Background Acute kidney injury is a serious clinical problem in neonatal intensive care unit. It is defined as a sudden decrease in kidney function resulting in derangements in fluid balance, electrolytes, and waste products. SNAPPE 2 score is a useful tool for assessing the severity of the disease that correlates with neonatal mortality. Objective The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of AKI and the role of SNPPE 2 score in predicting mortality and morbidity in AKI in neonates. Methods The study was designed as a prospective, clinical, epidemiological investigation conducted in the period of three years, which included 100 newborn infants (50 with AKI and 50 without AKI) hospitalized in NICU of University Children's Hospital. The severity of the illness of hospitalized newborn infants was estimated with SNAPPE 2 score realized in the first 12 hours of admission in NICU. Medical data records of admitted neonates with AKI were analyzed. The material was statistically processed using methods of descriptive statistics. Results During the study period 770 newborns were hospitalized in NICU due to various pathological conditions and 50 newborns have been selected with AKI. As the control group, 50 newborns were taken with comparable associated pathological conditions, but without kidney injury. The calculated prevalence of AKI in neonates was 6.4%. Most of involved neonates in the study in both groups (AKI and non AKI) were born at term (64% and 54%) with predominance of male (68% and 60%). The mortality rate was higher in newborns with AKI than control group (36% vs 24%). In half of newborn infants with AKI predominate severe score level, while in control group predominate median score level (42%). There is a significant difference between the mean score value in neonates with AKI and lethal outcome compared to neonates with AKI without lethal outcome (70.73 ± 18.6 vs. 40.2 ± 16.6). Conclusion Acute kidney injury is a life threatening condition with still high mortality rate. The severity of the illness of hospitalized newborn infants in NICU is estimated by SNAPPE 2 score. The high score level is associated with the severity of the disease and higher mortality. Appropriate treatment of newborns with severe kidney injury improves the outcome and reduces the mortality of the disease.


Most present security arrangements depend on border security. In any case, Cloud computing breaks the association edges. At the point when information dwells in the Cloud, they live outside the hierarchical limits. This leads clients to a loss of control over their information and raises sensible security worries that back off the reception of Cloud computing. Is the Cloud specialist organization getting to the information? Is it really applying the get to control approach characterized by the client? This paper exhibits an information driven get to control arrangement with advanced part based expressiveness in which security is centered on ensuring client information notwithstanding the Cloud specialist co-op that holds it. Novel personality based and intermediary re-encryption systems are utilized to secure the approval demonstrates. Information is scrambled and approval tenets are cryptographically secured to save client information against the specialist co-op get to or rowdiness. The approval show furnishes high expressiveness with part chain of command and asset pecking order bolster. The arrangement exploits the rationale formalism gave by Semantic Web innovations, which empowers propelled administer administration like semantic clash identification. A proof of idea execution has been created and a working prototypical sending of the proposition has been incorporated inside Google administrations.


The subjects of space and texture in the structure of music and the issues of time and continuity, are recurrent themes in my music. Treize Etudes Pour L'Orchestre is a thirteen-movement composition for full contemporary orchestra. This work concretizes my interest and studies in texture and its continuity throughout time as it progresses in a sonic exploration of textural possibilities through the orchestral medium. The piece represents the cathartic memento of a motivic line of work. It evolved sequentially from the starting point of a series of piano pieces into piano and cello, and two-piano etudes, and culminated with the thirteen orchestral etudes. The smaller pieces, as well as the complete symphonic work, are all included in the appendix. Thematically, the orchestral work does not represent an orchestration of the smaller pieces, but an expansion of the material into different textural ideas. It focuses strictly on acoustic sound production and its textural possibilities. The present monograph provides an analytical study of the music. It discusses aesthetic and theoretical elements: form, melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, instrumentation, texture and compositional devices.


This paper discusses the 3-D numerical modeling of irrecoverable inelastic strain generation in shape memory alloys (SMAs), which is becoming increasingly important as more complicated engineering applications of SMAs are designed. Such behavior, although often rate-independent, can be rate-dependent at high temperatures. This work primarily addresses the modeling of rate-independent inelasticity in SMAs. A material behavior of particular interest occurs when plastic slip and martensitic transformation are occurring simultaneously and the influence of irrecoverable inelastic strain formation on phase transformation is considered. Motivated by experimental results obtained both from the laboratory and the literature, an SMA model which additionally captures the formation and evolution of plastic strains is proposed. The model is implemented into a 3-D finite element method framework and analysis results for two different boundary value problems are discussed. These problems include pre-working of an SMA beam actuator and micro-indentation of SMA thin films.


Dams and Earthen embankments including levees, tailings dams, and earthen dams present many challenging problems for Civil Engineers, particularly in the verification of their structural integrity and capacity, operation and maintenance (O&M), inspection, and safety. The sheer size and scale, age and uncertainty of materials in these sometimes mammoth structures all combine to present a difficult array of parameters for the levee professional to navigate when analyzing a new or existing levee or dam. Traditional instrumentation based on localized point sensor is not sufficient to guarantee the detection and localization of early signs of degradation. To make things more difficult, there are an ever growing number of assets and lives these structures protect downstream or in the "flood plain," and more and more emphasis is being placed on the vulnerability of these structures. Also, in the wake of flood disasters associated with Hurricane Katrina and others, a complex regulatory environment has emerged; requiring engineers to certify structural and geotechnical fortitude. Levee and dam asset owners and engineers are exposed to more responsibility and liability than ever. Recent advances in instrumentation technologies and applications are providing new ways the Civil Engineer examines these structures, and present engineers with a set of monitoring tools never thought possible. Distributed fiber optic technologies create sensors that are of scale and size to finally match the dam or levee, and present an interesting, reliable, cost effective way of monitoring these structures everywhere. These sensors can provide information about the strain and temperature distribution in a dam, every meter and over distances of up to several tens of kilometers. This allows the early detection, localization and sizing of defects and degradations such as seepages, leakages, settlements, shearing, abnormal joint movements, intentional tampering and over-flooding. This contribution will present numerous application examples of this new technology to real dams and dykes in Europe, the Americas and Asia.


Objective: To assess the association between short-term exposure level of nitrogen dioxide and the hospitalization risk of heart failure. Methods: Based on China-PEACE Retrospective Heart Failure Study, 117 364 hospitalized patients with heart failure were recruited from 92 hospitals in 62 cities throughout China between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015. The daily exposure level of nitrogen dioxide, temperature, and humidity in the same cities during the same period were also collected. We applied the generalized additive model and Bayesian hierarchical model to quantify the lagged effect and cumulative effect of short-term (0-3 days) exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide on the hospitalization risk of heart failure. We further conducted stratified analyses by age, region, and season to identify any difference in the associations between short-term nitrogen dioxide exposure and heart failure among subgroups. Results: The mean age for participants in the analysis was (70.32±12.22) years. The median, minimum and maximum of daily nitrogen dioxide concentration in 62 cities from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 was 26.4 μg/m3, 2.33 μg/m3 and 150.25 μg/m3, respectively. The exposure level of nitrogen dioxide at the same day was associated with the hospitalization risk of heart failure (OR=1.022, 95%CI: 1.012, 1.031). Significant effects were also observed in the moving average concentrations from lag 0-1 to lag 0-3 day (OR=1.020, 95%CI: 1.009, 1.030; OR=1.016, 95%CI: 1.004, 1.028; OR=1.013, 95%CI: 1.001, 1.026). Moreover, all of the associations between short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide and the risk of heart failure hospitalization were statistically significant, with no significant difference in all subgroups stratified by age, region, and season. Conclusion: A higher level of short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide could trigger more hospitalizations with heart failure.


This research was supported by a Senior Fulbright Research Grant to R. P. Bagozzi and a grant to L. W. Phillips from the Distribution Research and Educational Foundation (DREF), National Association of Wholesale Distributors, Washington, DC. Special thanks go to Dirk Van Dongen, Executive Director of DREF, and Ron Schreibman, Director of Research, for their assistance throughout the project. The contributions made to the research by Louis W. Stern, Northwestern University, are gratefully acknowledged. Comments on an earlier draft by Claes Fornell, University of Michigan, Barbara Lawrence and Alvin Silk, MIT, and V. Srinivasan and Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford University, also contributed to ideas presented in this paper, as did suggestions made by the editors. A holistic construal is presented to represent and test organizational theories, using examples from contemporary organizational theory and data from a recent study of wholesale distribution companies. The methodology provides a mechanism for linking theory construction and theory testing in organization research by explicitly representing theoretical and empirical concepts, nonobservational hypotheses, and correspondence rules. Unlike traditional methods used for construct validation and hypothesis testing, the methodology permits the researcher to model the extent of random and systematic error in measures of theoretical concepts and to control these sources of error when testing substantive hypotheses. Comparisons made between the holistic construal and traditional procedures show how the latter can lead to inaccurate conclusions about the status of a theory's constructs, hypotheses, and measures.


In this study, SiO2-Pt nano-composite ceramic metal (cermet) was developed to control the resistivity and the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). The experiments were conducted under various Ar pressures to find the optimum conditions for high resistivity and low TCR. Pt particles were uniformly dispersed in the SiO2 matrix, and the number of Pt particles changed with the Ar pressure. A stable resistivity value of 880 ∼ 193820 µΩ-cm was obtained at 3 ∼ 20 mtorr, and the temperature coefficient of resistance was in the range of 383.189 ∼ −3229.14 ppm/K.


