.In order to illustrate these different categories and the sensible ways for managers to approach brand activism, examples of both successful and unsuccessful brand activism initiatives are provided, including those of Benetton Group, Dove, Patagonia, and Pepsi. While these companies' moves were intentionally designed to resonate with consumers, students are also presented examples of companies that unwillingly elicited activist customer responses (including GrubHub, Uber, Nordstrom, Starbucks, and Papa John's). Finally, the examples of Jack Daniels and Chick-fil-A illustrate deliberate corporate decisions not to communicate their values, while an explanation of boycotting and buycotting helps students understand the impact that brand activism initiatives can have on the bottom line. Excerpt UVA-M-0963 Jun. 27, 2018 Brand Activism Brand activism is an increasingly popular corporate practice in which companies voluntarily take a stance on what they think is "good" for society and then make corresponding public statements and, occasionally, adapt their operations in ways that support their chosen social causes. Unlike corporate social responsibility efforts (which focus on making a company's core operations more sustainable or ethically minded), brand activism often tackles societal, environmental, or human issues that are not directly associated with the company's core product or operations. Passionate consumer reactions following instances of brand activism are usually immediate, and success stories linked to such activism are not difficult to find. At the same time, companies attempting to align themselves with an activist message can often miss the mark and, even worse, can alienate customers. (For examples of brand activism from companies such as United Colors of Benetton, Dove, Patagonia, and Pepsi, and the respective consumer responses to each, see Exhibits 1–4.) In order to effectively engage in brand activism, managers may find it beneficial to define their planned brand-activism campaigns according to the categories in which they fall. (It should be noted that successful campaigns can fall into any category, assuming the company is acting in accordance with its customers' values.) Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar have identified the multiple categories of activism as the following: . . .


We obtain the θ-dependence of the displacement vector of rotationally modulated low-frequency nonradial oscillations by numerically integrating Laplace's tidal equation as an eigenvalue problem with a relaxation method. This method of calculation is more tractable than our previous method in which the θ-dependence was represented by a truncated series of associated Legendre functions. Laplace's tidal equation has two families of eigenvalues. In one of these families, an eigenvalue λ coincides with l(l + 1) when rotation is absent, where l is the latitudinal degree of the associated Legendre function, Pml(cos θ). The value of λ changes as a function of ν ≡ 2Ω/ω, where Ω and ω are the angular frequencies of rotation and of oscillation (seen in the corotating frame), respectively. These eigenvalues correspond to rotationally modulated g-mode oscillations. In the domain of | ν | > 1, another family of eigenvalues exists. Eigenvalues belonging to this family have negative values for prograde oscillations, while they change signs from negative to positive for retrograde oscillations as | ν | increases. Negative λ's correspond to oscillatory convective modes. The solution associated with a λ that has a small positive value after changing its sign is identified as an r-mode (global Rossby wave) oscillation. Amplitudes of g-mode oscillations tend to be confined to the equatorial region as | ν | increases. This tendency is stronger for larger λ. On the other hand, amplitudes of oscillatory convective modes are small near the equator.


[1] We present a model of insoluble particle activation based on a modification of the Kohler equation in which we introduce a term based on the activity of water adsorbed on the particle surface. We illustrate the model by application to activation data from black carbon (BC) particles. We parameterize the model using a free energy of adsorption that reflects the relative affinity for water vapor adsorbing on either the BC surface or the adsorbed water layer. This enables the parameterization of either chemically modified (hydrophilic) or graphitic (hydrophobic) BC. Several features of a suite of carbon activation data are captured by the model. In particular, upper and lower bounding curves are predicted for activation supersaturation as a function of diameter. We show a large body of recent activation data that all fall within these bounds. The model also predicts that activation of BC aerosol leads to activation diameters from 3 to 10 times smaller than activation of soluble particles of identical dry diameter. The activation of smaller particles may be expected to impact the size distribution of resulting cloud droplets and thus the aerosol first indirect effect on climate. Finally, we compare activation of BC aerosol as calculated with this model to activation of mixed particles of BC and ammonium sulfate. It is shown that for some range of the adsorption free energy a hydrophilic BC aerosol is predicted to activate at lower supersaturation than comparable mixed aerosol of low mass fraction in the soluble component, indicating the utility of a model of mixed particle activation based on the adsorption of water to form an interfacial solution.


