RAS genes are mutated in 20% of human tumors, but these mutations are very rare in breast cancer. Here, we used a mouse model to generate tumors upon activation of a mutagenic T2Onc2 transposon via expression of a transposase driven by the keratin K5 promoter in a p53+/- background. These animals mainly developed mammary tumors, most of which had transposon insertions in one of two RASGAP genes, neurofibromin1 (Nf1) and RAS p21 protein activator (Rasa1). Immunohistochemical analysis of a collection of human breast tumors confirmed that low expression of RASA1 is frequent in basal (triple-negative) and estrogen receptor negative tumors. Bioinformatic analysis of human breast tumors in The Cancer Genome Atlas database showed that although RASA1 mutations are rare, allelic loss is frequent, particularly in basal tumors (80%) and in association with TP53 mutation. Inactivation of RASA1 in MCF10A cells resulted in the appearance of a malignant phenotype in the context of mutated p53. Our results suggest that alterations in the Ras pathway due to the loss of negative regulators of RAS may be a common event in basal breast cancer. Cancer Res; 77(6); 1357-68. ©2017 AACR.


Paramylon from Euglena gracilis (EGP) is a polymeric polysaccharide composed of linear β-1,3 glucan. EGP has been proved to have antibacterial activity, but its effect is weak due to its water insolubility and high crystallinity. In order to change this deficiency, this experiment carried out carboxymethylated modification of EGP. Three carboxymethylated derivatives, C-EGP1, C-EGP2, and C-EGP3, with a degree of substitution (DS) of 0.14, 0.55, and 0.78, respectively, were synthesized by varying reaction conditions, such as the mass of chloroacetic acid and temperature. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis confirmed the success of the carboxymethylated modification. The Congo red (CR) experiment, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetry (TG) were used to study the conformation, surface morphology, crystalline nature, and thermostability of the carboxymethylated EGP. The results showed that carboxymethylation did not change the triple helix structure of the EGP, but that the fundamental particles' surface morphology was destroyed, and the crystallization area and thermal stability decreased obviously. In addition, the water solubility test and antibacterial experiment showed that the water solubility and antibacterial activity of the EGP after carboxymethylation were obviously improved, and that the water solubility of C-EGP1, C-EGP2, and C-EGP3 increased by 53.31%, 75.52%, and 80.96% respectively. The antibacterial test indicated that C-EGP3 had the best effect on Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 12.50 mg/mL and 6.25 mg/mL. The diameters of the inhibition zone of C-EGP3 on E. coli and S. aureus were 11.24 ± 0.15 mm and 12.05 ± 0.09 mm, and the antibacterial rate increased by 41.33% and 43.67%.


Morphometric analysis is important in any hydrological investigation and it is inevitable in development and management of drainage basin. A critical evaluation and assessment of morphometric parameters and prioritization of micro-watersheds based on water holding capacity of Peruvanthanam sub-watershed have been achieved through measurement of linear, aerial and relief aspects of basins by using remote sensing and GIS techniques, and it necessitates preparation of a detailed drainage map. For prioritization, 9 micro-watersheds are delineated and parameters such as Rb, Dd, Fs,T, Lof and C are calculated separately and prioritization has been done by using the Raster calculator option of Spatial analyst. The analysis reveals that the stream order varies from 1 to 6 and the total number of stream segments of all orders counted as 347, out of which the maximum area (69.16%) is covered by 1 st order streams and the minimum (0.29%) by 6 th order. Lower values of Rb (linear parameters) in each order, higher values of Bh (0.90), Rh (0.07) and Rn (3.02) (relief parameters), high values of Dd (3.36), Fs (6.15), T (6.82), low values of Lof (0.14) and C (0.30) (aerial parameters) all together reveal that the sub-watershed has a complex structure, mountainous relief, high runoff and low infiltration. The maximum area is covered by high to medium prioritized zones (19.07km 2 ) followed by low to very low (17.75km 2 ) while a  very high to high zone is only 4.72km 2 .


Abstract. Planktonic foraminifera are widely used in biostratigraphic,
palaeoceanographic and evolutionary studies, but the strength of many
study conclusions could be weakened if taxonomic identifications are not
reproducible by different workers. In this study, to assess the relative
importance of a range of possible reasons for among-worker disagreement in
identification, 100 specimens of 26 species of macroperforate planktonic
foraminifera were selected from a core-top site in the subtropical Pacific
Ocean. Twenty-three scientists at different career stages – including some
with only a few days experience of planktonic foraminifera – were asked to
identify each specimen to species level, and to indicate their confidence in each
identification. The participants were provided with a species list and had
access to additional reference materials. We use generalised linear
mixed-effects models to test the relevance of three sets of factors in
identification accuracy: participant-level characteristics (including
experience), species-level characteristics (including a participant's
knowledge of the species) and specimen-level characteristics (size,
confidence in identification). The 19 less experienced scientists achieve a
median accuracy of 57 %, which rises to 75 % for specimens they are
confident in. For the 4 most experienced participants, overall accuracy is
79 %, rising to 93 % when they are confident. To obtain maximum
comparability and ease of analysis, everyone used a standard microscope with
only 35× magnification, and each specimen was studied in isolation.
Consequently, these data provide a lower limit for an estimate of
consistency. Importantly, participants could largely predict whether their
identifications were correct or incorrect: their own assessments of
specimen-level confidence and of their previous knowledge of species concepts
were the strongest predictors of accuracy.


A new compound, Isosorbide-5-mononitrate (IS-5-MN; 40 mg orally), was compared with sustained-release Isosorbide dinitrate (SRDI; 40 mg orally) in 18 patients with chronic exercise-induced angina pectoris. The patients were studied in a randomized placebo-controlled single-blind trial. Multistage bicycle test with computer-assisted electrocardiographic analysis was performed before, 60-90, 240 and 360 minutes after treatment administration. Both drugs significantly and comparably prolonged exercise time (p less than 0.01) and time to development of 1 mm ST-segment depression (p less than 0.01) at the 3 times of study. At the highest common level of work, ST-segment depression and its integral were significantly reduced by both IS-5-MN and SRDI compared to placebo (p less than 0.01); conversely, the peak ST-segment depression was unaffected. Compared to placebo, a significant increment in maximal heart rate/systolic blood pressure was observed after drug administration. It is concluded that 40 mg of orally administered IS-5-MN is effective during at least 6 hours and that its therapeutic action is comparable to that of SRDI.


Why is learning to write often so difficult, whereas learning to speak one's native language is not? Why do students from ethnic minority communities generally have even more difficulty in this process than middle-class, "mainstream" students? To begin answering these questions, it is necessary to explore what is known about (1) the language of nonmainstream cultural groups in contrast to the language of the mainstream middle class, and (2) the nature of writing, and the learning of writing, as one kind of language in context. This chapter will review what we know about writing, and the learning of writing, from the standpoint of language variation, that is, how language differs among users in its structure and in its use. Language variation, of course, can be viewed in both individual and group terms; here the focus will be on the latter, especially as it is reflected in ethnic and cultural identity. Because writing is seen here as one mode, or channel, in which to use language, and because relatively little research on cultural variation in language has focused on writing directly (most of it has focused on spoken language), some of the work to be reviewed deals with cultural variation in oral language. Research on cultural variation in language is important for research on writing for two reasons: first, because it provides a foundation upon which future work on cultural aspects of writing can be built. Second, knowledge about variation in language, both oral and written, has significant implications for the teaching and learning of writing. While it is clear that there are problems in the teaching and learning of writing in classrooms across the country (Applebee 1981, 1984), it is also clear that these problems are more serious


Ground segmentation of point clouds remains challenging because of the sparse and unordered data structure. This paper proposes the GSECnet - Ground Segmentation network for Edge Computing, an efficient ground segmentation framework of point clouds specifically designed to be deployable on a low-power edge computing unit. First, raw point clouds are converted into a discretization representation by pillarization. Afterward, features of points within pillars are fed into PointNet to get the corresponding pillars feature map. Then, a depthwise-separable U-Net with the attention module learns the classification from the pillars feature map with an enormously diminished model parameter size. Our proposed framework is evaluated on SemanticKITTI against both point-based and discretization-based state-of-the-art learning approaches, and achieves an excellent balance between high accuracy and low computing complexity. Remarkably, our framework achieves the inference runtime of 135.2 Hz on a desktop platform. Moreover, experiments verify that it is deployable on a low-power edge computing unit powered 10 watts only.


Measurements of long-term dimensional stability on test samples of the glass ceramic "Zerodur", published earlier, are interpreted as a consequence of a diffusion process in the amorphous areas of the glass ceramic. The time-functions derived on the basis of this model can be fitted to the observed length variations without significant systematic deviation. These functions incorporate three fitting constants with physical relevance. The previously reported autogenous contractions after a fixed date as a function of the age of the material are essentially confirmed.