For developing the Group Health Care System, health managers' job structure were analysed in the aspects of content, amount, and process. As a trial research, data were collected by a standardized job analysis table to 6 doctors, 40 nurses, and 11 industrial hygienists of Group Health Care System. Health care managers were performing complex and intellectual jobs such as healh education for workers, managing health care, conference as well as more simple jobs like as filling diary. Especially, job was consisted of general job and health care management job in the proportion of 1:2.18. The major general job were data management related with the health statistics, and major health care management jobs were managing health care, health counselling, environmental management of working sites. Each specific jobs were required differentiated intellectual capacity, creativity, autonomy, psychic stress, and physical work; most respondents perceived that health care management jobs should require more inputs than general jobs. Additionally job satisfaction and perceived need on specific Job items were anzlysed. Results of this research, suggested through the field experiences in working sites, should be considered for improving the Group Health Care System.


Autophagy has been linked with melanoma, but no polymorphisms in autophagy related (ATG) genes have been investigated for association with melanoma prognostic indicators and survival. We examined 5 ATG gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a large international multicenter population-based case-control study of melanoma. DNA from 911 melanoma patients was genotyped for five SNPs with a known or suspected impact on autophagic flux. While we did not identify an association with survival, a significant association was identified between the minor allele for an ATG16L polymorphism (rs2241880) and a decrease in Breslow thickness (p = 0.03), earlier tumor stage at diagnosis (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.27-0.81, p = 0.02) and younger age at diagnosis (p = 0.02). In addition, two SNPs in ATG5 (rs2245214 and rs510432) were found to be significantly associated with increased tumor stage of melanoma (OR 1.84 95% CI 1.12-3.02, p = 0.05; OR 1.47 95% CI 1.11-1.94, p = 0.03). Finally, we identified inverse associations between the minor allele of rs2245214 and melanomas on the scalp or neck (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.05-0.86, p = 0.03); rs1864182 (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21-0.88, p = 0.02) and brisk TILs, and rs510432 (OR 0.55 95% CI 0.34-0.87, p = 0.01) with non-brisk TILs, although they were not globally significant. In summary, our data suggests that ATG SNPs, while not associated with survival, may be associated with Breslow thickness, tumor stage, age at diagnosis, and aggressive histopathological factors. These associations could contribute to our current understanding of the significant role of autophagy in melanoma progression. Citation Format: Kirsten A. m. White, Li Luo, Todd A. Thompson, Salina Torres, Chien-An A. Hu, Nancy E. Thomas, Hoda Anton-Culver, Stephen B. Gruber, Lynn From, Klaus J. Busam, Irene Orlow, Peter A. Kanetsky, Lorraine D. Marrett, Richard P. Gallagher, Roberto Zanetti, Stefano Rosso, Terry Dwyer, Anne E. Cust, Allison Venn, Colin B. Begg, Marianne Berwick, Jenna Lillyquist. Variants in autophagy related genes and clinical characteristics in melanoma: a population-based study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1016.


We consider first-order transition amplitudes in external fields in QED in the expanding de Sitter space and point out that they are gauge dependent quantities. We examine the gauge variations of the amplitudes assuming a decoupling of the interaction at large times, which allows to conclude that the source of the problem lies in the fact that the frequencies of the modes in the infinite future become independent of the comoving momenta. We show that a possibility to assure the gauge invariance of the external field amplitudes is to restrict to potentials which vanish sufficiently fast at infinite times, and briefly discuss a number of options in the face of the possible gauge invariance violation in the full interacting theory.


This work deals with a perceptual hashing algorithm for audio streams. Perceptual hashing, or fingerprinting, is a technique which extracts the perceptual most relevant data from a piece of media. This process results in a hash, which on the one hand enables easy recognition of the same data later on and on the other hand to give similiarity measures between different pieces of media. The probably best known application is recognition of, in case of audio hashing, music pieces in the radio. Imagine, you were sitting in your car and were listening to the radio. You hear a song you do not know, but you would like to know it's name and it's writer. So you call a phone number and hold your cell phone to the radio speaker, thus enabling the other side of the call listening to the music. Ten seconds later, you end the call, and another ten seconds later, you receive a SMS containing all relevant information on that song. The process which enables this automated recognition is the mentioned perceptual hashing. The ten seconds of audio are hashed and checked to a database. If a match was found, the computer will tell you the song's information. This thesis dealt with a problem most modern audio perceptual hashing functions have - they are optimized on one single audio data type only - music, in most cases. Hence, if these algorithms have to deal with a different audio data type, they mostly failed. So a new algorithm was developed, meant to deal with any kind of audio. First, a general perceptual hashing algorithm for audio data was designed, which uses a general streaming approach but than extracts fingerprints by calculating statistically independent frequencies from very small fragments of audio, using an algorithm from the group of multi-variate analyses, the independent component analysis (ICA). These frequencies are reduced to integer-vectors used as fingerprints or hashes. Second, a way to maximize information from any kind of audio data was developed, purposed to enable this algorithm dealing with speech in special. Different approaches were tried. In the end, these two parts were combined to one algorithm, which is, up to a certain point, able to extract perceptually unique information from most audio, if a sample of the to be hashed data was given the algorithm beforehand.


Throughout the world, the entanglement of humans and landscapes varies from area to area depending on the time scale. In southern Africa, the impact of humanity on the physical environment is largely discussed in the context of modern rural and urban societies, and, usually, most contributions come from human geography, agriculture, and earth sciences. Very limited research is usually extended into the deep past, yet the archaeological record is replete with valuable information that gives a long-time depth of past human land use practices. Consequently, the contribution of the physical environment to the development of complexity over time remains poorly understood in most parts of Iron Age (CE 200–1900) southern Zambezia, particularly in Mberengwa and other gold-belt territories that have often received cursory research attention. What remains obscured is how did inhabitants of these gold-belt territories transform their landscapes in the long and short-term and how did these transformations intersect with their everyday lives? In this study, we combined archaeological, historical, and anthropological data of the Zimbabwe tradition societies that lived in ancient Mberengwa to probe these issues. The preliminary outcome suggests that despite vulnerability to high temperatures, tsetse-flies, and low rainfall, Later Iron Age societies that inhabited this gold belt territory were innovative risk-takers who successfully adapted a mix of land use practices to achieve longevity in settlement and prosperity in agropastoralism, mining, crafting, and much more. This proffers useful lessons on sustainable land use. Hopefully, with modification to suit the present, such solutions may help policy makers and modern societies living in similar environments to combat current global challenges related to environmental change.


Although composite propellant has been studied for a long time, the role of density of the composite propellant has not been addressed adequately in the literature. This paper examines the role of density of the propellant with regards to burn rate and burn rate pressure index. Propellants were prepared in the four different size (15, 70, 200 and 1000 g) mixers with identical input of ingredients to examine the effect of mixer size on density and burn rate of the composite solid propellant. It is noticed that density of the propellant changes significantly with change in the mixer size from 15 g to 1000 g. This is because for the smaller mixers the surface area to volume ratio is large and the actual percentage of aluminum and ammonium perchlorate (especially coarse) that goes into the propellant reduces. High burn rate with decrease in mixer size is also accompanied with increase in burn rate pressure index. These high burn rate and burn rate pressure index with decrease in mixer size is because of larger fraction of coarse AP particles as compared to fine AP particles remaining attached to the mixer and decreases the coarse to fine AP ratio in the cured propellant.


We develop a theoretical real options model that advises firms on the timing of voluntary delisting. We apply this model to 2,358 U.S. listed firms (1980-2016) and classify them as listed (delisted) firms that should be listed (delisted), good decision (GD), and listed (delisted) firms which should be delisted (listed), bad decision (BD). We perform a survival analysis using a discrete-time duration-dependent hazard model, so as to investigate the effect of the firm's characteristics on the likelihood of delisting, and examine the mean differences between the GD and BD samples. Most of the mean differences are statistically significant, which attests the economic rationale underlying our model. We highlight that the turnover, turnover growth and turnover volatility are largely neglected by the delisting literature, and conclude that these variables are however key determinants of voluntary delisting.


The E2F transcription factors family included E2F1-8 playing the crucial roles in the origination and progression of various kinds of human cancers. However, a comprehensive analysis regarding the gene mRNA expression pattern at bulk and single-cell resolution, the prognostic values and the association to immune cell infiltration of E2F family genes in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) remains to be performed. The bulk and single-cell mRNA expression levels of E2F family members in LUAD and LUSC were determined using the cBioPortal, Gepia, TISCH and Oncomine online databases. Based on the differentially expressed genes, GO enrichment and GSEA items were investigated. The Kaplan‑Meier plotter server was used to evaluate the prognostic significances of the E2F family genes in patients with LUAD and LUSC based on the related clinicopathological features. The correlation between E2F family gene expression and immune cell infiltration was explored using the Timer database. Our bulk and single-cell RNA analyses revealed that E2F1, E2F2 and E2F8 might promote the tumor growth and aggressiveness of LUAD and LUSC indicating the poor prognosis prediction. E2F4 and E2F6 might be considered as the potential outcome markers for the improved treatment of LUAD and LUSC, respectively. Upregulation of E2F1 and E2F8 indicated the poor prognosis of LUAD patients, whereas only E2F2 overexpression was associated with shorter overall survival of LUSC patients. There existed a positive relationship between E2F8 expression level and infiltration level of macrophages and DCs, and significantly positive correlation between infiltration level of CD8+ T, CD4+ T cells and E2F1/2/7 expression in LUAD and LUSC. In conclusion, our findings suggested that increased expression of E2F1/E2F8 or E2F2 may serve as promising prognostic biomarkers for patients with LUAD or LUSC, respectively.


Cognitive biases are systematic tendencies of thought which undermine accurate or fair reasoning. An allied concept is that of 'implicit bias', which are biases directed at members of particular social identities which may manifest without individual's endorsement or awareness. This article reviews the literature on cognitive bias, broadly conceived, and makes proposals for how judges might usefully think about avoiding bias in their decision making. Contra some portrayals of cognitive bias as 'unconscious' or unknowable, we contend that things can be known about our psychological biases, and steps taken to address them. We argue for the benefits of a unified treatment of cognitive and implicit biases and propose a "3 by 3" framework which can be used by individuals and institutions to review their practice with respect to addressing bias. We emphasise that addressing bias requires an ongoing commitment to monitoring, evaluation and review rather than one-off interventions.