Congenital disorder of glycosylation Ia (CDG-Ia) is an autosomal recessive disease, characterized by the impaired biosynthesis of the N-linked oligosaccharide chains of proteins due to a deficiency of phosphomannomutase (PMM), the enzyme converting mannose-6-phosphate into mannose-1-phosphate. We investigated the consequences of the altered N-linked glycoprotein (GP) biosynthesis on the quantity and quality of glycosphingolipids (GSLs) in fibroblasts of CDG-Ia patients. First, we found that CDG-Ia fibroblasts contain an increased amount of total GSLs when compared with normal fibroblasts. Further, we assessed by metabolic labeling of CDG-Ia fibroblasts with radioactive sugar precursors, including galactose and N-acetylmannosamine, that a diminished biosynthesis of cellular GPs is antagonized by an increased biosynthesis of GSLs. An increased GSL biosynthesis was also observed by means of radiolabeled lipid precursors including sphingosine and lactosylceramide. Notably, also the degradation of GLSs is slowed down in CDG-Ia fibroblasts. Finally, when we labeled normal human fibroblasts and CHO cells with radioactive galactose in the presence and absence of deoxymannojirimycin (dMM), an inhibitor of N-glycan processing, we found that this cellular model mimics what occurs in CDG-Ia fibroblasts. Since an inverse relationship between GP expression and GSL content does exist, we assume that increased glycosphingolipid biosynthesis is secondary to protein hypoglycosylation. Altogether, our data suggest that the cell metabolic machinery may be able to partially re-equilibrate protein hypoglycosylation with increased biosynthesis of glycosphingolipids, possibly to preserve the overall physico-chemical equilibrium of the outer layer of the plasma membrane.


This paper analyzes the effect of different types of foreign aid on tax revenues in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries. A fixed-effects panel model with instrumental variables was developed over the period spanning from 1985 to 2016. The results indicate that multilateral aid affects positively and significantly tax revenues while bilateral aid does not. Moreover, the analysis of the decomposed effect of aid revealed that concessional aid and technical assistance enhance fiscal resources mobilization. However, grants reduce tax effort. The results also show that when aid is aggregated, its effect on tax revenues is ambiguous. These results justify for many reasons the reorientation of foreign aid towards investment for effective tax systems in WAEMU countries in compliance with Addis Ababa Action Agenda 2015 of the third international conference on Financing for Development. Strengthening multilateral partnership is advocated in accordance with the 17th Sustainable Development Goals. Also, an improvement of institutional quality could make foreign aid more efficient for tax collection in the study areas.


We investigate the impact of the configurations mixings that follow from QCD-inspired interquark forces on our results for the electroexcitation of the Delta(1232)3/2+, N(1440)1/2+, and Delta(1600)3/2+ obtained earlier in the light-front relativistic quark model. We have shown that the configurations mixings increase the 3q contribution to the gamma* N ->Delta(1232)3/2+ magnetic-dipole form factor at Q2=0 from 42% to 63% and significantly improve the agreement with experiment for the gamma* p ->N(1440)1/2+ transverse helicity amplitude at Q2>1.5GeV2. For the gamma* N ->Delta(1600)3/2+ transition, configuration mixings change strongly the results obtained earlier for the N and Delta(1600)3/2+ taken as pure states in the multiplets [56,0+] and [56',0+].


An adult patient with patent omphalomesenteric duct who presented with fecal umbilical discharge was excised with median incision. The omphalomesenteric duct was followed up to the junction with the small intestine and resection of this segment with the duct was performed. There were no postoperative complications. In the presence of feculent, bilious, seropurulent, or serous discharge at the umbilicus, omphalomesenteric duct or an intestinal umbilical fistula must be remembered in the differential diagnosis.


