Sera from obligate heterozygotes for deficiency of the C8 beta subunit of the eighth component of human complement (C8) were analyzed for the molecular composition of C8. The C8 alpha-gamma and C8 beta subunits were separated by SDS-PAGE, visualized by immunoblotting, and the resulting bands were quantitated by laser densitometry. The laser densitometric absorption data were set to 100 arbitrary units (AU) for both subunits of pooled normal human sera. The AU values of individual normal sera ranged from 45 to 150 AU for C8 alpha-gamma (median 99 AU) and from 45 to 140 AU for C8 beta (median 101), whereas the C8 alpha-gamma/C8 beta-ratio varied from 0.7 to 1.4. Sera from C8 beta-deficient heterozygotes differed, as expected, from the normal sera for the markedly reduced levels of C8 beta (20 to 90 AU, median 55 AU) and for the higher C8 alpha-gamma/C8 beta-ratio (1.3 to 3.5). High voltage agarose gel electrophoresis was used to separate free and C8 beta-bound C8 alpha-gamma. The migration of free and C8 beta-bound C8 alpha-gamma subunit was checked by hemolytic overlay gels and by second dimension SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. Immunochemical evaluation of C8 alpha-gamma using this system revealed about 5-14% free C8 alpha-gamma in sera with normal C8 and higher levels, from 33-71%, in the C8 beta D heterozygous sera. Functional analysis confirmed the substantial increase of free C8 alpha-gamma in the heterozygous group. We conclude that the C8 in C8 beta D heterozygous sera is characterized by increased amounts of free C8 alpha-gamma due to reduced concentrations of the C8 beta subunit. This finding may help to identify individuals heterozygous for C8 beta deficiency.


Discusses the value of information in general. Highlights engineering information as an ensemble subsuming scientific information and management and social sciences information. Refers to the magnitude of information explosion and information utilization and analyses the categories of information needs. After discussing the paucity of information systems in engineering at the international level and in India, points out the vitality of technology transfer interface system for industrial information. The integrated approach to industrial information of the Cement Research Institute of India is described. The obstacles to documenting engineering information are also mentioned. Suggests bilateral programmes for improving engineering information services.


Wolfram Syndrome (WS) is a rare hereditary disease with autosomal recessive inheritance with incomplete penetrance. It is characterized by diabetes mellitus associated with progressive optic atrophy. The diagnosis is essentially clinical and mutation analysis is used to confirm the diagnosis. In the present study we describe the clinical and molecular features of a diabetic child carrying two novel WFS1 mutations. The Sicilian proband and his non-affected family were studied. Ophthalmologic examination included: visual acuity determination and funduscopy, optical coherent tomography, retinal fluorangiography, perimetry and electroretinogram. Molecular methods: automatic sequencing of PCR amplified WFS1 gene fragments and qRT-PCR analysis of WFS1 transcripts. 3 WSF1 mutations have been identified in the proband. One allele carries 2 paternally inherited mutations (c.1332 C>G and c.1631C>G) in exon-8, never annotated before, in heterozygosis with one "de novo" classic mutation (c.505 G>A) in exon-5. In addition, we report an unexpected molecular feature: higher WFS1 mRNA levels in the proband compared to the father.


Background Analysis of gene expression at the mRNA level, using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), mandatorily requires reference genes (RGs) as internal controls. However, increasing evidences have shown that RG expression may vary considerably under experimental conditions. We sought for an appropriate panel of RGs to be used in the 3T3-L1 cell line model during their terminal differentiation into adipocytes. To this end, the expression levels of a panel of seven widely used RG mRNAs were measured by qRT-PCR. The 7 RGs evaluated were ß-actin (ACTB), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl-transferase I (HPRT), ATP synthase H+ transporting mitochondrial F1 complex beta subunit (ATP-5b), tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5- monooxygenase activation protein, zeta polypeptide (Ywhaz), Non-POU-domain containing octamer binding protein (NoNo), and large ribosomal protein L13a (RPL). Methodology/Principal Findings Using three Excel applications, GeNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper, we observed that the number and the stability of potential RGs vary significantly during differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes. mRNA expression analyses using qRT-PCR revealed that during the entire differentiation program, only NoNo expression is relatively stable. Moreover, the RG sets that were acceptably stable were different depending on the phase of the overall differentiation process (i.e. mitotic clonal expansion versus the terminal differentiation phase). RPL, ACTB, and Ywhaz, are suitable for terminal differentiation, whereas ATP-5b and HPRT, are suitable during mitotic clonal expansion. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that special attention must be given to the choice of suitable RGs during the various well defined phases of adipogenesis to ensure accurate data analysis and that the use of several RGs is absolutely required. Consequently, our data show for the first time, that during mitotic clonal expansion, the most suitable RGs are ATP-5b, NoNo and HPRT, while during terminal differentiation the most suitable RGs are, NoNo, RPL, ACTB and Ywhaz.


Abstract: This research was doing on 5th grade teacher at elementary school state in Ajangale District Bone Regency that aimed: 1) to know teachers academic qualification that basically from elementary education field and non elementary education field, 2) to know teachers professional attitude that basically from elementary education field and non elementary education field, 3) to know teachers learning performance that basically from elementary education field and non elementary education field 4) to find out the correlation of teacher academic qualification and learning performance that basically from elementary education field, 5) to find out the correlation of teacher academic qualification and learning performance that basically from non elementary education field, 6) to find out the correlation of teacher professional attitude and learning performance that basically from elementary education field, 7) to find out the correlation of teacher professional attitude and learning performance that basically from non elementary education field and 8) to find out the correlation of academic qualification and professional attitude to learning performance. The method used was ex post facto with correlational form. The population in the study are 28 elementary school teachers spread in 14 villages at Ajangale District Bone Regency. Researcher use population as sample in the study. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferensial. The data obtained from samples were analyzed by simple and multiple correlation. The result shows: 1) Teacher academic qualification are basically from non elementary education field, 2) teacher professional attitude from elementary education field are higher than non elementary education field, 3) teacher learning performance from elementary education field are higher than non elementary education field, 4) there is a positive and significant correlation of academic qualification and learning performance that basically from elementary education field, 5) there is a positive and significant correlation of academic qualification and learning performance that basically from non elementary education field, 6) there is a positive and significant correlation of professional attitude and learning performance that basically from elementary education field, 7) there is a positive and significant correlation of professional attitude and learning performance that basically from non elementary education field, and 8) there is a positive and significant correlation of academic qualification and professional attitude all together to learning performance. Keyword: Academic Qualification, Professional Attitude, Learning Performance


Screenouts of Propped Hydraulic Fracture (PHF) treatments have numerous failure causes, namely, Near-Wellbore Friction, Deviatoric stress, Non-compliant geologic formations, Multiple fractures, Segmented en-echelon fractures, Backstress due to pressure depletion, and, Fracture-tip dilatancy. This paper focuses on the newly-introduced parameter of the Median Ratio (MR) of the Rate Step-down Test (RST) and Near-wellbore (NWB) friction, both of which must be used concurrently as Proppant Admittance (PA) criteria, because screenout causes are not failure diagnosis methods, therefore, not useful in predicting, and/or avoiding screenouts. Each of the PA criteria, while necessary for diagnosis, is not sufficient for accurate prediction of screenout potential, because, when each PA criterion is considered separately it is accurate in 40-45% of the cases, whereas, when both of the PA criteria are used concurrently prediction accuracy increases to over 95%. Therefore, both PA criteria are necessary for accurate Fracture Entry Friction (FEF) analysis, and, prediction of screenout potential. The MR can be determined easily, rapidly, and accurately with the proposed four-equal-step RST procedure. The MR is an empirical function defined as: MR=DP4 / DP1. Concurrent occurrence of: 1) a MR value greater than 0.5, and, 2) a NWB friction value greater that 30 bar (435 psi) is considered: a) an anomaly, b) it is indicative of higher than normal NWB friction, and, c) it is the threshold for PA problems. Both the MR and NWB friction are calculated accurately with enhanced FEF analysis of the RST. The RST has a very short duration, during which, all parameters remain constant: wellbore configuration, perforation configuration, fluid parameters, and fracture dimensions (length, width and height). In addition, pressure loss due to friction is a function of flowrate; hence, progressively smaller pressure reduction steps should be noted as the rate is reduced during the RST. Because all parameters are constant, any deviation from the expected pattern of progressively decreasing pressure loss steps is a strong indication of hindrance to fluid flow, and can only be caused by a restrictive NWB area, and the associated NWB friction. Therefore, the MR and NWB friction are powerful diagnostic criteria of PA, which are useful for the successful design and placement of PHF treatments. The methodology of concurrent usage of the MR and NWB friction, and of the specific four-step RST procedure, has been tested extensively on numerous PHF treatments, in both geologically and geographically diverse conditions. We demonstrate that they provide a high-level of confidence required for pre-mainfrac redesign and modifications to the completion, the treatment procedure, and the treatment schedule, and also, for on-the-fly, real-time decision and control. Utilized wisely, the methodology increases the probability of achieving safe and effective placement of PHF treatments.


