We study the multidimensional knapsack problem, present some theoretical and empirical results about its structure, and evaluate different integer linear programming (ILP)-based, metaheuristic, and collaborative approaches for it. We start by considering the distances between optimal solutions to the LP relaxation and the original problem and then introduce a new core concept for the multidimensional knapsack problem (MKP), which we study extensively. The empirical analysis is then used to develop new concepts for solving the MKP using ILP-based and memetic algorithms. Different collaborative combinations of the presented methods are discussed and evaluated. Further computational experiments with longer run times are also performed to compare the solutions of our approaches to the best-known solutions of another so-far leading approach for common MKP benchmark instances. The extensive computational experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed methods, which yield highly competitive results in significantly shorter run times than do previously described approaches.


The isolation and serial cultivation of chlamydial organisms from trachoma (Tang, Chang, Huang, and Wang, 1957; Collier and Sowa, I958) and from inclusion blennorrhoea or paratrachoma (Jones, Collier, and Smith, I959), together with the proof that these TRIC agents cause these diseases (Collier, Duke-Elder, and Jones, I958, i96o; Jones and Collier, I962) have opened the way to the development of a variety of laboratory tests that can indicate infection by Chlamydia, including those that cause trachoma and related syndromes of eye disease. Both the epidemiological study of trachoma and its control, and the individual clinical diagnosis of trachoma and other syndromes of TRIC agent infection of the eye or genital tract, have been severely hampered by the absence of sensitive diagnostic laboratory tests. There is now a variety of tests differing one from another in sensitivity and in the type of information they yield (Table I). It is now possible to provide, either for routine clinical purposes or for epidemiological studies, a service giving rapid and sensitive recognition of the chlamydial serotypes responsible (Jones, I973).


1. At day 17 of pregnancy, 1 day after maternal intravenous administration (5-50 mumol/kg body wt) of 4-OH-3,5,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (4-OH-TCB; a CB-77 metabolite), a limited dose-dependent decrease was found both in foetal and maternal total thyroxine (T4) levels (76-81% of control at 50 mumol/kg). Similarly, a 50 mumol/kg dose of a 4-OH-3,5,2',3',4'-pentachlorobiphenyl (4-OH-PeCB1) decreased total T4 levels, whereas 4-OH-2,3,5,3',4'-pentachlorobiphenyl (4-OH-PeCB2) showed no clear effect (both 4-OH-pentaCBs are CB-105 metabolites). Earlier administration (gestation day 10 or 13) of the 4-OH-PCBs had no effect on total T4 at day 17. 2. Placental transfer of 14C-4-OH-TCB to the foetal compartment was dose-related and accumulated mainly in foetal plasma at levels 2-fold those in the maternal plasma at the dose interval 0.5-5.0 mumol/kg body wt, whereas at higher doses (20 and 50 mumol/kg body wt) the foetal and maternal plasma levels were similar. A break-point in the foetal dose/plasma concentration curve at 5.0 mumol/kg indicates saturation of a high-affinity ligand binding above this dose. 3. There was an extensive accumulation of radioactivity in the maternal liver after 14C-4-OH-TCB administration (20-30% of the administered dose). In spite of this the investigated compounds resulted in a small or no effect on EROD/MROD activity in maternal liver and these enzyme activities were not detectable in either exposed or control foetal liver.


"Emerging adulthood" is a unique developmental stage between adolescence and early adulthood. During this period, individuals experience a transition towards adult roles and begin to view their lives as full of opportunities for identity exploration, experimentation, possibilities, and self-focus. Previous research has questioned the universality of emerging adulthood as a developmental stage and its' applicability to young adults from lower socioeconomic backgrounds without higher education. This paper contributes to this debate by analyzing the relationships between education, socioeconomic background, and emerging adulthood. We use the Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA) to measure emerging adulthood among 2177 Russian young people aged 24-26 who participated in the Russian Longitudinal Panel Study of Educational and Occupational Trajectories (TrEC) in 2021. Our findings confirm that emerging adulthood is not limited to the US, where the concept was coined, but also occurs in developing countries.


This article reports on third-year mathematics students' competency and sub-competency development through providing intentional support in the learning of mathematical modelling. Students often experience modelling as difficult, and obstructions in the modelling process can lead to a dead end. Literature reports confirm that the modelling task is central in the modelling experience and a carefully planned task, aligned with a suitable activity sheet, can be used as a scaffold in learning mathematical modelling. Hence, this inquiry was conducted to provide a scaffold, as strategic support, for students' mathematical modelling competency development in the early stages of a modelling cycle. Guided by the framework of the Zone of Proximal Development, key elements suggested by the metaphor scaffolding are considered in the learning experience. Based on an analysis of activity sheets collected through group work, an example of a realistic and an unrealistic solution is presented, and students' development of mathematical modelling competencies is argued. Finally, suggestions for intentional support in the modelling process are discussed.


Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are drug-resistant and radiation-resistant cancer cells that are responsible for tumor progression and maintenance, cancer recurrence, and metastasis. Targeting breast CSCs with phytochemicals is a new paradigm for cancer prevention and treatment. In this study, activity-guided fractionation from mammosphere formation inhibition assays, repeated chromatographic preparations over silica gel, preparatory thin layer chromatography, and HPLC using aronia extracts led to the isolation of one compound. Using ¹H and 13C 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) as well as electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry, the isolated compound was identified as 3-O-p-coumaroyltormentic acid. This compound inhibits breast cancer cell proliferation and mammosphere formation in a dose-dependent manner and reduces the CD44high/CD24low subpopulation and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)-expressing cell population as well as the expression of the self-renewal-related genes CD44, SOX2, and OCT4.3-O-p-Coumaroyltormentic acid preferentially reduced the protein levels of c-Myc, which is a CSC survival factor, by inducing c-Myc degradation. These findings indicate the novel utilization of 3-O-p-coumaroyltormentic acid for breast cancer therapy via disruption of c-Myc protein, which is a CSC survival factor.


Elective cesarean section was performed in a consecutive scries of 30 patients with full-term pregnancies who were not in labor. Epidural (lidocaine, 1.5 per cent, with epincphrine, 1:200,000) and general anesthesia (thiopental, nitrous oxide-oxygen, succinylcholine infusion) was used alternately. Neonatal acid-base values and Apgar scores showed no significant difference between the two anesthetic groups, and most infants were vigorous at birth. The neurologic recoveries of the infants showed no significant difference between the two groups. In the group receiving epidural anesthesia, there was a significant correlation between maternal hypotension and weak rooting and sucking reflexes of the infants during the first two days. All infants of high-risk obstetric patients in the series, independent of anesthetic technique used, had abnormal neurologic activity, as evidenced by either depression of muscle tone and the reflexes or all the tested variables. Neurologic assessment as followed in this series is a sensitive indicator of the effects of fetal stress factors acting during cesarean section.


Tuberculosis is a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB) whose interaction with the host may lead to a cell-mediated protective immune response. Several cytokines, including IL-6, IFN-g and TNF-a, play important roles in mediating resistance against MTB. The aim was to investigate the candidate cytokines in active pulmonary tuberculosis patients of younger age (15 to 25yrs), their Household Contacts and controls. Levels were estimated by ELISAin pg/ml in serum(n=30) and PBMCs stimulated with r32-kd antigen of M.bovis BCG (n=30). Expression by qRT-PCR in 5 individuals from each group in culture supernatants were studied. In serum IFN-g and TNF-a concentrations were elevated in patients compared with their contacts and controls(24.51±10.60, 20.45±4.93, 14.14±8.22 at p< 0.002), (13.62±8.14, 11.34±5.30, 6.39±4.10 at p<0.003). In contrast, r32kd–stimulated PBMCs from patients produced less IFN-g and TNF-a (36.21+/- 16.9, 45.57+/- 41.96, 56.37+/- 56.37at P<0.002), (59.74±46.51, 87.28±53.40, 109.2±87.56 at p<0.007), whereas IL-6 concentrations were elevated in controls both in serum and stimulated PBMCs(11.61±6.09, 4.11±3.03, 1.44±1.20 at p<0.0004) (74.49±15.18, 61.21±11.79, 68.66±69.36 at P<0.01).Out of the 30 cases studied 6 contacts behaved similar to the patients in their clinical and Immunological aspects. The cell-associated mRNA in Ag85B-stimulated T cells for IFN-g and TNF-a mRNA was significantly depressed in TB patients.On the other hand, Expression of IL-6 was high in patients. Therefore, in conclusion, IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-6 production to r32-kd antigen could be used as biomarkers for the clinical status of TB patients and early diagnosis of their contacts.


Antidepressant drugs have been shown to reverse some changes evoked by glucocorticoids or stress. In the present study we attempted to find out whether imipramine, one of the most frequently used antidepressant drugs, interfered with glucocorticoids, modulating the production of IFN-gamma and IL-10, pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines, respectively. We observed a significant inhibitory effect of hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and the glucocorticoid receptor agonist RU 28362, used at doses of 10(-6) and 10(-5) M, on the production of IFN-gamma and IL-10 by whole blood cells stimulated by mitogens. Imipramine at doses of 10(-6) and 10(-5) M did not modulate IFN-gamma or IL-10 production, whereas at a dose of 10(-5) M it increased the production of IL- 10 and decreased that of IFN-gamma, those results being statistically insignificant, though. A combination of imipramine and dexamethasone or hydrocortisone at doses of 10(-6) or 10(-5) M significantly suppressed the production of IFN-gamma and IL-10, the level of inhibition being similar to that observed for glucocorticoids alone. The classic antidepressant imipramine was not able to modulate the suppressive effect of "stress" doses of hydrocortisone on the production of cytokines.


Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) has many important uses in the lives of humans today. It uses the process of "fermentation to make baked goods, beverages, and biofuels" (Ransom 2016). It is therefore important to understand what affects the growth and well-being of yeast (French 2016). We hypothesized that Carbon dioxide production, indicative of growth rate, would vary depending on the type of sugar in the solution, and that the table sugar would cause the greatest Carbon dioxide production. The rate of Carbon dioxide production is indicative of the growth rate of yeast because it is a byproduct In our experiment we tested the growth rate of yeast, via Carbon dioxide production, when put in solutions with different types of sugar. Beginning with water, sugar was then added with sodium phosphate to make the solution to put the yeast in. The level of Carbon dioxide produced by the yeast was measured over a 30 minute time trial. The result of this experiment showed that the level of Carbon dioxide in the biochamber over time did change depending on the type of sugar the yeast was given to feed on, and our hypothesis was therefore supported.


Six patients enrolled at the Hospital of Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies, University of São Paulo, aging 16 to 20 years, were selected. All patients presented with white spots in both sides of the superior arch, which totalized 41 spots. The left side of the arch was submitted to remineralization by means of the conventional technique with Reminer, a commercially available product. In the right side, a modified technique was employed, with the utilization of fluoridated dentifrices every night, during 8 weeks. It was observed that successful remineralization occurred in 62% of the spots when the conventional technique was employed, whereas, when fluoridated dentifrices were utilized, there was partial remineralization in 10% of the spots. The utilization of Reminer was more effective than the utilization of fluoridated dentifrices.


7-Chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-Cl) is a specific covalent inhibitor of P-glycoprotein ATPase activity (M. K. Al-Shawi, and A. E. Senior, 1993, J. Biol. Chem. 268, 4197-4206). Complete inhibition occurs at a reaction stoichiometry of 1 mol NBD/mol P-glycoprotein, and the reagent has proved valuable in understanding catalytic mechanisms, particularly in relation to catalytic site cooperativity (A. E. Senior, and S. Bhagat, 1998, Biochemistry 37, 831-836). The actual location of reaction in the amino acid sequence has not yet been determined. Using a combined mutagenesis and biochemical approach we establish here that the initial reaction of NBD-Cl is with Cys within the Walker A consensus sequence of the N- or C-terminal nucleotide site (Cys-431 or Cys-1074 of human P-glycoprotein). Reaction with either Cys yields full inhibition. It was further found that inhibition consists of dithiothreitol (DTT)-reversible and DTT-irreversible components. The former predominates at low pH and the latter at higher pH. This demonstrates that, at higher pH, intramolecular transfer of NBD from Cys to Lys occurs, probably to the proximate Walker A Lys (Lys-433 or Lys-1076 of human P-glycoprotein). After transfer of NBD to Lys, P-glycoprotein ATPase remains fully inhibited.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the sin satisfaction and fitness of Chinese women for Korean-made women's suits. The study methodology was questionnaire survey and the subjects were randomly chosen, 20 to 49-year-old female shoppers at department stores in Beijing, China. The data analyses were performed with SPSS 12.0 through descriptive analysis, t-test, and crosstab analysis. The findings were as follows. Chinese women assessed both the fit satisfaction and fit suitability levels of Korean-made women's suits available in China to be higher than that of Chinese-made women's suits. Paticularly, in the tan of slacks showing the lowest suitability level among Chinese-made women's wear, Korean-made women's suits in China had outstandingly high suitability level. In the case of jackets, however, the Korean-made women's suits went through more fixings, on average, than Chinese-made women's suits. In addition, more fixings were done for enlargement than for contraction, which necessitated the measure changes.


In this paper we will further extend the class of explicit piecewise linear descriptions expressed with the absolute-value operator. Previously it was shown that each piecewise linear mapping with a lower triangular matrix of the linear complementary problem (LCP) could be modelled into an explicit function description. Now we will show that this is even true for each piecewise linear mapping with the LCP matrix of class P. It turns out that the explicit model is composed of the same set of base functions as proposed earlier in the literature.


This paper is concerned with growth patterns of US health care expenditures. Within a representative sample of OECD countries, we lay out a growth accounting exercise for health care expenditures to assess the influence of several explanatory variables. Our analysis demonstrates that the relative price of medical care and some health care laws can trace down fairly well the differential increase in US medical expenditures over the period 1970-2007. We then explore some major factors driving US medical care prices - including prescription drugs, the degree of competition, malpractice, and out-of-pocket expenditures. Some other explanatory variables - income growth, technological change, life expectancy, physicians' compensation, trends in aging population, and defensive medicine - would seem unable to account for the differential increase in US medical expenditures over various time periods.


Introduction and Purpose: To determine differences in Canadian, Norwegian, and Dutch parents' perceptions of vulnerability of their infants born preterm and their childrearing practices. Methods: This observational study included 62 infants born preterm (46% boys) and their parents. Parents completed the Beliefs About My Baby Scale and the Daily Activities of Infants Scale when infants were between 4 and 11 months corrected age. One-way analyses of variance were conducted. Results: Parents in the Netherlands perceived their infants as being more vulnerable than parents in the other countries (P < .001). The total Daily Activities of Infants Scale scores did not differ across countries. Parents who received therapy services had greater perceptions of their infants' vulnerability than parents not receiving services (P = .01). Conclusions: Prematurity stereotyping is not limited to North America. Service providers need to consider therapy for infants born preterm from a strength-based rather than disability perspective.


Purpose
Given that Blockchain technology poses a growing challenge to the banking industry, this paper aims to analyse the innovation of Blockchain banking with regard to its systemic dimension, as well as dynamics of competition. The empirical research demonstrates how the systemic characteristics of Blockchain banking relate to the pursuit of strategies and to what extent these strategies influence the directional path and level of technology diffusion.

Design/methodology/approach
The research study uses a case study methodology to explore the strategic competition of Blockchain banking. The study proposes the systemic innovation model for analysing and tracking the path of innovations. The model can be applied to any industry to understand the process of innovation development and the strategies to win market share in the banking industry. This research makes a contribution towards the theory of technology diffusion to understand the directional path of innovations.

Findings
The analyses of findings reveal the situation whereby most banks still compete to create their own Blockchain banking systems. The analyses, based on the systemic innovation model, also shows the low systemic feature of Blockchain banking at present. From the technology diffusion perspective, the future of Blockchain banking may need cross-chain interoperability to support a full spectrum of payments and value exchanges on the internet of things.

Originality/value
The main contribution of this paper is the systemic analysis of the latest innovation of Blockchain banking. Given that the research also includes the major banking innovation cases of ATM/cash cards, credit cards and electronic fund transfer at the point of sale/debit cards, the comparative analyses offer strategic insights to predict the progress, as well as pattern of technology development and diffusion for the case of Blockchain banking.


Networks of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) copolymers, coupled to spherical phospholipid bilayers, are suitable as a model for the study of the interaction between the cytoskeleton and cellular membranes, as well as for promising new drug delivery systems with triggerable drug release properties and improved stability. In this article, we describe a simple preparation technique for liposomes from egg phosphatidyl choline (EPC) encapsulating a cross-linked NIPAMminus signTEGDM copolymer skeleton (tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate, TEGDM) which is coupled only to the inner monolayer by a novel membrane anchor monomer. Polymerization in the lipid vesicles was initiated at the inner membrane surface by the radical initiator 2,2-diethoxy-acetophenone (DEAP) permeating through the membrane from the outside. The effects of photopolymerization and polymer formation on vesicle shape and membrane integrity were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cryo-TEM, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Upon UV irradiation, approximately 100% of the vesicles contained a polymer gel and only occasional changes in the spherical shape of the liposomes were observed. The architecture of the polymer network inside the liposomal compartment was determined by the conditions of the photopolymerization. Composite structures of polymer hollow spheres or solid spheres, respectively, tethered to spherical membrane vesicles were produced. The increased stability of the polymer-tethered lipid bilayers against solubilization by sodium cholate, compared to pure EPC vesicles, was determined by radiolabeling the lipid membrane.


Since April 19, 2000, health authorities in Scotland, Ireland, England, and the United States have been investigating an outbreak of unexplained illness and death among injecting-drug users (IDUs) in the United Kingdom and Ireland (1-3). Initial testing of specimens from 76 IDUs identified Clostridium species in 18 (24%) patients; nine were Clostridium novyi. This report updates the investigation of this outbreak, which indicates that Clostridium species may be associated with these illnesses.


BACKGROUND
Sympathetic response associated with laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation is recognized as a potential cause for a number of complications especially in coronary bypass surgery patients. Various methods have been used to attenuate these hemodynamic responses, The aim of our study was to compare lidocaine spray in addition to intravenous morphine on attenuating the hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation with intravenous lidocaine and morphine in coronary artery bypass surgery patients.

METHOD
Sixty patients, scheduled for elective coronary bypass grafting surgery were included in this randomized controlled trial. The patients randomly divided in group-A (Intravenous Morphine 0.1mg/kg and Intravenous lidocaine 1.5 mg/kg) and group-B (Intravenous Morphine 0.1mg/kg and lidocaine spray 1.5 mg/kg).

RESULTS
Demographic data was comparable in both groups. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups in the duration of laryngoscopy and intubation. There was statistically insignificant attenuation in heart rate in both groups (p=0.134), the trends of attenuation of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure in group-A compared to group-B (p=0.933), (p=0.768) and (p=0.136) respectively were statistically insignificant.

CONCLUSIONS
Under the present study design, lidocaine spray in addition to intravenous morphine had no better effect on attenuating the hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation as compared to intravenous lidocaine and morphine in coronary artery bypass surgery patients.