We have observed beating between two broadband light sources of linewidths 4.3 and 2.3 nm by a method of time-delayed laser-induced double gratings. We explain the signal modulation by relating the signal intensity to the autocorrelation function of a field which consists of two frequency components.


Purpose: This study was conducted to explore factors that influence illness intrusiveness of the sexual life in women with overactive bladder. Methods: Ninety-two women diagnosed with overactive bladder, from D University Hospital and three private urology hospitals in B region, participated in a survey between April 7 and August 7, 2012. The Overactive Bladder-questionnaire (OAB-q), the Marital Intimacy Tool, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D), and 1 question to ask illness intrusiveness of the sexual life were used in the study. Results: The illness intrusiveness score of the sexual life in women with overactive bladder was 2.22 out of 5. There were no significant differences of illness intrusiveness by demographic and disease related characteristics. The predictor were the clinical symptom score and depression, accounting for 13% of the variance of the illness intrusiveness of the sexual life in the women with overactive bladder. Conclusion: Effective nursing intervention to relieve clinical signs of overactive bladder and reduce depression can improve quality of sexual life in women with overactive bladder.


A group of patients with irregular menstrual cycles and who could not become pregnant underwent electroencephalography (EEG). 2 distinct types of EEG tracings were noted; therapy was based on these tracings with administration of diphenyldantoin to one group of patients nialamid to the other. Moreover to be able to compare normal cycles to pathological ones and to be able to appreciate an eventual therapeutic improvement normograms were taken of 46 regular menstrual cycles. After 4 months of treatment 36 i.e. 68% of patients were pregnant and fertilization was obtained mostly during the 2nd and 3rd cycles of treatment.


Coordination compounds of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) with 1,3,4-thiadiazole-2,5-disulfonamide as ligand were synthesized and characterized by IR and UV spectroscopy, conductimetry and thermogravimetry. The parent ligand is a very weak carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitor, although it constituted the lead for developing important classes of diuretics. The complex derivatives behave as much stronger CA inhibitors, with IC50 values around 10−8M against isozyme CA II, and 10−7 M against isozyme CAI.


We propose measuring the fractional momentum (x) dependence of the ratio of the anti-down to anti-up quark distributions in the proton, {bar d}(x)/{bar u}(x), using proton induced Drell-Yan reactions at 120 GeV. Recent measurements by FNAL E866 unexpectedly show considerable x dependence in this ratio for x > 0.2. A lower energy primary proton beam from the Main Injector makes it possible to extend the E866 measurements to larger x with much higher precision. The apparatus will also be used with nuclear targets to measure parton energy loss and modifications to anti-quark distributions in nuclear targets at large x (x > 0.2).


We report radio interferometric observations of the 12C16O 1.3 mm J = 2 − 1 emission line in the circumstellar envelope of the M supergiant α Ori and have detected and separated both the S1 and S2 flow components for the first time. Observations were made with the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) interferometer in the C, D, and E antenna configurations. We obtain good u − v coverage (5–280 kλ) by combining data from all three configurations allowing us to trace spatial scales as small as 0.″9 over a 32″ field of view. The high spectral and spatial resolution C configuration line profile shows that the inner S1 flow has slightly asymmetric outflow velocities ranging from −9.0 km s−1 to +10.6 km s−1 with respect to the stellar rest frame. We find little evidence for the outer S2 flow in this configuration because the majority of this emission has been spatially filtered (resolved out) by the array. We also report a SOFIA–GREAT CO(J = 12 − 11) emission line profile, which we associate with this inner higher excitation S1 flow. The outer S2 flow appears in the D and E configuration maps and its outflow velocity is found to be in good agreement with high-resolution optical spectroscopy of K i obtained at the McDonald Observatory. We image both S1 and S2 in the multi-configuration maps and see a gradual change in the angular size of the emission in the high absolute velocity maps. We assign an outer radius of 4″ to S1 and propose that S2 extends beyond CARMA's field of view (32″ at 1.3 mm) out to a radius of 17″, which is larger than recent single-dish observations have indicated. When azimuthally averaged, the intensity falloff for both flows is found to be proportional to R−1, where R is the projected radius, indicating optically thin winds with ρ∝R−2.


