This perspective discusses the fundamental benefits and drawbacks of aqueous batteries and the challenges of the development of such battery technology from laboratory scale to industrial applications.


The dc electrical transport in the semiconducting Pb2Sr2CaCu3O8 glass has been investigated in the temperature range 80-400 K. The analysis of the dc conductivity in terms of different hopping models shows that the multiphonon hopping of localized electrons with weak electron-phonon interaction is the dominant charge transport mechanism in this multicomponent glass. The physical parameters obtained from the best fit of the data to this theory are reasonable for the weak coupling regime. It has been observed that the variable range and the small polaron hopping theories cannot interpret the observed conductivity data quantitatively.


ABSTRACT In this essay, I explore the ways that doing rhetoric in situ can reveal sets of decolonizing practices within interdisciplinary rhetorical studies. I discuss the idea of rhetoric in situ and its possibility for establishing sets of decolonizing practices in rhetorical studies drawing from fieldwork methods found in disciplines including anthropology. I advance a call for a more literal interpretation of in situ as one way of demonstrating the ways that historians and critics of rhetoric contribute to the conceptual world of publics to co-create imagined rhetorical possibilities with displaced persons. By way of demonstrating the methodological approach I'm advancing in this essay, I turn to a set of discourses born from my own fieldwork, completed on the northern border of Jordan in 2014, amidst the Syrian refugee crisis. In analyzing discourse from two refugee families living in the Mafraq Governorate of Jordan after escaping the violence of the Syrian conflict, I offer the concept of the "nomad citizen" as one way to expand understandings of citizenship in rhetorical studies to be more responsive to crises of transnational migration born out of colonialism.


This paper presents an overview of recent U.S. fiscal developments and discusses possible implications of the sharp turn around in the government's fiscal position. Against this back ground, it also reviews key policy challenges that will need to be addressed to cope with the mounting pressures on public retirement and health care systems during the next decade. The study draws principally from back ground papers that were prepared for the IMF staff's annual consultation discussions with the U.S.authorities in 2002 and 2003.


Evidence-based criteria for burn patient admission are poorly defined. Attempts have been made by commercial entities to align payors and providers with evidence-based admission criteria to optimize resource use. However, these admission criteria have not be examined critically to see if they are appropriate and effective. We developed an admission criteria algorithm based on these existing standards and have utilized it for nearly 18 months. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively review this algorithm with respect to inpatient needs and outcome to assess its effectiveness.

 A retrospective chart review of patients admitted the burn center over a 1-year period was performed. Incomplete datasets were excluded. Patients were grouped by TBSA, < 10%, 10–20% and > 20%. Appropriateness of admission was measured used length of stay (LOS) as surrogate marker, hospitalizations of < 3 days, unless deceased, were deemed inappropriate (IAP) and 3 days or more as appropriate (AP).

 There were complete datasets for 530 patients, < 10% (n=423), 10–20% (n= 72), >20% (n=35). There were no significant differences in age, gender, or payor sources between the groups. Patients with larger TBSA burns were more likely to have suffered a flame/flash injury. All patients in the two larger TBSA groups met admission criteria per algorithm. All IAP were in the < 10% group. When compared to AP, IAP were younger, 31.6 vs. 44.0 years (p< .0001), had smaller TBSA injuries 2.8% vs. 3.5% (p=.0045), had fewer clinical findings 1.4 vs 1.8 (p< .0001), fewer interventions 1.8 vs 2.6 (p< .0001) but were more likely to have suffered burns to the head 30% vs 13% (< .00001) and neck 9% vs 3% (=.0164). AP patients were more likely to have suffered contact burns 27% vs. 17% (p=.0323), full-thickness injuries 39% vs 14% (p< .0001), involvement of a major joint 42% vs 29% (p=.0085), combined burn and trauma 3% vs. 0% (p=.0444) and burns to the buttocks 7% vs 2% (p=.0357). AP patients were also more likely to require IV analgesia 82% vs 71% (p=.0107) and evaluated as likely needing surgery 82% vs 15% (p< .00001).

 The admission criteria algorithm performed perfectly in patients with a ≥ 10% TBSA injury. For patients with burn < 10% TBSA the algorithm was not followed as closely leading to some inappropriate admissions. Patients with smaller burns admitted appropriately were more likely to have full thickness burns, contact burns, burns over joints and to require surgery. The algorithm was highly accurate in patients with large burns, however additional refinement is needed for those patients with smaller burn injuries.


Recently, we reported an inverse association between high 'mate' intake (infusion of Ilex paraguariensis herb, a staple beverage in temperate South America) and breast cancer (BC) risk. Stronger inverse associations were found in high strata of tea, vegetable, fruit and energy intakes, and in overweight/obese women, suggesting possible roles for 'mate' mainly from its antioxidant contribution. The present study attempted to thoroughly explore possible associations among 'mate' and tea intake, dietary antioxidants and BC risk. Combining two databases of previous studies, 572 BC incident cases and 889 controls were interviewed with a specific questionnaire featuring socio-demographic, reproductive and lifestyle variables, and a food frequency questionnaire (64 items), focusing on 'mate' intake (consumer status, daily intake, age at start, age at quit, duration of habit). Food-derived nutrients were calculated from available databases. Odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated through unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for relevant potential confounders. The highest 'mate' intake was significantly inversely associated with BC risk for both low and high carotenoids (OR=0.40 vs. 0.41), vitamin C (OR=0.33 vs. 0.50), vitamin E (OR=0.37 vs. 0.45), flavonols (OR=0.38 vs. 0.48) and reduced glutathione (OR=0.48 vs. 0.46) strata. High tea intake showed significant inverse risk associations only with high carotenoids (OR=0.41), vitamin E (OR=0.48) and reduced glutathione (OR=0.43) strata. In conclusion, a strong and inverse association for 'mate' intake and BC was found, independent of dietary antioxidant levels. Also strong inverse associations with tea intake were more evident only at high levels of certain dietary antioxidants.


The synthesis of MMT and poly(o-anisidine) (MMT/POA) clay nanocomposites was carried out by using the chemical oxidative polymerization of POA and MMT clay with POA, respectively. By maintaining the constant concentration of POA, different percentage loads of MMT clay were used to determine the effect of MMT clay on the properties of POA. The interaction between POA and MMT clay was investigated by FTIR spectroscopy, and, to reveal the complete compactness and homogeneous distribution of MMT clay in POA, were assessed by using scanning-electron-microscope (SEM) analysis. The UV–visible spectrum was studied for the optical and absorbance properties of MMT/POA ceramic nanocomposites. Furthermore, the horizontal burning test (HBT) demonstrated that clay nanofillers inhibit POA combustion.


It was previously shown that when normal human serum and purified properdin or serum containing nephritic factor were allowed to diffuse toward each other in agar, a stainable precipitin line formed only in the presence of an intact alternative pathway. In the present study we have shown that when guinea pig erythrocytes were incorporated in agar and normal human serum was allowed to diffuse toward C3 nephritic factor-containing serum, a line of hemolysis appeared that coincided with the stainable line. The line of hemolysis only formed in the presence of C3, factor B and Mg++, as does the properdin or C3 nephritic factor-induced stainable line. When C2-deficient serum was incorporated in agar with guinea pig erythrocytes and serum samples containing nephritic factor were applied in wells, rings of lysis developed, the areas of which correlated significantly with nephritic factor activity. When partially purified nephritic factor (contaminated only with IgG) or serum containing nephritic factor was subjected to electrophoresis in agar-guinea pig erythrocyte gels and overlaid with normal human serum, bands of lysis developed that required factor B and C3. Lysis of guinea pig erythrocytes in this system appears to be due to insolubilization of alternative pathway convertases with activation of the membrane attack unit C5-C9.


The aim of this study is to classify the status of sleep from electroencefelography (EEG) data recorded from seven different healthy individuals. The twenty two autoregressive (AR) model coefficent are computed and used as features. Three classification algorithms, namely k-NN, Bayes and PLSR methods are trained and tested. The results show that the PLSR algorithm yielded highest accuracy and short classification times. Furthermore, all utilizies just a single channel. Based on these results we propose that method can be used in clinical applications.


The article suggests a conceptual framework for the creation of knowledge as a basis for an expanded, more inclusive view of scholarship. Knowledge flows along many directions and is created in many different ways. Wherever this happens, scholarship can exist. The article suggests a formulation for the common characteristics of all scholarship, and for a set of common criteria by which it can be assessed. It also describes the documentation needed for proper evaluation


In this work, fluorinated and platinized TiO 2 were evaluated in the glycerol oxidation. Fluorination led to increasing the specific surface area of titania, and platinization treatment to obtaining the highest absorption in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum; thus, 0.5 wt% Pt-F-TiO 2 was the best catalyst for its highest yield and good selectivity to glyceraldehyde (GAL). It was also found that 2 wt% of Pt content had a detrimental effect on the glycerol conversion. Fluorination and platinum addition led to modify the reaction mechanism and selectivity.


In this paper, we describe the architectural design, unit component hardware design and core software design(Helmet Pose Tracking Software and Terrain Elevation Data Correction Software) of IHDS(Intelligent Helmet Display System), and describe the results of unit test and integration test. According to the trend of the latest helmet display system, the specifications which includes 3D map display, FLIR(Forward Looking Infra-Red) display, hybrid helmet pose tracking, visor reflection type of binocular optical system, NVC(Night Vision Camera) display, lightweight composite helmet shell were applied to the design. Especially, we proposed unique design concepts such as the automatic correction of altitude error of 3D map data, high precision image registration, multi-color lighting optical system, transmissive image emitting surface using diffraction optical element, tracking camera minimizing latency time of helmet pose estimation and air pockets for helmet fixation on head. After completing the prototype of all system components, unit tests and system integration tests were performed to verify the functions and performance.