In mice, GPX5 is a secreted protein abundantly synthesized by the caput epididymidis. The protein is secreted as early as the initial segment of the caput and is found subsequently associated with the sperm plasma membrane in a sub‐acrosomic localization. We show here that GPX5 is present in the caput and cauda epididymides lumens in three different locations: either free as a soluble protein in the caput epididymal fluid, weakly bound to caput sperm membranes, or, finally, associated to lipid‐containing structures conferring to the protein a protective effect against proteolytic digestions. Within the cauda epididymidis, the amount of free GPX5 is low compared to the caput and the association with sperm membranes proved to be more solid. In both caput and cauda sperm samples, the association of GPX5 with the sperm membrane protects GPX5 from proteolytic cleavages. Protection against proteolytic digestions can be overcome by physical treatments of epididymal fluid and sperm samples such as ultrasounds or very acidic pH. These data suggest that complex phenomena and structures participate in the transfer and binding of the caput‐secreted GPX5 protein to the sperm plasma membrane. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 63: 96–103, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Crystallographic data demonstrated that conformations of thyroid hormones and their derivatives in which the phenyl rings are either skewed (phi,phi'; +/-90,0 degrees) or twist-skewed (phi,phi'; +/-108, +/-28 degrees) are energetically favored. Acetic acid metabolites are consistently observed in the skewed conformation whereas their parent hormones are observed in the twist-skewed conformation. These preferences are manifestations of long-range conformational transmission and together with plasma protein binding data may indicate a site-specific preference for the skewed vs. twist-skewed conformation. These findings result in part from the crystal structure determinations of the N-diethanolamine (1:1) complexes of the active thyroxine metabolites 3,5,3'-triiodothyroacetic acid (T3AA) and 3,5,3'5'-tetraiodothyroacetic acid (T4AA) which are reported here. The conformation of the 3'-iodine in the hypocholestermic agent T3AA is distal, the biologically preferred conformation, and the overall conformation of T3AA is transoid, while that of T4AA is cisoid.


Virtual teams are comprised of members who are located in more than one geographic location. This team trait has mandated the need for various forms of computer-conferencing communication (CMC), including video-conferencing systems, collaborative software systems, and internet/intranet systems, in order to coordinate the efforts of each member. The question becomes, given these various CMC's, what is the team members' ability to effectively collaborate internally and to what extent does this ability drive team performance? In this paper, I discuss hypotheses that relate to how variations in internal collaboration and the degree of face-to-face communication can be expected to affect effective communication can be expected to affect effective outcomes such as performance (i.e. quantity, quality, and speed), innovation, and member satisfaction. In addition, a research design is suggested and corresponding measurement scales are developed that can be used to evaluate the significance of the hypotheses.


Salinity is one of the most widespread agricultural problems in arid and semi-arid areas that limits the plant growth and crop productivity. In this study, the salt stress effects on protein, reducing sugar, proline contents and antioxidant enzymes activities of Carum copticum L. under in vitro conditions were studied. Seeds of C. copticum were cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0, 25, 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl and calli were cultured in MS medium containing 1 μM 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 4 μM benzyl amino purine and different levels of NaCl (0, 25, 50, 100 and 150 mM). After NaCl treatment for 28 days, the proline and reducing sugar contents of shoots, roots and calli increased significantly in relation to the severity of the salt stress. The highest amount of proline and carbohydrate were observed at 150 and 100 mM NaCl, respectively. The reducing sugar accumulation in shoots was the highest as compared to roots, whereas, proline contents did not show any significant difference in roots and shoots under salt stress. The results showed significant reduction of protein contents in seedlings and calli. Based on these results, proteins extracted from the shoots, roots and calli of C. copticum treated with 150 mM NaCl showed the lowest contents. The positive relationships were observed between activity of antioxidant enzymes and the increase in stress levels. Catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity increased significantly under salt concentrations in comparison to the control. These results suggest that the accumulation of proline and sugars, and activation of antioxidant enzymes play adaptive roles in the adaptation of seedlings and callus of C. copticum to saline conditions. Keywords—Antioxidant enzymes, Carum copticum, organic solutes, salt stress.


Due to its great scalability, fast read access, low leakage power, and nonvolatility, magnetic random access memory (MRAM) appears to be a promising memory technology for on-chip cache memory in microprocessors. However, the write-to-MRAM process is relatively slow and results in high dynamic power consumption. Such inherent disadvantages of MRAM make researchers easily conclude that MRAM can only be used for low-level caches (e.g., L2 or L3 cache), where cache memories are less frequently accessed and slow write to MRAM can be more easily compensated using simple architectural techniques. By developing a hybrid cache architecture, this paper attempts to show that, with appropriate architecture design, MRAM can also be used in L1 cache to improve both the energy efficiency and soft error immunity. The basic idea is to supplement the MRAM L1 cache with several small SRAM buffers, which can substantially mitigate the performance degradation and dynamic energy overhead induced by MRAM write operations. Moreover, the proposed hybrid cache architecture is also an efficient solution to protect cache memory from radiation-induced soft errors, as MRAM is inherently invulnerable to emissive particles. Simulation results show that, with only less than 2% performance degradation, the proposed design approach can reduce the power consumption by up to 76.1% on average compared with the traditional SRAM L1 cache. In addition, the architectural vulnerability factor of L1 data cache is reduced from 28.3% to as low as 0.5%.


Adolescents experiencing excessive anxiety are often under-identified in the school context, and consequently under-referred for in-school counselling or other mental health support. This is despite anxiety being the most prevalent mental health condition currently experienced by adolescents. The purpose of this study was to explore secondary teachers' ability to recognise the need to refer adolescents with excessive anxiety symptoms. One hundred and fourteen secondary school teachers completed a questionnaire with five vignettes describing students experiencing various degrees of anxiety. Statistical analysis of the data involved use of the one-sample Wilcoxon test and Spearman's rank non-parametric correlation coefficients. Results indicated that teachers recognised the need to refer adolescents with very severe anxiety symptoms. However, they were less likely to correctly identify and refer students with severe, moderate or mild anxiety symptoms. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female teachers' decision to refer students for school counselling. These findings are an important step forward in understanding how teachers decide whether or not to refer anxious children for support, and in identifying areas for further training and professional development. Implications are discussed for future professional development for secondary school teachers.


The aim of acquiring knowledge about the emotional state of a speaker is to improve the robustness of speech recognition systems, as the mechanisms producing speech vary in the presence of emotions, and also to improve the machine's perception of a speaker's emotional state so as to respond to his/her requests more appropriately. The paper proposes an approach based on genetic algorithms to determine a set of features that will allow robust classification of positive and negative emotional states. Starting from a vector of 414 features, a subset of features is obtained providing a good discrimination between positive and negative slates, while maintaining low computational complexity


To report a series of complications related to anterior cervical surgery in the same patient. There have been many reports of complications related to anterior cervical surgeries. These include cervical hematoma, instrumentation extrusion, or esophageal injury after anterior cervical decompression. However, there have been no reports of all these complications occurring in 1 patient. This is our report of a patient who experienced all 3 of these complications. The patient was a 73-year-old man suffering from cervical spondylotic myelopathy who was treated with C5 anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion with titanium mesh and bone graft. The patient successively experienced cervical hematoma, screw pullout, and esophageal perforation, and was treated accordingly. Although the patient suffered a series of complications after anterior cervical corpectomy, all the complications were treated successfully. It serves as a caution that a first complication such as hematoma in anterior cervical corpectomy with fusion should be given enough attention to prevent further complications.


Vehicle theft has become a pervasive problem in metropolitan cities. The aim of our work is to reduce the vehicle and fuel theft with an alert given by commonly used smart phones. The modern vehicles are interconnected with computer systems so that the information can be obtained from vehicular sources and Internet services. This provides space for tracking the vehicle through smart phones. In our work, an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm is implemented which integrates a smart phone with classical embedded systems to avoid vehicle theft.


Commentary on: Chapter 22: A Learning Design Worked Example. (Gorissen & Tattersall, 2005) Abstract: This article demonstrates and discusses a model to help instructors select appropriate designs from learning design repositories for courses they are developing. We describe the LearningMapR: A prototype pedagogical design tool being developed as a first step toward an IMS-LD-compliant authoring system. This tool's output is a Unit of Learning [UOL] containing storyboards, placeholders for content, and IMS-LD compliant templates and exemplars that are chosen from an illustrative set developed for the project. Based on collaborative work with the University of Oxford and using tools such as Reload as the base, we intend to create a 'teacher-friendly' tool for instructors to create UOLs. Editors: Colin Tattersall and Rob Koper.


Inhalation of prostaglandin E2 by normal subjects caused initial bronchoconstriction followed by the predominant effect of bronchodilatation, which was maximal by 15 minutes. The degree of bronchoconstriction seen in the early phase appeared to be related to the initial tone of airways smooth muscle and was exaggerated after bronchodilatation with a large dose of ipratropium bromide. Bronchoconstriction induced by prostaglandin E2 is a direct effect on muscle and not secondary to a vagal reflex initiated by airways irritant receptors.


The present special issue of the Wroclaw Review of Law, Administration and Economics brings together papers devoted to contemporary problems of the Central and Eastern European legal space. These problems are confronted with different methodological approaches, including historical, theoretical and doctrinal (dogmatic) research. The first paper in this volume makes a programmatic statement in favour of analysing Central Europe as a single legal space (in terms of legal culture), distinct both from legal culture to the east and west of our region. The paper by Rafał Mańko, Martin Škop and Markéta Štěpáníková, makes a claim in favour of the legal identity of Central Europe as a legal family (Rechtskreis), distinct from Western Europe on the one hand, and the post-Soviet legal space, on the other hand. The second paper, written by Jānis Pleps, is devoted to the The Continuity of the Constitutions in the Baltic States. The author analyses the renewal of the constitutions in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia after the division of the USSR. As he rightly points out, the renewal of the old constitutions is an infrequent event in the world. In the specific context of the three Baltic States, the restoration of the old constitution had symbolic and political importance, reinforcing the doctrine of state continuity and legitimizing the new constitutional order after the transformation. The third paper by Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias and Anna Śledzińska-Simon is devoted to Victimhood of the Nation as a Legally Protected Value in Transitional States – Poland as a Case Study. Just like the paper by Jānis Pleps, Gliszczyńska-Grabias and Śledzińska-Simon look at the legal connections between current Central European legal life and its history. The co-authors point out that the memory of the past is always vital for building national identity in transitional contexts. Yet, the preservation of a particular representation of the national history may lead not only to distortion of the self-identification process, but also to distortion of rights protection. Taking Poland as a case study, they aim at explaining mechanisms of using criminal laws for historical assessment and show


In order to return relevant search results, a search engine must keep its local repository synchronized to the Web, but it is usually impossible to attain perfect freshness. Hence, it is vital for a production search engine continually to monitor and improve repository freshness. Most previous freshness metrics, formulated in the context of developing better synchronization policies, focused on the web crawler while ignoring other parts of a search engine. But, the freshness of documents in a web crawler does not necessarily translate directly into the freshness of search results as seen by users. We propose metrics for measuring freshness from a user's perspective, which take into account the latency between when documents are crawled and when they are viewed by users, as well as the variation in user click and view frequency among different documents. We also describe a practical implementation of these metrics that were used in a production search engine.