Global sensitivity analysis provides insight into how sources of uncertainty contribute to uncertainty in predictions of computational models. Global sensitivity indices, also called variance-based sensitivity indices and Sobol indices, are most often computed with Monte Carlo methods. However, when the computational model is computationally expensive and only a small number of samples can be generated, that is, in so-called small-data settings, usual Monte Carlo estimates may lack sufficient accuracy. As a means of improving accuracy in such small-data settings, we explore the use of probabilistic learning. The objective of the probabilistic learning is to learn from the available samples a probabilistic model that can be used to generate additional samples, from which Monte Carlo estimates of the global sensitivity indices are then deduced. We demonstrate the interest of such a probabilistic learning method by applying it in an illustration concerned with forecasting the contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet to sea-level rise.


Problem solving is fundamental not only to the learning and application of mathematics, but to all walks of life. Many people consider mathematics and problem solving to be synonymous. However, there are many mathematicians who do not solve problems or who do more than solve problems. Some work to build new theories or advance the language of mathematics. Others unify or explain previous results, sometimes from many fields of mathematics. Yet others consider the very nature and philosophy of mathematics as a discipline. In modern society, mathematics teaching at all levels seeks to develop students' abilities to effectively address a wide variety of mathematics problems such as: proving theorems; reducing new problems to previously solved problems; formulating and solving both real-life and abstract word problems; finding and creating patterns; interpreting figures, graphs and data; developing geometric constructions; and doing appropriate computations or simulations, often with computers or calculators. Problem-solving is also an instructional approach in which students actively learn fundamental concepts through their contextualization within problems rather than from a passive lecture. What fundamentally connects these activities, beyond the mathematics techniques and skills necessary to solve them, is the notion of "how to think." Not only must students have the tools and techniques at their disposal through a solid education in the fundamentals, they must be able to analyze the characteristics and requirements of a problem in order to decide which tools to apply, or to know that they do not have the appropriate tool at their disposal. Further, students must practice with these mathematical tools in order to become skilled and flexible problem solvers, in the same way athletes or craftsmen practice their trades. As Hungarian mathematician George Polya expressed, "If you wish to become a problem solver, you have to solve problems." This extends to the notion that problem solving is by its nature cyclic and dynamic. In many cases, the solution to a problem results in one or more new problems, or opens the path to solving an older problem for which a solution has previously proven to be elusive. Sometimes mathematics problems have real and immediate applications, and many new mathematical disciplines, like operations research or statistical quality control, have developed from these sorts of problems. In contrast, there are many issues in theoretical mathematics that do not appear to have any immediate benefit to society. In some cases people question the need to explore such abstract problems when there are more immediate needs to be met. Often, these abstract problems turn out to have very concrete applications decades or even centuries after their initial introduction. Even if that is not the case, theoretical problem-solving adds to the growing body of mathematics knowledge and, just as importantly, shows people yet another way to think about the world.


How to determine the physical and mechanical parameters of the surrounding rock become obstacle of the theory analysis with tunnel and numerical research because of complexity and unpredictable of tunnel surrounding rock. The vast majority of tunnels in the design of analog experience when they are in accordance with the recommended value. Because of the complicated conditions, great deformation, high stress, multi-variables, high non-linearity, the algorithm for structure optimization and its application in tunnel engineering has just been at the right beginning. However, how to make optimized design of structure for tunnel section, reduce excavation and increase support is a very urgent task now. Artificial intelligence shows extremely strong capability in identifying, expressing and disposing such kind of multiple variables and complicated non-linear relation. In this paper, Regard Adaptive Immunity Algorithm as searching tool to look for the best Network structure for parameters in all room, then, avoid multi-parameter optimization of parameters and a local minimum value of the shortcomings, and improve computing speed and efficiency.It is able to adjust the excavation area and support and protection design in the current design to get the conclusion with practical value by means of optimization of structure surface of the garden tunnel, verifying the advantages of this method in optimization calculation of tunnel engineering at faster calculation speed and higher efficiency and also indicating the improved immune genetic algorithm has practical significance in the stability evaluation of tunnel rock and information design.