Stromal cells within lymphoid tissues are organized into three-dimensional structures that provide a scaffold that is thought to control the migration and development of haemopoeitic cells. Importantly, the maintenance of this three-dimensional organization appears to be critical for normal stromal cell function, with two-dimensional monolayer cultures often being shown to be capable of supporting only individual fragments of lymphoid tissue function. In the thymus, complex networks of cortical and medullary epithelial cells act as a framework that controls the recruitment, proliferation, differentiation and survival of lymphoid progenitors as they undergo the multi-stage process of intrathymic T-cell development. Understanding the functional role of individual stromal compartments in the thymus is essential in determining how the thymus imposes self/non-self discrimination. Here we describe a technique in which we exploit the plasticity of fetal tissues to re-associate into intact three-dimensional structures in vitro, following their enzymatic disaggregation. The dissociation of fetal thymus lobes into heterogeneous cellular mixtures, followed by their separation into individual cellular components, is then combined with the in vitro re-association of these desired cell types into three-dimensional reaggregate structures at defined ratios, thereby providing an opportunity to investigate particular aspects of T-cell development under defined cellular conditions [corrected].


Society's Rooms, 207 Bath Street,14th October, 1886. Mr. John Young, F.G.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. Robert Dunlop exhibited specimens of Aviculopecten papyraceus, Goldfuss, Orthoceratites, sp., and other marine fossils, which he had lately discovered in the Upper Coal measures, at Calderbank, Airdrie, the horizon lying between the Kiltongue and Virtuewell Coals—a most interesting find—going to prove that certain thin layers in the Upper Coal series had been laid down under marine conditions. Remarks were made by the Chairman, who pointed out that similar thin marine bands had been recorded elsewhere from the Upper Coal measures of Lanarkshire, and from the Coalfields of Fife and of England, proving the presence of the sea over these areas during short intervals of time during the deposition of the strata of the Upper Coal measures. Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., stated that in his belief there was no proof that these shells, though of marine origin, had been deposited in these beds under any conditions but fresh water ones. The Chairman exhibited slabs of Carboniferous Limestone Shale, covered with markings of Dendritic "Wad" or Black Oxide of Manganese, from Nettlehirst Quarry, Barrmill, Ayrshire, and spoke of their occurrence and origin. Mr. James White read a paper entitled "Notes from Glencoe," which was illustrated by a map of the district and a number of rock specimens. Some discussion on points raised in the paper ensued. Annual General Business Meeting, 11th November, 1886. Mr. William Jolly, F.G.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. The Hon. Secretary (Mr. Murdoch) This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract


We evaluated the effects of training on proper carrying techniques among 3 cocktail servers to increase safe tray carrying on the job and reduce participants' risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. As participants delivered drinks to their tables, their finger, arm, and neck positions were observed and recorded. Each participant received individual safety training that focused on proper carrying positions and techniques after baseline data were collected. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of the safety training. Results showed that the training increased safe carrying for all 3 participants.


The thermal effect experiments were carried out of a direct air-cooled system in the low speed wind tunnel. The influence of effect factors on recirculation is also discussion, after that the relationship between the thermal flows field structure and recirculation ratio under the cooling tower is analyzed. At last, the engineering measures to reduce or avoid recirculation are proposed. For certain conditions the experimental measurement shows close agreement with numerical values.


The use of systems to detect the presence of 24kd protein as well as the levels of antibodies to it, is very useful in the follow-up of HIV-1 infected individuals. To develop these systems it is necessary to have this protein purified. The present paper describes the purification of p24 starting from the semipurified viral flattening on saocaharose gradient, using immunoaffinity chromatography with monoclonal antibodies coupled to Sepharosa 4B activated with cyanogen bromide. For the characterization of the purified product it was used polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with silver staining and immunoelectrotransference. As a result, it was obtained p24 which can be used for the development of diagnostic tools and monoclonal antibodies.


A low-cost activated carbon (XSBLAC) prepared from Xanthoceras Sorbifolia Bunge hull via chemical activation was investigated to determine its adsorption and desorption properties for zinc(II) ions from aqueous solutions. XSBLAC was characterized based on its N2-adsorption/desorption isotherm, EDX, XRD, SEM and FTIR results. An adsorption study was conducted in a series of experiments to optimize the process variables for zinc(II) removal using XSBLAC. Modeling the adsorption kinetics indicated good agreement between the experimental data and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Langmuir equilibrium isotherm fit the experimental data reasonably well. The calculated enthalpy (ΔH0), entropy (ΔS0) and Gibbs free energy (ΔG0) values revealed the endothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption process. HNO3 displayed the best desorption performance. The adsorption mechanism was investigated in detail through FTIR and SEM/EDX spectroscopic analyses. The results suggested that XSBLAC is a potential biosorbent for removing zinc(II) from aqueous solutions.


Giant-celled Characeae (Chara australis Brown), grown for 4 months on 12/12 hr day/night cycle and summer/autumn temperatures, exhibited distinct concentration maxima in auxin (indole-3-acetic acid; IAA), melatonin and serotonin about 4 hr after subjective daybreak. These concentration peaks persisted after 3 day pretreatment in continuous darkness: confirming a circadian rhythm, rather than a response to "light on." The plants pretreated for 3 d in continuous light exhibited several large IAA concentration maxima throughout the 24 hr. The melatonin and serotonin concentrations decreased and were less synchronized with IAA. Chara plants grown on 9/15 hr day/night cycle for 4 months and winter/spring temperatures contained much smaller concentrations of IAA, melatonin and serotonin. The IAA concentration maxima were observed in subjective dark phase. Serotonin concentration peaks were weakly correlated with those of IAA. Melatonin concentration was low and mostly independent of circadian cycle. The "dark" IAA concentration peaks persisted in plants treated for 3 d in the dark. The plants pretreated for 3 d in the light again developed more IAA concentration peaks. In this case the concentration maxima in melatonin and serotonin became more synchronous with those in IAA. The abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA) concentrations were also measured in plants on winter regime. The ABA concentration did not exhibit circadian pattern, while JA concentration peaks were out of phase with those of IAA. The data are discussed in terms of crosstalk between metabolic pathways.


In this paper heavy quark energy loss models are embedded in full event-by-event viscous hydrodynamic simulations to investigate the nuclear suppression factor and the azimuthal anisotropy of D mesons in PbPb collisions at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV in the pT range 8–40 GeV. In our model calculations, the RAA of D 0 mesons is consistent with experimental data from the cms experiment. We present the first calculations of heavy flavor cumulants v2{2} and v3{2} (and also discuss v2{4}), which is also consistent with experimental data. Event-shape engineering techniques are used to compute the event-by-event correlation between the soft hadron vn and the heavy meson vn. We predict a linear correlation between these observables on an event-by-event basis.


Increased human populations and the resulting encroachment of related anthropogenic land uses into natural landscapes which once afforded wildlife habitats is a global conservation concern. Of particular concern, are the human-wildlife conflicts perpetuated because of human populations' growth in the area where large carnivores occur? These increasing conflicts may further impact the conservation of carnivores because of public concerns for human health and safety and economic impacts on subsistence agriculture. In India, increased population growth has impacted the natural habitats for the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and the related conflicts have impacted efforts to conserve the species. To better describe the social factors that may affect large carnivore conservation in India, we surveyed the tiger-affected people, the relatives of the people killed by tigers, and the common villagers in the adjacent villages of Bandhavgarh National Park of Madhya Pradesh in India. All of our questionnaires are related to the protection of tigers and the reasons behind it. This study featured the first assessment and basic data for understanding Bengal tigers in the area of Bandhavgarh Forest.


OBJECTIVE
To describe laparoscopic-assisted colopexy and sterilization, and evaluate outcome and effects in healthy male dogs.

STUDY DESIGN
Experimental study.

ANIMALS
Male Beagle dogs (n=7).

METHODS
A laparoscopic-assisted, extracorporeally sutured colopexy, and sterilization by ligation and section of the testicular vessels and ductus deferens were evaluated 11 weeks after surgery. Ex vivo tensile tests were performed on the colopexy sites and loss of testicular function was assessed by monitoring serum testosterone, and by ultrasonographic and histologic examinations of the testes. Systemic inflammation and potential iatrogenic colonic functional disorders were investigated by monitoring serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in the perioperative period and from a sulfapyridine (SP) kinetic profile obtained before and 10 weeks after surgery.

RESULTS
No intraoperative complications were recorded and clinical outcome was considered fair in all dogs. A mean tensile force of 42 N was required to disrupt colopexies. No relevant postoperative increase in CRP concentrations or changes in SP kinetics were observed. Testicular function was lost.

CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopic-assisted colopexy achieved adhesion of the colon to the abdominal wall and testicular endocrine function and spermatogenesis were eliminated by laparoscopic castration.


Acetate is a promising economical and sustainable carbon source for bioproduction, but it is also a known cell-growth inhibitor. In this study, adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) with acetate as selective pressure was applied to Halomonas bluephagenesis TD1.0, a fast-growing and contamination-resistant halophilic bacterium that naturally accumulates poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB). After 71 transfers, the evolved strain, B71, was isolated, which not only showed better fitness (in terms of tolerance and utilization rate) to high concentrations of acetate but also produced a higher PHB titer compared with the parental strain TD1.0. Subsequently, overexpression of acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) in B71 resulted in a further increase in acetate utilization but a decrease in PHB production. Through whole-genome resequencing, it was speculated that genetic mutations (single-nucleotide variation (SNV) in phaB, mdh, and the upstream of OmpA, and insertion of TolA) in B71 might contribute to its improved acetate adaptability and PHB production. Finally, in a 5 L bioreactor with intermittent feeding of acetic acid, B71 was able to produce 49.79 g/L PHB and 70.01 g/L dry cell mass, which were 147.2% and 82.32% higher than those of TD1.0, respectively. These results highlight that ALE provides a reliable method to harness H. bluephagenesis to metabolize acetate for the production of PHB or other high-value chemicals more efficiently.


