Introduction Although three-dimensional kinematic and dynamic movement analysis becomes a standard methodological technique in biomechanics, it is rarely used in service of teachers in the field. This study examines the possibilities to infer didactical useful information for teaching the 'Mawashi-Gheri', a complex roundhouse kicking movement in karate. Methods Three karate-teachers, selected for their excellence in the studied technique, performed the movement several times. Each time, three-dimensional kinematic (Vicon-system, 60 Hz, 10 markers) and dynamic data Kistler Forceplate, 600 Hz) were acquired. Data were saved on computer disc only if these experts agreed on the goodness of there performance. Afterwards, four children (aged 12 to 15 y.) imitated the movement. Two of them were appreciated to be advanced karate-pupils, the other two sojourned at the beginning level. Additionally, data regarding flexibility, equilibrium and kinantropometry were gathered in order to provide a referential base to interpret differences in execution among these subjects. Reactionforces were integrated using Simpson's Method to get the velocity and displacement of the center of gravity. Filmdata were interpolated (Free Cubic Spline), digital low-pass filtered and differentiated (Usui 1982) to obtain displacement, velocity and acceleration courses of seven segments (feet, shanks, thighs and trunk). Special attention was payed to the initial orientation and angular displacement of the shoulders, pelvis and suporting foot. Kinantropometric data were processed using a simplified Hanavan model (1964) to estimate individual segmental parameters (mass, masslocation and inertia). Finally, all data were reduced into 33 descriptive parameters Results and discussion Intra-individual differences among subsequent executions of the studied technique are very small in skilled subjects. However, interindividual differences are large, even among subjects of a same skill level. This could mean that exercise tends to stereotype movement patterns, even for a fast and complex movement of this kind, but these patterns are personal. The most important differences among skilled and beginning combatants are to be found in the timing and duration of the various actions in the movement. This results in very different shaped velocity and acceleration curves. As a matter of fact, the actual lash is only visible in the force registrations of good performers and occupies only 50 to 55 msec. Maximum velocities of beginners are about 60 % of those attained by experts. It is presumed that the incapacity of beginners to produce high velocities in this kicking movement can be attributed to a wrong sequence of rotational movements. Conclussion The 'Mawashi-Gheri' is a highly three-dimensional movement. Attempts to study this movement in a planar space risk to overlook the important torsion component which tends to be the discriminating factor between skilled and beginning karate-combatants.


U.v. irradiation of the anterior pole of nuclear multiplication stage Drosophila eggs produces embryos with defective anterior structures. At a low frequency embryos resembling some phenotypes of the bicaudal syndrome of Drosophila were observed. These embryos had no head or thorax and the eight abdominal segments were spread to the anterior of the embryo. Sometimes spiracles, characteristic of the most posterior embryonic segment were observed at the anterior of the embryo. The development of these embryos was followed, and abnormalities occurred as early as blastoderm formation. The extent of the blastoderm defects correlated well with the final abnormality in the embryo.


Biologically active CAM may detrimentally interfere with chemotherapy treatment, so cancer patients require targeted, evidence-based information on chemotherapy-CAM integration consequences. The object of this study was to investigate the potential for medical doctor recommendation and patient acceptance of a purpose-designed patient educational brochure on the safe use of CAM with chemotherapy. Cancer care doctors (n = 17) were provided a draft version of a patient educational brochure developed by the authors and completed a structured feedback form. Cancer patients receiving treatment (n = 12) were provided with the brochure and completed the local health service consumer testing feedback form. All 17 doctors perceived a need for the brochure and all would recommend the brochure to their patients. Approximately 59% of the doctors indicated they would recommend the brochure to all patients receiving chemotherapy and 41% preferred that only patients using CAM or who enquired about CAM be given the brochure. Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy reported that the brochure information answered their questions and was easy to understand. This evidence-based CAM-chemotherapy patient brochure may be a useful adjunct for use by cancer care health professionals to educate patients on the potential dangers of biologically active CAM use with chemotherapy and to provide patients with safe CAM alternatives.


This paper aims to investigate the impact of political promotion on the productivity of manufacturing firms using the database of Chinese industrial enterprises from 1998 to 2007. We found that the political promotion of officials had a negative impact on manufacturing firm productivity, and this impact varied according to the characteristics of officials and enterprises. In addition, there was an age "ceiling effect" among Chinese municipal officials. Further research showed that the regional level of rule of law mitigated the negative effect of political promotion on the productivity of manufacturing firms. Finally, this paper makes policy recommendations for improving the promotion mechanism of officials, enhancing regional legalization, and transforming government functions.


Influenza occurs every season and occasionally causes pandemics. Despite its low mortality rate, influenza is a major public health concern, as it can be complicated by severe diseases like pneumonia. A fast, accurate and low-cost method to predict the origin host and subtype of influenza viruses could help reduce virus transmission and benefit resource-poor areas. In this work, we propose multi-channel neural networks to predict antigenic types and hosts of influenza A viruses with hemagglutinin and neuraminidase protein sequences. An integrated data set containing complete protein sequences were used to produce a pre-trained model, and two other data sets were used for testing the model's performance. One test set contained complete protein sequences, and another test set contained incomplete protein sequences. The results suggest that multi-channel neural networks are applicable and promising for predicting influenza A virus hosts and antigenic subtypes with complete and partial protein sequences.


Data from 3,482 women aged 18-49 living in 23 urban areas of the United States who participated in the 1990-1991 National AIDS Behavioral Surveys show that in the preceding year, approximately 15% engaged in sexual behavior that might expose them to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Risk behaviors include having multiple sexual partners, having a risky main sexual partner or having both multiple partners and a risky main partner. An additional 17% of women with no other risk factor report that they do not know their main partner's HIV risk status. Predictors of risk factors vary by ethnicity, and having multiple partners and having a risky main partner appear to have distinct sets of predictors. Single women are more likely than others to have multiple partners, and among white women, those with more than 12 years of education are more likely to have multiple partners. Among blacks and Hispanics, younger women are more likely than older women to have multiple partners. Among Hispanic women, married respondents and those with more than 12 years of education are more likely than others to have a risky main sexual partner; the latter pattern is reversed among white women, however, with those having less than 12 years of education being more likely to have a risky main sexual partner. In general, women with a risky main partner are the least likely to use condoms consistently.


We have developed a new system, ProBiS-Dock, which can be used to determine the different types of protein binding sites for small ligands. The binding sites identified this way are then used to construct a new binding site database, the ProBiS-Dock Database, that allows for the ranking of binding sites according to their utility for drug development. The newly constructed database currently has more than 1.4 million binding sites and offers the possibility to investigate potential drug targets originating from different biological species. The interactive ProBiS-Dock Database, a web server and repository that consists of all small-molecule ligand binding sites in all of the protein structures in the Protein Data Bank, is freely available at http://probis-dock-database.insilab.org. The ProBiS-Dock Database will be regularly updated to keep pace with the growth of the Protein Data Bank, and our anticipation is that it will be useful in drug discovery.


The intestinal floras of seven deep-sea fish retrieved at depths of from 3,200 to 5,900 m were examined for population sizes and growth responses to pressure. Large populations of culturable bacteria, ranging from 1.1 x 10(sup6) to 3.6 x 10(sup8) cells per ml of contents, were detected when samples were incubated at conditions characteristic of those of the deep sea. Culturable cell counts at in situ pressures were greater than those at atmospheric pressure in all samples. Most of the strains isolated by the spread-plating method at atmospheric pressure later proved barophilic. Barophilic bacteria were the predominant inhabitants of the abyssal fish intestines.


The scale of loss from natural disasters in low-income countries often exceeds the resources of internal and external sources of relief funding. Catastrophe bonds offer the opportunity to transfer the risk of low-probability, high-loss events to the capital market where there is greater capacity to absorb disaster losses. This paper details some problems inherent in traditional sources of disaster relief and proposes an alternative mechanism for catastrophe risk transfer that unites financial innovations and donor communities.


This study was undertaken to determine the causes of low vision in children in the Pacelli School for Blind in Lagos State, Nigeria, using the new definition of low vision. The educational services available were also assessed using structured and semi-structured questionnaires. Twenty-six children aged 10-15 years were identified as having lowvision and they were examined to determine the causes.The anatomical sites leading to low vision in the children are retina (30.8%), lens (23.1%), glaucoma (19.2%), cornea (11.5%) and optic nerve (7.7%). Retinal dystrophy was the most common cause of low vision, while congenital cataract and glaucoma were the major avoidable causes. Very few cases of corneal scar were seen. Fifteen of them had significant improvement in distance and near vision after refraction while one third had improvement in their reading with low power magnifying lenses. All except 4teachers were well educated but none seem to have much knowledge about the teaching of low vision children as all these children are taught Braille like blind peers. The educational facilities available were those needed for only blind children and no low visual aids.


HYPOTHESIS
Rewarming the body to 37 degrees C during resuscitation following trauma-hemorrhage has salutary effects on cardiovascular and hepatocellular functions.

DESIGN, INTERVENTIONS, AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Male rats underwent laparotomy (trauma induced) and were then bled to and maintained at a mean arterial pressure of 40 mm Hg until 40% of the maximum shed blood volume was returned in the form of Ringer lactate solution. Rats were exposed to ambient temperature and allowed to become hypothermic during hemorrhage. The animals were then resuscitated with 4 times the volume of shed blood with Ringer lactate solution for 60 minutes. In 1 group, the body temperature was rewarmed to 37 degrees C during resuscitation. In another group, the body temperature was maintained at hypothermia (32 degrees C) for 4 hours after resuscitation. In an additional group, the body temperature was kept at 37 degrees C during hemorrhage and resuscitation. At 4 hours after resuscitation, the rats were returned to a room with ambient temperature. Various in vivo heart performance variables (maximal rate of pressure increase and decrease), cardiac output, hepatocellular function, and plasma IL-6 level were determined at 24 hours after resuscitation.