This book is based on papers presented in 1969 at the Rome Symposium on Man in Isolation and/or Enclosed Space. An indication of the skilful editing is that this does not show. The point emerges from the twelve contributions that the study of normal people in abnormal situations holds out at least as much promise for furthering the understanding and prediction of human behaviour as does the study of abnormal people. Although it is not the purpose of the authors to stress the fact, it is clear that it can also contribute to the treatment of the abnormal. To cite but one from many possible examples, Haythorn, reporting on his work


Background: The novel fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3)/AXL inhibitor, gilteritinib, showed robust antileukemic activity at doses ≥80 mg/day in FLT3 mutation-positive (FLT3mut+) patients with R/R AML in the CHRYSALIS Phase 1/2 study (NCT02014558). We analyzed variant allele frequency (VAF) in a CHRYSALIS study FLT3mut+ R/R AML subpopulation with baseline FLT3 internal tandem duplication (ITD) and tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) mutations using two different assays: capillary electrophoresis (CE) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). We assessed analytical concordance and survival outcomes at two FLT3 loci: ITD and D835 mutations in the TKD. Methods: Assays were performed on bone marrow and blood samples. The CE (LeukoStrat® CDx) FLT3 mutation assay detected both FLT3 -ITD and D835/I836 FLT3 -TKD mutations; these loci were amplified using polymerase chain reaction. Amplicon size differences distinguished samples with FLT3-ITD mutations from those with wild-type FLT3 . Undigested amplicons following restriction enzyme digestion identified the presence of FLT3-TKD mutations. The capture based NGS assay targeted potential mutation loci in all FLT3 exons. Whole genome libraries were generated and hybridized with a custom probe to capture target fragments, which were sequenced on an Illumina® MiSeq platform. The CE FLT3 signal ratio outputs were converted to estimated VAF values for comparison with NGS outputs. For FLT3-ITD analysis, both assays were optimized to detect large ITD mutations. Median overall survival (OS) was determined for patients who received ≥80 mg/day gilteritinib, specifically among those with FLT3-ITD with/without concomitant TKD mutations, and those with TKD mutations only. Median VAF values were calculated; patient VAFs were stratified according to whether they were greater than/equal to, or less than the median value. Lastly, OS of patients with a FLT3-ITD mutation detected by NGS was stratified using a ≥5% VAF cut point. Results: Bone marrow and blood samples from 241 patients were analyzed. The two assays demonstrated strong concordance for both qualitative (mutation detection) and quantitative (VAF) measures at both FLT3-ITD and FLT3-TKD loci. Using a VAF threshold of ≥0.05 and the most prominent ITD in each sample, FLT3-ITD detection by CE or NGS showed a strong concordance in 98.8% (238 of 241) of samples (155 and 156 positives by CE and NGS, respectively). All 3 discordant samples had VAFs that were near (±0.02) the 0.05 VAF threshold and within the 95% CI values for both assays. Strong concordance for FLT3-ITD detection was maintained when multiple ITDs were observed within a sample; a strong linear correlation between both assays was observed for mutation frequencies (R2=0.987) (Figure 1). At a VAF threshold of 0.05, FLT3-TKD mutation concordance was observed in 98.3% (236/240) of samples (34 and 30 positives by CE and NGS, respectively). The 4 discordant samples were near (±0.04) the 0.05 VAF threshold and there was a strong a linear correlation between observed mutation frequencies (R2=0.906). At a VAF threshold of ≥5% for FLT3 mutation positivity, there was no apparent difference in OS in the ≥80 mg/day gilteritinib subgroup among those with FLT3-ITD with/without concomitant TKD mutations who had VAF values that were greater than/equal to or less than the median values (Figure 2A and 2B), regardless of the assay used. Patients who had a TKD mutation only with VAF values greater than/equal to the median value had longer OS than patients with VAF values less than the median value. Patients who had a TKD mutation only with VAF values greater than/equal to the median value had OS durations similar to those in patients with ITD mutations. By NGS, patients with a FLT3 -ITD VAF Conclusions: We observed high concordance using both CE and NGS methods to measure FLT3 mutational burden in patients with R/R AML who received gilteritinib in the CHRYSALIS study. Analytical concordance between the 2 assays was high and survival outcomes with stratification based on FLT3 mutational burden were similar with both assays. Our results suggest that FLT3-ITDmut+ R/R AML patients may benefit from gilteritinib therapy, regardless of FLT3 mutational burden. In patients with FLT3-TKD mutations only, a higher mutational burden may be associated with gilteritinib benefit; this finding will be further explored in future studies. Disclosures Smith: Plexxikon Inc.: Research Funding; Astellas Pharma: Research Funding. Perl: Pfizer: Other: Advisory Board; Actinium Pharmaceuticals: Other: Scientific Advisory Board; Asana Biosciences: Other: Scientific advisory board; Astellas: Consultancy; Novartis: Other: Advisory Board; Seattle Genetics: Other: Advisory board; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; Arog Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Altman: Syros: Consultancy; NCCN: Other: Educational speaker; BMS: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy; Astellas: Consultancy; Ceplene: Consultancy; Janssen Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; ASH: Other: Educational speaker. Carson: Invivoscribe, Inc.: Employment. Cortes: ImmunoGen: Consultancy, Research Funding; Teva: Research Funding; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Research Funding; ARIAD: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sun Pharma: Research Funding; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; BMS: Consultancy, Research Funding. Stenzel: Invivoscribe, Inc.: Employment. Hill: Ligacept, LLC: Equity Ownership; Patent: Patents & Royalties: WO2013163419A1 - pending; Patent: Patents & Royalties: US7862995B2 - Issued; Astellas Global Pharma Development: Employment. Lu: Astellas Pharma Global Development: Employment. Bahceci: Astellas Pharma Global Development: Employment. Levis: Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria; FujiFilm: Research Funding; Astellas Pharma Us: Consultancy, Research Funding; Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding.