Background

Some ribosomal proteins (RPs) might regulate the MDM2–p53 loop by binding to RPL5 or RPL11. This study aimed to explore whether ribosomal protein S27a (RPS27a) interacted with the ribosomal protein L11 (RPL11) to regulate p53 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) cells.
Methods

RPL11-interacting proteins were identified using a proteomics approach. Co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), docking analysis, GST-fusion and in vitro ubiquitination assay were used to analyze the interaction of RPS27a and RPL11. Cell cycle, apoptosis, cell invasion, cell viability and colony-formation assay were analyzed by knocking down RPS27a. The RPS27a mRNA expression in LUAD was analyzed based on the TCGA dataset and the RPS27a expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in LUAD samples. At last, the RPS27a and p53 expression were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in xenograft tumors by blocking RPS27a.
Results

The ablation of RPS27a inhibits murine double minute 2 (MDM2)-mediated p53 ubiquitination, induced G1/S cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and inhibited the proliferation of LUAD cells. Also, it induced p53-dependent cell cycle arrest and RPL11-dependent p53 activation. The protein–protein docking results revealed that RPS27a and RPL11 formed a stable complex structure. The GST-fusion protein–protein association assay demonstrated that RPS27a bound to RPL11. The overexpressed RPS27a in LUAD was found to be correlated with a poorer prognosis based on the TCGA dataset. RPS27a expression was high in patients with LUAD. Blocking RPS27a increased p53, thus, suppressing cell proliferation and A549 xenograft growth in nude mice.
Conclusions

This study was novel in reporting that RPs bound to RPL11 to regulate the MDM2-p53 feedback loop, revealing that RPS27a plays an important function in LUAD growth. Hence, RPS27a might provide a diagnostic marker or therapeutic target for patients with LUAD.


The article has aimed to characterize the essential oil extracted from Ocotea diospyrifolia (Meisn.) Mez. leaves, in terms of its chemical composition and antioxidant, hemolytic, and phytotoxic potentials, as well as its toxicity against Artemia salina. The major constituents identified by CG-MS were δ-elemene, spathulenol, and β-atlantol. When screened for potential biological activities, the essential oil presented low toxicity against Artemia salina, and a capacity of lysing red blood cells. Also, the evaluation of its in vitro antioxidant activity, using the phosphomolybdenum method, showed better results when compared to butylhydroxytoluene (BHT) and rutin. In conclusion, the results obtained showed certain in vitro toxicity, leading to an interesting target for cytotoxicity evaluations of carcinoma cells.


The motivation for this project is to develop a hydrocarbon-based (ER12) refrigerant that has a lower flammability limit in excess of 5% refrigerant in air. Optimisation of the hydrocarbon content in the mixture, favourable refrigeration properties, minimal toxicity and benign environmental impact form additional constraints. A variety of compounds were considered as potential flammability reducing additives. The flammability of the various mixtures was evaluated using the tubular flame burner technique. The compounds tested in the initial screening study included CO2, CF3I, CHF2Cl (R22), C3HF7 (R227ea), C3F8 (R218), C4F10 (R3110), C4F8O, SF6, CBr2F2, 1-bromopropane, 2-bromopropane, CH2Br2 and CH2BrCl. Strong flammability reduction performance was observed for CBr2F2, CH2Br2, CF3I, C4F10, SF6 and C3F8. Less effective compounds included CO2, C3HF7 (R227ea), CHF2Cl (R22), C4F8O, and CH2BrCl. Estimation of potential non-flammable ER12/additive compositions based on the flammability tests revealed the best additives to be CBr2F2, CH2Br2 and CH2Br2 each with an ER12 content above 20 mass percent. It is concluded that a practical single additive/ER12 mixture with higher than 20% ER12 content is unlikely. Compounds containing bromine and iodine possess superior chemical suppression effectiveness with the strength of that effect increasing in proportion to the level of bromination/iodination. Highly fluorinated compounds have excellent suppression efficiency due to the relatively low atomic weight of fluorine. The presence of hydrogen in an additive compound dramatically reduces the suppression efficiency. Inclusion of oxygen and sulphur in compounds can potentially give very good flammability reduction effects. The major environmental and parameters of atmospheric lifetime, ozone depletion potential (ODP) and global warming potential (GWP) were compiled for the screened and targeted additive compounds, with some of the more favourable species shown to possess relatively high atmospheric lifetime and global warming potential despite having zero ozone depleting effect. The toxicological and safety aspects of the compounds are also discussed as an additional means of evaluation of potential additives.


Measurements of winds throughout the atmosphere are crucial for both numerical weather prediction NWP and climate studies. Nevertheless observations of height profiles of the global wind field are outstanding and profile measurements of wind are prioritized by WMO Expert Teams for global NWP. Recently the positive impact of airborne wind lidar observations from the Atlantic THORPEX Regional Campaign on numerical weather prediction was demonstrated. For the first time airborne wind lidar observations were assimilated into a global model at ECMWF. These results give further confidence in the importance of wind profile observations and support the high expectations on ESA s wind lidar mission ADMAeolus, which will be the first lidar mission to sense the global wind field from space. The results of the impact studies for airborne wind lidar observations on ECMWF model analyses and forecast skills will be presented. The conclusions from the assimilation experiments with real airborne observations add further confidence to the impact studies using simulated ADM-Aeolus wind lidar observations. The findings from these ADM-Aeolus impact studies will be discussed.


BackgroundThe prevalence of asymptomatic hyperlactatemia among HIV-infected individuals has been reported to be 4% to 36%. This variability may reflect differences in the definition of and risk factors for hyperlactatemia and/or techniques for venous lactate collection. MethodsWe examined the prevalence of elevated venous lactate collected in accordance with Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (AACTG) guidelines among HIV-infected and nucleoside analogue–treated subjects with risk factors associated with hyperlactatemia. Sustained hyperlactatemia was defined as 2 consecutive levels ≥1.5 but ≤4 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) within 30 days. ResultsEighty-three subjects were enrolled. Two thirds had ≥2 risk factors, with 11% having >4 risk factors. The median entry venous lactate level was 1.2 mmol/L (range: 0.7–5.1 mmol/L). Two subjects had a lactate level >1.5 times the ULN: 1 with a value of 2.1 times the ULN at entry and a week 2 level of 1.2 times the ULN and a second subject with a week 2 value of 1.9 times the ULN but an entry level of 1.4 times the ULN. The latter subject developed symptomatic lactic acidosis 3 weeks following study discontinuation. ConclusionsSustained asymptomatic hyperlactatemia among subjects with risk factors associated with hyperlactatemia was not observed when venous lactate was measured in a standardized fashion. One case of hyperlactatemia that evolved into symptomatic lactic acidosis was diagnosed soon after the completion of the study, however. Our findings indicate that asymptomatic hyperlactatemia is either very rare or an artifact of collection technique.


On the basis of some principles of the theory of density functionals, we obtain a fully specified ensemble of eigenstates of an effective (one-body) Hamiltonian whose average energy is identical to the ground-state total energy of the interacting system. It is shown that within the present framework accurate approximation schemes can be devised through which the ground-state total energy is obtained by the knowledge of two quantities only, the average density of the electrons, and the external potential.


The ultrastructural characteristics of galactosaemic human fibroblasts exposed to media with various sugars were compared. Considerations of known biochemical pathways suggested that cells without the galactokinase enzyme and exposed to galactose would be functionally equivalent to cells in a medium without any sugar source. We found the ultrastructural characteristics of such cells to be consistent with that hypothesis. In addition, we unexpectedly found that homozygous galactosaemic fibroblasts, exposed to medium with glucose as the energy source, showed evidence of degeneration, such as autophagic vacuoles. Degenerative changes were not found in fibroblasts heterozygous for the galactokinase enzyme exposed to glucose. The implications and uses of these findings are discussed.


The gene of the lysyl-tRNA synthetase of Bacillus stearothermophilus NCA1503 was cloned and sequenced. The gene consists of 1485 bp nucleotides commencing with an ATG start codon and ending with a TAA stop codon, and encodes a polypeptide of 493 amino acids. The recombinant enzymes were expressed in E. coli using an expression plasmid containing the T7 RNA polymerase/promoter.


Objective: To report our experience with open dismembered pyeloplasty for uretero-pelvic junction obstruction. Methods: Retrospective study was conducted in the Department of Urology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi for a period of five and half years from May, 2006 to December, 2011. All patients with uretero-pelvic junction obstruction were entered into a database to record patients clinical features, diagnostic tools, operative and post-operative details and follow-up. Over a five-years period, 13 procedures were performed. After clinical evaluation all patient had extensive haematological and radiological workup for diagnosis of uretero-pelvic junction obstruction. All were subjected to open pyeloplasties, out of these 13 patients; one had an aberrant lower pole vessel compressing uretero-pelvic-junction. All procedures were stented. Repair was done with 3/0 vicryl sutures all patients were catheterized and wound drained. Results: Mean operating time was 60 – 100 minutes with about 100cc blood loss requiring no transfusion. The mean follow up was one year. One patient developed post-operative haematuria and was managed conservatively. Two patients developed fever secondary to urinary tract infection despite adequate treatment of urinary tract infection according to culture and sensitivity pre-operatively. One patient developed surgical emphysema detected post-operatively, which required tube thoracostomy. Neither patient developed recurrent symptoms nor had any evidence of obstruction on the renogram on follow-up. Objectively all patients were followed up by intravenous urogram, stress renogram, Urine C/S. Subjective and objective follow-up revealed success in 100% of patients whereas success is defined as no or minimal holder on DTPA renogram, improving renal function and decreasing dilatation on successive intravenous urogram. All patients had a mean post-operative hospital stay of 02 – 04 days Folley catheter was removed after 10-days, double-j- stents were removed after two to three weeks. Conclusion: Our success rate following open pyeloplasty with limited follow-up was 100%. It is comparable with International data. Recent international trend is toward Uretro-pelvic Junction Obstruction (UPJO) repair with laparoscopic approach, they are claiming success rate of 95%.


Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. In order to improve the diagnostics and facilitate early interventions of cardiovascular diseases, knowledge about the physiology of the vascular system in both healthy subjects and in subjects with vascular disease is needed. In order to learn more about the physiology of the vascular system and possibly predict cardiovascular diseases, accurate motion estimations of the arterial wall is needed. It has been the aim of this thesis to develop more robust motion estimation methods for use on cine loops to investigate the entire thickness of the arterial wall. In this thesis, the concept of 2D speckle block matching was expanded with the use of an extra kernel for improved robustness and tracking accuracy. It was shown that the use of an extra kernel reduced the motion estimation errors when using a constant kernel size (in silico and on phantoms), or reduced the needed size of the kernel while maintaining the level of motion estimation errors (in vivo). Further, a sub-sample estimation method has been developed which combines two previously presented methods: parabolic and grid slope sub-sample interpolation. It was found that by combining the two methods with a threshold determining which method to use, the proposed method reduced the absolute sub-sample estimation errors in simulated and phantom cine loops. A limited in vivo evaluation of estimations of the longitudinal movement of the common carotid artery using parabolic and grid slope sub-sample interpolation and the proposed method were conducted showing that the method worked well in vivo. The two methods were combined to estimate the longitudinal wall movement of the right common carotid artery on 135 healthy volunteers for improved understanding of the wall movements. The results show that the pronounced variation in patterns of longitudinal movement of the common carotid artery previously shown in young healthy subjects is also present in middle-aged and older healthy subjects. However, the patterns of movement seen in middle-aged and older subjects are different from those commonly seen in young subjects, including the appearance of two additional distinct phases of movement, and thus new complex patterns of movement. The use of ultrasound sampled at a high frame rate has the potential to visualize previously unknown information of the longitudinal movement. An iterative scheme for Lagrangian motion estimations in cine loops collected at high frame rates was developed. A phantom evaluation using ultrasound cine loops showed a reduction by an average 54% in the estimated velocity errors compared to a standard method. It also showed a reduction by an average 73 % in the estimated displacement errors. A feasibility test of tracking in vivo indicated good agreement with motion estimations using a low frame rate cine loop. This thesis thus present and evaluate refined methods to measure vascular function through the estimation of longitudinal movement.


In the present paper, effective factors in the imbalance between labor markets and educational services in the construction industry were identified on the basis of expert assessments. A model was developed as a system of equations that made it possible to determine the direction of influence of selected factors with subsequent graphic interpretation. Graphical visualization of models was also presented in the form of graphs. On this basis, scenarios of socio-economic development of region were defined in this area (optimistic, realistic and pessimistic scenarios).


Notch signaling and its effector Hes1 regulate multiple cell fate choices in the developing pancreas, but few direct target genes are known. Here we use transcriptome analyses combined with chromatin immunoprecipitation with next-generation sequencing (ChIP-seq) to identify direct target genes of Hes1. ChIP-seq analysis of endogenous Hes1 in 266-6 cells, a model of multipotent pancreatic progenitor cells, revealed high-confidence peaks associated with 354 genes. Among these were genes important for tip/trunk segregation such as Ptf1a and Nkx6-1, genes involved in endocrine differentiation such as Insm1 and Dll4, and genes encoding non-pancreatic basic-Helic-Loop-Helix (bHLH) factors such as Neurog2 and Ascl1. Surprisingly, we find that Hes1 binds a large number of loci previously reported to bind Ptf1a, including a site downstream of the Nkx6-1 gene. Notably, we find a number of Hes1 bound genes that are upregulated by γ-secretase inhibition in pancreas explants independently of Neurog3 function, including the tip progenitor/acinar genes; Ptf1a, Gata4, Bhlha15, and Gfi1. Together, our data suggest that Notch signaling suppress the tip cell fate by Hes1-mediated repression of the tip-specific gene regulatory network module that includes transcriptional regulators such as Ptf1a, Gata4, Mist1, and Gfi1. Our data also uncover new molecular targets of Notch signaling that may be important for controlling cell fate choices in pancreas development.


Felix Guattari, in The Three Ecologies (1989) broadens the notion of ecology and speaks of environmental, social and mental ecologies taking ecology beyond merely environmental concerns to include social relations and human subjectivity. His critique resembles feminist critiques of the Western linear developmental model, notions of hierarchy and competition as driving forces in the economy, dominant notions of legitimate knowledge, and power relations between genders/ species (Harding 2008, 2009; Haraway 1988; hooks 2010, 2003, 2000, 1984). Feminist utopian thinkers have provided alternative narratives of the future – demanded spatial justice, and the acknowledgement of local and gendered knowledge (Ivana Milojevic, 1996). Radical feminist economic geographers hope to disarm the dominance of the capitalist economy by making space for diverse economies with different transactions, different types of labour and different forms of economic enterprises (J.K. Gibson-Graham, 1996, 2006, 2011).Based on these references, "Feminist Eco-Futures: Critical Spatial Practices", examines three feminist/radical future praxes and projects in architecture as alternative spatial and social possibilities for the future – that attempt to alter specific conditions, through projective acts and fictions, collaborative practices, pedagogies, language and representation. In the paper we argue that transforming social and professional practices and shifting values are key issues for bringing about change towards more environmentally just futures. The aim is to give an account of collective practices in planning and architecture that explore alternative models of economy and power relations, and to discuss the potential impact of such transformative practices in a wider socio-economic context as suggestions for the future.


Some investigation results of sanitary zone definition in the airport vicinity on the base of «aviation noise» factor are presented in the article. Experimental and calculation noise estimations methods errors data are presented. The necessity of experimental confirmation of calculation data is founded. Some first results of sanitary zone boundary definition are presented. And concrete methodical recommendations are made.


Introduction: Ibrutinib is a small-molecule drug approved for the treatment of haematological disorders and is known to be associated with visual disturbances, but uveitis has not yet been reported as an adverse effect of this medication. We present two cases of ibrutinib-associated severe uveitis in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Case description: Our first case is a 65-year-old woman who presented with acute onset of bilateral fibrinous anterior uveitis 1 day after starting ibrutinib. Her vision was hand movements in the right eye and 20/120 in the left with hyperaemic discs and subretinal fluid. Ibrutinib was stopped and she experienced a significant improvement under local and oral steroid treatment. The second case is a 64-year-old male with subacute onset of bilateral hypertensive anterior uveitis with pupillary seclusion and right eye hyphaema. He was on ibrutinib for the past 9 months. His vision at presentation was 20/80 and 20/60 for the right and left eye, respectively. He responded poorly to local steroid treatment until ibrutinib was stopped due to cardiac side-effects, after which his uveitis resolved and treatment was stopped. Conclusion: The temporal association between changes in ibrutinib treatment and our patients' ocular inflammation suggests a causative link. Ibrutinib increases Th1-based immune responses which is proposed as a mechanism for drug-induced uveitis. Its antiplatelet effect may explain the fibrinous nature of the inflammation and hyphaema.


The mode of deformation at depth of the Corinth Rift remains debated to date even though the rift is an excellent site to study normal fault mechanics; onshore and offshore markers of Pleistocene 100ky climate cycles describe the evolving elastic flexure of the rift master fault across its strike and its footwall fluvial network characterizes it along strike. Here we analyse uplifted Late Pleistocene marine terraces and footwall catchment profiles using topography data at 2 and 20 m resolution respectively. We characterize a prominent crustal-scale mechanical flexure across and along the rift south flank, a finding that is hard to reconcile with rift growth models of continued extension with a shallow detachment. Elastic fault flexure occurs at the scale of the full rift ( 100 km along-strike) and is maximal in the rift centre, where drainage reversal of two catchments suggests very fast slip rates on the master fault. Elastic fault flexure decays along the rift shoulder, indicating smaller rates of footwall flexural uplift or younger onset of faulting along strike. The scale and amplitude of such fault flexure can be explained by a steep fault growing in a strong crust. To verify this finding, we integrate our data with an offshore seismic section and determine a subsidence/uplift (S/U) ratio of 1.2-2.4 that we use to constrain lithospheric-scale finite element models. The best fit with the S/U ratio occurs when models use a 40-60° planar fault through an elastic upper crust and a lower crust with high viscosity beneath the Corinth Rift. This rheology may define the response of continental lithosphere to rapid localized deformation. Our results support a <1 Ma shift in plate boundary conditions that is consistent with the hypothesis relating rift growth with the southwestwards process-zone tip propagation of the North Anatolian Fault.


The year 2020 will infamously be known for the COVID-19 pandemic. It certainly caught most of the population completely off-guard and forever changed their lives. Unfortunately, this pandemic is expected to make a resurgence in the fall, but hopefully more will be known about SARS-CoV-2, better treatment protocols will be established, and, possibly, a safe and effective vaccine will be developed and available soon. There are numerous drug shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some products are not commercially available in certain dosage forms needed by patients. Pharmacies (retail, independents, health systems) all over the U.S. are being asked to compound items such  as hand sanitizers, saccharin solutions for FIT testing of N95 masks, and hydroxychloroquine suspension. The commercial lopinavir/ritonavir oral liquid is in short supply and may need to be compounded soon. We are all in this one together, from the essential workers to the children, and pharmacists are emerging as one of the first-line responders.


The species diversity and distribution of demosponges dwelling in the coral reefs, at Had Khanom—Mo Ko Thale Tai National Park on the southern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, was investigated, with field surveys undertaken at 12 sites in November 2006 using SCUBA diving and random observation. Forty-five species of demosponges from 10 orders, 24 families and 34 genera were recorded. The most abundant and common sponges in this area are: Oceanapia sagittaria; Neopetrosia sp. blue; Xestospongia testudinaria; and Haliclona (Gellius) cymaeformis. Most species are common representatives of the Indo-Pacific fauna found throughout the Gulf of Thailand.


