The objective of this paper is to make the case that the United States became an economic super-power in the nineteenth century on the backs of African-American slaves and Native Americans.It was in 1619, when Jamestown colonists bought 20-30 slaves from English pirates. The paper starts with 'The 1619 Project' whose objective is to place the consequences of slavery--and the contributions of black Americans--at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a nation.Slavery was common in all thirteen colonies, and at-least twelve Presidents owned slaves. The enslaved people were not recognized as human beings, but as property: once a slave always a slave.The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1788, never mentions slavery, yet slavery is at the very heart of the constitution. The U.S. government used the Declaration of Independence as a license to commit genocide on the Native Americans, and to seize their land.Racist ideas have persisted throughout American history, based on the myth that blacks are intellectually inferior compared to whites. However, in a 2012 article in the Scientific American, the authors reported that 85.5% of genetic variation is within the so-called races, not between them. So, the consensus among Western researchers today is that human races do not represent a scientific theory, but are sociocultural constructs.After end of the Civil War, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery in America, and the 15th Amendment protected the voting rights of African Americans.However, in the Confederate South, Jim Crow laws legalized racial segregation between 1870-1968. In 1965, thanks to the Civil Rights movement, the Voting Rights Act was passed to overcome barriers created by Jim Crow laws to the legal rights of African Americans under the 15th Amendment.British and American innovations in cotton technology sparked the Industrial Revolution during the latter part of the eighteenth century. The British cotton manufacturing exploded in the 1780s. Eighty years later in 1860, Manchester, England stood at the center of a world-spanning empire—the empire of cotton. There were three pillars of the Industrial Revolution. One was the centuries-earlier conquest by Europeans of a colossal expanse of lands in the New World. It was the control of huge territories in America, that made monoculture farming of cotton possible. Second was that the Europeans drastically—and unilaterally--altered the global competitive landscape of cotton. They did it by using their military might, and the willingness to use it—often violently--to their advantage.The third—and the most important--was slavery: without which there would be no Industrial Revolution. America was tremendously suited for cotton production. The climate and soil of a large part of American South met the conditions under which the cotton plant thrived. More importantly, the plantation owners in America commanded unlimited supplies of the three crucial ingredients that went into the production of cotton: labor, land, and credit. And this was topped by their unbelievable political power.In 1793 Eli Whitney's revolutionary cotton gin increased ginning productivity fifty times, and thus removed the bottleneck of removing seeds from cotton. Because of relying on monoculture farming, the problem the cotton planters were facing was soil exhaustion. So, they wanted the U.S. government to acquire more land. Surprisingly, in 1803 America was able to strike an unbelievable deal with the French--the Louisiana Purchase--which doubled the territory of the United States. In 1819 America acquired Florida from Spain, and in 1845 annexed Texas from Mexico.Between 1803 and 1838, under President Andrew Jackson, America fought a multi-front war against the Native Americans in the Deep South, and expropriated vast tracts of their land, that culminated in the ethnic cleansing of the Deep South.With an unlimited supply of land—and slave labor--even soil exhaustion did not slow down the cotton barons; they just moved further west and farther south. New cotton fields now sprang up in the sediment-rich lands along the banks of Mississippi. So swift was this move westward that, by the end of the 1830s, Mississippi was producing more cotton than any other southern state. By 1860, there were more millionaires per capita in Mississippi Valley than anywhere else in America.The New Orleans slave market was the largest in America--where 100,000 men, women, and children were packaged, priced, and sold.The entry of the United States in the cotton market quickly began to reshape the global cotton market. By 1802 America was the single-most supplier of cotton to Britain.For eighty years--from the 1780s to 1865--almost a million people were herded down the road from the upper South to the lower South and the West, to toil on cotton plantations. The thirty-odd men walked in coffles, the double line hurrying in lock-step. Each hauled twenty pounds of iron, chains that draped from neck-to-neck, and wrist-to-wrist, binding them all together. They walked for miles, days, and weeks, and many covered over 700 miles.The plantation owners devised a cruel system of controlling their slaves that the enslaved called "the pushing system." This system constantly increased the number of acres each slave was expected to cultivate. In 1805 each "hand" could tend to five acres of a cotton field. Fifty years later that target had been doubled to ten acres.Overseers closely monitored enslaved workers. Each slave was assigned a daily quota of number of pounds of cotton to pick. If the worker failed to meet it, he received as many lashes on his back as the deficit. However, if he overshot his quota, the master might "reward" him by raising his quota the next day.One of the most brutal weapons the planters used against the slaves, was the whip: ten feet of plaited cowhide. When facing the specter of an overseer's whip, slaves were so terrified that they could not speak in sentences. They danced, trembled, babbled, and lost control of their bodies.When seeking a loan, the planters used slaves as a collateral. With extraordinarily high returns from their businesses, the planters began to expand their loan portfolio: sometimes using the same slave worker as collateral for multiple mortgages. The American South produced too much cotton. However, consumer demand could not keep up with the excessive supply, that then led to a precipitous fall in prices, which, in turn, set off the Panic of 1837. And that touched off a major depression.The slaveholders were using advanced management and accounting practices long before the techniques that are still in use today.The manufacture of sugar from sugarcane began in Louisiana Territory in 1795. In sugar mills, children, alongside with adults, toiled like factory workers with assembly-like precision and discipline under the constant threat of boiling hot kettles, open furnaces, and grinding rollers. To attain the highest efficiency, sugar factories worked day and night where there is no distinction as to the days of the week. Fatigue might mean losing an arm to the grinding rollers, or being flayed for not being able to keep up. Resistance was often met with sadistic cruelty.The expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence, drove the evolution and modernization of the United States. In the course of a single life time, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations, to a continental cotton empire. As a result, the United States became a modern, industrial, and capitalistic economy. This is the period in which America rose from being a minor European trading partner, to becoming the world's leading economy. Finally, we hope that we have successfully been able to make the argument that America became an economic powerhouse in the nineteenth century not only on the backs of African-American slaves, but also on the genocide of Native Americans, and their stolen lands.


The collaboration between HADES and the Mont Terri rock laboratory started in 1995, when granite was considered the most suitable host rock for radioactive waste disposal in Switzerland. When an alternative host formation was looked for by NAGRA, the choice of clay as host rock became rapidly clear. It was then decided to build an underground research laboratory in the Opalinus Clay taking advantage of the excavation of a motorway tunnel crossing the Mont Terri anticline. Exchanges of knowledge and experience on the behaviour of argillaceous formations were focused on the feasibility of constructing a safe geological repository for high-level radioactive waste: from excavation and gallery lining techniques to geochemistry, diffusion of radionuclides and coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes. The research programme at Mont Terri and the growing numbers of partners from 4 up to 9 countries worldwide led to successive extensions of the galleries. The scientific and technical advances made possible by the collaboration between both laboratories dealt with the development of common methods and joint experimental and modelling efforts. This review article summarises the main scientific lessons learned during these exchanges, stressing the added values of the knowledge transfer between partners and the overall cross-fertilization between HADES and Mont Terri.

 Supplementary material at
 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6332962


Fe Kα lines are superimposed upon the x-ray continuum in most Seyfert(-like) active galactic nuclei (AGNs). By a data-fitting study, previous authors have claimed that the central black hole (BH) is either rotating or non-rotating according to the thin disc model. We develop the disc model to the torus model to determine the real spin of the BH. With formulations of the motion of both torus particles and photons near a BH in Kerr metric, we simulate iron emission lines from a thin luminous torus. It is found that only spinning BH galaxies can radiate observable profiles. The data-fitting to Fe lines of four AGNs observed by ASCA predicts that the central BH is spinning rapidly with the dimensionless specific angular momentum approaching the maximal value of 1.


: Afferent projections to the functionally identified bulbar locomotor region which is situated in the medial reticular formation were studied in cats and rats by means of horse-radish peroxidase technique. Cells of origin of such projections were found not only in hypothalamic and mesencephalic locomotor regions but also in the interstitial nucleus of Cajal and adjacent structures and in the ventral part of the caudate nucleus.