RESULTS
Either maintenance of normothermia during hemorrhage or prolonged hypothermia following resuscitation had deleterious effects on cardiovascular variables and hepatocellular function and up-regulated plasma IL-6 levels. In contrast, rewarming the body to 37 degrees C during resuscitation improved cardiac contractility, cardiac output, and hepatocellular function and reduced plasma IL-6 level.

CONCLUSION
Since rewarming the body temperature to normothermia during resuscitation improved depressed cardiovascular and hepatocellular functions, this should be considered as a useful adjunct to fluid resuscitation after trauma-hemorrhage.


Spatial information grid, which is a kind of application grid for geo-computation, purchases an order for a powerful and easy-to-use running environment. In this paper, a powerful runtime environment for geo-computation is proposed based on web service. Based on it, SIG resources can be distributed, discovered, and matched, and a distributed, flexible and powerful data infrastructure is founded. Based on the implementation of the runtime environment, a SIG test bed is constructed, and the test on it shows that the runtime environment can provide a powerful, easy-to-use and robust runtime environment for SIG, and developers can develop SIG resources and SIG applications easily and quickly.


The kinetics of disappearance of the superoxorhodium complex L2(H2O)RhOO2+ (L2 = meso-hexamethylcyclam) were determined in the presence of several oxidants (H2O2, (NH3)5CoBr2+, and IrCl62-) in both air-free and air-saturated aqueous solutions. Under air-free conditions, the reaction obeyed first-order kinetics. After the correction for the appropriate stoichiometric factors, the value of the rate constant kh was the same irrespective of the oxidant, kh = 2.18 (+/-0.37) x 10(-4) s(-1) at 25.0 degrees C in acidic solutions. The disappearance of L2(H2O)RhOO2+ was slower in the presence of O2. All the data suggest a sequence of reactions beginning with homolytic dissociation of O2 from L2(H2O)RhOO2+, followed by capture of the newly generated L2(H2O)Rh2+ by added oxidants in competition with O2. The equilibrium constant for O2 binding by L2(H2O)Rh2+ is 109-fold greater than that for the cobalt analogue. This difference is attributed to the lower reduction potential of the rhodium complex.


URN(underwater radiated noise) is one of the important performances of the battle ship related to the stealth. The main source of the URN is the structure-borne noise on the hull. And the pipe vibration transmitted to the hull is the main source of the structure-borne noise when the speed of the ship is lower than CIS(cavitation inception speed). In this paper, the vibration isolator(rubber mount) for the pipe system is described in order to reduce the structure-borne noise transmitted to the hull. The vibrations on the sea-water conveying pipes and their supports are measured in order to know how much vibration occurs on those positions. Based on these test results, the improved design of the rubber mount is suggested by the parametric study and is verified numerically with the pipe and hull model.


We discuss an algorithmic approach to region merging which is built on a recent statistical work on the way to decide merging while keeping the complexity optimal. In that latter work, a concentration-based statistical test is proposed, having the particularity to reduce the error occurring when rejecting the merging of two observed regions coming from the same true region. We propose a preliminary ordered-based algorithmic procedure to cope with the errors occurring when merging two different regions in the first approach, thereby leading to a fast algorithm tailor-made for the reduction of both kinds of error. Experimentations proposed on images used without any preprocessing shed light on the quality of the segmentations obtained.


The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of early childhood teachers on democracy understanding. Under the light of this aim, the teachers were observed in three hours within six weeks teaching period, then the results of the observations were recorded and analyzed using experimental methods. The results revealed that there are significant differentiation among the positive and negative behaviors on democracy, professional experience of teachers, their cumulative grades in higher education and the classroom size they taught currently. It was suggested that early childhood teachers need in service training programs in order to create a democratic classroom atmosphere.


THE STAFF conference in a psychiatric hospital with a therapeutic community organization can and should be a key point in the hospital's decision-making and communication system. It is expected to be modeled in a relatively open and democratic form in which decisions can be made by the group and in which information can be shared in a way which helps eliminate unnecessary anxiety. However, social scientists such as Stanton and Schwartz 1 and Caudill, 2 who have reported extensively on the functioning of staff conferences, indicated that these meetings were too often negative in their effect. Etzione, 3 in his perceptive critical discussion of mental hospital researches, came to the conclusion that the conferences were too often manipulative and unnecessarily anxiety arousing. He questioned if the staff really participated in the decision-making process. Evidently much has to be clarified about the functioning of such meetings in order to help make


Provenance analysis of IODP Expedition 355 cores in the Laxmi Basin sheds new light on the erosional evolution of the Himalayan belt and its western syntaxis during the Neogene and on large-scale mass-wasting and magmatic events that affected the western continental margin of India in the mid-Miocene and early Paleocene. In the cored Laxmi Basin succession, heavy minerals are far less affected by selective diagenetic dissolution than in foreland-basin sandstones exposed along the Himalayan front. Occurrence of euhedral aegirine and apatite in lower Paleocene mudrocks can be tied to alkaline volcanism affecting the adjacent western Indian margin during the late stage of Deccan activity. In the mid-Miocene Nataraja Slide (the second-largest mass-transport deposit reported from passive margins worldwide), dominant carbonate detritus and depleted heavy-mineral suites (including apatite, garnet, and locally augite or rare aegirine) reveal gravitational failure and sliding of the entire succession of carbonate and siliciclastic Paleogene to lower Neogene strata originally accumulated offshore of the Saurashtra margin of western India. Contrary to previous inferences, reworking of Indus-derived detritus by the slide was negligible. The overlying upper Miocene to lower Pleistocene turbidite package has the same feldspatho-litho-quartzose to litho-feldspatho-quartzose signature of modern Indus fluvio-deltaic sand, indicating that amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks have been widely exposed in the Himalaya–Karakorum orogen since at least the mid-Miocene. Pleistocene nannofossil oozes with planktonic foraminifera at the top of the fan contain a very subordinate litho-feldspatho-quartzose terrigenous fraction including augitic clinopyroxene, suggesting mixing of dominant biogenic debris with minor detritus contributed both by the Indus River and by a river draining western peninsular India, possibly the paleo-Narmada or the paleo-Tapti.


Nowadays, computer systems play a very important role in the health care context. However, many of these systems are also becoming increasingly complex. In particular, the design of these systems should be compatible with Alzheimer's situation, as the condition of Alzheimer patients is growing worse, especially with the poor understanding of the disease, lack of support language difficulties, and memory loss. These systems should meet the various needs of such patients. In this paper, we are focusing on evaluating Alzheimer's assistance systems. Usually, in designing those systems, the human-computer interaction (HCI) is left behind. Thus, we demonstrate several aspects to improve Alzheimer's patient ability to interact with these systems. Moreover, we discussed the key factors that affect the success or failure of those systems taking into consideration criterion such as bringing down health care costs, learnability, usability, dependability, readability, and facilitate automating. At the end, the paper illustrates using charts, and tables to show the impact of applying HCI when designing an interface to achieve user-friendly, intuitive interfaces, and higher usability of the systems.


The idea that the utility of research should be secondary to understanding its subject delays the extraction of potential value. A parallel translational approach to research was applied whereby discovering new findings and testing their validity was performed in parallel. Research about the face was selected for translation as it provided the complexity, diversity, and fidelity necessary for multiple data-driven hypothesis exploration while remaining key to social interaction. For example, emotional contagion, the tendency for an individual to catch someone else's emotion has been linked to facial contagion: an automatic reaction whereby facial muscles adopt the expression of any emotional face. Based on the reported exaggerated emotional reactions of patients with upper involvement in Motor Neuron Disease (MND) compared to lower involvement, an experiment was devised to make the difference through comparisons of facial contagion responses with recorded Electromyography (EMG) responses (chapter 3). As these patients were expected to have generally weak responses, it became necessary to increase the sensitivity of acquired signals to elucidate differences between subtypes. An adaptive filtering technique for signal processing was developed based on modelling methods and tested with support vector machines (chapter 2). The therapeutic intervention (chapter 4) consisted of a series of experiments seeking to induce emotional contagion of happiness by presenting images of smiling faces through smartphones. This was also gamified in an experiment at the Science Museum in London to test whether the effect could be found over the short term. Lastly, I parametrised faces from a large population of Tibetan residents and predicted haematological and electrocardiographic measures with machine learning methods as a way of screening for cardiovascular disease through photographs of the face (chapter 5). The results were analysed in relation to the field of cognitive neuroscience and the implications for a parallel translational and high-dimensional approach were discussed.


Despite knowing that agricultural practices affect river ecosystems, studies on water quality and associated hyporheic invertebrate communities are rare. Yet such knowledge is essential for sustainable use of agricultural and water resources. This study, carried out in the agricultural region of south-eastern Ireland in Spring 2007, examined the effect of water pollution on hyporheic fauna. Six river sites of known water quality were assigned to two treatments, namely, clean and polluted rivers. Two hyporheic habitats, below the wetted channel (hyporheic substream) and below the exposed gravel bank (parafluvial), were sampled within each treatment. Total invertebrate densities and richness, crustacean densities and richness, and densities of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT) were significantly reduced in polluted hyporheic and parafluvial habitats. A higher recorded concentration of nitrate in the polluted hyporheic substream habitats was a significant factor in determining the invertebrate assemblages, with reductions in total and crustacean densities, and EPT richness. Similarly, invertebrate density and richness were reduced in polluted parafluvial habitats, likely being related to agricultural intensity, management practices and reduced riparian buffering. This study highlights the direct effects of agricultural practices on the invertebrate communities of hyporheic habitats and emphasises the need for holistic management and conservation measures to ensure future protection.