Using a linked database of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Yelp-listed restaurants, we document that businesses owned by minority racial groups are more likely to use fintech lenders than traditional lenders. We develop a simple two-sided matching model to show that this phenomenon can be potentially attributed to differences in performance among borrowers, racial disparities in lending relationships, and race-dependent values of borrower-lender matches. Empirically, we do not find consistent evidence that operational performance is an explanation. We find that minority-owned restaurants are less likely to have lending relationships and that restaurants without lending relationships are more likely to use fintech lenders. We also find a more negative minority-non-minority gap in operational performance for fintech lenders, suggesting minority-owned businesses have higher matching values with fintech lenders. We do not find a similar pattern for first-time bank participants, community development financial institutions, credit unions, or other non-federally insured lenders. Overall, our results suggest that there are racial barriers in traditional loan distribution channels and this can be at least partially addressed by fintech lenders.


Background: During the follow up period after transarterial embolization(TAE), cases of pulmonary metastasis were more prevalent in TAE-treated patients than in TAE-untreated patients. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate whether TAE increases the incidence of pulmonary metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma and to clarify the risk factors for pulmonary metastasis. Methods: From March 1991 to March 1995, 156 patients who had been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma by serology, and radiographic and histologic methods at Yeungnam University hospital were involved in this study. We excluded 12 patients with lung metastasis on initial diagnosis and the others. The remaining 144 patients had been followed up for at least 5 months and, divided into four groups according to lung metastasis and trans-arterial embolization treatment, and evaluated for age, sex, child-pugh score, liver cirrhosis, and level of AFP. Results: Pulmonary metastasis was found in 18.0% (26/144), of which 92.3%(24/26) and 7.7%(2/26) of the patients with and without transarterial chemoembolization, respectively. Of the patients, 23.5% (24/102) with TAE had lung metastais during follow-up periods and 4.7% (2/42) without TAE had lung metastasis. There was more likelihood for lung metastasis after TAE. but there was no difference between two groups in age, sex, child-pugh class, the presence of liver cirrhosis, and AFP. Conclusions: The incidence of pulmonary metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma after TAE was higher. Child-pugh class was the only related clinical preciptating factors for pulmonary metastasis in TAE in our study. Our results suggest that regular chest X-ray check-ups may be more frequently needed by patients who had TAE treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.


In Pyett v. 14 Penn Plaza, the Supreme Court affirmed the ability of unions and employers to negotiate arbitration clauses that require unionized employees to arbitrate statutory claims. The academic response to this case will likely be that it is wrongly decided because arbitration, especially labor arbitration, is a poor substitute for litigation and unions' willingness to bargain away minority members' rights to the judicial forum is but one more sign of union bias against women and minorities. This paper contends that this response may be wrong on both counts. It is likely that litigants will achieve better results in labor arbitration than in traditional litigation because unionized arbitration involves repeat players on both sides and offers parties substantial opportunity to negotiate an arbitral process that best suits them. In addition, the presence of repeat players on both sides of the dispute offers protection against arbitrary decision-making. The process should also be cheaper for the employee than traditional litigation because the employee does not have to pay for a representative.The presumption that unions are biased against women and minorities may also be in error. Although this was true in the past, unions, to ensure their survival, have become staunch advocates of traditionally underrepresented groups as they recognize that it is members of those groups who form a large percentage of their newest and most supportive members.Pyett creates an opportunity for unionized employees and their advocates to take advantage of the arbitration process to resolve their discrimination claims more quickly and cheaply with results similar to or better than litigation. As unions search for a role in the twenty-first century workplace and employees face increasingly poor odds of success in litigating statutory discrimination claims, labor arbitration may be the best response to an increasingly dire landscape for unionized employees' statutory discrimination claims in the federal courts.


Computational efficiency is significantly enhanced using artificial neural network-based computing. A two-terminal memristive device is a powerful electronic device that can mimic the behavior of a biological synapse in addition to storing information and performing logic operations. This work focuses on the fabrication of a memristive device that utilizes a resistive switching layer composed of polyvinyl alcohol infused with ZnO nanoparticles. By incorporating ZnO nanoparticles into the polymer film, the fabricated memristive devices exhibit functionalities that closely resemble those of biological synapses, including short-term and long-term plasticity, paired-pulse facilitation, and spike time-dependent plasticity. These findings establish the ZnO nanoparticle-polymer nanocomposite as a highly promising material for future neuromorphic systems.


This paper describes and analyzes how the flow of the value chain and the mapping of processes are linked, pointing out the main aspects in an industry that operates in stationery products and is headquartered in the region of Bauru, Brazil. Once the company decided to adopt the formal model for mapping of the flow of the value chain in a product, as an indicator of viability and observe the results, it can make observations about the volumes of stocks of raw material and process, as well as the size of production batches and that the frequency of daily production. The analysis between the model and IDEF0 diagram, can observe that the IDEF0 model facilitates the understanding of the processes, allowing standardization which will facilitate decision making by management and direction.


OBJECTIVE To investigate the hypothesis that the time to washout of radiographic contrast medium trapped distal to an occluded collateral receiving vessel is inversely related to collateral flow, and that this provides an accurate method for characterising coronary collaterals. METHODS An intracoronary pressure derived collateral flow index was determined in 54 patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary balloon angioplasty (PTCA). The study group was subdivided according to whether the collateral vessels were sufficient (n = 17) or insufficient (n = 37) to prevent ECG signs of myocardial ischaemia during PTCA. Washout collaterometry—an angiographic washout method—was carried out simultaneously; after injection of radiographic contrast medium into the collateral receiving vessel followed immediately by vascular occlusion, the number of heart beats was counted until approximately half the length of the epicardial vessel was cleared of contrast. RESULTS The collateral flow index was higher (0.28 (0.09) v 0.12 (0.07); p < 0.0001) and the contrast washout time shorter (8.0 (2.9)v 17.5 (6.7) heart beats; p < 0.0001) in patients with sufficient versus insufficient collaterals. There was an inverse correlation between contrast washout time and collateral flow index (r = 0.72, p < 0.0001). Washout of contrast distal to the occluded vessel within 11 heart beats correctly determined sufficient and insufficient collaterals with 88% sensitivity and 81% specificity. CONCLUSIONS Washout collaterometry is a new radiographic contrast washout method based on the inverse relation between collateral flow and the time to clearance of radiographic dye injected into the ipsilateral vessel during PTCA. It appears to be an accurate method of characterising coronary collateral vessels.


Background: Recent studies have demonstrated that creatine can promote tumor metastasis and has implications for immune cell function. SLC6A8 encodes a membrane protein that can transport creatine inside and outside the cell. However, there are currently no studies of SLC6A8 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods: In this study, the expression of SLC6A8 in LUAD was analyzed using the Oncomine database, the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, and immunohistochemical staining analysis. Survival analysis of patients with LUAD was performed using the cBioPortal and the Kaplan-Meier Plotter websites and clinical follow-up data. An analysis of the association between SLC6A8 and the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) of LUAD was performed through the TISIDB database and estimation of stromal and immune cells in malignant tumor tissues using expression data (ESTIMATE) algorithm. Then, based on the curated list of SLC6A8-related immunomodulators, three genes (NT5E, CD40LG, CD80) were selected to construct SLC6A8-related immune signatures to further evaluate the immune aspect of LUAD prognosis. Results: Our studies indicated that SLC6A8 was overexpressed in LUAD, and the high expression of SLC6A8 was associated with poor survival. Genetic alteration of SLC6A8 was also associated with a poorer prognosis. Furthermore, multivariate Cox analysis indicated that SLC6A8 could be used as an independent risk prognostic factor. Then, immune infiltration analysis indicated that SLC6A8 was also strongly associated with poor prognosis in the TIME of LUAD. A multivariate Cox proportional hazard model was then constructed, and was shown effective at identifying high-risk patients. Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis showed that the risk scoring of the model was an independent prognostic risk factor in LUAD. Conclusion: SLC6A8 may serve as a biomarker for poor prognosis in LUAD.


One aspect of the engineering education that the author began back in the early 1950's seemed very strange at the time. It was the serious consideration of the step function, which was unlike anything treated in highschool mathermatics because it was discontinuous. While its relevance to the design of mechanical and electrical machinery soon became obvious, it has recently occurred to the author that the step function is just as relevant to the use of machinery, in particular, computers. The engineering problem is that x is usually a value of time, thus the step function requires an instantaneous change from y' to y". In spatial terms, this is an indefinitely large acceleration. In mechanical terms, it means an indefinitely large force. These are unnatural and, in physical systems at least, neither an input nor an output can be exactly stepped. The engineering challenge is to take an input that's practically a step function and give an output that can be used as a step function, sometimes after cleaning it up. In digital circuitry, the square waves that encode bits in transmission are ideally a sequence of step functions, and the bit rate is limited by the distortion during transmission.