Systems biology aims at system-level understanding of biological systems, in particular cellular networks. The milestones of this understanding are knowledge of the structure of the system, understanding of its dynamics, effective control methods, and powerful prediction capability. The complexity of biological systems makes it inevitable to consider mathematical modeling in order to achieve these goals. The enormous accumulation of experimental data representing the activities of the living cell has triggered an increasing interest in the reverse engineering of biological networks from data. In particular, construction of discrete models for reverse engineering of biological networks is receiving attention, with the goal of providing a coarse-grained description of such networks. In this dissertation we consider the modeling framework of polynomial dynamical systems over finite fields constructed from experimental data. We present and propose solutions to two problems inherent in this modeling method: the necessity of appropriate discretization of the data and the selection of a particular polynomial model from the set of all models that fit the data. Data discretization, also known as binning, is a crucial issue for the construction of discrete models of biological networks. Experimental data are however usually continuous, or, at least, represented by computer floating point numbers. A major challenge in discretizing biological data, such as those collected through microarray experiments, is the typically small samples size. Many methods for discretization are not applicable due to the insufficient amount of data. The method proposed in this work is a first attempt to develop a discretization tool that takes into consideration the issues and limitations that are inherent in short data time courses. Our focus is on the two characteristics that any discretization method should possess


A visible-light-driven sulfamate esters guided alkylation of unactivated C(sp3)-H bonds enabled by a 1,6-HAT/radical addition cascade is described. Not only structurally diverse Michael acceptors but also styrenes are amenable to this alkylation reaction. Notably, the N-H bonds activation radical relay refrained from prefunctionalization and using excess external oxidants.


Objective Primary motor (M1) cortical excitability alterations are involved in the development and maintenance of chronic pain. Less is known about M1-cortical excitability implications in the acute phase of an orthopedic trauma. This study aims to assess acute M1-cortical excitability in patients with an isolated upper limb fracture (IULF) in relation to pain intensity. Methods Eighty-four (56 IULF patients <14 days post-trauma and 28 healthy controls) performed a single transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) session over M1 (resting motor threshold (rMT); short-intracortical inhibition (SICI); intracortical facilitation (ICF); long-interval cortical inhibition (LICI)). IULF patients were divided into two subgroups according to pain intensity (mild versus moderate to severe pain). Results Reduced SICI and ICF were found in IULF patients with moderate to severe pain, whereas mild pain was not associated with M1 alterations. Age, sex, and time since the accident had no influence on TMS measures. Discussion These findings show altered M1 in the context of acute moderate to severe pain, suggesting early signs of altered GABAergic inhibitory and glutamatergic facilitatory activities.


A prominent and publicly influential literature challenges the quality of democratic decision making, drawing on political science findings with specific claims about the ubiquity of cognitive bias to lament citizens' incompetence. A competing literature in democratic theory defends the wisdom of crowds, drawing on a cluster of models in support of the capacity of ordinary citizens to produce correct outcomes. In this Letter, we draw on recent findings in psychology to demonstrate that the former literature is based on outdated and erroneous claims and that the latter is overly sanguine about the circumstances that yield reliable collective decision making. By contrast, "interactionist" scholarship shows how individual-level biases are not devastating for group problem solving, given appropriate conditions. This provides possible microfoundations for a broader research agenda similar to that implemented by Elinor Ostrom and her colleagues on common-good provision, investigating how different group structures are associated with both success and failure in democratic decision making. This agenda would have implications for both democratic theory and democratic practice.


a significant degree, charactensed by an intensively bureaucratic atmosphere In the past there has been ample time for politicians to initiate planned mterventions to alter these &dquo;cultural impediments&dquo; n the ILEA, but a considerable number of opportunities like this have been ignored, or bypassed This relative neglect of detailed organisational life among politicians is indicative of an attitude of mind that Oonagh McDonald's nterestng book only partially redresses


In magnetic topological phases of matter, the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is an emergent phenomenon driven by ferromagnetic doping, magnetic proximity effects and strain engineering. The realization of QAH states with multiple dissipationless edge and surface conduction channels defined by a Chern number $\mathcal{C}\geq1$ was foreseen for the ferromagnetically ordered SnTe class of topological crystalline insulators (TCIs). From magnetotransport measurements on Sn$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$Te ($0.00\leq{x}\leq{0.08}$)(111) epitaxial thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on BaF$_{2}$ substrates, hole mediated ferromagnetism is observed in samples with $x\geq0.06$ and the highest $T_\mathrm{c}\sim7.5\,\mathrm{K}$ is inferred from an anomalous Hall behavior in Sn$_{0.92}$Mn$_{0.08}$Te. The sizable anomalous Hall angle $\sim$0.3 obtained for Sn$_{0.92}$Mn$_{0.08}$Te is one of the greatest reported for magnetic topological materials. The ferromagnetic ordering with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, complemented by the inception of anomalous Hall effect in the Sn$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$Te layers for a thickness commensurate with the decay length of the top and bottom surface states, points at Sn$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$Te as a preferential platform for the realization of QAH states in ferromagnetic TCIs.


Structural integrity of solid rocket depends on the residual reactions between constituents of its composition(post cure, migration etc.), the oxygen(or anti-oxydent) in the free volume and humidity (desiccant) under the perfect sealed condition. Mechanical Properties of composite solid propellant arising from those factors are very complex. Moreover the propulsion are faced with thermal loads from diurnal & seasonal cycle till firing. In this study, the fast evaluation method of long term mechanical properties is suggested based on Thermo-Rheological Simplicity from curing oven to cool-down stage in view point of thermal stabilization. For this subject, endurance tester having temperature control capability are devised. From the results from incremental load and strain, non-linear characteristics are discussed.


This paper presents an upgraded, real world application oriented version of gym-gazebo, the Robot Operating System (ROS) and Gazebo based Reinforcement Learning (RL) toolkit, which complies with OpenAI Gym. The content discusses the new ROS 2 based software architecture and summarizes the results obtained using Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO). Ultimately, the output of this work presents a benchmarking system for robotics that allows different techniques and algorithms to be compared using the same virtual conditions. We have evaluated environments with different levels of complexity of the Modular Articulated Robotic Arm (MARA), reaching accuracies in the millimeter scale. The converged results show the feasibility and usefulness of the gym-gazebo 2 toolkit, its potential and applicability in industrial use cases, using modular robots.


Abstract Pinus nigra ARN. lectin (PNL) was isolated from protein bodies of European black pine seeds by affinity chromatography of protein bodies extract on GlcNAc- C -glycosylated Spheron 300 beads. In vitro tests confirmed that PNL has the ability to agglutinate rat erythrocytes, GlcNAc- C -glycosylated HEMA BIO 1000 microbeads and Trichoderma viride spores. Western blot immuno-assays using antibodies against PNL antigen demonstrated specificity of the antisera. Immuno dot assays with polyclonal antibody against the purified PNL exhibited strong cross reaction to both Scots pine and Norway spruce seed extracts but not to fungal cell wall extracts from either Heterobasidion annosum or Fusarium avenaceum or Phlebiopsis gigantea . The indirect immunofluorescence assay showed a strong interaction of PNL with hyphal materials of the necrotrophs ( H. annosum and F. avenaceum ). Results from immunolocalization experiments suggest that PNL is not degraded during seed germination and development since it was localized in all parts of juvenile pine seedlings. The protein was mainly observed on the cytoplasmic membranes and on the primary cell walls. In infected seedlings, a strong labelling of hyphal materials with PNL antisera was recorded only at the early stages of infection but not at the later stages of hyphal invasion. At advanced stages of the infection, most of the fungal hyphae were covered by host phenolic-like substances which probably masked the interaction of the antiserum with pathogen cell wall materials; hence the low labelling. The potential function of PNL as a recognition molecule during interaction of conifer trees with necrotrophic parasites is discussed.


Mentha arvensis Linn. leaves have been given to treat indigestion, skin diseases, coughs, rheumatic pains, arthritis and as remedy for inflamed joints. Above the pros, this research definitely was done. It deals with the study of phytochemical constituents, elemental analysis and antimicrobial activity of leaves of Mentha arvensis Linn. (Pudina). It is usually consumed as a vegetable. The phytochemical investigation of pudina indicated the presence of alkaloids, α-amino acid, flavonoids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, reducing sugar, saponins tannins and steroids whereas starch, organic acids and terpenoids were not detected. The qualitative elemental analysis showed that K, Ca, S, P, Fe, Mn, Ti, Zn, Cu, Rb and Br were present in sample by using EDXRF spectrophotometer. Antimicrobial activity was studied by agar well diffusion method against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Escherichia coli. Water extract did not show activity on all species of microorganisms. Ethanol extract of pudina leaves showed higher antimicrobial activity against than other extracts by tested organisms.


Abstract Scientists are beginning to have a firm grasp on the dramatic influence invasive earthworms can have on nutrient cycling in northern hardwood forests, yet a concrete understanding of their effects on plant communities is still needed. Towards this effort, we examined both the above and belowground plant communities, along with soil organic matter, pH, texture and light in Arnot Forest located in south central New York. Two transects were aligned parallel to previously defined gradients of earthworm density and were sampled in the spring and summer of 2008. We found plots codominated by multiple earthworm species decreased belowground seed abundance and species richness. Aboveground plant cover and diversity along with soil organic matter was lower along the transect with multiple earthworm species. In addition, we found earthworm density increased with soil pH, but did not detect relationships with soil texture or light intensity. Our results were consistent with previous findings of earthworms negatively affecting aboveground plant communities and soil organic matter, and increasing pH. Our study demonstrates the potential for exotic earthworms to dramatically alter forest soil seed banks; however, future research is needed to investigate complexities of earthworm community dynamics (e.g., number and life form of earthworm species) and to tease apart mechanisms responsible for changes in the belowground plant community.