We examined the role of thyroid hormones in regulating the synthesis and release of luteinizing hormone (LU) by anterior pituitary glands (AP) of ovariectomized (Ovx) rats. Immediately after ovariectomy, rats were thyroidectomized (Tx) or sham-Tx. Starting 30 days later, they were injected with either saline solution or thyroxine (T4) for 9 days. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, the APs were removed and incubated in vitro with 3.6 X 10' M gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and the radioactive precursors of LH, I'4Cl -alanine and (�1-I] -glucosamine. Radiolabeled LH was isolated by immunoprecipitation with specific anti-LH-(3 serum. The levels of T4 in the serum as well as the immunoreactive LU (IR-LH) in the serum, medium, and AP5 were measured by radioiinmunoassay. After thyroidectomy T4 was undetectable in the serum of Ovx rats. T4 replacement in Ovx-Tx rats restored the serum T4 to approximately normal levels. Serum LII concentrations were higher in Ovx-Tx rats than in Ovx rats. Depending on dose, T4 therapy either depressed or had no significant effect on serum LU in Ovx-Tx rats.The totallR-LH content in the pituitarywas higher and the releaseof lR-LH by AP5 in response to GnRH was greater in Ovx-Tx rats than in Ovx-Sham Tx rats. Thyroidectomy stimulated the incorporation of l'4C1alanine and l3H].glucosamine into LH; however, the in vitm release of de novo synthesized radiolabeled LU was not altered by thyroid status. Thyroidectomy did not modify the uptake of 14C1-alanine and (3Hl-glucosamine, whereas it reduced the incorporation of f3Hl-glucosamine into pituitary glycoprotein. These results suggest that thyroid hormones directly affect LH synthe


Mathematical simulation of groundwater resource systems is one of the essential tools in managing these valuable resources and calibration of the groundwater simulation models is the time-consuming, and complicated step of these systems. Automated calibration, developed in recent years by researchers with different algorithms, is one of the effective methods to overcome these computational problems. On the other hand, lack of field data in terms of time and space and the hydrological and hydrogeological complexities leads to many uncertainties in the calibration results. The SUFI-II algorithm is an uncertainty-based automatic calibration method that is capable of calibration and uncertainty analysis of numerical simulation models. In this paper, for the first time, this algorithm is used to calibrate and analyze the uncertainty of hydrodynamic parameters (hydraulic conductivity and specific yield) of the MODFLOW model. The results of model implementation for the Ardabil plain groundwater model (Northwestern Iran), indicate an average of 62 percent of the observation data within the 95 percent confidence interval. Finally, the best intervals of parameters are determined for the hydraulic conductivity and specific yield by the proposed approach. Also, the calibration of the groundwater model has been carried out using PEST. According to the results, the root-mean-squared error (RMSE) value in this case (RMSE = 3.37) is higher than the SUFI-II method (RMSE = 1.86), which indicates better performance of the SUFI-II algorithm than the PEST model.


Several paradigms show that responses to one event compromise responses to a second event for around 500 ms. Such effects are generally attributed to attentional capacity limitations associated with processing information in the first event. In a task in which targets could be distinguished only by their meaning, we varied the semantic relationship between distractors and targets following at different lags. Semantic relatedness alone produced a classic attentional blink. We conclude by discussing how attention theory might best accommodate these new effects.


Associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, body dissatisfaction in young men requires close examination. This study explores online accounts relating to male body image, including young men's personal disclosures within one online newspaper article, and posts responding to this topic. Discursively informed thematic analysis indicated that non-disclosure was considered a problematic social expectation by the young men featured in the article. Also, reader posts variously constructed body dissatisfaction as a symptom of adolescence, a lack of self-care and an incapacity to capitalise on compensatory qualities. Our analysis suggests young men may welcome safe opportunities to critically discuss prevailing body image ideals.


Yuanwu Keqin's ten volume of Bi Yan book, was looked as the first book of Zen. Essentially, the main content of this book is based on the words Zen teaching students to obtain the truth, the highest truth, so as to achieve their inner transcendence. For the training style in Bi Yan Book, has a large number of dialects, which is different from the traditional classics are good at explaining the concepts of the clear and rich logic. Masters used to these dialects teach their students, so that students felled very kind. The teaching words Laopo and Laopo Xinqie appear frequently in Bi Yan book, that is one of the most direct manifestation of teaching characteristics of Zen. So, in this paper, I will use the Bi Yan book as a reference text, to discussion the teaching style of Laopo Zen in the book, from a smaller angle in the Zen text and other works of Zen to research some teaching method of Buddhist.


Background and objectives: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and its mortality is increasing. Therefore, research to improve treatment is of paramount importance. One method of treatment is photodynamic therapy. Photodynamic therapy selectively stimulates apoptosis in photosensitizer-treated neoplastic breast cells as a result of cytotoxic singlet oxygen generation via collisions between triplet excited state photosensitizer and triplet ground state oxygen upon tissue irradiation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of photodynamic action on cancerous breast tissue samples as a model of photodynamic therapy. Materials and Methods: Breast cancer tissue samples were obtained from post-operative material and the patterns of histopathological changes in breast cancer tissue before and after photodynamic action on post-chemotherapy tissue were evaluated. Excised tissue samples were obtained from 48 female breast cancer patients who had previously undergone chemotherapy. Breast cancer tissues for this study were taken from macroscopically visible tumors larger than 10 mm. Histopathological analysis was performed to evaluate any morphological changes prior to and after photodynamic action on the post-chemotherapy tissue samples. Eighteen breast cancer tissue samples were analyzed before chemotherapy, fifteen after chemotherapy, and fifteen samples were analyzed after chemotherapy and application of photodynamic action. The photosensitizer Rose Bengal was applied to the samples subjected to photodynamic action. Results: Photodynamic action on post-chemotherapy neoplastic tissue showed histological changes under a light microscope. The results showed that morphological changes in breast cancer tissues after chemotherapy and photodynamic action were dependent on the concentration of Rose Bengal. In all cases, follow-up imaging showed tumor shrinkage of an average of 35% from baseline size. Conclusions: Histopathological examination revealed photosensitizer-concentration-dependent changes after photodynamic action in excised post-chemotherapy tissue. The effects of photodynamic action observed in this study suggest that the application of photodynamic therapy after chemotherapy can aid in breast cancer cell eradication.


Multiple myeloma is a rare malignancy in cats. While hypercalcemia is reported frequently in association with myeloma in humans and dogs, it has not been reported in cats. Two cats with hypercalcemia and multiple myeloma were treated with alkylating agents and corticosteroids. One cat was a long-term (16 months) survivor.


Yoghurt-making is an age-old tradition in many countries. There is some evidence that cultured dairy was used as far back as 5 000 years ago, to treat digestive complaints. Today it still known for giving your gut the boost it needs. But, when making thousands of litres of yoghurt for commercial purposes, the recipe for disaster is sometimes much easier than the recipe for success.


Abstract : In Western militaries, there is a general lack of a commonly agreed definition and a theory of operations aimed at accomplishing an objective. The U.S. Army solution in the early 1980s was to adopt the term major operation and thereby distinguish between operations in general and those planned and conducted in accordance with the tenets of operational art. Currently, the Army and the main joint doctrinal documents describe a major operation as a "series of tactical actions (battles, engagements, strikes) conducted by various combat forces of a single or several services, coordinated in time and place to accomplish an operational and sometimes strategic objective in an operational area. These actions are conducted simultaneously or sequentially in accordance with a common plan and are controlled by a single commander."1 In contrast, other Services of the Armed Forces do not recognize a major operation as a method of their combat force employment. The Air Force, for its part, invariably (and incorrectly) is focused on planning what it calls "air campaigns." In generic terms, a major operation can be described as consisting of a series of related major and minor tactical actions by two or more combat arms of one or more Services concurrently and/or sequentially in terms of time and place and aimed at accomplishing an operational and sometimes limited strategic objective. Major operations are normally an integral part of a campaign; they are planned and conducted in accordance with a common operational idea and controlled by a single commander. A major operation is not just a mechanical collection of randomly conducted battles, strikes, attacks, and other tactical actions but mutually connected tactical actions conducted over a larger part of the theater over several days.


Although much of breast cancer etiology can be explained on the basis of reproductive and family histories, there remains concern among both the public and scientific communities about the possible role of environmental factors. Several well-established observations suggest a role of external environmental factors including the 5-fold international differences in incidence rates and the rapid inter-generational increases in incidence with migration from low to high incidence countries. Although epidemiologic studies in adult populations have generally failed to discover a strong role for environmental factors in breast cancer etiology, emerging data suggests that relevant exposures may have effects in early life during so-called "windows of susceptibility" and be missed by attempted measurement in adulthood. Exposures to ionizing radiation and to diethylstilbestrol during pubertal development and in utero, respectively, are two examples. Recently, more attention has been directed to other environmental exposures, especially endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during early development and the pubertal period in particular. Many EDCs can now be measured in biospecimens from young prepubertal girls and in pregnant women, and animal studies suggest that some of these may cause changes in reproductive systems. Early menarche is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer and increases risk approximately 2-fold compared to later menarche. The average age at menarche has also dramatically decreased in developed countries over the last 100 years, likely as the result of environmental factors including diet. However, the relevant exposures and their mode and timing of action are not well understood. An on-going epidemiologic cohort study of 1239 pre-pubertal girls from diverse race/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds has documented still earlier ages of pubertal onset and is offering insights into the potential role of EDCs and other chemicals, diet, physical activity, psychosocial and genetic factors on pubertal onset, the age of menarche and other markers of early development. This research on early environmental exposures in humans is proving both exciting and challenging and requires consideration of the complex nature of breast cancer etiology. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr MS2-2.


This clinically oriented work addresses a subject that deserves much more attention than it has ever received. The author, a psychiatrist, has succeeded in offering material of interest to an audience of wide and divergent backgrounds. As a necessary result, sections of the work will be of little interest to individual readers. In attracting an audience that includes obstetricians, midwives, nurses, physician's assistants, family practice physicians, and students in all of these professions, the text will oscillate in its literary and practical appeal to each reader. The greatest achievement of this book is its superb discussion of interviewing techniques, which is probably useful to readers at all levels. The acquisition of effective communications skills for interaction with patients is easy and natural for some but difficult for others. The author has succeeded in providing helpful concepts for neophytes that will serve equally well as refreshers to those who have practiced


Real-world tasks often include interactions with the environment where our actions can drastically change the available or desirable long-term outcomes. One formulation of this in the reinforcement learning setting is in terms of non-Markovian rewards. Here the reward function, and thus the available rewards, are themselves history-dependent, and dynamically change given the agent-environment interactions. An important challenge for navigating such environments is to be able to capture the structure of this dynamic reward function, in a way that is interpretable and allows for optimal planning. This structure, in conjunction with the particular task setting at hand, then determines the optimal order in which actions should be executed, or subtasks completed. Planning methods face the challenge of combinatorial explosion if all such orderings need to be evaluated, however, learning invariances inherent in the task structure can alleviate this pressure. Here we propose a solution to this problem by allowing the planning method to recognise task segments where temporal ordering is irrelevant for predicting reward outcomes downstream. To facilitate this, our agent simultaneously learns to segment a task and predict the changing reward function resulting from its actions, while also learning about the permutation invariances in the its history that are relevant for this prediction. This dual approach can allow zero-shot or few-shot generalisation for complex, dynamic re-inforcement learning tasks.