Mount Athos represents a unique monastic community modelled after the great monastic centres of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire. Owing to the benevolence of Byzantine rulers a specific system of administration was established on Mount Athos, and the monks retained a high degree of self-administration. Although the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century took control of Mount Athos, its specific legal regime was not abolished. In the first centuries of Ottoman rule there were no significant attempts of introducing new or revising the old rules which regulated the organization of the administration on Mount Athos. It was only in the 18th century that the period of the more lively legislative activities began. During that period the Athonite administrative bodies, more or less similar to the current ones, were formed. This paper deals with the reasons that led to their creation and their evolution in the 18th century.


Angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia is a rare, benign skin disease of unknown etiology. In the western hemisphere it occurs mostly in females and is located mostly in the head and neck. Microscopically, it is characterized by dermal and subcutaneous infiltration of chronic inflammatory cells, especially eosinophils; neocapillary formation; and lymphohistiocytic hyperplasia. Effective treatment requires total excision.


MicroRNAs play an important role in regulating post-transcriptional gene expression in the progression of various human cancers. In this study, we investigated the role of microRNA-557 in human lung cancer cells. The molecular mechanism of microRNA-557 was also clarified in the proliferation and invasion of human lung cancer cells. Our results showed microRNA-557 levels were obviously decreased in clinical lung cancer specimens and lung cancer cell lines. Cell viability of A549 and NCI-H460 cells transfected with microRNA-557 mimics was significantly decreased than those transfected with negative control mimics. MicroRNA-557 promoted cell death of A549 and NCI-H460 but did not affect the cell apoptosis of lung cancer cells. Overexpression of microRNA-557 inhibited cell invasion of A549 and NCI-H460 cells. TargetScan analysis showed that microRNA-557 might target 3′ untranslated region of lymphocyte enhancement factor 1, and the western blotting results showed that transfection of microRNA-557 mimics significantly decreased the levels of lymphocyte enhancement factor 1 in A549 and H460 cells. MicroRNA-557 might work as a tumor suppressor by negatively regulating the expression of lymphocyte enhancement factor 1 in lung cancer cells.


For a Frobenius abelian category $\mathcal{A}$, we show that the category ${\rm Mon}(\mathcal{A})$ of monomorphisms in $\mathcal{A}$ is a Frobenius exact category; the associated stable category $\underline{\rm Mon}(\mathcal{A})$ modulo projective objects is called the stable monomorphism category of $\mathcal{A}$. We show that a tilting object in the stable category $\underline{\mathcal{A}}$ of $\mathcal{A}$ modulo projective objects induces naturally a tilting object in $\underline{{\rm Mon}}(\mathcal{A})$. We show that if $\mathcal{A}$ is the category of (graded) modules over a (graded) self-injective algebra $A$, then the stable monomorphism category is triangle equivalent to the (graded) singularity category of the (graded) $2\times 2$ upper triangular matrix algebra $T_2(A)$. As an application, we give two characterizations to the stable category of Ringel-Schmidmeier (\cite{RS3}).


Study of α-V70I-substituted nitrogenase MoFe protein identified Fe6 of FeMo-cofactor (Fe7S9MoC-homocitrate) as a critical N2 binding/reduction site. Freeze-trapping this enzyme during Ar turnover captured the key catalytic intermediate in high occupancy, denoted E4(4H), which has accumulated 4[e-/H+] as two bridging hydrides, Fe2-H-Fe6 and Fe3-H-Fe7, and protons bound to two sulfurs. E4(4H) is poised to bind/reduce N2 as driven by mechanistically-coupled H2 reductive-elimination of the hydrides. This process must compete with ongoing hydride protonation (HP), which releases H2 as the enzyme relaxes to state E2(2H), containing 2[e-/H+] as a hydride and sulfur-bound proton; accumulation of E4(4H) in α-V70I is enhanced by HP suppression. EPR and 95Mo ENDOR spectroscopies now show that resting-state α-V70I enzyme exists in two conformational states, both in solution and as crystallized, one with wild type (WT)-like FeMo-co and one with perturbed FeMo-co. These reflect two conformations of the Ile residue, as visualized in a reanalysis of the X-ray diffraction data of α-V70I and confirmed by computations. EPR measurements show delivery of 2[e-/H+] to the E0 state of the WT MoFe protein and to both α-V70I conformations generating E2(2H) that contains the Fe3-H-Fe7 bridging hydride; accumulation of another 2[e-/H+] generates E4(4H) with Fe2-H-Fe6 as the second hydride. E4(4H) in WT enzyme and a minority α-V70I E4(4H) conformation as visualized by QM/MM computations relax to resting-state through two HP steps that reverse the formation process: HP of Fe2-H-Fe6 followed by slower HP of Fe3-H-Fe7, which leads to transient accumulation of E2(2H) containing Fe3-H-Fe7. In the dominant α-V70I E4(4H) conformation, HP of Fe2-H-Fe6 is passively suppressed by the positioning of the Ile sidechain; slow HP of Fe3-H-Fe7 occurs first and the resulting E2(2H) contains Fe2-H-Fe6. It is this HP suppression in E4(4H) that enables α-V70I MoFe to accumulate E4(4H) in high occupancy. In addition, HP suppression in α-V70I E4(4H) kinetically unmasks hydride reductive-elimination without N2-binding, a process that is precluded in WT enzyme.


Virtually every city in the United States bans multifamily homes in at least some neighborhoods, and in many cities most residential land is restricted to single family homes. This is the case even though many metropolitan areas are facing skyrocketing housing costs and increased environmental degradation that could be alleviated by denser housing supply. Some scholars have argued that an unrepresentative set of vocal development opponents are the culprits behind this collective action failure. Yet, recent work suggests that opposition to density may be widespread. In this research note, I use a conjoint survey experiment to provide evidence that preferences for single-family development are ubiquitous. Across every demographic subgroup analyzed, respondents preferred single-family home developments by a wide margin. Relative to single family homes, apartments are viewed as decreasing property values, increasing crime rates, lowering school quality, increasing traffic, and decreasing desirability.


The incidence of gastric
cancer (GC) in young patients has showed a stable or even slightly increasing
trend in recent years all over the world. Little is known about the
clinicpathological features of young patients with GC in Ningxia region,
located in the northwest part of China. To define the clinicpathological
features of GC in young patients in this region, 117 patients with GC, who were
admitted to the Department of Medical Oncology, General Hospital of Ningxia
Medical University, Ningxia, China, were enrolled in a retrospective database
between 2000 and 2005. The data from 55 patients aged less than 35 years old
were compared with those from 62 controls aged between 36 and 70. It was found
that in young group, the percentages of females, the tumors in the lower third
of the stomach, tumor size larger than 4 cm, macroscopic type Borrmann III
tumors, poorly differentiated histology, the 7th T stage T3 + T4, the distribution of
tumor-nodes-metastasis(TNM)stage IV, surgical exploratory laparoscopy, and
anemia symptoms were significantly higher than those in the control group (P  vs. 48.4%, P <
0.05). It was obvious that the clinicpathological features of GC in young
patients were different from those in the control group. Focusing on early
diagnostic rate and choosing a suitable operative treatment should be critical
to improve prognosis of young patients with GC in Ningxia region of China.


Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a leading cause of liver disease. The capsid is an essential component of the virion and it is therefore of interest how it assembles and disassembles. The capsid protein is unusual both for its rare fold and that it polymerizes according to two different icosahedral symmetries, causing the polypeptide chain to exist in seven quasi-equivalent environments: A, B, and C in AB and CC dimers in T = 3 capsids, and A, B, C, and D in AB and CD dimers in T = 4 capsids. We have compared the two capsids by cryo-EM at 3.5 Å resolution. To ensure a valid comparison, the two capsids were prepared and imaged under identical conditions. We find that the chains have different conformations and potential energies, with the T = 3 C chain having the lowest. Three of the four quasi-equivalent dimers are asymmetric with respect to conformation and potential energy; however, the T = 3 CC dimer is symmetrical and has the lowest potential energy although its intra-dimer interface has the least free energy of formation. Of all the inter-dimer interfaces, the CB interface has the least area and free energy, in both capsids. From the calculated energies of higher-order groupings of dimers discernible in the lattices we predict early assembly intermediates, and indeed we observe such structures by negative stain EM of in vitro assembly reactions. By sequence analysis and computational alanine scanning we identify key residues and motifs involved in capsid assembly. Our results explain several previously reported observations on capsid assembly, disassembly, and dimorphism.


ABSTRACT... Objectives: An observational study to assess the reasons for admission of diabetic patients in a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan. Study Design: Cross sectional observational study. Setting: Department of Medicine, PN Shifa Hospital, Karachi. Period: June to August 2018. Material & Methods: All patients admitted to medical ward of PNS Shifa over a period of three months were included in the study. Admissions were done with the primary diagnosis of diabetes in both males and females aged 20-80 years, who were taking some form of hypoglycemic agents (oral or insulin). A questionnaire was formed and filled by the investigator, containing information about demographics details of the patients, duration of diabetes, duration of hospital stay, pre-existing co-morbid conditions and principal reason for admission along with blood parameters (FBS and HbA1c). Results: Mean age of admitted patients in both male and females was between 36-40 years. There were more male patients who were hospitalized. Hospital stay in days was longer for men than women. Women had done primary level of education and Men had Secondary level of education. Men had diabetes of 1115 years duration as compared to women who had diabetes of less than 10 years duration. All patients had uncontrolled diabetes despite drug treatment and as depicted by an average HbA1c of 8.07 %. A preexisting history of Hypertension, coronary artery disease, bronchial asthma and dyslipidemia were more prevalent in all diabetic patients. The four most common reasons for hospital admissions Angina/ Acute coronary syndrome, Pneumonia, Stroke and Urinary Tract Infections. Conclusion: This study shows that diabetic patients who were admitted had more male patients and their glycemic control was poor. Diseases of cardiovascular system was the pre-existing co-morbid associated with diabetes. Infection (Pneumonia) was the major cause of hospital admission followed by coronary artery disease (Angina/ Acute coronary syndrome).