The recent revival of popular interest in the idea of public morality has involved a striking divergence of opinion: there is widespread agreement that we must recover a language of civic virtue, but disagreement about the point of so doing. Some suppose that public morality should promote the good society, while others suppose that it should facilitate the prevention of catastrophe. While on the face of it this disagreement constitutes nothing more remarkable than a difference of temperament between optimists and pessimists, it reflects in fact a fundamental rift in the structure of political action, the denial of which has led to considerable confusion. The denial of a rift depends on the assumption of symmetry between the positive and negative political agendas of individuals and groups. This assumption in turn presupposes a dubious monistic model of political action that is unable to make sense of certain forms of tragic disappointment that are a familiar feature of political experience. Better sense can be made of these experiences by adopting instead a dualistic model of political action which conceives of the positive–negative distinction as being cut across by a more fundamental distinction between aspirational politics and preventive politics. Acknowledging this distinction illuminates debates about 'non-ideal' political theory and about the possibilities for a politics of hope in conditions of democratic pluralism. It also highlights an essential ambivalence as to the point of a public morality, which may undermine the enterprise of salvaging civic virtue as conventionally understood.


Inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate 5/6-kinase was purified 12,900-fold from calf brain using chromatography on heparin-agarose and affinity elution with inositol hexakisphosphate. The final preparation contained proteins of 48 and 36-38 kDa. All of these proteins had the same amino-terminal sequence and were enzymatically active. The smaller species represent proteolysis products with carboxyl-terminal truncation. The Kof the enzyme for inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate was 80 nM with a V of 60 nmol of product/min/mg of protein. The amino acid sequence of the tryptic peptide HSKLLARPAGGLVGERTCNAXP matched the protein sequence encoded by a human expressed sequence tag clone (GB T09063) at 16 of 22 residues. The expressed sequence tag clone was used to screen a human fetal brain cDNA library to obtain a cDNA clone of 1991 base pairs (bp) that predicts a protein of 46 kDa. The clone encodes the amino-terminal amino acid sequence obtained from the purified calf brain preparation, suggesting that it represents its human homologue. The cDNA was expressed as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli and was found to have inositol 1,3,4-trisphosphate 5/6-kinase activity. Remarkably, both the purified calf brain and recombinant proteins produced both inositol 1,3,4,6-tetrakisphosphate and inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate as products in a ratio of 2.3-5:1. This finding proves that a single kinase phosphorylates inositol in both the D5 and D6 positions. Northern blot analysis identified a transcript of 3.6 kilobases in all tissues with the highest levels in brain. The composite cDNA isolated contains 3054 bp with a poly(A) tail, suggesting that 500-600 bp of 5′ sequence remains to be identified.


Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are an example of new networks that are gaining more and more momentum because of their flexibility and easy deployment. Service execution is an important phase in the service life cycle. SIP servlets are a promising service provisioning framework for MANETs. However, MANETs are very challenging because of their characteristics (e.g. node heterogeneity, no permanent centralized entity, transient links). Using SIP servlets in MANETs requires distributing the servlet engine first, due to resource constraints. As the distributed components need to interact, a cooperation scheme including self-organization and self-recovery is needed. Overlay networks are an attractive approach to cooperation because of their scalability and flexibility. In this paper we propose an overlay network for a SIP servlets-based service execution environment in MANETs. We assume a servlet engine distribution scheme that we have proposed in previous work. The architecture of the overlay network and the related procedures are presented. Results of a formal validation using Promela/SPIN are discussed.


The autecology of the Zostera marina and Z. japonica was studied in populations growing in the same locality (Sagumi Bay, southwestern coast of Korea). Environmental factors and plant characteristics were examined monthly from August 2008 to September 2011. Along intertidal zone, Z. japonica (0.1-0.5 m above mean lower low water, MLLW) occurred above Z. marina (0.5-2.5 m MLLW). Tidal exposure at low tide during day was the highest in the spring and the lowest in the summer. Underwater Irradiance showed seasonal fluctuation that was the highest in spring and summer caused by tidal pattern. Strong seasonal patterns in water temperature appeared to control the seasonal variations in morphology, biomass and leaf growth. The seasonal pattern of Z. japonica resembled that of the Z. marina in morphological characteristics, above-and below-ground biomass, whereas it differed in shoot density and leaf elongation. Despite some similarities in seasonal growth patterns, the patterns of Z. japonica were lagged by 2 month of Z. marina. Seasonal variation in the above biomass of Z. marina was caused by changes in density and plant size, whereas that of Z. japonica was mainly caused by changes in shoot density. Zostera marina was more sensitive to high temperatures than Z. japonica, and the increasing water temperature during the summer became the factor that inhibits the growth of the Z. marina. Zostera Japonica, there is no clear change according to the amount of the light. It is because its habitat locates above that of Zostera marina so that the amount of the light that is necessary to growth is enough and in this condition, any preventing factor does not seem to work at all. Although underwater light getting into Zostera marina`s habitat is very low level and there is no any hindrance to the survival of them, it prevents them from their productivity a bit.


This work presents the development of a bandstop filter with a tunable response. Varactor diodes are used as control elements. Studies and investigations demonstrate the influence of the variable capacitance on the input admittance and on the S-parameters frequency responses of the proposed square-ring resonator geometry. The design of the square-ring resonator is based on mathematical modeling of ideal transmission lines, considering parameters of characteristic admittance and electrical length for odd and even excitation modes. Based on S-parameters in ports, an equivalent circuit model of the resonator geometry is presented. The corresponding results are compared with numerical simulations. Comparative analyses are presented in order to guide the process of optimizing the physical dimensions of the layout. A prototype with dimension 0.0272 λg2 was designed, fabricated, and tested. As a measured result, a filter with two rejection bands was obtained, the first at 0.6–1.15 GHz and the second at 1.71–2.28 GHz, with 63.0 and 29.0% tuning range, respectively. In comparison with bandstop filters from the literature, the proposed reconfigurable filter presents a larger tuning range for the first band, sufficient inband rejection levels for several applications, and reduced physical dimensions. The proposed configuration is an attractive reconfigurable filtering device for use in modern communication systems operating below 3.0 GHz.


The fecal Fusobacterium nucleatum has been reported as a potential noninvasive biomarker for colorectal tumor in several studies, but its exact diagnostic accuracy was ambiguous due to the wide range of sensitivity and specificity. To assess the diagnostic accuracy of fecal F. nucleatum for colorectal tumor, we searched electronic databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science, without any date and language restrictions. Two reviewers independently extracted data and appraised study quality with Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies. We included ten studies comprising 13 cohorts for colorectal cancer (CRC) and seven cohorts for colorectal adenoma (CRA). A total of 1450 patients and 1421 controls for CRC and 656 patients and 827 controls for CRA were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of fecal F. nucleatum for CRC were 71% (95% CI, 61%‐79%) and 76% (95% CI, 66%‐84%), with the area under the receiver‐operating characteristics (AUC) curve of 0.80 (95% CI, 0.76‐0.83). The pooled sensitivity and specificity of fecal F. nucleatum for CRA were 36% (95% CI, 27%‐46%) and 73% (95% CI, 65%‐79%), with an AUC of 0.60 (95% CI, 0.56‐0.65). Substantial heterogeneity among studies existed, which was partly caused by DNA extraction kits, regions of study, sample size, and demographic characteristics of participants. Fecal F. nucleatum was valuable for the diagnosis of CRC although it performed below expectation. For CRA, the specificity of fecal F. nucleatum indicated the possibility of noninvasive screening. Subgroup analyses for adenoma were incomplete due to lack of data. Heterogeneity limited the credibility of the study.


Living organisms adapt to challenges through evolution. This has proven to be a key difficulty in developing therapies, since the organisms evolve resistance.I propose the wild idea of steering evolution strategically — using computational game theory for (typically incomplete-information) multistage games and opponent exploitation techniques. A sequential contingency plan for steering evolution is constructed computationally for the setting at hand. In the biological context, the opponent (e.g., a disease) has a systematic handicap because it evolves myopically. This can be exploited by computing trapping strategies that cause the opponent to evolve into states where it can be handled effectively. Potential application classes include therapeutics at the population, individual, and molecular levels (drug design), as well as cell repurposing and synthetic biology.


Philosophy in general is defined as the theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle for an enriched life. Since time immemorial, many notable scholars have guided humanity towards leading a nourished and fulfilling life through their philosophical preaching and writings and were used by as benchmarks many in their day-to-day life. With the passage of time, Philosophy has taken strides and has evolved majorly to touch the human race irrespective of their caste, race, color, creed, region, etc. and is presently a major contributor for a better world. An extension of this subject is the Logic Based Therapy (LBT) which is slowly but surely is gaining grounds in today's world and is being used as a proficient tool to enhance the value of an individual's life by tackling his erroneous thoughts, also called fallacies in philosophical terms and to bring him on track towards a better existence. Hence, Logic-Based-Therapy (LBT) is fundamentally a philosophical therapy as it makes use of the philosophical wisdom from antiquity, transforming them into antidotes and ultimately using these potent antidotes to treat the cardinal fallacies. Till date, LBT has been the domain of Western philosophical antidotes but Indian philosophy also has an immense plethora of insights to offer in this area. The Sanskrit word for Philosophy is 'Darshan' which means 'Vision'. Indian Philosophy is considered as the vision of the wise and learned people and it becomes even more relevant as it embeds the potential to make our lives qualitatively better. Hence, the ultimate aim of Indian Philosophy is to be a guide for humanity and lead them towards the path of leading a 'good and meaningful life' whilst overcoming our fallacies and issues in our daily lives mainly through the preaching and writings of some great Indian philosophers. The current paper is an attempt at constructing such useful Indian Philosophical antidotes from the ideas of some of the most prominent contemporary Indian Philosophers like Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Lokamanya Tilak, Gopal Agarkar and J. Krishnamurti. The main focus being the key aspects of these philosopher's ideas that are relevant in addressing the cardinal fallacies and strengthening/promoting the corresponding transcendental virtues.