In the past decades, polymer based nanoscale polymeric assemblies have attracted continuous interest due to their potential applications in many fields, such as nanomedicine. Many efforts have been dedicated to tailoring the three-dimensional architecture and the placement of functional groups at well-defined positions within the polymeric assemblies, aiming to augment their function. To achieve such goals, in one way, novel polymeric building blocks can be designed by controlled living polymerization methodology and advanced chemical modifications. In contrast, by focusing on the end function, others and we have been practicing strategies of cooperative self-assembly of multiple polymeric building blocks chosen from the vast library of conventional block polymers which are easily available. The advantages of such strategies lie in the simplicity of the preparation process and versatile choice of the constituent polymers in terms of their chemical structure and functionality as well as the fact that cooperative self-assembly based on supramolecular interactions offers elegant and energy-efficient bottom-up strategies. Combination of these principles has been exploited to optimize the architecture of polymeric assemblies with improved function, to impart new functionality into micelles and to realize polymeric nanocomplexes exhibiting functional integration, similar to some natural systems like artificial viruses, molecular chaperones, multiple enzyme systems, and so forth. In this Account, we shall first summarize several straightforward designing principles with which cooperative assembly of multiple polymeric building blocks can be implemented, aiming to construct polymeric nanoassemblies with hierarchal structure and enhanced functionalities. Next, examples will be discussed to demonstrate the possibility to create multifunctional nanoparticles by combination of the designing principles and judiciously choosing of the building blocks. We focus on multifunctional nanoparticles which can partially address challenges widely existing in nanomedicine such as long blood circulation, efficient cellular uptake, and controllable release of payloads. Finally, bioactive polymeric assemblies, which have certain functions closely mimicking those of some natural systems, will be used to conceive the concept of functional integration.


Efficient adaptation to channel bandwidth is broadly required for effective streaming video over the Internet. To address this requirement, a novel seamless switching scheme among scalable video bitstreams is proposed in this paper. It can significantly improve the performance of video streaming over a broad range of bit rates by fully taking advantage of both the high coding efficiency of nonscalable bitstreams and the flexibility of scalable bitstreams, where small channel bandwidth fluctuations are accommodated by the scalability of a single scalable bitstream, whereas large channel bandwidth fluctuations are tolerated by flexible switching between different scalable bitstreams. Two main techniques for switching between video bitstreams are proposed. Firstly, a novel coding scheme is proposed to enable drift-free switching at any frame from the current scalable bitstream to one operated at lower rates without sending any overhead bits. Secondly, a switching-frame coding scheme is proposed to greatly reduce the number of extra bits needed for switching from the current scalable bitstream to one operated at higher rates. Compared with existing approaches, such as switching between nonscalable bitstreams and streaming with a single scalable bitstream, our experimental results clearly show that the proposed scheme brings higher efficiency and more flexibility in video streaming.


A software package which optimizes natural gas pipeline operation for minimum fuel consumption is in use on a commercial transmission pipeline. This Optimization Program has resulted in pipeline fuel savings in daily pipeline operation. In addition, the effect of a new compressor/turbine unit on the pipeline system as a whole can be accurately and easily quantified through use of the Optimization Program before the unit is even installed. The results from one turbine replacement study showed the total system fuel consumption and operating hours predicted for each unit were not directly related to a high turbine efficiency.This paper describes the simulation techniques used for the gas turbine and compressor modeling. The methodology behind the system-wide optimization is also provided, along with a detailed discussion of the program application to gas turbine and compressor replacement studies.Copyright © 1987 by ASME


The future air traffic management system is to be built around the notion of trajectory-based operations. It will rely on automated tools related to trajectory prediction in order to define, share, revise, negotiate and update the trajectory of the aircraft before and during the flight, in some case, in near real time. This paper illustrates how existing standards on trajectory description such as the aircraft intent description language can be enhanced including optimisation capabilities based on numerical optimal control. The Aircraft Intent Description Language is a formal language that has been created in order to describe aircraft intent information in a rigorous, unambiguous and flexible manner. It has been implemented in a platform for a modular design of the trajectory generation process. A case study is presented to explore its effectiveness and identify the requirements and needs to generate optimised aircraft intents with higher automation and flexibility. Preliminary results show the suitability of numerical optimal control to design optimised aircraft intents based on the aircraft intent description language.


The MIEX ® (Magnetic Ion Exchange) process, which employs an anion exchange resin for removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), was introduced at the Wanneroo Groundwater Treatment Plant in Western Australia in 2001. In this pilot-scale study we examined a range of operational parameters for optimisation of biofiltration of MIEX ® -clarified water. Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) outperformed anthracite as a filter medium. Increasing the empty bed contact time (EBCT) from 8 to 16 minutes improved performance. The GAC biofilters removed up to 20% of DOC and up to 25% of Biodegradable Dissolved Organic Carbon (BDOC), once they had stabilised in biological mode. Chlorine demand was reduced by 51 to 55% and trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP) was reduced by 35 to 50% in GAC biofilter effluent waters at 16 minutes EBCT when compared with their MIEX ® -treated influent water. GAC biofilters developed more biomass on the surface than anthracite biofilters and this was associated with the greatest BDOC and DOC removals. Interestingly, neither biofilters developed populations of protozoans. Use of chlorinated influent water severely restricted biomass development in all biofilters at their surface. Biofilter treatment of chlorinated influent water resulted in the poorest removal of Assimilable Organic Carbon (AOC). Biofiltration improved the water quality of MIEX ® -clarified waters.


A detailed lithologic reservoir study was conducted to aid Texaco personnel in designing and monitoring an experimental surfactant-polymer flood in the Mississippian Benoist Sandstone, one of several producing formations in the Salem field of south-central Illinois. Twelve elongated five-spot patterns are distributed over the 60-acre (24 ha.) project area. The Benoist Sandstone averages about 49 ft (15 m) of net pay at a depth of about 1,800 ft (550 m). Cores from eight wells were studied in detail. Particular attention was paid to variations in sedimentary structures, lithology, and mineralogy that could influence reservoir performance. Techniques employed in this study included examination of slabbed cores, thin-section petrography, X-ray diffraction (XRD) mineralogy, a d scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM/EDS). The Benoist Sandstone is one of several Late Mississippian deltaic sandstone units deposited in the subsiding Illinois basin. These sandstones are bounded above and below by fossiliferous marine limestone and shale. Delta-front sandstones, hereafter referred to as bar-finger sandstones, comprise the bulk of the formation. Channel-fill deposits are found near the base of the unit and nonreservoir, tidal-flat deposits near the top. The bar-finger deposits are moderately to well-sorted, fine to medium-grained sandstones with horizontal to inclined planar bedding and some ripple and planar cross-bedding. The planar bedding is accentuated by clay and mica-rich layers, one millimeter to several centimeters thick. These shale layers increase and thicken upward, and separate the bar-finger sa ds into several reservoir units. The Benoist sandstones are quartzose, containing 70 to 98% monocrystalline and polycrystalline quartz and small amounts of detrital feldspar and shale clasts. Cement is predominantly quartz in the form of syntaxial overgrowths, with minor calcite. Small amounts of clay occur as detrital laminae, authigenic pore fillings, and sand-grain coatings. The percentage of detrital and authigenic clay increases near the top of the bar-finger sandstone and significantly reduces permeability. Illite, the dominant clay, End_Page 445------------------------------ occurs as both grain coats and pore bridgings, kaolinite forms scattered pore fills, and Fe-chlorite coats a few grains. The channel-fill deposits are well to poorly sorted, very fine to medium-grained sandstones, commonly conglomeratic, and contain calcite-cemented zones. These deposits are mineralogically similar to the bar-finger deposits but contain abundant shale and fossil fragments at the base. Noncalcareous channel sandstones are characterized by scattered Fe-chlorite grain coatings and pore-filling illite. Intergranular porosity is well developed and has not been severely reduced by the pervasive quartz overgrowth cementation. The eastern part of the project area contains a higher quality reservoir section because of the sparsity of clay zones in the bar-finger sandstone and the thicker channel-fill deposits in this area. Secondary porosity, produced by the dissolution of feldspar grains, has slightly enhanced the overall quality of the Benoist Sandstone. End_of_Article - Last_Page 446------------


Abstract. Due to the important contribution of nitrous acid (HONO) to OH radicals in the atmosphere, various technologies have been developed to measure HONO. Among them, wet denuder/ion chromatography (WD/IC) is a widely used measurement method. Here, we found interferences with HONO measurements by WD/IC based on a comparison study of concurrent observations of HONO concentrations using a WD/IC instrument (Monitorfor AeRosols and Gases in ambient Air, MARGA) and long-path absorption photometer (LOPAP) at the Station for Observing Regional Processes of the Earth System (SORPES) in eastern China. The measurement deviation of the HONO concentration by the MARGA instrument, as a typical instrument of WD/IC, is affected by two factors. One is the change in denuder pH influenced by acidic and alkaline gases in the ambient atmosphere, which can affect the absorption efficiency of HONO by the wet denuder to underestimate the HONO concentration up to 200 % in lowest pH. The other is the reaction of NO2 oxidizing SO2 to form HONO in the denuder solution to overestimate the HONO concentration, which can be improved up to 400 % in denuder solutions with highest pH values due to ambient NH3. These processes are in particulate important in polluted east China, where is suffered from the high concentrations of SO2, NH3 and NO2. The overestimation induced by the reaction of NO2 and SO2 is expected to be growing important with the potentially increased denuder pH due to the decrease of SO2. We further established a method to correct the HONO data measured by a WD/IC instrument such as the MARGA. In case a large amount WD/IC techniques based instruments are deployed with the main target to monitor the water soluble composition of PM2.5, our study can help to obtain a long-term multi-sites database of HONO to assess the role of HONO in atmospheric chemistry and air pollution in east China.


Through this conceptual work the entrepreneurship ecosystem and its effectiveness in Oman is discussed vigorously. It emphasizes on the Entrepreneurial ecosystem which is consisted of participants who would like to start the business and have the tendency to tolerate risk, and have come up with new ideas primarily to reap revenue and profits from the market.  The primary objective of the study is to measure the effectiveness of entrepreneurship ecosystem in Oman.  Consequently, various elements like inclusion of government support, human capital, finance, markets and finally culture are considered as independent variables and the entrepreneurial outcome as the dependent variable.  The results of the analysis show that entrepreneurship effectiveness has been highly achieved. Nevertheless among the five variables, only three have shown a significant influence. They are human capital, culture and finance to provide an effective entrepreneurial activity among entrepreneurs in Oman.