This chapter focuses on manganites. There is a large similarity between the two families of mixed-valence compounds, the cuprates and the manganites. However, manganites display colossal magnetoresistance. The most fundamental property of manganites is the strong correlation between their transport properties and their magnetic properties. This correlation is caused by the double-exchange mechanism. The Hund interaction and the Jahn–Teller effect are the key ingredients of the microscopic theory. The transition to the ferromagnetic and metallic state is of a percolative nature. The superconducting–antiferromagnetic–superconducting Josephson junction is described. One can observe giant oscillations of the Josephson current as a function of a weak external magnetic field. The main properties, including the electron–hole asymmetry can be described in the framework of a generalised two-band picture. A peculiar isotope effect can be observed.


▪ Abstract This review describes the two general-purpose experiments, ATLAS and CMS, that have been designed to study proton-proton collisions at 14 TeV, the highest center-of-mass energy ever achieved, at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. These experiments have undergone a long research and development and construction period since 1989 and are now in the middle of a strenuous and exciting integration, installation, and commissioning period. After a brief introduction to the physics context and prospects as perceived today, this review presents an overview of both projects in terms of their global design characteristics. The main features and challenges related to the tracking systems, to the calorimetry, and to the muon spectrometers are described. The various aspects of the trigger and data acquisition systems and of the computing and software are also discussed broadly. Finally, we conclude with the lessons learned during the design and construction years.


Dermal papillae are a target of androgen action in patients with androgenic alopecia, where androgen acts on the epidermis of hair follicles in a paracrine manner. To mimic the complexity of the dermal papilla microenvironment, a better culture model of human dermal papilla cells (DPCs) is needed. Therefore, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of dihydrotestosterone (DHT)-treated two-dimensional (2D)- and 3D-cultured DPCs on hair follicle growth. 2D- and 3D-cultured DPC proliferation was inhibited after co-culturing with outer root sheath (ORS) cells under DHT treatment. Moreover, gene expression levels of β-catenin and neural cell adhesion molecules were significantly decreased and those of cleaved caspase-3 significantly increased in 2D- and 3D-cultured DPCs with increasing DHT concentrations. ORS cell proliferation also significantly increased after co-culturing in the control-3D model compared with the control-2D model. Ki67 downregulation and cleaved caspase-3 upregulation in DHT-treated 2D and 3D groups significantly inhibited ORS cell proliferation. Sequencing showed an increase in the expression of genes related to extracellular matrix synthesis in the 3D model group. Additionally, the top 10 hub genes were identified, and the expression of nine chemokine-related genes in DHT-treated DPCs was found to be significantly increased. We also identified the interactions between transcription factor (TF) genes and microRNAs (miRNAs) with hub genes and the TF–miRNA coregulatory network. Overall, the findings indicate that 3D-cultured DPCs are more representative of in vivo conditions than 2D-cultured DPCs and contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying androgen-induced alopecia.


Out-of-distribution (OOD) detection identifies test samples that differ from the training data, which is critical to ensuring the safety and reliability of machine learning (ML) systems. While a plethora of methods have been developed to detect uni-modal OOD samples, only a few have focused on multi-modal OOD detection. Current contrastive learning-based methods primarily study multi-modal OOD detection in a scenario where both a given image and its corresponding textual description come from a new domain. However, real-world deployments of ML systems may face more anomaly scenarios caused by multiple factors like sensor faults, bad weather, and environmental changes. Hence, the goal of this work is to simultaneously detect from multiple different OOD scenarios in a fine-grained manner. To reach this goal, we propose a general-purpose weakly-supervised OOD detection framework, called WOOD, that combines a binary classifier and a contrastive learning component to reap the benefits of both. In order to better distinguish the latent representations of in-distribution (ID) and OOD samples, we adopt the Hinge loss to constrain their similarity. Furthermore, we develop a new scoring metric to integrate the prediction results from both the binary classifier and contrastive learning for identifying OOD samples. We evaluate the proposed WOOD model on multiple real-world datasets, and the experimental results demonstrate that the WOOD model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods for multi-modal OOD detection. Importantly, our approach is able to achieve high accuracy in OOD detection in three different OOD scenarios simultaneously. The source code will be made publicly available upon publication.


Nigeria's postcolonial nationality has been marked by disjunctions that continue to highlight its character, as a product of the colonial will, and of what Biodun Jeyifo has articulated as "arrested decolonization"—the basis of its problematic modernity. Nigeria is, in its current formation, a hybrid state; a nation of multiple nations coalescing to form the basis of nationness and national belonging. One of the fundamental sources of its evolution is to be found in its literature, particularly in poetry, that most nationalist of genres, but significantly also, in the form of the novel, which constitutes much of the narrative of nation. Modern Nigerian literature can now be categorized in three to four movements, or generations, starting with the Azikiwe/Osadebe generation of nationalist poets, to the late modernists Achebe, Okigbo, Soyinka, etc., to the current generation or category of writer whose writings encompass the new attitudes, desires, values, and anxieties of the postcolonial nation. In this paper, I specifically examine the intriguing presence or overwhelming prominence of Igbo novelists writing in the English language, whose works, I argue, are currently defining the canon of contemporary Nigerian national literature. I claim the implicit value of Igbo traveling identity in the formation of the modern state as providing the cultural and historical factors, stimulus or circumstances that animate this literature. The nature of the Igbo traveling identity—its cosmopolitanism, transborder claims, and new metropolitan tropes—permits us therefore to fully comprehend the nature of Nigeria's contemporary cultural production as well as its implication or significance in shaping modern, postcolonial Nigerian identity and the direction of its narrative of the nation.


In the drum washing machines, surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motors (SPMSMs) of outer rotor type are utilized. Since the laundry mass causes an eccentric load to the motor, machine vibration and noise take place during dehydration process along with a speed ripple. The eccentric load is sinusoidal, so that it can be compensated with a sinusoidal q-axis current with proper amplitude and phase shift. In this work, a searching algorithm that yields the minimum speed ripple was studied. Further, a method of determining the phase angle of the compensating current was suggested. Usefulness of the proposed method was demonstrated experimentally through the reduction in speed ripple.


The purpose of this study was to suggest the basic material of elderly housing complex development by examining the preferred residential environmental characteristics of the elderly housing complexes according to the situation of old age of the pre-elderly. The study was conducted assuming eight different situations of old age according to health conditions, couple living conditions, and economic conditions. The subject is the pre-elderly who want to live in the elderly housing complexes in the future is unlike other studies, so the result of their preferred residential environmental characteristics would be more concrete and reliable. In general, the preferred residential environmental characteristics of the elderly housing complex change with the situation of old age. This suggests various elderly housing should be considered as the situation of old age develops.


The paper "Cadmium in tobacco smokers: a neglected link to lung disease?" by Ganguly et al. [1] was read with great interest. The authors excellently review the evidence that cadmium (Cd) present in cigarette smoke is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development. They emphasise the importance of lung Cd tissue levels by highlighting a study that demonstrated significantly increased lung tissue levels of Cd in severe COPD lung tissue compared to smokers without COPD, although the consumption of tobacco was higher in those patients with severe COPD [2]. Furthermore, Ganguly et al. [1] cite further evidence linking Cd exposure to COPD development, such as development of emphysema in animal models exposed to nebulised Cd and in individuals exposed to occupational Cd fumes. Additionally they emphasise the accumulation of Cd in smokers' organs, such as the kidney, compared to nonsmokers, and that Cd statistically increases markers of innate immunity activation. Cadmium in cigarettes has been overlooked as a risk factor for COPD development as studies have failed to take into account lung tissue levels. The levels of cadmium in blood and urine may not reflect lung cadmium tissue levels in smokers. http://ow.ly/u6Of30lCyw8


Introduction : Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic protozoan parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis. T. gondii is able to infect a wide range of hosts, particularly humans and warm-blooded animals. Toxoplasmosis can be considered as one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases affecting close to one billion people worldwide, but its current chemotherapy is still deficient and is only effective in the acute phase of the disease. Areas covered : This review covers different approaches to toxoplasmosis chemotherapy focused on the metabolic differences between the host and the parasite. Selective action on different targets such as the isoprenoid pathway, dihydrofolate reductase, T. gondii adenosine kinase, different antibacterials, T. gondii histone deacetylase and calcium-dependent protein kinases is discussed. Expert opinion : A new and safe chemotherapy is needed, as T. gondii causes serious morbidity and mortality in pregnant women and immunodeficient patients undergoing chemotherapy. A particular drawback of the available treatments is the lack of efficacy against the tissue cyst of the parasite. During this review a broad scope of several attractive targets for drug design have been presented. In this context, the isoprenoid pathway, dihydrofolate reductase, T. gondii histone deacetylase are promising molecular targets.


Thirty sera reacting by IFL technique in titres greater than or equal to 100 with smooth muscle fibres of rat stomach, rat renal glomeruli, and with the membrane region of thyroid cells were randomly chosen among sera sent in for routine testing of tissue antibodies. All sera but one were found to be derived from patients with chronic active hepatitis. The smooth muscle and other relevant cell staining were abolished after absorption of sera with actin, prepared from rabbit skeletal muscle and found to be homogeneous by SDS gel-electrophoresis and by electron microscopy. The actin anti-bodies were purified by precipitation of sera with F-actin and elution of the precipitates at acid pH. The purified antibodies stained all tissues in the same way as the original sera. In double immunodiffusion tests all thirty sera gave precipitation with actin. Thus, it was concluded that these broad-reacting SMA are directed against actin. The finding of high-titred SMA is of diagnostic value and supports the clinical diagnosis of active chronic hepatitis. In addition, anti-actin antibodies eluted from human sera are a suitable tool for studying actin-containing cellular structures.