Purpose
Material jetting approximates composite material properties through deposition of base materials in a dithered pattern. This microscale, voxel-based patterning leads to macroscale property changes, which must be understood to appropriately design for this additive manufacturing (AM) process. This paper aims to identify impacts on these composites' viscoelastic properties due to changes in base material composition and distribution caused by incomplete dithering in small features.

Design/methodology/approach
Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) is used to measure viscoelastic properties of two base PolyJet materials and seven "digital materials". This establishes the material design space enabled by voxel-by-voxel control. Specimens of decreasing width are tested to explore effects of feature width on dithering's ability to approximate macroscale material properties; observed changes are correlated to multi-material distribution via an analysis of ingoing layers.

Findings
DMA shows storage and loss moduli of preset composites trending toward the iso-strain boundary as composition changes. An added iso-stress boundary defines the property space achievable with voxel-by-voxel control. Digital materials exhibit statistically significant changes in material properties when specimen width is under 2 mm. A quantified change in same-material droplet groupings in each composite's voxel pattern shows that dithering requires a certain geometric size to accurately approximate macroscale properties.

Originality/value
This paper offers the first quantification of viscoelastic properties for digital materials with respect to material composition and identification of the composite design space enabled through voxel-by-voxel control. Additionally, it identifies a significant shift in material properties with respect to feature width due to dithering pattern changes. This establishes critical design for AM guidelines for engineers designing with digital materials.


Comparative Markedness deals with alternations which are problematic for classical Optimality Theory such as counterfeeding opacity. In Sea Dayak, for example, the distribution of nasal and oral vowels is generally predictable: after a nasal consonant, a vowel is typically nasal and after an oral consonant, the vowel is oral. However, an oral vowel also occurs after a nasal consonant just in case the consonant is optionally followed by an oral stop, as in [rambo?] ~ [ramo?] 'a kind of flowering plant'. The orality of the postnasal vowel in such cases is thus opaque (Scott 1957, 1964). Representative forms are shown in (1).


Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is capable of respiring on an extraordinarily large and diverse array of terminal electron acceptors, including extracellular insoluble metal oxides and electrodes. The ability to perform extracellular electron transfer (EET) has sparked great interest in MR-1 which has become both a model organism for fundamental research into EET and a candidate microbe for microbial electrochemical systems. Here, cyclic voltammetry was used to determine the relationship between the surface chemistry of electrodes (modified gold, ITO and carbon) and the EET mechanism. On ultra-smooth gold electrodes modified with self-assembled monolayers containing carboxylic acid terminated thiols, an EET pathway dominates with an oxidative onset at 0.1 V (SHE). Addition of the siderophore deferoxamine abolishes this signal, leading us to conclude that this pathway proceeds via an iron mediated electron transfer (MET) mechanism. The same EET pathway is observed on other electrodes but the onset potential is dependent on the electrolyte composition and electrode surface chemistry. EET pathways with onset potentials above -0.1 V (SHE) have previously been ascribed to direct electron transfer (DET) mechanisms via outer membrane cytochromes (MtrC/OmcA). We propose that the previously identified DET mechanisms of MR-1 need to be re-evaluated.
It has been proposed that MR-1 could use flavins for locating insoluble electron acceptors, including electrodes. To assess the role of flavins in MR-1 taxis towards electrodes we performed video microscopy cell tracking using a specifically designed capillary cell and tracking algorithm suited to low frame rates. Analysis of trajectories from WT MR-1 and mutants (ΔmtrC/ΔomcA and Δbfe), showed that MR-1 had a tactic response towards electrodes poised above the midpoint potential of riboflavin (> -0.15 V vs SHE) and a negative response on switching to potentials below the midpoint potential (< -0.25 V vs SHE). The Mtr EET pathway was essential for this response.


This thesis provides a better understanding of the complex dynamics of high-frequency financial data. We develop a methodology that successfully and simultaneously character¬izes both the short and the long-term fluctuations latent in a time series. We extensively investigate the applications of the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert transform to the analysis of intraday financial data. The applied methodology reveals the time-dependent amplitude and frequency attributes of non-stationary and non-linear time series. We uncover a scaling law that links the amplitude of the oscillating components to their respective period. We relate such scaling law to distinctive properties of financial markets. This research is relevant because financial data contain patterns specific to the observa¬tion frequency and are thus, of interest to different type of market agents (market traders, intraday traders, hedging strategist, portfolio managers and institutional investors), each characterized by a different reaction time to new information and by the frequency of its intervention in the market. Understanding how the investment horizons of these agents in¬teract may reveal significant details about the physical processes that generate or influence financial time series. We use the EMD to estimate volatility, generalising the idea of the popular realised volatility estimator by decomposing financial time series into several timescales compo¬nents which are related to different investment horizons. We also investigate the dynamic correlation at different timescales and at different time-lags, revealing a complex structure of financial signals. Following the multiscale analysis approach, we propose a novel empirical method to es¬timate a time-dependent scaling parameter in analogy to the scaling exponent for self-similar processes. Using numerical simulations, we investigate the robustness of our estimator to heavy-tailed distributions. We apply the scaling estimator to intraday stock market prices and uncover scaling properties which differ from what would be expected from a random walk. We also introduce a novel entropy-like measure which estimates the regularity of a time series. This measure of complexity can be used to identify periods of high and low volatility x which could help investors to choose the appropriate time for investment. Finally, we pro¬pose a multistep-ahead forecasting framework based on EMD combined with support vector regression. The originality of our models is the inclusion of a coarse-to-fine reconstruction step to analyse the forecasting capabilities of a combination of oscillating functions. We compare our models with popular benchmark models which do not use the EMD as a pre¬processing tool, obtaining better results with our proposed framework. Part of the research developed on this thesis is published in Physica A: Statistical Me¬chanics and its Applications [137] and in the European Physical Journal, Special Topics [136]. It was also presented at international conferences, including the 20th annual work¬shop on the Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents (WEHIA) 2015 and the 21st Computing in Economics and Finance (CEF) conference 2015.


With the growing number of IoT (Internet of Things) devices and their particular characteristics compared to traditional systems, incumbent security mechanisms need to be advanced for secure and resilient IoT operation in current ICT systems. One particular standard, which tries to improve IoT security in that regard, is the Manufacturer Usage Description (MUD) by IETF. In this paper, as our main focus is to highlight the security gains of using MUD, we first discuss the critical threats to IoT devices based on available research. In the second step, we analyze the MUD technology to delineate where MUD is beneficial (or not) to address these security issues.


Precooling refers to the rapid removal of field heat from freshly harvested fruits and vegetables prior to shipping, storage or processing. Hydrocooling is a form of precooling in which the product is sprayed with or immersed in an agitated bath of chilled water. The design of hydrocooling systems requires accurate estimation of the hydrocooling times of fruits and vegetables as well as the corresponding refrigeration loads. Numerous methods for predicting the hydrocooling times of fruits and vegetables have been proposed, and the designer is faced with the challenge of selecting an appropriate estimation method from those available. Therefore, this paper reviews selected estimation methods for the hydrocooling times of fruits and vegetables, and quantitatively evaluates the selected hydrocooling time estimation methods by comparing their numerical results to a comprehensive experimental hydrocooling time data set compiled from the literature.


ABSTRACT The spatial resolution of compound eyes is determined by their interommatidial angles, by the optical quality and rhabdom dimensions of the ommatidia, and by illumination level. Among insects, interommatidial angles vary from tens of degrees in Apterygota, to as little as 0.24° in dragonflies. Resolution better than this is not attainable in compound eyes of realistic size, because of the limit imposed by diffraction. The smaller the interommatidial angle, the greater the distance at which objects—prey, predators, foliage, or flowers—can be resolved. Insects with different lifestyles have contrasting patterns of interommatidial angle distribution, related to forward flight, capture on the wing, and predation on horizontal surfaces.


A converter system for high-power applications, connected to a medium-voltage network using a step-up transformer, is presented in this paper. The converter-side winding of the transformer is configured as an open-end, and both the ends of the windings are fed from two different converter groups. Each converter group comprises of two parallel voltage-source converters (VSCs), whose carrier signals are interleaved to improve the harmonic quality of the resultant switched output voltage of that converter group. However, an additional inductive component is required to suppress the circulating current that flows between the parallel-interleaved VSCs. An integrated inductor is proposed, which suppresses the circulating current in both the converter groups. In addition, the functionality of the line filter inductor is also integrated. Flux in various parts of the integrated inductor is analyzed, and a design procedure is also described. The volume and the losses of the proposed solution are compared with that of the state-of-the-art solution. The control of the proposed converter system is also discussed. The analysis has been verified by the simulation and experimental results.