One of the questions frequently discussed by lovebird breeders concerns the pros and cons of breeding lovebirds in cages or aviaries. Basically there is no single answer, because the choice not only depends on the species but also on the available breeding space. My experiences with lovebirds over the past twenty five years form the basis for most of the ideas in this article, but I have tried to incorporate successful practices of other aviculturists who I have befriended in America as well as Europe. Every species of lovebird has its own breeding preferences in the wilds of Africa and knowledge of these preferences should give us our initial clues as to how to breed them in captivity. Only after the stock has become semidomesticated should we attempt to alter some of these preferences in order to make them fit better into our own breeding environment. A good example is Agapornis pullan·a (the redfaced lovebird) which chooses an arboreal termite mound as its breeding site. When first attempting to breed wild-caught pullaria we must match this nesting environment as close as possible. However, well-established, aviary raised redfaced may be tempted to breed in lesscomplicated nest boxes, filled with peat or similar material. As a general rule those species without white eyerings (Madagascar, Abyssinian and redfaced Lovebirds) breed in single pairs, their nesting cavities being widely separated in a forest or forest savanna environment. Interestingly enough these same three species also do best in captivity when bred in single pairs. The peachfaced lovebird and the white eyeringed species (Fischer, blackmasked, Nyasa and blackchecked lovebirds) are all colony breeders and a number of pairs will occupy large weaver nests. Some also occupy closely spaced nesting cavities in one single tree such as the baobab. These last five species therefore have no difficulty adjusting to a colony-type breeding arrangement. In my own avianes I have basically followed the natural breeding prefer- ences of lovebirds, but as you will read later on, I have also experimented with different arrangements. All my Abyssinian lovebirds of past years (I have none as of this moment) I have bred in single pairs in aviaries six to eight feet in length, three feet wide and nine feet high. This species becomes very aggressive during the breeding season and doesn't tolerate other birds in the aviary. Several friends also had good success breeding the Abyssinian in large flight cages (see the AFA Watchbird, Dec. !Jan. 1980). The Madagascar lovebird is the most timid of all the species I have kept; hence it settles down much faster in small flight cages. If given a choice it actually prefers a box type cage. In these semi-enclosed cages it quickly selects a nest box and settles down to commence with the breeding activity. I have never kept more than one pair per cage or aviary, although I don't find them particularly aggressive toward other birds. I have never bred redfaced lovebirds, but have corresponded with breeders who have. Most have kept them as single breeding pair but some success has been recorded under colony style conditions (see Prestwich, 19 5 7 A vicultural Magazine, Vol. 63, 1). Until recently all my peachfaced lovebirds were bred colony style in aviaries measuring 8' x 3' by 9' high. Each aviary holds between 3 or 4 pair. This arrangement has produced more consistent results for me than any other. A few breeders in California also have recorded good successes in very large aviaries with as many as 20 or even 30 pair per aviary. Such large numbers obviously limit any control breeding. On the other hand a number of California breeders have successfully changed to cage breeding which has allowed them to set up many more breeding pair per given area. Individual cage breeding, however, has also increased their workload. My Fischer's and Nyasa lovebirds are all bred colony style and I really don't intend to change that arrangement. I have long learned that "the more the merrier" applies particularly to the Nyasa. Breeding results improve significantly if many pairs are kept together and if the colony is disturbed as little as possible. Ralph Small achieved some of his biggest successes keeping as many as 15 or more pair per aviary. Unfortunately, the number of Nyasa have declined significantly and one rarely encounters large breeding colonies. My experiences with colony breeding are summarized below where I have listed both the advantages and disadvantages. While traveling in Europe last summer I saw a modular system of individual breeding cages that were not only functional but also very beautiful. Unfortunately the price of this unit, including shipping, was prohibitive and I began to look for alternate options. What I finally came up with is a unit which is as practical and space saving as the European unit, but easier to clean, easier to move and at about one fourth the cost. I was fortunate to find all materials needed for this unit right in my own hometown through "Corners Limited." My basic unit is shown in Photos 1 and 2. It consists of four cages, each measuring 36" by 18" by 12" deep. The entire cage unit is designed to fit through a standard door so it can be easily taken outside for thorough washing after each breeding season. The bottom of each cage can be outfitted with a galvanized metal tray, though I prefer the unit without trays. Instead I use a heavy pliable plastic sheet similar to the plastic used as runners for carpets. A thick plastic prevents the birds from destroying it, yet it is clear or transparent enough to let light shine right through to the bottom cage. Metal drawers always give the bottom cages a very dark appearance. Another advantage of the soft plastic is that it can be rolled up easily, taken out through the large cage door and then washed thoroughly in the sink. Any dirt which is spilled from the cages and falls to the floor is easily swept up once a day and presents no real problem. On the whole I find this breeding arrangement very hygienic and breeding success has been very good. One of the very unique features of this breeding unit is the horizontally placed nest box in the upper right hand corner inside the cage. This next box is made of 3,4 inch pine, measures 10" by 7" by 7" and has a 2" diameter entrance hole. The nest box slides in and out on a simple tray and can be easily inspected by partially pulling out the box and then lifting the hinged lid. (see Photo 2). Eggs and young will always be in the front part, away from the entrance hole. None of the boxes have been fitted with a landing perch at the entrance hole, yet the birds instantly adapt to it, often disappearing into the box within a few hours after having been introduced. Present! y, I am using this arrangement with a control breeding program of a new mutation and I am somewhat excited about the results. All young are removed from these breeding cages as soon as they are on their own and are placed in an aviary to strengthen their flight and to prepare them for next year's breeding program.


A Saccharomyces cerevisiae model was used to evaluate the photochemical toxicity of 8-methoxypsoralen
expressed as percentage of growth inhibition using tow different concentrations, 0.4mM and 0.05mM, and UVB
narrow-band (311nm) for the photo activation. The preliminary results suggest that the concentration of 8-MOP play
a role on the photochemical toxicity, but not, with the concentrations used, on the chemical toxicity.


Two endophytic bacteria, designated strains CQZ9-1T and MQZ9-1, were isolated from semi-mangrove plant Acrostichum aureum collected from Maowei Sea Mangrove Nature Reserve in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, PR China. The two strains possessed almost identical 16S rRNA gene sequences (99.7 %). The average nucleotide identity (ANI), average amino acid identity (AAI) and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between the two strains were 100 %, indicating that they represented the same species. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities between strains CQZ9-1T, MQZ9-1 and the most closely related type strains, Jiella mangrovi KSK16Y-1T, Jiella sonneratiae MQZ13P-4T and Jiella endophytica CBS 5Q-3T were 98.0-98.1, 97.3-97.4 and 97.3-97.4 %, respectively. The results of phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and genome sequences indicated that CQZ9-1T and MQZ9-1 formed a distinct lineage with J. endophytica CBS5Q-3T, Jiella pacifica 40Bstr34T, J. mangrovi KSK16Y-1T, J. sonneratiae MQZ13P-4T, Jiella aquimaris JCM 30119T and J. aquimaris 22II-16-19i. The draft genomes of strains CQZ9-1T and MQZ9-1 were 4  162  933 bp and 4  164  266 bp in size, respectively, and their DNA G+C contents were both 63.8 %. Comparative genome analysis of the two strains and the type strains of related species revealed ANI, AAI and dDDH values below the cut-off levels of 95-96, 95.5 and 70 %, respectively. The ubiquinone detected in CQZ9-1T was Q-10. The major cellular fatty acid of strains CQZ9-1T and MQZ9-1 was found to be C18:1ω7c. Combined data from phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic studies indicated that CQZ9-1T and MQZ9-1 represent a novel species of the genus Jiella, for which the name Jiella flava sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CQZ9-1T (= CGMCC 1.18725T = JCM 34331T).


In Alzheimer patients with a solid musical background, isolated case-reports have reported the maintenance of remarkable musical abilities despite clear difficulties in their verbal memory and linguistic functions. These reports have encouraged a number of scientists to undertake more systematic studies which would allow a rigorous approach to the analysis of musical memory in Alzheimer patients with no formal musical background. Although restricted in number, the latest data are controversial regarding preserved musical capacities in Alzheimer patients. Our current review of the literature addresses this topic and advances the hypothesis that the processes of musical memory are function of illness progression. In the earlier stages, the majority of evaluations concerned musical episodic memory and suggested a dysfunction of this memory whereas in the moderate and severe stages, musical semantic memory and implicit learning are the majority of investigations and seemed more resistant to Alzheimer disease. In summary, our current review bring to understand the memory circuits involved and highlight the necessity to adapted the investigational tools employed to conform with the severity of the signs and symptoms of progressive Alzheimer disease in order to demonstrate the preserved musical capacities.


The ability to quickly and accurately identify covariate shift at test time is a critical and often overlooked component of safe machine learning systems deployed in high-risk domains. While methods exist for detecting when predictions should not be made on out-of-distribution test examples, identifying distributional level differences between training and test time can help determine when a model should be removed from the deployment setting and retrained. In this work, we define harmful covariate shift (HCS) as a change in distribution that may weaken the generalization of a predictive model. To detect HCS, we use the discordance between an ensemble of classifiers trained to agree on training data and disagree on test data. We derive a loss function for training this ensemble and show that the disagreement rate and entropy represent powerful discriminative statistics for HCS. Empirically, we demonstrate the ability of our method to detect harmful covariate shift with statistical certainty on a variety of high-dimensional datasets. Across numerous domains and modalities, we show state-of-the-art performance compared to existing methods, particularly when the number of observed test samples is small.


This study argues in favor of the real option methodology to calculate the access price for Brazilian fixed-line phone operators. The new cost-oriented regulatory framework for interconnection of telecommunication networks, established in 2005, poses questions regarding the adequate remuneration of investments. By investing in a fixed-line telephone network while giving access to new entrants, the incumbent is actually providing an option to access its infrastructure. Since options aren't costless, to properly compensate the investment, an effort to estimate the option premium is justified. We suggest a pragmatic approach where the real options rationality appears as a markup over the sector's cost of capital. Failing to consider the real option granted by incumbents discourages investment in infrastructure in the sector and hinders the intertemporal maximization of social welfare.