Objectives
Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is an alpha-glycoprotein synthesized in the liver. Its serum levels are reportedly correlated with disease activity in patients with cancer. The aim of this study was to estimate the potential prognostic significance of preoperative serum BChE levels in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) undergoing radical nephroureterectomy (RNU).

Methods
Of the 220 patients with UTUC who underwent RNU between 1995 and 2016 at Hirosaki University Hospital, 149 patients with available laboratory data were included for analysis. Covariates included age, sex, preoperative laboratory data, clinical T and N grades, tumor grade, tumor location and preoperative chemotherapy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify clinical factors associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Univariate analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier and log-rank methods, and the multivariate analysis was performed using a Cox proportional hazard model.

Results
The median BChE level was 276 U/l and the optimal cut-off point for the serum BChE level was determined to be 218 IU/ml. The 5-year OS and DFS rates were 81.0% and 73.7%, respectively. The 5-year OS and DFS rates were significantly greater in the BChE ≥ 218 than <218 U/l groups (86.6% vs. 53.7%, P < 0.001 and 76.4% vs. 58.3%, P = 0.049, respectively). In multivariate analysis, BChE levels were most significantly associated with OS, whereas BChE level and tumor grade were significantly associated with DFS.

Conclusions
This study validated preoperative serum BChE levels as an independent prognostic factor for UTUC after RNU.


Goat emAbryo transfer is an important tool to improve the genetics and to increase rapidly the number of economically superior goat for the industry. The objective of this study was to develop a suitable protocol for the collection and transfer of goat embryos as well as subsequently to produce goat kids through embryo transfer. Two different hormones (PMSG, FSH-V), two different localities (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Kunming, China) and the embryo recovery cycle were designed to evaluate the ovarian responses and embryo transfer performance. For donor goats, the treatment was 14 or 17 days CIDR and before CIDR withdrawal, 1200 IU PMSG or 160 mg FSH-V were injected before CIDR withdrawal, and then followed by checking oestrus and natural mating. After day-7 CIDR withdrawal, uterine horn was flushed surgically to collect embryos. For recipient goats, similar CIDR administration was given and upon CIDR withdrawal, 300 IU PMSG was injected. On the same day, the collected embryos were transferred into the uterus of the recipient, in which it was confirmed by appearance of 1 to 2 corpus luteum on the ovaries. A total of 460 embryos were obtained from 122 donor does, out of which 174 embryos were transferred to 117 recipient does, resulting in the delivery of 73 kids in Kunming and 3 kids in Kuala Lumpur. Both donor and recipient does synchronised with 17 days of CIDR administration showed a higher ovulation rate compared with 14 days of CIDR treatment with the values of 90 and 67%, respectively. The ovulation and unfertilised oocytes plus embryos recovery rates were higher in the FSH-V (100 and 44%, respectively) than those of PMSG treated does (95 and 34%, respectively). The FSH-V treatment gave better results than PMSG treatment in both fertilisation rate (43.55% vs. 34.08%, respectively) and number of embryos
ii
obtained (4.38±0.85 vs. 0.63±0.23, respectively). The ovarian responses and embryo transfer performances after FSH-V treatment were better in Kunming than in Kuala Lumpur (unfertilised oocytes plus embryos: 9.47±0.64 vs. 5.06±0.90; number of embryos obtained: 8.13±0.69 vs. 4.38±0.85; the pregnancy rate: 65.69 vs. 11.11%; kidding rate: 71.57 vs.0%, respectively). The total number of embryos recovered after superovulation of first (116 embryos) and second (80 embryos) flushing cycles were higher than third (4 embryos) flushing cycle. It is concluded that superovulation using specific hormones protocol and localities as well as the superovulation cycles are important factors for consideration in embryo transfer programme of goats.


To the Editor: I read with much interest the article by Jules Altman and Harold O. Perry in the AugustArchives of Dermatology(84:179-191 [Aug.] 1961) on "The Variations and Course of Lichen Planus." Perhaps in Case 2, now with the local use of injectable types of cortisone one could have healed the lesions without resorting to surgery. In regard to the term pseudopelade, I agree with Ronchese's interpretation (Arch. Derm.82:336-341 [Sept.] 1960). Clinically this shows "footprint in the snow" type of clinical picture with atrophy, without any other changes. I doubt very much if the so-called follicular lichen planus need be follicular any more than keratosis follicularis is always follicular. As far as the lesions being follicular, under Figure 3( c ), p. 189, the authors state: "Spinous lesions on forearm show typical histologic changes of lichen planus involving both follicular and nonfollicular regions." Although the authors state that


Abstract 1810 [][1]

Background. The efforts to characterize the genomic background of Multiple Myeloma (MM) and to correctly stratify at diagnosis patients (pts) subsequently treated with novel drugs thoroughly meet the clinical requirement to handle highly powerful prognostic factors. On the other hand, the information obtained from each pts needs to be carefully interpreted, by considering the genomic background as a whole, since each aberration might represent the different expression of a common deregulated pathway. The TP53 deletion on chromosome (chr) 17p13 represents one of the genomic aberration most significantly associated with poor outcome in MM. Overall, the TP53 tumor-suppressor gene inactivation has a central role in the tumorigenesis, since p53 is the most frequently mutated protein in human cancers. The p53 pathway silencing might pass also through changes in the expression level or activation of p53 itself, regulated by several specific inhibitors and/or activators. One of the most potent inhibitor of p53 is MDM4, which is critical for control of p53 activity during response to stress and is often amplified in several types of tumors. The MDM4 locus is located on chr1q32.1, a region frequently amplified in MM.

Aim. Since in MM the TP53 deletion on chr 17p13 is reported with low frequencies (7 to 11% at diagnosis) and since the vast majority of hemizygous TP53 deleted pts do not harbor mutations on the allele not affected by the deletion, we sought to investigate the frequency and the prognostic role of TP53 deletion and/or MDM4 amplification in newly diagnosed MM pts, assuming that both of these chromosomal aberrations might contribute to impaired p53 function. All pts have been treated with bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone (VTD) as induction therapy prior to, and as consolidation after, double autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT).

Pts and methods. Eighty-nine pts treated with VTD incorporated into double ASCT were analyzed at diagnosis by means of unpaired analysis of copy number alterations (CNA) (Affymetrix 6.0 SNP array), gene expression profile (GEP) (Affymetrix U133 Plus2.0 array) and Real-time PCR; the genomic results have been analyzed in the clinical context.

Results. The CNA analysis showed that 9/89 pts (10%) carried a minimal deleted region of 482 Kb on chr17p13.1, including TP53 , and that 27/89 pts (30,3%) carried a minimal amplified region of 1.1 Mb on chr1q32.1 including MDM4 . Pts were stratified into two subgroups according to the presence of amplified MDM4 and/or deleted TP53 (group A, 34 pts, or 38%) or the absence of both these abnormalities (group B, 55 pts, or 62%). Baseline clinical characteristics were homogeneous, except for a higher rate of IgA isotype in group A. On the contrary, groups A and B were clearly imbalanced with respect to the genomic background: indeed, the t(4,14) frequency, as well as the average number of CNAs were overall higher in group A as compared to group B (38% vs. 14% t(4;14) positive, p=0.0002 and 165 vs 103 CNAs, p = 0.03). A GEP comparison among the two groups of pts highlighted an overall deregulation of pathways related to the cell cycle, the DNA damage repair and the cell adhesion and cytoskeleton remodeling, due to the differentiated expression of 627 probes-set in group A vs group B pts (false discovery rate<0.05). The rate of 3near complete response after VTD induction therapy was 38% in group A, as compared to 20% in group B; the presence of TP53 deletion and/or MDM4 amplification correlated with shorter median TTP (40.13 months vs not reached, p=0.005) and OS (57.6 vs not reached, p=0.02). The poorer impact associated with MDM4 amplification was retained also in the absence of TP53 deletion (TTP: 57.6 months vs not reached, p=0.03). Of note, the MDM4 expression, as detected by Real-time PCR in pts carrying amp1q, even if overall higher as compared to negative pts, showed a wide range of expression, with few pts with very low MDM4 expression level.

Conclusions. We observed that pts carrying amplified MDM4 and/or deleted TP53 showed a significantly higher number of CNAs and the deregulation of genes involved in cell cycle control, as compared to pts lacking these chromosomal aberrations. This might account for the worse outcome of this group of pts. The results overall suggest that the involvement of the p53 pathway alteration in MM might be wider than expected, possibly due to the activation negative regulators of p53.