ABSTRACT.
 The migration rate of Nearctic—Neotropic songbirds is expected to be influenced by whether the route is around or across migration barriers such as the Gulf of Mexico. To examine factors that influence fall migration strategies, we used light-level geolocators to track the journeys of 91 Purple Martins (Progne subis) originating from breeding colonies across the eastern range of the species. We expected individuals that crossed the Gulf of Mexico to have slower migration rates, and more stopover days in Central America to refuel after the crossing, than birds that took routes around the gulf. Owing to expected variability in conditions experienced by individuals en route, we anticipated that departure date would be a poor predictor of arrival date within and among populations. Despite widely separated breeding origins, one-way journeys of >7,000 km, and high variability in departure dates and routes, individuals showed a strikingly similar fall migration strategy. Fall migration featured a rapid (450 km day-1) initial migration covering ≥2,000 km, followed by prolonged stopovers and a slower rate of travel before the birds continued to South America. Contrary to predictions, route explained little of the variation in the overall migration rate or the rate to Central America. Stopover duration in Central America was unrelated to whether birds crossed or circumnavigated the Gulf of Mexico. As expected, breeding location (primarily longitude) was the strongest predictor of the routes that birds took at this barrier. Within-breeding-region departure date alone predicted much of the variation in arrival date at the first winter roost, but route was not a significant factor. Our results reveal a consistent range-wide pattern in fall migration strategy, with route and migration timing predicting little of the variation in rate or stopover duration.


In this work, we study the robustness of Speculative Scheduling to data incompleteness. Speculative scheduling has allowed to incorporate future types of applications into the design of HPC schedulers, specifically applications whose runtime is not perfectly known but can be modeled with probability distributions. Preliminary studies show the importance of spec- ulative scheduling in dealing with stochastic applications when the application runtime model is completely known. In this work we show how one can extract enough information even from incomplete behavioral data for a given HPC applications so that speculative scheduling still performs well. Specifically, we show that for synthetic runtimes who follow usual probability distributions such as truncated normal or exponential, we can extract enough data from as little as 10 previous runs, to be within 5% of the solution which has exact information. For real traces of applications, the performance with 10 data points varies with the applications (within 20% of the full-knowledge solution), but converges fast (5% with 100 previous samples). Finally a side effect of this study is to show the importance of the theoretical results obtained on continuous probability distributions for speculative scheduling. Indeed, we observe that the solutions for such distributions are more robust to incomplete data than the solutions for discrete distributions.


This survey conducted by FMP trainees in Queensland describes how general practice patients on long term, self administered medications identify their drugs. Trade names are by far the most common means of identification. Generic names and identification by action, colour, and shape and common usage names are less frequently used. Knowledge of alternative trade and generic names is sparse, emphasising the need to inform patients fully of any changes to the brand names of their drugs.


Water droplet impingement on a low-pressure steam turbine blade causing erosion has been recognized as a crucial issue. It is essential to elucidate a comprehensive droplet detachment mechanism, not only from the trailing edge but also from the liquid film surface. In the present paper, we investigate the influence of interfacial friction factor against liquid film dynamics on a wall sheared by a turbulent gas flow, including the liquid film thickness, liquid film velocity and entrained droplet detached from liquid surface for both pipe flow and plate flow conditions. We conduct the analyses by using a liquid film dynamics model, recently established, considering the three-dimensional destabilized waves and droplet entrainment from the liquid surface. As a result, the film thickness and velocity greatly depends on the interfacial friction factor. Interestingly, the rate of entrained droplet to initial liquid film has a minimum value when the interfacial friction factor equals to the inverse of the liquid film Reynolds number, while the remaining liquid film flow rate becomes maximum.


Titanium and its alloys are widely used in blood contacting implantable and interventional medical devices; however, their biocompatibility is still facing great challenges. In this study, with the aim of improving the biocompatibility and antibacterial activities of titanium, TiO2 nanotubes with a diameter of about 30 nm were firstly prepared on the titanium surface by anodization, followed by the introduction of polyacrylic acid (PAA) and gentamicin (GS) on the nanotube surface by layer-by-layer method, and finally zinc ions were loaded into the surface to improve the bioactivities. The nanotubes have excellent hydrophilic properties and special nanotube-like structure, which can selectively promote the albumin adsorption and enhance the blood compatibility and promote the growth and functional expression of endothelial cells to a certain extent. After the introduction of PAA and GS, although the super-hydrophilicity cannot be achieved, the results of platelet adhesion, cGMP activity, hemolysis rate and partial thromboplastin time (APTT) showed that the blood compatibility was improved, and the blood compatibility was further enhanced after zinc ions loading on the surface. On the other hand, the surface modified materials showed good cytocompatibility to endothelial cells. The introduction of PAA and zinc ions not only promoted the adhesion and proliferation of endothelial cells, but also up-regulated expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nitric oxide (NO). The slow and continuous release of GS and Zn2+ for more than 14 days, which can significantly improve the antibacterial properties of the materials. Therefore, the present study provides an effective method for the surface modification of titanium-based blood-contacting materials to simultaneously endow with good blood compatibility, endothelial growth behaviors and antibacterial properties.


Kierstead and Trotter (Congressus Numerantium 33, 1981) proved that their algorithm is an optimal online algorithm for the online interval coloring problem. In this paper, for online unit interval coloring, we show that the number of colors used by the Kierstead-Trotter algorithm is at most $3 \omega(G) - 3$, where $\omega(G)$ is the size of the maximum clique in a given graph $G$, and it is the best possible.


Abstract This essay is an attempt to sketch a preliminary map of the emerging dialogue between spirituality and the contemporary literature of nature. This includes: (1) a consideration of their distinctive approaches to the mapping of the sacred landscape; (2) an exploration of some of the ambiguities and tensions within the literature of nature toward matters of religion; (3) an outline of recent developments within the discipline of spirituality that enable scholars in that field to respond more thoughtfully to questions raised by nature writers; (4) a description of the genres found in the burgeoning literature of nature writing and the themes that make it a useful resource and conversation partner for spirituality; (5) an evaluation of three prominent themes of contemporary nature writing—relationship, mystery, and moral responsibility—of particular importance for developing a contemporary spirituality of nature.


In this paper, a novel multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA/CT) is proposed to better manage convergence and distribution of solutions when MOEAs are used for solving multiobjective optimization problems. The coordinate transformation strategy, an external archive update strategy, and a diversity maintenance strategy are proposed in MOEA/CT. The coordinate transformation strategy in the objective space is designed to find more efficient solutions that can accelerate the convergence process. Based on the coordinate transformation strategy, a novel update strategy and diversity maintenance approach for selecting nondominated solutions from the external archive set are integrated in MOEA/CT for getting better distribution of the solutions. The proposed MOEA/CT is compared with eight state-of-art algorithms on six biobjective and seven tri-objective test problems. In terms of four performance metrics, the comparative experimental results demonstrate that MOEA/CT outperforms the other eight competitors and it can achieve solutions with better distribution and better convergence to the Pareto front. In addition, parameter sensitivity analysis is provided to investigate the effect of a key parameter in MOEA/CT; the proposed three strategies are also studied individually to investigate their contribution to MOEA/CT; the performance analysis along with the capacity of external archive is given to clearly make the influence in MOEA/CT; finally, the scalability performance of MOEA/CT is investigated and compared with five notable many-objective evolutionary algorithms on the DTLZ and WFG test suites with 5, 8, 10, and 15 objectives.


It is shown that, for proper symmetry of the parent lattice, antiferromagnetic order can survive in two-dimensional liquid crystals and even isotropic liquids of pointlike particles, in contradiction to what common sense might suggest. We discuss the requirements for antiferromagnetic order in the absence of translational and/or orientational lattice order. One example is the honeycomb lattice, which upon melting can form a liquid crystal with quasi-long-range orientational and antiferromagnetic order but short-range translational order. The critical properties of such systems are discussed. Finally, we draw conjectures for the three-dimensional case.


UNLABELLED
The clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) is susceptible to misdiagnosis, especially in the earlier stages of the disease. Recently, in vivo imaging techniques assessing the presynaptic dopamine transporter (DAT) have emerged as a useful tool in PD diagnosis, improving its accuracy.

OBJECTIVE
It was to illustrate the clinical usefulness of a brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) DAT ligand, and highlight relevant aspects of scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDDs) in this context.

CASES
We described four representative patients with clinically unclear parkinsonian syndromes who underwent [(99m)Tc]-TRODAT-1 SPECT and reviewed the clinical implications.

CONCLUSION
DAT-SPECT is an important, cost-effective, technique for the differential diagnosis of parkinsonian syndromes. Additionally, SWEDD cases present clinical and paraclinical peculiarities that may retrospectively identify them as essential/dystonic tremor. The lack of histopathological data limits further conclusions.


Context: Oral cancer is the major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. There are many factors that influence the tumor microenvironment that promotes tumorigenesis. Hypoxia is one of the factors that affects the process of angiogenesis by inducing proangiogenic factors to maintain the blood supply which in turn enhances the aggressiveness of the tumor and prognosis of solid tumors such as oral squamous cell carcinoma. Aim and objective: The aim of the study was to compare the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF-2α) in various histological grades of oral squamous cell carcinoma immunohistochemically. Methodology: Immunohistochemical evaluation of HIF-1α and HIF-2α was done in 90 samples of oral squamous cell carcinoma which were graded histologically into 30 samples each of well, moderately and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Statistical evaluation: Statistical analysis was done to study the prognostic significance of the biomarkers. Results: All the cases showed positivity for expression of HIF-1α and HIF-2α. The number of positive staining in both markers reduced as the tumor severity increased from well to poorly differentiated. The expression of MIL of HIF-2α was higher than HIF 1α and HIF 2α expression was mostly seen in cytoplasmic in well-differentiated and nuclear in both moderately and poorly differentiated OSCC suggestive that HIF-2α is a more specific marker to hypoxia. Conclusion: Hypoxia is an essential factor that triggers other angiogenic switch and inflammatory factors which facilitates the process of tumorigenesis. This is also important for predicting the treatment outcome and prognosis of the patients. HIF-2α is a more sensitive marker that appears to be correlated and could perhaps serve as a good surrogate marker of hypoxia.