Aims: Although community psychiatric rehabilitation plays an important role in returning schizophrenic patients to the society, Many patients in China stay in rehabilitation centers for longer periods of time and subsequently fail to integrate. This study aimed is to explore the underlying causes of this trend and identify possible solutions.Methods: A total of 28 schizophrenic patients were enrolled in this study. We used semi-structured telephone interviews to obtain patients' perceptions on the effectiveness and attraction of community mental rehabilitation, as well as the difficulties of social inclusion, then applied the grounded theory to analyze the responses. Investigation of interviews include effect of community rehabilitation, attractiveness, and difficulties in social communication.Results: Most patients believe that they have gained knowledge, improved skills, friendship and social circles through community mental rehabilitation, with the sense of belonging and enriched life strongly attracting them to the rehabilitation centers. They felt that the difficulty of further integration into society is mainly because of social prejudice and rejection. In addition, the activities of community mental rehabilitation meet the needs of social communication, which also hinder patients from further entering the society.Conclusions: Schizophrenic patients with long-term stay in community mental rehabilitation centers meet their friendship, sense of belonging and social needs by participating in rehabilitation activities. Providing special social opportunity for these patients can get them out of the rehabilitation center. Overall, it is possible for patients to gradually return to society in a collective form.


Objective To identify, understand and explain potential risk and protective factors that may influence individual and physician group performance, by accessing the experiential knowledge of physician-assessors at three medical regulatory authorities (MRAs) in Canada. Design Qualitative analysis of physician-assessors' interview transcripts. Telephone or in-person interviews were audio-recorded on consent, and transcribed verbatim. Interview questions related to four topics: Definition/discussion of what makes a 'high-quality physician;' factors for individual physician performance; factors for group physician performance; and recommendations on how to support high-quality medical practice. A grounded-theory approach was used to analyse the data. Setting Three provinces (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario) in Canada. Participants Twenty-three (11 female, 12 male) physician-assessors from three MRAs in Canada (the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario). Results Participants outlined various protective factors for individual physician performance, including: being engaged in continuous quality improvement; having a support network of colleagues; working in a defined scope of practice; maintaining engagement in medicine; receiving regular feedback; and maintaining work-life balance. Individual risk factors included being money-oriented; having a high-volume practice; and practising in isolation. Group protective factors incorporated having regular communication among the group; effective collaboration; a shared philosophy of care; a diversity of physician perspectives; and appropriate practice management procedures. Group risk factors included: a lack of or ineffective communication/collaboration among the group; a group that doesn't empower change; or having one disruptive or 'risky' physician in the group. Conclusions This is the first qualitative inquiry to explore the experiential knowledge of physician-assessors related to physician performance. By understanding the risk and support factors for both individual physicians and groups, MRAs will be better-equipped to tailor physician assessments and limited resources to support competence and enhance physician performance.


Understanding aquatic ecosystem dynamics is fundamental to sustainable development of aquaculture. This study explores the water quality characteristics over temporal and spatial scale in Tono and Vea Reservoirs in the Upper East Region of Ghana for aquaculture development. Water samples and in-situ measurements were taken for fifteen months, from February 2015 to March 2016. Monthly water quality monitoring were based on stratified sampling from upstream, midstream and downstream zones of these reservoirs. Standard analytical methods for examination of water were employed during sampling and laboratory analysis of reservoir water quality. Phytoplankton analysis was done using light microscopy to obtain phylum abundance. Multivariate statistical methods were used to investigate water quality dataset obtained. Cluster analysis grouped fifteen months of water quality changes into three seasonality regimes (periods) based on temporal variation. Principal component analysis (PCA) reduced eighteen water quality variables into five and three factors with total variance of 88.26 % and 79.30% for Tono and Vea reservoirs, respectively. With pH > 7 and alkalinity > 20 but < 100 mg L-1 CaCO3, both reservoirs have alkaline water. Dissolved oxygen was > 5 mg L-1. Three phyla of phytoplankton were identified with dominant (in abundance) phylum as Chlorophyta (72%) occurring in Tono reservoir. To understand the spatial relationship using correspondence analysis (CA), the first axis of CA explained 84.2% and 64.3% of total variation in relative abundance of phytoplankton phyla for Tono and Vea reservoirs, respectively. Thus, Cyanophyta showed strong positive association with conductivity, total hardness, nitrate, sulphate, turbidity, water depth and dissolved oxygen which were responsive to the midstream and upstream zones of Tono reservoir. Whiles in Vea reservoir, Chlorophyta under same water quality variable showed responsiveness to the midstream and downstream zones. Reservoir water quality studied were within acceptable limits for fish culture but changes could be linked to anthropogenic activities on reservoir catchment area and seasonality regime. Results from this provide a baseline to enable information to enable assessment of aquaculture impact in Tono and Vea reservoirs. The use of multivariate analysis could be a reliable statistical method for assessing water quality on a spatio-temporal scale.


This article proposes a textual analysis of self-citations in humanities articles, foregrounding their dynamic, relational properties. The starting point is the idea that scientific texts are not simply the product of a more or less manipulative rhetoric, nor simply the formated productions of a highly normalized professional activity, but are also socially situated. The empirical study of the presence of self-citations in a corpus of around 100 humanities articles shows that while they present themselves as common-or-garden bibliographical references, they in fact occur in a particular way, crucial to the construction of shared cognitive space. Such space is meaningful in terms of the scientific and intellectual career of the author and of their links to other persons or entities cited in their text. The article thus seeks to analyze scientific publications as textual constructs which use bibliographical references as a way of bringing dynamism to the relations between researchers.


According to the thesis of the guise of the normative, all desires are associated with normative appearances or judgments. But guise of the normative theories differ sharply over the content of the normative representation, with the two main versions being the guise of reasons and the guise of the good. Chapter 6 defends the comparative thesis that the guise of reasons thesis is more promising than the guise of the good. The central idea is that observations from the theory of content determination can be used in order to constrain possible theories of the representational contents associated with desire. The authors argue that the initially most promising versions of the guise of the good fail to meet these constraints, and then explain the steep challenge confronting any who wish to craft a new guise of the good theory which meets the constraints while also preserving the initial motivations for adopting any guise of the normative theory at all. But a simple version of the guise of reasons not only avoids the troubles besetting the guise of the good but proceeds immediately from a deep diagnosis of the source of its difficulties.


The Internet has enabled researchers to communicate over vast geographical distances, sharing ideas and documents. e-Science, underpinned by Grid [1] and Web Services, has enabled electronic communications to the next level where, in addition to document sharing, researchers can increasingly control high precision scientific instruments over the network. The Oxford CyberSEM project developed a simple Java applet via which samples placed in a JEOL 5510LV Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) can be manipulated and examined collaboratively over the Internet. Designed with schoolchildren in mind, CyberSEM does not require any additional hardware or software other than a generic Java-enabled web browser. This paper reflects on both the technical and social challenges in designing real-time systems for controlling scientific equipments in collaborative environments. Furthermore, it proposes potential deployment beyond the classroom setting.


This paper aims to examine more deeply the symptoms of dehumanization that occur in women in the digital age. Through social media, women are often represented and represent themselves as objects. One of them on Instagram is manifested through the body. On Instagram women often display their existence by reconstructing body shapes. This is done not infrequently as an effort to seek recognition of femininity in cyberspace. Dehumanization of women in social media occurs through what is represented and the way women represent themselves through social media. This research is a case study, which specifically looks at problems with an interpretive qualitative approach. The diagram above is a research subject that will be analyzed by confirming with the informant, through virtual interviews. Furthermore, the data is 'dialogue' with the relevant theoretical framework.
          The results show that there is a condition where women are attracted to high permissive areas. The argument is the need for digital self-existence which is seen as more important than truth, aesthetics and ethics. Women, in this case, are the subjects of silence who are subject to the modification of all things, which finally unwittingly drags them strongly into dehumanization.


The discovery of supernovae associated with long-duration gamma-ray burst observations is primary evidence that the progenitors of these outbursts are massive stars. One of the principle mysteries in understanding these progenitors has been the fact that all of these gamma-ray-burst-associated supernovae are Type Ic supernovae with no evidence of helium in the stellar atmosphere. Many studies have focused on whether or not this helium is simply hidden from spectral analyses. In this Letter, we show results from recent stellar models using new convection algorithms based on our current understanding of stellar mixing. We demonstrate that enhanced convection may lead to severe depletion of stellar helium layers, suggesting that the helium is not observed simply because it is not in the star. We also present light curves and spectra of these compact helium-depleted stars compared to models with more conventional helium layers.