The presence of benchmark problems provides an important stimulus in fields related to the development of new methodologies. Currently, benchmark data for nature-inspired networks are scarce. To increase the collection of benchmark data, we propose, in this work, a number of interesting and rather difficult managerial and financial decision problems that can be found in the literature. Usually, similar problems are addressed by methodologies belonging to statistics, operations research, mathematical programming, heuristic algorithm implementation, and classical artificial intelligence. We believe that nature inspired intelligence constitutes a challenging alternative for handling these problems effectively. For this reason, we collect formal problem descriptions, related data collections, presentation of existing solutions and comparison of the performance obtained by nature inspired approaches to other existing methodologies. KEYWORDS: nature inspired intelligence, managerial and financial decision making, nature inspired networks, cross dynamics of international financial markets, orienteering problem, analysis of bubbles in asset prices, benchmark data.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the downstream molecular targets of hyaluronan (HA)-CD44 and phospholipase C (PLC)-mediated calcium ion (Ca(2+)) signaling in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Hyaluronan is a ligand for the CD44 receptor, which interacts with multiple signaling pathways to influence cellular behavior. We recently determined that HA-CD44 interaction promotes PLC-mediated Ca(2+) signaling and cisplatin resistance in HNSCC.

DESIGN
Proliferation of HNSCC tumor cells and topoisomerase (Topo) II enzymatic activity, including DNA-cleavable complex formation and DNA decatenation, were analyzed in the presence or absence of HA, the Topo II poison etoposide (VP-16), and various inhibitors of PLC and Ca(2+)-calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) signaling.

RESULTS
Treatment with HA promoted Topo II phosphorylation, suggesting that HA can modulate Topo II activity. Topoisomerase II-mediated DNA cleavable complex formation was increased by VP-16, and this increase was significantly enhanced by noncytotoxic doses of the PLC inhibitor U73122 and the CaMKII inhibitor KN-62, implicating PLC and CaMKII in Topo II regulation. However, the drug- and inhibitor-mediated increase in DNA cleavable complex formation was reduced with HA pretreatment. Inhibitors of PLC and CaMKII also enhanced VP-16 inhibition of Topo II-mediated DNA decatenation. Treatment with HA reduced VP-16 cytotoxic activity. On the other hand, U73122 and KN-62 enhanced VP-16 cytotoxic activity and reduced the ability of HA to promote VP-16 resistance.

CONCLUSION
Our results suggest that HA, PLC, and CaMKII are upstream regulators of Topo II-mediated DNA metabolism in HNSCC and that this signaling pathway could be a promising target for the development of novel therapies against HNSCC.


Lars Gorton is a professor emeritus presently connected to the Stockholm Centre of Commercial Law at the Stockholm University Law faculty. He has previously been engaged as professor of Banking Law at the university of Lund and as professor adiunct at the Stockholm School of Economics and the Copenhagen Business School. He is presently mainly engaged with matters related to General Commercial Law including Financial and Credit law. This article presents some overview of commercial law developments in the EU against a wider context.


More than 50% of community-dwelling adults have sleep complaints. Because aging is associated with decline in physical function, coexistent sleep difficulties may exacerbate functional decline. This pilot study explored the relationships between sleep, age, chronic disease burden, and physical function among 50 community-dwelling older adults. Findings revealed significant relationships between total sleep time and preclinical disability (r = −0.33, P ⩽ .05) and mobility difficulty (r = −0.36, P ⩽ .05). A regression analysis showed that total sleep time was significantly associated with mobility difficulty and preclinical disability, even after controlling for chronic disease burden. These findings suggest that total sleep time may be a catalyst for functional decline.


We describe recent research in which we explored biologically relevant logic gates using gold nanoparticles (GNPs) conjugated to fluorophores and tracing the results remotely by time-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). GNPs have a well-known effect on nearby fluorophores in terms of their fluorescence intensity (FI – increase or decrease) as well as fluorescence lifetime (FLT). We have designed a few bio-switch systems in which the FLIMdetected fluorescence varies after biologically relevant stimulation. Some of our tools include fluorescein diacetate (FDA) which can be activated by either esterases or pH, peptide chains cleavable by caspase 3, and the polymer polyacrylic acid which varies in size based on surrounding pH. After conjugating GNPs to chosen fluorophores, we have successfully demonstrated the logic gates of NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, and XOR by imaging different stages of activation. These logic gates have been demonstrated both in solutions as well as within cultured cells, thereby possibly opening the door for nanoparticulate in vivo smart detection. While these initial probes are mainly tools for intelligent detection systems, they lay the foundation for logic gates functioning in conjunction so as to lead to a form of in vivo biological computing, where the system would be able to release proper treatment options in specific situations without external influence.


We investigated the relationship between normal state and superconducting properties in iron chalcogenide Fe1+y(Te1-xSex) through systematic specific heat and Hall coefficient measurements. We found that, with an increase of Se content in the underdoped superconducting region, the remarkable increase of the superconducting volume fraction Vsc and the normal state metallicity occurs when the normal state Sommerfeld coefficient and Hall coefficient drop drastically. Additionally, Vsc is surprisingly enhanced by magnetic field. These observations, plus Hall angle analyses, suggest that the suppression of superconductivity in the underdoped region is associated with electronic disorders caused by incoherent magnetic scattering arising from (pi,0) magnetic fluctuations.


Background Oxygen under- and overexposure has detrimental effects on preterm infants. Controlling the oxygen saturation manually within strict targets is a notoriously difficult and time consuming task which can be facilitated by automated control. Aims To evaluate the performance of a closed loop fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) controller based on oxygen saturation (SpO2) targets when compared to dedicated manual control. Methods Prematurely delivered lambs (128–132 days of gestation, term 150 d) were intubated and ventilated with volume guaranteed ventilation (Fabian HFO, Acutronic®) adjusted to arterial pCO2. SpO2 was measured via pulse oximetry (Radical 7, Masimo®). After a stabilisation period of 30 min, lambs were randomised to three hours of ventilation with automated or manual FiO2 control (caretaker-lamb ratio 1:1). Saturation targets were 90–95% according to European guidelines. Data is represented as median [IQR]. Results Twenty-two lambs were included, 11 in each group. Time spend within the target range was significantly better when the automated controller was used (93.2% [80.6–98.9%] vs. 84.0% [63.8–89.4%], p2 adjustments per hour was higher when the automated controller was used (13.0 [3.0–16.4] vs. 5.7 [2.3–9.8], n.s.). Conclusions Automated FiO2 control was effective in this model. These results are especially promising as we compared our device to animals receiving 1:1 care in the manual control group. In a clinical setting, the combination of automated control and dedicated caretakers might even be more effective.


In this paper a coupled multi-physics model is proposed for a multi-V-shape Interior Permanent Magnet (IPM) motor with concentrated winding. A non-linear magnetic model computes the flux density in the stator and the rotor and delivers the torque, the internal power factor and the internal voltage. It is coupled with an electrical model that computes the power factor and the voltage at the motor terminals by considering the resistance and the leakage inductance. A loss model is developed in order to calculate the copper and the iron losses. They are used as inputs to a thermal model that computes the temperature of the motor. Finally, a multi-objective optimization is carried out in order to design the motor for a high torque and low speed application.


As it is used in communication, internet communication tools began to use in education especially in English language learning. New trends technologies have supplemented English teaching in authencity and literacy such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills of students. English is the only valid language that can be understood by everyone all around the world. Students learn faster and easier than before because of the use of technology in schools. If they are trained during their school years, they have the chance of becoming experts in technology. It is proved by the researches that have been done; early beginnings are always beneficial. Learning English through the web and using new trends in education in schools make students willing to learn the language. The aim of this study is to review technology in English learning activities and internet communication tools which are being used lately by instructors and learners. The study was conducted on the base of literature survey. Also, this study looks at Web-based English language learning tools, and tries to give information about internet communication tools also it is mentioned that how the teachers or instructors make educational environment more enjoyable. It is quite clear that English has become a necessity today. We need it in different fields of life. Web based technologies and powerful internet connections provide various new possibilities and latest trends for teachers and students. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved


Noise and vibration due to dropping hard heavy weights is a common source of disturbance and complaint in residential, commercial, and mixed-use building types. The authors and others have worked on developing methodologies to accurately, repeatably, and conveniently measure heavy-hard
 impact noise and vibration in the field based on a standard weight drop. Separately, systems have been created to measure the force being injected into a building from heavy-hard impact. It has been shown that this force data can be used to successfully predict vibration levels in buildings
 if in-situ transfer functions are known. In this paper, the authors will present a novel one-third-octave band prediction method using the laboratory force data and a reference impact sheet to predict field performance without the need to measure transfer function. The method is evaluated
 using both noise and vibration measurements.


This study aimed to identify the bacterial community in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and to determine the occurrence and reduction of Arcobacter, along with virulence genes (ciaB and pldA). A total of 48 samples (24 influent and 24 effluent) were collected at two WWTPs in southern Arizona in the United States, monthly from August 2011 to July 2012. Bacterial DNA extract was utilized for 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing. Quantification of Arcobacter 16S rRNA gene was conducted using a recently developed SYBR Green-based quantitative PCR assay. Among 847 genera identified, 113 (13%) were identified as potentially pathogenic bacteria. Arcobacter 16S rRNA gene was detected in all influent samples and ten (83%) and nine (75%) effluent samples at each plant, respectively. Log reduction ratios of Arcobacter 16S rRNA gene in Plant A and Plant B were 1.7 ± 0.9 (n = 10) and 2.3 ± 1.5 (n = 9), respectively. The ciaB gene was detected by quantitative PCR in eleven (92%) and twelve (100%) of 12 influent samples from Plant A and Plant B, respectively, while the pldA gene was detected in eight (67%) and six (50%) influent samples from Plant A and Plant B, respectively. The prevalence of potentially pathogenic bacteria in WWTP effluent indicated the need for disinfection before discharge into the environment.