Cecelia Winkelman weaves three strands together as she reflects on her use of a role training approach in the teaching of counselling. The first strand focuses on the author's methods for assisting counselling trainees to develop empathy, a na ve attitude and the ability to enter into the experience of their clients. In the second strand the use of Moreno's role training method is described, including adaptations developed by the author to maintain links with the trainee-interviewer and the trainee-interviewee as two protagonists, and the training group as the third protagonist. The third strand addresses defensiveness that emerges in the training group, including the development of safety and connection and the use of the focal conflict model.


Post-translational stabilization of β-catenin is a key step in Wnt signaling, but the features of β-catenin required for stabilization are incompletely understood. We show that forms of β-catenin lacking the unstructured C-terminal domain (CTD) show faster turnover than full-length or minimally truncated β-catenins. Mutants that exhibit faster turnover show enhanced association with axin in co-transfected cells, and excess CTD polypeptide can compete binding of the β-catenin armadillo (arm) repeat domain to axin in vitro, indicating that the CTD may restrict β-catenin binding to the axin-scaffold complex. Fluorescent resonance energy transmission (FRET) analysis of cyan fluorescent protein (CFP)-arm-CTD-yellow fluorescent protein β-catenin reveals that the CTD of β-catenin can become spatially close to the N-terminal arm repeat region of β-catenin. FRET activity is strongly diminished by the coexpression of β-catenin binding partners, indicating that an unliganded groove is absolutely required for an orientation that allows FRET. Amino acids 733–759 are critical for β-catenin FRET activity and stability. These data indicate that an N-terminal orientation of the CTD is required for β-catenin stabilization and suggest a model where the CTD extends toward the N-terminal arm repeats, shielding these repeats from the β-catenin destruction complex.


BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES
India has switched over to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for the treatment of acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria and the ACT used in the national programme is artesunate + sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine. Since the efficacy of ACT is dependent also on the partner drug, there is a need to evaluate and deploy multiple ACTs.

METHODS
This multicentre, single-arm, open-label clinical trial was carried out to assess the efficacy, safety and population pharmacokinetics of a fixed dose combination (FDC) artesunate mefloquine (ASMQ) in P. falciparum infected, Indian adults at Panjim, Goa, and Mangalore, Karnataka between December 2007 and November 2008.

RESULTS
A total of 77 patients (males 74) were screened and enrolled: 42 at Goa and 35 at Mangalore with a median age of 25 yr (range 18-55 yr). One patient failed in treatment on D53, a PCR proven new infection, seven developed recurrent vivax parasitaemia and 11 did not have a parasitological endpoint. By per protocol analysis, the D63 cure rate was 58/59 (98.3; 95% C.I. 90.9-99.9%), and 58/58, with PCR correction. ASMQ was well-tolerated and no serious adverse events were reported.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION
The study showed that the ASMQ FDC was efficacious and well-tolerated for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in highly endemic, chloroquine resistant areas of Goa and Mangalore. It is a viable option for India.


Neural document ranking models perform impressively well due to superior language understanding gained from pre-training tasks. However, due to their complexity and large number of parameters these (typically transformer-based) models are often non-interpretable in that ranking decisions can not be clearly attributed to specific parts of the input documents. In this article, we propose ranking models that are inherently interpretable by generating explanations as a by-product of the prediction decision. We introduce the Select-And-Rank paradigm for document ranking, where we first output an explanation as a selected subset of sentences in a document. Thereafter, we solely use the explanation or selection to make the prediction, making explanations first-class citizens in the ranking process. Technically, we treat sentence selection as a latent variable trained jointly with the ranker from the final output. To that end, we propose an end-to-end training technique for Select-And-Rank models utilizing reparameterizable subset sampling using the Gumbel-max trick. We conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate that our approach is competitive to state-of-the-art methods. Our approach is broadly applicable to numerous ranking tasks and furthers the goal of building models that are interpretable by design. Finally, we present real-world applications that benefit from our sentence selection method.


This paper deals with vehicle platooning, where a convoy aims at following closely and safely its leader's path without collision nor lateral deviation. In this paper, we propose a platooning algorithm based on a near-to-near decentralized approach. Each vehicle estimates and memorizes on-line the path of its predecessor as a set of points. After choosing a suitable position to aim for, the follower estimates on-line the predecessor's path curvature around the selected target. Then, based on a heuristic search, it computes an angular velocity using the estimated curvature. The optimization criteria used in this work allows the robot to follow its predecessor's path without oscillation while reducing the lateral and angular errors.


OBJECTIVE
To illustrate a method that accounts for sampling variation in identifying suppliers and counties with outlying rates of a particular pattern of inconsistent billing for ambulance services to Medicare.

DATA SOURCES
US Medicare claims for a 20% simple random sample of 2010-2014 fee-for-service beneficiaries.

STUDY DESIGN
We identified instances in which ambulance suppliers billed Medicare for transporting a patient to a hospital, but no corresponding hospital visit appeared in billing claims. We estimated the distributions of outlier supplier and county rates of such "ghost rides" by fitting a nonparametric empirical Bayes model with flexible distributional assumptions to account for sampling variation.

DATA COLLECTION
We included Basic and advanced life support ground emergency ambulance claims with a hospital destination.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
"Ghost ride" rates varied considerably across both ambulance suppliers and counties. We estimated 6.1% of suppliers and 5.0% of counties had rates that exceeded 3.6%, which was twice the national average of "ghost rides" (1.8% of all ambulance transports).

CONCLUSIONS
Health care fraud and abuse are frequently asserted but can be difficult to detect. Our data-driven approach may be a useful starting point for further investigation.


Bismuth oxide thin films of thickness 1000 A0 have been prepared by thermal oxidation (in air) of vacuum evaporated bismuth thin films (on glass substrate) at different oxidation temperatures and duration. Both the vapour chopped and nonchopped bismuth oxide thin films showed polycrystalline and polymorphic structure. The monoclinic bismuth oxide was found to be predominant in both the cases. The effect of vapour chopping and air exposure for 40 days on the intrinsic stress of bismuth oxide thin films has been studied. The vapour chopped films showed low (3.92 − 4.80 × 109 N/m2) intrinsic stress than those of nonchopped bismuth oxide thin films (5.77 − 6.74 × 109 N/m2). Intrinsic stress was found to increase due to air ageing. The effect of air ageing on the vapour chopped films was found low. The vapour chopped films showed higher packing density. Higher the packing density, lower the film will age. The process of chopping vapour flow creates films with less inhomogenety i.e. a low concentration of flaws and non-planar defects which results in lower intrinsic stress.


[1] The Tokyo metropolitan area, underlain by Neogene and Quaternary sediments more than 5 km thick, is currently deformed by blind thrusts that could generate hazardous earthquakes. However, their little geomorphic expression and dense urbanization make understanding of folds produced above them and recent deformation highly elusive. Here we show subsurface geometries of several active blind thrusts beneath this highly urbanized area, based on tectonic landforms, high-resolution seismic reflection data, and Quaternary stratigraphy. Deep seismic reflection profiles corroborate the notion that steeply dipping blind thrusts are reactivated normal faults originally formed by middle Miocene extensional tectonics. Despite very slow (less than 0.1 mm/yr) late Quaternary slip rates, our work suggests the presence of previously unrecognized faults that pose seismic hazards to Tokyo and outlying communities, highlighting the need for additional information to define recent slip rates, magnitude, and recurrence of past earthquakes on them.


Titus Andronicus provides uniquely direct dramatizations of allusive authorship and reception, particularly through its sustained engagement with Ovid's tale of Philomela's rape and revenge. Heroes and villains alike make use of this source: Aaron, Chiron, and Demetrius use it as explicit inspiration for their rape and mutilation of Lavinia; Marcus Andronicus invokes it as part of an eloquent rhetorical escape from the insufferable immediacy of finding his savaged niece; Lavinia directly quotes the material text of Ovid in order to communicate the full extent of her suffering; and Titus models his culinary revenge on that visited upon the rapist Tereus. One key distinction that can be made between certain of these instances of allusion is how they affect the action of the drama: the rapists clearly use Ovid as a pattern for their actions, and Lavinia's explicit reference to the tale provides the impetus to revenge. Marcus's allusive lament, though, notably fails to do anything. The reason for this absence of action is, this essay argues, the lack of perceivable authorial intentionality behind the allusion. This reading suggests that William Shakespeare emphasizes his own creative power, but in a way that implicates it in the destructively imitative cycle of revenge.