During the 1970s, the predominant strategy of protest policing shifted from 'escalated force' and repression of protesters to one of 'negotiated management' and mutual cooperation with protesters. Following the failures of negotiated management at the 1999 World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle, law enforcement quickly developed a new social control strategy, referred to here as 'strategic incapacitation'. The US police response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks quickened the pace of police adoption of this new strategy, which emphasizes the goals of 'securitizing society' and isolating or neutralizing the sources of potential disruption. These goals are accomplished through (1) the use of surveillance and information sharing as a way to assess and monitor risks, (2) the use of pre-emptive arrests and less-lethal weapons to selectively disrupt or incapacitate protesters that engage in disruptive protest tactics or might do so, and (3) the extensive control of space in order to isolate and contain disruptive protesters actual or potential. In a comparative fashion, this paper examines the shifts in United States policing strategies over the last 50 years and uses illustrative cases from national conventions, the global justice movement and the anti-war movement to show how strategic incapacitation has become a leading social control strategy used in the policing of protests since 9/11. It concludes by identifying promising questions for future research.


Taxation is accepted as a fact of modern life, despite recurring political conflict over the nature and direction of fiscal policies. Most financiers regard obligations issued by the state as a safe investment option. Neither taxation nor state obligations were taken for granted during much of the history of public finance, however, at least not before the early 1800s. The 'tax state' developed in fits and starts, driven by the exigencies of warfare, which provided the main rationale for raising state income. Although wartime fiscal innovations eventually facilitated the rise of an efficient military state, the options available for implementing such improvements and preferences for specific fiscal or financial instruments varied greatly across early modern states. Focusing on the 'long' eighteenth century, this introduction presents a framework for assessing these differences and introduces the other articles in this special issue.


Cholelithiasis is rare in children and even more so in infants. We report the case of a 3-month-old patient with cholestatic jaundice secondary to an obstruction of the terminal portion of the bile duct. The treatment applied in this patient was a cholecystectomy with trans-cystic cholangiography and common bile duct clearance. The evolution was excellent. The current literature on biliary lithiasis in children and infants is poor in large cohort studies. The various treatments proposed, if necessary, include biliary lavage by percutaneous puncture, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with sphincterotomy and laparoscopic or open cholecystectomy with intraoperative cholangiography. None of these procedures has shown superiority over the others. Therefore, no treatment algorithm is currently defined. Patients are treated on a case-by-case basis according to their symptoms, previous history and the level of expertise of each centre for these rare, difficult and specific procedures.


Active packaging is one of the most innovative alternatives for food preservation in the food industry. Supercritical Solvent Impregnation (SSI) of natural extracts is one of the most pioneering approaches among the different techniques that have been employed to develop active packaging. This thesis intends to determine the most suitable conditions to produce food-grade multilayer active PET/PP films (polyethylene terephthalate/polypropylene) impregnated with a particular olive leaf extract (OLE) that provides the packaging material with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The process should guarantee that the mechanical properties of the untreated polymer remain relatively unaltered, so that it can be used for food preservation purposes.
To be used as an active substance, the olive leaf extract must have high bioactivity levels. For this reason, by means of the reaction with the reagent 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH assay), the most favourable conditions to obtain the extract were determined according to their antioxidant capacity. Subsequently, the extract's antibacterial capacity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enteritidis was investigated, as well as the phenolic profile analysed by means of UHPLC-ESI-QToF-MS.
In order to determine the most convenient conditions for the impregnation of OLE, several parameters such as pressure (100–400 bar), temperature (35 and 55 °C), depressurization rate (1 and 100 bar/min), time (5 and 30 min, and 1, 2, 5 and 22 h), the co-solvent percentage (1–7%) (v/v) in the impregnation vessel and the ratio active substance/polymer (0.1–1) have been evaluated. After being impregnated, the active properties acquired by the films were studied and compared with those of the initial extract. The results revealed that despite the low level of impregnation obtained, if compared to the impregnation levels reached when other active substances were used, the antioxidant capacity of the films obtained is high enough as to play a role in food preservation.
Regarding the chemical characterization, oleuropein and luteolin-7-glucoside were the main phenolic compounds in both the extracts and the impregnated matrices. 400 bar, 35 °C, 1 hour and 100 bar/min of depressurization were established as the best impregnation conditions for bath mode. It was observed that the matrix had a higher concentration and a wider variety of OLE compounds. Regarding co-solvent characteristics, the highest AO capacity and polyphenol loading were found in films impregnated when 7% co-solvent and a 1/1 OLE/polymer ratio were used, where c.a. 5 mg AO/g film and 60 μg total polyphenols/g film were achieved. Under such conditions, the antimicrobial capacity of impregnated OLE films against E. coli, S. aureus and S. enteritidis was evaluated. A decrease in growth inhibition with respect to that found in crude OLE was observed, except in the case of P. aeruginosa, against which inhibition increased.
Although the bioactivity of the film after impregnation was evident, the integrity of the film after impregnation must be ensured. Supercritical conditions, despite using relatively low temperature, apply high pressures that may damage polymer structure. The impact that pressure, temperature, CO2 flow and the presence of OLE had on the properties of the films were evaluated for films produced either by batch mode (BM) or by semi-continuous mode (SM). The process temperature changed some of the thermal properties of the films. While at 35 °C the crystallinity of PP layer decreased, at 55 °C PET's glass transition temperature (Tg) went up. This was due to the CO2 sorption by each polymer under those conditions. With regards to pressure, high levels affected only the PP layer, decreasing its crystallinity. Higher pressure levels favoured impregnation when BM was used, whereas different impregnation trends were found when SM was employed. Although the films' physical properties were not compromised after their impregnation, the CO2 stream used for SM slightly weakened the impregnated films. Overall, none of the impregnation conditions in this study affected the integrity of the impregnated films. According to the results obtained, 400 bar and 35°C using BM were the most favourable conditions to produce films with a highly antioxidant properties while their structure modifications could be considered as negligible.
This type of active packaging does not necessarily have to be compatible with all kinds of food. The study of migration into food simulants is used as a previous step to their implementation to actual food. This would let us to evaluate what kinds of food are more appropriate for active packaging. This study demonstrated that lipid-rich food would be the best to extract impregnated compounds, followed by food with a pH higher than 4.5, such as vegetables and some fruits. Therefore, active packaging should serve its purpose more successfully with those products, while those with pH < 4.5 would hardly extract any impregnated compounds from active films.
Based on these results, and as a final step to prove the efficacy of impregnated films for food preservation, two packaging assays were carried out with real food. In the first one, the antioxidant capacity provided by the wrapping impregnated film was assessed by evaluating lipid oxidation of roasted peeled sunflower seeds during storage. The samples wrapped up with impregnated films showed significantly lower peroxide values during storage than the sunflower seeds that were unpacked or wrapped up with non-impregnated films. In the second experiment, the antimicrobial capacity of the films was proved for cherry tomato preservation. The tomatoes wrapped up with impregnated films showed lower microbial growth and exhibited a 20-day longer shelf life than tomatoes packed with non-impregnated films.
It was, therefore, demonstrated that active packaging could be implemented using supercritical technology in combination with natural extracts. This provided the resulting films with their intrinsic characteristics, such as the antioxidant and antimicrobial capacities that play an active role in food preservation.


Objective The aim and objective of this article is to focus on the importance of the rational use of plant protection products to combat vine fungi and at the same time reduce their risks to human health and the environment. The integrated management of fungal diseases aims to achieve the development of healthy crops with the minimum alteration of agro-ecosystems and the promotion of natural mechanisms. Material and methods The study was carried out in one vineyard in Ribeira Sacra (North-West Spain) during 2018. Souto vineyard is located at 438 m above mean sea level (42° 24' 27.67" N 7° 28' 20.06" W; northwest-southeast orientation) in the lower terraces of the river Sil's banks, following the contour lines and with gradients of up to 80%. The variety studied was Godello, for sampling the reproductive structures in the air (spores of Botrytis and Erysiphe and sporangia of Plasmopara), a Lanzoni VPPS-2000® spore trap (Lanzoni s.r.l., Bologna, Italy) was used. Results The Botrytis Seasonal Spore Integral (SSIn) was markedly higher than for the other pathogens under consideration. Taking into account the maximum daily values, a clear dominance of Botrytis spores was also found, with a maximum of 397 spores/m3 at the beginning of June, while Erysiphe and Plasmopara were recorded at around 26 and 227 spores/m3, respectively, at the beginning of august and mid-July. The statistical analysis of the spore concentrations and the main meteorological variables showed for Erysiphe that the highest Spearman's r correlation coefficient corresponded to the rainfall, as for Plasmopara airbone sporangia, but with a negative sign, while for Botrytis spores, no significant correspondence was found for any meteorological parameter. Conclusion The use of plant protection products can be much more effective if fungicides are applied at the right time, at the precise doses and combined with agricultural techniques of management of the vineyards. There are sustainable and profitable alternatives that can improve vine yields while protecting the environment in areas of heroic viticulture where the vineyard, is a fundamental element of the wine-growing landscape, combining as it does historical, cultural and landscape characteristics.