Disclosures: Cavo: Janssen, Celgene, Novartis: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

 [1]: #fn-2


: Context encompasses the classification of a certain environment by its key attributes. It is an abstract representation of a certain data environment. In texts, the context classifies and represents a piece of text in a generalized form. Context can be a recursive construct when summarizing text on a more coarse-grained level. Context-aware information retrieval and classification has many aspects. This paper presents identification and standardization of context on different levels of granularity that supports faster and more precise location of relevant text sections. The prototypical system presented here applies supervised learning for a semi-automatic approach to extract, distil, and standardize data from text. The approach is based on named-entity recognition and simple ontologies for identification and disambiguation of context. Even though the prototype shown here still represents work in progress and demonstrates its potential of information retrieval on different levels of context granularity. The paper presents the application of the prototype in the realm of economic information and hate speech detection.


The calorigenic action of glucagon was studied in several species by measuring its effect on the oxygen comsumption. The calorigenic effect was most pronounced in the quail and also evident in young adult rats of two different strains but not in mice and guinea pigs. The influence of various drugs on the calorigenic effect of glucagon was investigated in rats. Ganglionic blocking agents (hexamethonium, mecamylamine, chlorisondamine) as well as adrenergic blocking drugs (propranolol, butoxamine, phentolamine) greatly reduced the glucagon-induced calorigenesis but after pretreatment with reserpine, guanethidine or chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine the calorigenic effect of glucagon was exaggerated. It was somewhat diminished by nicotinic acid but not by chlorpromazine or lithium and potentiated by cocaine but not by theophylline.--These results are not indicative for an involvement of adenly cyclase--cyclic AMP--system in glucagon-induced calorigenesis but they are compatible with the assumption that the hormone enhances the metabolic rate by releasing catecholamines from the adrenal medulla.


Negative energy balance (NEB) caused by restricted feed intake leads to body condition loss (BCS), increased metabolic stress and reduced fertility in dairy cows. Propylene glycol (PG) is a precursor of ruminal propionate for gluconeogenesis used to increase metabolic adaptation to the early postpartum period. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of daily drenching of PG during fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) protocol on beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA), glucose, adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) concentrations, follicle size, and pregnancy rate in dairy cows. Cows (n = 148) were randomly divided into 2 groups and received either 300 mL of PG (PG-OVS, n = 76) or 300 mL of water (CON-OVS, n = 72) each day of Ovsynch protocol (GnRH-7 days-PGF2α -56 hours-GnRH-16-18-hour FTAI) between days 57 ± 3 to 67 ± 3 postpartum for the first service. Body condition scores (14 days before expected calving, at calving, on days 21 and 42 postpartum) were recorded. Blood samples were collected days 7 ± 3, 21 ± 3 postpartum, at the beginning of the Ovsynch (days 57 ± 3) and at the time of FTAI (days 67 ± 3) for measurements of BHBA, glucose, adiponectin, and IGF1 concentrations. Ultrasonographic examinations were done to measure follicle size at the beginning of Ovsynch and FTAI and to determine pregnancy on days 30 and 60 following FTAI. There were no differences (p > 0.05) in glucose, adiponectin, and IGF1 concentrations between the groups during the study. Although there was no difference (p > 0.05) in BHBA concentrations on postpartum day 7 ± 3, 21 ± 3, and 57 ± 3 between groups, BHBA concentrations at the time of insemination was lower (p < 0.05) in the PG-OVS (0.72 ± 0.03 mmol/L) than the CON-OVS group (0.81 ± 0.03 mmol/L). Follicle sizes at the beginning of Ovsynch (PG-OVS, 14.5 ± 0.48 mm; CON-OVS, 14.3 ± 0.59 mm) and FTAI (PG-OVS, 17.8 ± 0.52 mm; CON-OVS, 17.7 ± 0.42 mm) were not different (p < 0.05). Pregnancy rate of the cows in the PG-OVS group (46.1%, 35/76) was higher (p = 0.05) than of the cows in the CON-OVS (30.6%, 22/72) on day 30 following FTAI. In conclusion, decreasing serum BHBA concentrations at the time of FTAI by means of daily drenching of PG during the Ovsynch protocol, increased the pregnancy rate at first service in lactating dairy cows. On the other hand, blood glucose was not related with pregnancy rates in our study, probably as a result of our sampling time and more rapid fluctuations of blood glucose concentrations when compared to BHBA.


A silane-siloxane based water-repellent substance (S-WR) was used as an impregnation material for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold), sessile oak (Quercus petraea Liebl.), and cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich). In the impregnation process, the immersion method was carried out for various periods (30 min, 3 h, and 24 h). Following impregnation, physical properties of the wood (retention, contraction, expansion, water intake rate, specific gravity, etc.) were determined. The retention was highest in sessile oak wood (0.96%) and lowest in black pine wood (0.24%). The highest specific gravity value was found in stemless oak (0.86 g/cm³) impregnated for 24 h, and the lowest air-dry specific gravity value was found in Scots pine (0.40 g/cm³) impregnated for 30 minutes Absolutely dry (0% humidity) specific gravity was highest in sessile oak for 24 h (0.83 g/cm³). Shrinkage was highest in the sessile oak control sample (13.5%). The expansion amount was highest in the cedar wood control sample (17.5%) and lowest in sessile oak wood (1.66%). The highest water uptake rate (SAO) was determined in Scots pine wood at 96 h (105%), and the lowest in sessile oak wood in 24 h (8.80%). In summary, silane-siloxane based water-repellent impregnation material was found to be effective in providing dimensional stability in wood.


Recent articles in the medical literature voice concern over the rising costs associated with increased use of routine laboratory tests. The prevalence of automated screening of sera for biochemical and immunologic abnormalities has fostered a casual attitude toward obtaining additional information about a patient's biological profile. In addition, the creation of a new class of allied health personnel (ie, laboratory liaison technicians, phlebotomists—"the stickers") has removed another barrier to the use of laboratory facilities. Using a disinterested person to obtain blood from a patient frees the attending or house staff physician from the time commitment and potentially uncomfortable personal interaction connected with collecting yet another sample of body fluid. In many hospitals ordering a test has become merely the translation of thought to paper—the technicians, the laboratories, and the billing office take care of the rest of the logistics. It is not surprising, then, that laboratory use often reflects physician


Preparation and Structure of Alkali Penta-tert-butoxystannates(IV)

Potassium, rubidium, and caesium tert-butoxide react with tin tetra-tert-butoxide in toluene to form compounds MSn(OtBu)5 [MK(2), Rb (3), Cs (4)] in contrast to lithium and sodium tert-butoxide. The compounds 2–4 are soluble in non-coordinating solvents and seem to be almost monomeric. 2 crystallizes as 2 · 1/2 toluene in the orthorhombic space group Fddd. The X-ray structure determination shows 2 to be coordinated as a helical polymer with the tin atom in the center of a trigonal bipyramid of tert-butoxide groups interlinked by two structurally different potassium atoms.


An experiment was undertaken on 138 German Angora weaners divided into 3 equal groups of 46 each, kept individually in standard size iron cages and provided similar housing and management. After first shearing at the age of 50 days; rabbits of the group 1,2 and 3 were sheared at 65, 70 and 75 days interval, respectively, from second to seventh shearing. Parameters recorded were body weight after shearing (kg), wool yield (gm), staple length (em), fiber diameter (/Lm), medullation (%) and guard hairs ~%). In each group, significant gain in the body weight was observed from second to seventh clip; however, between groups this gain was significant (P<0.05) from second to fourth shearing. At seventh shearing body weights in all groups were same. Overall pooled body weights for each group had a non-significant increase with decrease in the shearing interval from 75 to 65 days. For wool yield no definite trend was recorded, however, the correlation between the body weight and wool yield for different groups was highly positive. Average pooled wool yield for group 3 was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the group 1 and 2, and was numerically more ingroup 2 than group 1. However, the wool yields per clip in the group 1 and 2 were obtained at the lesser age of rabbits than group 3. The staple length decreased significantly with decrease in the shearing interval. The pooled staple length at 70 days shearing interval was more than 5 ems (first class wool) as desired for the spinning of yarn. Decrease in the shearing interval made fibers finer; but had no effect on the medullation and guard hairs. Thus, it was concluded that the shearing at 70 days interval is practically more profitable and could be implemented under Indian conditions for better wool production.


A 70-year-old man presented to the emergency department with chest discomfort, hypotension, and bradycardia. The initial ECG revealed an ST-segment elevation inferoposterior myocardial infarction (MI). The patient was treated with aspirin, atropine, dopamine, unfractionated heparin, and eptifibatide, and was then referred for emergent cardiac catheterization. After temporary pacemaker placement, coronary angiography revealed a subtotal occlusion of the mid-right coronary artery (RCA) that was associated with a large intracoronary thrombus (Figure 1 …


BACKGROUND
Methotrexate (MTX) is used potently for a wide range of diseases. However, hepatic intoxication by MTX hinders its clinical use.

OBJECTIVES
The present study was conducted to investigate the diallyl disulfide (DADS) ability to ameliorate MTX-induced hepatotoxicity.

METHODS
Thirty-two rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal control, DADS (50 mg/kg/day, orally), MTX (single i.p. injection of 20 mg/kg) and DADS+MTX. Liver function biomarkers, histopathological examinations, oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis biomarkers were investigated. Besides, an in vitro cytotoxic activity study was conducted to explore the modulatory effects of DADS on MTX cytotoxic activity using Caco-2, MCF-7, and HepG2 cells.

RESULTS
DADS significantly reduced the increased serum activities of ALT, AST, ALP, and LDH. These results were confirmed by the alleviation of liver histopathological changes. It restored the decreased GSH content and SOD activity, while significantly decreased MTX-induced elevations in both MDA and NO2- contents. The hepatoprotective effects were mechanistically mediated through the up-regulation of hepatic Nrf-2 and the down-regulation of Keap-1, P38MAPK, and NF-κB expression levels. In addition, an increase in Bcl-2 level with a decrease in the expression of both Bax and caspase-3 was observed. The in vitro study showed that DADS increased MTX anti-tumor efficacy.