In order to evaluate the impact of agricultural activities on aquatic ecosystem, the concentration of nitrate and soluble phosphorus (P) in the stream water were assessed in a rural watershed under intensive agriculture and livestock production in southern Brazil. Water samples were collected at 11 points along the drainage system in three different periods. Additionally, daily collections were made during 30 days in the middle and at the outlet of the watershed. Nitrate and soluble P concentrations were higher in the points closer to the more anthropized areas and pig farms. The soluble P concentration changed substantially according to the rainfall events, while nitrate concentration show little change with rainfall regime. The high nitrate and soluble P concentrations were attributed to poor management of the intensive livestock activities undertaken in the watershed


Cough is the most common reason why patients consult their doctor. An acute cough due to viral upper respiratory tract infection is disruptive to the individual and can lead to a reduction in productivity. Dextromethorphan is one of the most widely used antitussives; however, there is a paucity of evidence to support the use of antitussive medications. In some patients, the cough persists and impacts on health-related quality of life. Cough hypersensitivity syndrome (CHS) is an emerging term for patients with a chronic cough and it recognizes cough reflex hypersensitivity as a key feature. Most patients describe a laryngeal irritation, such as a tickle sensation, also known as laryngeal paraesthesia. The initial management of CHS is to minimize common aggravators, such as airway inflammation, gastro-oesophageal reflux and rhinitis, which may exacerbate a cough. In cases of refractory cough, speech- or physiotherapy-led cough suppression therapies and gabapentin are recommended. There is a pressing need to develop effective antitussive medications that target peripheral and central cough neural pathways.


Inductive contactless energy transfer (CET) systems show a certain oscillating transient behavior of inrush currents on both system sides. This causes current overshoots in the electrical components and has to be considered for the system dimensioning. This paper presents a simple and yet very accurate model, which describes the dynamic behavior of series-series compensated inductive CET systems. This model precisely qualifies the systems current courses for both sides in time domain. Additionally, an analysis in frequency domain allows further knowledge for parameter estimation. Since this model is applicable for purely resistive loads and constant voltage loads with bridge rectifiers, it is very practicable and can be useful for control techniques and narameter estimation.