Based on the 1990–2010 Census Transportation Planning Package data of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this research analyzes the temporal trends of commuting patterns in both time and distance. In comparison to previous work, commuting length is calibrated more accurately by Monte Carlo–based simulation of individual journey-to-work trips to mitigate the zonal effect. First, average commute distance kept climbing between 1990 and 2010, whereas average commute time increased between 1990 and 2000 but then slightly dropped toward 2010. Second, urban land use remained a good predictor of commuting pattern over time (e.g., explaining up to 90 percent of mean commute distance and about 30 percent of mean commute time). Finally, the percentage of excess commuting increased significantly between 1990 and 2000 and stabilized afterward.


In order to understand the antiaromaticity of maleimides, the enthalpies of formation and sublimation of N-methylmaleimide, N-methylsuccinimide, N-methylphthalimide, and N-benzoyl-N-methylbenzamide were measured. The numerical values of enthalpies of formation for these compounds in the solid state are -329.3 +/- 1.4, -469.8 +/- 1.6, -325.0 +/- 2.1, and -239.6 +/- 3.8 kJ mol(-)(1), respectively, while the corresponding values in the gaseous state are -256.0 +/- 1.5, -389.7 +/- 1.6, -233.9 +/- 2.2, and -119.5 +/- 3.8 kJ mol(-)(1), respectively. The values of enthalpies of sublimation for the same compounds are 73.3 +/- 0.5, 80.1 +/- 0.3, 91.1 +/- 0.5, and 120.1 +/- 0.4 kJ mol(-)(1), respectively. We find that the antiaromaticity of maleimides is only modest.


We examine the balance between processes that contribute to the global and regional distributions of sulfate aerosol in the Earth's atmosphere using a set of simulations from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model, Version 3. The analysis suggests that the seasonal cycle of SO2 and SO42− are controlled by a complex interplay between transport, chemistry and deposition processes. The seasonal cycle of these species is not strongly controlled by temporal variations in emissions but by seasonal variations in volume of air processed by clouds, mass of liquid water serving as a site for aqueous chemistry, amount of oxidant available for the conversion from SO2 to SO42−, vertical transport processes, and deposition. A tagging of the sulfate by emission region (Europe, North America, Asia, and rest of world [ROW]), chemical pathway (gaseous versus in-cloud), and type of emissions (anthropogenic versus biogenic) is used to differentiate the balance of processes controlling the production and loading from this material. Significant differences exist in the destiny of SO2 molecules emitted from the several regions. An SO2 molecule emitted from the ROW source region has a much greater potential to form sulfate than one emitted from, for example, Europe. A greater fraction of the SO2 molecules is oxidized that originate from ROW compared with other areas, and once formed, the sulfate has a longer residence time (that is, it is not readily scavenged). The yield of sulfate from ROW sources of SO2 is a factor of 4 higher than that of Europe. A substantially higher fraction of the SO2 emitted over Europe is oxidized to sulfate through the ozone pathway compared to other regions. The analysis suggests that there are significant differences in the vertical distribution, and horizontal extent, of the propagation of sulfate emitted from the several source regions. Sulfate from Asian source regions reaches the farthest from its point of origin and makes a significant contribution to burdens in both hemispheres, primarily from plumes reaching out in the upper troposphere. Sulfate from other source regions tends to remain trapped in their hemisphere of origin.


. Rice farming is highly developed in Tabanan Regency, which accounts for 27.04% of the agricultural land in Bali's eight districts. Rice output is on the decline: 188,446 tons of rice were produced in Tabanan in 2018, 158,757 tons in 2019, and 142,846 tons in 2020. The use of inputs can influence farm productivity. Rice farmers have started to switch to using organic inputs such as fermented organic fertilizers through input processing technology innovations, and to using vegetable pesticides to combat disease. Land owned by farmers is classified as narrow land. Farmers' awareness of the importance of providing healthy food is a powerful motivator for using organic inputs in rice production. The focus of this research was to determine the efficiency of rice farming inputs to ensure food security. The research took place in Tabanan Regency, with five groups of farmers who use organic fertilizers to manage their farms. Data were analyzed using cost analysis to determine the amount of input used in farming, and acceptance analysis to determine the optimal amount of farm productivity and income. The farmers had low land, according to the findings. Farmers have not been able to use farm inputs according to the requirements of Indonesian national standards to create food security, so their use of inputs is inefficient. The results showed that farmers benefit from rice farming innovations.


North Indian Ocean region around India and Sri Lanka is a complex and rich coastal ecosystem undergoing various seasonal and inter-annual changes and various pressures. Hence the objective of this study was to assess the scales of coupling between chlorophyll-a concentration (chl-a) and the influencing variables and explore the nature of the spatiotemporal variability of them. The seasonal and annual variations of chl-a along the Bay of Bengal (BoB), Arabian sea (AS) and ocean region around Sri Lanka in relation to the physical and chemical oceanographic variables were analyzed using satellite observations covering the period of 2002-2018. The effects of diffuse attenuation coefficient, photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), sea surface temperature (SST), Wind speed, Eastward wind component, Nitrate, Black carbon column mass density, Sea Salt Surface Mass Concentration, Open water net downward longwave flux, Surface emissivity were considered on a monthly time scale. Wavelet analysis and the Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) were used as the main analysis and modeling methods. The peaks of chl-a, diffuse attenuation coefficient, and nitrate were observed in September. In wind speed and eastward wind it was July and in black carbon column mass density, and PAR in March. In Sea Salt Surface Mass Concentration, Open water net downward longwave flux, Surface emissivity, Diffuse attenuation coefficient for downwelling irradiance, and SST mean maximums were found in June, February, November, September, April respectively. In BRT model the estimated cross validation (cv) deviance, standard error (se), training data correlation, cv correlation, and D2 were 0.003, 0.002, 0.932, 0.949, and 0.846 respectively. According to the results, diffuse attenuation coefficient (90%), eastward wind component (3.7%) and nitrate (3%) were the most positively correlated variables with Chl-a occurrence. SST evidenced an inverse relationship with Chl-a. According to the model built <42 Einsteinm-2day-1 PAR, <0.986 surface emissivity, <70 Wm-2 open water net downward long wave flux, 28.2 -28.5 0C SST , 2 ms-1 Wind speed, 5 ms-1 - 6 ms-1 eastward wind, 4.8 x10-8 -7x10-8 kgm-3 sea salt surface mass concentration, and 0.1-0.5micromoleL-1 nitrate are favourable for the optimum level of phytoplankton occurrence. Since BRT deals robustly with non-linear relationships of the environmental variables it can be used in further studies of ecological modeling.


A novel design of a two-port printed microstrip rectenna with compact structure for communication systems is presented. An aperture-coupled dual polarization patch antenna is utilized as the receiving antenna. The vertical feed port receives the microwave energy and transfers it to the rectifying circuit for dc power generation, while the horizontal feed port is used for data communication, with high isolation between the two ports. This patch antenna includes harmonic suppression functionality, which is essential for high microwave—direct current (mw-dc) conversion efficiency. A co-simulation procedure using HFSS and ADS for the analysis of the rectenna and the rectifying circuit design is used. This design assumes low input power for the rectifying circuit to comply with safety standards. A mw-dc conversion efficient of 63% is measured with a 900 <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$\Omega$</tex> </formula> load, 5.78 GHz operation frequency, and 25 mW receiving power. For the communication port, the measured reflection coefficient is <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$-$</tex></formula>18 dB at 6.1 GHz center frequency, the gain is 7.0 dBi, and the cross polarization in the broadside direction is <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$-$</tex> </formula>15 dB.


Reinforcement and use-dependent plasticity mechanisms have been proposed to be involved in both savings and anterograde interference in adaptation to a visuomotor rotation (cf. Huang et al., 2011). In Parkinson's disease (PD), dopamine dysfunction is known to impair reinforcement mechanisms, and could also affect use-dependent plasticity. Here, we assessed savings and anterograde interference in PD with an A1-B-A2 paradigm in which movement repetition was (1) favored by the use of a single-target, and (2) manipulated through the amount of initial training. PD patients and controls completed either limited or extended training in A1 where they adapted movement to a 30° counter-clockwise rotation of visual feedback of the movement trajectory, and then adapted to a 30° clockwise rotation in B. After subsequent washout, participants readapted to the first 30° counter-clockwise rotation in A2. Controls showed significant anterograde interference from A1 to B only after extended training, and significant A1-B-A2 savings after both limited and extended training. However, despite similar A1 adaptation to controls, PD patients showed neither anterograde interference nor savings. That extended training was necessary in controls to elicit anterograde interference but not savings suggests that savings and anterograde interference do not result from equal contributions of the same underlying mechanism(s). It is suggested that use-dependent plasticity mechanisms contributes to anterograde interference but not to savings, while reinforcement mechanisms contribute to both. As both savings and anterograde interference were impaired in PD, dopamine dysfunction in PD might impair both reinforcement and use-dependent plasticity mechanisms during adaptation to a visuomotor rotation.


In this paper, we propose an abstract definition of dependent type theories as essentially algebraic theories. One of the main advantages of this definition is its composability: simple theories can be combined into more complex ones, and different properties of the resulting theory may be deduced from properties of the basic ones. We define a category of algebraic dependent type theories which allows us not only to combine theories but also to consider equivalences between them. We also study models of such theories and show that one can think of them as contextual categories with additional structure.