A clinical and entomological survey of malaria was carried out in Bakau, a peri-urban coastal settlement in The Gambia, from June 1988-May 1989. Only 41 of a cohort of 560 children, aged from three months to nine-years-old, experienced a clinical episode of malaria during the observation period. The majority of cases were identified at clinics and not by regular community surveillance. In Bakau Old Town episodes of malaria were more common on the periphery of the settlement, adjacent to typical anopheline breeding sites, than in the centre. Overall malaria cases were not significantly clustered in space and time, although three pairs of cases among children sleeping in the same room at the same time were identified. A cross-sectional survey in November, at the end of the rainy season, revealed a point prevalence parasitaemia of 2.0% and a spleen rate of 0.3%. All malariometric parameters measured were much lower than any found in comparable studies undertaken in rural areas of the country, reflecting the low number of malaria vectors, Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes, found in Bakau. Chloroquine consumption, sleeping under bednets, houses with ceilings, the use of insecticide aerosols and burning traditional mosquito repellents may all have contributed to the low prevalence of malaria in the study area.


: 1345 respondents froms elected Laguna Lake area municipalities (Philippines) were interviewed in order to provide a preliminary description of the preference for number and sex of children of 5 respondent groups - the youth, newly married couples, couples where the wife was at the peak of the childbearing period, menopausal women, and grandparents. The analysis undertaken included the Coombs preferences scales, cross tabulations, percentage distirubtion and mean. Preferences for the number of children by category, age and sex of respondent indicated an underlying preference for moderate to large families. A trend towards the preference for small families was evident among the female and male respondents in the youth category. The preference for the number of children appeared to be positively related to the age of respondent. Females tended to prefer slightly smaller family sizes than males. Male respondents preferred male children, and female respondents preferred female children.


Accra, the capital city of Ghana, is highly multilingual and has a fair representation of most of the major languages in the country. In this regard, a lot of intercultural activities are expected to occur. This study explores an underrated importance of language use in forming congenial relationships during intercultural encounters such as interethnic marriage ceremonies in Greater Accra. The study analyses how language is negotiated and used during these ceremonies. It reveals that the languages to be used for the ceremonies are often negotiated for prior to the day of the ceremony. Using Fairclough's (1995) model of Critical Discourse Analysis, the study shows language imperialism and misinterpretation as some of the problems associated with language usage within the context of interethnic marriage ceremonies. The study also examines the socio-pragmatic factors that inform the language choices of speakers during the course of the ceremonies following Myers-Scotton's (1993) Marked Model. It shows that speakers make marked choices for the purposes of giving directives, to accommodate other interlocutors, to sing songs and for quotations. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh


Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) constitute a promising new class of anticancer agents that can induce growth arrest and apoptosis in malignant cells through histone decompaction and other, yet unknown mechanisms. Although HDIs are effective in T-cell lymphomas, only occasional responses have been reported for solid tumors. To better understand these disparate effects, we have performed a systematic survey of 19 different cell lines representing various solid tumors with different molecular phenotypes. The cell lines were derived from breast (MCF-7, MCF-10A, SK-Br-3, MDA-MB-231), lung (A549, H460, EKVX, H146, H526), colon (HCT-116, HCT-116 p21-/-, S1, SW620), melanoma (MDA-MB-435, LOX IMVI, UACC-62), CNS (SF295), prostate (PC-3), and lymphoma (HUT-78), and their response to HDIs was studied at both the molecular and cellular level. The effect of two different HDIs, romidepsin (depsipeptide) and vorinostat (SAHA), at several concentrations (3-fold serial dilutions of 0.1 – 30 nM depsipeptide, 0.1 – 30 uM vorinostat) and at different time points (8 – 24 – 48 – 72 – 96 h) were analyzed. The response parameters included cytotoxicity (MTT assay), flow cytometric analysis of cell cycle (propidium iodide), apoptosis (short exposure Annexin V), and mitotic arrest (TG3 staining). In addition, to enable high throughput screening of protein expression and modification (including histone acetylation, methylation, and phosphorylation), we took advantage of a newly developed, custom designed, reverse phase dot blot microarray containing 4992 spots per slide. Multivariate analysis, including multiple regression and unsupervised hierarchical clustering of the data organized in heat-maps, revealed that the effects of HDIs are complex involving multiple proteins and pathways, and depend on the cellular context. In particular, cell cycle analysis revealed major differences in response to HDIs between cell lines, ranging from only minor changes in G1/S/G2/M distribution to profound G2 arrest (HCT-116 p21-/-) even at the lowest concentration (0.1 nM) of HDI. Such a nuanced picture was not observed with the standard MTT cytotoxicity assay, underscoring the value of cell cycle analysis in future drug-response studies. With a few notable exceptions, we observed good agreement between the Annexin V assay and the Sub-G0 population, both measures of apoptosis. In conclusion, the two HDIs, romidepsin and vorinostat, have pleiotropic effects that are not confined to histone modification. The heterogeneous responses that we observe across different cell lines reflect the clinical situation with very variable outcome of HDI treatment. We believe that the mechanistic insights obtained in the current study will aid in the design of new and improved HDI treatment regimens, including combination therapy. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2620. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2620


The paper is developed in tripping mechanism for three phase supply in power system. The output of project resets after a brief interruption in event temporary fault while remains tripping condition the case of permanent fault. The electrical grid substation which supply power to the many consumers failures due to some faults which is temporary or permanent. The fault damage to the power system equipment, In India it is common, The faults is LG (Line to Ground), LL (Line to Line), 3L (Three lines) in the supply of power systems and the faults in three phase system affect the whole power system. To overcome the problem the system is make, which is sense the faults and automatic disconnect the supply of power system to avoid large scale damage in control gears in the sub-stations. This system is make using three single phase transformers and they are wired in star input, star output, and 3 transformers are connect in delta connection, in have input 220 V and output is 12 volt. In the project 555 timers are used for handle. The short duration and long time duration fault condition. A set of switch used create the LL, LG and 3L fault in low voltage side, for activating the trip mechanism. The Short time duration fault returns supply to load immediately called temporary trip while long duration result called permanent trip.


To substantiate an observation that donor sites that are harvested from the back scar less than those that are harvested from thighs, donor sites from both areas were evaluated for the extent of scarring. For donor sites that were harvested more that 1 year before evaluation, no significant improvements were observed. Back donor sites that were evaluated less than or equal to 1 year after harvest had significant improvements in height, color, edema, suppleness, and cosmetic appearance than those harvested from thighs. Thirty-two patients had both back and thigh donor sites harvested at the same time. Back donor sites had significant improvement in scar height, color, and edema. Cosmetic improvements were also observed. Significantly more patients preferred the back donor site over that of the thigh. The back is the preferred donor site for skin grafts in the pediatric burn population.


Automatic identification of influential segments from a large amount of data is an important part of topic detection and tracking (TDT). This can be done using keyword identification via collocation techniques, word co-occurrence networks, topic modeling and other machine learning techniques. This paper reviews existing traditional keyword extraction techniques and analyzes them to make useful insights and to give future directions for better automatic, unsupervised and language independent research. The paper reviews extant literature on existing traditional TDT approaches for automatic identification of influential segments from a large amount of data in keyword detection task. The current keyword detection techniques used by researchers have been discussed. Inferences have been drawn from current keyword detection techniques used by researchers, their advantages and disadvantages over the previous studies and the analysis results have been provided in tabular form. Although keyword detection has been widely explored, there is still a large scope and need for identifying topics from the uncertain usergenerated data. Keywords-keyword detection; information retrieval; topic detection; machine learning; comprehensive study


Caesalpinia sappan L heartwood is a leguminoceae plant that grow in Indonesia landscape, uses as traditional herbal medicine and natural textile dye. Caesalpinia sappan heartwood also contains homoisoflavonoids as natural pigment and bioactive compound, promotes several human health  benefits. This study provide biological function prediction and mapping through in silico approach. The compounds from Caesalpinia sappan were listed and downloaded from Knapsack webserver. PubChem NCBI was used to retrieve the canonical smiles of Caesalpinia sappan compounds. Biological activity of Caesalpinia were predicted by Online PASS Two Way drug website and performed in heatmap. Structure activity relationship (SAR) of quercetin-3,7-Di-O-Methyl Ether 3'-O-Methylbrazilin, 2'-Methoxyisoliquiritigenin, Isoliquiritigenin 2'-Methy Ether and Quercetin-3′,4′-Di-O-Methyl Ether revealed antioxidant, nitric oxide scavenger, antimycobacterial, antibacterial, antiinflammation, and act as lipoxygenase inhibitor agent. Furthermore, Quercetin-3′,4′-Di-O-Methyl Ether (17) proved higher antivirus activity than other compounds. 2'-Methoxyisoliquiritigenin (20) and Isoliquiritigenin 2'-Methy Ether (27) performed higher neuroprotective effect than others. Molecular docking and dynamis are required for further investigation.