Introduction: Dieulafoy9s disease in airway is one of many causes of recurrent and sometimes massive hemoptysis. Biopsy of the lesion may prove fatal. It9s very important to recognize the disease rapidly. Aims and objectives: Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) can be of value in prompt diagnosis of the disorder. Methodsand results: Based on the EBUS, we currently have made diagnosis of Dieulafoy9s disease of bronchi in three patients with unexplained hemoptysis. Of which these patients, one was a 44-year-old male suffered from recurrent hemoptysis. Computed tomography of bronchial artery showed an absence of left upper pulmonary artery and patchy shadows in the left lower basal segmental lobe on CT scan. Flexible bronchoscopy revealed an elevated lesion in the left lower bronchus. The radial probe endobronchial ultrasound showed a circular anechoic area within the submucosa, circumscribed with a hyperechoic margin highly suggestive of vascular structures.
 Of note, the anechoic area beat rhythmically in keeping with the pulse. The DSA revealed a left tortuous bronchial artery. The diagnosis was established. After transcatheter embolization of the hypertrophic bronchial artery, DSA revealed complete disappearance of the abnormal bronchial artery. Conclusions: EBUS is competent to the diagnosis of Dieulafoy9s disease of bronchi.


Intercoronary connection is a rare variant of coronary anomalies with a direct continuity between two main coronary arteries. It may function as an alternative pathway to blood flow in compromised coronary circulation. 64 years old male presented with 4 weeks history of retro-sternal chest pain and shortness of breath; his risk factors were diabetes mellitus, hypertension and smoking. Physical examination was normal and he had no audible murmur; he had elevated cardiac enzymes; in echocardiography there was inferior wall hypokinesia, cardiac catheterization revealed complete occlusion of med right coronary artery and complete occlusion of the left main (LM) trunk. Blood flow to the entire myocardium came from large abnormal coronary connection between the right coronary artery ostium and the proximal left anterior descending artery. A smaller arterial communication maintained blood flow to the distal right coronary artery. Cardiac computed tomographic angiography confirmed the presence of a patent left main ostium followed by complete occlusion. This unusual anatomical variation has saved the life of the patient and allowed time for surgical revascularization. The patient underwent successful triple coronary artery bypass grafts with no postoperative difficulties or complications. On one-year follow-up, the patient is asymptomatic, fully active with no new ECG or echocardiography changes.


Salix integra Thunb., a fast-growing woody plant species, has been used for phytoremediation in recent years. However, little knowledge is available regarding indigenous soil microbial communities associated with the S. integra phytoextraction process. In this study, we used an Illumina MiSeq platform to explore the indigenous microbial composition after planting S. integra at different lead (Pb) contamination levels: no Pb, low Pb treatment (Pb 500 mg kg–1), and high Pb treatment (Pb 1500 mg kg–1). At the same time, the soil properties and their relationship with the bacterial communities were analyzed. The results showed that Pb concentration was highest in the root reaching at 3159.92 ± 138.98 mg kg–1 under the high Pb treatment. Planting S. integra decreased the total Pb concentration by 84.61 and 29.24 mg kg–1, and increased the acid-soluble Pb proportion by 1.0 and 0.75% in the rhizosphere and bulk soil under the low Pb treatment compared with unplanted soil, respectively. However, it occurred only in the rhizosphere soil under the high Pb treatment. The bacterial community structure and microbial metabolism were related to Pb contamination levels and planting of S. integra, while the bacterial diversity was only affected by Pb contamination levels. The dominant microbial species were similar, but their relative abundance shifted in different treatments. Most of the specific bacterial assemblages whose relative abundances were promoted by root activity and/or Pb contamination were suitable for use in plant-microbial combination remediation, especially many genera coming from Proteobacteria. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed available nitrogen and pH having a significant effect on the bacteria relating to phytoremediation. The results indicated that indigenous bacteria have great potential in the application of combined S. integra-microbe remediation of lead-contaminated soil by adjusting soil properties.