SCHWEIZER, PETER E., Ph.D., November 2008, Biological Sciences Influences of Watershed Land Cover Pattern on Water Quality and Biotic Integrity of Coastal Plain Streams in Mississippi, USA (411 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Glenn R. Matlack This study examined the role of spatial distribution of land cover on water quality and stream fish assemblages in watersheds of low-order streams in the Mississippi coastal plain. I found that the growing proliferation of urbanized land into landscapes with dominant rural or forest character decreases water quality and diversity of aquatic biota. A reconstruction of local land use history identified the contemporary landscape mosaic as legacy of the Southern Lumber Boom and management decisions based on individual land-ownership. Such decisions transformed firedominated longleaf pine savanna into a landscape characterized by active fire suppression and second-growth Southern mixed deciduous forest, non-industrial pine silviculture, and an expanding urban core. Commercial development is concentrated in floodplains and along major transportation routes, while diffuse parcel-size residential development across the study area increases fragmentation of the forest-dominated landscape matrix. Contemporary land cover distribution was evaluated using a new hybrid classification method combining panchromatic aerial photographs, highresolution multispectral remote sensing data, and Landsat5 TM images. A 4 spatially explicit modeling approach using GIS quantified watershed land cover based on distance to streams and relative upstream distance from sampling sites. Water chemistry, stream geomorphology and fish assemblage metrics identified direct and indirect linkages between land cover, landscape features, and stream ecology. In the Mississippi coastal plain land cover influence exceeded geomorphological effects on stream conditions. Fish assemblages varied among sites in composition and diversity, and differed between watersheds with contrasting dominant land cover, suggesting integration of watershed-scale and local-scale influences. Fish assemblage metrics identified species richness, assemblage dominance, trophic guild membership, and perturbation tolerance as best descriptors of dissimilarities between sites. The amount of Southern Mixed Forest in the total watershed and within 300 meter upstream from sampling sites correlated with degree of impairment of streamwater quality and composition of fish assemblages. Negative influences of land cover on stream ecology were greatest from urbanized land cover within 60 meter from streams along the entire upstream network. Strongest effects from impervious surface and managed green area on fish assemblages were through habitat degradation due to increases in the natural variability of stream hydrology, absence of large woody debris, and amplified fine sediment delivery, changes in pH, and electric conductivity during low-flow and pulse-flow. 5 Future land cover change will likely arise from diffuse low-density residential development in rural watersheds to the west of the study area, and increases in impervious surface from commercial land use concentrated in lowlying areas along major highways. The greatest future threats to existing water quality and stream ecology include runoff from transient land cover with site preparation or active construction, and from urbanized land cover, with increased sediment delivery to streams and further alteration of natural stream hydrology. The involvement of private landowners in watershed stewardship and the establishment of stream management zones with introduction of best management practices for private forest ownership may ameliorate future development pressure on streams and aid in preservation of water quality and conservation of existing diversity in aquatic biota. Approved:_______________________________________________________


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the entrepreneurial practice of intellectual capital sharing (ICS) with client organizations and assess its potential for collaborative business-to-business (B2B) relationship building. B2B collaborations within the traditional marketing paradigm are restricted due to perceived opportunism.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is based on the grounded theory approach and involves 22 semi-structured interviews with the employees of a focal organization and its five client organizations regarding 36 implemented projects. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed via constant comparison to surface codes, categories, concepts and themes from which the authors developed propositions based on the particular context of this study.

Findings

ICS approach helps customers to reconstruct sellers' identity from one characterized by opportunism and arm's length relationships to one defined by openness and collaboration. Identified benefits of ICS include higher trust, commitment, social bonding, value co-creation, individual and organizational performance and learning. Eight propositions and a model of ICS consequences are presented.

Research limitations/implications

The context of the study is limited to a single industry – financial services – however, the findings should be highly relevant for other sales contexts characterized by low buyer trust.

Practical implications

Entrepreneurial marketers can engage in ICS approach quickly at minimal cost, as the capabilities and talent are typically already internal to the organization.

Originality/value

This paper examines a unique relational approach to serving clients called ICS that de-emphasizes the sale. Subject matter experts help buyers overcome challenges outside the scope of the traditional marketing paradigm.


This works presents a new CMOS analog front-end for short-reach high-speed optical communications which compensates the limited bandwidth of POF channels and is suitable for the required large area photodetectorf The proposed pseudo-differential architecture, formed by a preamplifier and an equalizer, has been designed in a standard 0.18-μm CMOS process with a 1-V supply voltage targeting gigabit transmission for NRZ modulation. The preamplifier is based on the flipped voltage follower stage to attain a very low input resistance in order to handle the large phodiode capacitance (3 pF). The equalizer can adjust the high-frequency boosting and the gain, to compensate for the variation of the characteristics of the channel due to length of the fiber, connections, etc. causing subtantial changes of the fiber bandwidth. Reliable electrical models are employed for a Mitsubishi GH SI-POF with 10-m to 50-m length and for a S5972 silicon photodiode from Hamamatsu suitable for such a fiber due to its large diameter (0.8 mm) and responsivity at 650 nm (0.44A/W). The bandwidth of the received signal can be enhanced from 100 MHz to 1.4 GHz and from 300 MHz to 1.4 GHz for a 50-m and 10-m POF respectively. The proposed circuit shows a transimpedance of 41.5 dBΩ while the theoretical sensitivity from noise performance is below -7.5 dBm with a BER = 10-12. The power consumption is below 16 mW from 1-V supply voltage. In conclusion it targets 1.25 Gbps through a 1-mm SI-POF up to 50-m length with a commercial Si PIN photodiode.


The high-performance low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, equipped with modern hardware and contemporary imaging capabilities, has garnered interest within the MRI community in recent years. It has also been proven to have unique advantages over high-field MRI in both physical and cost aspects. However, for susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI), the low signal-to-noise ratio and the long echo time inherent at low field hinder the SWI from being applied to clinical applications. This work optimized the imaging protocol to select suitable parameters such as the values of time of echo (TE), repetition time (TR), and the flip angle (FA) of the RF pulse according to the signal simulations for low-field SWI. To improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance, averaging multi-echo magnitude images and BM4D phase denoising were proposed. A comparison of the SWI in 0.5T and 1.5T was carried out, demonstrating the capability to identify magnetic susceptibility differences between variable tissues, especially, the blood veins. This would open the possibility to extend SWI applications in the high-performance low field MRI.


Starting from a text-to-speech conversion programme (Carlson and Gran- strom, 1975), a note-to-tone conversion programme has been developed (Sundberg and Fryden, 1985). It works with a set of ordered rules affecting the performance of melodies written into the computer. Depending on the musical context, each of these rules manipulates various tone parameters, such as intensity level, fundamental frequency, and duration. In the present study the musical effect of nine rules is tested. Ten melodies were played under several rule-implementation conditions, and musically trained listeners rated the musical quality of each performance. The results support the assumption that the musical quality of performances is improved by applying rules.


Proper deployment of Nanos protein at the posterior of the Drosophila embryo, where it directs posterior development, requires a combination of RNA localization and translational controls. These controls ensure that only the posteriorly-localized nanos mRNA is translated, whereas unlocalized nanos mRNA is translationally repressed. Here we describe cloning of the gene encoding Smaug, an RNA-binding protein that interacts with the sequences, SREs, in the nanos mRNA that mediate translational repression. Using an in vitro translation assay, we demonstrate that SRE-dependent repression occurs in extracts from early stage embryos. Immunodepletion of Smaug from the extracts eliminates repression, consistent with the notion that Smaug is involved. Smaug is a novel gene and the existence of potential mammalian Smaug homologs raises the possibility that Smaug represents a new class of conserved translational repressor.


Aim/Purpose Using Artificial Intelligence with Deep Learning (DL) techniques, which mimic the action of the brain, to improve a student's grammar learning process. Finding the subject of a sentence using DL, and learning, by way of this computer field, to analyze human learning processes and mistakes. In addition, showing Artificial Intelligence learning processes, with and without a general overview of the problem that it is under examination. Applying the idea of the general perspective that the network gets on the sentences and deriving recommendations from this for teaching processes. Background We looked for common patterns of computer errors and human grammar mistakes. Also deducing the neural network's learning process, deriving conclusions, and applying concepts from this process to the process of human learning. Methodology We used DL technologies and research methods. After analysis, we built models from three types of complex neuronal networks – LSTM, Bi-LSTM, and GRU – with sequence-to-sequence architecture. After this, we combined the sequence-tosequence architecture model with the attention mechanism that gives a general overview of the input that the network receives. From an Artificial Neural Network to Teaching 216 Contribution The cost of computer applications is cheaper than that of manual human effort, and the availability of a computer program is much greater than that of humans to perform the same task. Thus, using computer applications, we can get many desired examples of mistakes without having to pay humans to perform the same task. Understanding the mistakes of the machine can help us to understand the human mistakes, because the human brain is the model of the artificial neural network. This way, we can facilitate the student learning process by teaching students not to make mistakes that we have seen made by the artificial neural network. We hope that with the method we have developed, it will be easier for teachers to discover common mistakes in students' work before starting to teach them. In addition, we show that a "general explanation" of the issue under study can help the teaching and learning process. Findings We performed the test case on the Hebrew language. From the mistakes we received from the computerized neuronal networks model we built, we were able to classify common human errors. That is, we were able to find a correspondence between machine mistakes and student mistakes. Recommendations for Practitioners Use an artificial neural network to discover mistakes, and teach students not to make those mistakes. We recommend that before the teacher begins teaching a new topic, he or she gives a general explanation of the problems this topic deals with, and how to solve them. Recommendations for Researchers To use machines that simulate the learning processes of the human brain, and study if we can thus learn about human learning processes. Impact on Society When the computer makes the same mistakes as a human would, it is very easy to learn from those mistakes and improve the study process. The fact that machine and humans make similar mistakes is a valuable insight, especially in the field of education, Since we can generate and analyze computer system errors instead of doing a survey of humans (who make mistakes similar to those of the machine); the teaching process becomes cheaper and more efficient. Future Research We plan to create an automatic grammar-mistakes maker (for instance, by giving the artificial neural network only a tiny data-set to learn from) and ask the students to correct the errors made. In this way, the students will practice on the material in a focused manner. We plan to apply these techniques to other education subfields and, also, to non-educational fields. As far as we know, this is the first study to go in this direction ‒ instead of looking at organisms and building machines, to look at machines and learn about organisms.


This paper outlines the steps taken toward pre-processing the 55,134 images of the MORPH-II non-commercial dataset. Following the introduction, section two begins with an overview of each step in the pre-processing pipeline. Section three expands upon each stage of the process and includes details on all calculations made, by providing the OpenCV functionality paired with each step. The last portion of this paper discusses the potential improvements to this pre-processing pipeline that became apparent in retrospect.