From the Gibson Girl to the flapper, from the vamp to the New Woman, Carolyn Kitch traces mass media images of women to their historical roots on magazine covers, unveiling the origins of gender stereotypes in early-20th-century American culture. Kitch examines the years from 1895 to 1930 as a time when the first wave of feminism intersected with the rise of new technologies and media for the reproduction and dissemination of visual images. Access to suffrage, higher education, the professions, and contraception broadened women's opportunities, but the images found on magazine covers emphasized the role of women as consumers: suffrage was reduced to spending, sexuality to sexiness, and a collective women's movement to individual choices of personal style. In the 1920s, Kitch argues, the political prominence of the New Woman dissipated, but her visual image pervaded print media. With 75 photographs of cover art by the era's most popular illustrators, "The Girl on the Magazine Cover" shows how these images created a visual vocabulary for understanding femininity and masculinity, as well as class status. Through this iconic process, magazines helped set cultural norms for women, for men and for what it meant to be an American, Kitch contends.


It has recently become clear that the misassembly of ribosomes in eukaryotic cells can have deleterious effects that go far beyond a simple shortage of ribosomes. In this work we find that cells deficient in ribosomal protein L1 (Rpl1; Rpl10a in mammals) produce ribosomes lacking Rpl1 that are exported to the cytoplasm and that can be incorporated into polyribosomes. The presence of such defective ribosomes leads to slow growth and appears to render the cells hypersensitive to lesions in the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Several genes that were reasonable candidates for degradation of 60S subunits lacking Rpl1 fail to do so, suggesting that key players in the surveillance of ribosomal subunits remain to be found. Interestingly, in spite of rendering the cells hypersensitive to the proteasome inhibitor MG132, shortage of Rpl1 partially suppresses the stress-invoked temporary repression of ribosome synthesis caused by MG132.


It is widely acknowledged that pursuing solely convenience causes such problems as excluding users, spoiling users ability, and so on. Inconvenient systems and methods provide users with such benefits as enhancing awareness and allowing creative contribution. However, the systematic way for implementing such benefits is now unknown. Focusing on the contradiction between convenience and such benefits, this paper introduces the contradiction matrix that is a method of TRIZ for inventive problem solving. By analyzing many inconvenient tools and methods, some principles, which relate inconvenience and their benefits, are derived and are placed in what we call fuben-eki (FUrther BENEfit of a Kind of Inconvenience) matrix. This paper demonstrates the way for utilizing the matrix, just like the contradiction matrix of TRIZ, for supporting idea generation of implementing benefits of inconvenience.


Recently, 3D stacking has been proposed to alleviate the memory bandwidth limitation arising in chip multiprocessors (CMPs). As the number of integrated cores in the chip increases the access to external memory becomes the bottleneck, thus demanding larger memory amounts inside the chip. The most accepted solution to implement vertical links between stacked dies is by using Through Silicon Vias (TSVs). However, TSVs are exposed to misalignment and random defects compromising the yield of the manufactured 3D chip. A common solution to this problem is by over-provisioning, thus impacting on area and cost. In this paper, we propose a fault-tolerant vertical link design. With its adoption, fault-tolerant vertical links can be implemented in a 3D chip design at low cost without the need of adding redundant TSVs (no over-provision). Preliminary results are very promising as the fault-tolerant vertical link design increases switch area only by 6.69% while the achieved interconnect yield tends to 100%.


This study deals with the process of children leaving home and its interactions with the household economy in preindustrial society. A theoretical model of leaving home is outlined and then analyzed multivariately, using a longitudinal micro-level dataset for a sample of parishes in western Scania, Sweden, for the period 1829-1866. In a first introductory part the social and economic background as well as the household and family system of the time is analyzed, showing the highly different character of the household, depending on access to land and the type of land farmed. While peasant households functioned both as production and consumption units to a very high extent, landless and semi-landless households mostly worked only as consumption units. The empirical analysis of the age at leaving home for the first time, using event-history analysis, indicates that the household context regarding demand for household labor, the level of family dependency and the individual's position within the household played important roles in explaining differences between children in the age at leaving home for the first time. Children of landed peasants left home considerably later than children in semi-landless and landless families, which points to the important role played by the family's productive resources in the demand for household labor and the decision to leave home. First-born children left home later than children of higher birth order, and children in households with more servants stayed at home longer, which shows the role played by the servant institution in complementing family labor in household production. Using new series of local harvest yields and grain prices, the effect of short-term economic fluctuations on the timing of leaving home is also analyzed. The general picture that emerges from the analysis is one of great variety, depending on age and sex of the child as well as social status and position in the household. In times of unfavorable market conditions (low prices) more well-to-do peasants seem to have economized on hired labor by keeping particularly their younger sons at home longer. In the landless and semi-landless groups the leaving home response to economic fluctuations generally appears to have been much weaker than for peasants, which is explained by the more compressed and structurally determined leaving home process in these groups. A very large majority of landless and semi-landless children left home around the age of 16, which, together with a rather low demand for younger servants, gave much less opportunity for these families to use leaving home as a strategy of consumption smoothing in times of economic stress. All children, except younger boys, also seem to have been affected by the death of one of their parents. For most children the effect of parental death was disruptive, making children leave the household prematurely. In conclusion, this study underlines both the important role played by the leaving home process in understanding the functioning of the preindustrial household economy, and the highly important role played by the household and family in determining leaving home for individual children.


Behavioral response studies (BRSs) aim to enhance our understanding of the behavior changes made by animals in response to specific exposure levels of different stimuli, often presented in an increasing dosage. Here, we focus on BRSs that aim to understand behavioral responses of free-ranging whales and dolphins to manmade acoustic signals (although the methods are applicable more generally). One desired outcome of these studies is dose-response functions relevant to different species, signals and contexts. We adapted and applied recurrent event survival analysis (Cox proportional hazard models) to data from the 3S BRS project, where multiple behavioral responses of different severities had been observed per experimental exposure and per individual based upon expert scoring. We included species, signal type, exposure number and behavioral state prior to exposure as potential covariates. The best model included all main effect terms, with the exception of exposure number, as well as two interaction terms. The interactions between signal and behavioral state, and between species and behavioral state highlighted that the sensitivity of animals to different signal types (a 6-7 kHz upsweep sonar signal (MFAS) or a 1-2 kHz upsweep sonar signal (LFAS)) depended on their behavioral state (feeding or non- feeding), and this differed across species. Of the three species included in this analysis (sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), killer whale (Orcinus orca) and long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas)), killer whales were consistently the most likely to exhibit behavioral responses to naval sonar exposure. We conclude that recurrent event survival analysis provides an effective framework for fitting dose-response severity functions to data from behavioral response studies. It can provide outputs that can help government and industry to evaluate the potential impacts of anthropogenic sound production in the ocean.


There are disputes for oil and gas development between China and Japan in the East China Sea. These involve the area where China is already carrying out activities of oil and gas development and where Japan is proclaiming its EEZ. China insists that the Chinese activities on oil and gas development area are being carried out within the Chinese jurisdictional waters even if the median line principle of Japanese proclamation is applied in delimitation. Indeed, the permit for Japanese development is causing disputes between China and Japan because its permit allows development in the waters adjacent to Chinese development area. In the event, the core of this dispute around the oil and gas field in the East China Sea relates to issues of maritime boundary delimitation and issues of resources acquisition with both states. Chinese policy on oil and gas development is to first consider development issues in accordance with a median line principle where waters toward to China from the median line should be developed by China and the area toward Japan from the median line within the Chinese continental shelf should be jointly developed. However, the Japanese position is that the East China Sea should be jointly developed, and Japan hopes to eventually convince China to accept its median line delimitation. With on-going development of such issues, Korea should establish a strategy of negotiation based on analyses of resource distributional conditions and other strategic factors in the Korean delimitation area. In particular, Korea should prepare and make the best use of joint development zone established in an agreement between the ROK and Japan concerning the development of the southern part of continental shelf adjacent to both states.


We present a method to measure the small-scale matter power spectrum using high-resolution measurements of the gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). To determine whether small-scale structure today is suppressed on scales below 10 kiloparsecs (corresponding to M < 10^9 M_sun), one needs to probe CMB-lensing modes out to L ~ 35,000, requiring a CMB experiment with about 20 arcsecond resolution or better. We show that a CMB survey covering 4,000 square degrees of sky, with an instrumental sensitivity of 0.5 uK-arcmin at 18 arcsecond resolution, could distinguish between cold dark matter and an alternative, such as 1 keV warm dark matter or 10^(-22) eV fuzzy dark matter with about 4-sigma significance. A survey of the same resolution with 0.1 uK-arcmin noise could distinguish between cold dark matter and these alternatives at better than 20-sigma significance; such high-significance measurements may also allow one to distinguish between a suppression of power due to either baryonic effects or the particle nature of dark matter, since each impacts the shape of the lensing power spectrum differently. CMB temperature maps yield higher signal-to-noise than polarization maps in this small-scale regime; thus, systematic effects, such as from extragalactic astrophysical foregrounds, need to be carefully considered. However, these systematic concerns can likely be mitigated with known techniques. Next-generation CMB lensing may thus provide a robust and powerful method of measuring the small-scale matter power spectrum.