It is planned to implemented the Environmental Quality Standard (EQS) for soil pollution of 1,4-Dioxane (DXA) in Japan soon. DXA (C2H8O2) has a density similar to that of water at room temperature and is a colorless and transparent liquid. It has a relatively low boiling point at 101°C, dissolves well in both water and oil, and belongs to the group of volatile organic compounds (VOC). Due to these characteristics DXA is a widely used solvent and was used in large amounts as stabilizer for 1,1,1-Trichloroethane (MC). It is assumed that DXA has a low affinity to adsorb on organic substances within the soil matrix, has a lower volatilization rate and is hence highly mobile. Therefore, it is likely that its soil and groundwater contamination mechanism is different compared to other VOC. In this study, in order to understand the behavior characteristics of DXA in soil and groundwater, as well as soil and groundwater contamination mechanism, distribution experiments regarding DXA between solid-liquid phase and liquid-gas phase as well as three kinds of soil column experiments were conducted. Toyoura sand and organic soil were used for all experiments respectively. The results of these experiments about the behavior of DXA were compared to that of MC which often occurs together with DXA. DXA was almost only present in pore water in the distribution experiments, and only a small amount adsorbed on soil particles or vaporizes into the gas phase. In case that MC was present as NAPL in water, the presence of MC phase did not affect the distribution of DXA. Soil column experiments in order to understand the volatilization in unsaturated soil showed that DXA which vaporized from contaminated soil dissolves in soil water while spreading upwards through the soil gas, in case that DXA is present in the unsaturated soil. Therefore, the probability of DXA to spread until close to the soil surface through soil gas is low, and it was further shown the possibility that soil leachate values exceed the EQS for soil pollution in intermediate depths. Further soil column experiments, in order to understand the infiltration properties during precipitation into the unsaturated soil, showed that DXA in the unsaturated zone will dissolve in infiltrating rain water and percolate with it; however, in case that rain water does not infiltrate into the unsaturated soil, the concentration of DXA remains high within the soil matrix. Hence it is likely that at places where rain water infiltration does not occur, such as under buildings, the concentration of DXA in the unsaturated soil remains high within the soil matrix and that DXA can be mobilized after demolition of buildings through infiltrating rain water until it reaches the aquifer where it may cause groundwater contamination. In this research, DXA specific soil and groundwater contamination characteristics were examined by understanding the behavior characteristics of DXA in the unsaturated zone. The content of this presentation was partly funded by the Environmental Research and Technology Development Fund (5-1503) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.


During human gastric carcinogenesis, intestinal metaplasia is frequently seen in the atrophic stomach. In mice, a distinct type of metaplasia known as spasmolytic polypeptide-expressing metaplasia (SPEM) is found in several inflammatory and genetically engineered models. Given the diversity of long- and short-term models of mouse SPEM, it remains unclear whether all models have a shared or distinct molecular mechanism. The origin of SPEM in mice is presently under debate. It is postulated that stem or progenitor cells acquire genetic alterations that then supply metaplastic cell clones, whereas the possibility of transdifferentiation or dedifferentiation from mature gastric chief cells has also been suggested. In this study, we report that loss of chief cells was sufficient to induce short-term regenerative SPEM-like lesions that originated from chief cell precursors in the gastric neck region. Furthermore, Lgr5+ mature chief cells failed to contribute to both short- and long-term metaplasia, whereas isthmus stem and progenitor cells efficiently contributed to long-term metaplasia. Interestingly, multiple administrations of high-dose pulsed tamoxifen induced expansion of Lgr5 expression and Lgr5-CreERT recombination within the isthmus progenitors apart from basal chief cells. Thus we conclude that short-term SPEM represents a regenerative process arising from neck progenitors following chief cell loss, whereas true long-term SPEM originates from isthmus progenitors. Mature gastric chief cells may be dispensable for SPEM development. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Recently, dedifferentiation ability in gastric chief cells during metaplasia development has been proposed. Our findings reveal that lesions that were thought to be acute metaplasia in fact represent normal regeneration supplied from neck lineage and that isthmus stem/progenitors are more responsible for sustained metaplastic changes. Cellular plasticity in gastric chief cells may be more limited than recently highlighted.


Superconducting qubits based on voltage tuneable superconductor-semiconductor Josephson junctions called gatemons could be used to realize a universal quantum computer. Before this can be realized, two challenges must be overcome; the coherence times of the qubits must be longer, and fabrication must be deterministic. This thesis presents the nanofabrication and characterization of two gatemon qubit devices based on different materials. In one the Josephson junction is based on a proximitized two dimensional electron gas. The other device is based on nanowires grown directly on the substrate using selective area growth. The lifetimes and coherence times for these devices are extracted, finding T1 = 2.77μs and T2∗ = 359ns for the first device and T1 = 180ns for the second device with the coherence time being too short to measure.


: Rehabilitation from injury and prevention of injury are terms that describe differing aspects of the same challenge. The clinician must be continually aware of the principles of rehabilitation and their order of priority (prevent further damage, restore motion, restore strength, reestablish coordination) while supervising patients' progress toward their goals. If patients are made aware of these principles at an early stage, and taught to take as much responsibility as possible for their own rehabilitative course, they will be more likely to reach their own ideal compromise of safety and speed of progress. In addition to helping with rehabilitation from injury, knowledge and self-awareness that patients obtain during this process may help in the prevention of future injuries.


The EM scattering solution for a grass blade with complex cross-section geometry is considered. It was previously shown that the scattering solution for such problems, in the form of a polarizability tensor, can be obtained using the low-frequency approximation in conjunction with the method of moments. In addition, that study showed that the relationship between the polarizability tensor of a dielectric cylinder and its dielectric constant can be approximated by a simple algebraic expression. The results of that study are used to show that this algebraic approximation is valid also for cylinders with cross sections the shape of grass blades, providing that proper values are selected for each of three constants appearing in the expression. These constants are dependent on cylinder shape, and if the relationship between the constants and the three parameters describing a grass blade shape can be determined, an algebraic approximation relating polarizability tensor to blade shape, as well as dielectric constant, can be formed. This algebraic approximation can replace the cumbersome method of moments model. The moment method model is therefore used to generate a small but representative set of polarizability tensor data over the range of values commonly observed in nature. A conjugate gradient method is then implemented to correctly determine the three constants of the algebraic approximation for each blade shape. A third-order polynomial fit to the data is then determined for each constant, thus providing a complete analytic replacement to the numerical (moment method) scattering model. >


We surveyed nucleotide sequence variation at glucose dehydrogenase (Gld), in a region of low recombination on chromosome 3R, from a population sample of Drosophila simulans. The levels of nucleotide variation were surprisingly high. There was no departure from the expectation of a neutral model for the level of polymorphism, indicating no evidence of a selective sweep in this region. There was a significant deficiency of singleton polymorphisms according to the Fu and Li test, although Tajima and Hudson, Kreitman, and Aguade (HKA) tests do not provide evidence of a significant elevation of variation due to balancing selection. Genetic map data for the D. simulans third chromosome were used to calculate expected values of pi for Gld under a current model of background selection, varying the values for the parameter sh (selection coefficient against deleterious mutations). We show that the recombinational landscape of D. simulans is sufficiently different from that of D. melanogaster that we expect higher variation under the background selection model, even when effective population sizes are assumed to be equal. The data for Gld were tested against the predictions using computer simulations of the distribution of the number of segregating sites conditioned on pi. Background selection alone can explain our observations as long as sh is larger than 0.005 and species-level effective population size is assumed to be several-fold larger than in D. melanogaster. Alternatively, the deleterious mutation rate may be smaller in D. simulans, or balancing selection may be acting nearby, thereby reducing the effect of background selection.


This paper describes the preparation and characterization of polymeric nanoparticles loaded with a potent anti-tumor metal chelator, Di-2-pyridylketone-4,4-dimethyl-3-thiosemicarbazone (Dp44mT) for delivery to cancer cells. Metal chelators have been increasingly studied for their anti-cancer properties that rely on the high demand of neoplastic cells for iron. Dp44mT has previously shown great antiproliferative characteristics in several cancers including breast cancer and melanoma. To further expand the application of this highly cytotoxic agent for cancer treatment and to enable its specific delivery to malignant cells, here we apply nano-scale particles (NPs) of biodegradable poly(lactic-co-glycolide) (PLGA) for encapsulation of Dp44mT and evaluate its effectiveness in vitro. The results demonstrated that Dp44mT was efficiently encapsulated in PLGA particles. Resulting NPs were uniform in size and shape and had good colloidal stability. Moreover, Dp44mT encapsulation in PLGA enhanced the water solubility of this agent. Lastly, the present formulation showed high level of cytotoxicity in glioma cells. Together, these results show the potential of PLGA NPs as a nano-carrier for Dp44mT with no apparent impact on the anti-tumor activity of this compound.


Field experiment was conducted during 1991 to 1996 to study the effect of nitrogen (four levels, 0, 15, 30 and 45 kg N/ha) and phosphorus (three levels, 0, 30 and 60 kg P2O5/ha) fertilization on soybean production under rainfed condition. Results indicated that application of 15 kg N/ha was economical (BCR 1:6.99) for soybean production. Available nitrogen content of soil after harvesting of crop also improved due to N app1cation. Application of P @ 30 kg P2O5/ha found was most economical with improving grain and fodder yield by 8.25 and 18.71 per cent, respectively.


A case of rupture of a normal spleen caused by vomiting following a metrizamide myelogram is presented. The pathological, clinical and radiological features are similar to those found in traumatic splenic rupture. It is important to be aware that the normal spleen can be ruptured by relatively minor trauma as delay in diagnosis and treatment result in high morbidity and mortality.


A 32-year-old man had unilateral visual loss, a gravitational layering of preretinal inflammatory cells in the macula (pseudohypopyon), subretinal infiltrates, and hemorrhagic vasculitis. The patient initially denied intravenous drug abuse. Aspergillus terreus was cultured from undiluted vitreous obtained from a diagnostic and therapeutic vitrectomy specimen. Intravitreal and subconjunctival injections of amphotericin B alone were successful treatment. To the author's knowledge, antemortem diagnosis and treatment of A. terreus-induced endophthalmitis has not been reported previously. This article describes the second case of aspergillar endophthalmitis successfully treated without adjunctive systemic antifungal therapy.