Tumors are subjected to mechanical stress generated by their own growth in a confined environment, and by their surrounding tissues. Recent works have focused on the study of the growth of spherical aggregates of cells, spheroids, under controlled confinement or stress. In this study we demonstrate the measurement of spatially and temporally resolved deformation maps inside spheroids while applying an osmo-mechanical stress. We use full field optical coherence tomography, a high resolution imaging technique well suited for real-time measurements of deformation in living tissues under stress. Using the spherical symmetry of the experiment, we compare our data to a mechanical modeling of the spheroid as a continuous medium. We estimate the viscoelastic parameters of spheroids and discuss the apparent tissue anisotropy after the osmo-mechanical stress.


Abstract Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) populations that spawn in the coastal rivers of Oregon, U.S.A., formerly supported robust fisheries but are now listed as a "threatened species" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Climate change is an increasing concern in salmon conservation, and we assess the effects of climate change on sustainability of this population group. Four distinct habitats are important to different life-history stages of coho salmon: terrestrial forests, freshwater rivers and lakes, estuaries, and the ocean. Each of these habitats is affected by multiple aspects of climate change, resulting in a complex web of pathways influencing sustainability. We summarize regional climate change studies to predict future climate patterns affecting these habitats, identify the ecological pathways by which these patterns affect coho salmon, and review coho salmon ecology to assess the likely direction and magnitude of population response. Despite substantial uncertainties in specific effects and variations in effects among populations, the preponderance of negative effects throughout the life cycle indicates a significant climate-driven risk to future sustainability of these populations. We recommend that management policies for all four habitats focus on maximizing resilience to the effects of climate change as it interacts with other natural and anthropogenic changes.


Background: Anemia is the most common disease among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Its prevalence increased gradually as kidney function decreased. Globally, it affects 1.62 billion people, which corresponds to 24.8% of the population. Aim: To determine the prevalence of anemia on CKD and its influenced factors at Sanglah Hospital, Bali. Method: This was a descriptive design study conducted in Sanglah General Hospital, Denpasar, Bali from 2015 until 2017. Medical records of the patients became the secondary data for this research. Result: From 2015 to 2017, there were 384 cases of CKD and 95 were anemic in the hospital. The prevalence of this case was 24.7 %. The age group of 51 60 years had the highest case. The males majorly dominated anemia on CKD. Anemia in stage V of CKD patients was the highest, and it increased more significant as the stages worsen, and diabetes was the leading underlying disease among anemia in CKD patients followed by CVD and glomerulonephritis. The hemoglobin level mean and glomerular filtration rate was lower than the normal


Since improper and inadequate data collection in researches could result in invalid and unreliable research results, researches from which policies and developmental programmes could emerge, demand tact and sampling adequacy. Therefore, method of collecting data on researches targeted on households, and for which only the household-heads are being sampled, excluding other members, appear inadequate and less reliable. The study was carried out in Kogi State. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select three zones from four Agricultural Development Program (ADP) delineated zones. Nine local Government Areas (LGAs) zone. Also, three communities were sampled from each selected LGA giving a total of 27 communities. In each community also, 10 households were chosen, therefore 270 households were interviewed but 253 were finally considered for the study. The paper, therefore, compared the result of the use of collective data collection strategy with that which was based only on the household heads and concluded that, the method of collective data collection, reflecting every member of the household is more valid and more reliable. It is therefore recommended that data collection should be more focused on the entire household rather than the individual household head as result obtained from it would be more reliable for researchers and policy makers. Key words : Measurement, farm households, socio-economic and socio psychological variables Journal Of Agriculture And Social Research Vol. 5 (1) 2005: 90-95


Summary This field experiment was carried out to investigate the physiological changes following water stress in bell pepper plants and their consequences on fruit yield. Bell pepper plants were grown under irrigated and rainfed conditions. Water availability to plants was assessed by measurements of leaf water potentials. Growth was determined by measuring plant (above-ground) and fruit dry-mass accumulation. Solar radiation intercepted by the crop was measured with a linear net radiometer. Leaf protein content and ion accumulation in leaves and fruits were biochemically determined. Leaf photosynthesis and stomatal conductance were measured and mesophyll conductance was estimated in vivo during the crop cycle under field conditions using a portable gas analyser. The quantum yields of the two photosystems were estimated by measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence and absorbance (at 830 nm), in rapid succession. Dry-mass accumulation in above-ground plant organs, gas-exchange characteristics, leaf water potentials, and intercepted solar radiation were lower in rainfed plants than in the irrigated control. Leaf ion and protein concentrations were higher in rainfed than in irrigated plants, while ion accumulation in fruits did not change between treatments. The correlation between the quantum yield of PSI and PSII was similar in irrigated and rainfed plants and did not change even under severe water stress. This experiment showed that photosynthetic limitations in plants growing in the field and subjected to moderate stress conditions were mainly due to decreasing stomatal conductance. In rainfed conditions leaf photosynthesis was also impaired by the reduction of mesophyll conductance, as water stress became severe. The photochemical efficiency of bell pepper leaves was however resistant to drought stress. Photosynthetic limitation was sufficient to reduce plant growth, fruit yield and fruit marketability. This indicates that irrigation is necessary to optimize bell pepper production, and that deficit irrigation may postpone the decline in gas exchange and plant growth as soil becomes dry.


Background The number of North Korean adolescent defectors entering South Korea has been increasing. The health behavior, including mental health-related behavior, and factors associated with depression in North Korean adolescent defectors residing in South Korea were investigated. Methods Data obtained from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey (2011–2014) dataset were utilized. In total, 206 North Korean adolescent defectors were selected, and for the control group, 618 matched South Korean adolescents were selected. Frequency analysis was used to determine the place of birth and nationality of the parents, chi-square tests were used to compare the general characteristics of the North and South Korean subjects, and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to compare the health behavior of the two sets of subjects. To determine the factors associated with depression in the North Korean subjects, a logistic regression was performed. Results The North Korean adolescents reported higher current smoking (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48 to 4.35), current drinking (aOR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.15 to 2.99), and drug use rates (aOR, 10.99; 95% CI, 4.04 to 29.88) than did the South Korean adolescents. The factors associated with depression in the North Korean adolescents were current smoking (aOR, 6.99; 95% CI, 1.62 to 30.06), lifetime drinking experience (aOR, 5.32; 95% CI, 1.51 to 18.75), and perceived stress (aOR, 4.74; 95% CI, 1.74 to 12.90). Conclusion There were differences in health behavior between the North and South Korean adolescents. A specialized approach for North Korean adolescent defectors is required to promote proper health behavior and adaptation to South Korean society.


The rotation curves of gas-rich dwarf and low surface brightness (LSB) spiral galaxies have provided the most important pieces of evidence for the existence of dark matter. However their shape in the inner regions is one of the outstanding issues in modern cosmology. In order to explain the so-called "cusp-core" problem, we have applied the effect of the gas pressure from dark matter annihilation into electron-positron pairs to the rotation curves of LSB galaxies. The propagation of the electrons and positrons has been determined by the diffusion-loss equation. We have assumed a uniform diffusion coefficient and considered energy loss mechanisms. By fitting rotation curves of LSB galaxies, we are able to find the constraints on dark matter particles.


Lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and LCAT-activating small molecules are being investigated as treatments for coronary heart disease (CHD) and familial LCAT deficiency (FLD). Herein we report the crystal structure of LCAT bound to a potent activator and an acyl intermediate-like inhibitor, thereby revealing an active conformation of LCAT and that the activator is bound exclusively to its membrane-binding domain (MBD). Functional studies indicate that the compound does not modulate the affinity of LCAT for HDL, but instead stabilizes residues in the MBD and likely facilitates channeling of substrates into the active site. By demonstrating that these activators increase the activity of an FLD variant, we show that compounds targeting the MBD have therapeutic potential. In addition, our data better define the acyl binding site of LCAT and pave the way for rational design of LCAT agonists and improved biotherapeutics for augmenting or restoring reverse cholesterol transport in CHD and FLD patients.


An account is given of causes and clinical patterns of vertebro-basilar insufficiency, before reference is made to patients treated at the Surgical Department of Charité to describe indications for surgery, diagnostic approach, and various surgical techniques. A particular role is played, in this context, by stenoses and occlusions of the vertebral artery in the bone canal of the cervicovertebral column. Subclavio-vertebral bypass is a new surgical technique recommended for surgical treatment of that kind of vascular processes.


This study aimed to investigate the effect of rumen microbiota transfaunation on the growth, rumen fermentation, and the microbial community of Japanese Black cattle that were separated early from their dams. Here, 24 calves were separated from their dams immediately after calving, 12 of which were transfaunated via inoculation with rumen fluid from adult cattle at the age of 2 months while the remaining 12 were kept unfaunated (not-inoculated). Feed efficiency monitoring was performed during 7-10 months of age. Body weight and feed intake were not significantly different between the transfaunated and unfaunated cattle. Transfaunation increased the relative levels of acetate and butyrate but decreased those of propionate, which increased the non-glucogenic/glucogenic short-chain fatty acid ratio. Microbial 16S, 18S, and ITS ribosomal RNA gene amplicon analysis showed that rumen microbial diversity and composition differed between transfaunated and unfaunated cattle; transfaunation increased the abundance of acetate- and butyrate-producing bacteria, and decreased the abundance of bacterial genera associated with propionate production. Transfaunation also increased the abundance of Methanomassiliicoccaceae_group10 (1.94% vs. 0.05%) and Neocallimastix (27.1% vs. 6.8%) but decreased that of Methanomicrobium (<0.01% vs. 0.06%). Our findings indicate that rumen microbiota transfaunation shifts rumen fermentation toward acetate and butyrate production through a change in the rumen microbial composition in Japanese Black cattle.