CONCLUSIONS
DADS potently alleviated MTX-induced hepatotoxicity through the modulation of Keap-1/Nrf-2, P38MAPK/NF-κB and apoptosis signaling pathways and effectively enhanced the MTX cytotoxic effects, which could be promising for further clinical trials..


Among the numerous indoor localization methods, Light-Detection-and-Ranging (LiDAR)-based probabilistic algorithms have been extensively applied to indoor localization due to their real-time performance and high accuracy. Nevertheless, these methods are challenged in symmetrical environments when tackling global localization and the robot kidnapping problem. In this paper, a novel hybrid method that combines visual and probabilistic localization results is proposed. Augmented Monte Carlo Localization (AMCL) is improved for position tracking continually. LiDAR-based measurements' uncertainty is evaluated to incorporate discrete visual-based results; therefore, a better diversity of the particle can be maintained. The robot kidnapping problem can be detected and solved by preventing premature convergence of the particle filter. Extensive experiments were implemented to validate the robustness and accuracy performance. Meanwhile, the localization error was reduced from 30 mm to 9 mm during a 600 m tour.


Protein engineering is a growing field with a variety of experimental techniques available for altering protein function. However, creating an enzyme de novo is still in its infancy, so far yielding enzymes of modest catalytic efficiency. In this study, a system of artificial retro-aldolase enzymes found to have chemistry coupled to protein dynamics was examined. The original design was created computationally, and this protein was then subjected to directed evolution to improve the initial low catalytic efficiency. We found that this re-engineering of the enzyme resulted in rapid density fluctuations throughout the enzyme being reshaped via alterations in the hydrogen bonding network. This work also led to the discovery of a second important motion which aids in the release of an intermediate product. These results provide compelling evidence that to engineer efficient protein catalysts, fast protein dynamics need to be considered in the design.


Background Animal illness is a disturbance in an animal's natural condition that disrupts or changes critical functions. Concern over animal illnesses stretches back to the earliest human interactions with animals and is mirrored in early religious and magical beliefs. Animals have long been recognized as disease carriers. Man has most likely been bitten, stung, kicked, and gored by animals for as long as he has been alive; also, early man fell ill or died after consuming the flesh of deceased animals. Man has recently learned that numerous invertebrates are capable of transferring disease-causing pathogens from man to man or from other vertebrates to man. These animals, which function as hosts, agents, and carriers of disease, play a significant role in the transmission and perpetuation of human sickness. Thus, there is a need to detect unhealthy animals from a whole group of animals. Methods In this study, a deep learning-based method is used to detect or separate out healthy-unhealthy animals. As the dataset contains a smaller number of images, an image augmentation-based method is used prior to feed the data in the deep learning network. Flipping, scale-up, sale-down and orientation is applied in the combination of one to four to increase the number of images as well as to make the system robust from these variations. One fuzzy-based brightness correction method is proposed to correct the brightness of the image. Lastly, semi-supervised generative adversarial network (SGAN) is used to detect the healthy-unhealthy animal images. As per our knowledge, this is the first article which is prepared to detect healthy-unhealthy animal images. Results The outcome of the method is tested on augmented COCO dataset and achieved 91% accuracy which is showing the efficacy of the method. Conclusions A novel two-fold animal healthy-unhealthy detection system is proposed in this study. The result gives 91.4% accuracy of the model and detects the health of the animals in the pictures accurately. Thus, the system improved the literature on healthy-unhealthy animal detection techniques. The proposed approach may effortlessly be utilized in many computer vision systems that could be confused by the existence of a healthy-unhealthy animal.


Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a sever postsurgical neurological complication in the elderly population. As the global acceleration of population ageing, POCD is proved to be a great challenge to the present labor market and healthcare system. In the present study, our findings showed that tau acetylation mediated by SIRT1 deficiency resulted in tau hyperphosphorylation in the hippocampus of the aged POCD model and consequently contributed to cognitive impairment. Interestingly, pretreatment with resveratrol almost restored the expression of SIRT1, reduced the levels of acetylated tau and hyperphosphorylated tau in the hippocampus, and improved the cognitive performance in the behavioral tests. What is more, we observed that microglia-derived neuroinflammation resulting from SIRT1 inhibition in microglia probably aggravated the tau acetylation in cultured neurons in vitro. Our findings supported the notion that activation SIRT1 provided dually beneficial effect in the aged POCD model. Taken together, our findings provided the initial evidence that tau acetylation was associated with cognitive impairment in the aged POCD model and paved a promising avenue to prevent POCD by inhibiting tau acetylation in a SIRT1-dependent manner.


This study uses annual data between 1990 and 2010, and employs Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) method to examine what determines poverty level in Nigeria. Unlike many studies, we measure poverty with poverty index generated from combination of per worker agricultural value added, real per capita income and consumption per capita using principal component analysis and common measurement of poverty (i.e. per capita real income). We first remove the trend component of our dependent variables (poverty index), using Butterworth filter and then regressed them on the important variables of interest. The findings show negative relationship between political right in levels and poverty, but positive relationship was found when political right was differenced. This result was not statistically significant. Political terror was found to reduce poverty with statistically significant result in levels when per capita real income was used for poverty, and became positively related with poverty when differenced. The result was statistically significant. We found that civil liberty was positively related to poverty, but the result was not statistically significant. Democracy was noted for reducing poverty with statistically significant result, while the increase in population and poverty were positively related with statistically significant result.


Nowadays, the phosphate industry in Morocco is expecting a crucial round of its development cycle, which is mainly dominated by the digitization challenge. The concept of smart factory is reminiscent of a new way of organizing the production of goods, taking smarter decisions based on environmental variables and optimizing available resources. As for the phosphate industry in Morocco, building smart factories to upgrade the manufacturing processes constitutes a key element in its drive for innovation, growth and sustainable profitability. To successfully build smart factories, phosphate-manufacturing entities should consider some issues with care. This includes fostering IT and data-driven culture among leadership and employees, ensuring security, reliability and stability of IT infrastructure; maintaining the integrity of production processes and IT-controlled processes as well as enhancing IT and data skills and know how. However, there is still a journey to carry out the implementation of smart factories; given the large-scale, systemic transformation, the move requires alongside the lack of Enterprise Reference Model confirmed to fit with the issues of Moroccan phosphate industry. In this paper, we propose a reference model built around three overarching principles: (1) Culture of smart people 4.0, (2) introducing agile organizations, and (3) upgrading IT infrastructure. The paper then makes a case of the transition to smart factory using the proposed model in a pilot entity located at Safi. The results showed that the smart factory implemented yield a range of benefits, such as increased process efficiency, product quality, sustainability, and safety and decreased costs.


The study is designed to analyze the pillars, mechanism, role and effects of the political communication on public opinion, in the fields of international relations, public administration, media and political science as well as communication science studying the relationship between media, politics and governance in all its forms and effects. The increasing influence of media on society in general and on the behavior of politicians and the functioning of political and administrative institutions specifically, is defined as a process of media. Moreover, there is no doubt that the human being has a mind through which it seeks to reveal the facts of things and knowledge of various manifestations and phenomena. This requires finding an ideal way to satisfy his curiosity and heal his glories which lead to the emergence of so-called media machine or the media in various forms and varieties. In this context, the media revolution or the information technology that the world has witnessed has turned all balances. The media has become a cornerstone in the building of the state, but it is considered a component o f symbols of national sovereignty.Furthermore, the "media is an effective tool and an integrated system" that must be activated in building a state and consolidating its national constants and citizens as well. Media nowadays is the main focus of people's minds and their attitudes. They are surrounded by means from all sides and everywhere, from written and audiovisual means, such as radio and television, to various websites made available by the spread of the Internet and technological advances. The media is also the fourth authority after the legislative, judicial and executive authorities because of its great influence on changing and shaping the intellectual, political and social attitudes that constitute the public opinion. In this paper, the researcher is discussing the influence of the media on public opinion. The study depends on two main questions, and answering them is the goal that the paper seeks. This goal is achieved in the result of facts, recommendations and conclusion of this study, in order to confront this media disinformation which affects the Arab and Islamic nation


Just a few years ago, scientists sounded the alarm that coral reefs around the world were seriously ailing. But now, some coral reef biologists are beginning to suspect that reefs may not be quite as widely imperiled as they once thought. Increasingly, researchers think that the decline may be local or regional rather than global in scope. Although reefs in Southeast Asia and the Caribbean are crumbling, for instance, most in the Pacific and Indian Ocean appear to be in good health.


Aim: Quinolinic acid (QA) is an excitotoxin that induces Huntington's-like symptoms in animals and humans. Curcumin (CMN) is a well-known antioxidant but the major problem is its bioavailability. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of CMN in the presence of piperine against QA-induced excitotoxic cell death in rats. Material and Methods: QA was administered intrastriatally at a dose of 200 nmol/2 µl saline, bilaterally. CMN (25 and 50 mg/kg/day, p.o.) and combination of CMN (25 mg/kg/day, p.o.) and with piperine (2.5 mg/kg/day, p.o.) was administered daily for the next 21 days. Body weight and behavioral parameters were observed on 1st, 7th, 14th and 21st day. On the 22nd day, animals were sacrificed and striatum was isolated for biochemical (LPO, nitrite and GSH), neuroinflammatory (interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) and neurochemical (dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA, glutamate, 5-HT, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid) estimation. Results: CMN treatment showed beneficial effect against QA-induced motor deficit, biochemical and neurochemical abnormalities in rats. Combination of piperine (2.5 mg/kg/day, p.o.) with CMN (25 mg/kg/day, p.o.) significantly enhanced its protective effect as compared to treatment with CMN alone. Conclusion: This study has revealed that the combination of CMN and piperine showed strong antioxidant and protective effect against QA-induced behavioral and neurological alteration in rats.