Nuclear Pregnane X Receptor (PXR) is involved in the regulation of drug-metabolism enzymes and therefore plays an essential role in the detoxification pathways. Recent studies have shown that PXR can be activated by exogenous environmental xenobiotics such as pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, brominated flame retardants, phyto and myco-estrogens and many more. We measured PXR activity in samples from wastewater treatment and surface water. However, due to the capacity of PXR to bind a multitude of different types of environmental pollutants, it is difficult to predict which type of molecule is responsible for the observed activity in environmental samples. The development of a tool to purify PXR ligands in an environmental complex matrix such as wastewater and sludge should improve their chemical detection. We already developed a recombinant ER alpha affinity column for the purification of estrogenic compounds from water and sediment extracts. In the same way we developed a procedure with immobilized PXR receptor to capture PXR environmental ligands. We showed that this method allowed us to isolate ER and PXR ligands in wastewater, sludge and sediment extracts, and thus facilitate their further analysis


To the Editor: W e read with great interest the article by Dr Sonmoon Mohapatra and colleagues, "Diabetes mellitus is associated with exocrine pancreatopathy: conclusions from a reviewof literature," published in Pancreas on September 2016. In this review, the authors provide an overview of studies on morphological, structural, and functional changes in the exocrine pancreas in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T1DM and T2DM). This is a relevant topic and merits further discussion. We noticed a few discrepancies in "Table 1, Pancreatic Volume by MR or CT in DM," that may interfere with the interpretation of data. First, values are in disagreement with the original data published by Bilgin et al. This study describes data on 5 patients with T1DM and 52 patients with T2DM, instead of 28 T1DM and none with T2DM, as shown in Table 1 of the article of Dr. Mohapatra and colleagues. Moreover, pancreas size, measured as the anteroposterior diameter of the organ, was compared between 3 groups: (a) group 1, 29 patients with diabetes (4 T1DM and 25 T2DM) and pancreatic exocrine insufficiency; (b) group 2, 28 patients with diabetes only (1 T1DM and 27 T2DM); and (c) group 3, 21 nondiabetic subjects with normal exocrine function. Therefore, it is not possible to assume differences in pancreas size between T1DM and controls, because T1DM and T2DM patients were mixed together in statistical analysis. Second, in the study by Saisho et al, which compared pancreatic volume in T2DM patients and healthy subjects, we believe the correct mean (standard deviation, SD) values for pancreatic volume in the control group of 1721 subjects is 72.4 (25.8), instead of 74.9 (27). The value presented in Table 1 [74.9 (27)] refers to a subgroup of 660 healthy subjects matched for age and bodymass index with the group of 165 T2DM patients. Third, another study on the topic was published in 2015 and was not included in the systematic review. Macauley et al investigated volume, morphology, and composition of the pancreas by magnetic resonance in T2DM patients (n = 41) and healthy controls (n = 14) and found a 33% reduction in pancreas volume of


Analyzing opinions and arguments in news editorials and op-eds is an interesting and a challenging task. The challenges lie in multiple levels – the text has to be analyzed in the discourse level (paragraphs and above) and also in the lower levels (sentence, phrase and word levels). The abundance of implicit opinions involving sarcasm, irony and biases adds further complexity to the task. The available methods and techniques on sentiment analysis and opinion mining are still much focused in the lower levels, i.e., up to the sentence level. However, the given task requires the application of the concepts from a number of closely related sub-disciplines – Sentiment Analysis, Argumentation Theory, Discourse Analysis, Computational Linguistics, Logic and Reasoning etc. The primary argument of this paper is that partial solutions to the problem can be achieved by developing linguistic resources and using them for automatically annotating the texts for opinions and arguments. This paper discusses the ongoing efforts in the development of linguistic resources for annotating opinionated texts, which are useful in the analysis of opinions and arguments in news editorials and op-eds. Keywords—editorials; opinions; arguments; persuasion; sentiment analysis; annotation; NLP


Three-phase induction motors are by far the most common prime mover in industry today. Many of these motors, which may be as large as 25 MW, are used in critical duties in industries such as oil, petrochemical, utilities, paper, mining and steel manufacture where sudden failure of a machine can have a drastic effect on production as well as safety implications. Prevention of such failures is vital. If a potential failure can be foreseen, the motor can be removed from service at a time which will minimise lost production and make the best use of maintenance facilities. This article describes the seven-year development of an online knowledge-based software program to detect rotor winding faults and mechanical load influences. This noninvasive technique is based on the analysis of the stator phase current spectra.


Interrupt Timed Automata (ITA) have been introduced to model multi-task systems with interruptions. They form a subclass of stopwatch automata, where the real valued variables (with rate 0 or 1) are organized along priority levels. While reachability is undecidable with usual stopwatches, the problem was proved decidable for ITA. In this work, after giving answers to some questions left open about expressiveness, closure, and complexity for ITA, our main purpose is to investigate the verification of real time properties over ITA. While we prove that model checking a variant of the timed logic TCTL is undecidable, we nevertheless give model checking procedures for two relevant fragments of this logic: one where formulas contain only model clocks and another one where formulas have a single external clock.


The Gunnedah Basin in New South Wales has long been an important coal and gas resource, but limited information exists on the temperature structure or crustal architecture at depth to enable development of its geothermal potential. Here we combine gravity modelling, seismic-reflection surveys and borehole drilling results to develop a 3D depth to basement structural map and geological model of the basin. The 3D structure of the Gunnedah Basin is characteristic of a typical intracontinental rift basin. Gravity modelling of the Lachlan Fold Belt basement, using borehole and seismic-reflection controls, shows a 2–3.5 km-deep approximately north–south-oriented channel between the basement highs of the Rocky Glen Ridge in the west and Boggabri Ridge in the east. Extensional basal volcanics during the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian fill this channel. Borehole data and gravity modelling show up to 1 km of Permian to Jurassic sedimentary rocks overlying the rift volcanics. Preliminary thermal modelling, incorporating the geological model and limited deep borehole temperatures, indicates temperatures at the top of basement are in the range 105–165°C.


Brain edema (BE), defined as an increase in tissue water content leading to an increase in tissue volume, is a common histopathologic response associated with a number of acute and subacute brain lesions. In some cases BE is a result of an unbalance of physical forces, hydrostatic or osmotic gradients driving the water in the tissue (hypertensive encephalopathy, hydrocephaly, plasma hypoosmolarity). In most cases however BE is associated with complex brain tissue alterations. According to Klatzo (1967) two physiopathological types can be described: vasogenic edema follows a breakdown of blood brain barrier to proteins. Edema fluid enlarges the extra-cellular space and spreads within the white matter; cytotoxic edema is an intra-cellular retention of water due to various disorders of ionic balance across the plasmic cell membrane. In both cases the hydrostatic gradient between the vascular lumen and the tissue plays a major role in the amount and spread of the edema fluid. In both cases also, toxic substances produced by tissue destruction act as factors of secondary damage causing more blood brain barrier lesions and/or cellular membrane alterations and eventually enhance edema. In various pathological conditions vasogenic and cytotoxic edema are associated: edema around circumscribed lesions such as hematomas, traumatic contusions, tumors, abscesses is basically a vasogenic edema with a secondary cytotoxic component. Ischemic edema is initially a pure cytotoxic phenomenon with a secondary osmotic edema and lately a vasogenic component. The formation of BE leads to an increase in tissue pressure which may reduce local cerebral blood flow. If blood supply is already impaired this can lead to energy shortage and further tissue destruction. If the bulk of edema is large enough intracranial pressure rises up, brain shifts and herniations may occur. Hypertonic solutions and corticoids are the more widely used drugs against brain edema. Hypertonic solutions remove water from the normal brain and hence may reduce intracranial pressure rather than treat edema. Corticoids, through various discrete mechanisms interfere with some toxic substances, enhance energetic metabolism and allow tissue restitution with a rather limited effect on edema itself.


The intrinsic histone acetyltransferase (HAT), p300, has an important role in the development and progression of heart failure. Curcumin (CUR), a natural p300-specific HAT inhibitor, suppresses hypertrophic responses and prevents deterioration of left-ventricular systolic function in heart-failure models. However, few structure–activity relationship studies on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy using CUR have been conducted. To evaluate if prenylated pyrazolo curcumin (PPC) and curcumin pyrazole (PyrC) can suppress cardiomyocyte hypertrophy, cultured cardiomyocytes were treated with CUR, PPC, or PyrC and then stimulated with phenylephrine (PE). PE-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was inhibited by PyrC but not PPC at a lower concentration than CUR. Western blotting showed that PyrC suppressed PE-induced histone acetylation. However, an in vitro HAT assay showed that PyrC did not directly inhibit p300-HAT activity. As Cdk9 phosphorylates both RNA polymerase II and p300 and increases p300-HAT activity, the effects of CUR and PyrC on the kinase activity of Cdk9 were examined. Phosphorylation of p300 by Cdk9 was suppressed by PyrC. Immunoprecipitation-WB showed that PyrC inhibits Cdk9 binding to CyclinT1 in cultured cardiomyocytes. PyrC may prevent cardiomyocyte hypertrophic responses by indirectly suppressing both p300-HAT activity and RNA polymerase II transcription elongation activity via inhibition of Cdk9 kinase activity.


Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently receiving the whole world's attention It appeared first in Wuhan city of China rapidly spread to the world, causing many mortalities morbidities the disease is mainly transmitted via respiratory droplets has a long infectivity period of about 14 days Science shows that the virus is also transmitted via the skin if the virus by any means finds its way land on the skin surface Infection occurs when touching the face, eyes, or nose with the hand after the virus has landed upon it This is the main reason for the widespread usage of skin antiseptics disinfectants We included the most commonly used skin antiseptics, sterilizing methods, disinfectants, such as household bleach, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, Formaldehyde, Glutaraldehyde, Alcohol, Chlorohexidine, Povidone-iodine, Chloroxylenol, alcohol-based hand sanitizer (e g Sterlelium) We will discuss their role in preventing acquired infection of COVID-19, as well as discussing the efficacy, costs, side effects of different sterilizers, including general health hazards, as well as skin affection as irritant contact dermatitis, which is the commonest side effect After conducting this work, we summarized the results & started sending them to our patients & medical personnel, we observed 60% decrease in the cases of disinfectants induced allergic contact dermatitis /month compared to the previous two months © 2021 Dorgham and Dorgham


The effects of anhydrous ethanol (E) and castor oil (R) mixed with diesel fuel (D), commercially containing 5% biodiesel by volume, were researched experimentally to evaluate the combustion process and specific fuel consumption in a compression ignition engine, supercharged, six cylinders. In total, three mixtures were used, varying the diesel content from 95% (D95) to 80% v/v (D85), obtaining the following compositions: D95B0E0, D85B6E9 and D80B6.5E13.5. The experimental tests were performed in stationary conditions (1000 and 1800 rpm), two values of effective torque (80, and 160N.m) and two conditions of intake air pressure (100 and 80 kPa).  The results obtained show that the mixtures containing ethanol and biodiesel lead to an early start of combustion at 1000 rpm and a delay at the start of combustion at 1800 rpm. The increase in ethanol and biodiesel over commercial fuel does not have any influence on specific fuel consumption; however, the altitude effect generates an increase in specific fuel consumption up to 11% and 7% at 1000 rpm and 1800 rpm respectively. The specific emissions of NOX, CO and CO2are increased with higher specific fuel consumption; in addition, the effect of simulated altitude allowed to verify that at higher altitudes there is a slight increase in sfc and EE of CO and CO2, together with a reduction in EE NOX. At 2000 m of simulated altitude (APCI = 80 kPa) the maximum increases of sfc, CO and CO2, with the mixture D80B6.5E13.5, were 5%, 122% and 18%, respectively. And the maximum reductions in NOX EE were also obtained with the D80B6.5E13.5 mixture, reaching decreases of up to 6%.