During pregnancy, a couple may benefit from discussing sexuality concerns with a nurse. Couples indicate they do not receive this support, and frequently nurses state they do not have the knowledge, time, or skills to provide patient education regarding sexuality. The PLISSIT model provides a framework for developing and implementing interventions to assist clients in maintaining their sexual relationship throughout the childbearing experience.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

The mainstay of HER2+ breast cancer treatment has been monoclonal antibody therapy with Trastuzumab, a humanized antibody that targets HER-2. However, the efficacy of Trastuzumab monotherapy is only 10-15%. Therefore, strategies are being developed to enhance its therapeutic efficacy. Our previous study demonstrated that stimulation of NK cells with an anti-CD137 agonistic mAb enhanced Trastuzumab-mediated Antibody Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC). Anti-CD137 agonistic mAb enhanced anti-breast cancer activity of Trastuzumab in vivo in a xenotransplanted human breast cancer model (Kohrt et al. J Clin. Invest, 2012, 22:3). We have developed a treatment regimen consisting of sequential administration of Trastuzumab followed by CD137 antibody as three weekly injections. This regimen demonstrated more potent antitumor activity than administration of anti-CD137 mAb followed by Trastuzumab. Our combination therapy was superior to Traztuzumab alone in a primary HER2-overexpressing-breast tumor xenotransplant model but was ineffective in low HER-2 expressing breast cancer model. Next, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of FDA approved antibody drug conjugate Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1) in combination with CD137 antibody. We used HER2 over-expressing HER18 xenograft model and an SU-258 primary breast cancer model in our studies. Following tumor inoculation, mice received either T-DM1 on day 3 (for HER18 xenograft), or day 30 (for SU-258) and anti-CD137 antibody on day 4(or HER18) or day 31(for SU-258) with each treatment repeated weekly for a total of three weeks. Sequential antibody strategy with T-DM1 and CD137 significantly improved survival compared to T-DM1 alone or with Trastuzumab and CD137 antibody. Our results demonstrate that T-DM1 retains its potency and demonstrates synergistic activity with anti-CD137 mAb therapy against HER2-overexpressing breast cancer models. Our results support a novel, sequential antibody approach against HER-2+breast cancer, by targeting first the tumor with an antibody drug conjugate and then the host immune system. Clinical investigations are now planned to determine the clinical outcome of our immunotherapy strategy.

Citation Format: Suparna Dutt, Narendiran Rajasekaran, Aurelien Marabelle, Roch Houot, Mohith Sadaram, Jonathan Hebb, Idit Sagiv-Barfi, Sid Ambulkar, Amanda Rajapaksa, Cariad Chester, Erin Waller, Holbrook Kohrt. Sequential tumor and immune targeted immunotherapy: Anti-tumor activity of antibody drug conjugate Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1) with CD137 stimulation in HER-2+ breast cancer therapy. [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 2466. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2466


Esophageal cancer has a poor prognosis and high mortality rate, with an estimated 16,910 new cases and 15,910 deaths projected in 2016 in the United States. Squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma account for more than 95% of esophageal cancers. Squamous cell carcinoma is more common in nonindustrialized countries, and important risk factors include smoking, alcohol use, and achalasia. Adenocarcinoma is the predominant esophageal cancer in developed nations, and important risk factors include chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease, obesity, and smoking. Dysphagia alone or with unintentional weight loss is the most common presenting symptom, although esophageal cancer is often asymptomatic in early stages. Physicians should have a low threshold for evaluation with endoscopy if any symptoms are present. If cancer is confirmed, integrated positron emission tomography and computed tomography should be used for initial staging. If no distant metastases are found, endoscopic ultrasonography should be performed to determine tumor depth and evaluate for nodal involvement. Localized tumors can be treated with endoscopic mucosal resection, whereas regional tumors are treated with esophagectomy, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, or a combination of modalities. Nonresectable tumors or tumors with distant metastases are treated with palliative interventions. Specific prevention strategies have not been proven, and there are no recommendations for esophageal cancer screening.


The purpose of this study was to identify major factors on pirouette in ballet, and especially angle, Center of Mass(CM) & muscle activity aspects. The data were collected by using Motion Analysis System with 12 cameras to analyze kinematic variables with 120 Hz and Electromyography(EMG; 4,000 Hz) & Force Platform(1,000 Hz) to analyze kinetic variables. The subjects of this study were 8 female ballet dancers. The results as follow. First of all, full extension of knee joint and full plantar flexion of ankle joint appeared at the similar point. Secondly, in the rotational phase, total movement of segments in Good motion is smaller than that of Bad motion(in Good motion, head movement 2.70 cm, right shoulder movement 0.72 cm, left shoulder 4.26 cm, left wrist 17.4 mm smaller than Bad motion). Third, CoP distance of Good motion is 11.76 mm, and CoP distance of Bad motion is 11.76 mm, so Good motion is 5.98 mm smaller). Lastly, Pirouette need more retus femur activity than gastrocnemius activity in extention phase and rotation phase of support leg.


In this study, the output regulation problem of multi-agent systems in fixed topologies is analysed. The agents studied are identical general linear systems that aim at tracking a desired trajectory in presence of certain determinate disturbances. Under a mild assumption that the augmented communication topology has a spanning tree, a distributed control law based on relative output measurements between the agents and state measurements within the agent itself is proposed. It is shown that this output regulation problem can be solved if a Riccati equation with parameters has a positive definite symmetric solution. Moreover, by parameter determination of this Riccati equation, we find that the lower bound of the second smallest eigenvalue associated with the augmented graph Laplacian of the communication topology is of great importance on both the stability property and the convergence rate. A lower bound for this eigenvalue is given for N -node graphs.


Purpose: To determine the rate of congruence and to standardize assessment of US (ultrasound) phantom images with the use of an ATS-539 multipurpose phantom for US equipment currently utilized in Korea Materials and Methods: US phantom images were scanned with a 3.0-5.0 MHz convex transducer and were digitized by use of an analogue-digital converter. Members of a committee with consent evaluated the US phantom images from 108 types of ultrasound equipment. The dead zone, vertical and horizontal measurement, axial/lateral resolution, focal zone, sensitivity, functional resolution and gray scale/dynamic range were evaluated. Congruence or incongruence of ultrasound equipment was determined based on the results of dead zone, axial/lateral resolution and gray scale/dynamic range measurements. Other factors were evaluated for the possibility as criteria with the use of the Mann-Whitney U test and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: The dead zone, axial/lateral resolution and gray scale/dynamic range were 91.7%, 94.4% and 76.9%, respectively, for suitable US equipment. Considering all three factors, 78 types of ultrasound equipment were passed. The congruence rate of focal zone and functional resolution were 62.4% and 69.3% of the US equipment, respectively. Conclusion: Of the US equipment, 72.2% of the equipment was acceptable based on the dead zone, axial/lateral resolution, and gray scale/dynamic range measurements as determined with the use of an ATS-539 phantom. Focal zone and 8 mm-functional resolution can be useful as a standard in the assessment of a US phantom image.


Introduction: Early puberty is defined by development of secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 8 years in girls and 9 years in boys. In the West, one in five children out of 100,000 is concerned. Little information on sub-Saharan African patients exists concerning this pathology. Objective: To determine the etiology and clinical characteristics of early puberty in a cohort of Ivorian children. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between 2015 and 2017 in children admitted to early puberty in the unique Endocrinology Service of the country. The epidemiology and clinical characteristics were assessed. Results: The eight patients involved were all females. Their mean age at diagnosis was 7 years and 3 months and the mean age of first symptoms begun at 5 years and 6 months. Seven patients had a central precocious puberty (CPP) including five cases of idiopathic CPP (ICPP) treated by (GnRH agonist) and two cases with secondary precocious puberty (SPP). One of them has a hypothalamic hamartoma and the other a sequelae of encephalopathy. The last case had a peripheral precocious puberty (PPP) causes by ovarian dystrophy. Conclusion: Our results confirm the predominance of idiopathic central precocious puberty particularly in girls.


Background: Nurses suffer from sleep disorders. Sleep disorders will lead to listlessness and distractibility, and interfere with people's normal working state. Effective methods upon nurses sleep quality should identify. The purpose of this study was determining the efficacy of progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) upon nurses sleeping quality. Methods: The current research was an experimental study with pre-test and post-test design with the control group. The statistical population consisted of all nurses in Imam Sajad hospital in Ramsar 2017 (N=120). In this way, 40 nurses who were in the test of the quality of sleep score above five were randomly selected and randomly divided into two groups. For data gathering, Pittsburgh sleeps quality questionnaire and PMR instruction used. It was used multivariate covariance analysis (MANCOVA) to analysis data by SPSS-22. Results: The findings of this study showed that PMR instruction is useful for nurses' sleep quality. Also, there is a significant difference between experimental and control groups after the intervention, so that the mean scores of the experimental group were improved significantly compared to the control group (P<0.0001). Conclusion: According to results, PMR instruction can improve the sleep quality and other variables related to sleep problems of nurses. Therefore, it can be used in nursing programs to improve their sleep quality


This paper utilizes the parsimonious multiple regression model developed by Musa (2005) to investigate the dividend policy of a cross-section of 53 firms quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) during the period 1993 to 2002. The model employs five metric variables-previous dividend, current earnings, cash flow, investment and net current assets, and three non-metric variables- growth, firm size and industry classification, in order to explain as well as predict the dividend policy of quoted firms in Nigeria. The empirical results reveal that the five metric variables have significant aggregate impact on the dividend policy of the quoted firms. However, three of the variables- current earnings (E), previous dividend [DIVi (t-1)] and cash flow (CF), have been found to be robust in the model. Finally, the tests find that none of the three non-metric variables provides a statistically significant improvement to the base model.

 Key words: Dividend policy, Nigerian stock exchange, survivorship bias.