The Lower Critical Zone of the Eastern Bushveld Complex is a layered sequence of bronzitite layers interrupted by layers of chromitite and chromitic bronzitite and by two units in which olivine is an abundant cumulus mineral. Layering involves variations in both number and proportions of cumulus minerals and in mineral compositions.Bulk mineralogical and chemical compositions of successive units of the zone, as determined from modal analyses and electron microprobe analyses, indicate that the pile is the product of fractional crystallization, but the sequence of rock units and the upward changes in the enstatite content of the bronzite indicate a major reversal of normal fractionation, culminating in the appearance of the olivine-bearing units in the middle part of the zone. Of the various possible explanations of the reversal, resorption of olivine sinking from the top of the magma chamber (Macdonald, 1967) and slow decrease in total pressure (Osborn, 1980) appear most attractive, but slow influx and mixing of new parental magma cannot be excluded.The layering of the Lower Critical Zone reflects a system in which the composition of the liquid phase of the magma was on or close to the bronzite-chromite boundary on the liquidus during accumulation of most of the zone but was on or close to the bronzite-olivine boundary, the olivine-chromite boundary, or the bronzite-olivine-chromite triple junction at various stages of the development of the two olivine-bearing units. Slight changes in T, P, or X could therefore result in changes in the phases precipitating. It is suggested that changes in total pressure, causing shifts in phase boundaries on the liquidus, were the prime factor controlling the changes in mineral assemblages which are represented in the layering of the zone. One result was the formation of the remarkably regular and persistent chromitite layers for which the Lower Critical Zone is justly famous.Structural relations, variations in the enstatite content of bronzite, and the bulk mineralogical and chemical compositions of the Lower Critical Zone as a whole and its lowest unit in particular indicate that the zone continues the fractionation represented in the Lower Zone of the Olifants River trough and is not the product of a separate, later magma.


Informed grassland management is essential for cost effective pasture based livestock farming, environmental sustainability and land use efficiency. To support these goals, this paper investigates the feasibility of a Digital Twin for grassland management, with the goal of providing improved decision-support through simulation based estimation and data availability. The Digital Twin provides a novel means to achieve digitization, with several examples found across a diverse range of agricultural enterprises. However, current examples of the Digital Twin have failed to outline a clear and coherent blueprint to aid the general development of the Digital Twin in agricultural applications. Therefore, this paper explores and presents a proof-of-concept modular service based architecture, utilizing a pre-existing technology stack and a reusable modular design to develop a Digital Twin for grassland, something which has been overlooked in state-of-the-art examples. Compared to existing Digital Twins in agriculture, this solution provides a simplistic approach to developing minimum-viable Digital Twins, supporting future applications of the concepts in the area of agriculture, while demonstrating a novel application in grassland.


The impact of spontaneous neurotransmission on neuronal plasticity remains poorly understood. Here, we show that acute suppression of spontaneous NMDA receptor-mediated (NMDAR-mediated) neurotransmission potentiates synaptic responses in the CA1 regions of rat and mouse hippocampus. This potentiation requires protein synthesis, brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression, eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase function, and increased surface expression of AMPA receptors. Our behavioral studies link this same synaptic signaling pathway to the fast-acting antidepressant responses elicited by ketamine. We also show that selective neurotransmitter depletion from spontaneously recycling vesicles triggers synaptic potentiation via the same pathway as NMDAR blockade, demonstrating that presynaptic impairment of spontaneous release, without manipulation of evoked neurotransmission, is sufficient to elicit postsynaptic plasticity. These findings uncover an unexpectedly dynamic impact of spontaneous glutamate release on synaptic efficacy and provide new insight into a key synaptic substrate for rapid antidepressant action.


Introduction: Health literacy has been defined as the cognitive and social skills which determine the individuals' motivation and ability to gain access to, understand, and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health. To address health literacy in today's technology-rich health care environments, there is a strong need for validated computer-based tools to assess health literacy. Therefore, this study aimed to present an overview of specifications of current health literacy screening instruments to adapt for computer-based usages.

Method: In this narrative review study, relevant English publications were examined. The selected resources resultedfrom Boolean search in the related databases using key words concerning the Health Literacy Instruments.

Results: The results of the overview of the health literacy measurement tools showed that these instruments include the two gold standards TOFHLA (pilot testing of a computer-based version) and the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) as well as, Newest Vital Sign (NVS) and eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). Additionally, the tool for Health Literacy Screening Question Methodologies (HLSQM) was applied to measure the health literacy.

Conclusion: Current health literacy screening tools demonstrate different beneficial properties depending on the context of use. Therefore, it's recommended that a health literacy instrument be developedfrom the combination of validated and reliable HLSQM and eHEALS questions for the purpose of developing a computer-based instrument to screen individuals accessing eHealth applications.


The allegedly sudden appearance of skeletal fossils at the beginning of the Cambrian is a preservational artifact. The most characteristic earliest Cambrian fossil assemblages are calcareous fossils with secondary phosphatic envelopes. Such preservation, although less and less abundant, continued to occur throughout the whole Early Paleozoic. A high organic productivity, low sedimentation rate, and shallow bioturbation controlled their distribution. It is proposed that ttre evolutionary diversification and ecologic expansion of infaunal detritus feeders resulted in extinguishing the 'small shelly fossils'benthic environments. Gradual replacement of the Cambrian coeloscleritophoran-monoplacophoran associations by Ordovician machaeridian-gastropod and then by Silurian and later bivalve-gastropod dominated ones is evident in the series of the Meishucun-, M6jcza-, and Kok-type faunas. This is followed by a reduction in diversity of associated organisms, starting wittr the anabaritids (possibly of trilobozoan or nemathelminthan affinities), through tommotiids (possible machaeridians), palaeoscolecid priapulids, hyoliths (with monoplacophoran-cephalopod relationships), octactinellid and receptaculitid sponges, and then the septemchitonid polyplacophorans.


Intellectual Properties (IP), such as patents and trademarks, are one of the most critical assets in today's enterprises and research organizations. They represent the core innovation and differentiators of an organization. When leveraged effectively, they not only protect a business from its competition, but also generate significant opportunities in licensing, execution, long term research and innovation. In certain industries, e. g., Pharmaceutical industry, patents lead to multi-billion dollar revenue per year. In this paper, we present a holistic information mining solution, called SIMPLE, which mines large corpus of patents and scientific literature for insights. Unlike much prior work that deals with specific aspects of analytics, SIMPLE is an integrated and end-to-end IP analytics solution which addresses a wide range of challenges in patent analytics such as the data complexity, scale, and nomenclature issues. It encompasses techniques for patent data processing and modeling, analytics algorithms, web interface and web services for analytics service delivery and end-user interaction. We use real-world case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of SIMPLE.


ABSTRACT Several smartwatch vendors have over the past years entered the market with a large range of devices that differ in the design qualities they offer. In this paper, we focus on design qualities that are either perceived, descriptive or physical, and we investigate which of them may lead people to prefer particular smartwatches over others. To do so we conducted a laboratory study with 93 potential smartwatch users and a trained panel study with 8 participants. Results were analysed through a multivariate statistical technique called Preference Mapping. The advantage of this technique is that it can relate a large number of design qualities to users' preferences. Our findings show that participants can be divided into four groups with homogenous preferences, each emphasising a unique combination of design qualities. For example, some groups emphasised device shape, while others prioritised expensiveness for their preferred smartwatch. We conclude with implications of our work on practice and research.


Locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) has several definitions, but it is essentially a non-metastatic tumor, in which the initial surgical resection is not considered beneficial due to the extensive vascular involvement and consequent high chance of a nonradical resection. The introduction of chemotherapy with calcium leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) and gemcitabine-nab (nanoparticle albumin-bound)-paclitaxel (gem-nab) had very important implications for the management of patients with LAPC. After 4 to 6 months of induction chemotherapy, a large proportion of them have stable disease or even tumor regression, allowing to rescue those who initially were not candidates for surgery, with 30-35 months overall survival after surgery.


This paper examines the relationship of narrative to computer games from a design perspective. Over the past three decades, the academic discourse on narratives games has evolved considerably while producing a wealth of serious scholarship. However, the process of narrative game design continues to be an underdeveloped area of study. In this thesis, I review influential scholarship on narrative games and the broader topic of interactive digital narrative (IDN) and attempt to analyze its potential application to the process of design. I examine some of the major works on IDN, explore historical and ongoing debates related to narrativity within games, and offer a synthesis of three core concepts that hold potential for game design. This work is both a heuristic for designers of narrative games and an examination of how the academic discussion on this topic might better serve the same function.


Cross – cut oil palm stumps were set up in each of eleven, 25 – ha, oil palm fields at Okomu, from November 1998 to January 1999. Each field had 10 traps, 5 of which was a set of traps and a set of controls. The mean number + S.E of adults Temnoschoita quadripustulata trapped were 445.07 + 57.03 in Nov.1998; 481.02 + 45.63 Dec. 1998; and 205.98 + 50.62 in Jan. 1999. For Rhynchophorus phoenicis the numbers were 11.091.32 in Nov. 1998; 11.29 + 1.24 in Dec. 1998; and 1.22 + 0.43 in Jan. 1999. No weevil was captured in the control trap. Trap captures of T. quadripustulata were significantly higher (P=O.05) than those of R. phoenicis. Traps became less efficient with time as palm sap waned off.