Exposure to green spaces contributes to residents' physical and mental health and well-being. The equitable allocation of green space has also become an increasingly important issue for society and the government. This study takes 3281 communities in Shenzhen as the analysis units. Using web crawlers, semantic segmentation based on deep learning, web map path planning and entropy weighting methods, four types of residents' daily green exposure indicators are calculated, including community green space ratio, green view index (GVI), park accessibility, and the weighted composite green exposure index. The results reveal inequalities in the level of green exposure in Shenzhen's communities across economic classes, mainly in GVI and comprehensive green exposure. We also found that the level of composite green exposure is relatively stable; however, green space ratio attainment levels for newer communities are increasing and GVI and park accessibility attainment levels are decreasing. Finally, among the newly built communities: compared to the low-income level communities, the high-income level communities have a significant advantage in green space, but the mid-income level communities do not have such an advantage. The main findings of this study can provide policy implications for urban green space planning, including the need to prioritize the addition of public green space near older communities with poor levels of green exposure, the addition of street greenery near communities with poor levels of composite green exposure, and ensuring that parks have entrances in all four directions as far as possible.


Women who use and misuse drugs while parenting infants and young children are a growing population which is of concern. Caregiving mothers who use illicit drugs are especially maligned by society which often causes them to isolate and prevents them from seeking help. There is a gap in our knowledge about what women in this population say facilitates or impedes them on their journeys toward change. This research study explored the helpful and hindering factors that were described by early parenting women who struggled with substance use issues. Twenty service-engaged women participated in this qualitative project aimed to present a picture of their recent parental experiences and other psychological phenomena. The Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT) is a valid and reliable method that was chosen for its practical and flexible features. The comprehensive method used semistructured interviews and involved probing participants for rich details in order to capture clear and complete descriptions. The results from fourteen major themes that were generated from the data stressed important subjects such as trauma, social issues and systemic concerns. The results provided implications for professionals assisting women that include psychologists, counsellors, integrated program providers and the greater treatment system. Future research could critically engage with important topics that were raised in the study such as the overrepresentation of Indigenous participants.


To provide a complete and accurate summary of an individual's medical history which is accessible online is the intension of a personal health record. A physical condition record where health data and information associated to the concern of a patient is maintained by the patient is a personal health record. To encrypt the personal health record s before outsourcing and to guarantee the patients' control over access to their own personal health record is a capable method. However, to illegal parties, there have been an extensive confidentiality concerns as personal health information could be exposed to those third party servers. In this paper, for data access control to personal health record stored in semi-trusted servers we propose a novel patient-centric framework and a suite of mechanisms. To encrypt each patient's personal health record file, we control attribute based encryption techniques in order to achieve fine-grained and scalable data access control for personal health record . We mainly focus on the various data owner scenario, and separate the users in the personal health record system into various security domains which greatly reduces the key organization difficulty for owners and users which are unlike from previous works in secure data outsourcing. Under emergency, our scheme enables a dynamic modification of access policies which supports efficient on-demand user and break-glass access. A high degree of patient privacy is guaranteed simultaneously by exploiting multi-authority attribute based encryption.


Intestinal parasitic infections such as strongyloidosis are more common among individuals with immune deficiency and sometimes accompanied by severe symptoms. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the prevalence of intestinal parasites with focus on strongyloidosis in hospitalized patients. A total number of 566 faecal samples were obtained from different wards and assessed by the use of direct smear, formalin-ether concentration, and agar plate culture procedures in order to find parasitic protozoa and helminthes. The findings revealed that 10.1% (n=57) of the examined samples were positive for intestinal parasites. The highest prevalence rate was related to Entamoeba coli (4.6%, n=26) and the lowest one was related to Strongyloides stercoralis (0.5%, n=3). In addition, Giardia lamblia prevalence rate was 3.2% (n=18) and the prevalence rate of Blastocystis hominis was 1.8% (n=10). The sensitivity of S. stercoralis diagnosis was equal for agar plate culture and formalin-ether concentration methods. This study demonstrated the significance of focus on intestinal parasites in hospitalized patients and highlighted the necessity of improving the insight in health care providers about the occurrence of parasitic infections especially strongyloidiasis in these patients.


The authors examined, through content analysis, some criticisms that have been levelled at the press in its coverage of crime. The propositions examined included the accusations that newspapers are preoccupied with violence and "street" crime, that they focus on the bizarre, are superficial in their reporting of crime, misinform the public about the characteristics of offenders and victims, and exhibit a conservative bias in their analysis. This study of a major Canadian daily newspaper revealed substantiation for some of these claims but failed to support others. Violent and street crimes received disproportionate coverage and very few articles contained an in-depth analysis of the roots of crime or the workings of the criminal justice system. The evidence was less clear or non-existent in relation to the claims that the press focus on nonroutine events, that they provide distorted images of offenders and victims and that they have a conservative bent. Commentant l'impact des masse-medias, Marshall McLuhan (1978) soulignait: To invade the private person, or to invade a group with teaching, with doctrines, with entertainment, all these are alike forms of violence. To assume the right to program the sensibilities or thoughts and fantasies of individuals or groups, has long been taken for granted as a viable form of personal or social action... Today, however, there is a new dimension in all of these activities. Electric media move information and people at the speed of light. It is this instant and total quality that constitutes the condition of mass man and the mass society (p. 212).


Background Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. All-suture anchors are increasingly being used in the arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff tears. The purpose of this experimental study is to evaluate the biomechanical properties of all-suture anchors at different insertion sites in the proximal humerus relevant to rotator cuff repairs and the remplissage procedure. Methods Sixteen cadaveric shoulders were used for the study. Four all-suture anchors were inserted in each proximal humerus at common anchor insertion sites on the rotator cuff footprint and a simulated Hill–Sachs defect. Cyclic loading and load-to-failure tests were undertaken. The number of cycles, load to failure and nature of failure were recorded. Results The all-suture anchors placed in the cuff footprint using a transosseous technique displayed superior biomechanical properties. Sutures sited in this way demonstrated a maximum tensile load to failure of 542 N as well as a highest mean load to failure and the maximum number of cycles before anchor failure. In descending order, all-suture anchors placed in the lateral footprint were significantly superior to those located in the medial row and in a simulated Hill–Sachs defect. Discussion Anchors placed in the rotator cuff footprint exceeded the physiological isometric abduction forces for the supraspinatus and infraspinatus. Data obtained from our study suggest that all-suture anchors are strong enough to be used for the repair of rotator cuff tears.


It has become increasingly clear that neural circuit activity in behaving animals differs substantially from that seen in anesthetized or immobilized animals. Highly sensitive, genetically encoded fluorescent reporters of Ca2+ have revolutionized the recording of cell and synaptic activity using non-invasive optical approaches in behaving animals. When combined with genetic and optogenetic techniques, the molecular mechanisms that modulate cell and circuit activity during different behavior states can be identified. Here we describe methods for ratiometric Ca2+ imaging of single neurons in freely behaving Caenorhabditis elegans worms. We demonstrate a simple mounting technique that gently overlays worms growing on a standard Nematode Growth Media (NGM) agar block with a glass coverslip, permitting animals to be recorded at high-resolution during unrestricted movement and behavior. With this technique, we use the sensitive Ca2+ reporter GCaMP5 to record changes in intracellular Ca2+ in the serotonergic Hermaphrodite Specific Neurons (HSNs) as they drive egg-laying behavior. By co-expressing mCherry, a Ca2+-insensitive fluorescent protein, we can track the position of the HSN within ~ 1 µm and correct for fluctuations in fluorescence caused by changes in focus or movement. Simultaneous, infrared brightfield imaging allows for behavior recording and animal tracking using a motorized stage. By integrating these microscopic techniques and data streams, we can record Ca2+ activity in the C. elegans egg-laying circuit as it progresses between inactive and active behavior states over tens of minutes.


In this work, we study the impact of the phonon thermal conductivity of Silver (Ag) and Gold (Au) on the interface resistance of metal-nonmetal contacts at room temperature. The thermal conductivity of both metals is determined for bulk and thin films of varying thickness using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations. Likewise, we determine the thermal interface resistance due to phonons of metal films embedded in a nonmetal layer composed of Silicon (Si). Based on a two-temperature model (TTM) for electrons and phonons, we determine the thermal resistance due to electron-phonon interactions and the variation of the film resistance of Ag and Au layers as a function of their thickness. The latter considering the estimated phonon contribution to the thermal conductivity of the studied metals obtained with our NEMD simulations. Two important results are presented in this work. First, we have found for the studied metals that at room temperature phonons contribute less than 1.0 % to the bulk thermal conductivity; and that their relative contribution to the conductivity and its variation with the film thickness significantly impacts the overall film resistance of metallic films.


Abstract To retrieve vertical profiles of temperature and moisture from infrared spectral measurements, surface emissivity must be accounted for in the physical solution of the inverse problem. A radiative model that includes the emission and reflection on the lower atmospheric boundary is introduced. An algorithm is developed for the solution of the vertical temperature–humidity profile and the estimation of an effective surface emissivity and temperature within the sounding area. Results using spectral measurements from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-8 sounder are presented. It is found that accounting for the surface emissivity in the solution of the inverse problem has a positive impact on the meteorological profiles.


The study area focuses on three cases of study in the Veneto Region: the city of Adria, the village of Pettorazza Grimani, both located in the Rovigo Area, and the Sant'Ilario community in the Mira District on the southern border of the Venice Lagoon. The multidisciplinary approach (archaeological, geological, geographical and historical) used in the geoarchaeological research discussed in this paper is based on the study of written sources, historical cartography, aerial photographs, digital terrain model, archaeological and geological data. The analysis highlights the interaction between anthropic and environmental changes realised during centuries and the key role of the hydrography in constraining land use dynamics in the landscapes of plain.