This article considers the role and contribution of the governance systems and institutional structures in the four countries of interest and how these systems and structures responded to the most recent economic and financial crisis. It first presents briefly the type and mix of policies these countries adopted and implemented in their attempt to alleviate the adverse effects of the economic and financial crisis of 2008. It then assesses whether the quality of governance systems and institutional structures played a role in the degree to which the mix of policies adopted and implemented were successful. It appears that the policy responses to the crisis may have been strongly influenced by the state of sophistication of institutional structures and quality of governance systems in place at the start, and throughout the crisis.


It is possible to use the ultrasound technique in the veterinary andrology. Important results of that method may increase the evidence of the clinical examination of the male genital organs. To make sure that no harm may effect the sperm cells, ejaculates of bulls and boars were exposed to pulsed ultrasound (5 MHz/0,140 mW) up to 120 minutes. It was confirmed that this technique has no influence on sperm cell motility and morphology.


ARID3 transcription factors are expressed in the nervous system, but their functions and mechanisms of action are largely unknown. Here, we generated in vivo a genome-wide binding map for CFI-1, the sole C. elegans ARID3 ortholog. We identified 6,396 protein-coding genes as putative direct targets of CFI-1, most of which (77%) are expressed in post-mitotic neurons and encode terminal differentiation markers (e.g., neurotransmitter receptors, ion channels, neuropeptides). To gain mechanistic insights, we focused on two neuron types. In sensory neurons (IL2 class), CFI-1 exerts a dual role: it acts directly to activate, and indirectly to repress, distinct terminal differentiation genes. In motor neurons, however, CFI-1 acts directly as a repressor, continuously antagonizing three transcriptional activators (UNC-3/Ebf, LIN-39/Hox4-5, MAB-5/Hox6-8). By focusing on a glutamate receptor gene (glr-4/GRIK1), we found CFI-1 exerts its repressive activity through proximal binding to the glr-4 locus. Further, the core DNA binding domain of CFI-1 is partially required for glr-4 repression in motor neurons. Altogether, this study uncovers cell context-dependent mechanisms through which a single ARID3 protein controls the terminal differentiation of distinct neuron types.


This is a letter from the Charles B. Moore Collection. It is written by Birdie McGee. In this letter, McGee informs the Moore family of the goings-on in Gallatin, Tennessee. The news includes: updates on the weather and the condition of the wells, details about the school house burning down, news about family and events, and a dialogue about Mary Dodd's letter. McGee closes the letter by mentioning that Linnet should write to her as well as Charles, Mary Ann, and Aunt Mollie. She encloses Mary Dodd's letter with her own and details that it may be of interest to Linnet.


Do you have
to be afraid of controversial programs when advertising? The influence of sponsorship
vignette context, awareness and controversial TV program viewers' loyalty on
purchase intent

Marketers use different influencing
techniques such as non-standard forms of advertising to reduce ad avoidance. Sponsorship
vignette is one of such nonstandard types of advertising. Despite the
advantages of this form of advertising, advertisers are afraid of placing vignettes
in the context of popular but controversial programs on lifestyle channels due
to the presence of content (e.g. reports from autopsy, consequences of heroin
addiction etc.) that can evoke negative emotions. Advertisers claimed that
placing their sponsorship vignettes in the context of such controversial
programs would reduce their performance understood as viewers' willingness to
purchase the advertised product. Two studies were conducted in the field of
hedonic and utilitarian product categories to support or challenge the concerns
of advertisers (n = 222, n = 219). The reported studies focused on the
influence of loyalty toward program content, sponsorship vignette awareness and
context type (congruent vs. incongruent) on the purchase intent for the
sponsorship vignette in hedonic (Study 1) and utilitarian (Study 2) product
categories. The results contradict marketers' fears that the sponsorship
vignette placed in an incongruent context of controversial program content will be less
effective. In the case of hedonic and utilitarian product, the concern turned
out to be unfounded. The context type had no significant impact on purchase
intent. However, results show a positive effect of loyalty toward programs. Viewers
loyal to the program showed a higher purchase intent than disloyal viewers.
Moreover, viewers who knew the sponsorship vignette from TV before the survey were
more eager to buy a hedonic product. This effect did not occur in the case of
utilitarian products.


In this project was made the process to get a biomaterial with properties of superficial protection of iron, with shell nut oil from India (Anacardium occidentale) it is known in the literature as Cashew Net Shell Liquid - CNSL. This biomaterial gets a shell that protects the nut, and this one has caustic oil, which is known as cardol. This substance also has excellent inhibitory characteristics of the iron corrosion, also contains phenols, they are known because of their antioxidants properties on new and rusted superficies, it has good accession and finished, also has an appropriate chemical resistance and outdoor resistance. This CNSL can be obtained through an extraction process with organic solvents. In this project the CNSL extraction was made with different phases and they are: shell grinded, oil extraction with linden acetate, and oil distillation. After this is done, were made some examples of blue steel. Then, we get results that show the quality or an anticorrosive property from the extraction of the shell nut from India, also we show the different ways that we can use it, as they are often discarded. In this way we can show that the anticorrosive we get, it is able to protect pieces of metal what are exposed to an atmospherics tropical condition.


Videos and movies are important sources of information in the entertainment and learning form, having great power to affect us, perceptually, cognitively and emotionally. By integrating various media like image, sound and text along time, they are very rich and they are becoming pervasive on the Internet and interactive TV, increasing the need for new and powerful ways to access, browse and view them. Interactive visualization techniques have the potential to help handling with this rich but complex information: both the time when they were released, and the time along which their contents are weaved, in each movie. In previous work we have presented visualizations that allow the access to the movies released over a certain period of time based on genres and rankings, and to overview and browse movies based on their contents represented with tag clouds. In this paper, we explore the movies through visual representations of the different aspects of their contents, especially image, audio, and subtitles, with a focus on emotions. This approach has the ultimate goal of providing overviews, and browsing mechanisms based on interactive visualizations that may provide insights in analytical or more ludic uses, that may be efficient in conveying and accessing information, and are also easy, funny and aesthetical.


Sulawesi, the largest island of Wallacea, Indonesia, supports a rich and distinctive avifauna that includes 10 endemic genera and 41 species (White & Bruce 1986, Coates & Bishop in press). Among the least known of these endemics is Heinrich's Nightjar Eurostopodus diabolicus (Caprimulgidae) (or Diabolical and/or Satanic Nightjar in some recent literature), known previously only from the unique type (Stresemann 1931, 1940). We now report its rediscovery and field observations.


Given that there has been so much talk recently about the rise of the 'Asian century' and of a need for young Australians to gain—through their formal education—a 'global passport' to travel and work anywhere in the world, it is truly alarming to learn that language education is shrinking within our schools and universities. There has been a decline in the diversity of languages being taught, less requirement for students to learn non-English languages, and a surprising shift back from Asian to European languages in many schools and universities. Furthermore, university academics working in the fields of languages and culture education often decry the fact that there tends to be an instrumental interest in learning another language because this obscures the fact that languages reflect different cultures and ways of seeing the world.


The nature of the interdependence of political ideologies and parties is considered. The content of ideological bases of the Russian multiparty system at the stage of its formation in the beginning of 1990s is revealed.


The two long-chain alkylamines RO 31-4493 and RO 31-4639 inhibit in a concentration-dependent manner the zymosan-induced release of arachidonic acid, the conversion of arachidonic acid into thromboxane, prostaglandin E2 and D2 and the uptake and incorporation of exogenously added arachidonate into membrane lipids of liver macrophages. The generation of superoxide and the formation of inositol phosphates is not influenced by both agents. These results suggest a rather specific interaction of RO 31-4493 and RO 31-4639 with enzymes involved in the cellular metabolism of arachidonic acid.


Though the recent process of globalisation of international markets succeeded in sustaining the economic growth of the countries that actively participated in this process, the available empirical evidence suggests that it was accompanied by a world-wide increase of environmental degradation and economic inequality. Therefore, there is a growing concern that these features of the globalisation process may jeopardise its social and environmental sustainability. Both environmental and social dimensions of sustainability played a central role in the definition of sustainable development as originally suggested by the Brundtland Commission. The ensuing literature, however, focused almost exclusively on the environmental aspects of sustainability. This paper intends to develop the original, more comprehensive, approach to sustainable development in order to get a deeper understanding of the role that globalisation played and could play in achieving social and environmental sustainability. In particular, it is here investigated how the process of globalisation may affect the relationship between per capita income on one side and inequality (Kuznets curve) or environmental deterioration (environmental Kuznets curve) on the other side. From the analysis carried forward in the paper, some remarks are drawn on a few basic conditions for sustainable globalisation.


U.S. secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced on 26 July the establishment of a national committee to guide U.S. implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The Interior Department is seeking nominations of people interested in serving on the committee, which will be convened as a new federal advisory group. The initiative calls on governments to publicly disclose revenues from oil, gas, and mining assets and for companies to make disclosures about payments. U.S. president Barack Obama announced the commitment of the United States to participate in this initiative as part of the U.S. National Action Plan for the International Open Government Partnership.


Traditional architecture, which has evolved in harmony with the natural environment and the rhythms of a daily life far removed from industrialised society, is inspiring new interest throughout the world. Nowhere is more deserving of this attention than the islands of the Indonesian archipelago, whose huge range of peoples and terrain have produced the most extraordinary vernacular building. Characteristic of many Indonesian architectural styles are village houses raised on stilts, posts and pillars beautifully carved and painted with images of guardian spirits and ancestors, animal and human figures, spirals, and floral and geometric patterning. In many communities the house is regarded as a spiritual entity, whose construction involves many rituals and superstitions. It forms the focal point for community, ancestry and social standing. Barry Dawson and John Gillow's firsthand research provides the basis for this detailed examination of the history, traditions, materials and techniques of Indonesian vernacular building, which analyses the predominant types of each island and how they relate to the architectural needs of the present and future. Supported by historical photographs, drawings, and nearly 200 photographs, the authors portray the enormous diversity of traditional style to be found, from the dignity and grandeur of the Minangkabau houses of Sumatra to the imposing solidity of the Dayak communal longhouses, Java's rich legacy of Hindu-Buddhism or the humble haystack houses of the Antoni of Timor. Barry Dawson and John Gillow worked together on "Traditional Indonesian Textiles" (Thames and Hudson, 1992). John Gillow is also the author, with Nicholas Barnard, of "Traditional Indian Textiles" (Thames and Hudson, 1993).