Background: Familial relative risks (RR) for death from prostate cancer (lethal prostate cancer or LPC) are rare. Most risk estimations are for diagnosis of prostate cancer (PC); and typically focus on close relatives, rather than on complete family history. This study provides RRs for LPC based on specific family history data of LPC obtained from a statewide Cancer Registry linked to genealogy data. The risk estimates presented avoid common recall, recruitment, and ascertainment biases, and provide more individualized risk estimates. Methods: We used a population-based resource to estimate RRs for LPC based on a full constellation of family history of LPC. We include complete family history, taking into account degree of relationship (first to third-degree), age at diagnosis, paternal or maternal family history, number of affected individuals, and age at diagnosis of youngest relative. Estimations of RR for LPC based on specific family history are informative for patients and clinicians for appropriate screening decisions. The Utah Population Data Base (UPDB), a computerized population genealogical resource linked to a statewide SEER cancer registry, and statewide death certificates was analyzed. Over 1 million individuals were analyzed. All males with specific constellations of LPC were identified in the UPDB (probands) and the observed number of LPC cases among these probands was compared to the expected number using internal cohort-specific rates to obtain RR estimates. Results: Over 3,921 LPC cases were identified. Risk for LPC was significantly elevated with each additional LPC first-degree relative (FDR), ranging from RR = 2.26 (95% CI: 2.09, 2.44) for >0 FDRs to RR = 3.93 (1.69, 7.73) for >2 FDRs affected. Even in the absence of FDR family history, significantly increased risk for LPC was observed in the presence of >0 second degree relatives (SDR) affected (RR = 1.53: 1.41, 1.66). In the absence of affected FDRs and SDRs, there was significantly increased risk for LPC for >1 third degree relative (TDR) affected (RR = 1.22: 1.15, 1.29). Results indicated higher risks for maternal vs paternal history, e.g. RR = 1.50 (1.27, 1.76) for affected paternal uncle versus RR = 1.83 (1.59, 2.09) for affected maternal uncle. Discussion: RRs for LPC have more clinical significance than RRs for PC. This study provides unbiased, population-based estimates of LPC risk based on a man9s specific family history LPC constellation. Many individuals at 2-3 times increased risk for dying from PC were identified based on family history. This study provides a means for containing healthcare costs and conserving resource utilization through informed use of familial LPC risks. Using informative LPC family history in the planning of screening, treatment, and monitoring opens additional avenues for implementation of more sound translational medicine practices, decreasing morbidity and mortality, and improving the quality of life in patients. Citation Format: Frederick S. Albright, Neeraj Agarwal, William T. Lowrance, Robert A. Stephenson, Lisa A. Cannon-Albright. Risk for death from prostate cancer predicted from complete family history of lethal prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3449. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3449


Asymptotic solutions up to third-order which describe irrotational finite amplitude standing waves are derived in Lagrangian coordinates. The analytical Lagrangian solution that is uniformly valid for large times satisfies the irrotational condition and the pressure p = 0 at the free surface, which is in contrast with the Eulerian solution existing under a residual pressure at the free surface due to Taylor's series expansion. In the third-order Lagrangian approximation, the explicit parametric equation and the Lagrangian wave frequency of water particles could be obtained. In particular, the Lagrangian mean level of a particle motion that is a function of vertical label is found as a part of the solution which is different from that in an Eulerian description. The dynamic properties of nonlinear standing waves in water of a finite depth, including particle trajectory, surface profile and wave pressure are investigated. It is also shown that the Lagrangian solution is superior to an Eulerian solution of the same order for describing the wave shape and the kinematics above the mean water level.


As machine learning algorithms are increasingly used to inform critical decisions across high-impact domains, there has been rising concern that their predictions may unfairly discriminate based on legally protected attributes, such as race and gender. Scholars have responded by introducing numerous mathematical definitions of fairness to test the algorithm, many of which are in conflict with one another. However, these reductionist representations of fairness bear little resemblance to the real-life contextual considerations, failing to reflect the long-standing debates in ethical philosophy and welfare economics on what it means to be fair. This paper will discuss two gaps: 1) between the assumed simplicity and separability of unacceptable bias and the complexity of the contextual and ethical debates on equality and 2) between the context-driven reality of fairness considerations and the axiomatic, unambiguous formalisation of fairness. We argue that the existing approaches to algorithmic fairness fail to capture the range of important ethical considerations specific to each use case. Thus, we propose a new approach using Key Ethics Indicators (KEIs) to provide a more holistic understanding of whether and to what extent an algorithm is aligned to the decision-maker's ethical values.


The way infants use auditory cues to learn to speak despite the acoustic mismatch of their vocal apparatus is a hot topic of scientific debate. The simulation of early vocal learning using articulatory speech synthesis offers a way towards gaining a deeper understanding of this process. One of the crucial parameters in these simulations is the choice of features and a metric to evaluate the acoustic error between the synthesised sound and the reference target. We contribute with evaluating the performance of a set of 40 feature-metric combinations for the task of optimising the production of static vowels with a high-quality articulatory synthesiser. Towards this end we assess the usability of formant error and the projection of the feature-metric error surface in the normalised F1-F2 formant space. We show that this approach can be used to evaluate the impact of features and metrics and also to offer insight to perceptual results.


Routine targeted temperature management is recommended for comatose adult patients with return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest. However, the role of targeted temperature management in patients resuscitated from nonshockable cardiac arrests remains uncertain. We conducted an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of targeted temperature management in this population. Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were systematically reviewed for studies published between January 2005 and March 2016, in which targeted temperature management was compared with standard care or normothermia for adult patients resuscitated from nonshockable cardiac arrests. A total of 25 trials that included 5715 patients were identified from 10985 relevant papers. Pooled data showed that targeted temperature management not only associated with improved short-term survival (RR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.28–1.57) and neurological function (RR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.39–1.91) but also associated with improved long-term survival (RR = 1.64, 95% CI: 1.27–2.12) and neurological recovery (RR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.07–1.90) in observational cohort studies. However, more frequent infectious complications were reported in hypothermia-treated patients (RR = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.26–1.70) and the quality of the evidence ranged from moderate to very low.


While James Davidson Hunter's concept of faithful presence is a good starting point for Reformed Christian cultural engagement, his fear of Christian triumphalism from the Right and Left leaves his vision disappointingly subdued. Building upon Abraham Kuyper's concept of the Reformed doctrine of common grace, this article seeks to go beyond Hunter's faithful presence by recommending a transformationalism without triumphalism. While "faithful presence" may be the right starting point, Christian cultural development can and must go beyond it, given the crises in our world today. Vincente Bacote, "Beyond 'Faithful Presence': Abraham Kuyper's Legacy for Common Grace and Cultural Development", Journal of Markets and Morality 16, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 195-205


Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine the test performance of periodic chest radiograph for early detection of silicosis by comparing original diagnosis and one panel's evaluation (as reference standard) under different screening frequencies and exposure scenarios and to assess the ability to discriminate of silicosis on chest radiograph. Methods The study was performed using historical cohort data of workers exposed to silica dust with periodic chest X-ray films in China. Three experienced radiologists were recruited to re-evaluate radiographs according to Diagnostic Criteria of Pneumoconiosis of China. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were calculated to evaluate the agreement between the original and panel's diagnoses. Multivariable models were performed to determine whether statistically significant variation in every test performance measure is associated with different levels of dust exposure index or stage of pneumoconiosis, after adjusting for worker's basic demographic characteristics, smoking data, past and concurrent health problems, and other occupational co-existing concomitants in the workplace. Preliminary Results Total 356 silicosis patients in the iron ore mine were included, and chest radiographs were 3596 films. The average number of chest radiographs was 10.91 (range: 1–27), and the average interval for patients' chest X-ray screening before and after diagnosis of silicosis was 5.87 and 2.5. Conclusions We are working on data collection and the data are not sufficient for us to evaluate sensitivity, specificity at this stage. We expect the sensitivity and specificity to be 80% or more (data will be presented in the conference).


A genetic pathway that times development works together with the sex-determination pathway to control the timing of sexually dimorphic neural development in C. elegans.


In the framework of the relativistic mean field theory, the effects of the δ meson on protoneutron star matter with hyperons at unite temperature are investigated. In thermal protoneutron star matter, the δ field potential increases with density first and then decreases. Fixing the density, the increase of the temperature suppresses the S field potential. With the inclusion of the δ meson, the threshold densities for hyperons become lower and the abundance of trapped neutrinos decreases. The most important effect of the δ meson is to increase the abundance of hyperons in the inner core range of protoneutron stars. With the rise of the temperature, the density range where the δ meson plays an important role is narrowed and the effects of the δ meson are suppressed. Moreover, the protoneutron star mass and radius are nearly not affected by the δ meson.


We describe a case of Pediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) in an 8-year-old child. The patient developed multiorgan dysfunction, including mixed shock, cardiac dysfunction with myocarditis, pneumonia, acute kidney failure, and gastrointestinal involvement characterized by inflammation of the wall of the bowel and pancreatitis. After treatment with Tocilizumab and corticoid therapy, he presented clinical improvement and normalization of inflammatory markers. PIMS-TS is a new disease developed in a small percentage of patients, so a high degree of suspicion is necessary to establish the diagnosis. Supportive care is of paramount importance. The use of Tocilizumab to control the inflammatory response is likely to be beneficial, but the best immunotherapeutic agent has not yet been established. Randomized clinical studies should be run to determine the best treatment.