The written comments presented herein represent the views of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is the lead agency within the Public Health Service (PHS) in matters of technology transfer. In addition to providing patent and licensing services to all Institutes and Centers comprising the NIH, PHS lead agency status further encompasses coordinating and facilitating technology transfer policy functions with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Central responsibility within NIH for these technology transfer functions has been delegated to the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT).


We investigated the adsorption of Na on graphene and graphene oxide, which are used as anode materials in sodium ion batteries, using density functional theory. The adsorption energy for Na on graphene was -0.507 eV at the hollow sites, implying that adsorption was favorable. In the case of graphene oxide, Na atoms were separately adsorbed on the epoxide and hydroxyl functional groups. The adsorption of Na on graphene oxide-epoxide (adsorption energy of -1.024 eV) was found to be stronger than the adsorption of Na on pristine graphene. However, the adsorption of Na on graphene oxide-hydroxyl resulted in the generation of NaOH as a by-product. Using density of states (DOS) calculations, we found that the DOS of the Na-adsorbed graphene was shifted down more than that of the Na-adsorbed graphene oxide-epoxide. In addition, the intensity of the DOS around the Fermi level for the Na-adsorbed graphene was higher than that for the Na-adsorbed graphene oxide-epoxide.


Topographic classification of lymphatic nodes with reactive changes and with metastasis makes evident, that the regional lymph nodes have not only changes, caused by inflammation but also by growth of tumor. Thus, the lymph nodes are accomodation of defense and in the second place as an accommodation of discharge. The regional lymph nodes respond independent of the extent of the primary tumor. The regional metastasis are nearly always localized in the center of lymph nodes with reactiv changes. Lymph nodes with follicular lymphatic hyperplasia are situated in the immediate environment of the metastasis. Lymph nodes with sinus-reaction are extended before the metastasis, in direction of lymph discharge. By super imposed projection of the results of histological evaluation of cervical glands with metastasis in the neck, one obtains to some extent an impression of the defense activity by the lymph nodes at the time of the operation.


In this paper we present a detailed proof of an important result of algebraic logic: namely that the free commutative Kleene algebra is the space of semilinear sets. The first proof of this result was proposed by Redko in 1964, and simplified and corrected by Pilling in his 1970 thesis. However, we feel that a new account of this proof is needed now. This result has acquired a particular importance in recent years, since it is a key component in the completeness proofs of several algebraic models of concurrent computations (bi-Kleene algebra, concurrent Kleene algebra...). To that effect, we present a new proof of this result.


Single membrane channels are protein molecules that control movement in and out of cells. Picoamp currents flowing through just one of these channels are measured everyday in hundreds if not thousands of laboratories, thus allowing a remarkable resolution of important biological function. But currents through some of the most important channels are too small to measure with any ease. Currents through calcium channels are of the greatest importance in the function of the nervous system and in regulating the contraction of the heart and so are the target of many drugs used in clinical medicine. Yet calcium channel currents are just below the resolution of accurate measurement. Channel currents are detected in nearly all laboratories by a combination of low pass filtering and threshold detection. The medical and scientific payoff would be large indeed if more modem detection methods (e.g., wavelets) allowed the easy study of the small channels-e.g., the calcium channels-so important in disease and health.<<ETX>>


In the earlier parts of this book we have attempted to do two main things; firstly to describe the current state and practices of management development within organizations and secondly to suggest an analytical approach to management development which helps to generate information for decision-taking at different points in the organization. But analysis should not stand on its own — so we are also concerned to examine and discuss action. Specifically in this chapter we focus on an approach to management development which has been applied in a wide range of organizations. The approach is of interest because it appears to cope with some of the current problems of management development and to be applicable to a range of organizational situations. However we want to stress very strongly that our contingency view of management development means that in no sense would we recommend that project-based development is necessarily the most appropriate vehicle or main form of activity for management development in any or every particular organization. Rather in moving from diagnosis to prescription we would bring Project-Based Management Development (P.M.D.) to the attention of the reader because it is a comparatively new approach which appears to offer a number of advantages for in-house development activity.


'Jupiter' (Reg. No. CV-1076, PI 664079) soft white winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was developed by Michigan State University (MSU) AgBioResearch and released in 2010 via an exclusive licensing agreement through MSU Technologies. In addition to researchers at MSU, USDA-ARS researchers at the Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory (Wooster, OH) conducted quality evaluations during Jupiter's development, deoxynivalenol testing was performed at the University of Minnesota, and molecular marker analyses were performed at the USDA-ARS Regional Small Grains Genotyping Laboratory (Raleigh, NC). The objective of the cross was to create a high-yielding soft white winter wheat cultivar adapted to Michigan and the surrounding region with good agronomic performance and acceptable quality. Soft white winter wheat is used in many wheat related industries and is a large portion of the wheat market in Michigan. Jupiter (experimental numbers E5011B and E5011) is an F 5 –derived line developed via pedigree breeding. Jupiter exhibits a stable and high level of performance including high yield and resistance to powdery mildew [caused by Blumeria graminis (DC.) E.O. Speer]. Jupiter is short and awnletted (i.e., lacks full-length awns), two characteristics preferred by many Michigan farmers. Although Jupiter is susceptible to Fusarium head blight (caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe), it is not statistically different than 'Caledonia', a widely grown soft white winter wheat in Michigan.


The initial configuration of Yttrium oxide clusters (Y2O3)n(n=1-15) was
creatively constructed by combining artificial bee colony algorithm with
density functional theory. The structures of large and medium-sized
yttrium oxide clusters with molecular number greater than 10 were
established for the first time, and many new structures that are
different from existing research have been obtained. The average binding
energy, second-order difference energy, HOMO-LUMO gap, density of states
and other properties of the clusters were analyzed. The thermodynamic
properties and behavior of nano yttrium oxide clusters at different
temperatures and sizes were discussed. Studies have shown that for
small-sized clusters, the atomic stacking structure is cage-like, while
for medium-sized and large-sized clusters, the composite trapezoidal
structure and ellipsoid-like structure are more stable. The nanoclusters
tend to be stable as a whole, and the relative stability of the cluster
structure is higher when n = 2,4,7,9. The effect of yttrium oxygen
atomic orbital on bonding is analyzed. The heat capacity (Cp), enthalpy
change (H) and entropy (S) of (Y2O3)n (n=1-15) clusters increase with
the increase of temperature (T), and the vibration free energy (Gv)
decreases with the increase of T. The stability of the clusters changes
in the temperature range of 300K-500K.


Alumina ceramics reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been prepared by pressureless sintering. Resultant composites with the MWCNT contents up to 0.9 vol.% have shown relative density as high as 98%. In addition, with increasing the MWCNT contents up to 0.9 vol.%, bending strength and fracture toughness of the composites is found to be increase gradually, and the composite containing 0.9 vol.% MWCNTs have shown 18% and 32% simultaneous increases in bending strength (699.1 ± 46.1 MPa) and fracture toughness (5.33 ± 0.03 MPa·m ), respectively, compared with MWCNT-free alumina. Observations on the fracture surface and the tensile-loading experiments of MWCNTs using an i -situ SEM method with a nanomanipulator system demonstrate that the MWCNTs, rather than pulling out from the alumina matrix, tend to fail in so-called "clean break" manner. Theoretical calculations imply that tougher ceramics with MWCNT can be obtained by creating the appropriate interaction between the matrix and MWCNT: not too week but also not too strong to permit an adequate load transfer between the two parts and thus a consequent pulling out without breakage of MWCNT. For the design of tougher ceramics with MWCNTs, appropriate modification of fiber/matrix interface will be one of important factors.


Diazepam is one of the most prescribed benzodiazepines. The purpose of the present research was to optimize the formulation of orodispersible tablets of diazepam. Orodispersible tablets of diazepam were prepared using different types of superdisintegrants (Ac-Di-Sol, sodium starch glycolate, and crospovidone (CP)) and different types of subliming agents (camphor and ammonium bicarbonate (AB)) at different concentrations and two methods of tablets preparations (wet granulation and direct compression methods). The formulations were evaluated for flow properties, wetting time, hardness, friability, content uniformity, in vivo disintegration time (DT), release profiles, and buccal absorption tests. All formulations showed satisfactory mechanical strength except formula F5 which contains camphor and formula F9 which is prepared by direct compression method. The results revealed that the tablets containing CP as a superdisintegrant have good dissolution profile with shortest DT. The optimized formula F7 is prepared using 10% CP as a superdisintegrant and 20% AB as a subliming agent by wet granulation method which shows the shortest DT and good dissolution profile with acceptable stability. This study helps in revealing the effect of formulation processing variables on tablet properties. It can be concluded that the orodispersible tablets of diazepam with better biopharmaceutical properties than conventional tablets could be obtained using formula F7.


Investigations were conducted on patients with a parodontitis in whome a low-intensive broad band electromagnetic radiation of the HFF-range was used in complex treatment. The authors confirmed that the EMR of the physiological intensity HFF leads to improvement of a parodontologic status and can be recommended in complex treatment of a parodontitis.


Reference evapotranspiration is very important parameter in the hydrological, agricultural and environmental studies and is accurately estimated by the FAO Penman-Monteith equation (FAO-PM) under different climatic conditions. However, due to data requirement of the FAO-PM equation, there is a need to investigate the applicability of alternative ETo equations under limited data. The objectives of this study were to evaluate twelve mass transfer based reference evapotranspiration equations and determine the impact of ETo equation on long term water management sustainability in Tanzania and Kenya. The results showed that the Albrecht, Brockamp-Wenner, Dalto, Meyer, Rohwer and Oudin ETo equations systematically overestimated the daily ETo at all weather stations with relative errors that varied from 34% to 94% relative to the FAO-PM ETo estimates. The Penman, Mahringer, Trabert, and the Romanenko equations performed best across Tanzania and the South Western Kenya with root mean squared errors ranging from 0.98 to 1.48 mm/day, which are relatively high and mean bias error (MBE) varying from -0.33 to 0.02 mm/day and the absolute mean error (AME) from 0.79 to 1.16 mm/day. For sustainable water management, the Trabert equation could be adopted at Songea, the Mahringer equation at Tabora, the Dalton and/or the Rohwer equations at Eldoret, the Romanenko equation at Dodoma, Songea and Eldoret. However, regional calibration of the most performing equation could improve water management at regional level.