An increasingly important requirement for software-intensive systems is the ability to self-manage by adapting their structure and behavior at run-time in an autonomous way as a response to a variety of changes that may occur to the system, its environment, or its goals. In particular, self-adaptive (or autonomic) systems incorporate complex software components that act as controllers of a target system by executing actions through effectors, based on information monitored by probes. However, although these controllers are becoming critical in many application domains , it is still difficult to assess their robustness. The proposed approach for evaluating the robustness of controllers for self-adaptive software systems, is aimed at the effective identification of design faults. To achieve this objective, our proposal is based on a set of robustness tests that include the provision of mutated inputs to the interfaces between the controller and the target system (i.e., probes). The feasibility of the approach is evaluated in the context of Znn.com, a case study implemented using the Rainbow framework for architecture-based self-adaptation.


Using energy balance methodology, this study compared the sustainability of ethanol synthesis from sugarcane irrigated with different replacement levels based on the evaporation estimated in a Class A pan (ECA), using treated domestic sewage effluent and groundwater as the water source, in Aquiraz, in the State of Ceara. The adopted statistical design was of randomised blocks in split plots, with four replications. Two water sources (treated sewage effluent and groundwater) were evaluated in the plots, and five irrigation levels (50, 75, 100, 125 and 150% of the ECA) were evaluated in the split plots. Irrigation with treated domestic sewage effluent results in greater energy expenditure. The irrigation depth relative to 150% of the ECA expends the most energy, irrespective of the water source. Irrigation with treated domestic sewage effluent gives a higher energy yield (368.9 GJ ha-1) through the application of a depth of 781.4 mm, while for irrigation with groundwater, 937.6 mm (150% of the ECA) is the best recommended depth for obtaining the highest energy yield (276.9 GJ ha-1). Domestic sewage effluent gives the best energy return, and its use in systems of crop-production is viable.


Purpose Progressive rod-cone degeneration (PRCD) is a canine form of autosomal recessive photoreceptor degeneration and serves as an animal model for human retinitis pigmentosa (RP). To date, only two RP-causing mutations of the PRCD gene have been reported in humans. We found a novel mutation in PRCD (c.52C>T, p.R18X) in three siblings affected by RP and present detailed morphologic and functional parameters. Methods A complete ophthalmological examination was performed including psychophysical tests (best-corrected visual acuity, Lanthony Panel D-15 color vision test, and visual field) and electrophysiology (ganzfeld and multifocal electroretinogram). Additionally, color and infrared fundus photography, autofluorescence, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography recordings were performed. Genomic DNA of the three affected individuals was analyzed with high-throughput sequencing for all RP-related genes in a diagnostic set-up. Results We identified a novel homozygous mutation in PRCD (c.52C>T, p.R18X) with diagnostic high-throughput panel sequencing. All three patients showed an advanced stage of retinitis pigmentosa with reduced visual acuity (mean: 20/80), small residual visual fields (mean for target III4e: 1134.35 deg2), and non-detectable electrophysiological responses. Myopia, posterior subcapsular cataract, bone spicule-like pigmentation, and attenuated arterioles were typical findings. Interestingly, bull's eye maculopathy due to patchy retinal pigment epithelium atrophy was also present in all patients. The mean central retinal thickness observed in optical coherence tomography was 148 µm. Conclusions The identification of a third mutation in PRCD confirms its role in the pathogenesis of RP. Clinical findings were in line with the morphological changes observed in previous studies. Bull's eye maculopathy seems to be a hallmark of RP due to mutations in the PRCD gene.


Power Amplifier (PA) is used in wireless communication system widely but has inherent nonlinear characteristic, which causes distortion making communication system hard to work well. Digital predistortion, by designing a digital circuit to compensate the nonlinearity, is a popular way to solve this problem, in which traditional mathematical models like Memory Polynomial, Volterra Series are widely adopted. The parameter identification of such models will encounter problems like inverse matrix solving stability and accuracy of polynomial model, especially for high-power PA the memory term selection will be difficult. In this paper, we shows that a well-pretrained Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) model can achieve better stable fitting performance than traditional models, and solve memory effects simultaneously. We also make a comparison between other neural networks and different model sizes, which states that sufficiently using memory effects is important and the capacity to use smaller RNN maintaining same performance.


pathology there is little that can be offered to the patient surgically. In the author's practice of rheumatoid hand surgery, in which surgical effort was initially directed at joint disease, there has been a gradual change of emphasis to the treatment of soft tissue rehumatism in which the tendon has become the focal point. The rapid easy rehabilitation following tendon surgery makes this more attractive and, where resources are limited to dealing with a fraction of the potential demand for surgery, it seems logical to concentrate on this aspect.


Background: As a consequence of the epidemic, health care workers have been subjected to unusual levels of stress, anxiety, and sleep issues. Chronic insomnia is usually linked to circadian rhythm abnormalities. Insomnia is a frequent indication of a lack of serum melatonin. Objective: To detect the prevalence of Insomnia among doctors at LUMHS and their physiological role with regard to serum melatonin levels. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted involving 116 doctors, out of which male 48(41.3%) and female 68 (58.6%), working in all clinical wards of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences, Jamshoro / Hyderabad from August 2021 to February 2022. Each patient's demographic information was collected. Serum Melatonin levels in the blood were measured using an ELISA KIT. Along with (Insomnia severity index) questioner was filled out by each participant. SPSS version 26 was used to analyze the collected data. Results: This study found that physicians' sleep and wake cycles are disrupted owing to their long, stressful working hours, out of 116 participants, 42.68 percent experienced insomnia. Regardless of age, gender, or BMI, Insomnia was shown to be co- related with a lower blood melatonin level (r value=-.585**, p=0.001). Conclusion: The findings of this investigation are in line with our hypothesis that reduced serum Melatonin levels in insomniacs lead to delayed signal transduction, causing circadian oscillator system anomalies. We have found that insomnia among doctors shows significant variations in relation to department, sex, designation, and working hours. Further addressing it requires molecular studies. Keywords: Insomnia, Prevalence, Serum Melatonin, sleep disturbance


With the rapid development of web-based learning environments, question-posing activities have become an important teaching and learning mode. However, this learning approach has some difficulties, one being the lack of a practical approach to assist teachers in evaluating the question-posing ability of all learners. To remedy this problem, the present study developed a system of integrating a reward mechanism into assessment activities, to measure the question-posing ability of individual students in a web-based learning environment. The system has been applied to a learning activity in a programming design course and 100 first-year college students were invited to participate in this research. After the experiment, the results showed the proposed system can serve as both a learning and an assessment tool in higher education, by encouraging students to carry out active learning, constructive criticism and knowledge sharing. A positive satisfaction is derived from the learning activities with the system under two dimensions of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Most importantly, students' learning performance improved significantly.


The global market is very competitive due to fast changes in complex business environments and to survive or expand the business, organizations must embrace organizational change. However, adapting to change is not always easy, where organizations may experience obstacles and resistance along the way. Organizations may also experience that it is very hard to implement lean successfully, due to lack of know-how but especially resistance. The traditional way is to blame the blue-collars for the disturbing circumstances but in modern times the wind has changed its course where the managers themselves can be a contributor for implementation failures. Therefore, the aim of the research is to investigate what advantages that can be obtained by implementing a certain change initiative. Furthermore, to determine where resistance occurs and how to eliminate or reduce them. The change initiative in this research is implemented by conducting a case study in a Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs), where the main goal is to reduce the changeover time of a machine, by finding improvement suggestions using the Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) methodology. The results generated several improvement opportunities and gave an indication that there is a huge potential for improvements and elimination of waste during a typical changeover. The positive outcomes of implementing these improvement opportunities could theoretically reduce the changeover time, which directly reduces the overall cost but higher responsiveness, flexibility and efficiency can also be obtained. However, the evidence tells a story where the organization could experience obstacles during the implementation of the improvement suggestions, due to several factors. Surprisingly, the evidence points out that one root problem for resistance is difficulties of describing the underlying reason of the change initiative to the blue-collars. Moreover, there is in fact resistance and lack of awareness of the SMED methodology among the blue-collars and the managers, where fear of the unknown is another root problem for resistance.