In this paper, a model is proposed for partitioning of 3D objects based on Reeb graphs. The model is motivated by perceptual principles and supports identification of the main protrusions of an object. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution with respect to ground-truth data represented by manually segmented objects


A cyber physical systems (CPS) are deeply embedded systems that can be applied to home devices, medical equipments, cars, and etc. Since it is expected that a CPS system will be integrated with other CPSes designed for various areas to ultimately create a global CPS network covering a global network, IPv6 is suitable to these large-scaled integrated network environments. This paper proposes a hierarchical middleware architecture for an efficient search and control of home devices on an IPv6-based global network from anywhere through smart phones along with a new mechanism intended to drastically reduce the number of messages that are generated for searching devices.


This paper presents a way to specify, to prove, and to implement object-oriented distributed cooperative algorithms. Our method gathers together three kinds of tools or formal concepts. It is derived from the B Method. So it uses a refinement approach and a proof of each specification step. The second set of concepts comes from distributed artificial intelligence. One main aspect of parallel and distributed computation is the uncertainty of the knowledge state of other sites. To express it, an epistemic logic is used to define knowledge of sites. Finally we consider some interesting practical results of distributed algorithms research. The method defines an application from three points of view (group, object, and method levels). A particular state automata formalism is used for each specification step. Finally, a distributed spanning tree algorithm is developed.


Vocabulary learning is an aspect of language learning. However, in language classrooms vocabulary teaching can be practiced in different ways in different contexts. This paper first describes and compares vocabulary teaching at BUAA (the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) and CUT (Curtin University of Technology) in Australia and then examines the causes of the methodological differences found in vocabulary teaching in these two educational institutions. In these two universities, methodological differences exist in vocabulary teaching at the levels of both formal instruction and classroom interaction. In the formal instruction of vocabulary teaching, these two universities exhibit different characteristics at the presentation, repetition and exploitation stages. The contrast between foreign and second language teaching, the cultural and educational contexts in which the target language is taught, the way in which the learners' first language is learned, the linguistic distance between the learner's native and target languages, and learner and teacher characteristics cause to a greater or lesser extent the methodological differences observed in vocabulary teaching in the two universities in question.


Measurements were made of hepatic interstitial fluid volume and the proportion of that space occupied by 125I-labeled lactoglobulin, albumin, and gamma-globulin in anesthetized cats. 51Cr-red blood cells and 99mTc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid were used to estimate tissue blood volume and extracellular volume, respectively. Hepatic lymph was assumed to represent the interstitial fluid of the liver. The degree of exclusion of each protein increased with increasing molecular size. At normal hepatic venous pressures, the excluded volume fraction for cat albumin was 0.41. Elevation of hepatic venous pressure by 12.5 mmHg caused a fourfold increase in hepatic lymph flow with an increase in interstitial volume and a reduction in albumin exclusion. When the exclusion of heterologous (human) albumin was studied in the cat liver, much higher values were obtained than with homologous albumin. This effect may be due to polymerization of commercial human albumin on storage.


The 1968 System of National Accounts (SNA 68) represented an important milestone in national accounting. In providing a more detailed structuring of the economy and integrating a correspondingly more relevant system of basic, producer and purchasers' prices by commodities and industry sectors, it helped lay to rest the early schism that developed between Keynes and Tinbergen over the question of the legitimacy of empirical economic modeling. The system was readily embraced by the advanced countries of Western Europe because it responded directly to the contemporary political imperatives of development planning and the need for economic forecasting models. But a large part of the non‐Western "free world" encountered almost insurmountable difficulties in the full implementation of the system and became quickly bogged down in the quagmire of inter‐industry statistics and valuation problems. Nancy and Richard Ruggles pressed for a revision providing workable solutions that would make the system more adaptable to the policy needs and statistical capacities of the majority of UN member countries. What actually happened took very much longer to reach fruition than was ever intended. The SNA 93 now represents the "gold standard" for national accounts, covering every aspect of economic activity. It is a masterpiece of conceptual coherence. Its encyclopedic character allows analysts and practitioners alike to dip into its voluminous pages for reasoned answers to why certain valuation questions and estimation procedures should be dealt with in a particular way. But SNA 93 remains a formidable document and it is not the operational data friendly framework that the Ruggles initially had envisaged.


Many bacteria control gene expression in response to cell population density, and this phenomenon is called quorum sensing. In Gram‐negative bacteria, quorum sensing typically involves the production, release and detection of acylated homoserine lactone signalling molecules called autoinducers. Vibrio harveyi, a Gram‐negative bioluminescent marine bacterium, regulates light production in response to two distinct autoinducers (AI‐1 and AI‐2). AI‐1 is a homoserine lactone. The structure of AI‐2 is not known. We have suggested previously that V. harveyi uses AI‐1 for intraspecies communication and AI‐2 for interspecies communication. Consistent with this idea, we have shown that many species of Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacteria produce AI‐2 and, in every case, production of AI‐2 is dependent on the function encoded by the luxS gene. We show here that LuxS is the AI‐2 synthase and that AI‐2 is produced from S‐adenosylmethionine in three enzymatic steps. The substrate for LuxS is S‐ribosylhomocysteine, which is cleaved to form two products, one of which is homocysteine, and the other is AI‐2. In this report, we also provide evidence that the biosynthetic pathway and biochemical intermediates in AI‐2 biosynthesis are identical in Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, V. harveyi, Vibrio cholerae and Enterococcus faecalis. This result suggests that, unlike quorum sensing via the family of related homoserine lactone autoinducers, AI‐2 is a unique, 'universal' signal that could be used by a variety of bacteria for communication among and between species.


Website quality has been given much attention as of late. In particular the factors that impact a consumer's perception of website quality is of great interest. This paper takes a currently validated measure of business-toconsumer website quality (WebQualTM) and applies it to the Chinese Web users in order to study the crosscultural differences and similarities of US and Chinese customers.


This book deals with a detailed study of atmospheric air pollution problems using different numerical models. Comprehensive time dependent two dimensional advection-diffusion numerical models for primary and secondary pollutants of an urban area source are presented in this book. Primary pollutants are emitted from the area source of urban city extending upto l = 6 km and source free region beyond l i.e X0=12 km. Secondary pollutants are formed by means of first order chemical reaction of primary in droplet phase. The different removal mechanisms of the primary and secondary pollutants have been taken into account through different parameters in these models. These removal mechanisms include (i) removal by chemical reaction of chemically reactive primary pollutant (ii) removal by means of gravitational settling velocity of larger particles (iii) removal by wet deposition by means of rainout/washout (iv) removal by dry deposition which is due to absorption by earth's surface terrain (v) leakage of some amount of pollutants through the mixing height of atmospheric boundary layer.


For sometime now, the overall pass rate and performance of matriculants in the matric examination have been widely questioned by education stakeholders in South Africa. Whilst some have questioned the competence of the matriculants, others have argued that the matriculants can not be held sorely responsible for their shortcomings as they are not examined in their mother tongue and many of their educators are either unqualified or under-qualified. Tertiary institutions on their part, have come up with 'bridging programmes' aimed at helping their first year students cope with the rigours of academic literacy and academic life in general. This article argues that the language component of any bridging programme should be carefully thought about and planned as the students are from diverse language backgrounds and as such come to such programmes with varying language abilities and competencies. Keywords: English Language, Teaching School, Students


ABSTRACT Self-event connections in autobiographical narratives help integrate specific episodes from memory into the life story, which has implications for identity and well-being. Previous research has distinguished differential relations between positive and negative self-event connections to psychological well-being but less research has examined identity. In this study, examining self-event connections in emerging adults' narratives, 225 participants narrated a traumatic and an intensely positive experience and completed questionnaires assessing identity development and well-being. Participants who described more negative connections to self overall had higher psychological distress and identity distress, compared to those who described fewer negative connections. Participants who described positive connections to the self in traumatic events were more likely to have lower psychological distress, higher post-traumatic growth, and higher identity commitment, whereas positive connections in positive events was related to higher identity exploration and marginally higher post-traumatic growth. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature that suggests linking autobiographical memories to self can have differential effects on identity and well-being depending on the valence of the event and the connections made.


Information on 3-D structure expands the scope of change detection applications, for example, in urban studies, human activity, and forest monitoring. Current change detection methods do not fully consider the specifics of SAR data or the properties of the corresponding image focusing techniques. We propose a three-stage method complementing the properties of 2-D and 3-D very high-resolution (VHR) synthetic aperture radar imagery to improve the performance of 2-D only approaches. The method takes advantage of back-projection tomography to ease translation of the 2-D location of the targets into their corresponding 3-D location and vice versa. Detection of changes caused by objects with a small vertical extent is based on the corresponding backscatter difference, while changes caused by objects with a large vertical extent are detected with both backscatter and height difference information combined in a conditional random field. Using multitemporal images, the kappa coefficient improved by a factor of two in comparison with traditional schemes.


Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius, L. and C. hemipterus (F.) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) are hematophagous ectoparasites of humans. Since the resurgence of bed bugs in the late 1990s there has been a corresponding emphasis on development and implementation of integrated pest management (IPM) programs to manage infestations. One critical requirement of IPM is the ability to detect and monitor the target pest. We outline and describe the majority of all known existing devices and technologies developed for bed bug detection and monitoring as well as much of the underlying science. Almost 40 detection and monitoring products have flooded the marketplace, but for various reasons, including price, size, complexity and lack of independent scientific evaluation, they have not been widely adopted for IPM in structures. One product, the ClimbUp® Insect Interceptor, has nine competitors that utilize a similar design. The review also discloses many other technologies and products that are either too expensive or too impractical for use as either consumer or industrial products. We conclude that there is a critical need for inexpensive and effective detection and monitoring traps and lures suitable for widespread adoption by the urban pest control industry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.