The ability of atomic hydrogen to chemisorb on graphene makes the latter a promising material for hydrogen storage. Based on scanning tunneling microscopy techniques, we report on site-selective adsorption of atomic hydrogen on convexly curved regions of monolayer graphene grown on SiC(0001). This system exhibits an intrinsic curvature owing to the interaction with the substrate. We show that at low coverage hydrogen is found on convex areas of the graphene lattice. No hydrogen is detected on concave regions. These findings are in agreement with theoretical models which suggest that both binding energy and adsorption barrier can be tuned by controlling the local curvature of the graphene lattice. This curvature-dependence combined with the known graphene flexibility may be exploited for storage and controlled release of hydrogen at room temperature making it a valuable candidate for the implementation of hydrogen-storage devices.


The objectives of the study were to investigate the correlation between second-grade students' self-confidence, self-efficacy and their speaking ability at the MA Miftahul Ishlah. This study applied a quantitative method with a correlational research design. The questionnaire and documentation were applied as the instrument to collect the students' data. There were two questionnaires that were used, that was students' self-confidence and students' self-efficacy questionnaire, while students' speaking score was taken from English teachers' document. Based on the questionnaire the highest result of the self-confidence questionnaire was 97 and the lowest was 71, while the highest result of the self-efficacy questionnaire was 94 and the lowest was 72, for speaking achievement the highest result was 95 and the lowest was 70. After analyzing the variable of this research X1 (self-confidence) X2 (self-efficacy) and Y (speaking) by Pearson Product Moment and multiple correlations in the SPSS program, it was found r = .693 for correlation between students' self-confidence with speaking and self-confidence with self-efficacy, and r = .230 for students' self-efficacy with speaking. While the multiple correlation score showed r = .701 with a coefficient determination of 46.1 %. Based on that result, it was indicated that the correlation was strong, so the alternative hypothesis stating that Ho was rejected and Ha was accepted, it means there was a correlation between students' self-confidence, self-efficacy


The blue mussels Mytilus edulis and Mytilus trossulus occur sympatrically and are able to hybridize in populations on the eastern coast of Newfoundland, Canada, presenting an opportunity to study their aggregational behavior. Aggregation behavior may therefore provide insight into post-settlement interactions and pre-zygotic reproductive isolation between the species. Three treatments were designed using M. edulis and M. trossulus to investigate their intraspecific and interspecific spatial distribution patterns. With Ripley's K-function and Monte Carlo simulation analysis, we found that in the single-species treatment, M. edulis aggregated significantly but not M. trossulus. Based on results of two-way ANOVAs, both the number of aggregations and the moving distance were significantly affected by the treatments (single-species or mixed-species treatment) and times (24, 48, 72 and 96 h). In further pairwise comparisons using Tukey's test, M. edulis aggregated differently with or without M. trossulus occupying the same tank, suggesting that the aggregational behavior of M. edulis could be driven by species-specific chemical cues. The result that M. edulis aggregates intraspecifically may increase the probability of intraspecific fertilization of the spawned gametes and thus function as a pre-zygotic reproductive isolation mechanism maintaining the blue mussel hybrid zone.


Did activists and the media create a suburban legend?

When is an epidemic not an epidemic? When do activist groups help a sometimes uncritical media to create one?

On 6 August, the New York Times reported that a seven year, $8m study by the United States National Cancer Institute on possible links "between pollution and high rates of breast cancer on Long Island had failed to show any connection between the disease and pesticides that were once widely used on the island."

This was a blow to 1in9, an activist group on Long Island that for years had called for studies of environmental risks for breast cancer. (1in9 refers to the fact that one American woman in nine will develop breast cancer if she lives to be 85.) Breast cancer rates on Long Island were said to be 30% higher than the national average, a figure often cited by women with breast cancer, by politicians seeking votes and funds, by …


Amadori rearrangement products (ARPs) derived from the Maillard reaction between theanine and glucose (ARP 1), as well as pyroglutamic acid and glucose (ARP 2), were identified by liquid chromatograph tandem mass spectroscopy methods. The effects of initial reactant ratio, temperature, pH, and heating time on ARP generation were analyzed. The formation of both ARPs was most favored under 100 °C, while an alkaline environment slightly promoted the generation of ARP 1 and acidic conditions contributed more to ARP 2 formation. The decomposition of ARP 1 was suggested to be the predominant formation mechanism of ARP 2. Preparation, purification, and structure identification of ARP 1 were conducted, with its structure confirmed as 1-deoxy-1-l-theanino-d-fructose. The contents of ARP 1 in green, black, dark, white, yellow, and Oolong teas were quantitatively determined, of which black teas contained the highest levels of ARP 1, possibly due to the high glucose content and processing techniques.


Nearly twenty years ago, W. Boyd Rayward became one of the first academics to examine how electronic information and the functional integration of libraries, archives, and museums has affected, and will affect, the information profession. In doing so, he laid the groundwork for an entire research agenda on the topic of digital convergence, where the increased use of, and reliance on, digital resources in libraries, archives, and museums has increasingly blurred the traditional distinctions between these institutions. This paper explores how Rayward's early work in this area influenced the development of this topic over time, focusing on how information professionals in cultural heritage organizations can and should reconcile their internal perceptions of identity with the external expectations of their users, particularly those who do not or cannot clearly distinguish between different institutions or the information resources they manage. In a world where the traditional assumptions we take for granted about information organization and access in libraries, archives, and museums are simply not shared by our users, the future of the information profession depends on the ability of cultural heritage information professionals to transcend the traditional boundaries between libraries, archives, and museums to meet information needs in the digital age.


Design, modeling, testing and analysis multi-gap PbPc sensor array units for the purpose of
gas detection are carried out. The tested devices showed reduction in conductance as a function of
increasing gap width and reducing film thickness and an increase as a function of temperature up to
160°C. An observed morphological change in the sublimed film is realized at 190°C as the
conductance of the sensor array started to drop. Analytical modeling using semi-infinite coplanar
electrode arrangement supported the obtained testing results. Problem statement: Stability in gas
detection and subsequent discrimination is closely related to sensor design and test parameter and its
response to an applied set of chemicals. Approach: To enhance sensor performance and improve
sensor designs, a suggested design with mathematical analysis and gas response analysis is carried out.
Results: A solid analytical mathematical model is established with both electric field and conductance
equations. Effect of deposited sensor film thickness and inter-electrode separation on its response is
also established and proved through practical test data. Conclusion: The obtained experimental results
agree with the derived mathematical solutions.


Breast cancer (BC) has high morbidity, with significant relapse and mortality rates in women worldwide. Therefore, further exploration of its pathogenesis is of great significance. This study selected therapy genes and possible biomarkers to predict BC using bioinformatic methods. To this end, the study examined 21 healthy breasts along with 457 BC tissues in two Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets and then identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Survival-associated DEGs were screened using the Kaplan–Meier curve. Based on Gene Ontology (GO) annotation, survival-associated DEGs were mostly associated with cell division and cellular response to hormone stimulus. The enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) pathway was mostly correlated with cell cycle and tyrosine metabolism. Using overlapped survival-associated DEGs, a survival-associated PPI network was constructed. PPI analysis revealed three hub genes (EZH2, CCNB1, and PPARG) by their degree of connection. These hub genes were confirmed using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-BRCA dataset and BC tissue samples. Through Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), the molecular mechanism of the potential therapy and prognostic genes were evaluated. Thus, hub genes were shown to be associated with KEGG_CELL_CYCLE and VANTVEER_BREAST_CANCER_POOR_PROGNOSIS gene sets. Finally, based on integrated bioinformatics analysis, this study identified three hub genes as possible prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for BC. The results obtained further understanding of the underground molecular mechanisms related to BC occurrence and prognostic outcomes.


It is well argued that unequal female landownership and lack of effective land rights are the most important factors affecting women's economic situation and persistence of gender gap. In this background, this article explores changing patterns of landownership of females historically with a contemporary relevance. An attempt is also made to understand the reasons affecting such a change in landownership in the village in general and castes in particular. Historically, it is understood that differences in landownership across castes by sex were attributed to varying marriage and dowry practices. The results indicate that most of the backward and scheduled castes started to emulate some of the marriage and dowry practices followed by forward castes. In spite of known and well documented evil effects of dowry and legislations against practice of dowry, if is observed that incidence of dowry is on rise in reality which is not a good solution for gender equality. In this background, an alternate policy solution is suggested by positively discriminating female buyers' with substantially discounted registration fees in land market transactions.


The orthogonal design was used to optimize ISSR-PCR amplification system on 'hongyang'kiwifruit,in five level of five factors which were Mg2+,Taq DNA polymerase,primer,dNTPs,DNA template respectively.The results showed that the 20 μL reaction system consisted of 10×PCR buffer 2.0 μL,1.5 U Taq DNA polymerase,60 ng DNA template,1.25 μmol/L primer,0.15 mmol/L dNTPs and 0.75 mmol/L Mg2+.The optimal PCR amplification process was as following:1 cycle initial denaturalization at 94℃ for 7 min,followed by 45cycles,which included denaturalization at 94℃ for 30 s,annealing for 45 s,and extension at 72℃ for 2 min,and then extension at 72℃ for 7 min,and finally holding the samples at 4℃ for ever.The reaction condition of ISSR experiment of kiwifruit was discussed,which was a basis for study on genetic diversity among kiwifruit populations.58.5℃ was the most suitable annealing temperature of UBC841 primer 35 F1 individuals of 'RedSun' kiwifruit were used to tested the stabilization of the optimized reaction system.The results showed that the optimized reaction system was stable.