There is a common saying that if students like their teachers, they will start liking the subjects taught by them and be more attentive in the class. ''A strict teacher can be successful but a humorous teacher can be more successful'' (Vijay, et al, 2014:260-61). Hence, students' attitudes towards their instructors and subjects taught by them are determined only by the teachers' attitudes and their efficiency in delivering the contents. Not to mention, teachers who adopt a light-hearted attitude are often rated higher than other teachers not only based on the entertainment level, but also on credibility. The purpose of this research is to measure the attitudes of fifth-year preparatory schools students, males and females, towards teachers' use of humour during lessons in the center of Basra city. It also investigates the advantages of using humour in teaching contexts and its vital role in motivating students' learning and improving their performance. Humour in this research refers to anything which is said or creates a feeling of fun and amusement in the classroom such as funny stories, funny comments, jokes or pun. Humour, according to this research, is used to illustrate, encourage, reduce anxiety, and attract students' attention. The population of the research consists of fifth-year students studying at different Iraqi preparatory schools in the center of Basra city. The research sample includes (100) males and females students in both scientific and literary sections. The researchers use a questionnaire as a tool of the research. Thus, a questionnaire of (21) items has been designed to be distributed to (100) fifth-year preparatory school students, (51) males and (49) females. The statistical means used by the researchers are the percentile ratio for the approval of the jury, T-test for one independent sample, T-Test for two equal independent samples and the weighted mean. To achieve the validity and reliability of the research, it has been displayed on specialists in educational guidance and psychology. The results of the research demonstrate that there is statistically significant differences at significant level of (0.05). The calculated T-value for the variable of humour is (8.305) and the tabulation value is (1.660). Namely, the attitudes of students towards the variable of humour is high which indicates that most of fifth-year preparatory school students prefer the use of humour on the part of the teachers during lessons. Regarding the difference between male and female students' attitudes towards the use of humour by teachers according to the variable of gender, the results reveal that there is statistically significant difference between males and female students' attitudes towards the teachers' use of humour. The weighted mean for males is (51.159) whereas the weighted mean for females is (48.122). Using T-Test for two independent samples, it is shown that the difference between males and female students is statistically significant at a level ((0.05 In other words, male students display positive attitudes towards the teachers' use of humour during lessons more than the female students. Concerning the difference between male and female students' attitudes towards the use of humour by teachers according to the variable of Academic achievement, the results reveal that there is no statistically significant difference between students in both literary and scientific sections. The calculated T-value is (1.055) degree and Tabulated T-value is (1.660) degree, which is not statistically significant at the significance level of (0.05). This indicates that there is no differences between the two sections. Keywords: Humour, Preparatory Schools, Benefits of Humour


In reply: We thank Gaughwin for his comments, and we welcome open debate about mechanisms of allocating medical research funds. We agree that the allocation of research funds should accord with the values of the community. To this end, the Council of NHMRC is appointed by the government of the time and has very broad representation, including consumer representation. The NHMRC is particularly aware of the need to balance as fairly and appropriately as possible the allocation of funds in different areas of health research. For example, population health research is an area where we need to boost our research effort. Ultimately, however, research must be funded where the quality of the proposal and the track record of the applicants are such that there can be confidence that worthwhile research outcomes will result. There are potentially significant risks in basing research priorities on "judgements by ordinary citizens". In particular, wellorganised specific interest groups could distort the process, so that the view of an articulate and vocal minority might gain precedence over the less articulate, less organised majority. Dr Gaughwin should be reassured that NHMRC does its best to balance competing interests and quality in the most equitable way, taking into account as far as possible the views of a broad range of individuals and groups. I,J


Antibiotic resistance has been considered to be a global threat which underscores the need to develop novel anti-infective therapeutics. Modulation of innate immunity by synthetic peptides is an attractive strategy to overcome this circumstance. We recently reported that BCCY-1, a human β-casein-derived peptide displays regulatory activities on monocytes, thereby enhancing their actions in innate immune responses. However, the function of peptide BCCY-1 in host defense against infection remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the in vivo characteristics and effects of peptide BCCY-1 in mouse models of bacterial infection. Following intraperitoneal injection, the peptide BCCY-1 exhibited high level of cellular uptake by monocytes without obvious toxicities. Results revealed that peptide BCCY-1, but not the scrambled version, stimulated the chemokine production and monocyte recruitment in vivo. Treatment with BCCY-1 enhanced the pathogen clearance and protected mice against lethal infections. Because the anti-infective effects of BCCY-1 was abolished by in vivo depletion of monocytes/macrophages rather than lymphocytes and granulocytes, we conclude that monocytes/macrophages are key effector cells in BCCY-1-mediated anti-infective protection. Additionally, BCCY-1 lacks direct antimicrobial activity. To our knowledge, a human β-casein-derived peptide that counters infection by selective regulation of innate immunity has not been reported previously. These results suggest peptide BCCY-1 as a promising alternative approach and a valuable complement to current anti-infective strategy.


Innovative Leukemia and Lymphoma Therapy provides a complete and up-to-date overview of the exciting new treatment modalities in leukemia and lymphoma that are being introduced in the clinic today. Written by international experts in the field, this volume examines clinical studies on topics such as: * tyrosine kinase inhibitors, histon deacetylase inhibitors, and farnesyl transferase inhibitors * radioimmunotherapy, gene-directed therapy, and immunotherapy by vaccination * monoclonal antibodies * anti-angiogenesis approaches Within each chapter, this well-illustrated, comprehensive source provides a summary of the rationale for treatment, the pathways that are involved, and the translational research to students, scientists, and clinicians. In addition, this book focuses on the concerns of conventional but novel anticancer agents, modulation of classical multidrug resistance, and modulators of single agent drug resistance.


Axillary lymph node dissection is the standard surgical procedure for breast cancer patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) positive. In clinical practice, axillary lymph node dissection may be an unnecessary treatment for some breast cancer patients with non-sentinel lymph node (NSLN) negative. The aim of this study was to analyze the risk factors of NSLN metastasis in breast cancer patients with SLN positive. Four hundred fifty-six clinical early stage breast cancer patients with SLN positive were collected and analyzed in the oncological surgery department of Fujian Provincial Hospital during 2013 to 2018. All these patients underwent surgical treatment. The average age and tumor size of 443 patients with SLN positive breast cancer were (49.8 ± 10.8) years and (2.42 ± 0.94) cm. Univariate analysis showed that the size of primary tumor, the number of positive SLN, the number of negative SLN, the ratio of positive SLNs, and the type of metastases in SLN were the influencing factors of NSLN metastasis. Multivariate regression analysis showed that primary tumor size T > 2 cm (P < .001, OR = 2.609), the positive number of SLNs ≥3 (P = .002, OR = 5.435), the ratio of positive SLNs ≥ 50% (P = .017, OR = 1.770), and SLN macrometastases (P < 0.001, OR = 16.099) were independent risk factors for NSLN metastasis. Combined with the 4 independent risk factors, the area under the curve to predict NSLN metastasis was 0.747 > 0.7. For clinical early breast cancer with positive SLN, primary tumor size T > 2 cm,the positive number of SLNs ≥ 3, the ratio of positive SLNs ≥ 50%, and SLN macrometastases could predict NSLN metastasis well, and guide surgery to avoid overtreatment.


As well construction technology enables ever-longer horizontal reach, the challenge increases for proppant placement in hydraulic fracturing operations. Effectively placing conventional proppants (sand and ceramic) in extended-reach wells requires either high pump rates or high-viscosity fluids and are subject in both cases to early proppant settling and banking. Even when heavily gelled fluids are used, proppant suspensions are subject to particle settling in the presence of vibration, and/or due to fracturing fluids breaking before the fracture closes. Furthermore, the fractures are typically vertical; and in this case the proppant has a tendency to settle in the lower portion of the fractures while the upper portions close in the absence of proppant. This can lead to impairment in the geometry of the fracture and well productivity. Using proppant with much lower densities than that of conventional proppant will provide better transport. Another benefit from these ultra-lightweight proppants (ULWP) is the elimination of polymer damage with the use of low-polymer or slick water fluid systems, enabled by their extremely slow settling rates.
 Since the mid-2000s, ULWP has been used in over 3000 wells to overcome placement and settling challenges. Taking advantage of low-viscosity fluids, ULWP have been used as nearly neutral buoyant proppant; thus, minimizing settling within the created fracture and leading to a better placement. In this study, the hydraulic treatment and production data of those wells treated with ULWP and offset wells were carefully reviewed. Main production metrics are calculated to evaluate the production performance.


Abstract : ELECTRONIC FILE CHARACTERISTICS: 5 files; Adobe Acrobat (.PDF), MS PowerPoint (.PPT) and video files (.WMV). PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 CD-ROM; 4 3/4 in.; 19.6 MB. ABSTRACT: In this document we examine recent developments in double negative materials (DNM) or negative index of refraction materials (NIR) and consider their potential military applications. These materials are artificially engineered, composite structures that provide extraordinary responses to electromagnetic (EM) waves in general. These materials are important because they allow us to control light (or EM waves) in ways not previously possible. Because these metamaterials exhibit a unique ability to bend and focus light in ways no other conventional materials can, they hold great potential for enabling a number of innovative lens and antenna structures. Searching for smaller, lighter, and conformal components and devices for radar and communication applications, researchers have increasingly turned to these metamaterials. It is expected that research will lead to innovative designs in optical instrumentation, sub wavelength resolution, reduction of friction in MEMS, novel approaches to beam steering, novel approaches for integrating optics with semiconductor electronics and others. Many IDA projects could benefit from the knowledge obtained as a result of this study.


Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) also known as Machado-Joseph Disease (MJD), is one of nine polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases caused by a CAG-trinucelotide repeat expansion within the coding sequence of the ATXN3 gene. There are no disease-modifying treatments for polyQ diseases. Recent studies suggest that an imbalance in histone acetylation may be a key process leading to transcriptional dysregulation in polyQ diseases. Because of this possible imbalance, the application of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors may be feasible for the treatment of polyQ diseases. To further explore the therapeutic potential of HDAC inhibitors, we constructed two independent preclinical trials with valproic acid (VPA), a promising therapeutic HDAC inhibitor, in both Drosophila and cell SCA3 models. We demonstrated that prolonged use of VPA at specific dose partly prevented eye depigmentation, alleviated climbing disability, and extended the average lifespan of SCA3/MJD transgenic Drosophila. We found that VPA could both increase the acetylation levels of histone H3 and histone H4 and reduce the early apoptotic rate of cells without inhibiting the aggregation of mutant ataxin-3 proteins in MJDtr-Q68- expressing cells. These results collectively support the premise that VPA is a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of SCA3 and other polyQ diseases.