Previous research indicates that mortality salience and creative behavior combine to increase feelings of guilt, presumably over the disruption to social connection elicited by the call for innovative expression. The present studies examined whether satiating assimilation motives by highlighting conformity to others reduces this effect (Study 1) and facilitates positive psychological engagement (Study 2). Study 1 used a 2 (conformity vs. neutral feedback)× 2 (mortality salience vs. control)× 2 (creative task vs. noncreative task) design and had participants complete a self-report measure of guilt. Study 2 used a 2 (mortality salience vs. control)× 2 (other goal task vs. self-goal task) design, and after a creativity exercise, had participants complete measures of positive mood, vitality, and creative problem solving. Results indicated attending to assimilation needs reduced the elevated guilt that follows the juxtaposition of mortality salience and creative behavior and also increased a sense of positive engagement. Implications are briefly discussed.


The diagnosis and management of pediatric hypopigmented lesions can be challenging given their wide range of differentials. In this case report, we present a case of a 3-year-old Chinese boy who was initially treated for tinea versicolor but subsequently diagnosed to have clear cell papulosis. The features, diagnosis, and management of clear cell papulosis are discussed in this article to raise awareness of this condition amongst pediatricians.


Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (pNET) represent a particular type of malignant lung cancers and can be divided into well-differentiated low-grade NET and poorly-differentiated high-grade NET. Typical and atypical carcinoids belong to the first group while large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNEC) and small-cell lung cancers (SCLC) belong to the second one. The aim of this mini-review is to focus on the role of surgical therapy for high grade neuroendocrine tumors. SCLC has the worst prognosis among all lung cancer neoplasms: in fact, the two-year survival rate is about 5% and median survival usually ranges between 15 and 20 months. The surgical treatment of SCLC has thus infrequently been judged as a valuable aspect of the therapeutic approach, the gold standard treatment being a combination of platinum-based chemotherapy and radiotherapy. As LCNEC are rare, there is a lack of extensive literature and randomized clinical trials, therefore the curative approach is still controversial. Current treatment guidelines suggest treating LCNEC by surgical resection in non-metastatic stages and recommend adjuvant chemotherapy according to SCLC protocol. Upfront surgery is suggested in early stages (from I to IIB), a multimodality approach is recommended in locally advanced stages (III) while surgery is not recommended in stage IV LCNEC. The rate of surgical resection is quite low, particularly for SCLC, ranging from 1 to 6% in limited diseases; lobectomy with radical lymphadenectomy is considered the gold standard surgical procedure in the case of limited disease SCLC and resectable LCNEC; pneumonectomy, although reported as an effective tool, should be avoided in the light of local and distant recurrence rates.


The Matsumoto Eosinophilic Shinshu (MES) rat is an inbred mutant strain that spontaneously develops systemic hypereosinophilia with eosinophilic inflammatory lesions similar to those associated with hypereosinophilic syndrome in humans and other mammals. To elucidate the pathogenic mechanisms that underlie these features of MES rats, we examined the pattern of cytokine gene expression in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), the thymus, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells as well as the blood clinicopathology and MLN lymphocytic subsets of these animals. MES rats exhibited both leucocytosis, attributable in large part to hypereosinophilia and neutrophilia, and immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgA gammaglobulinaemia, with increased titres of IgM autoantibodies to nuclear antigens. Reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that the amounts of interleukin (IL)‐5, IL‐4, eotaxin, and interferon‐γ mRNAs were increased in the MLN lymphocytes of MES rats compared with the corresponding values for Sprague‐Dawley rats. Intraperitoneal administration of a monoclonal antibody specific for IL‐5 resulted in an immediate suppression of hypereosinophilia and a delayed suppression of neutrophilia in MES rats. Flow cytometry revealed an increased percentage of CD3+ CD4– CD8– T lymphocytes in MLNs of MES rats. Our results suggest that the hypereosinophilia of MES rats results from an increased production of IL‐5, and that the eosinophilic inflammatory lesions of these animals, which are largely restricted to the gut, may be related both to cytokine overexpression in MLNs and to T helper 1 and 2 immunological responses.


Coffee is a beverage widely consumed in the world. The coffee species most commercialized worldwide are Arabica (Coffea arabica) and Robusta (Coffea canephora). Roasted coffee beans are the most used, but coffee leaves are also consumed as infusion in several countries for traditional medicinal purposes. They contain several interesting phenolic antioxidant compounds mainly belonging to chlorogenic acids (CGAs). In the present work, a liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection (LC-EC) method was developed for the determination of three main chlorogenic acid isomers, namely 3-, 4-, and 5-caffeoylquinic acids (CQA), in coffee leaves aqueous extracts. Samples from eight coffee species, namely; Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora, Coffea liberica, Coffea humilis, Coffea mannii, Coffea charrieriana, Coffea anthonyi, and Coffea liberica var. liberica, were grown and collected in tropical greenhouses. Linearity of the calibration graphs was observed in the range from the limit of quantification to 1.0 × 10−5 M, with R2 equal to 99.9% in all cases. High sensitivity was achieved with a limit of detection of 1.0 × 10−8 M for 3-CQA and 5-CQA (i.e., 3.5 µg/L) and 2.0 × 10−8 M for 4-CQA (i.e., 7.1 µg/L). The chromatographic profile of the samples harvested for each Coffea species was studied comparatively. Obtained raw data were pretreated for baseline variations and shifts in retention times between the chromatographic profiles. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to the pretreated data. According to the results, three clusters of Coffea species were found. In the water sample extracts, 5-CQA appeared to be the major isomer, and some species contained a very low amount of CQAs. Fluctuations were observed depending on the Coffea species and harvesting period. Significant differences between January and July were noticed regarding CQAs content. The species with the best CQAs/caffeine ratio was identified. The LC-EC data were validated by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS).


The isotropic and anisotropic exchange energies in phosphide and arsenide compounds with helical or ferromagnetic structures have been studied by means of an anisotropic two-band model. The anisotropic term is separated into a symmetric and an antisymmetric contribution. It appears that, in crystals with non-vanishing spin-orbit interaction, a circular isotropic helix minimizes the antisymmetric contribution (AEI) to the exchange energy. The helix is stable if the AEI compensates for the increase in the symmetric anisotropic energy that the deviation from a non-collinear spin arrangement causes. The band model predicts the correct ground state, with the exception of MnP, where the helical (ground state) and the ferromagnetic (high-temperature phase) configurations correspond to the same energy. The results confirm that the AEI and the shape of the Fermi surface are crucial for the stability of a helical magnetic structure.


Purpose: The efficacy of anticancer drugs in solid tumours is impaired by their inability to reach all cancer cells in sufficient concentration to cause cytotoxicity. Hyperthermia-triggered release of drugs from thermosensitive liposomes can increase tumour drug concentration, but tumour-specific drug delivery requires precise temperature control, and effects on microregional distribution of anticancer drugs in tumours are unknown. Here we evaluate thermally triggered release of doxorubicin in a rabbit tumour model by comparing free versus thermosensitive liposomal doxorubicin administered systemically during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-controlled focused ultrasound hyperthermia. Materials and methods: Twelve rabbits with a transplanted VX2 tumour in each thigh had a 10 mm diameter region in one tumour heated to 43°C using focused ultrasound with temperature control by MRI thermometry. Delivery of doxorubicin to tumours and normal tissues was quantified by fluorescence in tissue homogenates, and by fluorescence microscopy. Results: Using thermosensitive liposomal doxorubicin (2.5 mg/kg), doxorubicin concentrations in heated tumours were 26.7 times higher than in unheated tumours (n = 7, p = 0.017, two-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank test). There was no significant enhancement with free doxorubicin in heated versus unheated tumours (n = 3, p = 0.5). With thermosensitive liposomes (8.3 mg/kg), fluorescence microscopy demonstrated increased doxorubicin fluorescence in heated versus unheated tumours, co-localised with nuclear staining throughout the tumour. Conclusions: Localised image-guided delivery of high concentrations of doxorubicin to cancer cells was achieved non-invasively in implanted tumours with temperature-sensitive drug carriers and a preclinical MRI-controlled focused ultrasound hyperthermia system.


DOE contracted with Sandia to install a radar acquisition system (RAMS) to gather aircraft flight data near the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, TX. To support this effort, data reduction tools were needed to help analyze the radar data. Plot-flight is one of several data reduction tools that comprise the Sandia Airspace Recording System (SARS). The radar data is needed to support the Pantex Environmental Impact Study. Plot-flight is a DOS-based plot program that allows analysts to replay pre-recorded air traffic over Albuquerque and Amarillo. The program is flexible enough to permit replay of daily flights either sequentially, by range, or by Beacon ID. In addition to replay, the program is setup for data entry. Analysts can correlate electronic aircraft flight data to the green strip flights logs obtained from the local air traffic control center. The green strips are used by air traffic controllers to record each scheduled flight. The green strips have information not available electronically such as aircraft type and aircraft ID. This type of information is necessary to accommodate the current models used in aircraft crash analysis. Plot-flight correlates the hand-written information from the green strips to the recorded aircraft flight.