An autopsy case of Dubin-Johnson syndrome (DJS), associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the third such case in Japanese literature, is reported. A 64-year-old man, known to have had jaundice from his childhood, was admitted because of weight loss. Close examination revealed that the patient had DJS with HCC and a right lobectomy of the liver was performed. He died, however, of metastasis of HCC about 36 months later. At autopsy, the liver was found to be brownish-black in color. Microscopic findings of the liver were those common to HCC and chronic active hepatitis, and the brown pigment seen in the hepatocytes was mainly confined to the centrilobular ares. After histochemical and electronmicroscopic study, a close relation between this pigment and lysosome is suspected.


Context: Substance use is a widely recognized and pressing public health issue with grave consequences. It is important to prevent mishaps of substance use among the police. Aim: This study assessed the prevalence and factors associated with 12-month psycho-active substance use among police officers in Kano, Nigeria. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted among police officers serving within metropolitan Kano. Methods and Materials: Pre-validated, adapted, semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect socio-demographic, work-related data and information on psycho-active substance use. Statistical Analysis Used: Multi-variate logistic regression modeling was used to determine factors associated with psycho-active substance use. All analyses were performed using STATA/IC 15.0. Results: Among 275 officers with a mean age of 35.1 ± 7.7 years, 14.9% (n = 41) recently used one or more psycho-active substances within the last 12 months, and tobacco was the most commonly used (n = 41, 100%). A lower likelihood of substance use was found among officers who were in their fifth decade of life (aOR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.10–0.55), had tertiary education (aOR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.14–0.77), were inspectors (aOR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.16–0.61), were at the rank of ASP or higher (aOR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.30–0.78), and had been in service between 16 and 20 years (aOR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.11–0.65). Conclusion: Demographic and work-related characteristics influence the use of psycho-active substances among police officers in Nigeria. There is a need to revamp existing substance monitoring strategies to avoid catastrophic consequences of substance use among the society's gatekeepers.


Tartary buckwheat grains were hydrothermally treated to establish the conditions under which rutin remains in the grain. Tartary buckwheat grains were soaked in water at the temperatures 51 °C, 61 °C, 70 °C, 75 °C, 80 °C, 85 °C, 90 °C, 93 °C, 97 °C and 99 °C, and a control group at 21 °C. During 20 minutes soaking at 51 °C or 61 °C the concentration of rutin decreased. This effect was mostly pronounced by soaking at 70 °C and 75 °C, where instead of missing amount of rutin, some quercetin appeared. After soaking at 80 °C, 85 °C, 90 °C, 93 °C, 97 °C and 99 °C concentration of rutin was not significantly different in comparison to the concentration of rutin after soaking 20 minutes at 21°C. It is suggested that exposure to water at 21°C is similar to natural conditions, where rutin degrading enzymes remain mainly inactive and in grain separated from its potential substrate. Further is suggested that at the soaking temperatures 51 °C, 61 °C, 70 °C and 75 °C, grain structures are partly degraded and rutin degrading enzymes got contact to the substrate. By soaking at 80 °C, 85 °C, 90 °C, 93 °C, 97 °C and 99 °C, rutin degrading enzymes lose their activity. Thus wet treatment of Tartary buckwheat grains for 20 minutes at temperature at 80 °C or above, this threshold is enough to preserve the content of rutin in the samples. This is of importance for nutritional quality of Tartary buckwheat food products. Fagopyrum 37(2):37-40 (2020)


The assessment and interpretation of the results of a clinical study are a real challenge for the clinicians. In this paper we establish a general basis for a critical and reserved assessment of these, from the fundamental aspects of the design and statistics, as well as the application of the results to our own patients according to risk and benefit criteria. Main errors and the traps that should be avoided are emphasised.


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

Molecular profiling plays an increasingly vital role in determining treatment options in oncology. These include expression profiling, mutation detection as well as copy number variation analysis (CNV). Hence there is an increasing need for a robust and high-throughput technology to detect oncogenic hotspot mutations - and copy number variation (CNV) in various kinds of cancer. Although there are commercial assays or kits available to detect genetic aberrations in a given oncogene, there is a need to simultaneously detect these hotspots in more than a few of these genes using very little DNA. Recent technological advances such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms are the powerful tools to unravel the complex biological and genetic mechanisms in different human diseases. However, there are several challenges facing NGS platforms, such as high cost, and DNA input requirement, and difficult data analysis pipeline which require much longer data turnaround time that is not feasible in the clinical setting.

We have developed a high-throughput microfluidic panel for detecting 120 somatic mutations across 11 genes of therapeutic interest using TaqMan or allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) technologies. The 11-gene mutation panel is designed to detect hotspot mutations that have higher oncogenic potential. Additionally, we can detect (CNV) changes in a total of 18 genes. This mutation panel only requires as little as 2 ng of high quality (fresh frozen) or 100 ng of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) genomic DNA. A pre-amplification of 38 amplicons is carried out to enrich DNA carrying the targeted mutations, using custom-designed primer sets followed by detection of the mutations using TaqMan/AS-PCR assays carried out on a Biomark microfluidics system. Mutation, CNV calls including an automated data analysis process have been implemented to run 88 samples per day. We will present data showing validation of this platform using plasmids and archival samples, including correlation between amplified and unamplified samples on alternate mutation detection platforms that will demonstrate sensitivity and selectivity. The platform is being routinely used in our labs to analyze tissues from patients enrolled in clinical trials.

Citation Format: Rachel Nga Wan Tam, Erica Schleifman, Ling-Yuh Huw, Rupal Desai, Rajesh Patel, Rajiv Raja. Development of MUT-MAP, a high-throughput multi-analyte mutation panel for cancer biomarkers discovery. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4134. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4134


constitutional revision, and after attaining a two-thirds majority in both Houses of the only hurdles to amending the Constitution of Japan are the amendment procedures stipulated in Article 96. The plain text of Article 96 requires a two-thirds vote in both Houses followed by popular referendum, but it poses no explicit limitations on the scope of any amendment even the amendment process itself is fair game at first glance. Nevertheless, Japanese scholars have claimed that limits must exist to Article 96, lest an amendment destroy the Constitution itself. This Comment seeks to discover whether any such implicit limits exist based on a comprehensive analysis of the text and structure of the current Constitution as well as the Meiji Constitution. In so doing, this Comment attempts to provide a roadmap for Japanese courts to assert the power of judicial review over amendments that would do harm to the core values enshrined in the Constitution. Cite as: Adam N. Sterling, Implicit Limits on Amending the Japanese Constitution, 28 WASH. INT L L.J. 243 (2019).


Positronium formation in positron-He(1s2) and positron-alkaline-earth metals is studied at high-enough impact energies. The importance of simultaneous excitation of the target is analysed in comparison with the case where the residual target relaxes to its fundamental state. A four-body version of the continuum-distorted-wave-final-state model is introduced to describe this two-electron process, where in the case of alkaline-earth metals, the core formed by the target nucleus and the inner-shell electrons is assumed to remain frozen during the collision. Cross sections of electron capture for selective final states and total cross sections are calculated to illustrate our analysis.


The aim of this paper is to analyse the variation of the gesture recognition accuracy of several classifiers, based on input provided by two different sensors: Kinect for XBox 360 (Kinect 1) and its improved, newer version, Kinect for XBox One (Kinect 2). The accurate and meaningful recognition of body postures and gestures is a problem that depends on multiple factors, including the machine learning methods used, the characteristics of the database of poses and gestures (sample size, number of samples from each class, data noise, input sensor data) and the selected combination of gestures or poses we are interested to distinguish from each other (their duration/size and joints implied, complexity or similarity). The original contribution of this article consists of creating a database of meaningful poses using Kinect 2 and comparing the efficiency of several classifiers trained and tested on this database with previously obtained results for Kinect 1, considering sensor type, gesture complexity, as well as data size and the characteristics of the poses.


In metal/insulator/metal sandwich structure, the interface between the metal and the insulator thin films plays significant roles in the functional performance of the thin films. In ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copylmer thin films metallized by different metals, it is found that the polarization switching is asymmetric due to the work function difference of the metal electrodes, and the degree of asymmetry increases with the increasing work function difference. For the samples with high work function metals as both or at least one of the electrodes, the polarization switching is much faster. The current–voltage curves at various temperatures indicated the interface-controlled asymmetric phenomena are mainly determined by the Schottky emission and charge injection at the metal/insulator polymer interface.


Smartphone has gone beyond a communication hub to be a measurement device itself, thanks to various built-in sensors. This article reviewed achievements in transforming ubiquitous smartphones into cost-effective scientific instruments for educational laboratories, environmental studies, point-of-care diagnostics, home-based health monitoring, and rehabilitation. Magnetic fields were precisely measured by built-in magnetometers, leading to demonstrations for engineering and medical applications. The smartphone-based joint-angle measurement was a viable alternative to traditional goniometers. Characterizations of optical signals captured by cameras led to portable spectrophotometers and colorimeters for both educational and practical uses. Interestingly, smartphones became a platform for high-resolution microscopes and fluorescence microscopes were developed with add-on components. These smart instruments become even more attractive options in the pandemic period with limited facility and laboratory access.