Recently emerging SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused a global pandemic, with millions of infections and over 200, 000 deaths1. However, development of effective anti-coronavirus treatments has lagged behind. Competitive co-evolution between microbes and viruses has led to the diversi�cation of microbe's CRISPR/Cas defense systems against infectious viruses2,3. Among class-2 single effector systems, Cas13 is effective in combating RNA phages4. Previous studies have discovered novel Cas9 and Cas12 systems from metagenomic sequence of natural microbes5-7. Here we report the identi�cation of two additional compact Cas13 families from natural microbes that are effective in degrading RNA viruses in mammalian cells. Using metagenomic terabase data sets, we searched for previously uncharacterized Cas13 genes proximal to the CRISPR array with a customized computational pipeline, and identi�ed two most compact families (775 to 803 amino acids) of CRISPR-Cas ribonucleases, named hereafter as CRISPR/Cas type VI-E and VI-F. Out of seven Cas13 proteins, we found that Cas13e.1 was the smallest and could be engineered for e�cient RNA interference and base editing in cultured mammalian cell lines. Moreover, Cas13e.1 has a high activity for degrading SARS-CoV-2 sequences and the genome of live in�uenza A virus (IAV). Together with a minimal pool of 10 crRNAs, Cas13e.1 could target over 99% of all known 3,137 coronavirus genomes for achieving antiviral defense. Overall, our results demonstrated there exist untapped bacterial defense systems in natural microbes that can function e�ciently in mammalian cells, thus potentially useful for preventing viral infection in humans such as COVID-19.


In this article, we explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility and profitability with particular reference to Ethiopian financial industry. In line with this, the paper investigated the practice of corporate social responsibility and its impact on profitability in two private banks in Ethiopia. The study used two sampling phases. The first one is to sample out the two banks among the sixteen private banks operated in the country and the second phase is to select number of respondents within the selected banks. According to National Bank of Ethiopia, (NBE, 2020) annual report among the sixteen private commercial banks operated in the country, six of them were operated in the industry for more than 20 years and two banks namely Dashen and United banks were randomly selected for the study. The study used questionnaires as an instrument for data collection and the Cronbach alpha test was used to test the reliability of the instrument. Correlation analysis was carried out to identify the nature of strength and direction of the relationship between the independent variables (philanthropic, ethical, legal and economic responsibilities) and the dependent variables (profitability), regression analysis was also employed to determine the degree in which the dependent variable can be predicated or explained from the independent variables. The finding reveals that ethical, philanthropic, legal and economic responsibilities of CSR dimension have a positive and significant impact on profitability of the banks. Furthermore, the overall finding of the study suggested that CSR practice of banks has a significant impact on the level of their profitability. The study recommends that banks should improve their efforts exerted towards their CSR practice in order to enhance their profitability.


Some patients experience negative interactions with health care providers, such as when they perceive that their concerns are ignored by providers. The present study, guided by patient-centered communication, examined health care provider communication behaviors that resulted in patients feeling dismissed, and whether there were differences in providers who dismissed being perceived as (dis)similar to the patients in gender, race/ethnicity, or age. U.S. adults claiming they felt dismissed by a provider were asked to recall demographic information they perceived about the provider and what the provider said that was dismissive. Responses were coded for emergent themes. Results revealed that younger, female, and non-White participants most frequently reported being dismissed by a dissimilar provider. Patients felt dismissed when they perceived that providers were rude or did not take action, provided poor information, did not believe patients, rushed the visit, or were uninformed. Providers may want to avoid these behaviors and could consider obtaining training in supportive communication behaviors such as providing validation to patients and listening to patients in order to enhance patient satisfaction. Patients can also receive communication training to take a more active role in their medical encounters by learning to effectively ask questions, express preferences, and speak up for themselves.


Political actors have assumed that economic sanctions hinder a nation's stability by reducing its economic growth, though history has shown otherwise. One potential explanation for this phenomenon is that any decline in a growth is offset by the economic benefit they receive from a response of increased militarization. Using a defense-driven model, we test this explanation with data Iranian from 1959 to 2007. The findings show that economic sanctions have limited the development of Iran, but the influence of an increasing defense sector offsets the sanctions, suggesting sanctions may be ineffective due to the substitution effect from defense expenditures.


An esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy was performed on 248 patients in The Second Department of Surgery, Tohoku University Hospital from 1986 to 1992. Five year survival rate of 211 patients who underwent curative operation (RO) was 53.1%, however that of 33 patients undergone non-curative operation (R1 and R2) was 8.0%. The operative death was only one (0.4%) in this series. In order to clarify the efficacy of the extensive lymphadenectomy, a randomized controlled trial was performed during the same period. Five year survival rate of extensive lymphadenectomy group (n = 23) was 61.1%, however that of conventional lymphadenectomy group (n = 22) was 48.4%. There were some metastatic nodes in the left upper mediastinum or in the neck where could not be dissected through the conventional lymphadenectomy. These results indicate that the extensive lymphadenectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer can be safely performed and may contribute to improvement of survival rate after surgery.


Much of the extant literature on marital quality and health has examined marital quality as a static, global construct, measured at a single assessment. However, marital quality is a dynamic construct that fluctuates over time, particularly in the early years of marriage. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether changes in overall marital satisfaction and communal strength are associated with mental and physical health symptoms assessed via the SF-36 in a cohort of newlywed couples (N = 74 couples). Marital measures including marital satisfaction (MS) and communal strength (CS) were collected at baseline (26 days prior to marriage) and approximately 2 years later. The SF-36 was administered 3 years following baseline. Results showed that baseline MS and CS were associated with significantly fewer mental and physical health symptoms (p's < .05). Independent of baseline level, decreases in CS were associated with poorer mental health (B = .06, SE = .03). There were no sex differences in the effects. Controlling for depressive symptoms reduced the effects of baseline MS and CS on mental and physical health to non-significance. However, the effect of change in CS on mental health remained significant after controlling for depressive symptoms (B = .05, SE = .02). The present findings suggest that even in the early stages of marriage, lower initial levels of marital satisfaction and spousal responsiveness to needs (communal strength) as well as changes in communal strength are associated with increased mental and physical health symptoms.


The positivity of descriptor continuous-time and discrete-time linear systems with regular pencils are addressed. Such systems can be reduced to standard linear sy- stems and can be decomposed into dynamical and static parts. Two definitions of the positive systems are proposed. It is shown that the definitions are not equivalent. Condi- tions for the positivity of the systems and the relationship between two classes of positive systems are established. The considerations are illustrated by examples of electrical cir- cuits and numerical examples.


Diagnosis of Hridroga (cardiac disorders) in Ayurveda requires the combination of many different types of data, including personal details, patient symptoms, patient histories, general examination results, Ashtavidha pareeksha results etc. Computer-assisted decision support systems must be able to combine these data types into a seamless system. Intelligent agents, an approach that has been used chiefly in business applications, is used in medical diagnosis in this case. This paper is about a multi-agent system named "Distributed Ayurvedic Diagnosis and Therapy System for Hridroga using Agents" (DADTSHUA). It describes the architecture of the DADTSHUA model .This system is using mobile agents and ontology for passing data through the network. Due to this, transport delay can be minimized. It is a system which will be very helpful for the beginning physicians to eliminate his ambiguity in diagnosis and therapy. The system is implemented using Java Agent DEvelopment framework (JADE), which is a java-complaint mobile agent platform from TILab.


Categorical perception (CP) is highly evident in audition when listeners' perception of speech sounds abruptly shifts identity despite equidistant changes in stimulus acoustics. While CP is an inherent property of speech perception, how (if) it is expressed in other auditory modalities (e.g., music) is less clear. Moreover, prior neuroimaging studies have been equivocal on whether attentional engagement is necessary for the brain to categorically organize sound. To address these questions, we recorded neuroelectric brain responses [event‐related potentials (ERPs)] from listeners as they rapidly categorized sounds along a speech and music continuum (active task) or during passive listening. Behaviorally, listeners' achieved sharper psychometric functions and faster identification for speech than musical stimuli, which was perceived in a continuous mode. Behavioral results coincided with stronger ERP differentiation between prototypical and ambiguous tokens (i.e., categorical processing) for speech but not for music. Neural correlates of CP were only observed when listeners actively attended to the auditory signal. These findings were corroborated by brain‐behavior associations; changes in neural activity predicted more successful CP (psychometric slopes) for active but not passively evoked ERPs. Our results demonstrate auditory categorization is influenced by attention (active > passive) and is stronger for more familiar/overlearned stimulus domains (speech > music). In contrast to previous studies examining highly trained listeners (i.e., musicians), we infer that (i) CP skills are largely domain‐specific and do not generalize to stimuli for which a listener has no immediate experience and (ii) categorical neural processing requires active engagement with the auditory stimulus.


These are notes from the lecture of Devavrat Shah given at the autumn school "Statistical Physics, Optimization, Inference, and Message-Passing Algorithms", that took place in Les Houches, France from Monday September 30th, 2013, till Friday October 11th, 2013. The school was organized by Florent Krzakala from UPMC & ENS Paris, Federico Ricci-Tersenghi from La Sapienza Roma, Lenka Zdeborova from CEA Saclay & CNRS, and Riccardo Zecchina from Politecnico Torino. This lecture of Devavrat Shah (MIT) covers the basics of inference and learning. It explains how inference problems are represented within structures known as graphical models. The theoretical basis of the belief propagation algorithm is then explained and derived. This lecture sets the stage for generalizations and applications of message passing algorithms.