Author(s): Finn, David Ryan | Advisor(s): Coe, Robert S | Abstract: Large-volume explosive volcanic eruptions from the Bruneau-Jarbidge region of southwestern Idaho are thought to have impacted mid-Miocene environments across continental USA and probably perturbated global climate. They are recorded by widely dispersed tephras and a proximal succession of welded rhyolitic ignimbrites known as the Cougar Point Tuffs (CPT). Ignimbrite successions similar to the CPT in age, chemistry, and physical characteristics are present along both the southern and northern margins of the central Snake River Plain (cSRP). Identification of individual eruption-units spanning between distant locations is essential to understand the true scale and frequency of volcanism. Fortunately, the CPT record an unusual pattern of geomagnetic field directions that provides the basis for robust stratigraphic correlations. Paleomagnetic characterization of eruption-units based on geomagnetic field variation has a resolution on the order of a few centuries or less, providing the means for strong tests of whether two deposits could have been emplaced from the same eruption or from temporally separate events. In this thesis, I present paleomagnetic, geochemical, mineralogical, and geochronologic evidence for correlation of the CPT eastward to the Brown's Bench escarpment (6 common eruption-units) and Cassia Mountains (3 common eruption-units) regions of southern Idaho. The new stratigraphy presented here significantly reduces the frequency and increases the scale of known cSRP ignimbrite eruptions. Individual ignimbrite cooling-units, however, display significant variation of magnetic remanence directions and other magnetic properties. This complicates paleomagnetic correlation. The ignimbrites are intensely welded and exhibit mylonite-like flow-banding produced by rheomorphic ductile shear during emplacement, prior to cooling below magnetic blocking temperatures. This results in a large anisotropy of thermal remanent magnetization, which in turn results in large deflections of the stable remanence direction. To obtain reliable paleomagnetic directions, the anisotropy of anhysteretic remanence was measured in the CPT to correct for magnetic anisotropy. In addition to magnetic anisotropy, the strong preferential alignment of anisotropic grains results in the acquisition of a significant component of gyroremanence (GRM) during alternating field demagnetization. The accepted method proposed by Dankers and Zjiderveld (1981) for excluding GRM affected measurements requires nearly triple the amount of lab work, and by consequence, is almost never regularly implemented on large batches of samples. Here, I present a laboratory procedure and subsequent analysis (SI method) that removes the effects of GRM in static AF demagnetization without requiring extra laboratory work.


Summary Diagnostic reference levels (DRL) were introduced in Germany by a publication in the Bundesanzeiger Nr. 143 from August 5, 2003. Thereby a recommendation of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) from 1996 and a demand by the EU Guideline 97/43/EURATOM from 1997 is converted into national law. Aim of this paper is to acquaint with and to justify the determined DRL as well as to provide information on the practical use of the concept of the DRL. Material and method: DRL were established by experts on the basis of a national survey conducted in hospitals and private practices as well as of national and international recommendations and published by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection. Besides the data basis the dosimetric principles are described for the estimation of the effective doses of the various examinations. Results: DRL were established for 10 frequent and dose-relevant examinations constituting more than 80% of all nuclear medicine examinations currently performed in Germany. For some examinations two different DRL were given to take into account clinical conditions. For paediatric examinations fractions of the activities to be administered to adults are given dependent on the body weight. Discussion: The published DRL are in agreement with the majority of national and international recommendations and with the present practice of nuclear medicine examinations in Germany. They are related to average activities for groups of patients with standard sizes and, moreover, to typical examinations with current standard equipment. It is planned to check and to reconsider the DRL about every 2-3 years.


This study describes a Head Start teacher professional development program conducted by a well-respected theatre-in-education organization. The professional development program provided teachers with opportunities to observe and participate in classroom drama sessions, introduced them to drama strategies and techniques, and guided them through a step-by-step process so they could immediately apply what they learned. This research details the benefits and difficulties of implementing this type of program, elucidates ways education directors and teachers can contribute to or impede the success of this type of programming, and enumerates factors that should be considered before investing in teacher professional development initiatives.


The load placed on the Earth's surface by the filling of large lakes is sufficient to cause deformation of the Earth's crust. The extent of such deformation is investigated. The analysis of the model presented is extened to allow for changes in the elastic parameters with depth.
 For Lake Gordon, a large man-made lake to be constructed in the Southwest of Tasmania, the maximum displacement that will be caused in the Earth's surface by the filling of the lake (a load of 1.5 × 1010 tons) is calculated to be about 7 cm.


OBJECTIVE
The present meta-analysis aimed to assess the risk of incident diabetes associated with clinical depression, depressive symptoms, or both in nondiabetic subjects.

DATA SOURCES
We performed a MEDLINE search for studies published in the English language using the search string diabetes AND (depression OR antidepressant). The search included studies from any date to December 30, 2011.

STUDY SELECTION
1,898 studies were independently assessed for eligibility, and longitudinal studies that assessed the risk of incident diabetes in subjects with or without clinical depression were selected.

DATA EXTRACTION
Study design and characteristics were verified for each study. A meta-analysis was performed for unadjusted and adjusted risk ratios of incident diabetes in subjects with depression by using a random-effects model. Additional analyses were performed to assess heterogeneity, publication bias, and specific hazard ratios for diabetes associated with antidepressant drug use.

RESULTS
The 23 studies included in the meta-analysis enrolled 424,557 subjects, with a mean follow-up of 8.3 years and 19,977 cases of incident diabetes. A higher incidence of diabetes was found in depressed versus nondepressed subjects (0.72% vs 0.47% yearly), with unadjusted and adjusted risk (95% CI) of 1.56 (1.37-1.77) and 1.38 (1.23-1.55), respectively (both P values < .001). The use of antidepressant drugs and untreated depression were associated with an adjusted risk of diabetes of 1.68 (1.17-2.40) (P = .005) and 1.56 (0.92-2.65) (P = .09).

CONCLUSIONS
Depressive symptoms are associated with a significantly increased risk for incident diabetes. This association cannot be entirely explained by the use of antidepressant drugs or being overweight. Pathogenetic mechanisms connecting depression with diabetes deserve further exploration. Depression should be included among risk factors that indicate intensified screening for diabetes.


Collocations are defined as ''the frequent co-occurrence of lexical items that naturally share the characteristics of semantic and grammatical dependencies"(Ibrahim, 2003: iii). In translation, collocations are considered a factor that makes translation more effective and powerful. However, translating collocations is an everlasting struggle for most students of translation. The present study aims at investigating the challenges that Sudanese EFL university students encounter when rendering English collocations into their Arabic equivalences and vice versa as well as the reasons behind these challenges. To this end, 26 Sudanese EFL students, between 20-30 years old, studying at Nahda College in Sudan, were selected. A diagnostic test composed of two questions is used as a tool for data collection. Frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation are used to analyse the collected data. The results of this study manifests that Sudanese EFL university students encounter difficulties in translating collocations from English into Arabic and vice versa; the causes of these difficulties are due to students' unawareness of the linguistic and cultural differences between the two languages as well as their heavy reliance on literal translation strategy.


Most reports of the prevalence and severity of tooth wear in contemporary Western populations claim that advanced wear in uncommon by comparison with certain non-Western populations. Differing methods of wear evaluation in the various studies, however, preclude accurate comparisons from being made. This study records mean total and segmental wear indices obtained from the casts of a selected Swedish patient population sample, and age- and sex-matched Saudi high-wear and random samples. The wear experience of the Saudi random sample compared favourably with that of the Swedish selected one, while the wear of the Saudi high-wear sample was significantly higher than that of the Swedish sample (P < 0.01). The findings from a questionnaire revealed certain significant correlations between aetiological factors and wear, most notably, the relatively greater presence of bruxism (P < 0.01), absence of biting habits and minimal cola consumption (P < 0.01) in the Swedish sample. Harsh environmental and climatic conditions probably account for the Saudi experience of high wear.


Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed for treatment of mood disorders and depression, even during pregnancy and lactation. SSRIs are thought to be much safer than tricyclic antidepressants, with a low risk of embryonic toxicity. Several recent studies, however, have reported that fetal exposure to SSRIs increases the risk of adverse effects during fetal and neonatal development. This is consistent with our previous finding that fluoxetine, a prototypical SSRI, profoundly affected the viability of cultured embryonic stem (ES) cells as well as their ability to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, we found that fluoxetine induced fluctuations in ectodermal marker gene expression during ES cell differentiation, which suggests that fluoxetine may affect neural development. In the present study, we investigated the effects of fluoxetine on the process of differentiation from ES cells into neural cells using the stromal cell‐derived inducing activity (SDIA) method. Fluoxetine treatment was found to enhance the expression of glial marker genes following neural differentiation, as observed by immunocytochemical analysis or quantitative RT‐PCR. The promoter activity of glial marker genes was also significantly enhanced when cells were treated with fluoxetine, as observed by luciferase reporter assay. The expression of neuronal markers during ES cell differentiation into neural cells, on the other hand, was inhibited by fluoxetine treatment. In addition, FACS analysis revealed an increased population of glial cells in the differentiating ES cells treated with fluoxetine. These results suggest that fluoxetine could facilitate the differentiation of mouse ES cells into glial cell lineage, which may affect fetal neural development. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.