Aim of study: The aim of the work was to determine the optimum axillary shoot induction system by optimizing different factors. Area of study: The different factors which were pretreatment methods, media types, kinds of cytokinins and dark treatment Material and methods: After pretreating and sterilizing, the stems of Wollemi pine which about 3 cm long were cultured on three kinds of media (GD, DCR and MS) with different concentration and type of cytokines (BA, ZT and TDZ), as well as dark treatment (0, and 4 weeks) and then exposure to tissue culture room. The experiments were randomized block designed and the results were analyzed with ANOVA. Main results: Rapid freezing in liquid nitrogen was the most effective pretreatment method, dark treatment for the first 4-weeks of stem explants cultured in induction media could increase the frequency of axillary shoot induction significantly. The highest frequency of axillary shoot induction (63%) was obtained when explants were cultured in 1/2GD medium with 6.8 μM TDZ combining 4-weeks dark treatment. Research highlights: The optimized conditions for shoot production in vitro can be useful for conservation in vitro of Wollemia nobilis. Key word: Wollemia nobilis; in vitro conservation; tissue culture; an endangered relict conifer. * Corresponding author: firstname.lastname@example.com Received: 22-01-13. Accepted: 24-04-13. Abbreviations: GD-Gresshoff and Doy; DCR-Gupta and Durzan; MS-Murashige and Skoog; BA-6-Benzy ladenine; ZTZeatin; TDZ-Thidiazuron. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) Forest Systems 2013 22(3): 564-567 Available online at www.inia.es/forestsystems ISSN: 2171-5068 http://dx.doi.org/10.5424/fs/2013223-03997 eISSN: 2171-9845


Many nursing scholars, such as Carter (1990), Ford and Walsh (1994), Huey (1986), James (1990), Thomlinson (1990), Larson (1987), Rush et al (1990), Spiller (1992), Street (1990a,b; 1992a,b,c,d), Lawrence (1996), Walker (1967), Walsh and Ford (1989 a,b,c,d; 1991 a,b), have examined the effects of rituals in nursing practice, and have argued for a need to scrutinise these ritual practices because of their negative effect on patients. Other scholars, such as Holland (1993) and Biley and Wright (1997), have argued that these rituals have meanings for nurses. Street (1992c) has argued that rituals are resilient in nursing practice. In order to identify the factors that contribute to rituals' resilience, there is a need to understand their meanings and effects on nurses, and how nurses keep them alive. This study has explored the meanings of the 'evening tea break' ritual to a group of nurses in a medical ward. The study has employed an ethnographic approach, and has found that the evening tea break ritual had affective effects on the participating nurses. It provides the time, space, the process and the environment for nurses to ventilate their feelings, to gain support from each other.


Fluid Power systems design is a skilful and complex task requiring significant practical experience and heuristic knowledge gained over many years. With few formal Fluid Power design courses being taught in further and higher education, both academia and industry are seeking new methods of delivering this specialist knowledge. The Internet opens up low-cost, low-risk training opportunities for companies, particularly Small-to-Medium Enterprises, which may not be able to afford to send their staff on residential courses, and also for employees seeking career development within the context of lifelong learning. This paper describes the early stages of a project to develop an open, domain-independent, Java-based framework for the delivery of multimedia training. This framework forms part of an overall Performance Support System for trainees and professionals involved in Fluid Power systems design. Also described is a formative evaluation of the framework.


There has been a large body of statements claiming that the large scale deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) will eventually reshape the future distribution grid operation in various ways. Thus, it is interesting to introduce a platform to interpret to what extent the power system operation will be alternated. In this paper, quantitative results in terms of how the future distribution grid will be changed by the deployment of distributed generation, active demand and electric vehicles, are presented. The analysis is based on the conditions for both a radial and a meshed distribution network. The input parameters are based on the current and envisioned DER deployment scenarios proposed for Sweden.


Standard economic models assume that the weight given to information from different sources depends exclusively on its diagnosticity. In this paper we study whether the same piece of information is weighted more heavily simply because it arose from direct experience rather than from observation. We investigate this possibility by conducting repeated game experiments in which groups of players are randomly rematched on every round and receive feedback about the actions and outcomes of all players. We find that participants' actions are influenced more strongly by the behavior of players they directly interact with than by those they only observe.


Lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) crystallizes from N,N,N',"-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA)/hexane mixtures as an infinite array of dimers linked by bridging (nonchelating) TMEDA ligands. 6Li and I5N NMR spectroscopic studies reveal that LDA in neat TMEDA exists as a cyclic dimer bearing a single $-coordinated TMEDA ligand on each lithium. The equilibrium of solvent-free LDA and the TMEDA-solvated dimer shows a very strong temperature dependence. TMEDA coordinates readily only at low temperature. High TMEDA concentrations are required to saturate the lithium coordination spheres at ambient temperatures. One equivalent of THF readily displaces TMEDA from the coordination sphere to produce the dimeric LDA/THF solvate characterized previously. Kinetics of metalation of 2-methylcyclohexanone N,N-dimethylhydrazone monitored by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy are consistent with a rapid, spectroscopically undetectable dimer-monomer preequilibrium followed by rate-limiting proton transfer. The reaction rate is independent of the TMEDA concentration. Related spectroscopic and rate studies using dimethylethylamine lacking the capacity to chelate show strong parallels with the TMEDA data. We conclude that TMEDA chelates of LDA are of no measurable consequence throughout the reaction coordinate. MNDO calculations of THF and TMEDA solvates of Me,NLi and LDA monomers and dimers qualitatively support the conclusions derived from the experimental data.


A suitable subcategory of affine Azumaya algebras is defined and a functor from this category to the category of Zariski structures is constructed. The rudiments of a theory
of presheaves of topological structures is developed and applied to construct examples of structures at a generic parameter. The category of equivariant algebras is defined
and a first-order theory is associated to each object. For those theories satisfying a certain technical condition, uncountable categoricity and quantifier elimination results
are established. Models are shown to be Zariski structures and a functor from the category of equivariant algebras to Zariski structures is constructed. The two functors
obtained in the thesis are shown to agree on a nontrivial class of algebras.


Beta2 (β2) toxin–producing Clostridium perfringens type A strains were found to be associated with necrotic and hemorrhagic intestinal lesions in 2 Asiatic black bears (Selenarctos thibetanus) that died suddenly. Ten isolates were obtained from the liver, lungs, heart, and small and large intestine of the animals and were examined by multiplex polymerase chain reaction for the genes encoding the 4 lethal toxins (alpha, beta, epsilon, and iota) for classification into toxin types as well as for the genes encoding enterotoxin and the novel β2-toxin for subclassification. In addition, the cpb2 sequence of the 10 isolates was different from the published sequence of cpb2 of pig type C isolate CWC245, whereas it was highly similar to the cpb2 sequence of the C. perfringens type A strain 13. This finding suggests the existence of 2 cpb2 subtypes. This is the first report of enterotoxemia associated with the presence of C. perfringens producing β2-toxin in the tissues and intestinal content of Asiatic black bears.


This essay focuses on the computing vocabulary, specifically vocabulary related to the Internet. The aim is to describe, out from the pragmatics, this vocabulary; we will focus on a strategy of popularization consisting on the presentation, from the enunciator, of the meaning of the terms. For this reason we take linguistic sources on the Internet that represent each one of the selected countries (Chile, Guatemala, Cuba and Spain) both from institutional field (university web pages) and massive media (digital press).


OBJECTIVE
To examine the extra burden placed on consultant physicians when providing cross cover for colleagues who are absent on annual or study leave.

METHODS
A questionnaire was sent to 455 consultant physicians with an interest in gastroenterology, practising in the UK in October 1996.

RESULTS
The response rate was 77%, with 350 completed forms returned. Ninety percent of respondents participate in the acute intake; they provide 85% of cross cover for their colleagues. Only 2% of this burden is carried by the appointment of locums.

CONCLUSION
Provision of satisfactory cover for inpatients under the care of absent colleagues can place serious demands on consultants at a time when their specialty commitments are also high. Future manpower planning must take these added burdens into consideration.


The standard model of fundamental interactions is remarkably successful, but it leaves an unfinished agenda. Several major questions seem ripe for exploration in the near future. I anticipate that the coming decade will be a Golden Age of discovery in fundamental physics. PACS. 12.10.Dm Unified theories and models of strong and electroweak interactions


This research is a quasi-experimental research, with a quantitative approach to finding data in the form of numbers, namely the results of the pre-test and post-test. One of the information technologies that can be used as a learning medium is by using e-learning. E-learning is an innovation that can be utilized in the learning process, not only in the delivery of learning material, but also changes in the abilities of various student competencies. The instrument used in this study was a test. The test instruments include pre-test and post-test. The pre-test includes a set of prerequisite material knowledge in the form of descriptive questions and the post-test includes a mathematics learning outcome test. Based on the results of the analysis of hypothesis testing carried out using the t-test at a significance level of 0.05, the sig value is obtained. (2-tailed), which is equal to 0.000, which is smaller than the significance level of 0.05. So, it can be concluded that there is a significant increase in student learning outcomes taught by e-learning learning during the Covid 19 pandemic.Key words: learning outcomes; e learning; covid 19


Alan Greenspan, the former Governor of the Federal Reserve, remarked in the context of the financial crisis that 'even sophisticated investors got things badly wrong'. This comment throws a spotlight on quite how out of step and unrealistic general assumptions can be as regards markets and market regulation. From a consumer perspective, we may wonder what chance the average consumer has of getting things right, if sophisticated investors can get things so badly wrong? Much of the legislation governing financial products and financial services is based on the classical view that economic agents, including consumers, are essentially selfish by nature, seeking to maximise their personal financial benefit, by acting in a rational manner and through making independent choices. Of course, nobody pretends that this view is an accurate reflection of the economy, and even less so an accurate portrayal of human beings. Yet this forms the standard profile for modelling and thus the basis for assumptions which underpin much of the regulation governing the economy.


Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of exocrine tissue, resulting in loss of tears and saliva. Patients also experience many extra-glandular disease manifestations. Treatment for pSS is palliative, and there are currently no treatments available that target disease etiology. Previous studies in our lab demonstrated that MyD88 is crucial for pSS pathogenesis in the NOD.B10Sn-H2b (NOD.B10) pSS mouse model, although the way in which MyD88-dependent pathways become activated in disease remains unknown. Based on its importance in other autoimmune diseases, we hypothesized that TLR7 activation accelerates pSS pathogenesis. We administered the TLR7 agonist Imiquimod (Imq) or sham treatment to pre-disease NOD.B10 females for 6 weeks. Parallel experiments were performed in age and sex-matched C57BL/10 controls. Imq-treated pSS animals exhibited cervical lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and expansion of TLR7-expressing B cells. Robust lymphocytic infiltration of exocrine tissues, kidney and lung was observed in pSS mice following treatment with Imq. TLR7 agonism also induced salivary hypofunction in pSS mice, which is a hallmark of disease. Anti-nuclear autoantibodies, including Ro (SSA) and La (SSB) were increased in pSS mice following Imq administration. Cervical lymph nodes from Imq-treated NOD.B10 animals demonstrated an increase in the percentage of activated/memory CD4+ T cells. Finally, T-bet+ B cells were expanded in the spleens of Imq-treated pSS mice. Thus, activation of TLR7 accelerates local and systemic disease and promotes expansion of T-bet-expressing B cells in pSS.


Rank tests replace raw scores with their ranks prior to computing a test statistic and its reference distribution. This use of ranks is advocated where the normality of the raw score observations is in doubt. An alternative approach is to replace the raw scores with values that resemble observations from a normal distribution more closely than do the integer-spaced ranks, while taking the order of the raw scores into account. Permutation tests that are carried out following such a rank-preserving transformation of the data is called a normal scores test.

Keywords:

randomization test;
permutation test;
rank test;
nonparametric test


In the burgeoning literature on war memorials and the commemoration of the war dead in Britain after 1918, the growth of village halls in rural areas has not been extensively analysed. K.S. Inglis has alerted us to the dichotomy of monuments to mourn the dead and amenities to serve the living. He noted that where a preference was made for utility over monumentality, local war memorial committees did not confine their attention to commemorating those who died on active service and made the Great Sacrifice, but also had in mind those who served and returned. The complex locally-determined processes of negotiating ways which would bring solace or comfort to the bereaved, through the creation of an object of mourning, has been examined with great care and detail, but analysis of urban-centred initiatives predominates. Consequently, the linkage which might be made between the experience of war and the participation of ex-servicemen in village war memorial debates, the demise of old elites and the quest for improved social and material conditions in rural areas, the diminishing support for parish churches as the focal point of community life and the emergence of undenominational social centres, all point towards the need for further examination of the proceedings of local committees, where parish records allow. As British participation in the Great War contained the powerful rhetoric of a religious crusade and was not connected to the improvement of social conditions until the publication of war aims in January 1918, many committees gave priority to the creation of sacred objects of mourning, with much use of exhortatory moral language and Christian iconography.


In the present study, the Thermo-hydraulic performance evaluation of nano-encapsulated phase change material slurries was undertaken in a micro-channel heat sink. The present research was motivated by the urgent need for the performance enhancement of micro-sized heat sinks for the electronic cooling application. A micro-channel with sinusoidal cavities and rectangular ribs was chosen as the flow domain in the present study and the steady laminar flow of nano-encapsulated phase change material slurries was investigated inside the micro-channel. A single-phase model was adopted for the simulation of slurry flow and heat transfer using the well-known finite volume method. Ansys Fluent software was used to solve the governing equations and simulate the flow. In the current study, Nusselt number, friction factor, and performance factor were used to measure the thermal-hydrodynamic performance of the studied slurries. Numerical simulations were performed for Reynolds numbers ranging from 200 to 1000 and nanoparticle concentrations ranging from 0 to 30%. It was shown that adding nano-encapsulated phase change material to a base fluid like water enhanced the thermal performance of the resulting slurry. A 6% to 48% increase in the Nusselt number was reported along the microchannel.


Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Background: Despite antiretroviral therapy (ART), people living with HIV (PLHIV) are at increased risk for non–AIDS-defining events (nADEs), including cardiovascular events, non-AIDS malignances, hepatic disease, and bacterial pneumonia. Setting: This systematic review seeks to answer the question: are PLHIV who spontaneously control HIV-1 subject to an increased risk of various nADEs relative to noncontrolling PLHIV on ART and people without HIV? Methods: Databases were searched on June 9, 2021 with a search syntax focused on the elements "HIV," "spontaneous control," and "clinical outcomes": Embase.com (includes Embase and Medline), Medline Ovid (includes PubMed), Cochrane library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Included were studies reporting non-AIDS events in spontaneous controllers. Excluded were case reports, conference papers, editorials, and reviews. Results: Of 1134 identified records, 34 were assessed for full-text and 12 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis: 5 cohorts, 2 cross-sectional prevalence studies, 4 cross-sectional imaging studies, and one case series. Four of 5 cohort studies showed that spontaneous controllers have a similar risk to develop nADEs compared with PLHIV on suppressive ART, specifically cardiovascular events, non-AIDS malignancies, hepatic disease, and bacterial pneumonia. Cross-sectional imaging studies showed a higher presence of subclinical cardiovascular disease in spontaneous controllers, than in people without HIV. Conclusion: Individuals with spontaneous control of HIV-1 do not seem to be at a greater risk to develop different nADEs compared with PLHIV on suppressive ART. More data are needed, because the present conclusions are based on a limited number of studies that show large heterogeneity among them.


In design process of a complex engineered system, studying the behavior of the system prior to manufacturing plays a key role to reduce cost of design and enhance the efficiency of the system during its lifecycle. To study the behavior of the system in the early design phase, it is required to model the characterization of the system and simulate the system's behavior. The challenge is the fact that in early design stage, there is no or little information from the real system's behavior, therefore there is not enough data to use to validate the model simulation and make sure that the model is representing the real system's behavior appropriately. In this paper, we address this issue and propose methods to validate the model developed in the early design stage. First we propose a method based on FMEA and show how to quantify expert's knowledge and validate the model simulation in the early design stage. Then, we propose a non-parametric technique to test if the observed behavior of one or more subsystems which currently exist, and the model simulation are the same. In addition, a local sensitivity analysis search tool is developed that helps the designers to focus on sensitive parts of the system in further design stages, particularly when mapping the conceptual model to a component model. We apply the proposed methods to validate the output of failure simulation developed in the early stage of designing a monopropellant propulsion system design.


Punitive damages law is one of the more controversial features of the American legal system. Trial and appellate courts have been struggling for many years to develop a coherent set of principles for assessing when punitive damages should be awarded, and at what level. In this Article Professors Polinsky and Shavell use economic reasoning to provide a relatively simple set of principles for answering these questions, given the goals of deterrence and punishment. With respect to the deterrence objective, upon which their Article focuses, their main point is that punitive damages ordinarily should be awarded if, but only if, an injurer has a significant chance of escaping liability for the harm he caused. When this condition holds, punitive damages are needed to offset the deterrence-diluting effect of the chance of escaping liability. (They mention as well a deterrence rationale for punitive damages that does not rest on the possibility of escape from liability -- that punitive damages may be needed to remove the socially illicit gains that individuals obtain from malicious acts.) Professors Polinsky and Shavell also discuss the tension between the implications of the deterrence objective and present punitive damage law, including the law's emphasis on the reprehensibility of a defendant's conduct and on a defendant's wealth. With respect to the punishment objective, Professors Polinsky and Shavell stress that the imposition of punitive damages on corporations may fail to serve its intended purpose (although the imposition of punitive damages on individual defendants accomplishes punishment in a straightforward manner). This is primarily because the payment of punitive damage awards by corporations often does not lead to greater punishment of culpable employees, but instead punishes the corporation's shareholders and customers.


Most work investigating the role of convergence in situations of language attrition has focused on the morpho-syntactic restructuring of the dying language variety. A central concern of such research has been untangling the factors driving the restructuring with an eye towards establishing whether the changes observed are best viewed as externally driven or, by contrast, as internally motivated. A second and equally important concern of this research attempts to define the domains of the linguistic system that may be the most permeable to external influence. The present study provides a contribution to this line of research and sheds light on its two leading concerns from the domain of phonology and phonetics. Specifically, we present the results of an instrumental study of the phonological vowel system of Frenchville French and argue that this linguistic variety is undergoing a perceptually striking process of phonetic convergence with English that is motivated by the auditory and acoustic similarity between a subset of vowels in the contact languages. An interesting consequence of our analysis is that bilingual phonologies may become particularly permeable to inter-linguistic influence precisely where they are acoustically and perceptually unstable, and where they are already congruent to some degree.


This Letter describes the discovery, SAR and in vitro and in vivo pharmacological profile of a novel non-MPEP derived mGlu(5) positive allosteric modulator (PAM) based upon an N-aryl piperazine chemotype. This mGlu(5) chemotype exhibits the ability to act as either a non-competitive antagonist/negative allosteric modulator (NAM) or potentiator of the glutamate response depending on the identity of the amide substituent, i.e., a 'molecular switch'. A rapidly optimized PAM, 10e (VU0364289), was shown to be potent and specific for the rat mGlu(5) receptor and subsequently demonstrated to be efficacious in a clinically relevant rodent model predictive of anti-psychotic activity, thus providing the first example of a centrally active mGluR(5) PAM optimized from an HTS-derived mGluR5 competitive antagonist.


This article describes a research project carried out at the University of Cantabria, Spain. Having identified a lack of communication between different levels of the education system, the co-authors have carried out qualitative research ("long interviews" with Primary and Secondary CLIL teachers) in order to identify the best methodological guidelines to be followed in CLIL classes. These guidelines have been summarized in a CLIL-methodology Decalogue to be used at the Tertiary Level.