The high content of albumin in snakehead fish and proof of efficacy in clinical trials against several diseases, as well as the expensive commercial albumin preparations, making a snakehead fish alternative as a cheap source of albumin. The purpose of this study was to optimize the extraction, purification of albumin from snakehead fish to obtain higher levels of albumin. For that need to be investigated to obtain the isoelectric point of albumin extract with the greatest yield. Treatment research is the use of solvents is 0.9% NaCL and dilute HCL and extraction is by heating and without heating. The parameters tested were the determination of the isoelectric point, moisture content, albumin, and yield. The results obtained showed that the isoelectric point of albumin is at pH 4.6 with 62.9% albumin, 7.8% moisture content and yield of 11.6%.


The authors construct a processor design approach that does not require the distribution of a clocking signal. To facilitate design of processors that use fully asynchronous components, the first step is to design hazard-free asynchronous interconnection circuits. To this end, a deterministic algorithm was developed to synthesize asynchronous interconnection circuits from high-level specifications. This approach systematically designs correct asynchronous interconnection circuits with the weakest possible constraints and minimal overhead. The authors are primarily concerned with the synthesis of nonmetastable circuits, even though the procedure is also valid of metastable circuit synthesis. The synthesized logic is hazard-free and guaranteed to have the fastest operation according to a behavioral specification. A high-level description is used to specify circuit behavior, not only for a simpler input format, but also as a basis for determining the final optimum designs. Automatic synthesis and the ability to localize the timing considerations reduce design effort when systems become complex. >


A study of the possible axisymmetric modes that propagate at low frequencies in buried, water‐filled iron pipes is presented. It is well known that for a vacuum‐pipe‐vacuum system the sole non‐torsional axisymmetric mode that exists at low frequencies is the fundamental L(0,1) mode. When a pipe is filled with water and still surrounded by a vacuum it is also known that another mode then appears, which at low frequencies is characterized by predominantly axial water‐borne displacements. In addition to these modes, this paper explores two other, less‐well‐known axisymmetric modes whose existence depends on the acoustic properties of the outer medium that surrounds a pipe. The predicted characteristics of these modes are presented; the likelihood of them propagating over any significant distance in a buried water pipe is discussed, followed by an experimental validation using measurements on water mains in urban areas of the UK.


Cyclooxygenase (COX) 2 expression is associated with more than 40% of breast cancers and its inhibition leads to decreased disease risk and recurrence. COX-2 promotes tumor cell proliferation and survival but also contributes to the interplay between tumor and stromal cells that drives disease progression. We examined the specific role of mammary epithelial cell (MEC) COX-2 in a HER2/neu oncogene transgenic mouse model of breast cancer. Deletion of MEC COX-2 (COX-2MECKO) delayed mammary tumor onset compared to wild type (WT) littermates (tumor onset at age 23 and 29 weeks, respectively, n=12-17, p=0.006), and lowered tumor multiplicity (4.1 versus 7.6, respectively, n=14-18, p=0.05). Similarly, in WT mice, growth of HER2/neu expressing mammary cancer cells as orthotopic tumors was suppressed by knock-down of tumor cell COX-2 with shRNA. Compared to WT, COX-2MECKO tumors showed reduced Ki67, a marker of proliferation, and CD31, an endothelial cell marker, indicating decreased tumor growth and vascularization. Reduced gene expression of the angiogenic factor VEGF-A and its receptor VEGFR-2, as well as VEGFR-3, the receptor for the lymphangiogenic factor VEGF-C, were all lower in COX-2MECKO tumors, consistent with the reported pro-angiogenic function of COX-2 in tumors. Flow cytometric analysis of COX-2MECKO tumors indicated higher percentages of tumor-associated CD3+CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes, CD3-CD8+ natural killer cells, as well as CD3+CD4+ T helper (Th) lymphocytes, compared to WT. Leukocytes were isolated from COX-2MECKO and WT tumors, using microbeads coated with antibodies against the pan-leukocyte marker CD45, and analyzed for phenotypic marker gene expression. A higher ratio of Tbet (Th1 marker)/GATA3 (Th2 marker), and reduced Retnla (a M2 macrophage marker), was evident in leukocytes from COX-2MECKO tumors compared to WT tumors, indicating prevalence of pro-immune Th1 over immune suppressive Th2 lymphocytes, as well as reduced polarization of macrophages to the pro-tumorigenic M2 phenotype. Taken together, these data reveal a less tolerant immune microenvironment in COX-2MECKO tumors, with enhanced cytotoxic and pro-immune type 1, and suppressed pro-tumorigenic and immune suppressive type 2 tumor-associated macrophages and lymphocytes. This restoration of immune surveillance in COX-2MECKO tumors may be explained, at least in part, by decreased gene expression of the T lymphocyte co-inhibitory receptors CTLA4 and PD1, as well as the PD1 ligand PD-L1. Indeed, PD-L1 protein, measured by flow cytometry, was decreased in IFNγ-treated COX-2 knock-down mammary cancer cells in vitro, and was restored by treatment with prostaglandin (PG) E2, the dominant product of COX-2 in tumors. The data strongly support that, in addition to its pro-angiogenic role, tumor cell COX-2 is paracrine mediator that promotes a permissive tumor immune microenvironment and contributes to tumor immune escape. COX-2 inhibition may be clinically useful to augment breast cancer immunotherapy.

Citation Format: Nune Markosyan, Chen Edward, Victoire Ndong, Emer Smyth. HER2/neu oncogene induced tumors in mammary epithelial cell COX-2 deficient mice have disease delaying modifications of tumor microenvironment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology: Multidisciplinary Science Driving Basic and Clinical Advances; Dec 2-5, 2012; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A71.


The beautiful Euler spiral, defined by the linear relationship between curvature and arclength, was first proposed as a problem of elasticity by James Bernoulli, then solved accurately by Leonhard Euler. Since then, it has been independently reinvented twice, first by Augustin Fresnel to compute diffraction of light through a slit, and again by Arthur Talbot to produce an ideal shape for a railway transition curve connecting a straight section with a section of given curvature. Though it has gathered many names throughout its history, the curve retains its aesthetic and mathematical beauty as Euler had clearly visualized. Its equation is related to the Gamma function, the Gauss error function (erf), and is a special case of the confluent hypergeometric function. This report is adapted from a Ph. D. thesis done under the direction of Prof. C. H. Sequin. Figure 1: Euler's spiral.


According to Emile Benveniste, there are only 2 grammatical persons (the first and the second) because being a grammatical person is a matter of taking part actively in a dialogical act of speech. The so-called third person should rather be called the nonperson, the "absent" of the dialogue. Paul Ricoeur has questioned this interpretation of the third person in so far as it meets a philosophical dogma once maintained by Jean-Paul Sartre in his theory of the novel. Sartre claimed that the author of a novel, when introducing a character into the narrative, should choose between the first-person point of view and the third-person one. Ricoeur has rightly argued that this was not the case, as it is obviously possible to use the grammatical third person in order to present the personal thoughts and feelings of somebody else. If one could not do that, it would not be possible to consider "oneself as another."


Abstract In Schleiermacher's thought, according to romanticism, history and historical evolution can only be understood as the revelation and realisation of an idea within empiric world. At the end of this evolution there will be the identity of Geist (mind, spirit) and nature, idea and reality. – For Schleiermacher church history ist the middle discipline of historical theology. Between 1806 and 1826 he held three lectures on this subject and made diverse attempts to appoint the relation in which church history stands to universal history and to the idea of knowledge and science.


The life cycle of some aphid species involves seasonal switches between unrelated summer (secondary) and winter (primary) host plants. Many of these "host-alternating" species, belonging to the sub-family Aphidinae, produce two return migrant forms on secondary host plants in autumn. Winged females (gynoparae) are produced first; these locate the primary host and deposit their sexual female offspring (oviparae). Later, males are produced on the secondary host and these locate the primary host independently before mating with the oviparae. The mechanisms of primary-host location by gynoparae and males are reviewed in this paper. Studies with several aphid species indicate that both forms are able to respond to volatile cues released by their specific primary host plant. Plant odours may also enhance or modify the responses of return migrants to the sex pheromone released by mature oviparae. Aphids are also able to sample non-volatile plant chemicals after landing, but there have been very few detailed investigations of the behaviour of return migrants at the primary-host-plant surface. Recent experiments with gynoparae of the black bean aphid, Aphis fabae Scopoli, show that these insects detect primary-host-specific cues during stylet penetration of peripheral plant tissues, and these stimuli promote settling and reproduction. Similar behavioural studies with males are required to shed light on the processes of speciation and reproductive isolation in host-alternating aphids.


type="main"> Rivalry restraint has received a lot of attention as a theory of profits in recent research on business strategy. Its economic rationale is explained as the consequences of either exogenous or endogenous anticompetitive forces present in different industries. In this paper, we use a dynamic oligopolistic industry model and show that rivalry restraint emerges as equilibrium behavior among firm owners who delegate decisions to managers. In the corresponding two-stage game, managers choose optimal production rates in a dynamic Cournot market and owners set incentives for managers, acting sequentially rational. Equilibrium incentives correspond to rivalry restraint, that is, managers are less aggressive in the product market with lower outputs and increasing profits for all firms in the industry.


Nanocomposites of polypropylene-graft -maleic anhydride with organically modified clays have been prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. Their combustion behavior has been evaluated using oxygen consumption cone calorimetry. Synergy is observed between the nanocomposite formed and conventional vapor phase fire retardants, such as the combination of decabromodiphenyloxide and antimony oxide. The presence of bromine and antimony does not affect the heat release rate curves of the virgin polymer.