To the Editor. —The SUPPORT project1found that an intervention designed to enhance health care decision making near the end of life failed to achieve improvements in end-of-life care. We are concerned that these results may lead many clinicians and the public to draw overly broad or negative conclusions about the possibility of improving terminal and palliative care in the United States. In various capacities, each of us has been involved in Decisions Near the End of Life, a national initiative to improve health care decision making for critically ill and terminally ill patients. To date, 160 hospitals and nursing homes in 31 states and approximately 35 000 health care professionals are participating in this initiative. These facilities constitute a virtual laboratory for looking more closely at whether and how end-of-life care can be improved. We have seen that change is possible, but only if program planners adopt a


Injectable hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels, crosslinked with 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDDE), are widely used in aesthetic medicine. Due to their high clinical tolerance, HA hydrogels are thought to be applicable as injectable drug delivery systems. Here, HA matrix structures of BDDE-crosslinked HA hydrogels were analysed, and the effects of the structures on the release of two model drugs were assessed. Seven crosslinked HA hydrogels were observed by optical microscopy and cryo scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM). We observed three specific matrix macrostructures under optical microscopy: two had a "spider web"-like structure, three had a particulate structure, and two had an intermediate structure. These differences were less evident under cryo-SEM, where all hydrogels exhibited fibrous microstructures of different homogeneity levels, with pore sizes between 0.5 and 18 μm. Three cross-linked HA hydrogels with different macrostructures were loaded with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lidocaine to assess their capacities to release drug over 4 days. No differences in drug release were observed between gels, and BSA was released for up to 4 days, which was four times longer than lidocaine. Thus, BDDEcrosslinked HA hydrogels could be applied as an injectable drug delivery system, particularly for the delivery of high-molecular-weight molecules.


Known impact sites caused by meteoritic bodies falling to earth's surface, together with frequency distributions for observed rates of material infall and those inferred from lunar, martian, and mercurian data for the Phanerozoic, indicate that meteoritic-impact features have been sufficiently common and large to justify their recognition by petroleum geologists. The rock-shattering and dome-forming process of impact cratering can and does result in unconventional petroleum reservoirs. End_Page 1582------------------------------ Two oil fields in the Williston basin and one potential gas field in Algeria are interpreted to be reservoirs in fractured strata beneath buried impact structures. In addition to fractured domal structures, impact events in water-bearing, poorly consolidated materials can produce large bodies comparable to sand-flow volcanoes and clastic dikes. Such permeable features, after burial and lithification, may or may not be found in sedimentary environments, such as starved basins, deltas, or lagoonal areas, in which petroleum reservoirs normally occur. Impact features with petroleum accumulations are most likely to be formed in relatively young, shallow-marine depositional environments (water depths less than 200 m) merely because these structures are most favorably located relative to the time and place of petroleum origin and its later migration. Terrestrial impact sites in well-lithified ancient strata, even crystalline rocks, however, may become reservoirs if a subsequent transgression results in deposition of a basal marine sequence of petroleum-generating sediments. The best means of recognizing subsurface-impact features are detailed stratigraphic analyses, local structural-anomaly recognition, and high-recognition seismic data. Potential reservoirs of impact origin will be randomly distributed geographically and temporally throughout stratigraphic sequences; prediction of their location will therefore be difficult. Lack of trends, preferential location, or predictable distribution of impact sites precludes systematic search strategies during petroleum exploration. Commonly, magnetic and gravimetric signatures of buried impact features tend to be so subtle as to be ignored by geologists and geophysicists, although known large surface impact sites typically display gravity deficiencies. Only those isolated anomalies which show an obvious circular ty can be readily distinguished as possible subsurface impact features. Constant alertness for subtle clues to the presence of subsurface impact structures during routine stratigraphic, structural, and seismic data analyses will be most effective in achieving their discovery. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1583------------


This study was focused on the isolation and identification of some bacterial strains producing protease. For this purpose, a then 10 samples of protein rich soils from dairy factories, cattle's feeding factories, and slaughterhouses, were collected from the region of Chief, located in Northwest Algeria, where the wastes are submitted to natural fermentation. The primary screening has been achieved on agar milk culture medium and the selection of the producing bacterial strains was based on the determination of the produced diameter of hydrolysis zone on the surface. The obtained results indicated the isolation 115 bacterial strains belonging to different genus. Furthermore, the 4selected protease producing strains were identified by the study of their biochemical characteristics, the amplification of the fragment ADN, coding the region of 16S ARN and their sequencing. The analyze of the amplified, sequenced DNA fragment, coding the region of 16S ARN fragments of the 4 selected protease producing strains by the using of RDP Project and BLAST), indicated their identification as Enterococcus faecium E745 and Enterococcus faecium PSB 5, respectively. Furthermore, the using of SDS-PAGE for protein profile indicated the presence protein bands around 35-37 KDa.


This paper addresses the problem of sound-source localization from time-delay estimates using arbitrarily-shaped non-coplanar microphone arrays. A novel geometric formulation is proposed, together with a thorough algebraic analysis and a global optimization solver. The proposed model is thoroughly described and evaluated. The geometric analysis, stemming from the direct acoustic propagation model, leads to necessary and sufficient conditions for a set of time delays to correspond to a unique position in the source space. Such sets of time delays are referred to as feasible sets. We formally prove that every feasible set corresponds to exactly one position in the source space, whose value can be recovered using a closed-form localization mapping. Therefore we seek for the optimal feasible set of time delays given, as input, the received microphone signals. This time delay estimation problem is naturally cast into a programming task, constrained by the feasibility conditions derived from the geometric analysis. A global branch-and-bound optimization technique is proposed to solve the problem at hand, hence estimating the best set of feasible time delays and, subsequently, localizing the sound source. Extensive experiments with both simulated and real data are reported; we compare our methodology to four state-of-the-art techniques. This comparison shows that the proposed method combined with the branch-and-bound algorithm outperforms existing methods. These in-depth geometric understanding, practical algorithms, and encouraging results, open several opportunities for future work.


DIALIGN is an established tool for multiple sequence alignment that is particularly useful to detect local homologies in sequences with low overall similarity. In recent years, various versions of the program have been developed, some of which are fully automated, whereas others are able to accept user-specified external information. In this article, we review some versions of the program that are available through 'Göttingen Bioinformatics Compute Server'. In addition to previously described implementations, we present a new release of DIALIGN called 'DIALIGN-PFAM', which uses hits to the PFAM database for improved protein alignment. Our software is available through http://dialign.gobics.de/.


Incorporating demand side flexibility can aid in integrating intermittent renewable energy generation and reducing the electricity grid's operational costs. Buildings have the potential to provide demand response (DR) with minimal disruption to activities by leveraging the inherent energy storage in their heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Harnessing this flexibility whilst minimising energy consumption and maintaining thermal comfort requires control strategies capable of incorporating these objectives, making model-predictive control (MPC) a promising framework. To elucidate the control techniques available to harness the HVAC flexibility of collections of buildings to participate in electricity markets, this paper reviews the current state of literature describing MPC techniques for community-scale control. The reviewed studies were classified based the following characteristics: the general aim of the MPC approach, objective function, thermal response model, amount and type of buildings considered, DR type, control structure, solving tools and techniques, and the energy, cost savings or flexibility achieved. The review shows that MPC strategies can successfully provide many types of DR indicating the versatility of the control approach. Decentralised control approaches reduced the complexity of the large-scale control problem whilst providing more autonomy to individual users. However, compared to centralised approaches, decentralised control led to lower amounts of flexibility. Lastly, few studies validated the performance of their controller in either simulation or physical environments. Therefore, the review suggests further research is needed to study and validate the performance the of different MPC control structures considering various community types and concurrent participation in various DR schemes.


This paper explores ways that teachers can reformulate common mathematical activities in the primary school to provide stronger bridges for thinking algebraically. The focus is not on introducing formal algebraic notation in the primary context, but rather to look at common activities through new lenses, that is, lenses that support the growth of algebraic reasoning. The authors report on some recent classroom teaching that examines repeating patterns and uses children's understandings of repeating patterns to begin to explore concepts related to functional thinking.


The study was aimed at establishing storage stability indices of a traditional smoke dried product kamsa, produced from beef. The sample was produced using a standardized method and stored over a period of six months. Data for sorption studies was generated between the temperature ranges of 33.8oC to 50oC for adsorption and desorption using the gravimetric method. The data was analyzed using the Guggeinheim Anderson de Boer (GAB) and the Brunaeur Emmett Teller (BET) model equations. A nonlinear regression analysis method was used to evaluate the constants of the sorption equations. From the results using the GAB model, the monolayer moisture content (Mo) decreased from 0.021 to 0.008gH2O/g solids; the value of the constant K, increased from 0.587 to 1.052; and the value of CG decreased from 2.481 to 2.154. For desorption, the value of Mo decreased from 0.021 to 0.004g H2O/g solids; K increased from 0.587 to 1.035; CG increased from 2.173 to 2.646. The model gave low percent standard error values. The correlation coefficient (R) values obtained for both adsorption and desorption ranged from 0.998 to 0.999, and 0.991 to 1.000, respectively. The Mo values using the BET model at 33.8oC for both adsorption and desorption were 0.055, 0.055, 0.052, 0.049, 0.058, 0.055g H2O/g solid; and 0.057, 0.057, 0.052, 0049, 0.052, 0.057g H2O/g solid, respectively. At 50oC, the adsorption and desorption monolayer moisture values were 0.039, 0.047, 0.049, 0.049, 0.052, 0.058 gH2O/g solids; and 0.054, 0.047, 0.052, 0.052, 0.039, 0.052 gH2O/g solids, respectively. The study concluded that, the GAB model was more suitable in describing the sorption characteristics of Kamsa within the prescribed water activity and temperature ranges.